A Challenge for all you home makers.

[Kurgan]

Since EA\OSI might never allow the customization of Castles and Keep.
I want to see how you would redo the base designes they have.
Using House Builder and keeping with the base size.
Design some new static house's for the Castle and Keep design.
Maybe with this EA\OSI might add them in as a choise for those who have these static house's

I even challenge the DEV's to get in on this.. eww I know some of the DEV's love a challenge "cough Draconi cough"

((((Contest will go till April 3rd.))))
Lord Nabin of Napa has put up a 25mill prize for the winner. To be picked up on Napa Valley Shard.

Also if you make the design with House Builder. Please post link to your HB design. Include pic also if you like.

Castle is 31x31 Castle Base



Keep is 24x24 Keep Base



((Added in Base's for the Castle and Keep. Just load House Builder then the design.))

Make sure to NOT have a base like a plot.
What you can do is build a house with HB with a foundation.
Then take away the plot and build from there.

If you need help getting the base designs, use InSideUO.

InSide UO From Stratics

InSide UO w/SE & ML animations

Lets see those designs.

House Builder Site

This is sorta a contest also. Nothing big won from this.
Other then the winning designs get added into House Builder.
Along with the name of the person who won.
So get out there and show me your designs.


Entries:
Lord Drakelord (Keep Design)
http://builder.thelostlands.com/Lord_Drakelord.hb

 

[DevilsOwn]

are we related?

since the bank renovation contest I've been working on a design... nowhere near finished, but I've always been a bit miffed about losing those wonderful alternative designs we had on the old boards (wish I could remember who did it, to give them credit) and thought it might be fun to make a wishlist of designs

hope this thread gets lots of replies, I know there must be other people that have wonderful ideas to contribute

 

[Lord Nabin]

Since EA\OSI might never allow the customization of Castles and Keep.
I want to see how you would redo the base designes they have.
Using House Builder and keeping with the base size.
Design some new static house's for the Castle and Keep design.
Maybe with this EA\OSI might add them in as a choise for those who have these static house's

Castle is 32x32
Keep is 24x24

Make sure to NOT have a base like a plot.
What you can do is build a house with HB with a foundation.
Then take away the plot and build from there.

If you need help getting the base designs, use InSideUO.

InSide UO From Stratics

InSide UO w/SE & ML animations

Lets see those designs.

House Builder Site

This is sorta a contest also. Nothing big won from this.
Other then the winning designs get added into House Builder.
Along with the name of the person who won.
So get out there and show me your designs.

I love House designs, Especially since I am not so great at it. lol I love looking at all of your great ideas so. I will back up Kurgan's Contest with a Grand Prize of 25 mil in Gold. You will have to pick it up on Napa and I will let Kurgan set the timing of submissions and how the winner will be picked.

Great idea my friend. I can't wait to see what comesout of all of this.

 

[Kurgan]

Cha Ching folks..
This contest will go for abit. April 3rd is the deadline..

This will give you folks 3 weeks to design.

Many Thanks for the help on this Nabin as always..

 

[Teeshy]

Ooh, what fun! I'm so very busy for the next few weeks, but I'll start a design at least =) May never finish it, but I will very much look forward to seeing how everyone else designs them =)

Are you going to submit this to the herald as "fan site" news? Might get a lot more people enter then =)

 

[Kurgan]

Great idea. I am going thru and submitting it now..

 

[Crystal Canyon]

Wow, now this sounds like fun!

I take it that this is only a house design and not deco right?

 

[Kurgan]

Wow, now this sounds like fun!

I take it that this is only a house design and not deco right?

Correct, just a basic house design. No decor.
But there is nothing there saying you can not make a Castle or Keep already having ladders, or L shaped stairs...

 

[Kafka72]

Castle is 32x32 Castle Base

View attachment 1299

Keep is 24x24 Keep Base

View attachment 1300

((Added in Base's for the Castle and Keep. Just load House Builder then the design.))

Ummm, a castle's footprint is 31x31, not 32x32... just thought I'd point that out!

 

[DevilsOwn]

yah, which is why my hallway deco always looks unbalanced

 

[Lord Drakelord]

not entering the contest but if I could do something with our keeps it would be close to this.

 

[Lady_Calina]

I don't have those programs, but...

A Castle, assuming it could have a garden in the courtyard, would look great if it has entrances from the west and east first-floor halls. Also, maybe two-tier stairs (1 stair on each side, with a 3-tile landing along the wall) in the place of the big stairs.

It would give more room in those small back rooms, and feed in more to the illusion of a 'true' castle, as many 'real' castle stairways, especially to less-often used rooms, were narrow.

In a Keep, I'd like to see the west and east first-floor spaces to be usable, perhaps as hallways, to give them a smaller-castle feel. It would eliminate the need for stairs in the SW and SE wings.

