Nikas Kunitz Builder Application

[Nikas Kunitz]

What is your age?
21-24

In what country are you living?
Russia, Moscow time zone

Where did you first hear about WesterosCraft?
Don't Remember

What do you like the most about GoT/ASoIaF?
Generally speaking, realisticity. At one side, in case of the world, which feels broader than description of it and thus self-sufficient from plot line. Even through it has it's inaccuracies, I nevertheless find it most credible among all Fantasy worlds known to me. At the other side, in case of human personalities and relationships, which are realistically determined by continuous actions, rather than by conceptions external to these actions, thus making characters appear possessing free will and reason. And especially I like that those characters who recognise their will and reason prevail over the ones who blindly follow some conception or idea in their head, only to be failed in the end by their own prejudices.

What is your favorite build on our server?
I guess you know far better than me, oh reader noble to this server, how hard this choice is. But let it be Duskendale, because in it's completeness it has clear look and feeling of real Medieval town. No less than any specific building I like landscapes and styles which, gradually changing one after another, tie together numerous projects into one realistically structured world, while big castles and towns give a feeling of being little worlds in themselfs.

Why do you want to join our server?
I long ago became dissapointed with what is usually perceived as being examples of beautiful architecture in Minecraft (But I don't deny that anything is beautiful in it's own right, especially if someone put a lot of effort in it. My tastes aren't universal). Since then, I was in search of architecture simple yet beautiful in it's inner and external harmony. Trying various things myself, I acquired some experience, while rarely completing anything large.
When I discovered WesterosCraft, I was greatly surprised that there's such a grand project, where builders have a view on architecture in Minecraft quite alike I was searching for (Even common things in Minecraft architecture in which I dissapointed can be seen a lot on Old Westeros). So, I spent nearly a year (perhaps more than a year, if time before I actually joined the server as a guest is counted), exploring Westeros, taking a lot of inspiration, admiring architecture of the server. I combined my own experience with experience gained on WC in my recent practices with much success. And recently, I decided to join the server, contribute as more as I can to this great project and to finally fully realise accumulated experience and potential.
Trying to be objective, I can list following traits I have: first of all, then I'm planning or building something, I try to imagine how would real world people build it in real world, how they would arrange and use space, what exactly they would build, since no one would build anything without purpose in real world, Secondly, I try to build realistically in matters of construction, planning both exterior and interior simultaneously and with regard to each other: Thirdly, I pay attention to natural enviroment, since it defines most aspects of architecture; Also I use my historical knowledge about architecture, society and economy.



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

 

[Azulejo]

Can't wait to see you building here!

 

[Nikas Kunitz]

Can't wait to see you building here!

Such attention makes me a bit nervous, but thanks) I fear to dissappoint expectations possibly created by my pompous writing

 

[Nikas Kunitz]

Whoever will be testing me is greatly welcome to see my "self-probation" map https://www.planetminecraft.com/project/i-surely-will-become-lord-of-harrenhal/

 

[Homiesucc]

Whoever will be testing me is greatly welcome to see my "self-probation" map https://www.planetminecraft.com/project/i-surely-will-become-lord-of-harrenhal/

The map looks good but you're using pretty outdated techniques like overhangs and fence windows. Use new or wip areas for your inspiration like the kl redo, goode, the tor, etc

 

[Azulejo]

Such attention makes me a bit nervous, but thanks) I fear to dissappoint expectations possibly created by my pompous writing

Don't worry about it!, everyone is very welcoming and there's no need to be a master builder right at the start, no one is! I feared the same thing as you, as I posted a lot in the forums before applying for builder and I did not want to let anybody down. I'm sure you're good enough, everybody starts somewhere. We want people that is willing to improve and listen to the critics of those who have being here for longer. Also you are a historian, that gives you advantage points with me

 

[Homiesucc]

Also you need to really think about what region(s) your builds are taking place in. Every region has a unique style, or at least its supposed to. Just copy something british and theres a 5/8 chance your region takes inspiration from it.

 

[Nikas Kunitz]

The map looks good but you're using pretty outdated techniques like overhangs and fence windows. Use new or wip areas for your inspiration like the kl redo, goode, the tor, etc

Thank you for feedback! I had the thought about my buildings, roofs especially, being looking outdated compared to new ones on the server) I will try to use the techniques more resembling new buildings and local styles, then I'll get building tasks

 

[Ric]

Hey Nikas!

Thanks for applying! I think you've made a good job with the app house, I don't have any comments on it. You also seem very excited to get started, which is always great I haven't checked your "self-probation", but it's nice that you're trying out some of our styles.

Now, for your next challenges you should make your own original houses in the style of the ones in the project locations I'll point out to you. Try looking on how the style of the project works, the blocks used and how they are used and other commonalities between houses, then build your own and share the screenshots here. If you haven't already please take a look at our Basic Building Guide too. Some useful warps you might wanna visit in game are /warp ikea and /warp crops.

For your first challenge please make a middle-class house in the style of Duskendale, including a reasonably sized yard as well. You can find good examples of those inside the town, near /warp ddnorth. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.
Good luck!

