scoopdjm Builder Application

[scoopdjm]

What is your Minecraft username?
Ash_Blundermugs

What is your age?
21-24

In what country are you living?
USA--East Coast

Where did you first hear about WesterosCraft?
Searched online

What do you like the most about GoT/ASoIaF?
Mostly the more realistic setting and political intrigue of the Seven Kingdoms. Love the Hound as well!!! My fav character and a geat commentary on chivalry n Knighthood.

Battles: All of "The Wolf and The Lion" period where Robb and Tywin are duking it out

Locations: In the books and show, I'd say King's Landing and/or the Red Keep. On the server however, I'm a huge fan of many smaller builds, especially the castles and the fortresses...

What is your favorite build on our server?
My favorite build it Karhold, absolutely love the castle straddling the icy gorge!

Why do you want to join our server?
I really like building in MC, especially Ancient -> Renaissance architecture! Also I think the server does such a darn good job of bringing the ASoIaF world to life!

In terms of additional skills, I'd like to think I'm a pretty good pixel artist and writer. I know a bit of python, but probably not well enough to be useful.

Tell us about your build.
I've tried to build a Northern Mountain Clan farmhouse, it would most likely belong to a poorer farmer living near the edges of a clan village, neither large enough to support a full farmstead without additional buildings, nor small/simple enough to fit neatly within a closed/small village.

It has been rebuilt, probably from a very old blockhouse--which forms the core of its structure.

The wood is a mix of oak and spruce blocks, according to variation and spots where it may be damp. It's got a sod roof, which is a grass path in the build, but most likely be biome grass on the server--I just love sod roofs in general lol, and an old, repurposed structure seems likea great build to utilize one on.

I went through a few different stone/cobble palettes... can't say any of them looked that great, and right now the exterior might be a little too monotone in terms of color, but I am happy with how the interior came out! (Guess I'll have to go back to some North houses in the future!)

Also there's a little weirdness under the sod-roof-frame where the sod is showing on top of the stone--that's the most glaring technical error for me, I've left it because I'm a bit weary of making the roof framing too bulky.



Did you follow the application rules?
You know nothing, Jon Snow

 

[Emoticone11]

Hey scoopdjm,

Thanks for the application, and for being patient! I should be able to reply a bit quicker from here on out, but feel free to poke me if it's been a few days.

Overall this is a pretty good first house! It has a pretty interesting & inspired shape, and I like the interior arrangement as well. Here's some of the feedback I have:

- I feel that the style of the house is a bit too overdetailed, and a lot of this could be cut back a bit. One example of this is the stone/rubble surrounding the base of the house. While a tiny bit of rubble might be cool to represent an old/crumbling house, it's currently a bit excessive and makes it seem sort of like the base of the house has melted into the ground. The foliage is also mixed a bit too randomly - remember that all bushes/vines ultimately need nutrients to grow, so there wouldn't be leaf blocks scattered around without anything connecting them. Overall, our server style tends towards "tasteful simplicity". You want to make your builds interesting through adapting realistic architectural details, properly integrating the house immersively with its surrounding context, etc. rather than overdetailing the house itself.

- Another example of the above is the thin log/fence supports around the edges of the house. These are an unnecessary detail, and the hanging one in the corner is also strange. Overall, we pretty much avoid log blocks in both interiors and exteriors, as they look rather clunky (though thin logs can sometimes be acceptable as interior supports or rafters).

- The point about detail also applies to the block mixes you use for wood/stone. Here, you want to avoid having harsh contrast between blocks (e.g., between oak wood and spruce wood), and also avoid using too many blocks in your palette where it seems messy. For a house of this size, you really just want to choose 1 primary stone block for the foundation, and 2 secondary stone blocks for adding detail in a smooth "gradient". There's a nice tutorial for this at /warp gradient on our server. Lastly, don't use the terrainset blocks in manmade houses; these are intended to be unprocessed natural stone.

- As I mentioned, the interiors look pretty good (I love the cozy nook with the bed), so I don't have as much feedback to give there. Most of the things I mentioned above apply - avoid blocks which contrast harshly together, avoid log blocks, avoid unecessary detail/clutter (such as excessive use of crates), etc.

- One more minor point, but you shouldn't use torches in ordinary houses - these are meant for castle interiors or illuminating town/city streets. Rather, use candles (placed vertically on surfaces, never on walls), or the lantern block (usually just one that the residents would carry with them).

When you're ready, for a first challenge build, please make a medium-size house in the style of /warp woodwright. Feel free to ask if you have any questions about any of the feedback I gave above, or about the challenge style. Good luck!

