November 2021 Update Info Thread

[Emoticone11]

Hi everyone,

Last week, just in time for WesterosCraft's 10th anniversary, we received a block update that added many new features to the game. People have already discovered most of these changes and have made some awesome uses of them already. In this thread, I'll discuss some of the highlights of the update and any out-of-ordinary changes, as well as some guidelines for updating existing builds where applicable.

I'll preface this with a disclaimer that I give after every update - although the new blocks are exciting, try not to get carried away! Make sure to not let the novelty/innovation factor override the importance of using the new blocks in ways that look good, make sense, and are in accordance with our overall stylistic goals for each region. If there's any doubts or debate, it's better to discuss them first than risk starting a trend that doesn't age well.

Feel free to discuss anything surrounding the new blocks and retrofitting existing projects in this thread (new block requests or change requests should be made using the block request form).

Full changelog:

Spoiler

-Added stormlands large brick variants
-Added variants for remaining wood colors
-Added light/dark versions of wattle fence
-Added ghostskin
-Added hemp blocks (short/tall/dense variants)
-Added more variants of faith carved stone
-Added stacked & piled bone blocks & variants
-Added firewood slab
-Added path blocks for dorne dusty dirt, dorne dry soil, and reach gravel
-Added slab block for dorne dry soil
-Added arbor brick furnace blocks
-Added black glass candle variant
-Added variants for snow/ice blocks (note: the latter have some minor rendering issues that will be fixed in the future)
-Added snowy versions of dark/light thatch
-Added dock leaf block and removed texture from nettle CTM
-Added snowy weirwood leaves
-Added domestic/workshop/shop/yard utility blocks
-Added wool/thatch carpets as custom blocks
-Added more arrow slit options
-Added more hopper options
-Added stair/slab/wall/fence variants for light oldtown brick
-Added pale pink bricks & variants for Maidenpool
-Added stair/slab/wall/fence for (icy) northern cobble, faint light grey stone, small orange brick, white granite, and small white brick
-Added great road etchings
-Added northern fence gate (on vanilla dark oak fence gate block)
-Added orange slate for Arbor/Oldtown
-Added wood and metal variants of tip blocks
-Added variants for iron, steel, and gold
-Added variants for arbor small brick
-Changed furnace blocks to have hollow models (& added vanilla unlit stone brick furnace as custom block)
-Changed terrainset, ores, and cushion moss to have overlay CTMs
-Changed steel/iron blocks to have similar texture to bronze/gold
-Changed grass/foliage shading in desert biome to yellower variant of mushroom_island (tentative)
-Changed shading of grey bricks in jungle biome to browner hue
-Changed current pink brick blocks to sandy pink textures that work with vivid dark sandstone
-Changed arbor brick texture to be more similar to dun brick
-Changed ash/scorched earth blocks to have top texture on all sides
-Changed dirt texture in jungle biome to not have moss
-Changed grassy sand to have proper colors in extreme_hills biome
-Changed iron nugget item texture to folding fan
-Changed stormlands & white harbor blocks to have generic names
-Fixed bug with jungle biome shading and height
-Fixed oak timber white daub lefthatch/righthatch having wrong inventory icons
-Fixed wattle fence having transparent inventory icon

Highlights

* Ghostskin: a block representing a species of plant endemic to the swamps of the Neck, described as growing in "ropy white blankets" and "slimy streamers". We've interpreted this plant as being similar to Usnea lichen. Thanks to Thamus_Knoward , this block has a cool custom model that works when placed on both solid blocks and wall blocks!



* Hemp: as a plant used quite extensively for producing rope and textiles in the middle ages, this crop now has its own custom model thanks to Thamus_Knoward . It's implemented as 3 separate blocks: a short version, a tall version (2 blocks high), and a dense version (2 blocks high).



* Bone blocks: comes in both a directional stacked version (with variants), as well as a disorganized piled version (with variants). Thanks to CashBanks for the textures!



* Firewood slab: Pretty self-explanatory! Unfortunately the slab itself isn't directional at the moment as there's no directional slab block type, though this may be fixed in the future.



