ChewyMan125 Builder Application

[ChewyMan125]

What is your Minecraft username?
ChewyMan125

What is your age?
17-20

In what country are you living?
United States

Where did you first hear about WesterosCraft?
Reddit

What do you like the most about GoT/ASoIaF?
I am mostly a show watcher (currently reading AGOT) and I guess what I love about the series (before the last two seasons) is how it was able to create such a complex web of plots and relationships that had potential to influence where the story as a whole was going. It created great set up, and while it more than fumbled at the finish line, it's clear that if in the hands of more caring writers, the story would have finished ten times the strength. The show also had some fantastic designs, and while they didn't always align with what GRRM wrote about regarding some wardrobes or locations, I feel all of them more than worked (save for show Highgarden and Casterly Rock) and were iconic for good reason.

What is your favorite build on our server?
My favorite build on the server has to be The Red Keep. That well known picture of it and King's Landing are the reason I heard of the server a few years ago, so in a sense it has a place as my favorite for that reasoning, though I just love how complex but also rational it is. It has a bunch of twists and turns everywhere, and so many elevation differences, defenses, and buildings and it never fails to keep one's mind stimulated when exploring it. Pretty much every build on this server is heavily detailed, but the Red Keep's size allows for so much more. It all makes sense too, which is more important. It feels lived in and you don't have to stress your imagination to enjoy it.

Why do you want to join our server?
For one, I really like the community. If there has ever been any toxicity that I've witnessed, it's been so scarce I've forgotten about it. Everyone seems nice, fun, and creative. Another reason is that I just love the builds. So much detail and realism is found in here, and there's such a variety of styles with all of the regions feeling seamless. Up until I downloaded this launcher, I've only really played vanilla, so I have a lot to learn with using the custom blocks with pallets and details and such and I am eager to learn it and get experience. I really like the idea of being a part of this mammoth project that's full of good folks in it's community. This server inspired me to pick up ASOIAF after I finished the show, and also I like the idea of reading the books as I help build that very world.

Tell us about your build.
So my build is based on a generalized style of The Reach. It uses Reach Cobblestone, Reach Bricks, Reach Light Stone, and Light Stone as it's main pallet, with a thatch roof supported by oak plank blocks on the interior. It's a very rural little homestead. A peasant class, maybe lower middle class, family lives there and they grow carrots, turnips, and herbs for personal use in their yard. They tend to chickens, who are cooped up in their yard, and will use their eggs and sometimes their meat as provisions. The family all sleeps together in a loft, with a modest window to view the surrounding land from.



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

 

[SeapunkPeaches]

Hey Chewy, glad to see you apply for builder

I'll divide my feedback into three categories so it's easier for you to follow. Overall, the house doesn't lack anything or have any major mistakes, so good job!
My main critique would be that it doesn't really fit our Reach style, mainly because of its shape (our houses tend to be either rectangular or T-shaped) and the stone gable on the sides (this is more common in the Vale, or at least the old Vale style).
Anyway, here's the nitpicking:

1) Interior
- a low-class house like this would have a packed dirt floor (dirt & gravel mix), rather than a cobbled one.
- there are a lot of kitchen utensils. A small peasant house would have less metal objects. I'd replace the kitchen blocks with a normal stair or slab table design and the cleaver with a small dagger.
- same thing with the table block. This represents a carved table more appropriate for wealthier places. You could use a stair or slab/half door design instead. Also, there are 3 tables in the house right now, which is unnecessary. I'd simply remove the one that's not being used.
- a minor detail, but the full and stair block thatch around the beds look messy, these could be replaced with a slab block.

2) Exterior
- except for the house shape and style I already mentioned, I can only point out a small gradient error. Try not to have the light stone block touch the reach cobblestone and brick blocks. On a small surface like this it looks jarring.

3) Garden
- cute garden, my only complaint would be that the slope is a bit awkward and prevents you from using more space for the veggie patches. If you made it flat, you could have bigger patches and more space for everything else. You could also add some small mud patches to make it less monotone.

