Runic is just a blocky half-assed set of one<i/> type of wall, and two or three trims. (Oh, and wizmet1_2.) Creative designs in runic maps are usualy limited to maybe an angled doorframe or perhaps a bevel of some sorts in a corner. The atmosphere in a runic map spans the enitre breathtaking spectre of Dark whatever with lava to Dark whatever with glowing red runes. The success of mixing and matching other sets with runic just stands to show that runic is a poor texture scheme with no engaging theme on its own.

Idbase on the other hand has a plethora of assorted walls, trims, floors and details that can give birth to an orgasmic frenzy of themes that all give a strong sense of place and atmosphere. To make a level designed in idbase look good, it depends on the author being creative with angles, trims and details, making neat insets and details that match up with the decidedly un-angular designs of the textures. The atmosphere can span anything from a dark underground laboratory with claustrophobic corridors linking up deplorable, dark rooms where unmentionble experiments take place, to lofty bunker complexes, washed out and bleak from the blasting sun that throws its thin and fumbling rays into deep bowels covered in dust and echoing with the howling of wind.

And I also agree with scampie regarding the lovecraft wankers bit. Lovecraft wrote horrificly tedious stories about... well, who knows, he never let us know!!! 

tags = teh s4wk 

The defined edges of the textures mean the mapper must use them in good alignment, unlike runic's use by 'slapping these things randomly on blocks and moving on'. Idbase's grace and beauty cannot be denied when used with skill.

http://xen.quakepit.com/e3m1.jpg 

Runic. It offered a refreshing alternative to Quake's trademark brown; grey! 

Noone ever said the original id maps were exactly masters of texture alignment...
Idbase's grace and beauty cannot be denied when used with skill like it isn't in that pic. 

Creative designs in runic maps are usualy limited to maybe an angled doorframe or perhaps a bevel of some sorts in a corner.

And giant penises. Duh.

And the fact that runic doesn't require you to use the same repeating panel textures at high grid numbers is freeing. It's like walking around your house in the nude, except you don't get cold in the winter. 

You calling Romero unskilled?

WELL?!

ARE YOU?!!?!? 

I think he is... 

<cheap shot>
Daikatana.
</cheap shot> 

I take that back.
It's a bit low, even for me... 

It's like walking around your house in the nude, except you don't get cold in the winter.

Double windows. 

I do see your point :-p 

If not for idbase, Quake would be just a random mishmash of evil and incoherancy

Um... Oh I can't be arsed to say it. 

<TastyPie> czg anal intrudes cows tight ass btw 

I hear you guys have really small dicks. 

but at least we don't stick them in domesticated animals 

The Base is where it all begins and attention to alignment is a must to make convincing base maps. I like well made Base maps.

However, I vote for Runic because Quake is about going against one's better judgement and with conviction leaping into portals that launch you well away from human occupied territory and into the hot magic bowels of fiery environments made by purely evil minds who have no safety codes to follow. The complementary enemies of this tex scheme is what defines Quake, IMHO. 

technically, Start is where it all begins... 

The success of mixing and matching other sets with runic just stands to show that runic is a poor texture scheme with no engaging theme on its own.

bollox... or a series of grammatical errors and you actually meant "it is a fine texture scheme that, while having an engaging theme of its own, also allows for thematic expansion by successfully combing with other texture sets"

Metal 4 eva 

czg is gay and runic rules 

personally I think runic is good on average to above average looking maps (architecture wise), for more complex stuff, idbase looks better IMHO. 

I could count the number of original idbase maps on one hand. One hand with no fingers. 

one? 

I personally think it's okay if a map artist uses idbase textures if he's making a military installation, and runic textures if he's making a dark medieval environment. I personally consider it very important that the artist either have some idea of what he's going to do before deciding on a texture set, and then chooses textures based on that (ie Well, I'd like to make a dark hellish dungeon with iron bars and bloody walls, but I've already decided on idbase, and that could fit... ;P ); or, the mapper picks a texture set he likes and lets the ideas flow from there (ie, I feel like runic today), but does so without blind bias.

If you want to make a military installation, but are morally opposed to using idbase, then you're on your own for textures. There are many textures out there that are admittedly way better than idbase, but they may not fit your theme, if you can even find what you want. Idbase is both classic, and easy to get a hold of. It's ugly as sin, but that can be cleverly disguised by proper use. Runic to me is boring, and it has a tendency to make me immediately feel bored, tired, lost & confused, and often makes me have to squint to see it. It does this because that's how I felt when playing the original ID1 maps that got past M4-5 in episodes 3 and 4. I'd just get lost and bored. And all too many custom maps that use them insist on making the map so dark I can't see where I'm going anywhere that doesn't have lava. However, I've seen runic textures used perfectly, creating an environment that grabs my interest on first sight.

So I don't think either texture is better than the other. It all comes down to creativity and skill of use.

But enough middle-manning. It's time to take a stand. When asked whether I prefer ID base or Runic, I choose... something else, usually.

Really, I like RPG's maps, Mr.Fribbles' maps, czg's maps, and a whole host of others. Some use idbase, some use runic, but most use whatever the hell fit their needs. Some even use a combination, if that fits their needs.

And in a pinch, I'd pick ID Base, because I really like millitary installations. They're more "atmospheric" and "intimidating" to me than what's being passed off as a hellish alternate universe. I enjoy games like Dino Crisis partly because they have so many 'more-modern than rocks and sticks' military/industrial facilities, which I recognize immediately and tend to relate to more. When I'm in a runic environment, stuff just seems silly to me. Structures are just there to look good or direct movement etc.

The same could be said by someone else, but in reverse. I don't deny that, but I do have my opinion. 

E M B R A C E T H E B A S E

let us not foget the CRATE'S native theme!!!