Stop me if that sounds bad.

 

[Kurgan]

I don't have those programs, but...

If you have the 2D client installed.
Follow the link above to get House Builder.
Easy to work with.
And I have some How To's on the site.

 

[AtlanticVlad]

Ok maybe im wrong but hasn't the main reason we haven't gotten custom castles and such been that that's not what those footprints are? they have holes in them... holes that in some cases have trees in them? I like the idea here and if your talking about us maybe getting New castles and keeps that can be placed ok then im misunderstood or maybe im just hoping you meant that they would let us change existing castles to this new design as well although i guess game could check houses for compatibility with the surroundings first. ok fine I just answered my own question i guess... Ill see what I can do. I have another project I wanted to work on too so I'll see about doing both.

 

[Patty Pickaxe]

I really wish I could figure out to even use Housebuilder. I tried to load the keep layout and ended up with someone else's keep design (update- I finally found the orginal keep layout). I couldn't even figure out how to see the whole keep (this still remains a problem). I could only see the lower half. I tried reading the FAQ and How-to on the website and still didn't understand.

This is not a criticism of Kurgan or the program. I just am THAT illiterate of computer programs. I am still surprised I figured out how to use Inside UO for the bank contest.

 

[Alyssa of ATL]

Ok maybe im wrong but hasn't the main reason we haven't gotten custom castles and such been that that's not what those footprints are? they have holes in them... holes that in some cases have trees in them? I like the idea here and if your talking about us maybe getting New castles and keeps that can be placed ok then im misunderstood or maybe im just hoping you meant that they would let us change existing castles to this new design as well although i guess game could check houses for compatibility with the surroundings first. ok fine I just answered my own question i guess... Ill see what I can do. I have another project I wanted to work on too so I'll see about doing both.

This is a bit of a question I have, before I start work on this...
Is the idea for us to leave the courtyard/grassy areas open as they are, or make doors to them, floor them etc, to make them part of the building?

Hope that made sense

Thanks!!

 

[DevilsOwn]

I'm using this opportunity as my "wish list".... as in, if I were to build a castle, this is what it would look like

Patty, in order to move the design around, hold down your shift key and drag the whole design and you can raise and lower items with that little arrow for the z-axis (or is it x-axis )

I think, if I have time, I'll also do a design that does not change the outward appearance of the castle whatsoever.... the one I'm working on right now does alter it a bit, altho, for myself, I can't build it any taller, it just looks too cumbersome

 

[Kurgan]

This is a bit of a question I have, before I start work on this...
Is the idea for us to leave the courtyard/grassy areas open as they are, or make doors to them, floor them etc, to make them part of the building?

Hope that made sense

Thanks!!

Build as you see fit, just keep in the guide lines for the size.
Castle 31x31
Keep 24x24

 

[Sweety]

So were allowed to change the walls? they don't need to stay in same place?

 

[Kurgan]

So were allowed to change the walls? they don't need to stay in same place?

Correct.
Except the outside walls.
Change the inside as you see fit.
This is a contest for 25mill gold.
Winner can pickup gold on the Napa Valley Shard from Lord Nabin.

 

[Blaster]

Awesome idea... but where do I submit my designs to? Also I don't have a place to link or post my designs to. How do I take a screen shot of the castle that's larger than my screen?
Is there a way to see the design without seeing the layer markings?
Lol.. I'm so confused! please help!

 

[Patty Pickaxe]

Well, I finally figured it out and designed the first floor of a keep. I saved it. Apparently I saved it "wrong". I didn't save it in HB, I guess. I have a link to my design on my desktop, but when I click on it I see it in Windows picture and fax viewer. Is there a way to open up my design in HB? If not, , how do I correctly save it in HB? I don't want to spend several hours making a design that is lost.

 

[Kurgan]

Awesome idea... but where do I submit my designs to? Also I don't have a place to link or post my designs to. How do I take a screen shot of the castle that's larger than my screen?
Is there a way to see the design without seeing the layer markings?
Lol.. I'm so confused! please help!

With the program you can save your design.
It will be saved as a .HB file
You can email this to me if you like.
[email protected]

The HB files are very small.

 

[Kurgan]

Well, I finally figured it out and designed the first floor of a keep. I saved it. Apparently I saved it "wrong". I didn't save it in HB, I guess. I have a link to my design on my desktop, but when I click on it I see it in Windows picture and fax viewer. Is there a way to open up my design in HB? If not, , how do I correctly save it in HB? I don't want to spend several hours making a design that is lost.

You have to open House Builder, then open it off the menu.
Dbl click the file will not open it in House Builder.

Again. Email me the HB file if you like.
Email in above post.

