Completed Project Application: House Pyle

Luk

Luk

Gullible
Staff member
Pronouns
he/him
1801
House Pyle
House Pyle is a noble house from the Crownlands. According to semi-canon sources they blazon their arms with a grey iron greathelm on white.
Coat of Arms: A grey iron greathelm on white (Argent, an iron greathelm cendrée)
Historical Members: Ser Howard Pyle, attended the tourney at Ashford Meadow in 209 AC.
The house is located north of KL, west of Byrch and south of Gaunt.
by Luk_emAn

Résumé:
This would be my first solo project.
  • Bandallon Septry
  • Southern sprawl of Duskendale (coop w/ Xeson) including the forest to the south-east
  • Waterman Hamlet 1 & 2
House Pyle is an orphan project. The original builder was ThaGonx.
They haven't been active for quite a long time now and no progress has been made on the project.
Original thread

Map
https://imgur.com/a/23reaYH

Castle
https://imgur.com/a/hTjsyE6

My castle tests are based on Framlingham Castle which was a norman castle in England.
Regarding the layout of the castle:
[The castle] ...was unusual for the time in having no central keep, but instead using a curtain wall with thirteen mural towers to defend the centre of the castle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framlingham_Castle#11th–12th_centuries
Click to expand...

The inner court of the csatle will sit on a hill, approx. 8-12 blocks high.
The hill is surrounded by two baileys, the lower court and the outer bailey.

Inner court
the inner court contains everything essential to the castle.
Most notably: a well, great hall, knights' hall, lords' chambers, and a blacksmith.

Lower court
In Framlingham, the lower court were nice large gardens.
I want to also do this for my castle, altough more for agricultural uses but still very nice.
The court will be fortified with a drymoat and short stone walls.
Framlingham has a postern gate with a prison tower on its west side, i plan to also add that to my castle.
The postern gate leads into the lower court, and outside to the north-east, where a small gate with wooden bridge will be.

Outer bailey
On the south side of the castle there will be an outer bailey, which is fortified with a drymoat and earth walls. (maybe even palisades)
The outer bailey will contain some more small buildings, e.g. more stables, room for servants etc.

Palette
I have decided to go for a dun brick palette, since its so near to KL.
I took inspiration fromthe Dunfort and want to do a similar style.
Here is the gradient test for the castle walls:

1802

House Style
I want the houses to look similar to Mallery, excluding the ones the cobble / light stones.
Here are some examples:

180318041805

Terrain
As you can see from the map, i plan to surround Pyle with a forest.
I want the forest to look similar to those surrounding Mallery or Duskendale, only with more of birch trees, since the area is right next to the forest at Byrch, which is a large birch forest.

There are a few rivers bordering Pyle. I don't want to touch them too much because they reach deep into the neighbouring projects.
Although i would be willing to update the rivers in the area if the mods wish it.


You can also visit all tests on my plot (/warp Luk).

Thanks for reading!
- Luk
 
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Luk

Luk

Gullible
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Hey, thanks for the quick approval!
Of course, i'll adjust the crenellations as you said :)

After starting on the terraforming i had the idea to add an artificial lake to the castle.
There would be a dam with walkway, to hold back the water, which can then be used to fill the moat.
The rest of the terrain will stay as planned.

1807

Hope you like the idea as much as i do, i would like to get your approval first though, before i continue.
Have a nice day!
- Luk
 
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SeapunkPeaches

SeapunkPeaches

Cersei's Left Bob
Talked in game, here's a little summary of the feedback/ideas

1) Cut the lower bailey - upon closer inspection, this addition would make Pyle the biggest castle near KL, indicating regional significance, which isn't mentioned in the books. Hayford and Rosby are the two houses named as the main KL "neighbors".
Also, aesthetically, the castle would look nicer without it, as there are no vertical elements. This way, it's only adding up to the overall bulk of the castle and not much else.

2) Lake - Looks great, my proposal would only be to make it smaller. Right now, it has a slight resemblance to Mallery, however the lake "dwarfs" the castle as there is no central keep that would make the castle stand out.
The other thing would be to perhaps make the lake look less natural and more manmade, as described. I'm not an expert on this stuff (and idk if there is a noticeable difference in the look of artificial lakes vs natural ones in this climate) so if someone knows more about this, let us know :)

I believe these changes will bring focus on the castle's visual strengths better and only make it more unique, rather than take away from it :D
 
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Luk

Luk

Gullible
Staff member
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he/him
Some plots are now available at /warp pyle!

Also: I opened parts of the castle for everyone to test. Take a look at the labels.

I wish you all a good start into 2020. Have fun building!
 
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AerioOndos

AerioOndos

Donkey Lord
Staff member
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they/them
WhereRmyDragons said:
The other thing would be to perhaps make the lake look less natural and more manmade, as described. I'm not an expert on this stuff (and idk if there is a noticeable difference in the look of artificial lakes vs natural ones in this climate) so if someone knows more about this, let us know :)
Click to expand...

An artificial lake would result in a lot of shifted soil. this could have been used to flatten the ground for the castle though, and other construction uses.
 
Luk

Luk

Gullible
Staff member
Pronouns
he/him
Update

First of all, thank you @Iwan for stepping in as the second approving mod!

So i haven't been working very much on the project for the last weeks (or months) and have now found the motivation to finish this thing.
I have decided to redo the layout of the roads and houses a bit because the plotting wasn't quite up to standard before.
Also i want to adjust the style more in the direction of Gaunt and DD sprawl,
since the current style of the houses doesn't feel up to par compared to the newer builds.

The castle is almost done. Theres just some finishing needed on the interiors.
So heres a summary of my ToDos:
  • Finish the castle
  • Continue plotting of the still empty areas
  • Finish the orchard farm buildings
  • Update the rivers down to Kings Landing
  • Do the forest floors and put in trees and everything
Other big news

I will add a new mini project soon. It will be a horse breeding complex, owned by the lord of Pyle.
Once position and details are final, i will post again in the thread so you can apply for it here.

Also new plots will be available soon.
 
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SeapunkPeaches

SeapunkPeaches

Cersei's Left Bob
Hey,

we went over some minor details and quickly fixed them. Here's some more substantial feedback from me:

- The fallow field mix is a bit messy. The muddy sand pattern makes it look splotchy, especially from above. There's probably a way to make it look nicer, just requires some experimentation with the patterns and mixes.

- Although not bad or poorly executed in any way, the inn interiors feel somehow chaotic. There's a lot of stuff going on that could use some rearranging and order.

- There's a slight inconsistency regarding Stormlands pebbles usage around the project, especially in the yards. Some sections use only the dry variant, some the wet and some use none at all. Pick one and go with it. Personally, I'd opt for less random patterns of wet Stormlands pebbles.

- There's a lot of tall grass in the castle yard. I'd tone it down, especially where there is only one or two tall grass blocks.

- The stone floors in the castle look a bit messy due to the seemingly random mix of stormlands, dun and sandstone blocks. I think a nice and simple pattern would fix this. Check out Woodwright Manor for example.

Other than that, good job on the project! Once you fix this, you have my post-approval :)
 
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