Only of the fourth, when I bother to do so. I have to study for some some tests tomorrow, so that probably won't happen. You can get a general idea of what crap I made and what cool beans I made by actually going to the hosted maps, you know.
The first three maps are quite dated, as you could tell by reading the thread, but the fourth is excellent.
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"cause my idea of file organization" ~Dysgalt
"is" ~Dysgalt
"coffee" ~Makoto
Victory Clan Ambassador ; Omnimodus | The Minecraft Frontier
Only of the fourth, when I bother to do so. I have to study for some some tests tomorrow, so that probably won't happen. You can get a general idea of what crap I made and what cool beans I made by actually going to the hosted maps, you know.
The first three maps are quite dated, as you could tell by reading the thread, but the fourth is excellent.
You say you can be one of the best. You say you'll improve. As my language teacher would say, "show us, don't tell us." :biggrin.gif:
Your maps are, collectively, grand, and worthy of a gallery titling them as such. Now, to pick them apart. :laugh.gif:
In all seriousness, Land of Lost Spirits looks sort of like a mish-mash of structures with no real design focus, and with an overdose of leaves and odd blocks.
The Enclave is indeed garish, so much so that it was kind of frightening to me that you built it. The long staircases you had were also given a little less consideration for head height than I'd prefer.
Sand and Sun is sparse, but I can see your eventual decorative style in the few structures you made near the corners of the map, like the long bridge and the few areas near it. I also saw a lot of half-blocks here.
The Flatgrass of Wonder is an adequate display of your final building style (and your dedication to Victory!), and I enjoyed the general atmosphere of upward-scaling structures. The great room variation in the central Victory-themed tower was impressive as well.
All in all, they're worthy of a mapdump for historical safekeeping on my part.
I'd have to agree with Dysgalt and Godhand. For "normal"-type buildings, I like to use only a few blocks: wood, log, glass, bookshelf, 1 stone variety, and perhaps a metal. *1* cloth color and half-blocks will do for furniture. Emphasis on the 1. It may be personal taste only, but I hate to see this "Pollock-like" explosion of building materials without a clear reason for doing so.
If you're making something that might work as a building in real life, make it look like it'll fit in real life. If you're building something outlandish, don't be afraid to exaggerate and pull from the cloth block palette. But (and this is the important distinction between your work and others that I like a lot more) you have to choose one. Right now, what I see is a strange fusion of the outlandish and the usual. But since you use so many blocks and styles all mashed together, both parts of your work suffer.
Some blocks that you use also bother me. Honestly, I find the leaves block distasteful in any architecture, unless you're building trees or a "nature" themed build. Same with sand and that light blue cloth block (once again, unless part of a themed build.)
Proportions are also important to consider. Like Phade said, 4 blocks instead of 3 makes the viewer feel more comfortable. While admittedly a 3 block-high floor makes sense architecturally (that's about a 9.5 foot floor, which is even a little large), that's for a normal human. Minecrafters *are* 2 meters high, yes. They also have their eyes basically on the top of their head, so the room looks different (and smaller) than it would normally. Besides, you can't go wrong with adding more headroom. It allows for even more impressive furniture! :smile.gif:
The arches in your flatgrass o' wonder also bothered me... Brick, leaves, and glass, with TNT in the floor? Really? I know you said that you're starting to understand which color combinations work, but that's one I humbly suggest you'd avoid.
Overall, sorry for the long "bashing". I think you've got a decent set of the fundamentals, and just need to work on focusing your work down. Minecraft is so heavily pixelated (large building blocks) that you have to suggest, rather than show directly. Find something to suggest in your architecture, make one building (or a part of one building) focused on one thing, and work a bit more on usage of light and landscape, and I think you'll turn out to be what you claim! :smile.gif:
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Proud Member of the 4th division of the Royal Minecraft Militia!
Industry and Honor!
@Alpha_Squad: Well boo-hoo. It doesn't crash for me at all.
@umbralninja: That's not bashing; actually, that was probably one of the best posts in this thread so far, as it gave some very detailed criticism. That is something I wish to see more in this thread: more disappointment and clarity in what can be improved.
I'll see what I can do when I have the time. I'm on hiatus from MC for a short bit, and I'll be back to building soon. This gallery is pretty much just a historical map-dump.
As for block palette, I've gotten to the point that I know which combinations make sense architecturally. With grass, I tend to consider MC to allow for more exotic frippery. And besides, how else could we have decorative foliage in MC without leaves?
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"cause my idea of file organization" ~Dysgalt
"is" ~Dysgalt
"coffee" ~Makoto
Victory Clan Ambassador ; Omnimodus | The Minecraft Frontier
Oh, by the way, if I recall correctly, image limit per post is set at 5.