 

[Patty Pickaxe]

You have to open House Builder, then open it off the menu.
Dbl click the file will not open it in House Builder.

Again. Email me the HB file if you like.
Email in above post.

My problem was the the file was not showing up in the menu. BUT I think I figured it out! I saved each floor separately. Is that necessary?

UPDATE- I just closed housebuilder (I thought I was done for the night) but decided to nake a change. I tried to open my last design and NONE of my files are there! I am going to cry. HOWEVER I had at one point just hit "save design" and it saved it all on top of the basic keep design. SO NOW I dont have a blank copy of a keep footprint, but at least I have my design!

 

[Kurgan]

Patty Pickaxe

1 thing i would suggest.
Make a good base design.
If you want to work with it, make a copy of it before opening HB.
And then work on the copy.
This is why I have 2 base designs up top.

 

[Patty Pickaxe]

Thank you for your help! I'm going to work on a castle next and I will be sure to make copies before I design!

 

[DevilsOwn]

it's always been my thought that a castle should have a grander entrance than it currently does ~~ it should be easily defended (current design accomplishes that) and there should be ample room for servants and all of the daily business of a tiny kingdom ~~ and it should have a large, functional courtyard

the bottom floor presented here would be all of the trades ~~ the second floor with a grand entryway for receiving visitors and entertaining ~~ for myself, I would use the center and northeast rooms of the bottom floor for kitchen and food prep, with the northeast corner room of the second floor as dining ~~ the northwest corner room would be library-music and the front rooms living/bedrooms

I *think* it conforms to support rules, but I didn't count the tiles to confirm that

 

[Kurgan]

it's always been my thought that a castle should have a grander entrance than it currently does ~~ it should be easily defended (current design accomplishes that) and there should be ample room for servants and all of the daily business of a tiny kingdom ~~ and it should have a large, functional courtyard

the bottom floor presented here would be all of the trades ~~ the second floor with a grand entryway for receiving visitors and entertaining ~~ for myself, I would use the center and northeast rooms of the bottom floor for kitchen and food prep, with the northeast corner room of the second floor as dining ~~ the northwest corner room would be library-music and the front rooms living/bedrooms

I *think* it conforms to support rules, but I didn't count the tiles to confirm that

Email me the HB file.
So I can add it to my folder of entries..
Looks great BTW...

 

[Kurgan]

Only 10 more days to get your entries in folks.
Email them to me. Email link in Sig.

 

[Blade Rayne]

Ground floor:

Second story:

Third story:

Roof view:

First off, thank you to Kurgan and Nabin for holding this contest. Here are some things which I feel my design has accomplished:

"I'd like to order a combination castle. Consider: what people want and/or think needs to be changed + what did real castles have + the extensive amount of items UO has to offer for decoration." First, I asked "what does a castle need, that castles don't currently have or imply that they have?" A few standards might be these features: treasury, an armory/ammunition store-room, a smithy/other profession rooms, a worship/small chapel room/tomb-like room, a prison cells/torture area, a stable and tack room, a kitchen, a dining hall (doubles as guild meeting room), master bedrooms, servant quarters, and an infirmary. But for UO, you can't forget storage! Vendors! All of these options are available in my design. If you find where I might have intended a few these places to be, they are enhanced by the features that are already in place. I agree with Devils in the idea that castles should have all the elements which make it a working design for the real time period. However, instead of making the purpose of rooms blatantly obvious, I have only hinted at them. By doing so, my design allows building on decorations alternative to realism for owners who might favor "neon, modern UO" concepts in decoration rather than sticking to historical or realistic truth. I haven't put in anything that is only recognizable as "Stable! Kitchen! Dungeon!" even if the places are there for that option. So you don't need to comply with the design - bring on your bathrooms, hot tubs, funky plants, disco christmas boxes, mismatched rubble, museum-like displays, you name it. Your deco job is yours alone and this design will not hinder that. The glorious lady, dread lord, and any karma in between can enjoy creating the personality of the castle themselves.

There is also enough room for the largest add-ons available so they will logically fit within the castle. Features like leaving multiple 4x4 square tile spaces around the courtyard and even under the center of the catwalk allow for fountains. And if that isn't appealing, who said it has to be a garden? Put battle training equipment in there! I also left corners undecorated to allow tall statues or trees to be focal points, if it is so wished. There is plenty of wallspace for tapestries, paintings, and other fixtures.

The small details I have added in torches and stained glass windows are my own statement of castle living, and I don't think they hinder or block the original decoration ideas of whoever would own the castle. I do admit, I had to try not to go overboard on the torches. I suppose the logic used in placing torches was this: put them where the owner would least want to put decoration, and would rather allow 'airspace' for characters to move around. They might look a bit random, but should not impede decorations. Not every room has torches, either, so you have the option of putting in your own lighting in those places.

