NEWS [UO.Com] Castle Design Contest Important Dates

[UO News]

1/4/2022 Greetings and Happy New Year Britannia! To kick off the year we invite Britannia’s most talented architects to enter their castle designs for consideration in the next contest! Instructions on how to enter the contest on TC1 can be found by visiting the contest link above on UO.com! Important Dates Start Date Tuesday, January 4, 2022 1:38:16 PM GMT-05:00 First Round of Voting Starts Tuesday, January 18, 2022 1:44:56 PM GMT-05:00 Second Round of Voting Starts Tuesday, January 25, 2022 1:44:56 PM GMT-05:00 End of Contest Friday, January 28, 2022 1:44:56 PM GMT-05:00 See you in Britannia, UO Team

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[HRH Liz]

Someone PLEASE design a totally open concept Castle using teleport tiles

 

[MalagAste]

Someone PLEASE design a totally open concept Castle using teleport tiles

You can't have it too open... it will be orange in the center... FYI... and you can't commit it.

 

[Dryzzid of Atlantic]

Cooool. Looking forward to this!

 

[Lord Arm]

everyone vote for castle plot please lol

 

[Coco_Zamis_DF]

Someone PLEASE design a totally open concept Castle using teleport tiles

Design yourself!

 

[Petra Fyde]

everyone vote for castle plot please lol

Been done, gets disqualified.

 

[MalagAste]

They have said many times that you can't do that and it won't be allowed.

I did complete a design haven't submitted it yet... still deciding if I like it enough.

 

[GarthGrey]

Stop with the castle customization and turn on castle/keep placement in Malas,and whatever fits in T2A and Ilsh already.

 

[Naitch]

everyone vote for castle plot please lol

I 2nd this motion

 

[Dryzzid of Atlantic]

What do castle owners want see in new castle designs? I'm sure it varies for each individual but is there a common thread? Maximum space for displaying stuff? Deco potential? Are giant open areas more desired? Is it absolutely necessary to be 3 stories across the whole design (ex: a 3 story keep next to a 2 story manor house)? Is it reasonable to leave tiles open for the addition of ladders once placed? How necessary/desired are teleporters?

 

[Prawn]

If your castle design is picked .. do you win anything special?

 

[Cyrah]

The last castle contest had issues, hope that does not happen again. There were many great designs in the top twenty overlooked. I hope some of those messed over players will try again. I really liked the window box castle.
A plot though, that would be the best, well for me. Maybe it won't get booted again? Maybe? Please...

 

[Naitch]

What do castle owners want see in new castle designs?

Freedom

To be able to build what I want. Not what is voted on by other people or what is deemed acceptable by a small group of devs


Empty plot would be the best option for people like me.

 

[Danpal]

What do castle owners want see in new castle designs? I'm sure it varies for each individual but is there a common thread? Maximum space for displaying stuff? Deco potential? Are giant open areas more desired? Is it absolutely necessary to be 3 stories across the whole design (ex: a 3 story keep next to a 2 story manor house)? Is it reasonable to leave tiles open for the addition of ladders once placed? How necessary/desired are teleporters?

this is only after one night

 

[Captn Norrington]

this is only after one night
View attachment 124681

That looks really good! Although the little wooden fence thing is kinda off looking randomly thrown in the middle of all stone and a different color than the wooden floor. Might look better having another small stone border like the 3 corners do. Maybe move the front two teleporters into the inner-facing corner like the other two also, for symmetry.

 

[Larisa]

For me, the small corner rooms are HORRID. Not big enough, hard to deco...useless in a design. One big thing I disliked about the classic Castle.

The open courtyard is awesome. Always use grass because if people don't like it they can put pavers down. You can't cover stone floor with grass unless you have hundreds of grass tiles.

USE TELEPORTERS! You can have stairs...but getting from the bottom floor to the roof quickly is pretty important.

I use the Grimswind Sisters. It's as close to the original as one can get but still very open. I still don't care for the 2 smaller tower rooms in the front but they are bigger then the classic, still tricky to utilize. Your towers are still way too small imo.



Take a look at the designs that have won...there's something for everyone.

