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!