IronGentleGiant Builder Application

[IronGentleGiant]

23


United States of America


In a few cinematics I watched on youtube when I was looking for inspiration for medieval building on another server about 3 years ago.


Artemis Fowl, Airman (Eoin Colfer); The Witcher (video game); The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, (JRR Tolkien); The Turnip Princess and Other Newly Discovered Fairy Tales, (FX von Schonwerth)



Game of Thrones



Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Season 6
Season 7
All of the above


Hodor cause he is a gentle simple minded gaint with a body as strong as steel like my favorite character and movie Iron Giant by Warner Bros.


Perseverance - I often strive towards working hard and trying to do better when given a task or presented a challenge.

Resilience - Even when I fail a task or challenge, I do not quit I keep going trying to overcome and learn from my past mistakes.

Sacrifice - I don't mind sacrificing my time to help others with their builds. I believe in selfless service which is a strong and guiding principle taught for generations in my family. To serve others and better improve ourselves we must forget ourselves entirely in the moment that we are serving.


I think provides a good basis for a field of history that I want to go into and that is Historical Preservation. It would provide for that as there are a lot of builds on here that pertain to the historical architectural forms such as the medieval period. Building on here would allow me to do more research on the architecture, culture, and life of the 11th to 16th centuries.

https://imgur.com/ZOlFJHI

"YOU KNOW NOTHING, JON SNOW"

Approved by Emotione11 on Dec 20, 2018.

 

[IronGentleGiant]

https://imgur.com/id%3DZOlFJHI%3Btype%3Dalbum

 

[Emoticone11]

Hey Iron,

Thanks for the application! Your town is really cute and I like the detail you put into the backstory and all that. The arched bridge is also really well done. Aesthetically there are some things that will need to be sorted out before your building is at server standards, so I will give some short feedback on the main things I've noticed, and then give you a series of houses in specific server styles to work on.

- Two important things that we try to avoid are (1) harsh contrast and (2) completely random block mixes. In this picture for instance, notice how the cobblestone contrasts a lot and creates a bunch of hard edges with the gravel, and is also random which introduces messiness. Instead of mixing cobblestone with the gravel, you should mix dirt blocks. If it still looks too plain, you can try adding some mud, in "blobs" like this.

- Avoid using log blocks in houses, they tend to look too 'clunky' most of the time. In the forge shed, I would recommend trying to use wood plank wall blocks (or at least thin log wall blocks) as supports instead.

- Try to avoid rooves that are too flat as well, like on the forge. It would look better if you just did a shed roof, using halfslabs.

- When doing farms or house yards, always avoid doing what we call "bubble farms" or "bubble yards", which is where the walls/borders of the yard are blobby. We always try to make the borders of yards out of straight lines (these can be diagonal though). And farms should be rectangular, like in this image.

- On a similar note, grain crops like wheat should only be grown in large fields, and not small yards, since large amounts of wheat are required to create grain. In yards and small farms you should use vegetable or herb crops.

- Try to avoid the stone showing through in the wood floor here. Next to the fireplace, I would recommend using the ash (mycelium) block.

- The clotheslines in the previous picture seem to be floating.

Anyways, for the first challenge build, please make a middle-class house in the style of /warp sweetport. Middle-class are the ones with white daub&wattle and black slate rooves. Please feel free to ask if you have any questions on this task or the feedback I gave above. Good luck!

-Emote

 

[IronGentleGiant]

Here is my build report.

https://imgur.com/zbcmid8

 

[IronGentleGiant]

https://imgur.com/id%3Dzbcmid8%3Btype%3Dalbum

https://imgur.com/id%3Dzbcmid8%3Btype%3Dalbum

 

[Emoticone11]

Hey Iron,

Thanks for the update! Your house looks much better, you've made a big improvement. That said, there are still a number of major things that need to be improved before you're up to current standards, so I will jump right into feedback. Keep in mind that most of this is pickier stuff than the first time around, even if it seems like longer feedback.

- The main thing with the exteriors is that the house layout and structure just seems kind of awkward, and way too big (even for a middle-high class house). The scale of it needs to be toned down a little bit. Some other elements of it that are kind of awkward are the side of the house here, which looks a bit too box-like. The house overall looks fairly high-fantasy with all of the different overhangs and extensions, I'd be a little careful with those (we still want to make our layouts interesting, of course, but not necessarily make a single house too interesting).

- If you are going to have overhangs, I would heavily discourage having what I call "mini-rooves" on them, where the roof of the overhang looks just like a mini version of the main roof. It just looks weird and unrealistic. Instead, you should try to go for a shed-type roof on overhangs, using halfslabs sloping perpendicular to the wall. Kind of like in this picture.

- The daub & wattle seems mostly pretty good, the only issues I have with it come from the previous point about the size and height of the house. Also, this is more minor, but I avoid having the open daub & wattle (the one with no diagonal beams) in horizontal rows, or as corners in a pattern. You do both of these in the front overhang here.

- The windows are way too big. We rarely ever do windows sizes other than 1x1 and 1x2 (vertical) in standard houses. Also, remember to add shutters. It's a small but important detail. One more small point about windows, I know some people have done this on the server, but I am not really fond of the open glass windows like here. My advice would be to only do it in wealthy castles like Highgarden or the Red Keep.

