BlueJackdaw Builder Application

[BlueJackdaw]

What is your Minecraft username?
UltimateBlue1

What is your age?
21-24

In what country are you living?
United Kingdom

Where did you first hear about WesterosCraft?
Youtube

What do you like the most about GoT/ASoIaF?
I started reading ASOIAF when I was 12, and one thing I've really enjoyed is the online community surrounding it. From theories to fan art, it's clearly a testament to the books themselves and how much content and enjoyment you can get out from them. Whilst the books aren't perfect, one thing I've always liked is that whilst dark and bleak, they are never hopeless - such as Brienne fighting hopelessly in the rain to defend children, or Bran's thoughts that Winterfell will survive, even after its burning.

What is your favorite build on our server?
I really enjoyed exploring Highgarden! I'm a sucker for a 'fairytale castle', and I think the balance between a palace and a castle has been really nicely demonstrated in the build. I love all the little touches of detail in the maze.

Why do you want to join our server?
I've always enjoyed building in Minecraft, though I haven't been able to do it as often as I'd like whilst I've been at university. I've got an exceptionally long summer break this year, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to get back into building and learn from lots of talented people. I really like the idea of focusing the builds around realism, for example, have to bare in mind the local environment, culture, and the occupation and status of the inhabitants.



Did you follow the application rules?
You know nothing, Jon Snow

 

[CashBanks]

Hey BlueJackdaw,

Thanks for completing this application, great to see you've had a chance to explore the server, we're particularly proud of Highgarden (I helped with designing the maze so glad you're a fan).

Nice work with replicating the application house, and I like the small touches you've made to added to help it fit into the region (watch out for those zombies though!).

As I hope you can tell ,we try to put as much detail and signs of life as we can into every single building on the server. Hopefully through this application process you'll see how this approach is carried across our different projects and styles.

You're off to a good start and I'm looking forward to seeing what you make next. For your first challenge build, please make a Low Class Farmer's house in the style of /warp tarbeck and share screenshots of it in this thread.

Take note of commonalities between the houses (block mix, shape of roof, size of house, interior blocks, attic spaces, mezzanine platforms) and make a house that would fit into the Tarbeck town. It would be great if you could add a yard to it too.

If you haven't already, you can take a look at the Basic Building Guide for some more tips.

Please take your time to study the style in detail, and make sure to ask if you have any questions on the above feedback or the Tarbeck style.

Good luck!

 

[BlueJackdaw]

Heya, great to hear back from you so soon!

Thanks for the feedback on the house - the human head zombies are very creepy. I've attached some photos of my Tarbeck house to this. I went for a couples farm house, with a little yard and a side line in tailoring and mending clothes round the back. Let me know if there are any issues seeing the screenshots.

 

[CashBanks]

Hey Bluejackdaw,
Thanks for completing this Tarbeck style house, you've done a really nice job.

I don't have much feedback as I think you've captured all the important elements. All the interior details look good and appropriate to a low class house and it's a good use of space. The choice of blocks looks consistent with the Tarbeck style as well.

My only small note was in regards to the kitchen block, when using these multi-sided utensil blocks we try to use half doors/other blocks so that only one side of the block is visible (so it's not as obvious that it's replicated on all sides and avoids the implication they have heaps of knives).



Otherwise, great job overall though.

For your next challenge, please build a middle class professional house in the White Harbor style of /warp gullsgate (the general style in the sprawl outside the main city walls). Houses in large towns will usually have a profession on their on the ground floor and residence upstairs, take a look at the styleguide at the /warp oldstyleguides and the finished houses in the White Harbor area for inspiration, and give the house some kind of profession that would make sense in White Harbor (e.g. carpenter/cooper/blacksmith/boat builder, netmaker etc).

Good luck!

 

[BlueJackdaw]

Cheers for getting back to me.

Thanks for the feedback - really glad to hear that everything else was okay with the house.

I've attached some pictures of my White Harbour build - I went for a salting and processing raw meat and fish workshop, with a couples living space above and a small yard. I've attached the photos to this comment.

 

[CashBanks]

Hey Bluejackdaw,
Nice work with this White Harbor butcher, you've captured the look and feel of the city and identified the blocks we used to built it.

My one small note is just on the roof tile block, it looks you've mixed it some basalt cobble blocks, whereas I believe the standard WH style typically just uses the basalt brick blocks. It's a small nitpick and it's understandably tricky when you're trying to replicable styles from multiplayer across to singleplayer so don't sweat it!

For your next (and tentatively final) challenge, it would be great if you could build a middle class professional house in the style of /warp hgtown. As with the White Harbor house, it should have a profession on the ground floor and residence upstairs and you can chose a profession that would make sense around Highgarden/the Reach (e.g. carpenter/wine merchant/tailor/blacksmith) and a yard would be great as well. Take note of the shape of the roof and what kind of blocks would suit a middle class house (nothing too lavish).

Looking forward to seeing your work!

 

[BlueJackdaw]

Hey CashBanks,

Sorry for the delay - I was travelling, but I've attached screenshots of my High Garden Jewellery maker/middle class house. Thanks again for the feedback - I was a bit worried about the cobblestone not being completely right. I intended my High Garden house to be end of terrace - which is why the left side of the roof ends so suddenly.

Let me know if there are any issues accessing the screenshots.

 

[CashBanks]

Great work Bluejackdaw! You've really nailed all the small details and made a charming jeweler.

Only small tip is we usually add a oak plank carpet block on top of the fence post to account for this gap in the connection with the clothesline.


I think at this point you'll learn more from being an actual builder, so consider yourself approved!

Please make sure to read the New Builder guide here: https://westeroscraft.com/wiki/guides/new-builders-guide

The next step is to make a probation thread in the Probation Forum. You can start building at any open locations on the server - you can find a list of these at /warp build, although it's sometimes outdated, so I would also recommend just asking people in-game and checking the forums for recent project happenings.

You can also toggle open plot markers on the dynmap mc.westeroscraft.com

A Probation leader should post on your thread within a week or so and continue to give you constructive feedback on your houses for the next month (and help be your entry point into the server community in general), although as sometimes the probie leaders are busy IRL you may need to be patient while they find the time to respond to you. But message me again if a probie leader hasn't contacted you within two weeks, or if they're taking a while to respond.

I would also encourage you to seek feedback from project leaders and other builders/mods. At the end, you'll be made full builder assuming everything goes smoothly.

I'd suggest you also start thinking about what projects you might like to work on, we encourage new builders to first work on "mini-projects" which are small one off areas of other projects, e.g. a hamlet, mill, quarry, and flagged as open for mini-apps by the project leader. Once you've done a few of these you'll be able to apply for a full project.

Make sure to stay in touch and let us know if you're losing interest, not finding enough work to do, or if there's any issues with the probation.

All the best and see you in Westeros!