NEWS [UO.Com] Publish 103 Keep Design Contest

[Minerva Foxglove]

Were we not allowed to decorate our building last time ? I didnt do it but But I think Mesanna said somewhere it was ok but ofcourse nothing would be saved if the place was submitted to the tool.. I Enjoy decorating and wanted to see how the large deco fitted in my design. And as I had plenty of empty space for doors etc, I made a suggestiomn in golden masonry so it would be visible. And hit the submit to competition button. But nothing was allowed this time. I dont mind that rule at all I was just surprised. before I remove everything ill see if i can show a pic.

 

[Tina Small]

@Minerva Foxglove , the page at this link ( Customizable Keep & Castle Contest – Ultima Online ) opened when I submitted my building this morning. It mentions the following:

"Your design will not be disqualified if you use various house addons, such as ladders, in the design of the building for staging purposes. Note, however, that these items will not be copied into the house placement tool. Only objects placed through the house customization menu will be copied over."

 

[Minerva Foxglove]

When I try to submit I get the message "Houses with lockdown or secure items may not enter into a conteest."

 

[Petra Fyde]

Build house, submit to contest, then deco after you submit - but you can only use addons - stuff that's made as a deed, or comes as a deed from heritage tokens. In a keep I've built I've placed, since I submitted it, loom, spinning wheel, elven oven, wooden tables (the ones that need kings collection to craft), forge, anvil and a bed.

 

[Minerva Foxglove]

Thanks Petra! I hoped i could use some granite and not leaving so many "holes" Oh well. Atleast I have tested that my large items fit in the rooms.

 

[Delores D]

I went to your house the other day Minerva and you have some wonky doors. One is open you cant get through but if you ck on it you can. The other is open and you ck on it, it will close and you cant get through. Is this on purpose?

 

[Minerva Foxglove]

Nah it wasnt finished and I have changed thoose doors. But its alot of doors and in that set of white walls there isnt any good way to make a gap and skip the doors. Ppl often hate too many doors. So I let some be open all the time , just for deco and I had to leave in the middle of that work. I placed teleporters in the "tower" today and hopefully got the doors like I want them. Mainly I work on two oters now, same area.

 

[Minerva Foxglove]

No I had to stop in the middle of doing them. Its too many doors , need to leave some open , just as deco. the naked gaps in thoose walls looks sharp ..no frames on thoose walls . Hard to get it look ok. Bur ofcourse they are ment to walk trough hehe.

oops didnt see my last post, thought I had messed it up and it was lost, sorry!

 

[Zeke]

Here's mine on TC1

 

[Larisa]

Here's mine on TC1

Love this design! Very well done, utilizes the visibility issues on the East and Southeast sides, lots of outside space, lots of inside space..looks classic...very very nice!

 

[MalagAste]

Here's mine on TC1

Really nice not so sure about the entry though... However you missed a corner tile second floor SE edge of that small tower section...

 

[Larisa]

Really nice not so sure about the entry though... However you missed a corner tile second floor SE edge of that small tower section...

MissEcho did too but it still made it through...oops??

 

[Zeke]

Really nice not so sure about the entry though... However you missed a corner tile second floor SE edge of that small tower section...

I did that on purpose so if you wanted to add a room you wouldn't have an issue with it not being against the wall. Easy fix in Prod would be to put a granite wall there.

 

[MalagAste]

I did that on purpose so if you wanted to add a room you wouldn't have an issue with it not being against the wall. Easy fix in Prod would be to put a granite wall there.

Makes sense I guess I put a wall in there that sticks out slightly for the same reason... but I get it... Hate gaps.

 

[MissEcho]

MissEcho did too but it still made it through...oops??

View attachment 88597

I left that out intentionally. So that when you put in walls it could 'tie' in given that it was more in the centre of the room as opposed to an edge wall. So no, it wasn't 'missed' it was part of the design. If you didn't want to put a 'wall' in then you could place a regular stone wall post to 'fill in' the gap.




In my case I ended up putting in a stone arch piece highlighted yellow. My design was always intended to allow people to customize the internal walls to their liking instead of forcing people to whatever configuration suited me. I don't understand why anyone would design with internal walls unless they are using a tile that cannot be paired with grey stone. If you want flexibility then making the outside look the business while allowing players to do their own insides in my view the way to go.

The ODD gap on sth and east walls is no big deal if your deco is up to scratch, it disappears into the background, as for not being able to deco without circ, well all the external walls are solid so it is just the ones you add yourself that aren't and sheesh, pick it up, do your deco and put it back down. If you have to hide stuff behind walls as there isn't room to deco and see the items without them being placed behind walls then the rooms are too small to start with.

