Wednesday, May 11, 2011

CoterieCraft 16

Here is my next texture pack rating for you. This time I rated Coterie Craft, a very nice 16x16 texture pack. You don’t an HD Fix to use this one. To get the download, scroll to the end of this post. In the meantime, enjoy the review.

view

Smoothness: 3.9

This texture pack is somewhat smooth, but I did not give it a 4 because I don’t think it hit that limit just by a tad. I am fond of the tree leaves, however. Mountains appear nice in this texture pack, and the smooth stone has a bit of realism to it from afar. But it doesn’t seem to hit that 4 mark because of the grass and appearance of gravel and dirt.

Colors: 4.6

I can say that most of the colors on this texture pack were right on. This one has a bit of a darker scheme to it, which some people prefer. However some off the blocks seems odd or off-tone and I thought they didn’t fit the scheme, like gravel. The water is also a perfect tone.

view2

Style: 4.8

I have to say that I like the style of this one. It is a darker texture pack and has a lot of depth with color-changes. As you can see from the appearance of the water In this photograph, you can see the ocean ridges and they seem realistic. The style of this pack is very nice and it is creatively made.

View: 4.7

This texture pack has a lot of decent views, and it all seems to flow together well when looked out on he mountain! I can’t say I saw much, but as the odd coloring of some blocks and the de-smoothing, it did not score a perfect 5. But i t really wants me to make a vacation home!

Other: 4.2

The lighting is nice, the water is gorgeous, but the one thing that really bothered me was the block-breaking animation. It seems to clog up the block so sometimes I forget what I’m mining. Otherwise everything else has follows the style excellently and I’ll give this a good 4.2.

Overall: 4.44

Conclusion: Overall, I can say this is a decent texture pack and one of the better 16x16s out there. If you are tired of old Minecraft and want to find something nicer, I highly suggest Coterie Craft. It is beautifully put together and a recommendation if you prefer a darker color scheme.

To download this texture pack, click here, and be sure to thank the author of it Cpt. Corn. Stay tuned for more reviews!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Soartex 64

Here is my first texture pack review. In this one, I reviewed Soartex, a gorgeous and classic 64x64 texture pack. You will need MC Patcher, which you can get here. It is a simple HD texture fix that allows you to use 32x32 and higher in your game. Anyway, on with the review.

view 2

Smoothness: 4.7

The smoothness of this texture pack is exhilarating. Instead of a field of blocks, Soartex gives off a feel of grass which is a much smoother approach to designing grass then the usual person does. The reason this did not score a 5 is because the tree leaves have a bit of a broad outline and some did not fit in. It is hard to score high on Smoothness, but I can say Soartex exceeded expectations.

Colors: 5

I did not find one block that did not have an odd color to it. All of them seemed to follow a natural scheme and I did not notice anything out of ordinary. The colors on this texture pack are an A+.

View

Style: 4.6

There is quite the sense of style in this. The style is simply smoothness because it is a flowing texture pack with very little choppy edges. It all flowed nicely. What I liked about the style is the coal and ores. When I found them they stood out without making its surroundings look awkward – something you like to have in a texture pack.

View: 4.5

As you can see from the two pictures above, there is quite a view when you stand on top of the Mountain (the floating islands are a bit of an eyesore though, but not taken into judgement!). This impressed me, as few texture packs can get a smooth feel from afar. However, the stone looked a bit colorless from on top so I had to downgrade the score because of that. Perhaps the smooth feel isn’t always perfect, huh?

Other: 4

The lighting for this texture pack is perfect. It never seems too dark and the torches light up my caves just fine. I don’t really see anything wrong with it. However the water is actually a bit hard to see if not in an ocean. Sometimes I waltz into it and don’t see it. Everything comes together fine but because of certain aspects this has been given a 4.

Overall: 4.56

Conclusion: Even though this is the first texture pack I reviewed, it has scored a hearty 4.56, breaking the 4.5 limit that I associate in the “elite” zone. Soartex is a highly beautiful texture pack and I use it quite often. To download it, click here, and make sure to thank the creator, Soar. He did a great job with this one. Until next time,

Ritzy Cat

Grading Scale

This is the Scale I use to grade the texture packs that I decide to review. Please note that a lot of what I say is my own personal opinion!