- On the doorway thing in front as well as the back shed here, remove the topmost half doors so they don't extend past the roof.

- The stone gradient is pretty decent, but still, I recommend to every applying builder to check out /warp gradient. It's one of the more helpful warps on the server.

- When I mentioned avoiding logs in the previous post, I would highly recommend just avoiding them entirely in houses, including for interiors (unless they're thin logs or fences, which can be useful in some cases). Also, always avoid using wood colors, or any blocks in general, which contrast too badly. Such as spruce and birch wood, as you do here.

- Don't use vanilla blocks in actual builds; this includes the vanilla banner blocks.

- Whenever you use a slate roof, it needs to be covered up completely on the inside (since tiles are heavy and would just collapse otherwise). Best way to do this is with wood and half doors, it's usually one of the first things I do when making a house so I know how much real space I have to work with.

- Don't use bookshelves, even for ordinary middle-high class houses. Literacy was extremely low in IRL medieval times, to the point where much of the nobility were not even fully literate (hence why official documents were sealed with stamps of the house sigil). Keep them to special circumstances, like maesters or professions which require literacy or books around (scribe, bookbinder, etc.).

- Avoid having daub & wattle cubes in the ceiling too, like up here.

Again, apologies for the wall of text! Please make sure to read and understand each point, though, and ask if you have any questions or need any clarifications. This stage of application is where most of the important quality gains are made.

Once you're ready, for the next challenge build, please make a middle-class house in the style of /warp whiteharbor. Most of the medium sized ones in the southwest part of the city are middle-class. Good luck!

 

[IronGentleGiant]

White Harbor Challenge completed. Reporting in and awaiting next challenge patiently.

 

[IronGentleGiant]

https://imgur.com/id%3D9G2HDoU%3Btype%3Dalbum

 

[Emoticone11]

Hey Iron,

Looks pretty good, you're definitely getting better! Your interiors seem mostly fine by this point (with a few important points, though), while your exteriors still need a little bit of improvement. You did fix most of the issues I mentioned in the previous post though, and the overhang on the left house is pretty well done. Anyways, here's some feedback:

- Make sure rooves have uniform slopes. I.e. in the left house, the roof goes 2-1-2-1 (in terms of height changes). Make it 2-2-2-2 instead. Also, use upside-down stairs under it so it doesn't make those hard 90-degree angles.

- Both of the houses are slightly too tall for middle-class, I'd make them a few blocks shorter.

- Three points about the windows: 1) the windows all need to have shutters! Especially in a cold place like White Harbor. 2) the window placement is a bit awkward and still needs some work still. For instance, this side seems quite empty, with only the two 1x1 windows way up at the top. 3) I would generally avoid using fence windows. There's nothing wrong with just having an open window with nothing in it (or arrow slit blocks also work sometimes), with shutters in front of it.

- The floaty stairway rail around the stairs on the left house is a little weird. Also, you should make the sign-holder using northern wood rather than slate.

- The vertical wood gable in the right house is a good idea, but the arch below it is a little weird. I recommend making it more of a normal overhang, perhaps like this or this (with northern wood instead of white wood, obviously).

- Make sure the roof has an overhang on this side.

- I really like the interiors overall. One important thing, though, is to make sure all workbench blocks (and cabinets or other similar blocks) are always covered on every side except one. For example, this one here. You can usually do this using half door blocks, or just clever placement of other furniture.

- I find this room rather strange. Aesthetically it's a bit cramped, and the smoking furnace feels way too industrial and modern. I recommend looking a bit more into how medieval smokehouses worked; typically they were just a large room (in a seperate building though) where they hung meat and then filled the room with smoke via a firepit in the floor, or a furnace below the room.

- The way you did the attic here is very nice. The only thing is that you should use upside-down stairs to get rid of the hard 90-degree angles in the ceiling.

As always, feel free to ask if you have any questions on the feedback! For the next challenge, please make a middle-class house in the style of /warp woodwright (make sure to include a yard with it). Good luck!

 

[IronGentleGiant]

Papa Dragon this is Big Dragon. The challenge has been completed. The package is about to arrive.

 

[IronGentleGiant]

https://imgur.com/id%3DEOhMYPH%3Btype%3Dalbum

 

[Emoticone11]

Hey Iron,

You did a good job on this house! You captured the woodwright style pretty good overall. I just have some mostly picky points of feedback:

- I agree you made your house a slight too wide (just 2 blocks). Narrowing the width slightly should also help with the interiors a bit too.

- For the wood slab thing above the door, you should just make it one horizontal row of halfslabs. Rather than having it raised in the middle.

- In the shed here, get rid of the row of halfslabs in front of the thin log supports. Also, I would recommend avoiding oak used with spruce, it's not really the best combination. Contrasts a bit badly. Try oak + oak logs or jungle + spruce logs instead.

- Ints look good! Don't have much feedback there, except in this wall you should either make the entire thing daub & wattle, or the entire thing wood. The zigzaggy row of daub & wattle under the oak wood looks weird.

