ContraBlonde
Bookbinder
Approved Project Application: Wickenden Redo
- Thread starter Emoticone11
- Start date
-
The Spring 2023 edition of The Rookery is now out! Take a look to see the latest builds, guides, progress and development updates on the upcoming 1.18.2 switch. You can read it here:
https://indd.adobe.com/view/f943da18-ed77-4d55-845d-fee9bfa14247
Jakethesnake8_8
Firemage
- Pronouns
- he/him
Approved! I think you can get started with plotting now. I'd probably start with the central hamlet and laying out rough shapes for the fields. Please let me know progress periodically so we can make adjustments as things start to come together.
- Pronouns
- he/him
Quick suggestion to create a road (or route of some sort) connecting Wickenden to the Eyrie through the mountains beyond Croneswick. Something like this:
Can stop at the border but just thinking of a future Eyrie lands update when we can connect it.
Edit: Presumably this is either an impractical route for an invading force, or as heavily defended as the eastern road. On that note it may also be worth adding some defences along the road to Saltpans.
Can stop at the border but just thinking of a future Eyrie lands update when we can connect it.
Edit: Presumably this is either an impractical route for an invading force, or as heavily defended as the eastern road. On that note it may also be worth adding some defences along the road to Saltpans.
I've thought about this idea when I was making the forest, but decided against it due to the canon about the High Road being the only accessible entry point to the Vale. Though, the croneswick area is super secluded. If there's anything there at all, it should just be a small desire path.
Note that currently the only way to get into the proper Vale of Arryn other than the Bloody Gate is through a mountain pass west of Hardyng, which connects it to Ironoaks, Redfort, Runestone, etc.
I didn't have in mind many defenses in Wickenden, due to the Vale's history of neutrality. But I think some on the Saltpans-Wickenden road can be added by whoever ends up doing Saltpans.
Note that currently the only way to get into the proper Vale of Arryn other than the Bloody Gate is through a mountain pass west of Hardyng, which connects it to Ironoaks, Redfort, Runestone, etc.
I didn't have in mind many defenses in Wickenden, due to the Vale's history of neutrality. But I think some on the Saltpans-Wickenden road can be added by whoever ends up doing Saltpans.
- Pronouns
- he/him
With regards to the canon on the high road, here is what I've managed to find (all quotes from WoIaF: Vale):
I think the implication between these two significant quotes is that the high road is the only road which connects the Vale to the rest of Westeros. That in mind, the road I am suggesting is entirely within the Vale, and can easily dodge the canon restrictions.
In any case, I think it is necessary to introduce some kind of natural feature or man-made fortification which makes the coastal routes impassable.
At the moment there is very little to stop an army from marching on Wickenden in the south or Newkeep to the north. Why take the treacherous high road when you can just skirt along the pleasant coastline?
The Vale has a history of neutrality because it's so well placed among natural defenses (like irl insp Switzerland). And if they are so neutral, why would Saltpans be building defenses against it?
I think the implication between these two significant quotes is that the high road is the only road which connects the Vale to the rest of Westeros. That in mind, the road I am suggesting is entirely within the Vale, and can easily dodge the canon restrictions.
In any case, I think it is necessary to introduce some kind of natural feature or man-made fortification which makes the coastal routes impassable.
At the moment there is very little to stop an army from marching on Wickenden in the south or Newkeep to the north. Why take the treacherous high road when you can just skirt along the pleasant coastline?
The Vale has a history of neutrality because it's so well placed among natural defenses (like irl insp Switzerland). And if they are so neutral, why would Saltpans be building defenses against it?
Yeah, that's a reasonable interpretation. I don't think a trafficked road would make sense in that location, though; it's a densely forested valley travelled mostly by occasional visitors to the hermitage/septry.
I have a fortified bridge planned at /warp wdhf2, and some completed/WIP holdfasts at /warp wdhf1 and /warp blondybottom along the road.
I think I misinterpreted you as proposing makeshift fortifications (palisades, etc.), which I don't really see a reason for given the Vale's neutrality in the war.
