Housing Rally 12-21-13 “Frostfeely Houses – Turning down the Heat!”

Welcome to the Homes and Tomes House Rally #8 – Frostfeely Houses!

Tonight we are looking at houses that celebrate Frostfell in a BIG way! Definitely our most colorful event of the year, decorators have a chance to use all those warm colors in the coldest days of the year! Since these are usually temporary decorations, this brings a whole set of special problems to revamping ones home to accommodate Frostfell bric-a-brac!
I’m your host Huell Kuerden, and we’ll be looking at some places should make you feel all warm inside while you are freezing your tail off! And now on to the show!

As we take a look at these houses, don’t forget to reward the designers by liking creativity and/or style! It means more people will visit and enjoy their work! Just wait a minute before doing this – sometimes a few likes can shift a house on the leaderboards enough to make it hard to find!
And now on to this week of Norrath’s Gold!

Our First Stop is…

Amethystra’s Winter Wonderland (Massive Homes – Creativity #57) by Amethystra

Snowy Dwelling

Here we have practically EVERY BIT of Frostfell curios available scattered throughout the area! Practically everywhere you go you’ll see presents, animals, sleighs, and frozen travelers waiting for the Spring thaws!
Immediately on your left on zone-in is a Dwarven Igloo containing my favorite dragon plushy! Wander a bit and check out the ambiance of the island. Don’t forget the close Ice Flow and ship off the beach! Then meet up at the house! For those of you who want more ambiance, check out http://www.sgisland.gs/index.php/%28h%29South_Georgia_Webcam2?useskin= where it REALLY gets cold!

I have to say I like the Snowy Dwelling template as well! Much closer to a pre-modern abode than most, and small enough to decorate without feeling like a football stadium! It’s also another ‘neutral’ theme area that you can easily decorate to your alignment as needed!

Anyone tried to decorate on any of the other islands other than the close flow? Are they completely rezzed?

Inside the house you’ll find many of the polished icy components, Among them, the light frozen tiles work well by reflecting the other house items! Note the Icy Pedestal Table – it’s the only table that gives off light – a nice fluorescent-like color for any new developers out there. Here it works as a table AND a light. I often use them only as light fixtures.

Head down to the basement – noting the door if you haven’t seen this one before. I’m also hoping they’ll make the ladder available via SC! Here is a nice crafting/living area. Check out the sheathing of the stone walls with glacial dividers! The charged ethernere lighting is also nice – works very well with an ice theme.

Next up is a very different spread using the Storm Tower…. Go to:

Pirates Christmas Eve (Massive Homes – Creativity #29) by Lrose

Storm Tower
For starters, you get dropped in a tree! After doing this many HaT Rallies, I can tell you that this is not as unique as you might think! I liked this house because of the mix of themes! Pirates and Frostfell are a unique approach!

Wander around and check out the pirate base (non-Frostfell) down on the beach! Don’t forget the ships either! By the zone-in you can see the Frostfell efforts! Gives the effect of a creepy – not quite –right – Frostfell! Very nice!!!

Extensive use of the Frosffell Snowdrifts, trees, presents, snowmen and tables loaded with food give a nice festive air! The Orc guards, skulls and skeletal prowler give the macabre touch! Inside the tower the pink bows make the room unique! The upstairs platform is also decorated for the holidays!!!

I liked this house because it wasn’t the same-old-same-old! The only thing I would have added would have been a huge lighted Frostfell tree on top of the tower!

We’ll now travel to another home using a different theme again! Go to:
Frostfell Shopping Plaza (Hall of Fame – Newly Published #85) by Twinklin
New Halas 5-room House

Here we have a MALL! Truly getting right to the core of Frostfell!!! Wander through the shops looking at the assorted wares.
On the left, check out the FOOD COURT! The pie display and drink dispenser are amazing! Outside nyou can follow the red carpet to SANTA GLUG on his Frostfell throne, and tell him what you want! Talk about traumatizing small children! There’s also a small skating rink!
Downstairs is your darker Frostfell for the EVIL types!
Upstairs is a room with toys for kids! Check out the toy train! What a great idea! Take a look at the cash register as well! There’s also a very nice weapon’s shop on this floor, along with several other small shops!
Wander a bit and check out the many cool scratch-built items!
Now on to our last house! We try to include new, recently published houses even if they are not particularly on theme – from guildmembers and the general AB decorating community, and this next house is quite interesting, and just posted 5 days ago…

Go to: Asian Flat for Frostfell (Large Homes – Newly Published #10) by Uthanuk

As you pop in, you are on a teleport pad. Take it immediately to the ‘Flat’ and give it a healthy 15 seconds to load.
This is an instance of something I’ve gotten addicted to as well – hunting down exotic locations OUTSIDE of a normal house. Here, Uthanuk went UP on top of Gorowyn. Darkzephyr has a very nice garden house up here as well.

