NEWS [UO.Com] Publish 103 Keep Design Contest

[MissEcho]

I love your castle it is the one i end up using when i went to switch my castle

Thanks, a lot of people were really quick to criticise it but you really don't need to put in many internal walls to do a fantastic deco job but it allows you so much freedom. And the amount of space is HUGE inside. When you are done decoing post some pics in the thread I put up on homes and castles forum for the Spires. I am interested to see what people do with it. So far I have had lots of people say they have built it so am interested to see what they do. I am in the process of doing deco on a second one on Oceania, the one I posted pics of is the one on siege.

 

[Pawain]

I like mine with lots of room. The infinity stairs just take a few trips to get used to.
Would have made a pond but cant put stuff on the water tiles. Room for outside deco and a Throne room.
Room for stuff on front steps and a row of vendors. South wall space for my many things that go on walls.
Stable for my stable related deco. Can put Carpets etc on the flat front "steps". Then put item on top.



More S wall space. You can put things on the edge walls. Patio area. No banisters so you can use all the space. This would be my kitchen and Dining area for a large crowd. East wall space. Where I am standing I would put a bar in the arch exit. Has room for 2 squares behind bar and will be able to see stools. S wall space behind bar for hanging things. After meals you can enjoy the view outside.



Area for crafting/music room/other deco. Lots of south and E wall space. Can put items on the edge walls on patio. Nice view of items below.




Can put items on the edge walls. Nice view of items below. Room for items on the roof.


Has 2 hidden teleporters. Floors are made to match pavers so you can make designs or change all.

Thanks @Gidge ​

 

[ShriNayne]

@Pawain wow that's an awesome set of stairs!

 

[Mene (DF)]

Thanks, a lot of people were really quick to criticise it but you really don't need to put in many internal walls to do a fantastic deco job but it allows you so much freedom. And the amount of space is HUGE inside. When you are done decoing post some pics in the thread I put up on homes and castles forum for the Spires. I am interested to see what people do with it. So far I have had lots of people say they have built it so am interested to see what they do. I am in the process of doing deco on a second one on Oceania, the one I posted pics of is the one on siege.

@MissEcho

You should bring back again your Spires Design for the keep you made the first round - I for myself really like this more than the castle design

 

[Larisa]

@Pawain wow that's an awesome set of stairs!

Yeah I think I would have fun just running up and down those stairs all day....odd obsessions lol but I love the design.

 

[Lady Michelle]

Castle name generator
having trouble thinking up names for your contest keeps try this click on english names to generate more names once you pick the category you want

 

[Gidge]

You're welcome @Pawain

 

[ShriNayne]

@Pawain so how exactly are these 'infinity stairs' made? I never saw anything like it!

 

[Pawain]

@Pawain so how exactly are these 'infinity stairs' made? I never saw anything like it!

Have to ask @Gidge . She did the stairs.

 

[ShriNayne]

Poor @Gidge seems to have shrunk! Why is her writing so tiny?

 

[Merus]

Here is mine for this round. Again, meant to be rather simple in order to be able to add customization.

 

[MissEcho]

@MissEcho

You should bring back again your Spires Design for the keep you made the first round - I for myself really like this more than the castle design

haha well just for you, changed it a little from last time but the basic's are the same in that you put in your own customized internals or not if you just want wide open spaces. Still doing a little editing but the basic is there. It is up the road from Hanse's Hostel between there and the bridge of the divide in malas, name on sign Evangelina.


Number 183 on the stone

1. THE SPIRES KEEP

Roof



Ground Floor:



Second Floor:



Third Floor:



I altered the stairs from the first time I did it, changed the windows, and altered the wings a bit. No wasted space now and easy as to go from ground to roof in about 3 seconds.

 

[Mene (DF)]

@MissEcho

YES! and big THX !

 

[MissEcho]

@MissEcho

YES! and big THX !

Haha don't thank me yet it still has to make it to top 20 to even be in the running. Given my castle only made it to 22 on the public vote (from memory) it wouldn't of got up if it hadn't been a dev pick. I just don't have the guild, or the player contacts, or the massive amounts of accounts to sway it, so who knows. All my guilds consist of one person, me, so I get three votes with my accounts that's it lol. I also have another two but haven't posted those. Not sure where my three votes are going yet

 

[Mene (DF)]

I think that good design have now a better chance to be noticed - They learned from the mistakes of the first run - and since players now know a bit better what others like or not it's probably a bit more easier for us designers to make wishes comes true . And therefore I believe that now only the serious housebilder will take in their works. Your Castle is great and obviously most chosen by them that could and wanted to convert their castles. Let us cross the fingers that the voters now go on with more sensitive.

