Minecraft Texture Packs Minecraft Resource Packs
If you ever wondered how Minecraft would look without the jagged edges and with triple-A game graphics quality, the Roundista resource pack gets very close to that visualization. Released in March of 2022, it’s one of the newer packs that managed to attract the attention of the Minecraft community mostly due to its very ambitious style that utilizes some of the latest rendering techniques. The creator, Shivamzter, already has experience with resource pack development, and it seems like Roundista is well on its way to becoming his most successful project to date. While there are numerous HD packs out there, Roundista is unique in its very specific compatibility with various shader packs. It has been designed in compliance with the LabPBR standard that allows resource pack developers to encode specific information for each texture, which ultimately makes the game look much better and true to life. When you first join the world with Roundista enabled, you’ll notice the increased depth in every single texture. This is made possible with the use of Normal Maps, a computer graphics element that is designed to simulate 3D objects. This is why you’ll be able to notice bumps, scratches, and grooves in various blocks such as oak logs, cobblestone, bricks, and so on. Although these elements can be noticed in the nature biomes, they’re much more prominent once you enter the mines and start exploring. Another large feature concerns the lighting effects. Full metal blocks, such as copper and iron, are highly reflectable and shiny. Other blocks have their own corresponding finishes – matte, glossy, metallic, etc. All of this Roundista is able to achieve with the help of various techniques such as Specular Maps, Subsurface Scattering, Porosity, and others. This means that, for example, one and the same build can look completely different depending on how light or dark it is.
This gives you a lot of freedom as far as creativity goes – a single Glowstone block or a torch can change the complete appearance of your Minecraft home. Solid blocks aren’t the only ones that have undergone a change. Water has been completely transformed – it has a whole new ripple effect that is unlike anything you’ve seen before. The dynamic water reflection is incredible, and the blocks on top of it look like they’re going to sink down. Even single-block water sources have realistic effects, which means that your farm is going to look pretty awesome once you start using the pack. Even with all of the aforementioned features, keep in mind that Roundista is still far from finished. Currently, the pack is around 50% done. This means that many of the blocks won’t be able to display these enhancements, but updates are regular and come out on a weekly basis. Currently, the pack is available only for Minecraft Java and it comes with built-in support for Optifine and Iris. As far as versions are concerned, Roundista comes in three different resolutions – 128x, 256x, and 512x. However, only the lowest one is available for free and in a demo form. The two higher-resolution versions can either be bought for a one-time fee or on a subscription basis. While the price is fairly steep, you also get access to the developer’s two former resource packs, access to premium add-ons, Discord perks, and so on. When talking about performance, Roundista is one of those resource packs that require a high-end computer to truly shine. The developer himself suggests using LabPBR-compliant shaders to get the most out of it. Although you can use the pack standalone, the depth of the textures and all fancy effects are going to be much less prominent. The 3D appearance of the terrain relies on lighting processing, so don’t be surprised if the pack looks totally different than what you see in the pictures. Also, make sure to follow the official installation steps to avoid any issues since Roundista is a work in progress. All things considered, this is one of the most promising resource packs out there. Even at this stage, it’s better than a lot of fully finished releases, and there are still plenty of new features to come. If you have a fairly modern PC, you should definitely give it a shot.
