TheZexdex Builder Application

[TheZexdex]

18


United Kingdom


I came across WesterosCraft after I did a Google Search looking for a "Game of Thrones" Style Map of Westeros.


The Elder Scrolls, Star Wars





A Game of Thrones
All of the above


Arya Stark. I love her character arc from a naive girl from Winterfell to a merciless Braavosi assassin, although I enjoy many other characters and their arcs, such as Petyr Baelish, Eddard Stark, and (of course) Hodor.


I find that I can very effectively parse photographs, artwork or floor plans into Minecraft, as it's the thing that got me into the game in the first place, the idea of being able to create real life or fiction structures in an easy to use 3D world. I also find that once I have a clear image in my head on what a build will look like, I will sit down for hours at a time just to get it complete.


I am more interested in building medium to large scale structures as opposed to small objects. Although I'm happy to work on anything from isolated farms to grand castles and keeps. In the end, I seek to help in anyway I can to realize the stuff of dreams, recreating a world as rich as Westeros in Minecraft.

https://imgur.com/a/Zk17rhh

YOU KNOW NOTHING, JON SNOW

 

[Arkilstorm]

Hi Zex,

Thank you for your application. I've taken a look at your app build and have a bit of feedback for you:

- Perhaps a few too many chests in a single house. These also look really strange stacked on top of each other, as they float. Chests were expensive to produce and were priced objects in many “middle-high class” houses.

- I’d also limit the number of cobwebs. There’s just way too many in the roof space. Less is certainly more!

- Try not to use trapdoors as shelves or decorative objects. We have such a wide variety of blocks which do a better job, and we try to reserve the trapdoor block for it’s original purpose, and movable castle hoardings.

- The exterior use of fence posts to create detail is very outdated, as well as the full timber structure. I’d definitely advise you take a look at some of our more recent structures on the server to get an idea of realistic building methods.

- Your stone foundations are also a strange combination of cut stone surrounded by a strange cobblestone pattern. Again, perhaps take a look at the houses in some of our northern projects to better understand how they would have been built.

- There’s a lot go glass used in this house, which wouldn’t be common in a standard medieval home in the north.

- Your interior furnishing isn’t consistent with our standards, with many practices that wouldn’t qualify as approvable builds. As mentioned before. I think you need a little more time exploring our server before applying to build.

After having a look at your application build, I think the best step is to explore our projects and get a better understanding not only of the level we expect of our builders, but also get a better understanding of how we envision the population of Westeros living throughout the various kingdoms. A better understanding of medieval life, will increase your building skill tenfold.

I’m going to table your application for four weeks, and then ask you to submit another build if you’re interested in doing so. You can use this time to better equate yourself with Westeroscraft. If you don’t wish to wait four weeks, let us know and we’ll close your application.

Enjoy exploring, and feel free to keep building in Single Player! If you have any questions, feel free to drop us a message here.

Thanks,

Ark

 

[TheZexdex]

Hi!

What do you mean by 'table my application for 4 weeks' ?

Also do you have any suggestions on any specific areas on the map that I could study?

Thanks,

Zex

 

[lemonbear]

A few good areas are Kings Landing sprawl, Bitterbridge, and Fairmarket. In addition, you might want to check out other in progress builds and watch current builders work on things. Seeing the process of building on our server might help you get an idea of what we do and why we do it.

 

[lemonbear]

'To table' means 'to put on hold', so essentially he said he's putting your application on hold for four weeks so you can practice the style more.

 

[TheZexdex]

Hey.
So its been 4 weeks, and I've built this house in the meantime, based of the houses I studied in the Kings Landing sprawl.

https://imgur.com/a/5zhUmhd

 

[Arkilstorm]

Hi Zex,

Thanks for taking the time to look around the server a little more. This house is definitely a lot better than your last one, but there's still some issues to address:


- The full log structure is a bit of an outdated practice. KL took about two-three years to finish, so some of the houses are a lot older than others. We try to avoid using full logs to split up the daub and wattle pattern. Take a look at projects such as Bitterbridge and Fairmarket for more recent examples of Daub and wattle structured houses.

- Make sure that with the wattle internal walls, you have wooden lintels for doorways and windows. You shouldn’t really be able to see the underside of any daub and wattle block. It just looks a little ugly.

- The chimney stack is very large and could do with being slimmed down a little. There’s also too much smoke from the top. Usually we try to keep it to two-three plumes of smoke.