- Going to repeat my point about bookshelves, as it's very important: Don't use bookshelves, even for ordinary middle-high class houses. Literacy was extremely low in IRL medieval times, to the point where much of the nobility were not even fully literate (hence why official documents were sealed with stamps of the house sigil). Keep them to special circumstances, like maesters or professions which require literacy or books around (scribe, bookbinder, etc.).

Other than those things, I'm pretty happy with this house! Feel free to ask if you have any questions about the feedback above. For the next challenge build, let's head up to the Vale. Please make a middle-class house in the style of /warp wickenden. Good luck!

 

[IronGentleGiant]

Emoticone11 here is the report for the challenge. It is a Smith & Forge owned by a man named Edon. Edon served as a foot soldier when he was younger, but now that he is older and after the fact that his wife died he works at home. His specialty is embroiderings and engravings, as he works diligently to engrave the symbol of House Waxley into the weapons, armor, tools, and equipment he makes. He is also training his sons to work the trade of their father. Introducing Edon Smith & Sons at Wickenden of House Waxley.

https://imgur.com/id%3DDdi3oyg%3Btype%3Dalbum

 

[Emoticone11]

Hey Iron,

You did a great job on this house, I'm pretty happy with it! I have a couple pretty nitpicky things:

- For the roof with the overhang, the upside-down stairs make it so you can see the slate behind the stairs as well. So it kind of defeats the point of having the upside-down stairs, since there's still hard 90-degree angles between the roof and daub & wattle. You should keep the overhang with the fullblock-stair-fullblock-stair pattern, and then just add upside-down stair blocks below that. Like in this one for example.

- This room feels just a little wide/empty aesthetically speaking. I think if you have more horizontal rafters going across (perhaps even a second layer of halfslab rafters under that, if it doesn't cause any problems) it should help fill up some of the vertical space. Here's an example of what I mean by that.

- Be sure to cover up the daub & wattle in the ceiling here.

For a tentative final challenge build, please make a middle-class house in the style of /warp fairmarket. Keep in mind that the style here is a bit more complicated, so be sure to take your time with it. But I'm sure you'll do great. Good luck!

 

[IronGentleGiant]

Hey Emoticone11, here is the FairMarket challenge report.

https://imgur.com/a/5BwooKF

 

[Emoticone11]

Hey Iron,

You did pretty good on this house! It's mostly in the Fairmarket style, however there are a few issues I have with it:

- The front side appears to have a "pinched" roof shape, which is not in the Fairmarket style. It should be linear instead (you did this properly in the back side).

- There are way too many windows on the front facade, and some of them seem a bit awkward (e.g. the 2x2 window, and the 1x1 window in the right corner). Also, you need to have rafters on the window like in the Fairmarket style.

- There appears to be a horizontal roof overhang on the front which extends 2 blocks from the house? I'm not really sure what purpose this serves though, and it might look awkard from the side.

- The daub & wattle is mostly good but could be improved a little bit, for example by using some of the "plain white daub" to make the patterns a bit less busy.

- The brick shed in back feels a bit bare, and the 1x1 window would look better with an offset in one direction or the other rather than dead center. Also, I'm presuming there should be a veggie garden in back?

- The interiors are good! Just a heads up with the bookshelves though, they'd still probably separate their workshop from their living space, and hence wouldn't have books near the dinner table. The bookbinder wouldn't be literate themselves, despite working with books.

I recommend taking a closer look at some more Fairmarket houses. If you revise your house to fix the issues above, I'll give you the green light!

 

[IronGentleGiant]

I apologize that the frontal facade are not up to fairmarket standards. My inspiration for the roofing of the house came from structural layout of a house I saw at HighGarden, another at Fairmarket, and a house I found in the French Dictionary of Architecture from the 11th to 16th century. I decided to combine the three into one single house placed between two houses.

https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Dict...on#/media/File:Maison.XIVe.siecle.Annonay.png

As requested Ill update the house to the standards you believe are needed.

 

[IronGentleGiant]

Okay so here is the side view of the house before I redid it.

 

[IronGentleGiant]

Here are the renovations I've done to it.

 

[Emoticone11]

Hey Iron,

I see what you were intending with the roof/overhang, although that works best with rooves facing sideways to the street. It's hard to combine it with a forward-facing gable.

Anyways, the updated version looks good! There are still a few issues with the daub & wattle: when using the plain white daub block, you usually shouldn't do it in horizontal rows. Typically it's just 1x2 vertical areas framed by normal daub & wattle, around windows and stuff. I would recommend studying the daub & wattle patterns at Fairmarket a bit closer. Also, for the shed you should just make the entire thing red wood (rather than having the layer of brick & wattle at the bottom).

Anyways, consider yourself approved!

The next step is to contact a mod in-game to promote you to New Builder. Please make sure to read the New Builder guide here: http://westeroscraft.wikia.com/wiki/Newbie_guide
And also make a probation thread in the probation forum. You can start building at any open locations on the server - you can find 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.

A probie 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 entrypoint into the server community in general), in which case you'll be fully promoted if there are no further problems.

Welcome to the team, I look forward to building with you!