So now that we can design the courtyards i finally found a use for my apple trees. What have you decorated your courtyards with?
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Show me your castle courtyards please ...
- Thread starter Kas Althume
- Start date
- Watchers 8
Wow! Well done!
Very Nice!
Well I NEVER in a million years thought I'd EVER have a castle either. But this one kinda fell in my lap so to speak and it's the "Towns" castle technically. So it's decor and such are really more for the town of Newcastle and it's citizens than it is for "me"..... Though it does give me a boat load of storage.... which sadly I have packed to the rafters.
You can experiment with mine...
Can we change that dang cold snow to something "warmer"...
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heres mine
so nice to see you around again michelle, awesome job
Thank you
Nice to see you around also Zynia
Nice to see you around also Zynia
I was working on something very similar but ran into a problem. The inner northwest corner, even with the circle of transparency up as high as possible, I couldn't see to put anything down. Same for west side, under the walkway..when I'd get far enough where I could actually see it, I was too far to place anything.
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Was very hard had to stand in the right places use deeds, and bags. It's very hard to explain sorry that i can't be more help.
Sonoma. The castle with the lag is in a secluded location with no neighbors. The castle with no lag is in a populated area of Ice Island. Since the lag started I have removed over 1,000 gozas, non-decaying items, and lock downs. That has helped a little bit, but not much. No idea what is causing this. Going to have some guildies stop by to see if it is affecting them as well.
Good thinking.... If they're not around, give me a hollar and I'll get a char on and meet you at luna bank...
Thanks Startle. I did have some guild mates come check it out and they experienced the same extreme lag as soon as they set foot in the house. So at this point I am pretty sure it is the castle and not my computer or internet. I normally play in the classic client, but I did break down and try the new SA client to see what happened. The lag not nearly as bad in that client. SO I am thinking there is some issue with the classic client that is causing the problem. I will try thinning out some more stuff and bring the total items down to maybe 4 or 5 thousand to see if that helps.
Not liking the "look" of the EC, I only use the CC. Lag comes and goes for me, like I'm sure it does for everyone - mostly in Luna of course. But nothing like what you're describing. I have noticed a bit of extra lag since the last patch tho...
Can someone explain how to place deeds on the second floor on the east facing inner wall, like those wreaths please? I have an idea for further decoration (I'll show mine in a week when I have part of the deco that will be going in the yard ) but I've no idea how to get them there...
) but I've no idea how to get them there...
In the court yard id use laddersCan someone explain how to place deeds on the second floor on the east facing inner wall, like those wreaths please? I have an idea for further decoration (I'll show mine in a week when I have part of the deco that will be going in the yard
Place ladder on ground climb up later target self with goza place. place ladder next to it jump on that ladder place a goza mat. place ladder on goza. just build your tower of ladders til you get to where you want the wreaths.
My second floor where the snow statue and wreaths are I used ladders, goza mats, bag, and rubble wall.
placed ladder goza put bag with rubble wall on goza mat axed bag locked down wall place wreath like you would do with regular wall. Took rubble wall down, goza, and ladder down.
any normal rubble wall that faces the same way as the east facing inner wall.
Whilst bashing the deeds around, someone told me a much easier trick; Lock down the deed on the wall where you want it, then place a Castle Ladder nearby, anywhere you can see the item, then stand on it so you're above the deed. For some reason this then allows you to raise it to the next level... No need for a wall, just keep Goza rising higher and higher with ladders!
It'll take me a few days to complete my decoration but I'll post pictures here when done....
It'll take me a few days to complete my decoration but I'll post pictures here when done....
It's nowhere near complete yet, but you can get the basic idea now... I'm slowly chasing the Legendary Fish and making a trophy wall on the far side; the odds are very low, 1 in 500 to 1 in 1000 I'd guess (Took me over 1000 casts for the last on, the Black Marlin on the end there) so it's many many hours for each new deed, I'm in Destard now chasing Dragonfish which will probably take all day! But when I've done, I'll have the large trophies centre, and the smaller and non-trophy fish arranged around as symmetrically as I can. I moved the Garden Beds into the courtyard, and eventually I'll grow beautiful plants there, maybe poppies and campion, but for now it's cactii as I'm crossing them to try and randomly roll the coloured Vanilla I'm missing (if you know the colour codes, you can see that it's blue cactii onto purple cactii for the 1 in 18 chance of blue vanilla)... as I type this, Abysal Dragonfish was just caught, thank goodness! Onto the even harder fish soon then...
