FUZZYMONKEY2003/HomoParvulus(new username) Builder Application

[FUZZYMONKEY2003]

15 years

England

I saw a post about it while browsing through reddit.

I like all of Tolkien's works, Silmarillon, LOTR, The hobbit, Etc. I also read and enjoyed the Inheritance Cycle, but that was a while ago.

Game of Thrones, Clash of Kings, Storm of Swords, Feast for Crows, Dance of Dragons, Winds of Winter( Is this out yet, I haven't read it but clicked all of the above because I'm certain it isn't out yet.

Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, Season 4, Season 5, Season 6, Season 7 + Season 8 (But i'm sure we don't talk about that one.)

Arya, because her chapters were always exciting and took us to some interesting places. Those chapters also gave us a good idea of what the life of a person living in Kings landing in poverty might be like (After she escaped the red keep). Also they later showed us the effects of the war in the river lands, from Arya's relatively innocent perspective that could be similar in some ways to that of the small folk. She also has involvement with the people and culture of Essos, which is a very cool aspect of the story and something I am very interested in, not only the really cool stuff like Valyria and Braavos but also all other places like the summer isles and Ib.

Other than my adoration and obsession with ASOIAF and with minecraft not really. Although I am a fairly confident builder, as I have played minecraft since 2010 on Java edition PC, and also a little bit of Xbox 360 edition from time to time. As for ASOIAF, I am currently rereading the entire book series after reading them all for the first time a year or so ago, and have seen the entirety of Game of thrones several times. Frankly I love the series and minecraft and the combination of those two things is a dream come true. I love the server and I am willing sink a fair bit of time into it.

Well I really love what you guys are doing, and I feel as though the sever is steadily coming closer and closer to a state where it can be called complete, and if I can contribute and bring it closer to that point, then I am all for it. I have a bit of time on my hands, and I would be glad to spend some of it on the server. I am very excited for the inclusion of Essos (I know you guys aren't sure about adding it), but mainly the completion of the projects going on now, and to help in any way I can.

Inn for application

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YOU KNOW NOTHING, JON SNOW

 

[Arkilstorm]

Hey Fuzzy,

Thanks for your application. Appologies for the delay in getting back to you, we're a little swamped with applications at the moment.I've taken a look at your application build and I have quite a lot of feedback on it.

Firstly though, please bear in mind that we ask all applicants for a house in the style of our server's existing builds, and usually reject applicants who don't follow that rule. The reason we ask that, is it shows that they've spent time trying to understand our server's expectations and style, and we can more easily give feedback if the build is at least an attempt at an established style. Anything that isn't that takes a lot longer to review and is a less clear indication of your suitability as a builder on this server.

Despite that, I thought I'd review what you've sent, but ask that you please bear in mind that the stipulations are there for a reason.

Here's the feedback on your inn:

- The exterior shape is interesting, but there’s a lot that can be improved, but mostly it’s just outdated practices we try to avoid as a server. These include:

- Try to avoid using full log blocks as a main support structure for buildings.. This is pretty outdated for us and doesn’t look very realistic. Using the daub and wattle blocks symmetrically and logically should give the impression of structural integrity without relying on massive 1m wide logs to support that level of the building.

- Your roofing is a bit of an odd shape, with one part being very tall, steeper than most roofs we have on the server, and looks a bit exaggerated, whereas the other roof is very shallow before pitching steeply, which isn’t really consistent with medieval roofing techniques. Roofs should at their steepest, 2 blocks up between each step toward the peak; yours is between 3-4 which is a little exaggerated.

- The tower seems a little excessive and the bricks at the bottom of all the buildings wouldn’t do much in way of support.

- Make sure your daub and wattle pattern is as symmetrical as possible and makes sense, supporting corners and weak spots around window frames etc. At the moment it looks almost random, and wouldn’t be structurally sound.

- Please don’t use trapdoors as flooring, shelving, or anything that isnt an openable door / lid. We have a lot of horizontal wood options for flooring, and on your square tower it doesn’t seem to make sense.

- Make sure that your roof material is never visible from directly underneath, as this should be supported by rafters.

- Try to keep all floor heights to between 3-4 blocks high, not including the ceiling; medieval buildings are notoriously low, and high ceilings make the buildings look too current.

- Make sure that any upper floor has supporting rafters beneath. This can be easily achieved by alternating upside down wooden stair and slab blocks. Check out any building in /warp Hgtown or /warp fairmarket for examples of this.

- Remember that glass was a luxury in the medieval period and there are a lot of alternatives to glass for windows. Try screens / shutters etc.

- Interior wise, there’s a lot that would need to be reviewed, namely the use of certain furniture types, and overuse of some blocks in particular;

- We use carved top table blocks very sparingly, as these are meant to be reserved as side tables got wealthy houses and castles. Try making different shaped tables using wooden blocks / hoppers / half doors etc.