Houses in these locations do suffer from slow load times – I assume because the rendering engine just isn’t well set up for displaying a house in a location the Devs never intended! But you know the realtor’s expression: location, location, location. Sometimes the locale is just to cool to pass up!

Proceed up the stairs and take a look around. Note the interesting things such as the rails – from under –deck beds. Be sure to look up in the house… it has exquisite wood roofs. The reason for the request to turn off torches is the whole house is carefully lit – it’s best seen without torches overpowering the natural light!
Take your time on this one, and look around!

That’s all for tonight folks! If people have questions about how some things have been done, feel free to stick around and ask. You can also always ask in the Homes and Tomes chat channel HAT anytime. There’s always someone who can at least give an entertaining WRONG answer (mostly answers are right though)!

So thanks for joining us for another HaT House Rally! We’ll be returning in two weeks on SUNDAY (we alternate weekend days) to look at SMALL HOUSES – YOU REALLY CAN FIT 50 OGRES IN THERE! Hope to see you then!

Housing Rally 12-08-13 “The Whole House - Places you could Live without Dying!”

House Rally #7 (12/08/13) The Whole House – Places you could live and would want to!

Welcome to the Homes and Tomes House Rally #7 – The Whole House (All homes are in Hall of Fame)

I’m your host Huell Kuerden, and we’ll be looking at some houses tonight that you could actually live in.
It would be fun to live in an exotic and magical world – but many houses ignore certain functions that are necessary to make life comfortable. Things like bathrooms, kitchens, heating, food storage, closets etc.
Architects who forget these things in the real world tend not to last long, so here are some houses that you might comfortably live in!

As we take a look at these houses, don’t forget to reward the designers by liking creativity and/or style! Try to wait though until everyone zones in to Like a house – otherwise the house cas shift in the list and make it hard to find! Don’t forget though! It means more people will visit and enjoy someone’s hard work!
And now on to this week of Norrath’s Gold!

A Nerian in Qeynos (Owner: Belux, Architect: Cearra): HoF #4 Creativity

4 Bayle Court

This is a very modernistic house that seems almost condo-like. Zoning in takes you to a small walled court. Select the door ahead and enter the house.

Inside the house you are immediately struck by the clean minimalist decorating. This house uses a relaitively small amount of decorating items – but over a thousand building blocks! Check out the various structural elements to see what was used.

• Head to the Kitchen. In it, you’ll find all the modern appurtenances! Look at the built-from-scratch Fridge, Oven, knife holder and plate drying rack! The only thing I don’t have in my kitchen is a Microwave!
• Go back to the family room. Observe the views from the windows, the modern couches, and general layout and color scheme.
• Take the stairs now up to the master bedroom. This is eerily like my in-laws bedroom! Again it gives a very spacious, minimalist feel!
• The bathroom is right off the bedroom, and has everything – including a washer and dryer!

Wander a bit and examine the construction!

A Qeynosian Riverfront Property (Owner: Jazabelle): HoF #22 Creativity

Hua Mein Retreat

From Zone In, proceed across the stream to the bridge and look at the house. We briefly looked at this house in our first Rally, but it has several points that make it well worth a review!

• First – it is a cross-timbered and plastered style very reminiscent of European historical housing – a style that was around many centuries!
• Next, there are window shutters! Another largely antique feature that was originally intended to protect glass or pre-glass/open windows in bad weather!
• Proceed up the porch and enter the house. Open the door right ahead of you and get a surprise! It is a LINEN CLOSET! The only one I found preparing for this Rally!
• Go left into the dining room/kitchen. I almost laughed when I saw the counters! Almost exactly like what I got at Home Depot for my bathroom! Check out the cabinetry in the kitchen – very nicely done.
• Head down to the living room. A modern living room with an inviting appearance and good views! Take the stairs up.
• First door on the left is the bathroom, and the commode is a nice design! A modern raised shower-bath also features in this room. Continue down the hall to the bedroom.
• Look here at how the Embellished Sumac Screens were mounted as windows, making the chamber light and airy!