For your first challenge, please build a low class house in the style of /warp Gaunt. It's up to you whether you want to do a 45° roof or a peaked roof.
Good luck!

 

[ChewyMan125]

Thank you very much for approving my application and for the comments! I'll make sure to learn from all of it. Time to spend some time in the Crownlands lol

 

[ChewyMan125]

Here's my attempt at a low class house from the lands of House Gaunt. It was also my first attempted angled house as well. I tried to improve my thatched roof style from last time, where I made an attempt at a messy roof but it was too disorganized. Hopefully this matches the server's style better. I put the house next to a pond, and for that I placed hanging fish inside the house implying that the family who lives there regularly uses the pond for sustenance rather than for it's pretty view. Hopefully you like it!

 

[ChewyMan125]

just a few more screenshots I took

 

[SeapunkPeaches]

Hey Chewy, cute house! I have no major complaints, only four small ones.

1) I feel like there is too much oak wood inside the house. I usually do the ceiling and furniture in a different color for aesthetic reasons. For example, if the walls are oak, I use jungle for the rest.

2) Why is there a full block on one of the corners of the hopper table? If it's supposed to be a chair, it's a bit chunky. I'd suggest moving the chair to the side or one block closer to the wall so the full block isn't so visible. Also, same thing with the cleaver as in the last house.

3) Remember to add a simple gradient even to the chimney. Nothing too special, just so it's not so monotone and plain.

4) I don't think Gaunt uses pine needles in the paths there. I'd opt for just dirt and gravel (and some stormlands pebbles if appropriate - base this on how the project does it).

For your next challenge, please pick between a high class house in either Duskendale or Fairmarket. They are some of our best, but also most complex town styles. Think of which one you could do better. Then do the other one
Challenge yourself and have fun building!

 

[SeapunkPeaches]

Hey Chewy, is everything going okay? If you need any help or advice with the house, let me know

 

[ChewyMan125]

Hey Chewy, is everything going okay? If you need any help or advice with the house, let me know

Hey Dragons! Yeah everything is *nearly* done, just a few rooms to furnish! I still have the attic and some upstairs rooms empty, but everything like the kitchen, eating area, professional area, etc. is complete. I've been hit with a lot of class work and actual work lately, and I've been juggling all this and keeping up with my parents and friends and my new roommates since I've moved away recently, and I've also been a bit burnt out by working on the same house for a while now so I took a little break, but I think I'll try to get it done within the next two weeks!
I guess for advice, what would you consider to be overlooked rooms or features in a large townhouse like this? I have a lot of rooms that I could just make bedrooms, but I feel like I could add something more than just that. Also another question I have is for the sides of the build. So if this is supposed to be a DD townhouse, should I worry about blocks from the interior being in place of a wall that would otherwise be against another townhouse?
Thanks!

 

[ChewyMan125]

Hey Dragons, it's been a while to say the least but I decided to push to finally complete my high class Duskendale townhouse. I took a lot of screenshots of this because I put a lot of detail, so although these are just the exterior, I will attach more below. Also, the idea was that three sides of the townhouse are exposed and one side is next to another townhouse, hence why it looks odd

 

[ChewyMan125]

Hey Dragons, it's been a while to say the least but I decided to push to finally complete my high class Duskendale townhouse. I took a lot of screenshots of this because I put a lot of detail, so although these are just the exterior, I will attach more below. Also, the idea was that three sides of the townhouse are exposed and one side is next to another townhouse, hence why it looks odd

Just wanna highlight my fireplace gradient which is just a little detail I'm proud of

 

[ChewyMan125]

Another screenshot dump

 

[ChewyMan125]

Last screenshot dump, I swear

 

[SeapunkPeaches]

Hey Chewy!

