Zeph's Ultima MineCraft Textures Updated
Zeph sent me an email to let me know that he too has updated his Ultima-themed texture pack for MineCraft to version 1.7a, which adds support for the latest version (1.7.3 as of this writing) of the smash hit indie game.
He also includes a screenshot, which shows off some of the new object graphics he has added:
[singlepic id=1250 w=500 h=250 float=center]
My three favourite weapons from Ultima 6!
The updated texture pack is now available for download via the project entry here at Aiera.
That’s the first screenshot that I thought was awesome.
If Ultima IV-VI were forced to be 3D, I’d like them to look like this.
Does this work with the ffree version of minecraft?
That’s sorta what I go for when putting stuff together. A lot of the original U6 tiles don’t work in 3D, so I try to draw something that looks like it fits the artwork. I’m always going back to look as screenshots and such. I think I’ve done alright so far, always tweaking though.
And sorry, no, you can’t change the texture packs in the free version of Minecraft as far as I know.
That’s too bad. Awesome work though! Sorry for the questions: but does minecraft contain npcs ?
@Zephaniahgrey who said, “That’s sorta what I go for when putting stuff together. A lot of the original U6 tiles don’t work in 3D, so I try to draw something that looks like it fits the artwork.”
Yeah, the weird isometric perspective of VI and VII wouldn’t convert unless you tried “shearing” them in a paint program, and even then they may look off. While all the wall tiles would have this problem, the ground tiles should convert okay.
For some time now I’ve wanted to see an Ultima with graphics like that. Nothing too crazy like an Oblivion mod, but more along the lines of the Wolfenstein 3D engine (but with ground and sky textures) with full Ultima IV-VI functionality. I can’t explain it, but a faithful Ultima remake with primitive 3D graphics seems more exciting to me than one with insanely good graphics. It would be like a hybrid of the old-school graphics with a 3D engine.
Anyway, that screenshot above pretty much sums up what I’m talking about, sans trees and water.
@FearYourself Nope, no NPCs yet. Next update, whenever that is. It’ll be a LOT of work updating textures for it, but it will be worth it.
@Santimonia The trees and water have actually been a pretty big stumbling block. Minecraft handles trees in such a way that making them look Ultima-like is pretty much impossible, and Ultima 6’s water just doesn’t convert to Minecraft well. I could do it, but it would look like all the water is flowing, and in a game where water DOES flow it would get confusing. Still thinking on ideas for it though.
The reason I started in on this project was because, for reasons I’ve never been sure of, Minsecraft gives me an Ultima vibe. Maybe it’s the 16×16 tiles, or the exploration, or just the fun I take from it, I don’t know. But I wanted to bring the two experiences closer together, so I started this. Most of the textures ARE floor textures because, as you noted, they convert easily, though I had to do some work because of the way things wrap in 3D here, and I had to “dirty” them up a bit at times to make them look good with as close as we get to see them in a 3D world. I wanted to achieve exactly what you mentioned though, a 3D world with retro Ultima graphics. I also thought about how awesome it would be to have moongates and other Ultima functional stuff, but alas, I am no modder.
I am working on a HUGE map of Sosaria (circa Ultims 4-5) in Minecraft, but that will be a LOT of work, and probably won’t be done before the next update. I wanted something with full on mountains, and a scale similar to a real world. (I love Ultima 6 + 7, but the world seemed to shrink with each iteration) It won’t work like Ultima, but it will look like Ultima. When towns and NPCs are added with the 1.8 update, it will be that much closer. There a still a lot of limitations though.
I haven’t played Minecraft, but from what I’ve seen it looks like Legos. A pixel is basically a cube with 12 polys, and each pixel uses one cube. Texture mapping doesn’t increase the number of polys, of course, but spreads onto or across them.
I’ve seen some trees in Minecraft and they don’t look proper because they’re all blocky. It needs to support billboards or particles, possibly, thought that may defy some basic rule of the way the engine works.
“The reason I started in on this project was because, for reasons I’ve never been sure of, Minsecraft gives me an Ultima vibe. Maybe it’s the 16×16 tiles, or the exploration, or just the fun I take from it, I don’t know. But I wanted to bring the two experiences closer together, so I started this.”
It does have that vibe. I hadn’t felt it until I saw your screenshots, but it reminded me of my old thoughts about bringing Ultima up to a simple 3D engine. It must be done! Just keyboard commands, no mouse or anything.
One of the reasons I like projects like Back to Roots and yours is that they are vigilant efforts to restore order to the anarchy of current games. The world is too crazy and needs chess, Ultima, and similar games.
Maybe that’s why I still haven’t played Lazarus. The graphics are too good! I dunno maybe it’s the laziness although I do take some interest in it.
This looks really good! And personally I think the way minecraft does trees would actually work perfect for ultima!
Good job man!