Romantic Private Island Retreat (Owner: Twinklin): HoF #18 Creativity

Hallowed Halls of GM Vhaern (Owner: Darkzephyr): HoF #63 Creativity

Villa on the Looping Riviera (Owner: Pizazz)

That''s all for this week, friends! We'll meet in two weeks on Saturday to look at wonderful 'Frost-feely Houses'!

Housing Rally 11-23-13 “Monumental Structures”

Welcome to the Homes and Tomes House Rally #6 – Monumental Structures

Tonight we are looking at the truly BIG stuff. Big brings its own set of problems to decorating, but at the same time can add drama, particularly with scratch built structures! Now, with the divorcement of Building Blocks and Tiles from other items, we suddenly have much more latitude to build LARGER than ever!!!

I’m your host Huell Kuerden, and we’ll be looking at some places your jaw should drop at. If you don’t feel miniscule after seeing these places, you must have an ego the size of the universe! While we wll be focusing on scratch-built, we’ll also be touring some pre-made massive homes, as they are a challenge to do in their own right! And now on to the show!
As we take a look at these houses, don’t forget to reward the designers by liking creativity and/or style! It means more people will visit and enjoy their work! And now on to this week of Norrath’s Gold!

Our First Stop is…

The Lost Pyramid (Massive Homes) by Ayrid

Tenebrous Tangle

Here we have, well, a WHOLE LOTTA BLOCKS! Yikes! A very nice large stepped pyramid! Larger characters can do the hopty-hop to the top, or you can take the ladders and work your way up. You may want to set your display to render higher quality, or you’ll miss stuff!

Once you are on top, fool around by the ladder and see what happens! Really cool! I was expecting alligators at the bottom, but the spears and skeletons work nicely! There is an exit off the East side if you’d like to go in or out!

There is a fork in the access hall whether you’ve fallen from the top or come in from the side. Continue on to the vault door and take the portal to the Royal Tomb. Once you are done, take the port to the fountain at the Upper Island. Be sure to look down at the view! I enjoyed jumping down to the top of the pyramid!

Some notes on materials. The rough stone blocks used here work pretty well, but the rough stone tables can have interesting issues if you rotate them in unusual ways. They can block access, disappear, cause people to float, and all kinds of other interesting things. I’m not arguing against them – they give great effects! Just be prepared to tweak!

Let’s move along now to a pre-built structure – which was used completely atypically!!!

Athlina’s Clockwork Forrest (Massive Homes) for Athlina by Jibbywabba

Thurgadin Grand Hall

You pop into a small antechamber – open the door and go halfway down the ramp!

I really like this vista! The ‘Deephaven’ appears totally different from the base Turgadin Hall through the use of mist and landscape plants! I liked the effort to explain plants in a cave by the magical lighting fixture hanging from the ceiling! Continue down the ramp!

I loved the effect of having truly MASSED fireflies and butterflies. It gives the illusion of immense depth, and the movement gives a living quality to the house. The original equipment blue glowing channels also add a nice effect.

Wander a bit! Note the use of Altar backs and hedges to block off undesired areas! Part of having a huge house is re/raid membering you don’t HAVE to use it all!!! Or use it the way was intended!

Next lets move to standard fantasy fare – the Castle!

Castle Drakkell (Massive Homes) by Drakkell

Tenebrous Tangle

Castles are AWFUL! There is a lot of interesting solid geometry in them, so it can take some real effort to do them properly - probably why they are still uncommon despite being standard fantasy fare!

As you pop in give this a few seconds to load! One thing I did find a bit distracting was the path shimmer. This may have been done sans editor. I DID really like the Grobb Table Steps though! That is a neat effect, and they can be used BIG for impressive stairs! The overall appearance is very Medieval, and I really like the site opposite the zone-in!

There are a series of portals you can use pop around. Go to the bathhouse and look up! You can see (just barely) the hidden Vault in the sky. Again - the sky is there and CAN be used for all kinds of interesting things!

The Icy Dividers also give a neat 'negative' appearance to the other islands when used as windows.