Sorry for the 'slight' delay
I'll go straight to the feedback:

Interior:

- Most rooms feel empty, but I think one simple addition, a thatch carpet, would almost instantly make these rooms complete. It would bring everything together.
- The kitchen has a lot of baskets, I'd definitely tone them down and maybe add some fresh stuff being prepared, like mushrooms.
- Always try to cover up that strip of stone from the facade in a wood floor. Use the wood carpet blocks for that. I usually put a bigger thatch carpet near the border of the wood and the wood carpet to make the transition less visible.
- Just a simple aesthetics point, try to match the color of furniture with the half doors used. For example, use oak doors and cabinets with oak half doors, darker doors with spruce or jungle half doors, etc.

Exterior:
- The main problem would be the admittedly messy timber pattern. Honestly, the best way to polish this is by studying how we do it in our town builds. If you want, I can give you a small lesson on the do's and don't of timber patterns on the server. Just send me a mail in game or here on the forums.

- Same thing as the furniture, try to match the shutters with the surrounding wood. I'd personally use the darker wood shutters here.

Overall, good job! We talked last week and agreed on the next challenge - a steep roof house in the style of /warp Woodwright.
Let's get you into the team

 

[ChewyMan125]

Hey Wrmy!

No need to apologize! Especially when I took way longer to respond! lol

Okay, so I definitely need to work on improving my interiors. I definitely felt like I was struggling with them during the building process, so that's something I'll need to study more builds on and practice! I was aware of my wood pallet being a bit messy, but at the time I didn't see it as that much of an issue because I was trying to avoid blocks being too similarly colored and boring, but I see what you mean and I will definitely be more vigilant for this issue in the future! For the D&W I was attempting a sort of messy look, but after reading your feedback and looking at some of the new Dragon Square builds I can see that the look doesn't really work, especially compared to the sort of organized patterns of the new square, so I will be improving the way that I style the timber patterns on my builds! Same with the shutters.

I appreciate the feedback and I will get to doing my Woodwright house as soon as finals are over!
(I am also very interested in the do's and don'ts of timber patterns)

 

[ChewyMan125]

Hey Dragons,

Started on the Woodwright house and I had some questions. My first is whether or not it's okay to differ from Ark's style by using the new blocks. My second is about the timber pattern. While your tutorial helped me feel confident about timber framing on a flat squared wall, I'm not as sure about how to do a good pattern on a triangular wall like this. If you have any tips or feedback for this so far, let me know if you can!

 

[SeapunkPeaches]

Hey!

It's absolutely fine from my side if you want to use the new blocks. After all, you'll be building with them in the future.
The timber pattern looks cute to me, however we've decided close studding is limited to certain areas with a distinct english style, which I don't think Woodwright is part of. We can meet in game tomorrow or whenever you can to go through some triangular patterns, let me know if that works for you.
The house looks cute so far, by the way!

 

[ChewyMan125]

Hey!

It's absolutely fine from my side if you want to use the new blocks. After all, you'll be building with them in the future.
The timber pattern looks cute to me, however we've decided close studding is limited to certain areas with a distinct english style, which I don't think Woodwright is part of. We can meet in game tomorrow or whenever you can to go through some triangular patterns, let me know if that works for you.
The house looks cute so far, by the way!

Hey, that sounds great! I'm not sure about tomorrow since I might be a little bit busy with the days coming up, but if we're ever on at the same time and you're not busy that'll work perfectly!

 

[ChewyMan125]

Also, I finished the Woodwright house and fixed the timber pattern to meet the server's standards.

The original idea was for the resident to be a baker, hence the yard with the assorted herbs and aromatics like the lavender growing, but I sort of forgot about that while doing the interiors so there's an absence of flour. Also, I'm pretty sure the tree in the yard is problematic because it blocks sunlight for the herbs but I kept it because I was proud of how it looked. I tried to detail the yard by having dry looking grass in extremely shaded spots, taller grass in corners that would be neglected, and some bushes overwhelming the walls. I made an attempt to make the place feel alive as well, with the new garden plot being established by the residents. I feel like my palleting with reach stone has certainly improved since my first build, same with my interiors however I still feel rusty with those. Overall, though, this was really fun and I hope you like it!

 

[ChewyMan125]

here's some more shots I took

 

[ChewyMan125]

last couple shots