Abandoned [OLD] Project Application: Queensgate

[Emoticone11]

[OLD FORUM REPOST - 3/13/18]

Note that only the most important information was preserved.

Hello this is xKrillen43x's app for Queensgate that I'm mooching off of by putting my name beside it as well, (for some reason I swear I'll help in some sort of way..)


Do it for the Krillen and thanks for reading .


PS. did I do this right?

I see WF Granite in your palette, which I'm afraid is not only meant to depict the specific to the type of granite quarried at Winterfell but also meant to make the masses of stone used there easy on the eyes. Canonincally, It has been mentioned to be specific feat of WF to have smooth blocks of granite in the walls. None of the other Northern castles/ wall castles use it, which underlines Winterfell's importance, and unique resource situation (Granite Quarries nearby). Let's have a discussion about this, because on the basis of the above mentioned arguments I personally very much want to restrict the block to WF only. I think you could make it all work well too with the stone palette used at Castle Black or Deep Lake.

Apart from that I really quite like your tests! I like the 3D layout and the spaces you are creating! Did you have any plans for the surrounding lands at all? I'm personally not sure what the Night's watch uses the Gift for. This is more of a general thing I guess. Are there hamlets at all except for moles town? Are there fields and pastures? Or do they hunt and thats it?

FOR IWAN
Queensgate
By: xkrillen43x & bearicroyce


History
- Queensgate is an abandoned castle along the Wall. It was formerly manned by the Night's Watch but was abandoned as the Watch shrank. To the west lies Deep Lake and to the east Castle Black.

- The castle was originally named Snowgate, but was renamed when Queen Alysanne Targaryen visited the castle on her dragon Silverwing.(ASOS, Chapter 41. Jon)

- Six hundred years before the War of the Five Kings, the commanders of the Nightfort and Snowgate went to war with each other. (ASOS, Chapter 55. Jon)


Recent Events
- Reports come to Castle Black that wildlings have been climbing near Queensgate. (ASOS, Chapter 48. Jon)

-

Spoiler: SPOILERS

Lord Commander Jon Snow

gives Queensgate to Morna White Mask to garrison and settle her own people. (ADWD, Chapter 69. Jon)


Location can be found at /warp queensgate1

Inspiration
Our idea for the Queensgate is a castle in ruins, with the cold winters slowly creeping back in. There will only be one actual area in use which will be the old hall. It would only be used as a place to keep warm while in the area. The rest of the castle will be in ruin with collapsed towers and cold empty halls.
The surrounding area will be under great neglect compared to Castle Black to the east.

Palette
Palette will be composed of black slate and snow covered roofs with areas collapsed under the weight of the snow. Northern wood will be the highlights to add to the worn down look.

Gradient



Mini

Tests





Resume
Ashemark
Hardy
Nunns Deep
Cerwyn
Cronesmill
Volmark
Brightwater Keep
The Paps
Seaworth
Ladybright
Stoney Sept

Terraforming
Only terraforming will be minimal at best. Some snow here and there with tiny paths and rocks around the area as well.

As always, thanks for reading!
-krill & bear

A few issues that I had brought up in-game before:

Size: Due to the scale of our map and the close proximity of the Wall Castles to each other our previous approach to building the fortifications along the Wall encouraged limiting the sizes of each castle if possible. The addition of natural boundaries like mountain ranges were an attempt to prevent castles being in plain sight of each other.
With the improved terrain, such boundaries are given in most cases, yet I think we should not set a precedence by oversizing the first Wall Castles we redo. Due to the limited space along the wall I would say that this should generally apply to most Wall Castles: The smaller, the merrier.

Defenses:

Spoiler: Spoilers ALL

• Bran shook his head. "If you go east there's Deep Lake, then Queensgate. West is Icemark. But they'll be the same, only smaller [than the nightfort.] All the gates are sealed except the ones at Castle Black, Eastwatch, and the Shadow Tower."

• Stannis Baratheon was proving to be a prickly guest, and a restless one. He had ridden down the kingsroad almost as far as Queenscrown, prowled through the empty hovels of Mole's Town, inspected the ruined forts at Queensgate and Oakenshield.

• . . . did you know that six hundred years ago, the commanders at Snowgate and the Nightfort went to war against each other? And when the Lord Commander tried to stop them, they joined forces to murder him? The Stark in Winterfell had to take a hand . . . and both their heads. Which he did easily, because their strongholds were not defensible.

  
  (All highlights by me.)

The last quote emphasizes the problem I am having with your current layout: The way the buildings and towers are arranged, with only a narrow passage open to intruders from the south, would allow defenders a significantly easier defensive position that it should. Let's look at how Castle Black, whose layout can probably be used as a blueprint - or inspiration at the very least - for the other Wall castles is described:

When they finally spied Castle Black, its timbered keeps and stone towers looked like nothing more than a handful of toy blocks scattered on the snow, beneath the vast wall of ice. The ancient stronghold of the black brothers was no Winterfell, no true castle at all. Lacking walls, it could not be defended, not from the south, or east, or west;

(Highlights by me.)

Long story short, I think you ought to change the way each of the buildings correspond with each other. I dislike how their connectedness provides a sheltered area behind them, only accessible through a narrow gap between the buildings. In my opinion this goes against direct canon and could easily be avoided. Furthermore, I still think the castle is too large and sets a precedence of oversizing the Wall Castles.

Queensgate added to the project orphanage. Exts are mostly done, ints are mostly not done. Buildings look good though, so this would be a simple and easy project for someone!

 

[CashBanks]

Bumping this project for fostering proposals, it's about 80% finished, just needs someone to do the ruined interiors.

 

[JohanKR850]

I was thinking of fostering it once I'm done with Hoarfrost Hill. Unless someone else wants to have a go of course.