Contest Winning Castles – Ultima Online

uo.com

 

[Danpal]

That looks really good! Although the little wooden fence thing is kinda off looking randomly thrown in the middle of all stone and a different color than the wooden floor. Might look better having another small stone border like the 3 corners do. Maybe move the front two teleporters into the inner-facing corner like the other two also, for symmetry.

not finished with it yet. I just put a fence there to get a idea. wanted to get an outline of it before I started working on it for looks, Be much better if there was the double small stone walls.

 

[Danpal]

@Larisa I think I did a pretty good job with the old castles looks. would love just to move the middle tower to the North room leaveing a court yard

 

[Draza]

I am thinking of doing a base level only, leaving almost all of it open on top for customizing with stone peices

 

[Pawain]

I prefer a large flat roof so I can deco there.

Not everyone likes the same thing. That's why we vote on different things because we are not all the same.
Why would you want a blank plot. You want just a large 1 floor building? 0r a field?

Also the corner rooms need to be bigger for deco.

I also like open arches so I can put things there for viewing from the outside.

 

[Cinderella]

I am thinking of doing a base level only, leaving almost all of it open on top for customizing with stone peices

the top 3 votes win
DEVs have final approval of those 3

(one of the contests they skipped 3 & 4
because they were just one floor of tiles)

 

[Spartan]

I currently have a Villa Crowley keep on LA. If I saw a winning castle design that was not a box variant, I'd probably change over to that. I like designs that are varied in materials, appearance, structure. A box is a box is a box.

I will add that transporters are DEFINITELY preferred. Saves floor space.

 

[MalagAste]

@Larisa I think I did a pretty good job with the old castles looks. would love just to move the middle tower to the North room leaveing a court yard

View attachment 124685 View attachment 124686 View attachment 124687

That's pretty much how Built the Traditional Castle Remastered and entered that into the contest... I simply moved the inner bailey back to the back and added 2 floors. You can check it out and vote for it I'd highly appreciate it.

 

[Cyrah]

@Pawain I do not want just an old blank plot and use crafted stones.
I want a castle plot, keep too, on our shard that is customizable just like on test.

 

[Akalabeth]

That's pretty much how Built the Traditional Castle Remastered and entered that into the contest... I simply moved the inner bailey back to the back and added 2 floors. You can check it out and vote for it I'd highly appreciate it.

I would love to see your castle.
What is the location? Or put some pictures here on the board. Thank you.

 

[Dryzzid of Atlantic]

I currently have a Villa Crowley keep on LA. If I saw a winning castle design that was not a box variant, I'd probably change over to that. I like designs that are varied in materials, appearance, structure. A box is a box is a box.

I will add that transporters are DEFINITELY preferred. Saves floor space.

That is my favorite keep as well... I like different buildings and outside areas, I'm thinking of trying a keep and manor house with a stable or barn or something. We'll see how it turns out.

@Danpal I really like that castle design. Much better than the typical borg cubes.

 

[MalagAste]

I would love to see your castle.
What is the location? Or put some pictures here on the board. Thank you.

Request Granted. Posted pictures and Location. Feel free to PM me in Discord if you want a gate. MalagAste#1313.

 

[Pawain]

@Pawain I do not want just an old blank plot and use crafted stones.
I want a castle plot, keep too, on our shard that is customizable just like on test.

Yes most would like that. But it is not going to be an option.

 

[DevilsOwn]

For me, the small corner rooms are HORRID. Not big enough, hard to deco...useless in a design. One big thing I disliked about the classic Castle.

The open courtyard is awesome. Always use grass because if people don't like it they can put pavers down. You can't cover stone floor with grass unless you have hundreds of grass tiles.

USE TELEPORTERS! You can have stairs...but getting from the bottom floor to the roof quickly is pretty important.

I use the Grimswind Sisters. It's as close to the original as one can get but still very open. I still don't care for the 2 smaller tower rooms in the front but they are bigger then the classic, still tricky to utilize. Your towers are still way too small imo.

View attachment 124682

Take a look at the designs that have won...there's something for everyone.

Contest Winning Castles – Ultima Online

uo.com

that's my design could not locate my original design done for a player run contest years ago but I have now, so I'll rebuild and submit - yes, the front of the Sisters' place is awkward and cramped, I agree, didn't like it at all, really, but ran out of time - hopefully I'll get this next one right

the second time I tried I left the ground level all grass, sparse walls that could be built on (cause everyone was saying that they couldn't properly do corners and such on finished walls) and attempted an illusion roof - not so good, so going with basics this time around

@MalagAste - our designs are soooo very similar this is the one from many years ago and being rebuilt on test


should add, there's a few things on this design that simply aren't possible with the tools we have, but I'll do my best to recreate it

 

[MalagAste]

For me, the small corner rooms are HORRID. Not big enough, hard to deco...useless in a design. One big thing I disliked about the classic Castle.