I have a keep using as a museum for all veteran statues, etheral mounts and the huntmaster's trophies. But with the last three ones the trophies becomes bigger and there's no more space left to place them. Your keep design is one i can go friend with - so be sure you have my vote

 

[Lady Michelle]

haha well just for you, changed it a little from last time but the basic's are the same in that you put in your own customized internals or not if you just want wide open spaces. Still doing a little editing but the basic is there. It is up the road from Hanse's Hostel between there and the bridge of the divide in malas, name on sign Evangelina.

The Spires Keep - Roof

View attachment 88921

Ground Floor:

View attachment 88922

Second Floor:

View attachment 88923

Third Floor:

View attachment 88924

I altered the stairs from the first time I did it, changed the windows, and altered the wings a bit. No wasted space now and easy as to go from ground to roof in about 3 seconds.

no sure if you purposely left them out or what I just want to point out in case that there is posts missing in the walls on floors

 

[MissEcho]

no sure if you purposely left them out or what I just want to point out in case that there is posts missing in the walls on floors

Yep that is on purpose. Generally only on the corner that would normally require just a 'post' rather than a full wall piece, people can put in a post with granite if they wish, or tie in a full wall piece if they wish to put internal walls in and link to those locations. I could leave out 'other' bits for tying in but don't want to actually leave gaps as the thing still needs to be stand alone for those who don't want to add walls.

 

[doc scurlock]

haha well just for you, changed it a little from last time but the basic's are the same in that you put in your own customized internals or not if you just want wide open spaces. Still doing a little editing but the basic is there. It is up the road from Hanse's Hostel between there and the bridge of the divide in malas, name on sign Evangelina.

The Spires Keep - Roof

View attachment 88921

Ground Floor:

View attachment 88922

Second Floor:

View attachment 88923

Third Floor:

View attachment 88924

I altered the stairs from the first time I did it, changed the windows, and altered the wings a bit. No wasted space now and easy as to go from ground to roof in about 3 seconds.

I like the design so much that I'm probably voting for yours instead of mine. I actually was copying the castle into a keep size until I saw you already did.

 

[MalagAste]

Here's mine on TC1

I really rather like this but I seriously don't care for the front entry...

 

[DevilsOwn]

entry 1 - very similar to classic keep except for access to the grassy areas

first floor



second floor - attempted off-setting stairwells but it just made me nuts



third floor




and the roof, which I'm not at all happy with..... why do some tile sets have half walls and others do not, never understood that


owner name is Ynise, name of plot is Abyshyrle Keep

 

[MalagAste]

entry 1 - very similar to classic keep except for access to the grassy areas

first floor

View attachment 88934

second floor - attempted off-setting stairwells but it just made me nuts

View attachment 88933

third floor


View attachment 88935

and the roof, which I'm not at all happy with..... why do some tile sets have half walls and others do not, never understood that

View attachment 88936
owner name is Ynise, name of plot is Abyshyrle Keep

I like it... though I have a few things to critic... This would not be good in Fel as you would not be safe with those arches on the first floor... And you did nice on the first set of stairs making them double wide but the other floors are only single flight stairs... And I can already hear Dot saying "Too many windows"... as she does to me all the time... But I LOVE the Balconies on the 3rd floor... wonder if you could put one in the front on the second floor... though again that would make it bad if you lived in Fel.

 

[ShriNayne]

@DevilsOwn I prefer less stairs and I hate single tile ones as I fall off, I agree about the windows, but other than that it's fine, this was what Keep owners wanted, just a more usable version of what we had.
I like the Keep design MissEcho but those missing posts would drive me crazy, it's one of my pet hates, those missing corner posts! The little spires are cute though.

 

[MalagAste]

@DevilsOwn I prefer less stairs and I hate single tile ones as I fall off, I agree about the windows, but other than that it's fine, this was what Keep owners wanted, just a more usable version of what we had.
I like the Keep design MissEcho but those missing posts would drive me crazy, it's one of my pet hates, those missing corner posts! The little spires are cute though.

I get where @MissEcho is going with the missing posts so it doesn't bother me... much like in my Keep Remastered that I posted earlier I left corners sticking out so people could add walls in without leaving a "gap" which drives me more bats than a missing corner I could plop a post into or a wall without a gap... I also purposely left railings off many of my stairs as I would prefer to put display cases, those marble counters or other such things like some water troughs as planters there and if you put in a railing it's nearly impossible to put those around the stairs without using the axing a pouch/box method...