- Pronouns
- he/him
It would, however, be the most direct route between Wickenden and the Eyrie, surely it would be at least semi-regularly travelled? Even if the Eyrie isn't a hub for trade, surely there would be regular visits by the nobility. At the moment, the Eyrie is completely cut off from the rest of the Vale, surely that can't be right?
I did have man made structures in mind, but the neutrality thing makes sense. A natural feature is a better fit.
Well, there is currently the pass west of Hardyng that I mentioned. Lords from Wickenden would have to pass through Ruthermont, and then through Redfort. It's a bit of a trek, but no further than the route that lords from Runestone and Gulltown would have to take to get to the Eyrie.
- Pronouns
- they/them
I am in favour of the above idea, that the Lords of Wickenden take a longer route to go through the Hardyng pass. It would be brilliant to have a small possible route though, even if there is not a path over it
"Let's say, hypothetically, that Emote has been working very hard on this project recently. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that Emote has, in fact, been working hard and has finished everything at Wickenden. Ok, and hypothetically speaking, if Emote has finished Wickenden, then it logically follows that he's done with the project. In fact, Emote is done with the project before New Years, just as he claimed he would be. Am I not correct?"
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Indeed, I'm happy to announce that I'm finished with Wickenden! However, it's a bit premature to call it done - the project has been going on for quite a while (since 2016 at least), and some of the earlier parts of the project are unfortunately showing their age. I'd like to spend some more time future-proofing the project and improving some of the older bits before I call it done. Here's an approximate list of what I plan to do:
Castle
- Redo / heavy update
- I plan to preserve some of the iconic elements (exterior and interior) as best I can, and will keep the overall Castle Marksburg inspiration.
- I'll probably downsize the castle a bit, or at least make some elements look less chunky.
- I want to place the new castle on top of a glacial drumlin, which would be consistent with the glacial features I've added around the project and also I think would create a much better sight than the current flat castle.
Town
- Minimal changes. I'm still happy with the town. Just touching up the interiors a bit, unless anyone thinks heavier revision should be done.
Hamlets Redhill, Rosepool
- Updating house styles; better timber frame patterns and touching up interiors.
- Probably will change rooves to the hipped roof style that I've been using in the newer hamlets.
- Might redo the apiaries around the hamlets, to have the bee skeps on a few shelves rather than scattered randomly around the enclosure, but not sure yet.
Hamlets Tallowshire, Blondybottom, Waxbridge
- No changes, recently completed.
Forests
- Adding cushion moss to some rocks.
- Adding terrainset slab/stair/wall variants to rocks.
Mountains
- Adding terrainset slab/stair/wall variants in some areas (definitely not the entire things, just particular views or along paths).
- Experimenting with adding striations with Perlin noise; did some tests of this a little while ago and it looked promising, but need to play around with it a bit more.
I'll be focusing on finishing some of my KL remaster stuff in the coming weeks, so if any of my approving mods (or anyone else) has any feedback on these update plans, please let me know. Also, feel free to start with post-approval on the aspects of the project with no/minimal changes that I mentioned.
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Indeed, I'm happy to announce that I'm finished with Wickenden! However, it's a bit premature to call it done - the project has been going on for quite a while (since 2016 at least), and some of the earlier parts of the project are unfortunately showing their age. I'd like to spend some more time future-proofing the project and improving some of the older bits before I call it done. Here's an approximate list of what I plan to do:
Castle
- Redo / heavy update
- I plan to preserve some of the iconic elements (exterior and interior) as best I can, and will keep the overall Castle Marksburg inspiration.
- I'll probably downsize the castle a bit, or at least make some elements look less chunky.
- I want to place the new castle on top of a glacial drumlin, which would be consistent with the glacial features I've added around the project and also I think would create a much better sight than the current flat castle.
Town
- Minimal changes. I'm still happy with the town. Just touching up the interiors a bit, unless anyone thinks heavier revision should be done.
Hamlets Redhill, Rosepool
- Updating house styles; better timber frame patterns and touching up interiors.
- Probably will change rooves to the hipped roof style that I've been using in the newer hamlets.
- Might redo the apiaries around the hamlets, to have the bee skeps on a few shelves rather than scattered randomly around the enclosure, but not sure yet.