On-topic: I, too, was kind of worried about the TNT thing... decorating with that is quite exotic to say the least. I agree to disagree with Umbral about the leaves block, if only because glass gets dull if it's the only transparent block you use.
Now, I can't say I'm defending my own personal architectural style, mainly because I don't have one. The palette of my builds tend to be centered on the build itself, rather than revolving around one theme that is consistent of me as a builder. For a castle, I might have solid stone, a small amount of wood, cloth accents, and some cobblestone here and there, whereas an airship would have considerably more heavy use of logs, wood, and some stone, with a bit more focused accents.
However, since you're showcasing all of your builds together, you need them to be consistent. Exotic frippery, as you put it, is okay for accentive use. But exteriors don't look appealing with clashing block styles.
I don't think you're exactly trying to be outlandish: consistent in a unique fashion is what you're looking for.
You people need to stop considering these maps to be up-to-date: they're really not. This is primarily old stuff, and my style of building has progressed quite a bit.
Yes. Very much yes. The "Factorial Lodge" is so much better than your previous works that... it's a lot better. :smile.gif: A more unified theme, excellent furnishings, and good layout actually make me like this! Normally, I'd be a bit leery of that light blue, but since it was the only splash of color, it worked! Also, *that*'s how you're supposed to use leaves blocks: as foliage, not architecture. Much better than your flatgrass buildings :smile.gif: The only things I'd change are the bedrooms on the second floor; they seem a bit cramped. But that's honestly my only complaint. Keep on keeping on like this! :smile.gif:
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Proud Member of the 4th division of the Royal Minecraft Militia!
Industry and Honor!
I sort of ran out of space, to be fair, but I pulled through.
The formula for symmetry and asymmetry goes like this: symmetrical exterior with an asymmetrical interior and room-plan. Now, I don't like my house's design that much (the real-life house, of course), but it help to influence this little ditty I made here. The half-block vents are designed to naturally ventilate the house, by the way.
I can say that this was a triumph for me, however. Compared to nearly all of the other builds I've seen from other builders, this build has great holism in every way, sans a really interesting exterior.
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"cause my idea of file organization" ~Dysgalt
"is" ~Dysgalt
"coffee" ~Makoto
Victory Clan Ambassador ; Omnimodus | The Minecraft Frontier
I liked the house except for two annoying details (not that they're bad), but overall it was a vast improvement.
1. The cobble/brick/wood combination on the exterior of the house. It felt WAY too generic to me. Maybe it's just me and I'm not used to that... but stacking cobble and brick and then wood felt entirely wrong to me.
2. The gravel paths. I much prefer simple grass paths or half-block or something. When I see gravel, I think driveway, although there are certainly no cars in MC and there's no garage at all.
1. The cobble/brick/wood combination on the exterior of the house. It felt WAY too generic to me. Maybe it's just me and I'm not used to that... but stacking cobble and brick and then wood felt entirely wrong to me.
You actually made a fair point here: it is an odd and unsound combination. I'll try to think of something else when I make my next house.
2. The gravel paths. I much prefer simple grass paths or half-block or something. When I see gravel, I think driveway, although there are certainly no cars in MC and there's no garage at all.
I'd like to think that obsidian would resemble a black driveway, to be honest, but I generally like gravel paths myself. They remind of the paths I walked on at the Heard Conservatory here in McKinney, actually.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"cause my idea of file organization" ~Dysgalt
"is" ~Dysgalt
"coffee" ~Makoto
Victory Clan Ambassador ; Omnimodus | The Minecraft Frontier
The first three maps are quite dated, as you could tell by reading the thread, but the fourth is excellent.
"is" ~Dysgalt
"coffee" ~Makoto
Victory Clan Ambassador ; Omnimodus | The Minecraft Frontier
You say you can be one of the best. You say you'll improve. As my language teacher would say, "show us, don't tell us." :biggrin.gif:
You heard that, green and red.
In all seriousness, Land of Lost Spirits looks sort of like a mish-mash of structures with no real design focus, and with an overdose of leaves and odd blocks.
The Enclave is indeed garish, so much so that it was kind of frightening to me that you built it. The long staircases you had were also given a little less consideration for head height than I'd prefer.
Sand and Sun is sparse, but I can see your eventual decorative style in the few structures you made near the corners of the map, like the long bridge and the few areas near it. I also saw a lot of half-blocks here.
The Flatgrass of Wonder is an adequate display of your final building style (and your dedication to Victory!), and I enjoyed the general atmosphere of upward-scaling structures. The great room variation in the central Victory-themed tower was impressive as well.
All in all, they're worthy of a mapdump for historical safekeeping on my part.
