_zombiehunter's

"Better than Default"
texture upgrade for default Minecraft

v1.6

Last updated:

08.07.2013

Compatible Minecraft versions:

1.6.2

Contents:

- Basic Information

- How to install

- Troubleshooting

- List of included features

- Legal & Contact

- Changelog

| Basic Information

What is that ?
This texture upgrade for the default resource pack of Minecraft is a good compromise between "keep Minecraft faithful" and "make Minecraft more realistic", so it's someting like a "default-realism" texturepack which replaces some default textures with improved ones and adds more intense colors, more variety and more advanced texture features to the game. Using this pack doesn't change the game's overall appearance, but Minecraft looks better and more realistic in several ways and some of the default textures will be more useful with "Better than Default".

What are the main features of this pack ?
It adds a bunch of improved textures (water, lava, fire and portal animations, several blocks and items, GUI elements, the sun, moon, paintings, armor, ...), not few of them with increased resolution. It also adds a better readable HD in-game font, full Custom Colors support to tweak many hard-coded color settings, random skins for some mobs, camouflaged Creepers, connected and random terrain textures, more realistic glass rendering and a complete new HD skybox to the night sky. For a more detailed list of the features, see below.

What do I need to install ?
Depends on how much features you wanna use. Even an unmodded, clean Minecraft installation allows you to enjoy many features included in "Better than Default". For a full-featured "default-realism" experience, you should always install the latest MCPatcher !

Can I use Optifine instead the Patcher ?
All the additional, non-vanilla texture features of this pack are designed work with the latest MCPatcher. You can try it with Optifine too, but don't blame me if anything doesn't work!

| How to install

1.) Download the latest MCPatcher here:
http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1496369-

2.) Be sure to use a clean, unmodded Minecraft installation. When patching, check the following:
- Extended HD
- RandomMobs
- Custom Colors
- Connected Textures
- Better Glass
- Better Skies

3.) Copy the whole "Better than Default" zip-file to the resource packs folder of Minecraft (un-zipping the file is not necessary)

4.) Start the game, open Options / Resource Packs, select "Better than Default", click "Done" and enjoy !

| Troubleshooting

I have a problem concerning "Better than Default": [insert your problem here], what did I wrong ?

Very simple. You've most likely NOT followed the installation instructions !

The pack was installed correctly, but all the water is grey. Intended feature or did I something wrong ?

Not intended, the water should have biome-specific colors. First, clean your Minecraft installation, patch it again and make sure to have "Custom Colors" checked. If the mod is not active, you're very probably using an outdated MCPatcher version.

The pack was installed correctly, but the night sky lags or is completely white. What's wrong ?

This happens most likely because of memory issues. First, shut down memory-consuming background applications you currently don't need. Also, update your Java, your video drivers and if you run a 64-bit OS, try to allocate more RAM to Java (Google is your friend). If nothing helps, you should disable the "Better Skies" mod when patching Minecraft.