The open courtyard is awesome. Always use grass because if people don't like it they can put pavers down. You can't cover stone floor with grass unless you have hundreds of grass tiles.

USE TELEPORTERS! You can have stairs...but getting from the bottom floor to the roof quickly is pretty important.

I use the Grimswind Sisters. It's as close to the original as one can get but still very open. I still don't care for the 2 smaller tower rooms in the front but they are bigger then the classic, still tricky to utilize. Your towers are still way too small imo.

View attachment 124682

Take a look at the designs that have won...there's something for everyone.

Contest Winning Castles – Ultima Online

uo.com

While I do realize the smaller corner rooms are difficult for some to deco... but I've decorated them for years and I guess they work for me. And I have never used any of the designs that have won before for many reasons... don't like the built in fireplaces in some... do NOT Like the use of the iron rails in others... do not want all the small rooms or doors and arches that are in others... would prefer to put in what I would want there... be it secret doors, regular doors or arches... What I need is just what I keep trying... just to move the center back opening up the courtyard... and add 2 floors of usable space. While I've sort of liked some of the designs I absolutely HATE single tile stairs. Often if I need to "bagball" something up to another floor I get trapped on the stairs with a single tile stair and can't move things from floor to floor... Also, I much prefer double-wide stairs. It's just nicer... and in Fel... it's a must at least for me... keeps from having loads of congestion problems.

There are some designs I would have loved... but for those issues. I happen to really like and use the long narrow halls and the smaller front rooms. But to each their own.

Most of my problems with the small corner rooms in the original has been the fact that the stairs ruin most of the room... and make it fairly useless.

Grimswind was ok... until you get up to the upper levels and run into the single tile stairs... and I am not a fan of the front with that weird path there... just seems out of place...

The biggest pet peeve of mine with the contest is there is NO WAY to redo the crenellations on the top of the castle/keeps... While I did win my remastering of the keep was just disgusted that I couldn't recreate the crenelations no matter how hard I tried... found it extremely frustrating and it really sort of ... put me off when I was trying to deco... Wish they would make walls that would allow us to recreate those without stacking 2 or 3 of the short wall parts after ... as it just is not possible to do on the NW corners of the buildings unless you bring your design in 1 full tile all the way around... which kinda sucks. It is what it is though... we are stuck with the issue...

Another issue would be that the blue castle tiles unlike the brown set which do have secret doors... we do NOT have access to those doors in the house customization tool sadly. So while I would build using the blue tiles... it isn't as nice as you can't have the secret doors in the blue tiles.

 

[Larisa]

Ah Ha I knew there was a reason I liked that one Devils! I love the flow of the upper rooms...I don't like using the crafted walls because CoT does not work on them so I would rather have an open concept design.

Yours and Mals are yes very similar, but again Mal just copied the original for the most part and this


I never liked this entrance...even though she granted access to the front room unlike the original, they are still small tiny office cubicles that make little sense to me. I like the accessible courtyard, but I like the stairs that Devil's has leading to the second floor..it gives it more of a grand entrance feeling.

I do wish there was a way to get from the ground floor to the roof quickly without having to build stairs or use ladders but overall it's my favorite design. Not a lot of tiny cramped rooms. But everyone has their own idea of what a castle should look like. I am doing one without using the classic stone, which won't get any votes because you can't customize it with the craftable stone stuff but I like to see things out of the box.

 

[Naitch]

Always hated opening the double doors

All my custom 18x18 have open entrances and I love them .

 

[Sellingahouse]

When you guys make the new castle for contest could you think about leaving two tiles open on south and east side so we can deco outside and walls.

 

[Naitch]

When you guys make the new castle for contest could you think about leaving two tiles open on south and east side so we can deco outside and walls. View attachment 124712

My god! The pollen

 

[Keven2002]

Has a reason ever been given why keeps/castles cannot be customizable like the 18x18 and under plots? Everyone has their own preference and while the contests are probably fun for those that participate, not sure why everyone should be "locked in" to a design they don't fully like.

