@Varrok
Well the blur is a matter of opinion but I have done a less blur'd one, and changed it on my site too, so here you go:
before:
after:
as for the 1024 x 1024 base texture, the way the texture works is its tiled, so the 'stone' objects actually have a texture denser than 512 x 512, so bumping it up to 1024 x 1024 wouldn't change much really, you can't tell its tiling so its been successful.
The 'hive' object has a 512 texture on it but because this is NOT tiling the pixel density on screen is lower than the rocks, if you look you can see its more pixelated than the other objects around it, but sush! I didn't tell you that
as for apps, this was made using
3ds max for 3d modeling, normal map and
AO map creation
Photoshop for textures,
Zbrush for 3d sculpting,
nDo2 for some normals stuff such as the base texture.
but their are other good option such as Maya for 3d and Mudbox for sculpting, don't over look these!
@Fartuess I think with JAW having the original assets and textures. they'll do a far better job than any of us.
I might post some work in progress pictures of this,
I tend to print screen and save out my progress as something to look back on.