| List of included features

Feature name | Short description
Features availaible using a clean, unmodded Minecraft installation
HD Font | Adds better readable in-game font with 4x resolution
Adds new SGA font to Enchantment GUI (doubled resolution)
HD Sun and Moon | Adds more realistic sun (4x resolution)
Adds ultra-HD, quite realistic moon (16x resolution !)
HD Rain and Snow | Adds HD rain/snow (4x resolution)
HD Logos | Adds HD Mojang logo to loading screen (2x resolution)
Adds HD Minecraft logo to title screen (4x resolution)
HD Paintings | Adds faithful, high-resolution paintings (4x resolution)
HD Water Blur | Adds high-resolution water blur (4x resolution)
Better Darkness Blur | Allows a slightly better view in dark areas and underwater
HD Icons | Changes in-game map icons to be in 4x resolution
Changes GUI icons and bars to be in 8x resolution
GUI Improvements | Adds better looking "mouse-over" effect for menu buttons
Adds better looking achievement and potion effect pop-up windows
Adds some improvements to the main inventory bar
Adds several small tweaks to the Creative Mode GUI
Gives the Beacon GUI a completely new appearance
Adds some tweaks to the Anvil, Enchantment Table, Trading, Brewing Stand and Horse GUIs
Main Menu Splash Texts | Adds some new splash texts and removes boring ones (reduced overall amount to 100, resulting in a 1% probability)
Better Grass Colors | Adds a better, less pale color palette to grass
Improved Block Textures | Adds improved textures for Snow, Ice, Beacons, Iron Bars, Bricks, small and giant Mushrooms, Pumpkin Lanterns, Melons, Ferns, Cobwebs, TNT, Glowstone, Coal Blocks, Lapis Lazuli Blocks and Brewing Stands
Makes pale wool blocks more colorful
Re-adds the old, better looking Iron Blocks known from Alpha/Beta
Adds more crystalline Diamond Blocks, more similar to Emerald
Made tripwires look more like placed string instead placed pebbles
Adds better textures for iron doors, wooden doors and trapdoors
Gives the last growth stages of wheat a more realistic color
Improved Item Textures | Adds better looking items for Doors, Signs, Paintings, Repeaters, Comparators, Glowstone Dust, Ender Eyes, Nether Stars, Splash Potions, XP Bottles, Compass, Clocks and Maps
Adds ultra-HD items for most 3D entities (Minecarts, Boats, ...)
Improves colors of all diamond and gold items
Slightly improves the colors and appearance of music discs
Adds better looking armor items and armor inventory slot icons
Centers all oddly placed items for a better appearance in inventories
Better Animations | Adds better looking animations for water, lava, fire and portals
Adds ultra-HD clock dial/compass needle for smoother movement
Animated Blocks and Items | Adds fire and glowing animations to lit furnaces
Adds red pulsing animation to Monster Spawners
Adds a tweaked, animated Command Block texture
Adds bubble animations to bottles inside a Brewing Stand
Adds animated XP orbs inside XP Bottles
Better Redstone Stuff | Slightly improves the appearance of Redstone Blocks and Wires
Addes more useful textures for Repeaters, Comparators, Redstone Torches and Detector Rails
Adds improved Dispenser and Dropper output textures
Adds more useful, high-contrast Redstone Lamps
Better XP Orbs | Adds better looking, high-resolution XP Orbs (4x resolution)
Better Explosions | Adds a more realistic explosion animation (2x resolution)
Better Mobs | Adds tweaked skins for cows, Mooshrooms, chicken, wolves, bats, Villagers, Skeletons, Zombie Villagers, Endermen and Blazes
Adds new skins for Creepers, Slimes, Iron Golems and ocelots
Better Signs | Adds a better looking, cleaner skin to the sign model
Better Ender Crystals | Adds better looking Ender Crystals and a better crystal beam
Better Beacon Beams | Adds a better looking, golden colored beam for active Beacons
Better Armor | Adds complete new, better looking armor (2x resolution)
HD Creeper Charge | Adds HD animation for charged Creepers
HD Wither Armor | Adds HD Wither Armor animation
Better Enchantment Books | Adds better looking HD enchantment books with readable SGA text
Better Chests | Adds better skins for Trapped Chests and Enderchests
Better End Background | Adds complete black, better looking background for The End
Additional features when using a correctly patched Minecraft installation
Connected Textures | Connects glass blocks, jungle tree logs, Chiseled Stone Bricks, Redstone Lamps, Hardened/Stained Clay and Nether Portal blocks
Connects bookshelfes and bricks horizontally
Connects sandstone, vines and sugar canes vertically
Better Glass | Adds a new, more realistic render method to glass blocks/panes
Adds a more realistic, translucent texture to glass surfaces
Random Textures | Adds random textures for Bedrock, Stone, Stone Slabs, Gravel, Grass Blocks, Tall Grass, Mycelium, Ice, Sand, Dirt, Clay, Obsidian, Netherrack, Soul Sand, Sandstone, Glowstone, Lapis Lazuli Blocks, Lily Pads, Dead Bushes, Cobwebs and to connected bookshelfes
Adds random textures for all ores (60 different textures altogether)
Adds 8 different translucent glass surface textures
Fixed Textures | Adds thin lines between all glass panes
Adds separate bottom textures for pumpkins and melons
Gives buttons and pressure plates a more outstanding appearance
Adds a workaround for MC-1451 to Birch Logs and Hay Blocks
Custom Colors | Adds better foliage colors, especially to swamp trees
Adds biome-specific block colors (sand, gravel)
Adds biome-specific water and water particle colors
Adds biome-specific fog colors and static blue sky color
Adds more contrast between on/off state Redstone wires
Adds better fitting colors for Spawner Eggs
Makes pale sheep fur more colorful
Add better firework particle rendering and more intense colors
Random Mobs | Adds biome- and height-specific camouflage skins for Creepers
Adds random skins for chicken, cows, zombies and Mushroom Cows
Adds fix for dark mushrooms on the back of Mushroom cows
Animated Mob Skins | Adds blinking-eyes animation to cows, Mooshrooms, sheep, pigs, wolves, cats, ocelots, chicken, doneys, mules, villagers and witches
Adds fire animation to the heads of Blazes
Animated Enderchests | Adds portal animation visible inside Enderchests
Better Skies | Adds a complete new, more realistic HD skybox to the night sky