I prefer just 1 set of stairs leading from floor to floor myself and yes I would MUCH prefer a dual stair than a single tile stair not only for the falling off but for taking things up and down much easier... some folk use teleporters but if the box is SERIOUSLY heavy you can't pick it up and walk onto a teleporter as you'll be unable to take any step at all with it.... but if you can bag ball it up the stairs it works much better when stairs have 2 spots to walk on...

But then it's all subjective anyway... most people are going to want their own design period...

There have been a few that I could use... but most I wouldn't bother having to remove all the current tiles and goza's and deedable items from my current boring keep to switch to as they just wouldn't be in style with the rest of the buildings I own in the area... and they would look seriously out of place. Even some of my own designs wouldn't work where my current Keep is.

One thing a lot of folk are forgetting is how the building would be to live in if your keep was in Fel... Many of the designs would put you at risk of being killed in your own home. And I'll admit even a couple of mine are guilty in that respect... but then I don't have a Keep in Fel. But there is also the Siege crowd who I think would like us to keep that in mind when we are designing something that honestly is for everyone.

 

[ShriNayne]

@MalagAste I totally understand why MissEcho made it that way, it's not her, it's me, it just drives me crazy, probably some weird problem like having to line up pencils in neat rows and having cutlery in a certain direction... Since I don't use add-on granite stuff it would just stay like that. I do agree with one set of stairs, I find stairs all over the place unnecessary, but again that's just me! The railings are quite annoying, they seem to block things when they are nowhere near them. I'm quite happy to vote for a design that's not my own if I really like it, that's what I did last time. My own efforts at Keep designing are not as good as many I have seen on here.

 

[Eärendil]

Has voting started?

 

[ShriNayne]

I think it starts on Tuesday, I'm sure there was a post about it but I can't remember...I just checked the post, it says Monday the 5th!

 

[Minerva Foxglove]

But it stould be sometime after 2 PM CET , after TC maintenance.

 

[MalagAste]

@MalagAste I totally understand why MissEcho made it that way, it's not her, it's me, it just drives me crazy, probably some weird problem like having to line up pencils in neat rows and having cutlery in a certain direction... Since I don't use add-on granite stuff it would just stay like that. I do agree with one set of stairs, I find stairs all over the place unnecessary, but again that's just me! The railings are quite annoying, they seem to block things when they are nowhere near them. I'm quite happy to vote for a design that's not my own if I really like it, that's what I did last time. My own efforts at Keep designing are not as good as many I have seen on here.

I am too that's why last time before I did any voting I went and personally saw each and EVERY design... Took a very long, long time... but I did it... as I felt I really wanted to be fair and give them all a good look just in case there was something that stood out and was a real winner... I plan to do the same this time.

 

[MissEcho]

hehe @ShriNayne it is at most 2 posts per floor, so a total of no more than hmmm 6 lol. If I was building it for myself, I too, would fill in those corner spots, but it is designed to try and suit the 'many' so allowing those two anchor points per floor is just a bone being tossed to the customizers lol. Thing is you can only go so far in how much you leave out, you know whatever you do will never suit everyone and people, even myself, when getting into deco will say 'oh, I wish this had a spot here to tie in etc so you are never gonna get anything perfect. Also a lot of people just find it hard to picture stuff and not only that even when you build something yourself until you go to do a full deco job on it you still don't work out all the bugs. On a normal custom you get to fine tune with more customization when you are deco'ing on these ones they come as a done deal so building it to try an eliminate most problems becomes even more difficult. Less is more, hence why I don't put walls inside, the minute you do people complain about the 'size' the 'location' the 'functionality' blah blah . I figure it would take five seconds to fill in those corners if you didn't want to put in walls, and would not even be noticeable. It is why although I can build in nice fireplaces and fancy designs on the floors and all sorts of stuff, that I don't. I am NOT building for me, I am trying to build so that people have their own options. You can 'deco' in a fireplace and put your own patterned floors etc. You also don't even have to put in 'walls' to define spaces you can use rows of bookcases, screens, make the carpets define the areas with the positioning of your furniture/deco.

A lot of people found it hard to imagine my castle deco'd, and I am finding now that they see one fully set up they understand why I left it such a cavern to start with. Like the above keep, it is a cavern but so easy to fill however you want in whatever configuration you want. Yet outside it looks like what it is supposed to be a KEEP, not a glorified larger 18 x 18. I want people who run past my places to know they are running by a Castle or Keep, and not wondering if it is an 18 x 18 until they pace it out.