What's annoying about castles as they are now? Too many small niches that are sometimes blocked off, or have doors that quickly become a nuisance. In other words, not enough places allowing you to move around quickly, especially if the small spaces are blocked off by decoration. What was done to solve these problems? I added a fair amount of archways, and took away most small spaces, leaving only a few for interest and castle tradition. The arches also give the castle design a sturdy, decorative element, which castles currently lack save for crenelations and battlements. There is also a handy catwalk on the second level. You might notice that there is a third level of 4 actual tower spaces in my design, making the castle look more bold and imposing within the boundaries of the UO environment. The third floor is now comprised of four corner towers, and every tower also has a rope ladder to make its roof accessible for further decoration or placement of npc sentries.

Again, thank you for a great contest. Hope to see more designs posted soon!

 

[Kurgan]

Your design has been added.
Looks wonderful.
We have some great designs.
Lets keep them coming folks.

 

[Faerunner]

If I had the time and skill with house builder I'd be all over this I'll see about playing with it this weekend maybe, when I have a few hours off work, but as I've just downloaded the program I'm not sure how well my familiarity with it will lend to creating an entirely new, huge design. *shrugs*

I really do love the entries so far... they're gorgeous and by far exceed the boring, cramped styles that already have. 'course my opinion is biased by the fact that I really like my 'templates' to have some hint of feeling on their own, even without deco... the castles and keeps have never had that for me because of how symmetrical and plain they are... they don't even have windows (or arrow slits!). Some people might like the boring, symmetrical look. *shrugs*

 

[Kurgan]

About 1 week left on getting those designs in.
You can email them to me.
Link to email in sig below.
Remember. The winner will recieve 25mill gold on the Napa valley shard.
Enter as many time as you like.
Contest will end on April 3rd. That weekend I will go thru the designs that have been submitted, and choose the winner.
On April 6th I will post the winning design.

 

[Schuyler Bain]

As someone watching from the sidelines I have to say that all of the designs I have seen posted look phenomenal! What a great contest to showcase the incredible talents that so many UO players’ possess. :bowdown:

 

[RichDC]

Another Side-line Viewer but Blade FTW!

 

[Endrik]

Man, i love that this program allows you to build and design off-line... but i am having a really gard time using it. Its a little un-userfriendly. How do I move around in it? I am trying to work on the castle blue print, but when I load it I am stuck at the SE corner, and cant figure out how to move to see the NW corner. Grrrrr, I have tried every arrow and mouse button combo I can think of, and I cant find a tutorial anywhere. Anybody know how to move around?

 

[Kurgan]

Man, i love that this program allows you to build and design off-line... but i am having a really gard time using it. Its a little un-userfriendly. How do I move around in it? I am trying to work on the castle blue print, but when I load it I am stuck at the SE corner, and cant figure out how to move to see the NW corner. Grrrrr, I have tried every arrow and mouse button combo I can think of, and I cant find a tutorial anywhere. Anybody know how to move around?

The help area at the top has little how to's

But hold the SHIFT key and left click and drag the foundation around.

 

[Lord Drakelord]

The help area at the top has little how to's

But hold the SHIFT key and left click and drag the foundation around.

dummy me, never even look up at that.

 

[Stupid Miner]

I'm a tad late with this... I would enter, but Home Builder doesn't seem to work on my Vista laptop. And yes, i downloaded the stuff i was told to DL on the left menu on the site.

 

[Kurgan]

1 Day Left Folks. Send me those designs.

 

[DevilsOwn]

Miner, I've got Vista also.... the only thing I seem to be missing that makes a difference is the option to resize the tool window... trying to do that will make the program close.... I got used to it, tho

the only thing I haven't yet figured out is how to move things from InsideUO to the HouseBuilder, but truth be told, only tried it one time... there's plenty there for me to work with

 

[Stupid Miner]

I can't even open the program. Opens the loading screen then crashes.

 

[DevilsOwn]

I changed compatibility to windows xp service pak2, other than that I don't remember any difficulties

 

[WildStar]

Kurgan, I have just sent you an email with my entry for a Keep.

WildStar

 

[Kurgan]

WildStar:
Got the email..

 

[Patty Pickaxe]

So, I logged onto test center and designed a house. I got very frustrated when right clicking did NOT erase a wall tile!

Will there be a way to see all the designs that have been entered?

 

[Kurgan]

Yes.
I will be going thru and putting them up for all to see.
Last day to ente folks. As long as I get the entries before midnight PST.
You are still good.
Send to my email.
Link Below.

 

[Kimberly]

Just emailed my entry.

 

[Kurgan]

Just emailed my entry.

I will be looking at it shortly..