| Legal & Contact

You can change or use the included features in any way you want, you don't have to ask me for permission. I'm OK with people using my pack to make texture presentation videos or even to make their own texture/resource packs, but please add a reference including my name and a link to my forum thread !
You're not allowed to ...
... make any money off my stuff ! (no donations, no adf.ly links, ...)
... upload my pack anywhere else !
... use any features I took from other texturepacks without the permission from the authors !

I've permission to use textures from the following texturepacks:

- Misa's 64x64 Realistic Pack
  Used parts: Water, lava, fire and portal animations (downscaled, colors changed), rain and snow textures, HD water blur, the Minecraft logo, the XP/boss health bars, map icons, XP orbs, a tweaked version of the HD Wither painting, the explosion animation (downscaled from 4x to 2x resolution), the charged creeper and Wither armor animations

Best credits to Misa for her amazing 64x64 HD pack, it's currently one of the best HD texturepacks available in public. Please support her by downloading her pack from this forum thread:
http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/69354-

CONTACT:

Bee free to contact me if you've got any important(!!!) questions or suggestions.
- Contact adress: zombie.hunter@gmx.at
- Contact languages: English or German

| Cangelog

v1.6 | 08.07.2013 | 6.94 MB

- Converted the pack to the new resource pack format of Minecraft 1.6

- Converted all MCPatcher related features to make use of the new internal file structure
  (all MCPatcher features internally separated from vanilla resource pack features)

- Fixed villager trading menu showing wrong arrow icons after villager refuses further trading

- Added Connected Textures support for Nether Portal blocks (now with darker, diffuse borders)

- Added additional Random Textures support to connected bookshelfes (16 textures altogether)

- Some pixel-tweaks to the random dirt textures

- Added Health Boost and Absorption effect icon

- Added horse health and jump boost bars

- Added blinking-eyes animation to donkeys and mules

- Tweaked the Horse Spawner Egg colors

- Added new horse armor textures in 2x resolution compared to default

- Added new horse armor items, better fitting the new armor

- Chanaged the armor/saddle slot icons in the horse GUI to fit the shape of the respective items

- Added some missing Minecraft Realms GUI elements

- Some minor tweaks to coal blocks

- Added Connected Textures support for Hardened Clay and all types of Stained Clay

- Added a workaround for MC-1451 to Birch Logs and Hay Blocks using CTM method=fixed

