Approved Project Application: House Ruthermont by Uthormadman424 & Agrhendaer

[Uthormadman424]

Hi All! Robin (Agrhendaer) and I (Uthor) are applying for House Ruthermont under Emote's Southeastern Vale Megabuild. Please see the link to our project application!

Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16F77rS7mnLr-wiMKjkI1nafRxSVmHdNUhYQ63eikpIs/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you very much and we look forward to any and all feedback!
-Uthor and Robin

 

[Enah]

Make sure to keep Alfons' house and Geraldine's gravesite <3
I really like the castle and town tests, hope that the rural areas receive lots of love too, Emote can't do that all his own! I hope to see happy valefolk and prospering farmesteads

 

[Agrhendaer]

Make sure to keep Alfons' house and Geraldine's gravesite <3
I really like the castle and town tests, hope that the rural areas receive lots of love too, Emote can't do that all his own! I hope to see happy valefolk and prospering farmesteads

Glad to hear you like the tests! We have done more work on testing, work that I will post here at a later moment.

As for Alfons' house and Gerlandine's gravesite, are those in Fotheringbay? I saw some signs there saying locations were reserved for older builds.

If not do notify me of where they should be so I can take that into account!

 

[Enah]

they are big tree with a grave above the fields on the south side and a farm plot along the road from the castle plateau

 

[Gealrüable]

really like the app!
one small fb: I'm unsure wether i've found the correct castletests, but they all seem to be rather horizontal with the layout. Since this is in the Vale, I think you should take the opportunity to make use of a more hilly/mountainous terrain and make the layout much more vertical.
The inspiration-castle Trostburg (a typical "Hangburg" above the villages in the valley below) is a good example of how to do that. I especially love the watchtower above the main castle.
I suggest moving the castle further inland to the hill above the main town.

 

[Emoticone11]

Hey Robin and Uthor,

Thanks for being patient! I wanted to give some time for others to give their impressions (and was also busy with block update stuff).

Overall I like your plans a lot so far, and have already worked with you in-game quite a bit.

Some minor feedback after giving the app another look-through:

- The main village near the castle looks a little bit too dense from the map, although based on your in-game tests it seems like you've already planned to cut down the density a little bit; is my understanding correct?

- I'd be careful to limit some of the visual detail/entropy in the style; I already gave the example in-game of removing some of the unnecessary diagonal facades for instance. I'd still like to work with you more on the roads, since the layering and pebble mix is a bit messy currently.

- Regarding the castle location: I could see an alternative vision where the castle is inland, closer to the foothills (especially if the idea is to leave the cliffs "natural" and have the castle be in the background instead). However, I'm also happy with the current location as it creates nice sightlines from the village and main road. The current position of the castle is actually slightly higher relative to the surroundings than the hill that you're referring to. It may be possible to add some more perceived verticality to the castle just by shifting the layout around a bit, making the inner yard and bergfried higher.

- An idea for the cliffside sept might be to combine the septon residence and sept into a quaint little cloister/garden complex (but not quite a septry).

- For the more rural areas of the project, I'd de-emphasize the individual yard plots for houses and focus on having a more continuous blending between the farmer houses and agriculture. /warp gaunt is a good example of what I mean.

Other than those things, you have my approval! Just need one more mod approval and then we can get the ball rolling

 

[Uthormadman424]

Woohoo!

- The main village near the castle looks a little bit too dense from the map, although based on your in-game tests it seems like you've already planned to cut down the density a little bit; is my understanding correct?

Yes, we have been working on scaling down the density of the main village, and the current town test can be scaled down more if needed to be, but around 10 farmers, and 4 castle "professions"

Regarding the castle location: I could see an alternative vision where the castle is inland, closer to the foothills (especially if the idea is to leave the cliffs "natural" and have the castle be in the background instead). However, I'm also happy with the current location as it creates nice sightlines from the village and main road. The current position of the castle is actually slightly higher relative to the surroundings than the hill that you're referring to. It may be possible to add some more perceived verticality to the castle just by shifting the layout around a bit, making the inner yard and bergfried higher.

Robin and I have discussed it, and I also discussed it with you a bit in-game, and would prefer the current location. Besides the height of the cliff vs the hill, the planned economy necessitates the peninsula providing the majority of the agriculture for Ruthermont, and moving the castle to that hill would limit that in my opinion. We certainly can play around with the height within the castle, which is the case with the inspo pictures.

An idea for the cliffside sept might be to combine the septon residence and sept into a quaint little cloister/garden complex (but not quite a septry).

Love this idea, there is a bit more room to play with on that cliff-edge so I agree about that idea since the nearest septry would be by the entrance to Gerold's Glen. We had envisioned the sept being a special build and the septon's house a regular plot, so maybe the entire complex could be a mini and upgraded special. Can discuss more with you once we get going.

Thank you very much for the approval!!!

 

[DutchGuard]

You have my approval as well.

The application looks good, you've got a good foundational understanding of the region and canon, and you've workshopped this with Emot. I have confidence you'll make a good job of it. Good luck, and keep us up to date with progress!

