Might and Magic 6, 7 & 8 Texture Archeology - Finding MM6/7/8's texture sources

[Wadmooddeer]

I've been thinking about starting a texture archaeology thread for Might and Magic VI, VII & VIII, where one would take a deep look into the texture sources used for the sixth, seventh and eighth installments of the mainline RPG series.

With the release of MM6, NWC/3DO used relatively available 3D modeling software to create the models for the sprites for the enemies and friendly NPCs. This graphical style was also used for MM7 & MM8 and to a lesser extent Heroes 3 & 4. The programs used during the development that have been confirmed to make the graphics include as follows:

Fractal Design Painter 5.0
Fractal Design Detailer
Kinetix 3D Studio MAX (for the scope of MM6, 7 & 8, versions 1.0 to 2.5)
MetaReyes
ClothReyes
Alias PowerAnimator
Bones Pro
Character Studio
Physique

These programs were also probably used for the Wall, Floor and Ceiling textures scattered throughout MM6, 7 & 8. The only other source confirmed for the textures is the Stephen King coffee table book Nightmares in the Sky. An example being D7colum & D7trim1 from MM6 being sourced from one of the photos from the book. It's possible that the other textures were sourced from Stock Photo CDs and other coffee table books (or even other books as well) released in the mid-1990s, but as of now this can't be confirmed.

As far as we know, all other texture sources are likely lost to time unless one had the curiosity to get in touch with one of the 3DO/NWC artists (i.e. April Lee, Larry Elmore, Louis Henderson, Steve Wasaff, Steve Jasper, Phelan Sykes, Tracy Iwata, Rebecca Christel AKA R.F. Reil, Mark Winterbauer, Brian Kemper, Boris Vallejo, John Estle Gibson IV, Kenneth Jomson Jr, Jeff Bigman, George Almond, R. Christel-Riel, Adam McCarthy, Frank Frazetta & K. Talanay) regarding what other 3D modeling programs were used in the development of MM6, 7 & 8.

Texture Archaeology in of itself is still in its infacy, as mysteries regarding the original source of textures for any of your favorite games have yet to be uncovered. To be fair, it's a common practice for game studios to source textures from 3D Graphics software or Texture/Photo CDs, which is the case with many console games of the fifth, sixth & early seventh generation.. I bet a couple of us could find the original sources used for the textures, by looking through the files from the 3D graphics programs listed above and probably other 3D Graphics software made in the mid to late-1990s. Now for obvious reasons, we can't provide links to abandonware software or CDs due to the forum's policy against Warez links, so instead an animated GIF image comparing the MM6/7/8 texture and the original texture sources should be used.

Hopefully we can get some answers regarding Might and Magic 6, 7 & 8's textures.