 

[ShriNayne]

I had some problems myself with trying to stay looking like I thought a Keep should look and then I realised that some people just want a big house, they don't care if it looks like a Keep, personally I liked Castles and Keeps on the outside it was just the inside that needed work. Those of us that just made what I would call a 'fixed' Keep didn't get many votes so I guess we will never actually get that, which is a bit of a shame really. You make a good point about the fine tuning, once it's submitted and goes to voting there is no going back, I made mine far too quickly last time, I've spent way more time on it this past week and it shows, I spent at least 3 days just choosing walls. Most of us learned a few things from the first contest, even just touring our Alliance's designs this evening there were some really nice designs and on the whole we had all evolved from the last time. I've really enjoyed looking at other people's work, so much imagination and creativity!

 

[Minerva Foxglove]

I think its great we now can use the plots with the best storage for less UO castle and keep traditional look. I like diversity. It still have to attract others unless we have loads of accounts . That means noone can get exactly what they want and even the builders cant build exactly what they want as they wont get enough of votes. I just hope the last selection will have good variety in look and usefulness for different playstyles!

 

[Shiranui Renn]

My 2nd entry submitted with "Michelangelo" (called: "House on a Hill").
Compared to my first entry (#79) I wanted to build something that looked more like a "normal" house. So I decided to build it on top of a "hill" and used the lower floors as basement. It's not as spacious as my keep version but I think it still offers plenty of room for decoration and stuff.

 

[MissEcho]

This is my second design, which unlike the others I have done (The Spires - castle and The Spires Keep - pictured above in this thread ) has internal walls due to it being sandstone. Having said that it is designed with a variety of different sized rooms and while it is more complicated on the outside, the inside is still very simple and there is very little unusable space! I like to be able to get from the ground floor to the roof unimpeded which this still allows and can be done in 5 seconds. I also hate having to figure out where steps are to access levels, so it again does not make me need a degree in navigation . It is based on a French Chateau and is called 'Le Chateau Francais' name on sign is Damien Reed.

Number 164 on the stone


2. LE CHATEAU FRANCAIS

Roof:



Ground Floor: Pillared Patio, Entrance, Hall and three rooms. Stairway to second floor.



Second Floor: Three large rooms, upper patio. Stairway to third floor.




Third Floor: Two large rooms in the very French style attic space. Stairway to roof.




The Chateau is located up the road from Hanse's Hostel between there and the bridge of the divide, opposite side of the road to 'The Spires Keep'

It is nicer standing outside to get a better view. This is a stand alone building not designed to be customizable but there are still plenty of options for placement of vendors, and to divide spaces further by the use of furniture, bookcases etc. Go check it out

And this beautiful building was the inspiration for this build, yours for a cool 14 million It will cost you more in UO though going on existing build rates lol!

 

[MareJadeSky]

This is my second design, which unlike the others I have done (The Spires - castle and The Spires Keep - pictured above in this thread ) has internal walls due to it being sandstone. Having said that it is designed with a variety of different sized rooms and while it is more complicated on the outside, the inside is still very simple and there is very little unusable space! I like to be able to get from the ground floor to the roof unimpeded which this still allows and can be done in 5 seconds. I also hate having to figure out where steps are to access levels, so it again does not make me need a degree in navigation . It is based on a French Chateau and is called 'Le Chateau Francais' name on sign is Damien Reed.


Roof:

View attachment 89055

Ground Floor: Pillared Patio, Entrance, Hall and three rooms. Stairway to second floor.

View attachment 89056

Second Floor: Three large rooms, upper patio. Stairway to third floor.

View attachment 89057


Third Floor: Two large rooms in the very French style attic space. Stairway to roof.

View attachment 89058


The Chateau is located up the road from Hanse's Hostel between there and the bridge of the divide, opposite side of the road to 'The Spires Keep'

It is nicer standing outside to get a better view. This is a stand alone building not designed to be customizable but there are still plenty of options for placement of vendors, and to divide spaces further by the use of furniture, bookcases etc. Go check it out

And this beautiful building was the inspiration for this build, yours for a cool 14 million It will cost you more in UO though going on existing build rates lol!

View attachment 89064

that is wow i love how it look so much like the real pic

 

[Danpal]

Missecho i do like your castle layout seen it in game. My issues is the small towers csnt do anything eith them. The entre entre way is nice

 

[MissEcho]

Missecho i do like your castle layout seen it in game. My issues is the small towers csnt do anything eith them. The entre entre way is nice

hehe they are not actually 'meant' to be rooms more to give the building a bit of character, however I use them for putting in vet/store tele tiles to move between levels and others to move between my houses as I have 3 on Oceania and 3 on Siege, they are handy spots to do this with as they don't get in the way of rooms, so the ones on the lower level take you to various places, kinda like elevator shafts .