So no, not Oops at all .

 

[cazador]

My feeble attempt


First Floor

Second Floor

Third Floor

Fourth Floor

I left walls on the roof for the savants who wish to create a fifth



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Minerva Foxglove]

Two "keeps" ready to submit after hearing your comments!
As this one is built in traditional stone I left most of the inside open for masonry walls after the owners preferances. Some secret doors added ..hope they stay as doors if added to the tool.(.I have no idea how that works) The small gap top lvl fits a masonry low wall, same as the rest around the roof. I noticed when I built it was good with a shortcut to the roof and east side..so I let it stay open so it can be added and removed with a click.( West side has a secret door)




I dont make any fireplaces. Its easy to make thoose with masonry , lots of options even in corners. They are not allowed for submitting so it will be removed after posting.



Next place is a mediteranian villa I think? it screems for potted plants! I really have questions here. Its not as open as the other as the material makes it bad for adding masonry .



Exept this floor..was thinkinga bar or crafting area or some vendors,BOD vendors or mannequins , many options exept for a bar. But is it bad to place a bar disk or not? Could be annoying for some, but you cant make them and add yourself -wish our carpenters could!

This lvl and next has smaller rooms and many doors. Many ppl dont like doors . Im one of them but theese ones looks good and the gaps doesnt. The walls have no pieces that could make nice door frames , the best pirces are the bricks in the NE corner . I placed some doors so they stay open , and closed some to look natural in a home and are less in the way. There are also teleporters behind the walls in the "tower"



This was fun to make and not what I use to do so inputs would be aprecheated!

 

[Finley Grant]

i did 2 however i like the one submitted with "Waxx" (called: "Improved Original Keep") better.
got a lot of request to stay close to original without loosing the space in the base floor....
yes, i used ladders because i think if someone cant afford 2 heritage token after paying 30m for a keep custom then he got another big problem. the reason why i didn use teleporter is simple, i dont like them.
before you say, "bbut in the Waxx keep you cannot reach the recessed areas in west and north" there are hidden doors

Waxx: (called: "Improved Original Keep")


Finley: (called: "3 Story Keep")

 

[Minerva Foxglove]

Really good keeps Finley. I esp like there isnt too many stairs to each lvl stealing space like in the old keep. The 3 story just have to be a winner!

 

[Finley Grant]

Really good keeps Finley. I esp like there isnt too many stairs to each lvl stealing space like in the old keep. The 3 story just have to be a winner!

thanks, honestly i like the 2.5 story one better. its not so "borgish"

 

[Larisa]

Still too many tiny rooms....if you're going to build it with the stone walls, leave the inside empty so if people chose that design they can at least add their own walls if they so desire.

The 2 reasons the current keep design is so bad is the lack of ability to get into the courtyards and the tiny rooms that are hard to maneuver around and deco.

You've got doors leading to the outside on the North and West sides but you can't SEE anything so why bother? Move those walls out to utilize more INSIDE space, keep the outside space limited to areas you can actually see..my opinion anyway.

 

[Cetric]

Here's mine - looking for suggestions or critiques since its obviously not just for me, its potentially for everyone. Named Majestic Sands Keep, owner Berserker. Head out the north bridge out of vesper, go slightly west and theres a clearing with 2 keep plots. its the 2nd one north.

 

[Minerva Foxglove]

I have a feeling the standard is much higher this time ! We learned alot from last round...

 

[MoMan]

Slight change from the previous. We shall see. Seeing some really nice designs. I almost didn't put mine up. lol
Good Luck to all that enter.

The Barracks:

 

[Finley Grant]

Still too many tiny rooms....if you're going to build it with the stone walls, leave the inside empty so if people chose that design they can at least add their own walls if they so desire.

The 2 reasons the current keep design is so bad is the lack of ability to get into the courtyards and the tiny rooms that are hard to maneuver around and deco.

You've got doors leading to the outside on the North and West sides but you can't SEE anything so why bother? Move those walls out to utilize more INSIDE space, keep the outside space limited to areas you can actually see..my opinion anyway.

Iam sorry but building a empty shell so that Iam and all others are forced to use this horrible granite just because people like you who love cubes are happy is not on my to do list.

It's funny that people like you complain about rooms all the time and give the fault to the design.. Ever thought about that the problem sits "in front" / "behind" the keyboard?

The reason why every serious builder must have doors (hidden or not) towards the north and West recess is that without getting there you cannot fix the missing "spikes" on the roof which are not avail. In custom mode...
They are the only thing a serious castle builder should use from granite.

Feel free to submit your own keep, excuse me, empty shell then.