- The flooring is just solid oak throughout, and it’d be much more likely that the main floor of the inn would have been semi-paved dirt/gravel mix with rushes or straw on the floor to mop up spilt drinks.

- Its difficult to tell which parts of the building are on which floor from your photos, but the use of space is unlike any medieval inn I can picture. Most would be comprised of a large open space on the ground floor, with kitchens and the “bar” divided, often depending on the location off the kitchen fire / chimney stack, and the hearth for patrons. Below or adjacent should store the perishables and drink, then the floor above should constitute the innkeepers quarters and rooms for guests.

- There’s a lot of lanterns and candles on the lower floor but no windows at all which is unusual for a building functioning as a business. Also please make sure that candles are always on tables and none are on the floor.

- Lanterns are very expensive and should be used very sparingly. Bookcases and glass cabinets also, as literally levels were incredibly low, and books were very highly prized.


The use of materials in this build are okay, but there is a lot that I’d recommend you explore before your next build.

- Make sure you understand flooring height and the way that houses would have been built, and which parts would be made of which materials, along with the reasons for that.

- Explore Fairmarket a little and get to grips with the way rafters / floors / roofing is supported and connected. This is an invaluable tool to achieving realism in builds.

- Take a look at most villages / towns and look at the average wealth / possessions of most people in the medieval period, and you’ll get a better idea of the types of interior layouts and use of space in buildings.


For your first challenge build, I'd like you to build a low class farmer's house in the style of /warp lambswold

When you've completed it, please post an album of images in this thread.

Good Luck!

 

[FUZZYMONKEY2003]

Challenge 1: Low Class Farmer House

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Thank you for your feedback, I have checked out the builds you recommended and attempted to improve my build accordingly. I also build a small wall, a well and a carrot and cabbage patch, these landscaping attempts were just a little extra I decided to throw in, as well as building a couple extra small houses to make the area feel more complete.

I am still unsure about whether my structural use of Daub and Wattle are quite on point yet, and in terms of rafters and roof support, there wasn't really that much of an opportunity to integrate them into these small buildings.

 

[Arkilstorm]

Hey Fuzz,

Thanks for the quick build! It's a great first attempt, and the extras are nice! Here's some feedback:

- Be careful that overhanging roofs are never more than 1 block over the edge of the building, otherwise it looks a little heavy.

- Your daub pattern definitely needs to be more symmetrical, for example, crosses on the corners, with diagonals supporting windows. Spend a little more time looking at the daub houses in the area and make a plan with the daub first that makes sense before adding the roof / doors / windows.

- Your windows are just a single hole in the wall; you should use wooden stairs to support the top, and a wooden carpet block on top of the stone foundation to create a window case. Use shutters on the outside to finish it.

- As mentioned before, remember to make sure all the roof material is supported from underneath, you shouldn’t be able to see any thatch blocks from beneath.

- The picture on the inside of the house with the rabbit visible, there’s a bit of floating daub which looks a bit weird.. I assume this is space for a window, but try to avoid putting windows on the corner blocks in diagonal buildings. Also, as mentioned before, please dont use carved ornate table blocks in low class houses.. These should only be in high class housing and castles.

- The gardens are a nice addition, but there are a few improvements that could be made, firstly, making curved walls was difficult and not as strong as straight walls… All gardens should have as straight walls as possible, but believably uneven.

- Take a look at /warp crops for how to make fields; your cabbage patch is missing a lot of greenery.

Altogether this is a nice first build, but I’d still advise you take some time to get to grips with the basics of how the house should be supported. Take a look at the houses at /warp oldforge for similar houses.

For your second build I’d like you to build a house in the style of /warp hgtowngate - You can see the example builds in the sky on a glass platform, and a couple of examples on the ground. I’ve chosen this style for you to get to grips with as there’s a lot of building frames around which should help you understand the daub + wattle layout.

Good luck!

 

[FUZZYMONKEY2003]

Challenge 2 : Highgarden Town House

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So I've gone overboard again and done three houses in the Highgarden Town style with gardens(get it?) and a street, with a rose bush thingy I saw in Highgarden Town and a (sub-par) fountain.

Seriously though, I hope that the rafters and wattle layout are to the level of quality you are trying to get me to, I used the table trick for some windows and the carpet and slab for the double tall ones, I'm not sure if the green slate roof is too tall, but I quess you'll tell me.

EDIT: Some of the screenshots I thought I had added weren't there (interiors mostly) so I've added those to the album.

 

[Arkilstorm]

Hey mate,

Sorry again for the late reply - its a bit of a mad one this week! I've had a look at your builds and they're a great start, and I really like your attempt to do a lot of builds together but what we're looking for is a little more specific... It's less about your speed and scale of delivery, but the quality and understanding. Here's some feedback on all the houses:

- You don’t have to put cross daub at every corner, especially on diagonals.. Imagine if the house wasn’t diagonal, would you have two cross blocks together in that way?

- The stone palette is very brick heavy; the Mander palette transitions through cobble > small bricks > stone > brownish plaster.

