Abandoned Project Application: House Ironsmith by Zanji

[zanji]

Link

 

[DutchGuard]

Great to see someone applying for Ironsmith, carci has done a great job with the terra there so the project is almost entirely terra-free. I would actually prefer if there were no forests at all, or just a few small dense clusters of trees. Just the occasional stunted Hawthorn perhaps, like those found on Dartmoor in the UK. This would be consistent with the barrowlands biome which covers the area between Winterfell, Barrowton, and White Harbour.



Some more feedback:
- I would also suggest a road connecting Ironsmith to the Lonely Kestrel and whamlet2 to the southwest.
- It would also be sensible to include some builds, like an Inn with a blacksmith, along the Kingsroad to capitalise on the road traffic.
- Have you checked the existing topography works for the streams you are proposing? Again I have to stress that the current terraforming is quite up to par and it would be a shame to alter it needlessly.
- Just a reminder that the project boundaries are much larger than what your map shows. That said, you do not have to fill this whole area with stuff or change anything because the terra is already consistently good.

 

[zanji]

I actually didn't know that feature of the dynamp. From what I can tell it wouldn't be possible to have a river going through the lands that would then merge with the one south. At least not without extensive changes in the terrain. What I would imagine is a river flowing north that then merges with the bog there. Something like this:

Oh and another thing:
Is the lonely kestrel still in the ironsmith lands? So would I build around it and integrate into the rest of the project?

 

[FD001__]

View attachment 12773

Link

I really, really like this.

A word about the houses though - you've taken inspiration from blackhouses, a traditional type of house that's existed for a very long time on the west coast of Scotland, around the coast and islands of the Hebrides. There's a specific way these houses are constructed, with thick rubble walls.




Have a look at these images - this shows what I'm talking about. It would be great if you made the walls thicker or just removed that overhanging thatch on the sides, as we can see that isn't what you'd see with the blackhouse. Ofc you don't have to be strict about it - I just thought it might help you .

 

[DutchGuard]

I actually didn't know that feature of the dynamp. From what I can tell it wouldn't be possible to have a river going through the lands that would then merge with the one south. At least not without extensive changes in the terrain. What I would imagine is a river flowing north that then merges with the bog there. Something like this:

Oh and another thing:
Is the lonely kestrel still in the ironsmith lands? So would I build around it and integrate into the rest of the project?

Great, that should work for the streams.

I have no idea who built the lonely kestrel (someone may be able to help out here) but you are welcome to build around it, and if no one claims it as their build by the time you start, you can remove or update it. There is also a watchtower in the bottom right corner of the project boundary near the Kingsroad, same goes for that.

 

[lord_damascus]

The lonely kestrel is in the waterman lands and built by endy. it’s a small inn along the road that will link waterman to the kings road, the land that Zanji will develop works well with my plans for waterman and between the two of us I’m sure we can join the project up via roads and path etc. the lonely kestrel is an up to date built following the new barrow-lands style, hope this helps

 

[zanji]

I really, really like this.

A word about the houses though - you've taken inspiration from blackhouses, a traditional type of house that's existed for a very long time on the west coast of Scotland, around the coast and islands of the Hebrides. There's a specific way these houses are constructed, with thick rubble walls.

View attachment 12778View attachment 12779


Have a look at these images - this shows what I'm talking about. It would be great if you made the walls thicker or just removed that overhanging thatch on the sides, as we can see that isn't what you'd see with the blackhouse. Ofc you don't have to be strict about it - I just thought it might help you .

The problem I see with that is that blackhouses to me don't really fit the sytle of the Barrowlands. I've just used them as insp because I like them. I wanted the houses to look fairly like the already existing style in the region while still maintaining some uniqueness. But that's just my opinion.

 

[FD001__]

The problem I see with that is that blackhouses to me don't really fit the sytle of the Barrowlands. I've just used them as insp because I like them. I wanted the houses to look fairly like the already existing style in the region while still maintaining some uniqueness. But that's just my opinion.

Yeah, that makes sense.

 

[zanji]

Ok, so I have made some adjustments to the map.

White are villages/settlements

There already is a Holdfast in the south inside of Ironsmith lands. But I don't like it so i'd have to remove that one if that's okay.

 

[DutchGuard]

The updated map looks good. I'm happy to approve.

What are your plans for the first men ruins? Iron age hillforts might be good inspo. https://www.heritagedaily.com/2021/03/10-british-iron-age-hill-forts/118900?amp

 

[zanji]

The updated map looks good. I'm happy to approve.