I never noticed until now that the rear door doesn't align with the front door; I'll probably turn the snow tree back to branches once Xmas is over, and take the snowmen and candles down. That's an infested tree front which I'll leave up, and then I'll experiment with more vegetation around the bottom.
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So, now that I have a castle, I too am looking for examples of what people have done with the courtyards. Someone said there was a castle that used carpets and such to make the courtyard look like interior rooms/hallways, but they didn't post pictures, only the shard and co-ordinates, and I can't find that thread now. Anyone know where it is?
You are one persistent dewd, Adol.... Congratulations!
Boy, am I ever happy to hear that you (of all people - you being so very observant) have played all these years and are just now noticing the "miss-alignment" of Castle doors.... omg, that's rich dewd..... Oh, and yes, do get rid of the Xmas "stuff" guy, it's dang near going on March now.... Gonna brag on that ("which I'll leave up") infested tree, eh?....
I've got a question for you, and now that you've openly admitted your past preoccupation with more important things than noticing castle doors are weirdly "non-symmetrical", I'm not a bit reluctant when I ask.... - and the question is in the pic below:
The post was made months ago, during the actual Xmas season, so obviously there was Xmas deco there then...
But not now; the infested tree and EM Christmas tree are in the roof garden now, the snowman are in a freezer to stay safe, the Fountains have been moved to the stairs, and the Soulstones moved from the back wall in order to make room for Lobster Traps where the Fountains once where; and there are two ankhs where the snowmen where so people can ressurect on the front part of the courtyard now instead!I didn't get a Festive Tree directly, despite trading for about 30 bags back to Europa in the end, a friend in game ended up selling me one cheap...
That's a tricky question; I'd not noticed that in the screenshot so I think you're seeing an artefact of how the Enhanced Client processes light sources. Nemo has Nocturne Earrings so he's always under the effects of it's Night Sight. Thus the main part of the castle and all he can see is in normal lighting. However the rear has two types of light sources; the Soulstones count as one on the left, and the bedroom has two wall mounted torches from the Heritage Tokens. I presume these then over-ride the Night Sight to show "the late afternoon lighting". You can also see it in the castle steps behind mine, as there's a lamp post there.
If I remember correctly, outside windows in classic style houses are also counted as Light sources and will give the same glowing effect?
As far as I know, dark/light is either fully on or off however, there's no fade between the two. The screenshot was thus taken at night, under Night Sight, with the lighting effects on at the back. During the UO day, the castle appears consistent across the whole plan. I was considering using wall mounted torches in the arches of every tower archway, and that effect may make it worth while...
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Ok, well it's not the most aesthetic of places, more functional as it's a combination of Rares Museum, and Lore Library as I collect as many player written books I can find, to store the stories people have told in game, and may one day hope to come back too.Ok, that all makes sense... Now, could you please do a "close-up" of each room for us? They look very interesting...
Starting from bottom right and working around: This is my seed storage area, each chest holds one or more type of fertile seed in all the available colours. The garden beds at the front are currently running to create the last 3 coloured vanilla I need, the ones at the back are testing work arounds for the most recent seed bugs (where the left and right facing hops and spider tree Plain seeds from the Sakarrah set appear to have been broken in a recent patch) by growing alternative routes to those.
I'd love to replace that huge ugly soulforge, but alas the 1 tile one has never dropped from my chasing Osiredon, and it's ungodly expensive when it does turn up! I'd have liked to get all the pixie set in there too, but one had to go on the wall behind. Place them before the soulforge to get them in position. The wooden chest is the imbuing reagents. Place it one square outside the forge and raise it up to get it appearing above it.
