Misa's Realistic Hi-Res HD Minecraft Texture Pack (64 x 64)
Misa's was the first high definition realistic style texture pack
I ever tried with Minecraft, but that was many moons ago and the
texture pack has evolved considerably since that time as Minecraft
has moved from Alpha into Beta, so it is time to look at it again.
There's a danger that the older texture packs might be forgotten in
the rush towards new and better things, but Misa's Realistic HD
texture pack has been updated to 1.5 and is definitely a texture pack
you'll want in your inventory if you have even the slightest leaning
towards realism in your game.
I remember finding it a very jarring experience when I first looked at realistic HD texture packs. They were too edgy, too gritty, too much for a simple gamer accustomed to 16 x 16 textures. But we've all matured since then and now that it is possible to patch your game so that you can swap between a great many different texture pack resolutions, a nice HD pack is pretty much a given.
So, what's new with Misa's Realistic HD Texture pack? Well the
Nether is for starters. Nether didn't exist when this pack first came
out. I made a special trip to the under world to check out how Misa's
Realistic pack handles it, and it turns out that it handles it every
well, though I'm still not a great fan of the Nether because it's
just so easy to get lost in.
My exploration to the nether revealed a few new points of interest. Misa's netherrack looks like intestines, but lava looks amazing, there's a very realistic viscosity to it that is pleasing to the eye, and it's neither too retina burningly bright or overly dark. Glowstone I'm not a huge fan of, but that's because I prefer modern style reskins of glowstone that make it look more like a flourescent light. The gauche gold leaf effect in the default pack (and this one) offends my eyes.
In another significant change from the earlier iterations of this
texture pack, fonts have been given an HD face lift, which works well
with the overall updated textures. It always looked remarkably silly
to have slick, hi res textures with 8 bit fonts plastered all over
them.
Another game element that didn't exist when Misa's Realistic HD texture pack came out is the bed. True to form, a remarkable job has been done with it and the bed looks incredibly inviting. I just want to slip into its creepery comfort. Dogs are also new, and skinned very realistically, which I suppose is what we've come to expect. Misa's dogs are Husky hybrids with a penchant for bandannas around their necks.
Convinced yet? Allow me to make a closing statement. For a well maintained, realistic HD texture pack, you'd be hard pressed to go past Misa's.