Server Resource Pack

A sample of John Smith textures

Throughout the first year or so of the Dogcraft Server, a Server Resource Pack was in use. This meant players were prompted to download and use a pack that changed the textures of the world. The pack used on the Dogcraft Server was the modified version of John Smith Legacy that ReNDoG used on his Let's Play Minecraft series.

Modifications

Players celebrate the completion of Grannydog's monument and opening of the End dimension. This screenshot shows the custom gold block texture.

The modifications were made by an unknown Dogcraft.net forum member for ReNDoG and they changed the texture of gold blocks to use a golden brick texture, which was designed to compliment the aesthetic of Grannydog's Monument; a golden structure to honor the passing of Rendog's grandmother that became a feature of his world. A super-scale version of the monument was later recreated by community members on the Server, positioned above the roof of Spawn Station on the first Survival world.

Pack usage

From the launch of the server in September 2015 through to late 2016, the pack was enabled on all worlds of the server; Survival, MCMMO, Amplified & Skyblock; as well as the various Minigames available at the time. Since players were prompted to use the pack every time they joined (unless disabled or rejected), the pack was widely used and this is why many screenshots taken during early server history are taken with the pack installed. A number of players on the server opted to not use the pack and instead use vanilla textures or a different pack; players would often cite long download times and lagginess when joining putting them off from using the server resource pack.

Discontinuation

The number of players who opted to not use the pack had grown by late 2016. By 2017 and with the release of Minecraft 1.11 and subsequent server update the resource pack was either switched off or broken, likely due to it not containing up-to-date textures as well as ReNDoG's own gradual move away from the pack. Furthermore, the upcoming release of Minecraft 1.12: World of Color was set to change the colors of wool and dye, which led to players installing preview wool color textures to ensure their builds would not look ugly due to the texture changes when the server updated. This led to a phenomenon whereby players would identify which pack their build looked best in, sometimes leaving signs and notices to inform visitors. Other builders opted to update builds with Vanilla textures in mind. By the release of Minecraft 1.12, most players had abandoned the use of John Smith on the server.

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