textures

Community Forums/Showcase/textures

Ruz(Posted 2003) [#1]
Think there would be much call If I produced a cd of textures and tried to sell them?. Done about a hundred already. I am concentrating on more cartoony looking ones BTW.
I noticed there a lots of dufff cd's containing digital camera textures floating around already.
Thats why I figured some more artistic/console game style textures might sell.
Things like fences/rocks/windows etc in various themes like sci fi/medieval etc.
how many textures would constitute a full cd


JoshK(Posted 2003) [#2]
Of course people will buy them. But unless they are really good, no one will buy them. Only do it if you can make really good textures. There are plenty of bad texture packs out there already, and no one buys them.


Rob(Posted 2003) [#3]
Can you come close to these guys and beat them on price:

http://www.doschdesign.com/e_start/
http://www.marlinstudios.com/home/home.htm
http://www.artbeats.com/

There are some very good value ones from these people too.


Ruz(Posted 2003) [#4]
well I did work as a texture artist, and would n't bother if I thought I couldn't do the textures good enough.I am not the stupidly optimistic type

It strikes me that there are virtually no good game quality textures out there apart from in the commerical games themselves or in some good mods.
was wondeirng though if they would need to be of a standard size like 512x512. i would prefer to make them 256 or 128, since I am would be aiming not for the unreal style texture, but the console style semi cartoony style.


Ruz(Posted 2003) [#5]
rob, I just mentioned that I was n't going for that hyper realstic look. anyone can photograph some textures and apply them. there is n't much of a shortage for that kind of thing.But looking at the links I think I can do better.

Mine will be categorised in sections like old doors, new doors sci fi doors. same with windows/walls/skies/floors etc

I will post a few samples later to show you what i am aiming for.
I am not sure about price , have to get all my textures done first and do some more research.
I think the idea has mileage though


Ruz(Posted 2003) [#6]
here are a few samples.just to give an idea of the sort of style I Will be creating.










some need work , but they look ok in blitz


JoshK(Posted 2003) [#7]
My sincere opinion is I would not pay money for those. They're not bad, they're just not a lot better than what I could do myself. They're also very low-resolution.


Ruz(Posted 2003) [#8]
Your are of course entitled to your opinion, and perhaps they do need more improving , but I think you are looking for a different style of texture for your projects rockstar.
most people in the blitz community won't be using 512 textures for their games, 256 or 128 is fine.

But anyhow , would be nice to hear some more opinions.
This is just the start. By the time I have made 500 , the general standard will have gone up anyway( hopefully)


Doiron(Posted 2003) [#9]
was wondeirng though if they would need to be of a standard size like 512x512. i would prefer to make them 256 or 128, since I am would be aiming not for the unreal style texture, but the console style semi cartoony style.

My opinion is the higher the better, considering I might want to use the same package even in the not-so-near-future, or that I often modify the textures I use to add project-specific detail scaling the result at the end (I usually work with high detail stuff before packing the final version), or that I always scale the result only if needed.

The rock/grass ones are way too simple, though I like the stile of the other tiles. As others pointed out though (I understand that these are only samples, but it's better to point it out), the resolution is too low for a first person view or a 3rd person camera close to the character.

I *might* not need a 512 texture for a *specific* project, but I prefer to have an high-resolution texture to work with even in that case, and 256/128 are becoming way too low detail for anything which isn't a top-down/isometric game. I would still be interested in a 256x256 maximum res package, but it would reduce the range of projects it would fit in.


Ruz(Posted 2003) [#10]
Thats weird , because when I worked on ps2 games , we had virtually no 512's, mainly 256,128's, some 64's.
Obviously , you can have higher res in soem higher end pc games, but you can see my reasoning.
Don't forget these are tiled textures.I have tried them all at 256 and 128 in blitz and they look fine close up.

but I do take your point, suppose I would also prefer to have 512's as a 'base'. he he its easier to create 256's then 512's though, you need way more detail.


JoshK(Posted 2003) [#11]
The doors are really good, but very low-res, in my opinion.


Kuron(Posted 2003) [#12]
I suck at art. I like your textures, although they are more cartoony looking (not a bad thing in my book, but is for most people) than realistic looking.

FWIW, I would NOT order your CD solely because I hate ordering stuff that has to be shipped via snailmail from overseas...


Ruz(Posted 2003) [#13]
well, I am trying to hit a middle ground here and get a more illustative look. They are not intended to be photoreal.

I could have done 'em 1024 and put every grain of wood in, but i was not really going for that look.

I admire the console style textures these days, kind of got inspired by playing jack and daxter recently.


Warren(Posted 2003) [#14]
Not everyone is trying to make "yet another realistic environment". I like those textures.


Ruz(Posted 2003) [#15]
White Eagle, i thought the cartoon look would be better, because most of the games i have seen so far in blitz have had that look to them.
I mean I do photoreal stuff and may do some of that style also if it helped in people buying my work.
if i was to sell it , it would be avaiable in both download and cd version or both.
but thats a long way off, have to do the work first.
I was mainly jsut testng the water as regards to peoples requirements.
It may jsut be another stoopid idea, like the invention of self removing trousers


Ruz(Posted 2003) [#16]
cheers epic boy.
I am going to spend this week doing generic fence textures then move on to windows.i will post some more progress then.
thanks for the feedback so far everyone.
mixed opinions so far.