 

[scoopdjm]

Howdy,

Thanks for great feedback, a lot of which I definitely had not considered! And no worries, life takes a lot of time lol, but thank you for getting back to me! I'm get excited for the woodwright house, and I'll be getting started on that tonight!

 

[scoopdjm]

Here is my attempt at the Woodwright style, medium-sized, one family w/ 3-4 members. Ground level includes a dining room/kitchen and above-ground storage area with a dilapidated wall inbetween (non-loading bearing; sometimes I build freestanding dividing walls as was sometimes done in medieval times? Not sure if it fits the ASOIAF setting at large, but I thought id try it out here). The second level includes an general utility space/hallway which is currently being used as extra storage and living space--although may have been used as a parlor or lounge for earlier, wealthier owners--as well as the master bedroom with a large living space and fireplace access.

Looking forward to hearing your feedback!

EDIT: Also optionally, there's definitely room for a third floor with a little finagling and the addition of several dormers--but I didn't want to totally pimp out a medium-size home into a rich townhouse!

 

[Emoticone11]

Hey scoopdjm/Ash,

Lovely work on this house! You've caught on very fast; this house is a huge improvement and would fit in Woodwright rather nicely. Here's some of the feedback I have this time around:

- It looks like you used the wrong stone blocks in the palette; you want to use "reach cobblestone" and "reach light stone" rather than the normal/gray versions of these. This makes the contrast a bit more jarring than it is in the Woodwright style.

- I'd avoid the dips in the peak of the roof (unless you're trying to represent an abandoned house which is falling apart, or something) - just make it even.

- In the roof pattern, you can cut out the slate blocks that I've circled here and replace them with daub/wattle. Makes the roof a little less bulky from the side.

- Regarding the shed in back of the house with a slate roof and brick supports, you should make this a wood plank roof and wooden supports respectively - slate and brick are a bit more expensive/laborious materials, so it doesn't make as much sense for a minor extrusion from the house to use these.

- No major problems with the interiors. I think the use of clutter blocks (e.g. barrels, crates) is still a bit too much (it's fine in the storage/pantry area, but then you also use them on the 2nd floor quite a bit), so I would recommend focusing on cutting back reliance on these. I would recommend trying to find really good examples of interiors in the locations you visit and studying them closely (I'm sure online builders would be willing to help you find good examples if you ask them nicely).

For the next challenge, please make a middle-class house in the style of /warp whiteharbor. The middle-class houses can generally be found in the southwest section of the city. As before, feel free to ask if you have any questions about the feedback or challenge style. Good luck!

 

[scoopdjm]

Hey thanks again,

I'll try to do a better job adhering to the palettes for the next build! I might be a little slower from here on out--just a bit tired getting ready for the new semester!!! Definitely excited to take a crack at a WH build.

 

[scoopdjm]

Alrighty,

I've tried to address some of the criticism of the last build in this one! Mostly, I've attempted to restrain myself from populating rooms with STUFF, and I've tried to adhere to the White Harbor palette a little more--the contrast between the white plaster and the white harbor cobblestone/small white stone make it a bit tougher to blend.

1st floor: Dining room/common room, kitchen/storage/staircase

2nd floor: hallway, guest/secondary bedroom, master bedroom

EDIT/CORRECTION: Flying around White Harbor again, I think I just used the wrong plaster color. Whoops. RIP me.

 

[Emoticone11]

Hey scoop, sorry about the slight delay.

Overall this is a pretty solid WH house. You did indeed use the wrong plaster color, but picturing that fixed in my head, I think the exterior would look very good. Here's some of my other feedback:

- I'd get rid of the horizontal row of slate on the front side of the house. The slate is unsupported, and overall it just seems like an extraneous detail. If you do want something like a decorative sill outside of the windows, you could do a row of northern wood (but don't do the little "dip" - just make the entire thing one horizontal row).

- For some of the roof overhang, you can cover up a bit more of the slate using northern wood half door blocks (placed directly under the upside-down stair blocks, except for the peak of the roof, where there's not really anything that can be done).

- I'm not sure about the spire on the top of the house. Sometimes they're a nice detail on decorative buildings, like fancy guild halls, but it just sems a bit out of place here.

- Interiors seem great as far as I can tell!

For a (tentative) final challenge, please make a middle-class house in the style of /warp fairmarket. Also, please include a moderately sized yard with the house this time. The style here is a bit more complex, but just study carefully and I'm sure you'll do fine. Feel free to ask if you've got any questions. Good luck!

 

[Emoticone11]

Hey scoop,

Are you still interested in continuing with this app? It may be rejected due to inactivity if no reply is given in 7 days.

 

[Emoticone11]

Application rejected due to inactivity. Please feel free to re-apply in the future.