If you're making something that might work as a building in real life, make it look like it'll fit in real life. If you're building something outlandish, don't be afraid to exaggerate and pull from the cloth block palette. But (and this is the important distinction between your work and others that I like a lot more) you have to choose one. Right now, what I see is a strange fusion of the outlandish and the usual. But since you use so many blocks and styles all mashed together, both parts of your work suffer.
Some blocks that you use also bother me. Honestly, I find the leaves block distasteful in any architecture, unless you're building trees or a "nature" themed build. Same with sand and that light blue cloth block (once again, unless part of a themed build.)
Proportions are also important to consider. Like Phade said, 4 blocks instead of 3 makes the viewer feel more comfortable. While admittedly a 3 block-high floor makes sense architecturally (that's about a 9.5 foot floor, which is even a little large), that's for a normal human. Minecrafters *are* 2 meters high, yes. They also have their eyes basically on the top of their head, so the room looks different (and smaller) than it would normally. Besides, you can't go wrong with adding more headroom. It allows for even more impressive furniture! :smile.gif:
The arches in your flatgrass o' wonder also bothered me... Brick, leaves, and glass, with TNT in the floor? Really? I know you said that you're starting to understand which color combinations work, but that's one I humbly suggest you'd avoid.
Overall, sorry for the long "bashing". I think you've got a decent set of the fundamentals, and just need to work on focusing your work down. Minecraft is so heavily pixelated (large building blocks) that you have to suggest, rather than show directly. Find something to suggest in your architecture, make one building (or a part of one building) focused on one thing, and work a bit more on usage of light and landscape, and I think you'll turn out to be what you claim! :smile.gif:
Industry and Honor!
@umbralninja: That's not bashing; actually, that was probably one of the best posts in this thread so far, as it gave some very detailed criticism. That is something I wish to see more in this thread: more disappointment and clarity in what can be improved.
I'll see what I can do when I have the time. I'm on hiatus from MC for a short bit, and I'll be back to building soon. This gallery is pretty much just a historical map-dump.
As for block palette, I've gotten to the point that I know which combinations make sense architecturally. With grass, I tend to consider MC to allow for more exotic frippery. And besides, how else could we have decorative foliage in MC without leaves?
"is" ~Dysgalt
"coffee" ~Makoto
Victory Clan Ambassador ; Omnimodus | The Minecraft Frontier
On-topic: I, too, was kind of worried about the TNT thing... decorating with that is quite exotic to say the least. I agree to disagree with Umbral about the leaves block, if only because glass gets dull if it's the only transparent block you use.
Now, I can't say I'm defending my own personal architectural style, mainly because I don't have one. The palette of my builds tend to be centered on the build itself, rather than revolving around one theme that is consistent of me as a builder. For a castle, I might have solid stone, a small amount of wood, cloth accents, and some cobblestone here and there, whereas an airship would have considerably more heavy use of logs, wood, and some stone, with a bit more focused accents.
However, since you're showcasing all of your builds together, you need them to be consistent. Exotic frippery, as you put it, is okay for accentive use. But exteriors don't look appealing with clashing block styles.
I don't think you're exactly trying to be outlandish: consistent in a unique fashion is what you're looking for.
I made a new WIP recently: http://www.minecraft.net/play.jsp?user=DragoonEnRegalia&id=4. I like to call this house the "Factorial Lodge". IDK, it just looks like a factory from afar.
@Aexis: Thanks for the comments. Yeah, I thought the TNT looked cool, but it would also be stupid to use as a building material for any building.
"is" ~Dysgalt
"coffee" ~Makoto
Victory Clan Ambassador ; Omnimodus | The Minecraft Frontier
Industry and Honor!
The formula for symmetry and asymmetry goes like this: symmetrical exterior with an asymmetrical interior and room-plan. Now, I don't like my house's design that much (the real-life house, of course), but it help to influence this little ditty I made here. The half-block vents are designed to naturally ventilate the house, by the way.
I can say that this was a triumph for me, however. Compared to nearly all of the other builds I've seen from other builders, this build has great holism in every way, sans a really interesting exterior.
"is" ~Dysgalt
"coffee" ~Makoto
Victory Clan Ambassador ; Omnimodus | The Minecraft Frontier
1. The cobble/brick/wood combination on the exterior of the house. It felt WAY too generic to me. Maybe it's just me and I'm not used to that... but stacking cobble and brick and then wood felt entirely wrong to me.
2. The gravel paths. I much prefer simple grass paths or half-block or something. When I see gravel, I think driveway, although there are certainly no cars in MC and there's no garage at all.
You heard that, green and red.
I'd like to think that obsidian would resemble a black driveway, to be honest, but I generally like gravel paths myself. They remind of the paths I walked on at the Heard Conservatory here in McKinney, actually.
"is" ~Dysgalt
"coffee" ~Makoto
Victory Clan Ambassador ; Omnimodus | The Minecraft Frontier