The talismans under the cow statues are also Cow Summoning. I wish they'd let people use them when locked down, so people could enjoy their own special mooooo... but still!
This corridor used to be where I grew plants, until the courtyard became available and I could purchase garden beds for it instead. I like the idea of a Painting Gallery so those will stay, but what this will eventually become I don't know. Possibly a display wing for more rares or books.
The only room I really went for a complete deco theme with; my personal bedroom. That is a Singing Ball there, the rare I wanted most when I first played, and what I dedicated myself to getting even before a larger home but never managed. When I returned, I spent the first 4 months earning gold and had it transfered from Atlantic. Stuffy Twoys everywhere, throw pillows; place the tapestry and raise it with the deco tool to get the bed below it. I wish the EC didn't have so bad clipping; that the staff didn't show through the curtains, and the chair didn't clip into the bedside cabinet though...The cabinet contains a bag of personal mementos, like the red leather that was the only thing left in my first Small Tower, the boat I sailed around the globe marking runes on, records of pet fighting competitions from 2001-2003 I took part in...
I'm stood in front of a music box, doh. But there's one there, you can just about see. It's complete, including the Wanderer gear, for those intimate moments dans le boudoir... Do the Sutek quest to fill it (he generates a random gear irrespective of it's original Rarity on mobs) but you'll need to purchase Wanderer, as it's a no longer spawning rare that, once put into a box, cannot be removed.
Next, a corridor devoted to the single player Companions, the towns and snow globes of said towns they are from, and as far as I know, every item associated with them in game. The Jester's hat on the Britain Ball is Chuckles'... Yew is where my character Aron was born in 1989 for Ultima IV, hence the duplication of the banners. I'd live in Yew too... IF TREV WOULD GIVE ME HIS CASTLE. He won't, so I took the first I could afford, near Britain Swamp instead, as the books were taking too many lockdowns. But anyway, the white Valentine's says "Yew Stole My Heart ___ from ____" and, like so much inside here, is a gift from generous friends in game (Thanks Wanda!)
The mannequin has full Ranger suit (he's looking after the bees, natch) and I swapped the trees from the xmas set up around, because it's easier to access every part of the Garden beds from where they are. The south one is the snow tree, turned to bare, as it's not Xmas any more eh?
Again, I wish the tapestries and painting didn't show through the wall in EC, as they are mounted mid way up the stairs.
Just a pragmatic room next, where the fountains and soulstones have been moved too. There's a small clear space in front of the fragments, so you can get at all the stones.
The fishing wing! With every fish and crab possible to catch now caught and nailed to the wall, the slippery little so and so's! The dagger is a "Someone's Dagger" which I found whilst fighting spawn off so I could fish in peace in the Prism Of Light. The Mannequin has the fishing set, the ring from the fishing quest in the Abyss, and some armour from Charybdis. That horrible wheel? It's the one from the store and the Captains Bundle. Anchor donated by Escaflowne, of Home Tour fame! I need a seahorse to go with it, but the Aquarium at least is complete, with every fish type so far (and a lot of them in rare colours as I left it running waiting for the set), but that is being expanded soon... Globe is "Barnacle Covered", that lovely Mesanna Black/Red shade. Dr Voidberg, the Void Lobster, was as far as I know the first ever caught, on 12/12/12 the day of the patch release; I'd ran out of traps an hour after it went live, but thanks to Mim Foxglove on Europa who donated both more traps and the vital Lobster Bait, I continued the chase and now I have Voidberg, maybe?
Bottom of the "Evil Tower"; where I do all my crafting. Unfortunately the flame effects from the Fire Pit leak through every floor, another graphical bug the EC never had fixed. Chests contain all my BODs in books, and crafting resources. Thanks to the generosity of a guild mate, I now have all the dye tubs I think, so anyone who needs them is welcome to pop by and use them. The black on the pile is the rare original one I'm told (by the person who also gifted it!) and below that are the two ship dyes in the captains pack: the Two Tone are all horrible though, so that has 2 charges left
The placement of the Evil Altar is now technically impossible I believe. You used to be able to target the top left corners (NE in UO perspective) with the deco Tool, select Turn, and it would rotate around it; I placed it next to where the small anvil is and rotated it up so it squeezed under the bellows of the large forge.
