Someone asked how do …. “you make blocks”?
So, I thought I would give you a little insight on how metouto goes about making blocks for Terasology.
But I would like to say at the start … this is not the only way and it is neither a right or wrong way to make blocks it is only metouto’s way to make blocks. It may work for you or it may not that is what you will have to find out for yourself with a lot of trial and error like I had to do.
1) The first thing that you will need to do is download a copy of “GIMP” or “Paint.NET”. The reason for this is twofold. One you need a program that is able to do “Transparent background” and number two (and best reason for me) they are free to use.
2) The second thing you will need is some good reference sites. Because I am trying to make 3D images of Dwarf Fortress stone, ore, minerals and rock layers but not copy the same thing they have I use these reference …
a) http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Main_Page
b) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minerals
c) http://geology.com/
d) http://www.mii.org/commonminerals.html
3) Then you have to open you program of choice and decide what size the block will be and open a new block to that size. In Terasology we use 16 pixels X 16 pixels so that is what all my blocks tend to be.
4) Once I get the pixels at the size I want them, I try to run my view up to about 1600%. Then I can see what I am doing.
5) Go and find a stone, ore, minerals and rock
6) Read as much as you can about that rock, ore, gem, or mineral as you can because you will (if you are making blocks for Terasology) have to have a definition for that block when you put it into a program called “IntellJ” to move it over to github to get it into the game (but that is another story for another time
).
7) Now, when I find a picture or image of that rock I copy it and move it into my program through edit and past. But you have to make sure that the image that you are go to be useing does NOT have a copyright attached to it. If it does you can NOT use it.
8) After you have read everything and pasted an image into your program then pick an area from that image that goes along with all that reading you just did and with the “image crop” tool crop that section. Keep in mind that if you are making a Block for Terasology that you don’t have “recurring” patterns in the area that your chose to crop. Also look and see if the edges of the block are “smooth” so all blocks fit together well when shown in the game.
9) The next setp would be to take the image and resize to your pixels again and save it somplace until can move it to "IntellJ" and then to "GitHub".
These are 9 steps that you could take to make a block for Terasology. Believe me if I can learn to do it anyone can learn to do it. I might have made 40 or 50 blocks (sorry I have lost count ) for Terasology and I have learned something new with each one I make.
Do I still have things to learn … you bet.
Are there still tools in the programs I have yet to use … you bet.
Are there better block makers then me …you bet there are.
But I am better than I was 39 or 49 blocks ago and I am proud of EVERY SINGLE BLOCK I HAVE MADE.I will never back down from that because I tried .... I was able to do something that I thought impossible for me to do .... and in doing the impossible I learned NOT everything in this old world is impossable .... if you try
So, you ready to jump in and see what you can do here at Terasology? Why not take a baby step and go download one of those programs I have been talking to you about … you never know where they may lead you.
until next time,
metouto
So, I thought I would give you a little insight on how metouto goes about making blocks for Terasology.
But I would like to say at the start … this is not the only way and it is neither a right or wrong way to make blocks it is only metouto’s way to make blocks. It may work for you or it may not that is what you will have to find out for yourself with a lot of trial and error like I had to do.
1) The first thing that you will need to do is download a copy of “GIMP” or “Paint.NET”. The reason for this is twofold. One you need a program that is able to do “Transparent background” and number two (and best reason for me) they are free to use.
2) The second thing you will need is some good reference sites. Because I am trying to make 3D images of Dwarf Fortress stone, ore, minerals and rock layers but not copy the same thing they have I use these reference …
a) http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/Main_Page
b) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minerals
c) http://geology.com/
d) http://www.mii.org/commonminerals.html
3) Then you have to open you program of choice and decide what size the block will be and open a new block to that size. In Terasology we use 16 pixels X 16 pixels so that is what all my blocks tend to be.
4) Once I get the pixels at the size I want them, I try to run my view up to about 1600%. Then I can see what I am doing.
5) Go and find a stone, ore, minerals and rock
6) Read as much as you can about that rock, ore, gem, or mineral as you can because you will (if you are making blocks for Terasology) have to have a definition for that block when you put it into a program called “IntellJ” to move it over to github to get it into the game (but that is another story for another time
).7) Now, when I find a picture or image of that rock I copy it and move it into my program through edit and past. But you have to make sure that the image that you are go to be useing does NOT have a copyright attached to it. If it does you can NOT use it.
8) After you have read everything and pasted an image into your program then pick an area from that image that goes along with all that reading you just did and with the “image crop” tool crop that section. Keep in mind that if you are making a Block for Terasology that you don’t have “recurring” patterns in the area that your chose to crop. Also look and see if the edges of the block are “smooth” so all blocks fit together well when shown in the game.
9) The next setp would be to take the image and resize to your pixels again and save it somplace until can move it to "IntellJ" and then to "GitHub".
These are 9 steps that you could take to make a block for Terasology. Believe me if I can learn to do it anyone can learn to do it. I might have made 40 or 50 blocks (sorry I have lost count
) for Terasology and I have learned something new with each one I make. Do I still have things to learn … you bet.
Are there still tools in the programs I have yet to use … you bet.
Are there better block makers then me …you bet there are.
But I am better than I was 39 or 49 blocks ago and I am proud of EVERY SINGLE BLOCK I HAVE MADE.I will never back down from that because I tried .... I was able to do something that I thought impossible for me to do .... and in doing the impossible I learned NOT everything in this old world is impossable .... if you try
So, you ready to jump in and see what you can do here at Terasology? Why not take a baby step and go download one of those programs I have been talking to you about … you never know where they may lead you.
until next time,
metouto