- Reduced amount of title screen splash texts to 100, also replaced some with new ones

v1.5 | 13.03.2013 | 4.80 MB

- Converted the pack to the new Minecraft 1.5 texturepack format

- Reduced the size of the moon by 25% to give it more realistic proportions

- Clearly improved the firework particle colors to be more intense

- Added a better texture for the Redstone Comparator

- Tweaked the Redstone Repeater texture to fit with the Comparator

- Added new Comparator and Repeater items, better fitting the block textures

- Added new skins for Trapped Chests with better hidden differences to normal chests

- Some improvements to the flowing lava animation (smoother, less stuttering than before)

- Painting item upscaled to the same resolution as paintings

- Some minor tweaks to the in-game font (M, N, W, X, Y)

- Increased resolution of the "SIGN" text on sign items

- Some minor changes to the inventory bar

- Some minor improvements to the Dispenser/Dropper output textures

- Revamped Brewing Stands (more intense colored blaze rod, bottles more detailed and with bubble animation)

- Added better clock and compass textures, showing dial/needle in 16x resolution for smoother movement

- Made diamond blocks, tools and gems more bluish to better fit the diamond ore and armor

- Nerfed the color of gold blocks, tools, apples, melons, ingots and nuggets to be less pale

- Added ultra-HD items for most 3D entities, giving them a better and more realistic appearance in inventories
  (affects Minecart, Boat, Flower Pot, Hopper, Cauldron, Brewing Stand, Item Frame, Skull, Bed and Saddle items)

- Added some color variety to lily pads, centered and tweaked lily pad item

- Music disc "11" with a new appearance, better fitting the other discs (because you cannot play a broken disk)

- Some tweaks to the colors of the other music discs

- Revamped Splash Potion item, now with a more "explosive" appearance

- Changed Bottle o' Enchanting to look like a Splash Potion filled with Experience Orbs, also animated them

- Some improvements to the Brewing Stand GUI

- Revamped the Blaze skin and added fire animation to the head

- Centered nearly 100 oddly placed items to give them a better appearance in inventory slots

- Added a more colorful map item

- Some improvements to Redstone Blocks and Redstone Wires

- Added Connected Textures support for Redstone Lamps

- Added Connected Textures support for bricks (horizontal), now showing corner bricks

- Added Random Textures support for cobwebs (4 different textures)

- Slightly reduced brightness of the glint animation of enchanted items/armor

- Revamped iron/wooden door and trapdoor textures to better fit the appearance of iron/wood blocks

- Changed iron/wooden door items to fit the new appearance of doors

- Added better Detector Rail on/off state textures (now showing a small pressure plate)

- Added Random Textures support for Nether Quartz Ore (8 different textures)

- Added Minecraft Realm status icons, slightly tweaked colors

- Altered the main menu background panorama to fit the packs current appearance

v1.4 | 26.10.2012 | 3.18 MB

- Tweaked the default Command Block texture, also added rotating dot animation

- Added black HD health bar icons for "Wither effect"

- Altered default Wither Skeleton skin to fit with the pack's Skeleton skin

- Added new Item Frame item, better fitting with placed 3D model

- Added new skull items, better fitting the pack's mob skins

- Added blinking eyes animation to witches

- Completely redesigned Nether Star item

- Added completely new, better looking beacon texture

- Tweaked the beam of beacons to be golden colored

- Beacon GUI revamped to have a completely new, better looking appearance

- Increased resolution of HD Minecraft logo on title screen from 2x to 4x

- Updated all leather armor stuff to properly work with the new coloring system

- Changed clothes of Zombie Villagers to better fit with normal villagers

- Removed tab shifting from Creative GUI, shortened tabs a bit and made inactive tabs darker

- Added better looking HD Wither armor animation (4x resolution)

- Slightly darkened Enderman skin, also tweaked their eyes to have a more intense purple color

- Revamped the skin of bats to give them a more realistic appearance

- Adjusted colors of the new Witch and Bat Spawner eggs to better fit with the respective mob