The Tower Of Cow: I keep my own personal stuff here, as well as as many cows as possible. Actually, this screen shot has just shown me that one of the torches appears to have slipped, you can see how I use them behind the sign on the left to look like it's actually the bracket holding the sign up .... The cow on a cloak are both gifts from friends for Xmas, so he gets his own comfy spot in the corner. I took the shot of the roof with UI visible so the sign can be read.
The sign only aligns with the horns of the Blackthorn Throne replica in that facing; place it first, raise it up as high as possible, target the throne below it, lower the sign until it's in the right spot... Each cloth square of the cow shape has a cow statue under it, to give AS MUCH MOO AS POSSIBLE. Talisman is a cow summoner, and the hat on it has a cow related marker from Frodo of Europa, who we all miss and not just because he gives me cows. The barrels have Highland Cow Whisky in them, and the jugs are full of milk. Lord Bullthorn invites you to drink either.
I need to work on the mini houses a little; Grass tiles, cloth, it all looks TERRIBLE under them in the EC. They also appear to have gaps between the models... but I did see a year or more ago someone who'd made a nice display of them in the EC somehow, I just wish I could remember where so I could pinch the idea. Garden to the right, we'll come back to that...
"Evil Tower", middle. Dyed red Travesty blobs to look like blood and also trigger a scream as you enter."Heart Blackened By Despise" in front of a Blackthorn statue on a bone throne, to show it's meant to be the older evil Blackthorn. Minax and Mondain to his right. Spread eagled, dismembered body in tribute to the ultra-dark opening of Ultima VII.
"Evil Tower", roof. Evil monsters up here, gravestones and fresh dirt over the grave spot which I placed the undead monsters on (not sure if that is immediately obvious that's what I did though...) I still need more Grizzle bones to complete the pile of skulls underneath the Nexus Deed however, and I may see about putting green carpet under there to break up the grey monotony and look a bit like grass (or buy more grass tiles)
Front corridor; I never got all the pumpkin lanterns for all my characters, nor all the bones (because the way the queue worked for spawning your skeleton was ridiculous) but together anyone visiting can see who all my alts are. Behind them is a complete set (yet again filled with friendly gifts) of Vesper statues, and a small installation dedicated to Alaster The Mad, first and likely last Lord Protector of the realm. The painting is an EM event rare of his coronation, and those are his blue bones. If you open them in the CC you should see a mandrake root which looks like a tiny man, and in it's tiny hand is a huge pair of pants, his trademark obsession...
Other statue tower roof; anything not obviously evil, or just too big to fit going up here; This needs a lot of work I think, they're just here to be visible and make their noises for now. And I still need so many! The Dog from Travesty, all the available mounts... a collectors work is never done! But why is that rare carrot in the mouth of that steed? Well, 10 of Farmer Brynn's carrots dropped on Europa back in 2010 and I got one of them; but when I did my first move to a new 18x18 in Yew, I dropped it straight onto a packhorse, and the horse needless to say ate it. I felt AWFUL, but Trev kindly donated a replacement of his too me, and ever since then I've been displaying it in a horses's gob.
A treasure room, for visiting dragons to frolic in; a lot of the bracelets etc are unique and the big yellow box is the Europa Auctions 400th Mongbat Madness celebration gifts. I just wish again that EM rare gold plate wasn't so hard to fit into the scene...
The rest of the Mini house set. Again, need to landscape this somehow!
Roof of final tower; my 4x GM legacy chicken (before there were Greater Chickens!) lives in the hutch, and saves me a stable space. The feather is from a mutant turkey duck that Dupre on our shard has been forbidden to breed any more of (It's an EM event rare). If you want to know what parrot colour you've got, that's every normal hued parrot there, from darkest to lightest... as you can see some of them are ridiculously close to each other, but pop by and use the hue sampler in EC with Pinco to check them against yours. I'd love to collect the rare colours too, but they are virtually never vendored (and until recently, didn't survive house collapses, more on that shortly!)
