King's Landing Remaster October Update and Plan

[Veggie]

Regarding the posts above; I think you're wrong-- they're shorter than the houses there previously.

The Red Stag for example. It's main roofline is 4 blocks shorter than its predecessor.

The houses adjacent to it are at places 8 blocks shorter than their predecessors. I feel even further, that they don't dominate the square as some of the roofs ascend away from the square.

I would be happy to work closely with the leaders of the surrounding districts to ensure a smooth and harmonious transition, if that is a concern.

 

[DutchGuard]

I think the issue here is a question of scaling impossibilities due to the size of a Minecraft block. To my eye, the square's facades are all proportional, and capture well the half-timbered style. The problem is that we are forced to use 1m thick floors and ceilings, over four times thicker than a traditional floor (10in max.). The more floors you have, the more this distorts the building heights.

Is it better that the arrangements of the facades look proportional and well-ordered, or that they are strictly limited in height based on real world examples? The latter seems to me like an artificial imposition and is where I would draw the line between using irl constraints and allowing for creative expression. No, there are no examples of domestic medieval 30m tall timber buildings, but I think that's an unfair yardstick to compare to. Most of our multi-level houses are at least one or two meters too tall owing to the thickness of the blocks as aforesaid.

As for the surrounding districts, I think some heights might need to be adjusted, but then again there are plenty of irl examples of very tall buildings on squares and busy thoroughfares dwarfing those in nearby side streets. The main buildings that would need to be adjusted are those on the main roads in and out of the square.

Also an extra note on the market hall, a hangup from the previous iteration: it should have quite a bit of space to breathe. The main function of a market hall is as a centre of activity, and being hemmed in on three sides by buildings is a less-than-ideal placement if you ask me. It may not be feasible, but I would propose either moving the market hall more centrally to the square (as they usually are irl), or demolishing the houses immediately adjacent to the existing plot. This would also help reduce any apparent drastic height change between it and neighbouring structures.

 

[Emoticone11]

I'm removing some posts from the thread that do not contribute constructively to the discussion or are off-topic. I know many people are stressed during this time of quarantine and this isn't a formal reprimand, but please try not to use official project discussion and feedback as a vehicle for personal emotions, whether giving, receiving, or otherwise.

I think that Dutch hit the nail on the head. The illusion that the new houses seemed taller than the old ones is a testament to how important perspective and proportions are when building, and is a good learning experience. The 1 block = 1 meter rule has always been somewhat dubious (according to this, every player would be ~6.5 feet tall, AKA taller than thecoddfish - which we all know isn't true - and ~3 feet wide, which is chonky as hell), so should be taken as more of a rule of thumb than a rigid basis for realism concerns. Personally I think the new houses look great and far more proportional than the old ones (the arcade really helps).

For full transparency, we probably will have to clear some more houses at the Dragon's Square, particularly around the market hall. There was definitely an understanding from the beginning that some areas in the KL remaster would need more intensive changes than others (particularly in major squares, where we really should be focusing our best efforts, seeing as those are the areas that stand for the most improvement). This doesn't negate the overall method we've been trying to follow with the project. At the same time, we shouldn't necessarily be afraid to have obvious or jarring changes in heights or wealth moving away from the Dragon Square; like Dutch said there's plenty of examples of such things IRL, and it helps to portray the dynamicity of a bustling, changing city. I believe there's also canon about the Dragon Square that would support this (but Veg can confirm).