 

[Nikas Kunitz]

Hey Nikas!

Thanks for applying! I think you've made a good job with the app house, I don't have any comments on it. You also seem very excited to get started, which is always great I haven't checked your "self-probation", but it's nice that you're trying out some of our styles.

Now, for your next challenges you should make your own original houses in the style of the ones in the project locations I'll point out to you. Try looking on how the style of the project works, the blocks used and how they are used and other commonalities between houses, then build your own and share the screenshots here. If you haven't already please take a look at our Basic Building Guide too. Some useful warps you might wanna visit in game are /warp ikea and /warp crops.

For your first challenge please make a middle-class house in the style of Duskendale, including a reasonably sized yard as well. You can find good examples of those inside the town, near /warp ddnorth. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.
Good luck!

Yay, finally) Having in mind my first task, I will do it tomorrow, since now it's quite late night to start such a thing

 

[Nikas Kunitz]

Atlast, I finished the building. Building a townhouse without a town is quite uneasy, since it feels somewhat out of context. This is why there are two red wool lines - they mark walls of estimated houses nearby, as the house I built is assumed to be in a middle of row, while there is also a patch of street for reference. I tried to make the house as middle class as possible, not upper middle, not lower, through it anyway tends to be closer to upper middle.
This is house of shoemaker/cobbler family. This family is longtime resident of the town (this is why I chose pale colour pattern, as house is quite old) and its members are renown for their trade. The craft of shoemaking is passed through generations from father to son, while the rest of family, as usual, do house and garden work. Through not earning riches for luxury, successive generations of this family nevertheless were prosperous enough to turn this house into comfortable living place for a middle-size family.
On the first floor there are shoemaker's workshop and kitchen (which is also used for storage of food) with exits to the street and the yard, respectively. In the workshop needed insruments and materials are located, as the shoemaker makes shoes out of leather and wood and also uses fur to make warm winter boots.
From the kitchen the staircase leads up to second floor, to dining room, where is a large empty table (it's not dining time yet) with four chairs and a bench located, as well as fireplace (for additional warming during winters) in the wall, directly over kitchen's oven, co-using chimney. From the dining room two doors lead to their respective small sleeping rooms, used by younger family members.
From the dining room the staircase leads up to third floor, to attic, which was turned into proper living space. Short corridor leads to a sort of living room, lit by two opposing dormer-windows. From the small living room one door leads to big sleeping room, used by house owner (the shoemaker) and his wife. The other door leads to bath/toilet room. Because it is located on the third floor, family members use simple pulley to elevate water for the bath and delevate chamber pot full with poo (and elevate it after cleaning), instead of dragging them through whole house. Also, the bath is placed right next to the chimney, so heat from it will keep water warm at least a bit.
I used panelling for decoration of lower block of inner walls and curtains for some windows. Both details are widespread in Duskendale and seem to be appropriate for middle class.
In the yard there is a shed for storing crops and agricultural instruments and a small chicken pen nearby. Following crops are planted: cabbage, turnip, garlic/onion and parlsey/dill.
Hope I hadn't tired you with such detailed description, Ric)

 

[Nikas Kunitz]

Additional screens

 

[Ric]

Hey Nikas!

Nice explanation, it's always good to give a backstory to your house! It also helps to interpret what you're trying to represent. But going to the feedback, you did a really good job at this style, the house looks great. There are just a few points I would address:

• There's no need to make a support for the lowest stairs in the roof, you can leave them "hanging".
• I'm not a big fan of using fences for support like you did here. I think using the wooden gate works better (like how you did here).
• I wouldn't have so many curtains, specially in small windows (like the 1x2 ones). With Minecrafts limitations I think they don't look so well if they are too small.
• This room here looks too overcrowded to me. When making use of such a narrow and empty space try not to fill it too much. Some empty space is also good for creating a natural feeling for each room. In this case I think making only one bed and using the rest as a mix of free space and storage (like with the cabinet and/or the shelf) would be better.
• Switching from a full block to a wall here doesn't work very well, it makes the blocks beside the door stick out too much I think.
• The yard looks good, but you didn't take any screenshots of the interiors of the cabin

I think that's it, only some really minor things. For your next challenge make a house in the style of Gaunt (/warp gaunt). Don't forget to include a sizeable yard as well. If you have any questions feel free to ask.
Good luck!

 

[Nikas Kunitz]

Hey Nikas!

Nice explanation, it's always good to give a backstory to your house! It also helps to interpret what you're trying to represent. But going to the feedback, you did a really good job at this style, the house looks great. There are just a few points I would address:

• There's no need to make a support for the lowest stairs in the roof, you can leave them "hanging".
• I'm not a big fan of using fences for support like you did here. I think using the wooden gate works better (like how you did here).
• I wouldn't have so many curtains, specially in small windows (like the 1x2 ones). With Minecrafts limitations I think they don't look so well if they are too small.
• This room here looks too overcrowded to me. When making use of such a narrow and empty space try not to fill it too much. Some empty space is also good for creating a natural feeling for each room. In this case I think making only one bed and using the rest as a mix of free space and storage (like with the cabinet and/or the shelf) would be better.
• Switching from a full block to a wall here doesn't work very well, it makes the blocks beside the door stick out too much I think.
• The yard looks good, but you didn't take any screenshots of the interiors of the cabin

I think that's it, only some really minor things. For your next challenge make a house in the style of Gaunt (/warp gaunt). Don't forget to include a sizeable yard as well. If you have any questions feel free to ask.
Good luck!