The kitchen; the table needs a bit of tweaking yet, but some of the chests are available to the public to look into, and contain what wines I've stolen from pirates. Also saying the name of some of the bottles and nearby items will trigger the NPCs into telling you what they are, in case you were wondering! It mostly hides various cooking materials and food related items (like all the thanksgiving food recently) but I quite like how it looks in general.
Not a whole lot on this wing for now... if ever I run out of storage, maybe vendors will go here for the BOD books to save the lock downs ... or... we shall see what collections I get next!
And now the full garden you've seen on the edge of a few shots! Look in the trees; in the peach tree hides a peach fairy; in the apple tree, our Australian cousins will recognise the sinister shape of the infamous Drop Bear. The purple Vanilla, as far as I know again, was the first ever to be grown in game as I accidentally spawned some and wrote it up for the gardening forums here. It was planted in Magincia to date it, but it's possible others had already found out how to make them elsewhere, but just not said in order to claim them and sell them as rares. They're not, they're a pain to get if people don't share seeds yes (1 in 18 chance on a random roll from crossing two of either Prickly Pear, Barrel or Tribarrel Cactus), but don't pay much at all for them, as the resulting coloured Vanilla are fertile and produce 8 more seeds every time one is grown, like any other plant.
The yellow flower on a planter pot by the central path is a Europa EM rare, "St Augustine's Wort". The black and fire are first generation plants that have no name or colour, just the label "A Decorative Plant", and were looted from an IDOC I attended. And yes, the Infected Tree is on the roof now. Notice the bees appear through the floor again, but they are fortunately in the right spot to look like part of the garden... For some reason trees when passed from below lose their foliage and don't show again until you walk back up to them on that level; the one in the corner has been caught by that bug too. The grapevines are accesible to the public if you're here and fancy a snack, as are the purple leaf bearing plants and the trees. The sleeping hamster is raised just enough to appear in your lap if you try and sit on him...
Main hall and guild gathering place; Our guild is the Sosaria Red Cross, and we try and heal people in our travels; hence the overall theme of carpet and chests. The parrot has an interesting story, Sprout the parrot is 300+ weeks old and used to sit in our former guild hall, but the player owning it long ago left, and most of our guild history was about to vanish. One of our guild contacted Mesanna and she kindly came to Europa and helped empty our hall before it did, including redeeding Sprout so he could come with us to the new hall. He's also been to sea to fight Charybdis a few times as well since, but he lives only because of the goodness inside that black Mesanna heart!
The poinsetta are two Mesanna ones, to remember that help, the board games are available for public use, as is the UO statue for public luck, and the Sand Of Sosaria is from 2001, when I first began playing. Lock it down, then use Deco Tool > Turn on it to make it use the rotation animation, which the devs claimed it couldn't actually do, he he. A useful bug, that one!
You can't quite see it, as Sprout is facing north now and his tail is blocking it, but there's the Ankh Necklace raised up in front of his perch; try it and you'll see it fits exactly, so it looks like it's draped perfectly over the bar between a parrots feet! Notice too how the tapestry and painting now show correctly on the rear wall, grrr....
Last room, far too much content to detail; but briefly, player written stories A-Z in the back chests, world and quest books bottom left, player tickets, ships, pet balls valentines etc top left. The valentine's bear is holding a pouch that contains the wedding invitations, wedding clothes and rings, and the written vows of an Orcish couple that was found in the IDOC of their home. The alignment of bear and pouch only works on East-West facing alas, but looks cute when it does!
The display cabinets have Europa rares that I collected at events myself, or Royal Investigator sashes I earned... except for the bottom right which also has the Bell, Book and Candle (classic Ultima items), and a yellow sword crafted by Padraic for events (amongst other things). The yellow "Green" floppy hat I crafted myself as Muffin when I first played for some of our events, and I won back two of them at the time, but has since apparently become a rare, which was a lovely surprise when I returned to the game!