* Snow/ice variants: Useful for making snow-covered rooves, icicles, or other uneven icy/snowy surfaces.



* Snowy thatch: For thatch rooves in areas with light snowfall. I went with a layered style for this texture, since it seemed to provide the best transition between the thatch texture and the snow texture.



* Snowy weirwood leaves: Doesn't make sense to have snowy spruce leaves without snowy weirwood leaves!



* More utility blocks: Four new utility blocks were added for marking domestic plots (i.e. homes), workshops, shops, and yards.



* Wattle fence variants: Light and dark wattle fence variants (both short and tall versions) were added to make wattle fence compatible with each basic wood type, since the normal wattle fence contrasted pretty poorly with darker or lighter woods.

 

[Emoticone11]

* Expanded block variant options: Added many new variants (hoppers/arrow slits/walls/stairs/etc.) for many different block types, including the colored woods, metals, and stone types. Wood tips and northern wood fence gates included! The blocks shown in this pic are non-exhaustive.



* Pink brick sets: Added a pink sandstone/pink brick set intended for the Red Fork + Riverrun (modifying the versions that were already there), and added a pale pink brick set for Maidenpool.



* Great road etchings: For marking the great roads of Westeros. The opacity on these is currently bugged, and will be fixed in a future update.



* Orange slate: Added to allow some diversity in roof materials in builds such as the Arbor, Oldtown, and Lannisport (eventually).



* Improved furnace models: Furnaces are now hollow, thanks to some cool block model work by Thamus_Knoward ! There are some very minor bugs with how the blocks render in the inventory/hand that will be fixed in the future.



* Overlay CTMs for terrainsets, ores, and moss: A patch by Thamus_Knoward that adds overlay connections between solid terrainset, ore, and moss blocks has been added to the main pack, allowing for more natural-looking terrainset striations and gradients.



* Modified desert biome shading: Changed the biome color for grass and foliage in the Desert biome to a more subtle dry semi-desert shade.



* Folding fan item: 'nuff said!

 

[Emoticone11]

Update Guidelines

Here I'll outline some guidelines for making sure that existing projects are kept up-to-speed with block updates, and what is/isn't acceptable in terms of updating things.

Most importantly: If you're currently leading a project, city district, etc., or have lead one in the past, please take the time now to update it with whatever new blocks are applicable. This is especially the case with things like replacing fence gates used with northern wood with the new northern wood variants, swapping wattle fence with light/dark wattle fence if it's currently used with a contrasting wood type, etc.

Please feel free to post here if you have any questions, ideas, or issues with these guidelines.

1. Things anyone should fix on sight

• Swapping fence gates with northern fence gates when northern fence gates are clearly desirable, such as this example. However, avoid changing in cases where it might be ambiguous (such as this example: although the overhang is northern wood, whether the supports are spruce or northern is a matter of preference); in these cases ask the project leader or a mod for permission.

2. Things people are encouraged to update with permission from the project leader or a mod

• Updating wattle fence with the light/dark versions in cases where it currently contrasts with a light/dark wood type, such as in this example. I've attached two scripts for the macro/keybind mod that make this job really easy; just select the region you want to replace and run the script. Just be careful so you don't unintentionally change interior wattle fence!

• Updating builds with new block variants (e.g. the new arrow slits, hoppers, slabs/stairs/walls, etc.) whenever it seems appropriate, such as if an existing gradient can be improved with the new blocks.

• Adding bone blocks to crypts and catacombs.

• Adding firewood slabs to firewood piles wherever it would look good.

3. Things that designated teams/people should be responsible for updating

• Adding hemp farms to specific projects where these would be appropriate. I'm looking to Elduwin and Luk to help organize this as they requested the hemp block for this purpose.

• Replacing weirwood leaves with snowy weirwood leaves in the snowy North regions. Hopefully CashBanks can help organize this, as he helped replace spruce leaves with snowy spruce and we should just be able to repeat the same process we used for that.

• The great road etchings should be handled by specific teams for working on the great roads, whenever we get to that point.

• Adding snowy thatch to projects in the North should be handled by the leaders of those projects, and integrated into the general styleguide for that region accordingly.