 

[Eärendil]

Here's mine - looking for suggestions or critiques since its obviously not just for me, its potentially for everyone. Named Majestic Sands Keep, owner Berserker. Head out the north bridge out of vesper, go slightly west and theres a clearing with 2 keep plots. its the 2nd one north.


View attachment 88630


View attachment 88631

View attachment 88632

View attachment 88633

View attachment 88634

thats pretty cool, i must say!

 

[Eärendil]

My feeble attempt


First Floor

Second Floor

Third Floor

Fourth Floor

I left walls on the roof for the savants who wish to create a fifth



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

thats cool, too! i like the entrance.

 

[Eärendil]

i did 2 however i like the one submitted with "Waxx" (called: "Improved Original Keep") better.
got a lot of request to stay close to original without loosing the space in the base floor....
yes, i used ladders because i think if someone cant afford 2 heritage token after paying 30m for a keep custom then he got another big problem. the reason why i didn use teleporter is simple, i dont like them.
before you say, "bbut in the Waxx keep you cannot reach the recessed areas in west and north" there are hidden doors

Waxx: (called: "Improved Original Keep")
View attachment 88614 View attachment 88615 View attachment 88616 View attachment 88617

Finley: (called: "3 Story Keep")
View attachment 88618 View attachment 88619 View attachment 88620 View attachment 88621

Nice work! My compliments. I would leave the grass tiles out, but the rest looks strong and mighty.

 

[AnneNomilly]

So I went in a bit of a different direction away from the standard keep and more like my 18 x 18. Suggestions welcome.

 

[Danpal]

I see some people puting grass snow tiles on the roof. I know we can just place pavers over them but think about not placeing the grass or snow on the roof.

If we want grass snow or sand we can place it are selfs

 

[Larisa]

Iam sorry but building a empty shell so that Iam and all others are forced to use this horrible granite just because people like you who love cubes are happy is not on my to do list.

It's funny that people like you complain about rooms all the time and give the fault to the design.. Ever thought about that the problem sits "in front" / "behind" the keyboard?

The reason why every serious builder must have doors (hidden or not) towards the north and West recess is that without getting there you cannot fix the missing "spikes" on the roof which are not avail. In custom mode...
They are the only thing a serious castle builder should use from granite.

Feel free to submit your own keep, excuse me, empty shell then.

You don't know a thing about me dear....I guess you didn't look at the pictures I posted or the design I submitted for the last contest..but that's okay.

As far as having those doors....SOME people don't want to have to ADD floors/walls/doors and want to use the design as is without anything else..I consider myself a serious builder and I don't feel the need for doors on those sides if you know how to decorate.

 

[Eärendil]

Ok folks,

after I realized my first medieval dream (see above), I did a second design which refers to the wishes of many: a rather big, monolithic building with plenty of space. But as always, there is something different: (1) I hate marble walls, (2) I hate sandstone walls, (3) I hate thick castle walls. As someone who is deep into romanic and gothic architecture, I tried to make a building I would like to use. This is the result:











Its a bit of Notre Dame, a bit of French and German Gothic and British Neo-Gothic or even Tudor-Style. I left many rooms rather open, so that folks who love to have plenty of space, have some. Of course, I cannot go out of my own skin: I prefer a good look over functionality. I even live by this motto in RL ;-)

Maybe some of you like it - as I said, its a bit different. The building had to be a bit exalted, classy, stylish and impressive, so that you can show your collections (e.g. rare items or else). I used a similar design on a 18x18 for my museum on Siege:

The Siege Perilous Museum of Marvelous Jewelry has moved!

If I could have this one, I would try to place a keep. If not, I stick to 18x18.

Have a good one!

 

[Minerva Foxglove]

Different styles are great! We play UO different ways and comes from different places in the world. Also in UO our environments looks different around our houses. Doing nice different looking places have more chances to get votes than us traditional stone, open spacy building lovers (or atlest needing the space) as there will be so many similar the votes will be spread out. Or so I fear. If i had two big places i would gladly have a good looking as well

 

[Eärendil]

you like it?

 

[Finley Grant]

You don't know a thing about me dear....I guess you didn't look at the pictures I posted or the design I submitted for the last contest..but that's okay.

As far as having those doors....SOME people don't want to have to ADD floors/walls/doors and want to use the design as is without anything else..I consider myself a serious builder and I don't feel the need for doors on those sides if you know how to decorate.

I won't comment on that.