Hamlets Tallowshire, Blondybottom, Waxbridge
- No changes, recently completed.
Forests
- Adding cushion moss to some rocks.
- Adding terrainset slab/stair/wall variants to rocks.
Mountains
- Adding terrainset slab/stair/wall variants in some areas (definitely not the entire things, just particular views or along paths).
- Experimenting with adding striations with Perlin noise; did some tests of this a little while ago and it looked promising, but need to play around with it a bit more.
I'll be focusing on finishing some of my KL remaster stuff in the coming weeks, so if any of my approving mods (or anyone else) has any feedback on these update plans, please let me know. Also, feel free to start with post-approval on the aspects of the project with no/minimal changes that I mentioned.
- Pronouns
- she/her
lol of course you announce you're done with Wickenden as soon as I press send on the Rookery 
I actually was debating whether to suggest it for the rookery or not, but since it'll take a bit longer to do the updates I figured it'd be more appropriate for next issue
Enah
Skinchanger
I don’t understand, wickenden can’t be finished, it is as it has always been.
I guess you could say I'm Wicken-done now
Gonna make a longer post in a couple days, just want to get it in time to solicit shader pics for the upcoming Rookery!
Gonna make a longer post in a couple days, just want to get it in time to solicit shader pics for the upcoming Rookery!
- Pronouns
- she/her
Don't forget to submit the wiki entry so I can have some text to use
I've submitted the wiki entry here. With that, I open the project to post-approval. I'll need another mod to help post-approve it alongside Veggie , since Ramen stepped down.
I didn't really finish the mountain/forest updates that I mentioned above; the reason for this is that I plan to continue working on the Southeast Vale as a megaproject (I guess it's not exactly a secret at this point), and I'd rather do those in one batch to make sure it's consistent.
Besides that, I tried my best to update and future-proof the older parts of the project, including a full redo of the castle and some more minor changes to the town and surrounding hamlets. Nonetheless, please do let me know if anything still seems outdated. Some of the ships around the harbour are borderline outdated, but seeing as I have no shipmaking skills myself, I'll likely commission some new ships from ship builders when they have time and swap them out in the future.
Please leave any post-approval feedback in this thread rather than in-game melons!
Finally, I'd like to thank all the people who helped with the project. Shymon and ContraBlonde , collaborating with you on your minis and watching those areas come to life was genuinely one of the most fun parts of the project for me. The same, of course, applies to the hamlet lead by red way back in 2014/2015. EStoop , although I ended up taking your hamlet off of your hands, it was still a massive help to have your initial plotting in place. Thanks thecoddfish for the awesome knight's holdfast; it looks great from every angle. And thanks to all the countless builders who helped with houses in the project! Even though I can't list you all, I probably still remember which house(s) you made.
I didn't really finish the mountain/forest updates that I mentioned above; the reason for this is that I plan to continue working on the Southeast Vale as a megaproject (I guess it's not exactly a secret at this point), and I'd rather do those in one batch to make sure it's consistent.
Besides that, I tried my best to update and future-proof the older parts of the project, including a full redo of the castle and some more minor changes to the town and surrounding hamlets. Nonetheless, please do let me know if anything still seems outdated. Some of the ships around the harbour are borderline outdated, but seeing as I have no shipmaking skills myself, I'll likely commission some new ships from ship builders when they have time and swap them out in the future.
Please leave any post-approval feedback in this thread rather than in-game melons!
Finally, I'd like to thank all the people who helped with the project. Shymon and ContraBlonde , collaborating with you on your minis and watching those areas come to life was genuinely one of the most fun parts of the project for me. The same, of course, applies to the hamlet lead by red way back in 2014/2015. EStoop , although I ended up taking your hamlet off of your hands, it was still a massive help to have your initial plotting in place. Thanks thecoddfish for the awesome knight's holdfast; it looks great from every angle. And thanks to all the countless builders who helped with houses in the project! Even though I can't list you all, I probably still remember which house(s) you made.
- Pronouns
- they/them
Rather than include forests that need updating in a SE Vale mega-project, why not make it part of the Gulltown Sprawl? that way it gets absorbed into an already existing megaproject-like system that is also easier to rationalise.