Doiron(Posted 2003) [#17]
Thats weird , because when I worked on ps2 games , we had virtually no 512's, mainly 256,128's, some 64's.

That's the reason because PS2 conversions looks fairly low detail on PC's, which never had this kind of limitations. Even Red Faction 2 (PS2 oriented from the beginning) have worse texture than the first one for PC. I also started to think that in some way the standard set for the PS2 reduced the quality of PC games, at least for the economical and time-wise interest of keeping a PC conversion to console limits.

Don't forget these are tiled textures.I have tried them all at 256 and 128 in blitz and they look fine close up.

I would be way more interested in having also to have a full set of unique textures - as your doors for example - rather than only rock/grass/etc. ones, and not tileable textures are the ones which would be better to have at a higher res. I agree that for tileable ones 256x256 with multitexturing is often *still* fine even for high-detail stuff though.

he he its easier to create 256's then 512's though, you need way more detail.

I take your point, though there is a reason because you don't see a lot of high-quality textures packages around. :)

Anyway, good stuff Ruz: I suppose that high-res versions for 'unique tiles' and mostly 256x256 for tileable textures would do the trick for a basic package. And keep the price acceptable: often who can't afford an artist, can't also afford a $XXX package.


Doiron(Posted 2003) [#18]
[double post]


Kuron(Posted 2003) [#19]
White Eagle, i thought the cartoon look would be better
Is in my book. To me games should be escapism and not try to be so darn realistic looking.

if i was to sell it , it would be avaiable in both download and cd version or both.
If its in a download version and easily available through ShareIt, I will definitely be ordering. Have DSL so download size is not an issue :c)


Ruz(Posted 2003) [#20]
yeah White Eagle. To me the escapism side is what games is all about, the game has to grab your imagination. So few games do that now. narrative and visual , perhaps narrative is even more imporant, but gameplay is king as always

Hopefully this cd thing will happen, need the cash, savings running low.
yeah,the download would be fairly hefty, but most gamers seem to have a fast connection these days

Doiron - It would be a lot of work to redo the textures for a conversion, but in any case I still think 256 is quite a common size for game textures, pc or ps2, but its sneaking upwards.


Ruz(Posted 2003) [#21]
BTW this won't be costing an arm and a leg. i don't wanna rip people,just make a bit of cash to keep me going.

And good suggestions Doiron, will take that on board, particularly about unique textures. rocks and stuff are painful to make anyway, although generic tiled textures are still important,like roof tiles/dirt floors. etc.
I will do plants/nature too, since I used to be a scientific illustrator few years back( bones and stones)


Doiron(Posted 2003) [#22]
Doiron - It would be a lot of work to redo the textures for a conversion, but in any case I still think 256 is quite a common size for game textures, pc or ps2, but its sneaking upwards.

Don't take me wrong, 256 is still the standard for a lot of stuff when you can tile a texture, though it gets easily worse with unique blocks (the best example - though it doesn't belong to your project - are 256x256 character skins, as the ones seen in GTA Vice City).

I am sure that such a package would be useful for most shareware projects, which are rarely going for a realistic high-detail look.


Binary_Moon(Posted 2003) [#23]
Personally I think it should be up to the person making the game what size the textures are. You should make them at least 512 square and let the programmer scale them to the size they require.

Also you should be careful with the lighting. I see lots of top left shadows being cast. Generally you should only add shadows from the top unless you have a light source on the texture. Otherwise the texture looks wrong once combined with lightmaps.


JoshK(Posted 2003) [#24]
I'd rather pay an arm and a leg for high-quality work than get low-quality work for cheap. What I am saying is if you do this, invest some time in it and do it right.


Ruz(Posted 2003) [#25]
I see your point but there is really no need for me to do 512x512 windows for example.I am going for 256 for tileable textures and a bit bigger for specifics.
The sort of textures I am making do not need that level of detail.
I think also the lightmap issue is a small point, just don'think many folks will notice the difference.

if they were huge long shadows, perhaps.


Isaac P(Posted 2003) [#26]
Your textures are of a good quality ruz remind so much of the textures you see in the half life and unreal mod scenes... however I would say with a little looking around on the net you can get textures of equal quality for free...

Maybe it would be better for you to do texture work for individual game projects who would like their own bespoke textures rather than those available in the public domain or sold as part of a general collection.

just my 2 cents.. dont take any offence


Ruz(Posted 2003) [#27]
He ehe i am already feeling the heat over this,But i would disagree that these kind of textures are freely available.
Or if they are they are quite hard it find
You try tying in 'rock texture' in google and see how many goodies you find.
I though it was good idea to start with but, people here and other forums seem to be giving me hard time over it.
soon as you mention you are seliing stuff, all the flamers
jump out of the wood work

But don't worry your critique was honest and to the point, no offence taken.