- For your interiors, it looks like you’ve used a lot of blocks which would signify this is a very wealthy house, lots of glass, books, and paintings. Just be sure that when you’re building a house, even an example one like this, you build it for a specific type of family, or craftsmen/ tradesman. There are way too many glass cabinets and book blocks.

- The fireplaces have wooden fences infant of them, which looks weird. Also, your burning embers are touching the wooden floor in some parts of the house.. They need to have a hearth to protect the flooring.

- All flooring for upper floors needs to be supported. You Should build all floors with a combination of upturned stair blocks and slabs to create rafter beneath the flooring, spanning the shortest distance between two walls. Houses in Fairmarket and Woodwright are good examples of this. At the moment your ceilings are totally flat with no support.

- There’s very little variation between the stones in your palette, meaning it looks a bit bland. Try looking at different combinations of blocks that give the illusion of natural weathering.

- The wooden supports on the exterior ate a bit much. The house would look a lot better without them. Things like the stairs being made of wood on the outside are also a little strange.

For your first challenge, I'd like you to build me a middle/ middle class house in the style of /warp woodwright. These are the houses with Daub and wattle ends, and slate roofs. Pay particular attention to the palette, the rafters, and the living space divisions.

Good Luck!

 

[TheZexdex]

Hello, I've done a house in the style of /warp woodwright. I hope you like it!

https://imgur.com/a/YJl4AZf

-Zex

 

[Arkilstorm]

Hey man, nicely done with this one.

Here's some feedback:

- The stone palette is a little all over the place and could do with a more systematic approach. You shouldn’t put cobblestone near the light stone block, but instead transition from the cobble, through other blocks up to the lighter stone.

- Be careful with the small details, especially the roofing. All the Woodwright houses have the slate ‘wall’ running along the top, so you get a sharper peak. At the moment you end the roofline with a full block, which is quite an abrupt stop.

- Be careful with using too much panelling in the attic space. This is some extensive craftsmanship which is wasted in the loft space.. Especially considering this is the home of a baker and not a craftsman.

- Make sure your flooring is a mix of gravel and dirt with thatch rushes on the floor. Solid gravel looks a bit strange.

- You should also make sure you have a decent bread oven for a baker.. At the moment this house has a hearth but no means of really producing bread on a larger scale, nor any wheat store.

- Take a look at the ‘Ikea’ warp for some furniture ideas. Your table should have four legs, not six; use slab blocks for the middle section instead of hoppers.

- Try to use a methodical daub and wattle pattern on the gable ends of the house. At the moment, there’s alot of plain daub and crossed wattle blocks, but not alot of diagonals.

Altogether this house is a pretty good start, just make sure that you really plan how someone would live in this house and it will help you fill it with appropriate items. For your next challenge I’d like you to build a low-class house in the style of /warp bandallontown

Best of luck!

 

[TheZexdex]

Hello, this is my house in the style of /warp bandallontown.

https://imgur.com/a/2v7Wp9Q

-Zex

 

[Arkilstorm]

Hey man,

This is good. Nicely don't. The only concern I'd have is that the chimney base support is a little strange looking. Perhaps try not to make it so symmetrical.

For your next challenge, please build a low-class house in the style of /warp fairmarket. These house should have a shop or workshop in the front, and be composed of brown daub and wattle and a thatched roof. There are some in the little dock area east of the main town.

Good Luck!

 

[TheZexdex]

Hey, so this is my house in the style of /warp fairmarket

https://imgur.com/a/am0WjQX

-Zex

 

[Arkilstorm]

Hey Zex, nice build! Just a couple of bits of feedback:

- Be careful not to put heavy crates up on suspended levels. This would be difficult to do, and the occupants probably would have saved themselves the trouble.

- The dark shutters used on interior shelves looks a little weird against the oak frames. Consider using matching wood types.

- Your second to last picture looks a little bland on the lower level. No windows/lean-tos etc. make the house look a little bare. Consider adding something there.

Overall the house is great! Nicely done. I’d like to invite you to become a probationary builder. Congrats! If you could please start a new thread in the Probation subform one of our Probie Leaders will be in touch to oversee all your builds throughout the next month. It may be best to take a refreshing look at the server rules and the probation guides before getting started. Also please remember not to build anything until you have a probation leader assigned. Hit up myself or one of the mods in game and we’ll get you promoted.

Thanks!