What are your plans for the first men ruins? Iron age hillforts might be good inspo. https://www.heritagedaily.com/2021/03/10-british-iron-age-hill-forts/118900?amp

For the southern ruin I'd use Dunlough castle as insp. I think this kind of elongated style could fit very nicely ontop of the mountain crest.



For the other one I think about the Iron Age Hillforts you mentioned.

Kind of like this but ruined obviously:

 

[AerioOndos]

I'd suggest having the bog iron harvesting in areas where the existing bogs Carci has made suit it. Bog iron can occur in small ponds and at the bottom of lakes too. If a spring passes through an iron ore vein on its way to the surface, some of that iron is deposited along with sediment. The bog iron harvesting is more so pulling up loads of that iron rich silt than than working with a drained pool and pickaxes. After finding a new pool like 'source' there'll likely be A shovel or even just sacks and sieves are better than a pick. Bog iron is semi-renewable. When a new source of bog iron is found, it might actually be peat with high iron content. I doubt this is the case considering the long term settlements in the region.

What I'd suggest is having a pool with red plaster, Iron and mud at the bottom with water covering it but only 8:5 or 8:4 high water covering it. that way the iron is still visible but its still realistic.
Also, I'd use dun or sandstone, rather than stormlands bricks for the furnace.

 

[FD001__]

I'd suggest having the bog iron harvesting in areas where the existing bogs Carci has made suit it. Bog iron can occur in small ponds and at the bottom of lakes too. If a spring passes through an iron ore vein on its way to the surface, some of that iron is deposited along with sediment. The bog iron harvesting is more so pulling up loads of that iron rich silt than than working with a drained pool and pickaxes. After finding a new pool like 'source' there'll likely be A shovel or even just sacks and sieves are better than a pick. Bog iron is semi-renewable. When a new source of bog iron is found, it might actually be peat with high iron content. I doubt this is the case considering the long term settlements in the region.

What I'd suggest is having a pool with red plaster, Iron and mud at the bottom with water covering it but only 8:5 or 8:4 high water covering it. that way the iron is still visible but its still realistic.
Also, I'd use dun or sandstone, rather than stormlands bricks for the furnace.

Also, it would be good to see historical evidence of peat cutting across the Ironsmith lands - like large chunks of land cut out in rectangular blocks where the peat has been cut away gradually over time.

It takes years for peat to grow back (decades at least), so you'd have continuous harvesting in a spot for hundreds of years. Rather than multiple little scars of harvested peat across the land. Of course I assume you're looking into this anyway.

 

[zanji]

I'd suggest having the bog iron harvesting in areas where the existing bogs Carci has made suit it. Bog iron can occur in small ponds and at the bottom of lakes too. If a spring passes through an iron ore vein on its way to the surface, some of that iron is deposited along with sediment. The bog iron harvesting is more so pulling up loads of that iron rich silt than than working with a drained pool and pickaxes. After finding a new pool like 'source' there'll likely be A shovel or even just sacks and sieves are better than a pick. Bog iron is semi-renewable. When a new source of bog iron is found, it might actually be peat with high iron content. I doubt this is the case considering the long term settlements in the region.

What I'd suggest is having a pool with red plaster, Iron and mud at the bottom with water covering it but only 8:5 or 8:4 high water covering it. that way the iron is still visible but its still realistic.
Also, I'd use dun or sandstone, rather than stormlands bricks for the furnace.

Should I make a test for this?

 

[AerioOndos]

yeah, quickly tinkering to create something like that would be good.

Also I didn't explain the renewable aspect. the bog iron at the bottom of the body at water replenishes slowly as more is brought from the spring. approx once a generation harvest is enough to be worthwhile.

 

[zanji]

I've played around a little and got these results:


Water height 8:0


And water height 8:1


I didn't want to go lower with the water height because everything below 8:1 looks like shit. But ingame you can very clearly see the iron deposits with 8:1.

 

[Jakethesnake8_8]

I’d recommend using Carc’s bog script (which might be the same as the river gradient, I’m not entirely certain) for consistency’s sake. Plus his script is great quality terra.

edit: here’s the thread Thread 'Tutorial: Bog Script'
https://forum.westeroscraft.com/threads/tutorial-bog-script.2876/

 

[zanji]

Would be something to look into. I'm not a big fan of the duckweed tho, so I'd probably leave that out.

 

[zanji]

Bump

 

[EStoop]

I recommend not to deviate from the established style of bogs, regardless of personal preference. Using more or less the same script/style as carci used in the Neck would help greatly to tie the regions to together.

Assuming the feedback provided by Dutchguard and Aerio will be applied this project is approved by me ;-)