I also really like the flying ship dock. We see all to few of these despite them even being in game! Would be interesting to soup a ship up with some propellers/fans!

Next we'll take a quick look at a work in progress if people would like! We are ahead of schedule for the 1st time!

Head to Massive Homes and go to 'Tower'. This is an attempt to red the Stormwind Tower to something a little less EVIL looking. Intended as a Qeynosian anti-pirate base, and home for a characters RP order.

Note the use of purchased white tiles. They can be sized 2x crafted tiles, and so keep the overall count down. Rough stone tables were used to shore up the tower - the spines of the original equipment tower stick out too far to allow the tower to e built without 'enhancement'.

Head to the top and jump off. If you don't have any featherfall, just be sure to hit the water! Does bring the scale of the thing into perspective!

That's all for tonight's show, and thanks for coming to this episode of Norrath's Gold!!!

Housing Rally 11-10-13 “Landscapes and Gardens"

Welcome to the Homes and Tomes House Rally #4 – Landscapes and Gardens

I’m your host Huell Kuerden, and we’ll be looking at some wild places tonight! Housing doesn’t have to be all clean and beautiful and highly upholstered! Everyone doesn’t live in a castle you know, some prefer a cool forest or nice moist swamp! At the end, time permitting, we’ll hit some more of the creepy houses that weren’t quite ready two weeks ago! And now on to the show!
As we take a look at these houses, don’t forget to reward the designers by liking creativity and/or style! It means more people will visit and enjoy their work! And now on to this week of Norrath’s Gold!

Grand Temple and Gardens of Erollisi (Hall of Fame) by Kaian

Felwithe Estate

As we enter, note that this is a standard house decorated largely by adding tree and shrubbery.
Proceed forward and look at the lovely fountain, surrounded by golden marble columns. Expensive but very beautiful!
The trees and other vegetation give the illusion of being outdoors, despite the dome overhead.

Moving straight ahead and continue to the shrine of the bow.
This area has beautifully arranged landscaping, again giving a very tranquil effect.
Looking up the standard dome above just adds to the effect.
Continue on to the temple. The use of Vigilant Screens for some neat geometric effects can be seen here. Ahead you can see an open-air bedroom, again beautifully landscaped, with a kindof creepy Antonia Bayle Fay Plushy… You’ll see her other places as well.

Turn around and go back to the dome. Use the teleport pad to visit the Red and Blue rooms.
I’m a particular fan of novel lighting effects, so look at the scratch-built bath in the red room. Note the use of flickering Braziers of Hatred to give a blue-white light, and an Acropolis feel.
The blue room uses the natural waterfalls and Purple/Blue vegetation to give a darker effect. A few bright green plants set of the darker colors.

Let’s move along now to one of the great ‘undeveloped’ tracts available! It has wonderful possibilities because there are NO structures that come with it!

Botanical Garden and Conservatory (Hall of Fame) by Twinklin

Tenebrous Tangle

I found this to be very creative -- and yes we did briefly visit it before to look at the construction techniques used in the Conservatory.
Here I want to focus on the landscape. Take the circular path that runs arounfd the island – which by itself is something to check out. Can you see how it helps to channel visitors through the outside gardens?
Wander the paths and check out the exhibits! Note the use of stone and varied plants to give visually interesting areas.
Be sure to check out the Butterfly garden in the Conservatory as well.

I like this effort – it gives a very bright and happy feeling, and a real effort has been made to make everything just be lovely!

Next we are going to look at a RP Themed Garden. This is near and dear to my heart, as most of my own houses are designed to enhance the roleplaying aspect of my characters!

Vagabond’s Antonica (Hall of Fame) by Slipps

Tenebrous Island Refuge

As you zone in be sure to read the books or you’ll get lost! The key is the teleport pad under the carpet by the door!
This garden is designed to show off the Ratonga as a society. I thought this was a neat approach, to build a microcosm of Antonica. If you spot a book be sure to read it! Each area will have one!

Wander a bit and check out the different zones!