I grade on a scale of 1-5, and anything in between (2.3, 4.7, etc.). The final score is an average of the different categories.

Smoothness
Five: The texture pack flows very well and does not show any choppy edges or odd pixels in its formation. It does not have odd creases or on the edges of blocks it seems to jump color schemes.
Four: The texture pack flows well and only shows little or reasonable choppy edges or odd pixel placement in the formation. It looks well when viewed from afar, but flaws are noticed up close.
Three: The texture pack flows sometimes but it seems to cut off on edges. Pixels appear to be sloppily placed on the edges or corners. Even from afar you may notice a difference.
Two: The texture pack has significant flaws and only flows smoothly sometimes. The surface appears to cut off on the edges and mountains may look a bit odd when blocks converge with the higher blocks next to it.
One: The texture pack has obvious and very distracting flaws and rarely flows smoothly. There is little definition on the edges and seems as if it would look better only if there was one block there. It is very choppy.

Colors
Five: The colors are perfectly placed, each one decided for the block with high consideration and a notable flow in colors can be seen.
Four: The colors are excellently placed, with most of them colored with the same scheme in mind. It rarely appears that some blocks are discolored.
Three: The colors are relatively well, however some of the colors appear random or as if they don't belong. You may encounter strange looking blocks.
Two: The colors do not flow well. A lot of them look out of place, and it may be difficult to tell one block from another.
One: The colors do not flow at all. Most of them are completely random and are just plain horrible color choices on the blocks.

Style
Five: The style of the texture pack is maintained throughout all the blocks. You can tell a sense of creativity and effort put into it. The blocks have definite appearances, and look nice when you try to build something with them!
Four: There is a nice style and sense of hotness in the Texture Pack. Most of the time it will all seem to be designed just fine. Rarely will you encounter an oddball block in the texture pack.
Three: There is a scheme of style to the texture pack, but a lot of the blocks don't seem to follow it. It may look nice in certain situations, but with other blocks it will ruin the style of it.
Two: There is not much of a style to the texture pack. You cannot legibly tell if there is a creative influence to it and may sometimes get confused on what block is which.
One: The texture pack lacks a definite style and does not seem to follow a goal of some sort. The blocks appear like other kinds and it is difficult to not notice them. It has no creativity in it, or little.

View
Five: Looked out upon a mountaintop, the general demeanor of the surrounding area has a strong adjective that can correlate to it. Whether it is beautiful, fantastic, unique, or stylish, it has a great view.
Four: Looked out upon a mountaintop, the texture pack looks exquisite and has a nice view to it. You notice beauty and there is little flaws to cause much of an eyesore.
Three: The view on the mountaintop is average. There is a bit of a view to it but somethings stand out unwanted and may cause an eyesore.
Two: Parts of the view are mediocre or could be called ugly. There is not much of a view to it and I think it is unattractive. Lots of eyesores!
One: The view is disgusting and I hate looking at it. Every time I look out at the view, I die a little inside. Get to work on that please.

Other
Five: Other things such as lighting, convergence, and biome differentiation are easily visible.
Four: Other things are visible.
Three: Other things are somewhat visible.
Two: Other things are not very visible.
One: Other things are not visible.


I will be using this scale to grade just about every texture pack. Note I will not compare, as comparing a 16x16 and a 256x256 in terms of beauty is not fair, so I will grade it assuming it is the only texture pack in the world. Look forward for more!

Welcome!

Welcome to my official Texture Pack Rating blogs. Here I will view the Minecraft forums and look at new, promising texture packs as well as the old classics and rate them. I am not affiliated with Minecraft in any way, or at all with any of the creators of the texture packs. I will post several pictures and sometimes videos of great texture packs graded on a scale I formed. I am going to be using whatever the latest version of Minecraft is, (currently 1.5_01). Please note on HD Textures (32x32 and above) you will need the MCPatcher which I will link to when I post HD textures. In the meantime, enjoy and if you see any texture packs you'd like to be rated, tell me!