- Changed colors of Enderman, Zombie and Zombie Pigman Spawner Eggs

- Revamped most parts of the sign model to give it a cleaner and more "sign-like" appearance

- Altered the sign item to fit with the new appearance of signs

- Removed the thin lines between glass blocks, but thicker borders of glass surfaces still visible

- Removed Connected Textures feature from glass panes and added thin lines between all panes instead

- Added Better Glass support for glass blocks and panes, using a more realistic, translucent glass texture

- Added Random Textures support for the translucent texture part of glass (8 different textures)

- Added Random Textures support for gravel (4 different textures)

- Tweaked random stone textures to reduce lattice effects a bit

- Added new, more detailed Cobweb texture (doubled resolution)

- Added new, more irrgegular and more intense blue texture for Lapis Lazuli Blocks

- Added Random Textures support for Lapis Lazuli Blocks (8 different textures)

- Altered random Glowstone textures to appear more "glowing", being much brighter than before

- Altered Glowstone Dust item to fit with the new appearance of Glowstone blocks

- TNT blocks revamped, now showing more intense colors and the "TNT" text in doubled resolution

- Did some tweaks to the Anvil GUI

- Tweaked the sky color and the respective fog color to be sligthly more intense blue

- Added a faithful HD version of the new Wither painting (4x resolution)

v1.3 | 16.09.2012 | 2.93 MB

- In-game font changed from 2x to 4x resolution to be even better readable

- Many tweaks to the in-game font, even to special charakters like â, @, &, ......

- Tweaked coloring of the last three growth stages of wheat to be more realistic

- Tweaked fade in/out times of stars to be less sudden

- Remade nighttime skybox from scratch (stars smaller, better looking and more realistic)

- Added new animation for flowing water (faster and with more contrast)

- Added biome- and height-specific Creeper camouflage skins (7 new skins)

- Added blinking-eyes animation to cows, Mooshrooms, sheep, pigs, wolves, cats, ocelots, chicken and villagers

- Some smaller tweaks to the skins of wolves, chicken and villagers

- Added Connected Textures support for glass panes

- Added CTM textures for all buttons and pressure plates to give them a more outstanding appearance

- Added Random Textures support for Sandstone tops (8 different textures)

- Added Random Textures support for Obsidian (8 different textures)

- Added Random Textures support for Glowstone (8 different textures)

- Did some minor pixel-tweaks to Cobblestone and Mossy Cobblestone to reduce lattice effects

- Several pixel-tweaks to the obsidian pattern of Enderchests to reduce lattice effects

- Lít Furnaces tweaked and animated

- Added red pulsing animation to Monster Spawners

- Added new, revamped achievement and potion effect pop-up windows

- Several tweaks to the Creative GUI (shadows for tabs, search bar black, Creeperface for item destroyer)

- Tweaked the colors of the ecnhantment selection buttons in the Enchantment Table GUI

- Did some tweaks to the villager trading GUI

v1.2 | 21.07.2012 | 2.39 MB

- Tweaked all mushroom/giant mushroom textures

- Fixed mushrooms on the back of Mushroom Cows to be less dark

- Added new, brown variant of Mushroom Cows

- Added new, more realistic skybox to the night sky

- Added Random Textures support for Gold Ore (8 different textures)

- Added Random Textures support for Iron Ore (8 different textures)

- Added Random Textures support for Coal Ore (8 different textures)

- Added Random Textures support for Diamond Ore (8 different textures)

- Added Random Textures support for Redstone Ore (8 different textures)

- Added Random Textures support for Lapis Lazuli Ore (8 different textures)

- Added Random Textures support for Emerald Ore (4 different textures)

- Added Random Textures support for Bedrock (4 different textures)

- Added Random Textures support for Dirt (8 different textures)

- Added Random Textures support for Sand (8 different textures)

- Added Random Textures support for Stone (4 different textures)

- Added Random Textures support for the sides of Stone Slabs (4 different textures)

- Added Random Textures support for the top/bottom of Stone Slabs (4 different textures)