Now we move onto some shameless self-promotion! Our next stop is

Forest Refuge & Chapel of the Four Winds (Massive Homes) by Kuerden

Tenebrous Island Refuge

This was my first real effort with the editor, and an attempt to flesh out Kuerden’s RP background. As such, there are many experimental structures I made up to evaluate how things might work. Some things went better than others!
When you arrive, you are outside Kuerden’s Homes & Tomes glass office. Feel free to go inside. The large book on the desk contains a description of the different attractions on the island.
Follow me over to the Treehouse.
Go up the ladder to the treehouse – I think it may be the longest ladder in Norrath!
Note the light panels in the floor to give light to the lower branches. I believe I used 9 oaks to create my great tree. If you need a shower go out and take one!
Note the sloping of the walls of Kuerden’s house. As you’ve seen in other houses, minor geometry changes can often make a structure much more interesting.
Continue back down the ladder, and return to Kuerden’s office.
Take the teleport pad on the porch to the Chapel of the Winds
Here is a chapel devoted to the good and neutral deities hanging from the upper island. If you’d like to honor your god, you can jump from the waterfall into the pool below!
Also go down the altar ladder into the vestibule. Be sure to look down through the Polished Ice Tile at the entire island spread beneath. Go back to the top floor and take the Portal to the Upper Island Camp.
Here is a little Warden’s refuge from the world. There is a dive platform to launch from as well – but don’t miss the pool!
Go back to the Portal and go to the Twin Falls Tavern… Here I was trying to get some striking visual landscapes, and it is a beautiful view. The kitchen in underneath.

Feel free to wander for a few minutes before we visit a Scary Place!

Village of the Damned (Large Homes) by Darkzephyr

Fright Manor

Our Final House is a tribute to the NotD! Check out the spooky grounds and then proceed into the house! Wander a bit and look at the attention to detail!

Well, that’s about it for tonight! In two weeks we’ll meet again on Saturday to view some truly monumentally huge structures! Be there of be square and have a great evening!

House Rally (10/26/13): Creepy and Horrible Houses

Welcome to the Homes and Tomes House Rally #3 – Creepy and Horrible Houses (All homes are in the Hall of Fame)

I’m your host Huell Kuerden, and we’ll be looking at some pretty horrible stuff tonight! Housing doesn’t have to be all clean and beautiful to be fascinating! As we take a look at these these houses, don’t forget to reward the designers by liking creativity and/or style! It means more people will visit and enjoy their work! And now on to this week of Norrath’s Gold!

Chapel of Anashti Sul (by Jazabelle)

Lavastorm Winter Retreat

• In the entrance, notice the motif that is set. Look at how the square painting frames work with the black tile. The same effect was used to give additional beaming at the top.
• Interesting use of multicolored glass tile! Where have I seen that before…
• Note the use of rotated draconic vases as door handles.
• Enter the main chapel by way of the buried teleport pad.
• I particularly liked the inverted double eerie green candelabras. They look great.
• The use of a slanted raised ceiling gives much more interest.
• Strategically placed magic-mouths add atmosphere, as do the plushies.
• Take the door to the outside and wander the graveyards…
• Look in each of the scratch-built crypts. Two lead to portals to other themed house, and one to a sitting room.
• Lastly – note the use of fog generators for that graveyard feel!

Now on to:

Zombie Island (by Latiz)

Tenebrous Island Refuge

• We’ll stop here for a moment, as I thought this was quite creative! The extensive use of pets made this really creepy!
• Note the embedded magic mouths throughout the area to add spice.
• This is a really very simple but effective approach, wander a couple of minutes and explore!
• I never cease to be amazed at what people think up!

Next we’ll visit what I think is a classic Vampire Estate…

Vampire Estate (by Nazthul)

Freeblood Lair

• This is a very nice example of conventional decorating! No massive re-skinning, just piping up a standard Freeblood Lair!
• Note the use of lighting to give that Disneyland Haunted Corridor look! It works well!
• In an example of out-of-the-box work, you can take the teleport portal directly ahead on the balcony, and port out of the house down to the moors by the sea. Nice!
• I liked the extensive use of statuary and carefully placed portraits to give more of a crypt feel. The use of eerie red candelabra and red hangings really adds effect!
• Downstairs is the crypt with coffins, and to the right a small creepy shrine!
• Wander a bit to get the feel of this place!

Finally, we’ll look at a place that I thought had a great feel!

Dark Spirits (by Tharskus)

Uncanny Estate

• Look up at the blue misty tiles – a wonderful creepy effect.
• Check out the cold room via the portal – it has one of the best dioramas I’ve seen!
• Wander and check out the various elements here.