 

[Prawn]

Has a reason ever been given why keeps/castles cannot be customizable like the 18x18 and under plots? Everyone has their own preference and while the contests are probably fun for those that participate, not sure why everyone should be "locked in" to a design they don't fully like.

probably because you'd have massive cubes built that are ugly and would lag the game up

 

[Dryzzid of Atlantic]

Freedom

To be able to build what I want. Not what is voted on by other people or what is deemed acceptable by a small group of devs

Empty plot would be the best option for people like me.

I agree with you, for sure. I would love to have full freedom over my keep plot... make it a little town or market square. I'm still hoping that one day we'll see it happen. Until then it's still cool that there are SOME other options.

 

[Naitch]

probably because you'd have massive cubes built that are ugly and would lag the game up

That's the excuse I've heard too

 

[MalagAste]

My guess as to why they can't be made customizable ...
1. The LAG of having someone build a castle or keep out of just the stone tiles(dyed in some hideous neon colors) would be INSANE...
2. Seeing a Giant Empty plot would be a huge eyesore... and you know it would happen... given that so many want someone to enter that very thing and they said flat out that NO even if it were voted #1 would NOT happen...
3. Seeing someone use every single tileset in one giant building would also be an eyesore...

This way they can "control" what is seen.

That's my guess... Even if I would very much love to custom my own.

and @Sellingahouse most of my designs do have a door to access those area's it's just hidden... it's a secret door. I know my keep design has that. Just saying...

@Larisa It's not that I love the "entrance" but it's more of a castle... and in Fel I prefer not to be killed in my own house. I have considered having a teleport tile right out front to just zip in quick... but I find those break from time to time. I did include teleporters to each of the floors in my design.

An alternative, which I could do, would be to just not put in any doors at all and have people put them in themselves or just put in arches in the empty holes... and I could indeed do that. I left most of the openings open for that reason. So people could put in what they wanted.

 

[Naitch]

Good idea on the doors. They are craftable and easy to make.

 

[MalagAste]

Good idea on the doors. They are craftable and easy to make.

Doors removed... so its 100% Open.
Better?

 

[Danpal]

This is the updated of mine still needs to do more work to it. Wish I could find matching half and small walls that match with a castle walls

 

[MalagAste]

This is the updated of mine still needs to do more work to it. Wish I could find matching half and small walls that match with a castle walls
View attachment 124725

Ditto.

 

[Merus]

Ditto.

It’s not the best, but it is a work around… the craftable borders match the stone and can be stacked to create the different heights.

 

[Larisa]

The only problems with doing something like that...is a lot of people might not want the classic stone...there are a lot of designs that use other wall sets. If Devils had made the Grimswind Sisters in another wall style, that would have been very cool. I might have to try that on TC to see what that would look like. Hidden doors are more difficult but some people want to get away from the stone. Look at the Feudal Castle....Elsa Castle. the ruins....etc.

 

[Naitch]

This is why we need custom castle plots
Nobody wants what someone tells them they have to use ...

 

[Dryzzid of Atlantic]

This is why we need custom castle plots
Nobody wants what someone tells them they have to use ...

Agreed here. A lot of the homes I do, all custom homes, I add things like ladders, stone blocks and stairs, corner stair designs... among other things to make the design complete. Just not possible to take advantage of those things without being able to customize.

 

[Draza]

The nice thing about clasic stone is that you can adapt, and customize them. My build is aiming for that.

 

[Danpal]

One reason they will not give us a blank plot is that on most shards there will be just blank castle plots around. We see alot of them on the shards with 18x18.

Now there are alot of cool things people could do with a castle size area to work with. I know there is or was a 18x18 with a dock and a ship built that would look amazing in a castle plot. I could see someone as well as building a lake with an island in the middle and haveing a small hut as well. The ideas are endless but if I was going to build a lake and then a ship with the houseing tool who would pick it as a winner.

Now back to this my self beleave a castle should be a castle and I do like the brown stone walls becasue a castle is ment to be designed for defending. Why on my personal one there is a army of guards.

We also have to remember that a castle durning the start of the game was ment for a guild along with keeps and towers. But the human drive to have the best and then the idea of keeping up with the smiths toke over are greedy minds and made it a place that only one person can use.

Now most castles are used to display rares and other items.