- Added Random Textures support for the top of Mycelium blocks (8 different textures)

- Added Random Textures support for Clay blocks (4 different textures)

- Added Random Textures support for Netherrack (8 different textures)

- Added Random Textures support for Soul Sand (8 different textures)

- Added complete new, better looking armor with doubled resolution

- Added new armor items better fitting with the new armor

- Added new, better looking inventory armor slot icons

v1.1 | 20.06.2012 | 1.54 MB

- Added better tripwires, looking more like placed string than the default texture

- Supplemented doubled resolution SGA font to the HD Font feature

- Added better looking HD enchantment book showing readable SGA text !

- Added better looking items for doors, signs and paintings (better fitting with models)

- Added more useful repeater texture showing the number of adjusted delay stage

- Added better Redstone Torches (also removed protruding texture parts)

- Added better looking Repeater item

- Added Random Textures support for grass blocks, tall grass, lily pads and dead bushes

- Darkened all grass textures a bit (gives a "greener" appearance in-game)

- Fixed the sides of snowy grass blocks showing a different dirt pattern than normal grass blocks

- Made Ferns slightly darker

- Added tweaked skins for cows, mooshrooms, chicken and skeletons

- Added new skin for Creepers (better camouflaged in Plain and Wood Biomes) and less pixelated Slime skin

- Added better ocelot and Iron Golem skins (golem skin better fitting with the "crafting" ingredients now)

- Added RandomMobs support for chicken (4 different skins, being 50% the default one)

- Added RandomMobs support for cows (4 different skins, being 25% the default one)

- Added RandomMobs support for zombies (6 different skins, 10% of zombies have a pumpkin head now)

- Vertical CTM sandstone textures tweaked (clearly reduced lattice effects)

- Added Connected Textures support for Smooth Sandstone (connects vertical)

- Added Connected Textures support for Chiseled Stone Bricks (useful for building pillars now !)

- Added new, better looking texture for ice blocks

- Added Random Textures support for ice (gives ice a more realistic appearance)

- Fixed lattice effect on snow (removed the ugly line on one of the texture edges)

- Added more realistic HD sun (4x resolution) and moon (16x resolution !)

- Added better looking, more purple Ender Eye item

- Tweaked End Portal Frames to fit with the new Ender Eye texture

- Added new, better looking Ender Chest skin

- Added portal animation visible inside Ender Chests

- Nether portal animation changed from 16x16 to 32x32 resolution

v1.0 | 09.06.2012 | 1.09 MB

- Added HD rain and snow

- Added HD logos

- Added HD paintings

- Added HD water blur

- Added better darkness blur

- Added HD map and HD GUI icons

- Added better looking "mouse-over" effect for menu buttons

- Added HD XP orbs

- Added more realistic, HD explosion animation

- Added better looking Ender Crystals and better crystal beam

- Added better looking, HD animation for charged Creepers

- Added Connected Textures support for jungle tree logs

- Added Connected Textures support for bookshelfes (horizontal)

- Added Connected Textures support for sandstone, vines and sugar canes (vertical)

- Added better looking and more useful glass texture

- Added Connected Textures support for glass

- Added better looking animations for water, lava, fire and portals

- Added better readable, HD in-game font

- Added biome-specific colors for grass, foliage, water, sand, gravel and fog

- Added more contrast between on/off state Redstone wires

- Added better looking background for The End

- Adjusted the colors of spawner eggs to better fit with the respective mob

- Made color of wool blocks and sheep fur less pale

- Made the clock dial and compass needle more discerning

- Made Cobblestone and Moss Stone slightly darker

- Re-added the old iron blocks and added a new, more crystalline texture for diamond blocks

- Added better colored iron and coal ore

- Added better colored brick texture

- Revamped pumpkins and melons, also added a seperate bottom texture via CTM

- Added better looking and more useful iron bars

- Added more useful Redstone Lamps with high contrast between on and off state

- Made ferns look a bit more like real ferns