5cubes

[smally]

Just thought i'd start up a thread for everyone to say what they think about the 5cubes contest.

If you don't already know what 5cubes contest is well... It's a contest for mappers to see who can make the coolest map out of, you guessed it, 5 cubes (vertex manipulation is allowed).

I've been having helluh fun making these small 5cube maps. And i've downloaded several of the good ones and it is really amazing what some of the entries have done w/ just 5 brushes. Anyway lots and lots of fun if you wanna take a break from your current project and knock out a couple of quick 1-2 hour maps.

Oh, and heres the link...
http://www.planetunreal.com/teamvortex/5cubes/

[G-Man]

Yeah, I bumped into that contest a few days back. Pretty cool idea. I should probably download a few of the maps to see what they are like...

[Claymore]

yeah, it's really really cool! I already submitted 6 maps! :)

[[MUTTS] Das]

OK...now I'm sure I'm starting to get a little annoying about this...but I think it's still an important point....and feel free to thrash me....

I looked at a bunch of the 5-cubes maps and saw that very few, if any, were using custom textures. I think they'd be perfect for this contest, since the file sizes will be small and it will be very difficult to set the "look" of the maps apart from each other.

I think it's the perfect scenario to use custom textures to give each map it's own look and feel....

So anyway, you probably know my site is Texture Universe (http://www.TextureUniverse.com)

But, even if you don't want to use my stuff, there are plenty of custom textures available through the links section.

So go get 'em! I swear, as a UT player... if I see those Coret, Orbital, or Egypt textures in another map I'm going to go insane! Unless the architecture is amazing, many maps just leave you with the same feeling. I think the ones that will endure will really have something new to offer.

If you think I'm totally out of line with this, please feel free to flame me.... :) Or, if you agree, please let me know as well.

There are great maps out there...original maps....but I think, for the amount of files coming into NaliCity, some custom texturing would really add to them quite a bit....and this contest is perfect for it since you're limited in other ways.


Scott :) :) :)
Texture Universe (http://www.TextureUniverse.com)

[G-Man]

I'm behind you 100% on that one. I'm in the process of making my first map and one of my problmes is decent textures. I have however downloaded a lot of maps and mods and they have had some extra textures in them. I'm also using some textures from Deus Ex on my map, some of the Deus Ex ones are REALLY sweet.

I'm going to go and check out you links section. I'm not sure how long I will be mapping for so I don't want to lay down money for your CD, sorry :(. Actually one thing I like about mapping is it is the first hobby that I ahve started that's pretty much free (after you buy the computer, and UT of course!)

[G-Man]

BTW, what's with UNDULATION, I load up that page and all I get is a pic of a card board box with no links, I'm I missing something?

[[MUTTS] Das]

Hey dude....

Hmmmm....as for the CD, well....that's only meant as an option for people. There are probably 40+ textures on the site that you can use and are free downloads and if you click on the thumbnails, you can preview how they'll look tiled. I'm adding about 5-6 more textures tonight....anyway....I have a hard time imagining people not being able to find a use for all of that stuff.

http://www.textureuniverse.com/media_previews/pipes6lights.jpg

http://www.textureuniverse.com/media_previews/skullsrocks.jpg

I hope people do use them, since it would suck to spend a few hundred hours making all of this stuff, only to have it unused. Overall, the feedback has been great though. I just think this is a perfect chance to use this type of thing. :) :) :)

I don't know about Undulation...I know that he's doing a redesign, but I haven't been on the site lately...it's probably in-progress.

Regards,

Scott
[muTTs] Das
Texture Universe (http://www.TextureUniverse.com)

[[MUTTS] Das]

One other thing....keep in mind, Deus Ex textures are copyrighted and are meant for Deus Ex. Game developers usually hate it when people import their work for their game into other games, since the art and environments are a big part of what attracts people to the other games in the first place. On my site, I advocate people using textures from other games....but only CUSTOM textures, not the stock ones. Copyright is a tough thing to enforce in this digital world, but when artists (like myself) spend so much of their own time and money on providing people with something for free, respecting copyright is a pretty simple agreement. Developers and professional artists make their salary off of their textures, so they have a serious interest in keeping them out of other games.

Game developers won't always try to shut people down for practical purposes, but taking stock textures from other games opens you up to that type of criticism and legal difficulties. The safest thing to do is to exploit the 100s of custom textures out there.


Regards,

Scott
[muTTs] Das
Texture Universe (http://www.TextureUniverse.com)

[eh]

some of those maps look like they use more than five brushes, with all those indentions in the walls and designs.

[Claymore]

eh, that's the trick. make it look like you're using heaps of brushes, when it's only 5 you actually use.

[smally]

Hey G-man,
Just to add to MUTT'S response to your texture post, in addition to the Deus Ex textures alot of the people that use custom textures in their maps can be rather touchy about others using them. Usually they don't mind as long as they are given proper credit for them on your map. But if you are using alot of them it can be hard to track down who's are who's. You can check the read.me files that came when you d/l-ed the map to see if you can find the author. But probably the best thing to do is get your textures off of a site like MUTT'S where you know there won't be any problems.

[[MUTTS] Das]

Yes, agreed...

For the most part, only a ReadMe credit is required for using my textures (as per the usage terms on the site). That's so people know to get the textures from the site and read those terms, rather than ripping them out of texture packs.

It's very difficult to bridge the gap between providing "royalty-free" art to the community while still keeping that art from being traded as public domain, which it is not. Every texture I make probably takes 5 hours to create, so you could see how someone would be protective over how those textures get distributed.

I'm a big advocate of people using them to create new, inventive environments...that's their whole purpose...but as an artist, you want to retain a measure of control over how people are obtaining your work. :) :) :)

So check 'em out, use 'em, and let me know where I can see those pretty textures in a map :)

Regards,

Scott
[muTTs] Das
Texture Universe (http://www.textureuniverse.com)