[Discussion] About Minetest default texture pack vote

[qyron]

I've been following the progress of the thread started by Celeron 55 for the default textures for Minetest and I can't avoid having the feeling that most people are putting their two cents into the pot with the feeling that whatever is chosen now it will be irreversible and definitive.

Because of that and because Celeron 55 has clearly stated that any discussion related to such theme should be done on a separate thread or threads, I decided to start this debate here, on somewhat "neutral" grounds.

I'll start by leaving here my (personal) opinion and hope others will follow, in the community spirit Minetest has the luck to have behind it, supporting and always trying to improve it.



I came to Minetest following the "hype" of Minecraft and after playing the later a few times, through the account of a friend.

Minetest, with its almost similar graphics gave me a familiar feeling and welcomed me in easily and quite peacefully. On the bottom line, besides lacking features, I couldn't really tell apart both games; visually, the differences were very subtle for most blocks and when this is not the case, textures tend to be less polished. Yet, none of this kept me away from the game. Give me more, I say.

Now, Minetest is on the verge to acquire a new face. Some people have voted - me included - to keep the standard textures as are now. Some have voted towards a texture pack that will make Minetest resemble even more with Minecraft. Others have appointed Cisoun's texture pack and the Adventure Pack Texture, from kddekadenz, is also in the race.

I admit I'm little knowledgeable regarding texture packs; I haven't installed player-made content and I'm happy with it. I voted for the standard texture pack exactly because its a very neutral texture, almost generic, flawed, yes, but easy to grow accustomed to. It does not have a particular style to it and does not hint the game to a specific motto.

For this, supporting a texture pack that will further bring Minetest towards Minecraft makes no logic nor sense to me. Minetest is not Minecraft! Let it be and cut it loose, please. Let's focus on what Minetest is and not on what Minetest is not.

Following this same line of thought, its important to support a texture pack that will help differentiate and give Minecraft its unique identity. Yet, this must be done with caution. Some texture packs have an overly excessive cartoon-ish style or excessively "pretty" look that give the game a childish look; on the other hand, opting for a more noir, harder, look may drive away players that will se the game as too "hard-core".

My final statement and conclusion: instead of proposing a completely "new" standard texture pack, why not improve and expand the already existing with the work many people have already don, by merge several texture packs into a single one, using the best each individual pack has to offer.

Cisoun's improved basic texture pack is a good starting point, as it is kddekadenz Adventure Pack. Both have solid, good looking work put in to it and are not incredibly disruptive with the generic feel and look the game presently has.

These solely my personal opinion and thoughts.

(I seem to be having a weird behaviour from the forum, as my posts get cut in half when I get the bot control screen. Edit was done to paste the full content of my message.)

[rinoux]

I also prefer have original texture that differentiates it from Minecraft ones, and I like the idea of a pack with the best textures.

[xyz]

Umm... so don't you guess why celeron55 started that topic? Maybe that is because current default textures are umm... somewhat like shii...something?

[qyron]

I wouldn't say Minetest present textures are "shit" or "shitty"; the worst thing I could say about it would be "crude" and "underdeveloped", which is the mark of a work in progress.

And its not about the quality of the textures itself what is under debate here but the options to be made and the direction to be chosen in order to really give Minetest a new, individualized, face and feel.

Minecraft lurks behind and casts its ugly shadow over Minetest. Throughout the web, Minetest is often nicked as a clone of the first, when this is totally and completely opposite to the truth. But unfortunately, there are players who insist in approaching both in those terms, when this should not happen at all.

[sdzen]

yes fix up the old textures abit that would be fine

[kddekadenz]

The dirt needs really to be changed!
In my opinion it's very ugly.
By the way the Adventure Pack has tree different dirt textures to choose from.
And the rats are looking weird, too. But the dm is nice :)

[Tim]

I'd just like to say that I pretty much agree with everything you said. As you can see from my post count, I'm new to Minetest having just come from Minecraft. I've played a couple of hours so far and figured out the basics of Minetest and the differences in the two games.

My first opinion of the default texture pack was welcoming. It was similar enough that I could tell what everything was, but different enough to let me know that this is not Minecraft. It's a good balance. For example, I played Infiniminer quite a while ago knowing that it was one of the inspirations for Minecraft, and I couldn't tell what was going on at all. That wasn't the situation with Minetest, it was a case of "Ok, I'm surrounded by dirt, water and sand - just like 'normal'. There's a tree, I'd better go gather some wood," and then I was in - very welcoming.

What I like about it is that it's neutral and not particularly themed, which is what these games should be. It means you can make of it what you will. You can take the game as an RPG, survival or complete sandbox game, or whatever you want. This is my main issue with Minecraft and why I decided to try out Minetest - dragons, potions, purple grass, magical stones etc.
It may be a bit ugly and there may be some tiling issues, but it's not exactly game breaking or enough to scare off players and this can hopefully all be tweaked without changing the whole feel of the game.

Just my 2 cents (actually a bit more like $2 - I wrote a bit more than I thought I would), but I'd hate to come to a new game to just in time to see it change into exactly what I just left.

(Edited for the same reason)

[XCalibur54]

I'd hate to come to a new game to just in time to see it change into exactly what I just left.

First of all, welcome to the forums! ^_^

You have a good point. I voted for Almost MC (as a Minecraft player myself), but now I'll change my vote. The default texture was my second choice, because the others looked a bit too exotic for starting players. We need a texture pack that looks appealing, but not overly eccentric. Almost MC and Default are the only ones I see that are like that.

[qyron]

Tim,

Welcome to the forums and thank you very much for your input. I hope you keep on playing Minetest and, of course, help improve it, as all of us try to.

[Tim]

Thanks for the welcome guys :)