Hello defence team!
First of all, we’ve seen a lot of progress at the city’s defences and are quite impressed by the speed. However, as the first section of defences seem to come along we’d like to give some feedback before continuing further around the city.
We’ve noticed some common themes in the setup of the defences, and would like to comment on these. We also like to suggest a way to get the community involved in the defences of Oldtown.
Feedback
We’ve taken a look at the city’s eastern defences, which seem to have come along quite a way. The feedback will mostly be based on this section of the defences.
Wall thickness
A lot of the defensive structures have very thin walls. Preferably any exterior wall in the fortifications of Oldtown should be at least 2 blocks thick, maybe even 3 or 4 blocks in formidable towers and gates. As long as a structure can fit a room in it of at least 3 blocks in any direction, the walls facing outside the city should be at least 2 blocks thick.
Crenellations, buttresses and arrow slits
We noticed parts of the walls have rather low crenellations, while other parts rely on a step to be able to look over it. The height of the crenellations should always have the same proportions in relation to the walkway.
The buttresses seem a bit narrow, and might benefit from being made 2 blocks wide. Some walls could also feature a talus instead.
There are a lot of arrow slits in the towers. Any opening in a defensive structure is a weak point, and as a result there should be a carefully considered amount of openings such as arrow slits. We also noticed some arrow slits and windows located within the same structure on the same level of each other are a different height. This gives a messy look to the structure.
Style & plotting
It seems the style of the walls and towers is mostly based on the plotting. You can have a lot more freedom in this, making sections of walls thicker or higher, making towers larger or a different shape or removing them altogether. You are the defense team after all ;-).
Make sure sections of defences are not interconnected. While this seems handy for any would-be defenders, attackers benefit from interconnected walls since once a section of the wall is conquered it will be easier to conquer the rest.
Uniformity & variation
The different sections of the defences were likely built as organised building projects. As a result, the walls should be somewhat uniform within a section of the defences. There is currently a lot of variation, which in itself isn’t bad, but we’d like the walls to have a somewhat more uniform appearance. Of course, variation should still occur, but this should be more of an exception rather than the rule.
In short
Most of the feedback can be addressed by the following guidelines:
- Walls in any forticated structure in the defences facing out from the city should have at least a thickness of 2 blocks. Localised exceptions can be made to fit in stairs, arrow slits and related features.
- Windows have no place in the defences facing out from the city. Windows on the city side of buildings, or on non defensive courtyards, are fine.
- Arrow slits should be a consistent height within a building and storey.
Community involvement
We’d like to include the community in the building process of the defences. The Oldtown document has promised that the garrisons (the forts in the defences) will be available for application. We think the main city gates could also benefit from community competition, as well as provide fun challenges to builders who are not part of the OT defences team. Of course members of the OT defence team can compete in these applications as well.
Inspiration
The Oldtown document chapter 7; walls, towers & garrisons describes what we’d like to see in the defences of Oldtown.
There is inspiration available for the types of defences of the city, which
can be found here.
You can also look for your own inspiration as long as it aligns with the inspiration already gathered for the project as is explained in chapter 2; Canon & inspiration.
It’s quite a read, but that’s all we have. We’d like to hear your thoughts about the feedback and the proposed community involvement and course of action for further progress.
