Wood/Door/Crate Texture Pack?
by Alan James · 03/28/2006 (9:25 pm) · 14 comments
Hi Everyone,
I originally posted this in the forums, but quickly realized that they get pushed down rather quickly, and some might not have noticed the post. So Here is a rerun for those who might have missed it. If you read that thread, disregard all that follows.
Wanted to get a sense of if it would be worth the effort or not to put together a Wood/Door/Crate Texture Pack. I've recently went on a five day family outing resulting in about three hundred new textures. (People look at you weird when you take pictures of walls and the ground, btw.)
Some are very nice, some are ok, and some are too specific for most peoples use. Out of these three hundred I have about one hundred and twenty that I think others working on games might be interested in having.
Since my wife would probably like to see something actually coming *IN* to our bank account as opposed to going *OUT*, I've considered testing the waters with a 40+ Wood/Door/Crate Texture Pack at between $6.95 to $9.95. It would include normal maps and three levels of resolution, i.e. 128x128, 256x256 and 512x512 along with some variation of text and lighting on the crate textures in BMP/JPG format. I've included some in 3D design program screenshots, a couple texture samples and in game screenshots below. Let me know if anyone might be interested. I have a bunch of original tiled brick and concrete textures also and hardware (valves, pipes, sewer covers, etc.) for two other packs if there ends up being any interest in the first pack. If there appears to be enough positive response, I'll set up all of the textures as thumbnails on our site and then see how it goes from there. Now a bunch of images. All the 3D World Studio Screenshots are six sided objects, i.e. simple boxes:
In 3D World Studio Screenshot
In 3D World Studio Screenshot
In 3D World Studio Screenshot
In 3D World Studio Screenshot
In 3D World Studio Screenshot
In 3D World Studio Screenshot
Sample Texture
Sample Texture
In Game Screenshot
In Game Screenshot
I originally posted this in the forums, but quickly realized that they get pushed down rather quickly, and some might not have noticed the post. So Here is a rerun for those who might have missed it. If you read that thread, disregard all that follows.
Wanted to get a sense of if it would be worth the effort or not to put together a Wood/Door/Crate Texture Pack. I've recently went on a five day family outing resulting in about three hundred new textures. (People look at you weird when you take pictures of walls and the ground, btw.)
Some are very nice, some are ok, and some are too specific for most peoples use. Out of these three hundred I have about one hundred and twenty that I think others working on games might be interested in having.
Since my wife would probably like to see something actually coming *IN* to our bank account as opposed to going *OUT*, I've considered testing the waters with a 40+ Wood/Door/Crate Texture Pack at between $6.95 to $9.95. It would include normal maps and three levels of resolution, i.e. 128x128, 256x256 and 512x512 along with some variation of text and lighting on the crate textures in BMP/JPG format. I've included some in 3D design program screenshots, a couple texture samples and in game screenshots below. Let me know if anyone might be interested. I have a bunch of original tiled brick and concrete textures also and hardware (valves, pipes, sewer covers, etc.) for two other packs if there ends up being any interest in the first pack. If there appears to be enough positive response, I'll set up all of the textures as thumbnails on our site and then see how it goes from there. Now a bunch of images. All the 3D World Studio Screenshots are six sided objects, i.e. simple boxes:
In 3D World Studio Screenshot
In 3D World Studio Screenshot
In 3D World Studio Screenshot
In 3D World Studio Screenshot
In 3D World Studio Screenshot
In 3D World Studio Screenshot
Sample Texture
Sample Texture
In Game Screenshot
In Game Screenshot
About the author
#2
03/28/2006 (10:45 pm)
At that sort of price, yes, I would be interested. 
#3
What all of those 300 pictures you took did you get? Don't tell me that was all of wood...
03/28/2006 (10:59 pm)
I might be interested. However, i think that just a crate pack is a little silly. If it had a bit more variety to it (crates, cinderblocks, and bricks, for instance) it would be a bit better, and i'd gladly pay 15 for it.What all of those 300 pictures you took did you get? Don't tell me that was all of wood...
#4
No, not all wood. =) I'm sitting here grinning just thinking about how my family started to get into it, pointing out bricks, doorways, concrete walls, etc. saying "did you get that yet?" and then standing there as people walked by looking at us like we were crazy. I've got sewer covers, gas pump terminals, electrical boxes, old valve faces, pipes, conduits, public phones, vents, fans, ornamental stone and word work...and well quite a few doors, crates and wood...there's a few I want to sit on for "Code Name: Monster Island" but as Josh and you suggested, I might consider a more comprehensive variety pack. Maybe a "Stone/Metal/Wood" Pack or something. Just getting a feel for what people might want in comparison to what I've got.
@Josh
Along with the original, I'd still probably include some of the color variations and baked lighting textures since they're made anyway. So along with the normal maps and the variety of dimension images (128x128, 256x256, etc.) the pack would actually include a couple hundred actual images.
