• I'm looking to set up a permanent island neighborhood. (TBM)(RTB has island maps as well, and road bricks, plus teleporters. If you don't like RTB's island maps, you can download more, or port them from TBM. For this reason, I don't really take maps into account when choosing a mod, since I can get another mods maps anyway if I really want.)
• The best weapons and team options are not my main concern. (TBM has DTB.)(RTB has team options and deathmatch in its own game. You can use teams for more the deathmatches though. Most of RTB's weapons do the same thing, so it loses points there.)
• I want a safe and secure server. (TBM)(RTB. You can still get spammedi n RTB though.)
• Good builder's options, and a wide selection of bricks. (TBM has a bunch of bricks, and paint, as well as decals, and something similiar to the editor wand.)(RTB has a smaller selection of bricks, an editor wand, a movers system, and a decal system as well, although its decal system doesn't support "animated" decals. Its really a choice over brick number.)
• A color palette that stays true to the original "Lego" style. (TBM uses the lego pallete. But there are a bunch of colors, and they have wierd names.) (RTB features the colors of hte rainbow in light and dark colrs, and a few shades of brown.)
• Good vehicles (maybe both mods have the same vehicles and vehicle physics, not sure on this...). (Both mods suck here. I've tried. Torque vehicles = suck, give up on them.)
• Attractive, easy-to-use and customize GUI. (TBM- skin chooser)(RTB, people will tell you its GUI is pixelated, and horrible. Really, its just pink, and its just as pixelated around the corners as TBM's. TBM uses more cradients, and special effects and what not. Again, most of RTB's GUIs are well set up, and if you want a new skin, make your own, or port some from TBM.)
As for adding bricks from TBM to RTB:
Thats a giant no-no. Don't do this unless you want everyone to hate your guts.
No one cares if you port, as long as you don't go around giving it out to people, or claiming its yours. If people do care, they need to reconsider their values. Of course, someone can raise the argument "Why port, when you can just use the mod?"
One downside, is that if you build in TBM, you can't put screenshots in the Blockland.us gallery. So if you are planning on posting builds for everyone to see, replace the textures and take out the watermark. This isn't to debate fairness, I'm just stating what goes on here. So don't quote me on that.
Phatstreet did port an RTB map into TBM, and take pictures far enough away that you couldn't see the little TBM's on the blocks. I don't know if the image is still up or not.
Its about preference, and you will probably notice that my post talks a bunch about porting. I like RTB, and I deal with its short commings, and if you really like RTB and want TBM's stuff, port it. If you don't feel like going through all that trouble, use TBM then.
In respones to another post:
1. Okay, so it seems like TBM is great for builders (with more color choices and bricks). Is it possible to add bricks to RTB, or does this require an update from the makers of the mod themselves?
Yes, you can add more bricks. I haven't done it successfully, and RTB handles its bricks using 3 datablocks, so you won't be able to add many more. Maor and Bleh added bricks. Talk to them, or download their brick packs.
2. Which mod takes the map category?
TBM takes it.
3. I'm wondering if one is more stable than the other. I wouldn't want the mod to disappear any time soon and lose all of my work.
The mods are pretty much equally stable. I've crashed to an error dialog on both. Most of the serious bugs are torque problems. If you use RTB, do not use a quotation mark in your brick messages, or the persistance system will not load completley.
I'm a bit biased, but you asked for an
unbiased opinion, which is an oxy-moron. I hope I balanced out any of the bias I automatically, unfairly, and cruely assumed was in those emails.
I play RTB, and tried hard to put in good stuff about TBM. If it makes anyone happier, I can put in the TBM sales pitch:
TBM includes over 300 different bricks for building, 98 different colors, and a variety of high-quality maps unmatched in the community. TBM now has a deathmatch mod titled "Death to Block (DTB)" Which expands further on The Better Mod's extensive list of features. Recommend TBM to your friends and come try The Better Mod for youself! Try it today for a new era of Blockland.
Here is the RTB sales pitch:
o In-game IRC chat. Now you can chat with everyone who's playing RTB. Push "i" anytime to open the chat window.
o In-game RSS reader means you can get live news feeds from RTB staff members on updates about the mod.
o All new GUI skins, includes a lot of nice flare added to the GUIs.
o New editor wand set up. Hit a brick with the EW, then push ctrl+e to open the EW menu.
o Now you can become a monkey or cat. That makes a total of 4 alternative player models you can use in RTB.
o Dozens of new player accessories have been added, along with a load of new bricks.
o More precise brick moving techniques. You had super shifting before, now say hello to tiny shifting!
o Brick decals! It's a wrench mode.
o Global, team, local, and private messaging abilities.
o MANY more admin options. Too many to list here.
o A bunch of other stuff that Mocheeze can't remember.
If you base your decision off that sort of stuff, go ahead.