- With the diagonal roofs, if you turn the first slate block 90 degrees, it will cover the exposed building bricks showing through the roof.

- The overhang on the tall house is very heavy! Take a look at the end of other buildings in HG and try using half-doors and wooden stairs instead of full wood blocks.

- Avoid using too much smoke, only one or two will do.

- The floor mix inside the houses should be a gravel / dirt / storm lands cobble combo, not just pure dirt.

- Try to avoid the red brick furnace fire inside the house.. Most HG houses have their hearths built into the wall. Look at the fireplaces and chimneys for inspiration.

- The ground floor ceiling has no supporting rafters which makes it look really flat; as mentioned before, take a look in the example builds for how to do this.

- Your interior are very sparse and use only basic blocks. HG is one of the richest castles in the realm, and houses like this belong to craftsmen and wealthy merchants etc.. The interiors should reflect that. There’s no obvious room layouts, and no discernible trade.

I’m going to ask you to repeat this probation build again, but only a single house.. This part of the application process is to understand the principles behind our builds, not showcasing your ability to build lots in a style. What we’re looking for is structural integrity, economic / professional context, attention to detail, and your signature style.

For your next build, please build a middle class HG town house belonging to a spicer with a shop and living quarters.

Good luck!

 

[FUZZYMONKEY2003]

Please don't worry about taking your time with the responses, It's all good with me so long as it happens eventually.

Challenge 2.1: Middle class Highgarden Town Spicer

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Iv'e made an attempt to solve all the problems you brought up, and also tried to stick to the Highgarden Town conventions, while adding a few things of my own. I hope this is closer to what you were looking for.

Thanks
Homoparvulus

Also I don't know how to change my forum name, could you tell me how in the next response?

 

[FUZZYMONKEY2003]

I don't want to be pushy but just wanted to say I'm going on vacation in a few days and won't be able to respond for about 3 weeks after August 1st

 

[Arkilstorm]

Sorry mate for the late reply, life's caught up with me a bit!

No rush, and hope you have a great holiday! Here's the feedback on your last house:


- Nice work on the palette, you’ve nailed it!

- The daub is a little plain, and I’d suggest breaking up that long interrupted bit below the windows to make it a bit more interesting.

- The end of the building daub is a bit busy.. try to use the plain daub blocks as well as all the bordered ones.

- The other end of your building has a weird roof design., where the roof is a bit too small to cover the edges of the building. If you’re making diagonal buildings usually all sides should be diagonal or at least the same width.

- Inside is nice but there’s a few small issues. Firstly, nice job with the rafters but they’re still a bit too close to one another. Look at the rafters in other HG houses and you’ll see that they’re spaced a little wider. Also, rafters should always span the shortest distance between two walls, and not run along the whole length of a building.

- Please don’t use full wood blocks as furniture.. Make tables using hoppers, half doors, slabs etc.. the table in the centre of the room is a bit weird looking.

- Not sure why there’s a trap door on the stairs.. It looks a bit odd with the different wood colour. Use shutters that match.

- The interior layout isn’t really consistent with most trading houses in HG. You should have a shop space and a living space, this is mixed and the only sign of trading is lots of crates and baskets stacked in piles.. which isn’t how you’d run a shop or store your wares. This house should have a small counter with a shelf full of small baskets of spices, and then beyond the counter storage racking with full baskets and crates separated accordingly. Small mugs and vials should be around to fill for customers, and a number of spices hanging from the ceiling. Upstairs should be purely living space. A fireplace downstairs isn’t really necessary.

-In your kitchen upstairs, try and use oak blocks with the kitchen bench units as the spruce is a bit too much of a contrast.. and also use reach pink stone for the fireplace.. the dark cobble doesn’t exist anywhere in HG and the stair blocks are a bit of an odd shape.. full reach blocks will do fine.

- Candles can be sat on tables and don’t need to be on fence blocks all the time. You can also use chains to create candlesticks.

- Your ceiling in the main bedroom is flat.. The rule for rafters should be applied here also.

- avoid the spruce wood for the ceiling and walls in this house.. Its very dark and the full blocks take up a lot of space.


Overall it’s a nice start but there’s a lot of elements that need addressing..

For your next build, please build a middle-class cheesemonger in the style of /warp duskendale


Good luck!

 

[FUZZYMONKEY2003]

Hey, sorry about the time its been taking to get a build to you, I got off a flight the other day and am pretty jet lagged, its probably going to take me a while to get you a reply.

 

[Arkilstorm]

No worries mate! Whenever you have time is fine.

 

[Homoparvulus]

Hey I made a new account for the forum and probably won't be applying again in a long time, apologies for wasting your time, but I do intend to do it eventually, so if you want to discontinue the thread or whatever that's cool with me, again really sorry for wasting your time, and thanks, I learned a lot about building through your help.

 

[Arkilstorm]

No worries at all! Thanks for letting us know. Hope to see you applying again soon