I was wondering what would be the first: You will reply or I will finish my lazy slow building of additional Duskendale houses. You came slightly ahead . So, here are the houses. One is relatively newly built house of some sort of a merchant (hes trade building is somewhere else, perhaps he owns a small ship), thus it's somewhat of lower high class. The other one is something like high low/lower middle class old house of a basketmaker.
Perhaps you remember our small discussion about my challenge house, that's it's height and dormers in fact aren't quite fitting for placement in a row in actual Duskendale. So I had decided to make it an additinal challenge - to build additional houses in accord with original one, yet keeping maximum similarity with techniques of actual Duskendale. The only thing that I had to change anyway were dormers - you can see new external and internal design on the screenshots.

 

[Nikas Kunitz]

Screenshots of the interiors of the merchant's house. The internal planning is somewhat similar to the shoemaker's house, I just find such planning quite logical.
On the first floor door from the street leads into small antechamber that is used as storage room. From antechamber door leads to the kitchen with doors to the back yard and to a bath room and in the corner there is also a passage to a circular staircase to the floors above. (The staircase is located in the inner corner of this L-shaped house, as you can see on the exterior screens). In the bathroom there is also a door to a privy. The privy is dark and full of flies.
On the second floor staircase leads to the central room which is a dining room, with fireplace and a painting as decoration. From dining room one door leads to the sleeping room of the merchant husband and his wife. The orther door from dining room lead to two separated sleeping rooms of merchant's children.
On the third floor, in attic, there is dining room for servants with exits to two sleeping room, also for servants.
I hope it wouldn't be too much self-praise, but I like that every floor somewhat has it's own atomosphere, mainly because of different wall colours

 

[Nikas Kunitz]

Additional screenshots of the first house's interiors.
Also screenshots of the basketmaker's house. This time I will save you from description, as everything seems quite clear.

 

[Nikas Kunitz]

Now to more recent matters. Thank you for feedback, Ric! I also want to respond to some of the points. I hope it won't be understood in any wrong way, I just want to write why I made things in a way I made them.
Concerning supports of a lowest stair of the roof - I saw that in DD there are both houses with and without such supporting, so I just decided to make it in such way.
Concerning supports of the staircase in the kitchen - I wanted to make them the same way as in staircases above. But I also wanted to hang a garlic strand under the staircase and with wooden gate it looks strange. So I decided to use fences - also, the lowest staircase may have some less elaborate construction as there is no need to walk under it.
Concerning small curtains - of course that's my unexperienced opinion, but they seem not to be so bad, especially if there were wool walls for them, speaking generally. But I made small curtains mainly because it seemed strange to have curtain in dining room, but not in small sleeping rooms. But I agree. it could be quite enough to have them only in the big sleeping room.
Totally agree with you concerning overcrowded sleeping room. Some builders also pointed that to me, especially this not very well placed cabinet.
Concerning the switching from wall to full block - I can agree with you, this could be done other, perhaps better, way.
And finally super secret photo of the cabin:

 

[Nikas Kunitz]

Atlast, after nearly two weeks of distraction and slow pace, I finished my second challenge building, for which I decided to make more than one house, and so it is - hamlet en style de Gaunt.
Building a such broader form was caused by my desire to build something complex and more "selfsustainable" than a singular house. And, even more importantly, in my opinion such form fits better for expression of the style of Gaunt village.
The hamlet consists of three living houses (respective households), as well as of a big storehouse, a cattle barn, a pigsty, "dual" chicken pen and a small hut for storage of fishing equipment with fishing facility near the river. There are respective pastures/yards near all animal pens. Every household have it's own vegetable garden, where mostly essential crops are grown. Also, there are fields of grain crops.
I tried to keep the original Gaunt style, while also incorporating various elements and details absent in actual Gaunt, mostly, in interiors of my houses. So, I would be pleased to hear an opinion particularly on that as well - aren't mine "innovations" too "innovative", hadn't I breached the style by them?
As the challenge demands a house, not a hamlet, let the first house of showed below be principal for that matter. But of course, you are greatly welcome to give a look and feedback of other buildings as well.

 

[Nikas Kunitz]

Exteriors and interiors of the first house, the principal one.
This house is the oldest household of the hamlet, so it has maximum inhabitants (four beds) and is well-settled for living. Perhaps, all three households belong to one big, extended family, that started from this household.
The first screenshot is of the general view of hamlet's central yard with well. Also, the dual chicken pen is attached right to this house. The fowl is quite plentiful.

 

[Nikas Kunitz]

The second house. This is the second oldest household of the hamlet. Only one married couple lived here until recently they had a child born. So now there is a small hanging cradle, and the mother watches daily and nigthly over her baby, so there is also a lit candle.
Also includes a small storehouse attached byside.