 

[MalagAste]

So this is probably going to be picture intensive so I'll break them up into separate posts. And yes I know I did submit several designs, but I have a vested interest as I do own a keep and I also play UO quite a bit for the deco and design. Yes I have a lot of accounts as well. I hope something I submitted sparks some interest. If you want to go visit any of them just give me a PM and I'll try to get up with you to give you the "tour". Or you can message me in Discord... MalagAste#1313 I don't ICQ really anymore.
Here is my Keep remastered. The Red Circles indicate spots where there is a hidden door or I left an element for people to add walls if they wanted without leaving unsightly gaps. Forgot to mention on the second floor in the front I left out a tile where you can fall down and I'm hoping place a ladder for quick access. But it also makes for a quick escape.

 

[MalagAste]

Design #2 Olath Ser (Dark Keep):

 

[MalagAste]

Design #3 Takrin Valshath (Desert Palace)

 

[MalagAste]

Design #4 Adobe Villa:

 

[MalagAste]

Design #5 Thorne Manor:


Open to any suggestions or anything but I think I'm done.

 

[Minerva Foxglove]

Yes Mr Eärendil its well done and I love the colours . I tried last round to do somrthing with thoose tiles but it was hard. I went back to the old stone and open areas .. After all im a deco freak, so I will manage to make something about the dullness. I hope to find me a castle next round , for now im just practicing and enjoying myself.

 

[MalagAste]

Yes Mr Eärendil its well done and I love the colours . I tried last round to do somrthing with thoose tiles but it was hard. I went back to the old stone and open areas .. After all im a deco freak, so I will manage to make something about the dullness. I hope to find me a castle next round , for now im just practicing and enjoying myself.

I'd like to find me or make me a usuable castle for next round too... but I don't see that happening if it goes like before.

 

[MareJadeSky]

my first floor

2nd

3rd

and roof

 

[uokings7]

Gotta apologize in advance. Starfleet command center.

 

[cazador]

Can we please just have a blank 32x32 or whatever. I like all designs posted, but I want “my own” keep or castle. Not a prefab one. I’m sorry if that seems mean to whoever wins. It’s not meant to be I’m sure it’ll be awesome and in your own design tastes. I as I’m sure with virtually everyone designing wants their own creative touches. Not someone else’s..18x18’s are too small just give us blank 19x19 up to 25x25 amd this can be a fun community contest, to see who’s design gets put on the this or community built houses. Every month or so with different themes could be fun too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Zeke]

I wish the Dev team would update the Customization Tool to add the different color granite so we can make castles of Valorite, Shadow Iron, etc instead of just normal granite. The graphics for these already exists in game since we can craft them.

 

[Shiranui Renn]

My newest version of a keep submitted with "Talon" (called: "Unnamed House"). I tried to stay as close as possible to the original Keep design on the outside and still get the max out of room inside.
On the first floor are 3 hidden doors to access the outside grass areas for deko purpose and to get stone walls all the way up to the roof to create the battlements.
To get the max possible space for deko I decided to go with teleporters instead of stairs. The teleporters are hidden behind the south wall of the SE tower.

 

[MareJadeSky]

here is my 2nd enters
1st floor

2nd floor

3rd floor

4th floor Aka Roof

 

[MareJadeSky]

I left that out intentionally. So that when you put in walls it could 'tie' in given that it was more in the centre of the room as opposed to an edge wall. So no, it wasn't 'missed' it was part of the design. If you didn't want to put a 'wall' in then you could place a regular stone wall post to 'fill in' the gap.
View attachment 88600

View attachment 88599

In my case I ended up putting in a stone arch piece highlighted yellow. My design was always intended to allow people to customize the internal walls to their liking instead of forcing people to whatever configuration suited me. I don't understand why anyone would design with internal walls unless they are using a tile that cannot be paired with grey stone. If you want flexibility then making the outside look the business while allowing players to do their own insides in my view the way to go.

The ODD gap on sth and east walls is no big deal if your deco is up to scratch, it disappears into the background, as for not being able to deco without circ, well all the external walls are solid so it is just the ones you add yourself that aren't and sheesh, pick it up, do your deco and put it back down. If you have to hide stuff behind walls as there isn't room to deco and see the items without them being placed behind walls then the rooms are too small to start with.

So no, not Oops at all .

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

 

[Petra Fyde]

Just for the hell of it I decided to try, as close as I could, to create a true(ish) medieval Norman keep with bailey. It's in Fel, so it's not taking up much space anyone else would want, and it would only appeal to a role player, but here it is.


ground floor, kitchen in the bailey, other trades under the battlement.
upper floor, main stairs into the keep, dinning room? back stairs down to the kitchen, up to the other rooms, battlement
Upper floor - bedroom maybe? link to a small upper battlement platform
and the roof