Roadmap Screenshots

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[Alibaster]

And the hits just keep on coming!!

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Monty Python Tribute Addon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ4KFb5hzPw

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Grinch over Whoville !!!

[Zalia]

Aussie Xmas addon also incoming

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Building Snowmen 101 and Colibrian Choir

[Alibaster]

They all look great!! Do any of them have any animation or is that not possible?

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Yes I've altered it since I made this short video but here's the link to animation! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AmZ_Q-rmDQ

[Alibaster]

Yes I've altered it since I made this short video but here's the link to animation! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AmZ_Q-rmDQ

So cool! I definitely want the snowman one. Hope it isn't an auction item so I can definitely get one.

[Wil]

A tip for you deco-makin' fiends: less is more. When you jam every possible thing you can fit into your 7x7 tiles, it just looks crowded.

Consider this for example. I made this entirely without special powers, just a yard wand, an interior decorator and a handful of lockdowns.

lava-river.jpg (331.13 KiB) Viewed 6080 times

[Zalia]

Like an Aztec Sacrifice?

[Wil]

Like an Aztec Sacrifice?

Also, think about the house it's going to go in. Will that work in any of the standard houses, or will you have to build a custom house around it? That might work in the 14x14 brick house that nobody uses. Anywhere else you could place it in a standard house type, that string on the back will be hanging off in space. More of the UO houses have long west walls fronting open space than north walls. The north walls have stairs or doors or something else that gets in the way.

Do those floor types exist in the house tool? If not, you can't make it match the rest of the custom house it's in. Do they exist on the yard wand? If not, you can only make it match a custom house.

[arrow]

Less is not always more! If I designed addons in direct accordance with what's available on the yard wand or available on the house construction gump it would kind of defeat the purpose of me creating anything, or at least mostly. If the tools/options are already available to a player by which you would limit me, why have me do anything? Maybe I could just create/name a mobile that you could plop down in a room of your own creation. What good would a Gollum and Bilbo Baggins be without some rocks and a stream and a golden ring lying upon the ground? Moss covering the stones, veins of gold etching their way through stone, weeds and plants striving to gain purchase among the crevices.

I ofttimes purposely introduce items/tiles/walls/hues/mobiles/etc... that are rarely seen. If I built Baba Yaga in a cave dwelling addon but took out the cave walls because they're not available to players, well I might as well not even build it. I personally, over 20 years of playing UO have mostly seen every probable creation that a player can create with the tools available to him/her. What I have not seen, is that which a player with a few extra tools can create.

Further, I try and create addons for the most popular type of housing (18x18), being limited to a 6x6 vignette area, I don't have the luxury of building 20x20 scenes like the picture you provided. Do players have to build a custom house around the addon, well unless their house is designed as a cave, mountaintop, underground lake, etc... I guess so. Will I build an addon designed to fit in a log cabin or a small marble house, truthfully probably not. Not while these addons are sold only at auction. A new player in a small marble could never afford it.

As to addon placement, well in that you're correct, a good addon will have both facings. Being C+ has just instituted this cadre of players for this creation team we are not quite there yet! We build these addons so players can have something unique, out of the ordinary, special!!! Having to constrain that creativity to the same options players have is self-defeating!

Noted your points though and will endeavor to always strive to build back better!

[Wil]

Having to constrain that creativity to the same options players have is self-defeating!

Not what I said. If you're content making dioramas, more power to you. If you make something which fits into a larger house scheme that the player can actually construct, it's better. More valuable to the player and better demonstrates the artist's mastery of the tools. That doesn't mean limiting yourself to the player's options. It means understanding the difference between when you should and when you shouldn't. It means thinking about the transitions between your art and their house, and planning attractive ones.

Your snowmen above would transition well into any winter-themed house. The choir is pure diorama. If you changed a few things, a player could build a church house around it, but as it stands it's limited to being an independent scene anywhere it's put. If it were mine, I'd do several things:

1. Ditch the white patterned border tiles. Extend the marble floor to the edge. If the player wants to present it as framed art, they can uni-dye a carpet and throw it underneath.

2. Make sure the floor tiles are one of the ones available to the player so that they can extend it.

3. Make sure the north wall aligns with constructable walls in a custom house. So that they can extend it.

4. Double-check your colors and item choice on those pews. Will the player be able to add rows that look the same?

Like I said: you can be content with a diorama. Or you can make something that's more.

[Zalia]

Like the Armoury?