 

[Zeke]

Made some modifications to my original design:

 

[MissEcho]

Anyways I guess I will post my final design.

This one again is intended to put in your own internal walls. It is located in front of The Spires Keep, and across the road from Le Chateau Francais, both shown above in this thread.

Map to location:



Number 159 on the stone

# 3. The TUDOR KEEP (owner Peppercorn) The Tudor style is the final development of medieval architecture in Britain, and the beginning of Renaissance architecture. It refers to the system of 'half timbering' and is roughly around the late 1400's to around 1560. This is my UO take on that style lol

Roof: with battlements to afford protection from those casting nasty stuff when they invade!




Ground Floor: This I consider to be the 'work' area, hence the lower level doors to the verandahs. Stairs up to the main level.



Second Floor: Main area, entry via the double stairs at front, with stairs to the third level.



Third Floor: Two small patio areas with stairs to the roof.




And just to show you how the granite crafted tiles can 'fit' into this build, I have shown the ground floor below with some 'crafted' walls inside it to show how they will look with the stone/plaster build of this tudor.



Obviously this is just for 'show' and you can put walls in (or not), up to you. The crafted walls are no longer in the building as were done just for staging.

Anyways that is my last one.

I just like to build so had a fun time

 

[Drakelord]

#38 will get mine vote

 

[Spartan]

Anyways I guess I will post my final design.

This one again is intended to put in your own internal walls. It is located in front of The Spires Keep, and across the road from Le Chateau Francais, both shown above in this thread.

Map to location:

View attachment 89098


# 3. The TUDOR KEEP (owner Peppercorn) The Tudor style is the final development of medieval architecture in Britain, and the beginning of Renaissance architecture. It refers to the system of 'half timbering' and is roughly around the late 1400's to around 1560. This is my UO take on that style lol

Roof: with battlements to afford protection from those casting nasty stuff when they invade!

View attachment 89099


Ground Floor: This I consider to be the 'work' area, hence the lower level doors to the verandahs. Stairs up to the main level.

View attachment 89100

Second Floor: Main area, entry via the double stairs at front, with stairs to the third level.

View attachment 89101

Third Floor: Two small patio areas with stairs to the roof.

View attachment 89102


And just to show you how the granite crafted tiles can 'fit' into this build, I have shown the ground floor below with some 'crafted' walls inside it to show how they will look with the stone/plaster build of this tudor.

View attachment 89103

Obviously this is just for 'show' and you can put walls in (or not), up to you. The crafted walls are no longer in the building as were done just for staging.

Anyways that is my last one.

I just like to build so had a fun time

I sorta took editorial license and played with this on LA in the customizer on my 18x18. If you don't mind I think this design - shortened and narrowed some, will be the next design of my house. I'll get all the design done, then take some pics before commiting.

I wish my mind could envision things like you, Mene (DF) and others have done. Thank you for the work and "purty" new houses!

 

[Larisa]

242 entries.....Holy cow! Gonna take awhile to look at them all...should do another thread with pictures

 

[Draza]

I submitted mine day 1, and im number 239... how do they choose the order... because no one is gonna look at mine XD

 

[Cetric]

#50

 

[Pawain]

#10

 

[doc scurlock]

179

 

[pigrose]

i submitted my keep but i dont see it on the vote list. Does anyone have the same issue?

 

[Zeke]

i submitted my keep but i dont see it on the vote list. Does anyone have the same issue?

Did you go back into customize and commit it after you submitted it?

 

[Zeke]

Oh and mines #80

 

[Mene (DF)]

I sorta took editorial license and played with this on LA in the customizer on my 18x18. If you don't mind I think this design - shortened and narrowed some, will be the next design of my house. I'll get all the design done, then take some pics before commiting.

I wish my mind could envision things like you, Mene (DF) and others have done. Thank you for the work and "purty" new houses!

Oh wow... I have a Fan - thx
P.S. : Psssst ! Mine is #114 , i only put one inside - and no i do not post any pics here because some people never leave critism
If you want to see it plz go to TC and have a look in.

 

[MalagAste]

Mine are #13, 45, 49 and 176... my other design thoug h submitted is NOT on the list and I know I submitted it just like all the others but it didn't make the list and I'm somewhat sad about that but it is what it is...

I personally like #1, 13, 16, 38, 43, 45(My favorite), 49, 51, 80, 84, 97, 102, 112, 137, 164, 172, 176, 179, 183 and 188.