- Alan
03/28/2006 (11:24 pm)
@Andrew, LOL =) No, not all wood. =) I'm sitting here grinning just thinking about how my family started to get into it, pointing out bricks, doorways, concrete walls, etc. saying "did you get that yet?" and then standing there as people walked by looking at us like we were crazy. I've got sewer covers, gas pump terminals, electrical boxes, old valve faces, pipes, conduits, public phones, vents, fans, ornamental stone and word work...and well quite a few doors, crates and wood...there's a few I want to sit on for "Code Name: Monster Island" but as Josh and you suggested, I might consider a more comprehensive variety pack. Maybe a "Stone/Metal/Wood" Pack or something. Just getting a feel for what people might want in comparison to what I've got.
@Josh
Along with the original, I'd still probably include some of the color variations and baked lighting textures since they're made anyway. So along with the normal maps and the variety of dimension images (128x128, 256x256, etc.) the pack would actually include a couple hundred actual images.
- Alan
#6
LoL, i do the same when I'm on vacation. Taking pictures of whatever I think I can use to make some textures. And true, people do look strange heheh
Btw, do you have a site with ecommerce functionality, to sell these? If not, mail me.
03/29/2006 (1:52 am)
Quote:(People look at you weird when you take pictures of walls and the ground, btw.)
LoL, i do the same when I'm on vacation. Taking pictures of whatever I think I can use to make some textures. And true, people do look strange heheh
Btw, do you have a site with ecommerce functionality, to sell these? If not, mail me.
#7
I think a lot of people would find use out of these. I'd probably purchase it even though I'm an artist as it would save me time so I could focus on scripting and the other 17,000 decisions I need to make.
I think it'd be cool if you included a unflattened version of the file, so we could easily change the text on the crates.
03/29/2006 (5:30 am)
Nice crates. :)I think a lot of people would find use out of these. I'd probably purchase it even though I'm an artist as it would save me time so I could focus on scripting and the other 17,000 decisions I need to make.
I think it'd be cool if you included a unflattened version of the file, so we could easily change the text on the crates.
#8
Would it kill you to add a skid under the crates?
Is a barrel pack in the works as well?
03/29/2006 (5:42 am)
Yeah crates! The Lens flare of the FPS :)Would it kill you to add a skid under the crates?
Is a barrel pack in the works as well?
#10
03/29/2006 (9:19 am)
I'd buy it. Those crates look great! But what really sells me is the doors. It's so hard to find good door models.
#11
Great link, really helpful in determining # of textures and pricing structure on game ready content. Honestly I considered releasing the pack free to the community, but I decided not to for a couple of reasons. First I need to get up and running a web based purchasing system for an eventual game release probably by the end of the year and I have to know for sure that it works *right* by then. Secondly with the correction of the aspect ratio to a power of 2, multiple texture sizes, normal mapping and multiple formats, it has entailed a little bit of work...nothing desperate, but hey six to ten bucks is what I spend on coffee every other day! (sometimes every day) =)
- Alan
03/29/2006 (10:13 am)
@PhilGreat link, really helpful in determining # of textures and pricing structure on game ready content. Honestly I considered releasing the pack free to the community, but I decided not to for a couple of reasons. First I need to get up and running a web based purchasing system for an eventual game release probably by the end of the year and I have to know for sure that it works *right* by then. Secondly with the correction of the aspect ratio to a power of 2, multiple texture sizes, normal mapping and multiple formats, it has entailed a little bit of work...nothing desperate, but hey six to ten bucks is what I spend on coffee every other day! (sometimes every day) =)
- Alan
#12
I did that a few months ago (taking pictures), and got quite a few odd looks! For the most part I couldn't figure out how to turn them into useful textures though. It just didn't work; now I stick to programming and buy textures from people like you. :-)
[edit] It would appear the 3 of us just slashdotted "texturemonk", i'll have to check it out later.. ;-)[/edit]
03/30/2006 (2:40 pm)
I would deffinitly buy this - in fact at 6.96 i might buy "one to open and one to save", lol. The quality looks comprable to HalfLife-2! Like other said, crates are cool, but if you include a few pallets, doors, windows, wall/floor textures, etc. it will really make it more worth-while. I did that a few months ago (taking pictures), and got quite a few odd looks! For the most part I couldn't figure out how to turn them into useful textures though. It just didn't work; now I stick to programming and buy textures from people like you. :-)
[edit] It would appear the 3 of us just slashdotted "texturemonk", i'll have to check it out later.. ;-)[/edit]
#13
I've herad that many people are saying that normal maps are inadequate for most uses unless some lighting is baked in. The ultimate result of having global illumination on your normal mapped object should be an image with more depth. I haven't actually messed with normal maps so I wouldn't know exactly, but you could try it.
05/03/2006 (4:26 am)
@Johs Moore, I've herad that many people are saying that normal maps are inadequate for most uses unless some lighting is baked in. The ultimate result of having global illumination on your normal mapped object should be an image with more depth. I haven't actually messed with normal maps so I wouldn't know exactly, but you could try it.
#14
01/16/2008 (12:50 pm)
This is useless. Baked lighting is worthless in today's gaming world. Everything just looks weird. Unless of course you bake Ambient Occlusion. That you could bake, but that's it. You need normal maps, and the right kind made with multiple Overlay Layers in Photoshop for combined global and local details. But other than that, this is good work for what it is. Looks good for like a PS2 game or something. Pixel shaders are the current standard, tho.
Torque Owner Josh Moore