Hi everyone,
Another short update for you. I have been working seriously on the housing for the game. We will begin with a small village on the rolling hills and meadows of the Bloodlands. I made a few houses but just couldn’t get the feel I wanted. Then, quite by accident, I was looking through some assets I had in my folders and found the perfect house. It needed a bit of work. I changed the base of the house, re-textured all of it but the roof and made the proportions a little better for my needs.
Here are the results:
I added some props for atmosphere, a few stately oaks and set everything along the newly constructed road. Behind the house you see three bee hives which produce honey for the family to sell to locals. A small garden full of plants and lovely flowers adorn the front yard.
This is the smallest of the houses, with only one room shared by the peasant family. I plan to use this house as a base for more houses, some of wattle and mud like this one and others of stone form the nearby quarry or even wood. Larger houses or houses with additions will be available as well.
My next update, I will show the building stages of the house as well as a few more models. The thatch roof will need to be replaced every so often as it gets dark and moldy after a while. Upkeep on a house will keep you busy or you can hire someone with skills to do it for you.
I have a few more lovely pictures I thought you might enjoy. In game, the grass and trees move with the wind. It is very nice but needs a few sheep, don’t you think?
Oh, and one more…not in a pretty scene but can anyone guess who might live in this house?
I will give you a hint…the roof is made of leaves! 🙂
Hope you enjoyed this brief but very scenic post!
Teila
Teila's Blog 
That looks great! I especially like that they have an outhouse nearby, but a bit puzzled as to why the house has no chimney. Do they only eat raw food and live in a very warm climate? 😛
As for who lives in the second house, perhaps it’s a certain Dalmite?
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Tumaini,
Fireplaces are a later invention, especially in a small village home. You can’t see it in this picture, but there is an opening near the roof in the back of the house where smoke can escape. Fires were usually placed in the center of the cottage to warm the house and for cooking. Yes, they were a bit smokey at times, but the families kept warm and cozy. Sometimes the houses contained actually round or square stone fireplaces in the middle of the house, with no chimney. But more often, they were just a pit in the center of the floor where they suspended a pot on a tripod and cooked directly over the fire.
Now, a nice manor house of this time would have an indented area in one of the thick walls that would eventually evolve into a fireplace. We will have fireplaces in townhouses, manors and especially in castles where they will more resemble what most of us would recognize as a fireplace. You will see more of these when we start working Caeril.
As for the round house, you are correct! We will use this as a Dalmite house and create more that will be similar. Of course, that will all be put on hold for a bit since our focus at the moment is the Bloodlands.
Thanks for the comment!
Teila
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Bring on Caeril! Nice to see progress being reported regularly. Keep up the good work.
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I really want to work on the city. It keeps calling to me every day and I admit, I am sometimes distracted by the thoughts of building the city. But trying to stay on track so we can get people running around on the terrain and testing a few skills.
Thanks for the comment, Alpha dog!
Teila
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They were very smokey inside. But surprisingly few times the thatch caught. What the smoke did do, was to sterilize the thatch and keep it clear of mice, rats, and insects. This allowed for meats and other perishable foodstuffs to be hung from the ceiling where they would keep for longer in the smoke.
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Interesting stuff! Thanks for the comment. Now how difficult would it be to add mice to the thatch? 🙂
Teila
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Looks great. I love the idea of a game where maintaining your house is something that can keep you busy.
…And yes, the scene needs a few sheep!
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Hey, Joe! I missed your post after it went to my spam folder! Not sure why. Anyway, thanks for the post and yeah, I am working on those sheep. 🙂 Maybe soon.
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