 

[Uthormadman424]

UPDATE #1:

We have pasted our town tests onto the production server, and have begun to plot out more of the peninsula. The next step for us is to finish the town and surroundings before moving onto the Castle and other farming hamlet as a part of phase 1. In order to do that...

RUTHERMONT is officially OPEN for building!!!! When you warp you will land on our style guide which has helpful ideas and tips so please read all of the signs before building

In addition to Low class plots, there are 3 professions buildings with open interiors in the town, feel free to go after those as well.

Thank you very much for reading, and happy building!!

 

[Uthormadman424]

Quick update!

Work on Ruthermont Village and the surrounding areas continue at a steady pace! Thank you to all the builders who have helped out so far, and to any new probies or builders looking for a plot there are several still up for grabs!


Along with that, we are going to be opening up a Special build for any builder interested. It is a cliff side sept for the village and castle, pictured inside the blue wool outline. We are envisioning a small complex that should include the sept, some gardens, and a septon's residence as well. A cloister or enclosed garden area would be a great addition as well. If you are interested, please make a test and post it here to this thread!


Next step is to continue working on phase 1: the rest of the peninsula, and when the block update comes, we will begin work on the castle with hopes to utilize some of the new plaster blocks!

Thank you for reading!
-Uthor and Robin

 

[Agrhendaer]

A quick little update from my end as well for a change!

As Uthor stated in his previous update we are still working on phase 1. While Uthor and other builders are hard at work with houses and interiors I have tried to focus on the surrounding nature and some details. I have finished a substantial portion of east Ruthermont and continued with the fields surrounding the castle. I have also added a shipwreck that has run into the cliffs.

-Robin and Uthor

 

[Agrhendaer]

Update time!

Over the last week-ish we have made quite the progress! Lots of plots were finished (only two left in Ruthermont village) and plenty of nature was made! Awb also started on the castle interior.

The plans for the next period are to extend our efforts northbound, towards a farmstead and the coastal forest which has to be finished.
After that we will start work on the planned out hamlet north, and prepare ourselves for the block update.

Once the update drops we will quickly rework some of the timberframes to better represent those of a palatinate architecture.

 

[Uthormadman424]

Hi All! It's been about a month since an update...



Things at Ruthermont have been moving along swimmingly!!! Work on the Castle continues, as Robin and I work with Awb who has graciously offered assistance with the interiors. The town likewise is nearing completion with only minor things left on the docket. In addition, the completion of a farmstead, cheese farm, and small hamlet has pushed us along to our second phase of the project, "The road to Gulltown"

As we move north from the peninsula, we will begin to plot out the Northwick hamlet, a fishing hamlet bustling with travelers on their way to the big city. In addition, we will be opening 2 Mini's for application.

1: Septry West of Northwick: A small fortified septry built into the foothills of the mountain. Well-kept from the pious travelers on the road, it should be compact, and work with the terrain. If you are interested in testing, we are more than happy to help with specifics or inspiration.

2: Hamlet of Fotheringhay: A farming hamlet north of the bend. Up the hill is a holdfast as well as some first-men ruins. Please reach out regarding any questions.

If you are interested in either of these minis, post here and we will check it out!

Thank you for reading!
-Uthor and Robin

 

[Ouroboronz]

Kia ora koutou,

Here is my long-awaited Fotheringhay application. Thanks to all who gave and continue to give me feedback and thought on the server.

Ngā mihi nui,
Ouro

Fotheringhay by Ouroboronz

 

[Uthormadman424]

Hey Ouro, this looks great! My only note is seeing the plotting in-game I would like to make a few adjustments, but that is something we can certainly work out once in production. Robin and I happily approve! Now you just need Emote or Dutch to give approval and we can get things moving!

 

[Emoticone11]

I might want to explore some alternative designs for the ruins with you, so I'd prefer if you hold those off till later, but everything else looks good to me. You have my approval as well!

 

[Ouroboronz]

Awesome! I'll see you guys in game and we can work out the kinks

 

[starcat98]

Hey all! Here is my application for the septry at Northwick .

The septry is meant to be smaller, but well maintained by the brothers, the villagers, and travelers along the Gulltown Road. I've based a large portion of the build on Vorbourg Chapel (courtesy of Uthor). There'll be the typical buildings found in a septry, with the sept itself, dorms for the brothers, storage, kitchens, etc. In addition to that, given its location along a major road, I've decided to give it a small hospital/infirmary to treat injured or ill travelers. Nothing on the level of plague treatment, but a nice place to get fixed up on a long journey. The cloister itself also will be rather unorthodox, as given the mountainous terrain, there'll be terraced gardens with channels dug to capture snowmelt in a cistern beneath. Attached are three pictures; one of a palette test and two of the layout itself. Thank you!

 

[Uthormadman424]

Hey Star! Looking awesome! We have talked a fair bit in game that I am ready to see to see it in place. Robin had a suggestion about some overhangs and stair placement, but we can handle that in place, so consider it approved!

 

[Emoticone11]

approved as well