The shelves inside the display cabinets contain books (EM and world events, the EM one is sadly chaotic as it proves impossible to verify the individual history of where each was used or what arc belongs too for many), sets of event items with descriptions (Sands of Sosaria, Fruit baskets etc) player written story arcs, and items with individual inscriptions on... so far! There's more space for display yet to use, if there's an item inside it you should be able to look inside, and if it's empty, it's coming soon!
And so that's my home. It still needs ALOT of work yet (torches on more arches as I mentioned for one!) but hopefully it gives you some decorative ideas...
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Finally finished my castle. Attached is the courtyard. I tried to split it up in to distinct areas. The front is a statue garden, and back is split between a reading deck, small cemetery, and a hidden guillotine. The back section also has full goza mats in the sections above to create sunk-in flower beds, so you can sit anywhere and the view isn't obstructed by the 2nd floor.
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Clops... Some excellent use of materials there, although - personally - I find the guillotine, how shall I say this... detracts from the overall ambiance. Other than that one personal observation, I find it very beautiful...
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that has me puzzled too - there's also the standing harp at the other side and I'm not sure about the fishing net.
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The masks I think may be Mesanna dyed, and thus worth quite a fair amount? The other two I am not sure of, and the fishing net is the one from the Honour Token and comes in deed form, so can it by dyed like a Soulforge Deed (dye before putting ever using the deed, a one time shot)?
I really liked the garden at the back, how did you get that longer soil effect below the graves? And where are those tiny chess and counter pieces from?
One thing I've noticed in my own castle since is that the changes to the courtyard now mean the herald won't greet people as they enter the main room, he has to be near the first entrance to trigger unfortunately.
I really liked the garden at the back, how did you get that longer soil effect below the graves? And where are those tiny chess and counter pieces from?
One thing I've noticed in my own castle since is that the changes to the courtyard now mean the herald won't greet people as they enter the main room, he has to be near the first entrance to trigger unfortunately.
Pretty sure those are server birth rares and would be worth a lot of gold. And as Devils Own has stated, there are a quite a few rares in that shot.
Most items in that shot are rares The masks circled are hand painted masks from Mesanna's visit to Atlantic. The tower lantern is a "Void Tower" from Great Lakes, and the flowers are a "Peace Rose" from Napa last year. The harp is a "Silver Harp Stolen from Occlo" from Great Lakes and I believe the net is from Atlantic fairly recently - I can't remember the exact name...Cursed Webbing (something - lol).
Really an awesome collection - and beautifully decorated - thanks for sharing Clops!!!
The masks circled are hand painted masks from Mesanna's visit to Atlantic. The tower lantern is a "Void Tower" from Great Lakes, and the flowers are a "Peace Rose" from Napa last year. The harp is a "Silver Harp Stolen from Occlo" from Great Lakes and I believe the net is from Atlantic fairly recently - I can't remember the exact name...Cursed Webbing (something - lol).Really an awesome collection - and beautifully decorated - thanks for sharing Clops!!!
Wow, I should check this board more frequently. I didn't realize it had quite a following!
The castle is on Legends Tram, east of Vesper on the peninsula. It's open to the public, so come on in!
Laina, good eye. She's correct about all of the items she mentioned. Most creatively colored items are from events. The chess and checkers are server births, and the drums in the back are old seer items.
Startle, I agree. I originally had a picnic table in the back there, but I had all this blood and wanted to use it somewhere. lol. I had it in the kitchen under a skinned deer, but it ended up looking like a crime scene more than a kitchen.
Thanks for all the comments! This house took me a long time.
The castle is on Legends Tram, east of Vesper on the peninsula. It's open to the public, so come on in!
Laina, good eye. She's correct about all of the items she mentioned. Most creatively colored items are from events. The chess and checkers are server births, and the drums in the back are old seer items.
Startle, I agree. I originally had a picnic table in the back there, but I had all this blood and wanted to use it somewhere. lol. I had it in the kitchen under a skinned deer, but it ended up looking like a crime scene more than a kitchen.
Thanks for all the comments! This house took me a long time.