Extra: Gdoinye's Crypt of Vampiric Comfort

Housing Rally (2013/10/13): Monuments of Stone and Glass

This is Kuerden's outline of what to pay attention to at each home. Our tour varied slightly from the listed points, but we did our best to hit them! Feel free to check out the homes on your own to look closely at what was talked about.

I'm not listing the number you can find it on the leaderboard, because it may change.

CATHEDRAL OF INNORUUK

Homeowner: Dolthaic
Decorator: Jazabelle
Leaderboard Category: Hall of Fame
-Reminds me of the St. Magnus Cathedral in the Orkneys (Jaz's note: Was actually inspired by the Reims Cathedral in France. Blog post here.)
-Note rotations of stone in arches, blend is very good despite changes in line. Shows you can use patterned blocks to make complex structures as well as plain.
-Check out the organ in the choir loft.
-Use of Glass Tiles and Feyiron Fence to give more antique glass feel.
-Last but not least, look up at the ceiling buttresses. Amazing what can be done with basic shapes.

GREYSTONE CASTLE

Homeowner: Trydan
Leaderboard Category: Hall of Fame
-This one is another example of using patterned stone to give a medieval feel.
-Reminds me of Paradise Island (where Wonder Woman came from)
-Note the extensive use of water and fire features to generate movement.
-Just off-shore is a ruined submerged tomb, and several structures are built out on the water.
- I found the hidden garden and landscaping very well done!

BOTANICAL GARDEN & CONSERVATORY

Homeowner: Twinklin
Decorator: Twinklin
Leaderboard Category: Hall of Fame
-Here is another very detailed and scratch built structure!
-Note the flexibility that Vampiric Mirrors can bring to a structure, they blend really well.
-Landscaping is outstanding here, everything works very well.
-I docent at a zoo/botanical park, and this is a neat representation!
-Check out the rock enclosure exhibits.

THE MILE HIGH CLUB

Homeowner: Pizazz
Decorator: Pizazz
Leaderboard Category: Hall of Fame
-Note that as you come in this is just a normal undecorated Halas house.
-Take the portal in the middle of the floor.
-You are now OUTSIDE the box in a scratch-built structure.
-Talking Point: How was this done (moving portals).
-(Jaz) Note the detail--the Club actually hangs from the cave roof by chains. You can see the chains inside.
-(Jaz) Pay special attention to the inlays. Pizazz is known for his gorgeous custom inlays.

THE JESTER'S RAINBOW DOME

Homeowner: Degaahr
Decorator: Degaahr
Leaderboard Category: Hall of Fame
-And here is more glass but IN the box!
-Walk forward into the dome, where you can see a multi-colored Stained-glass effect!
-I found the use of black marble to be neat, it gives the room a very dark appearance.
-The darkness sets off the tile nicely!
-Talking Point: What house are you really in?

Added to the tour by Jazabelle and the tour members when they just didn't want it to end!

THE NORRATHIAN RESEARCH LIBRARY

Freeport, Library's Vale of Halfpint Delight
OR
Visit Homes and Tomes' guild hall off of the Commonlands, take the teleporter to the crafting room. Go to the portal wall where the guild hall housing portal is. Look for the Vale portal below that.
-Built mostly using the circle tool and duplicate tool.
-Contains nearly every player written book in the game.
-Notice the columns are upside down. This is to allow them to be "sunk" into the ground (raise up, instead of sunk down).
-The carpeted ramps allow for a lower item count while adding contrast that makes it easy to see the ramp.
-Player written books are on the second floor.
-The donor wall really is a donor wall! Anyone who donates has their name up on the wall.
-The Library is still looking for books...

VAGABOND'S ANTONICA

Homeowner: Slipps
Decorator: Slipps
Leaderboard Category: Hall of Fame
-Tour given by Enjoys
-Entire island is accessible, even the upper island (via teleporter)
-Pay special attention to the aqueduct.

SHAKE AND FRY GUILD HALL

Location: New Halas
Decorator: Angyl
-Tour given by Angyl
-Still under construction
-Very good use of contrasting stones to keep things from blending.
-Variety of woods used to delineate rooms.

RESTORATION GUILD HALL

Location: Antonica docks
Decorator: Various
-Tour given by Lera