WIP: Round Temple Project

[Green-Pilgrim]

round-temple-01-620.png

Yup - I'm back and I'm doing circles again.

This time I'm building a round temple based off of a 'wheel-and-spoke' design. My thought is that this is a one or two story structure with the ground floor having sturdy, stone walls and the upper-level being made of wood.

The inner courtyard is a step-down with only a single stair but it is, currently, just raw dirt. I plan to add a well at the center and probably small cobblestone paths from the four radial directions.

The second floor will only be the outer ring of rooms to make the temple look larger from the outside and allow the illusion that it's larger on the inside.
round-temple-iso-02.png

I still have doors to set in, windows and all that but wanted to post what I've been playing around with.

Any suggestions or comments welcome

[Meshon]

This looks like it could turn into a very cool temple map. I might suggest changing the fill of your walls to differentiate them from the stone floors. Even adding a shadow around them to suggest height might be enough. Also I'm not sure about the wood floors. Depending on the construction technology you could just use straight planks, rather than trying to fit them to the circle, or you could actually warp the texture. Depending on what software you're using this could be easy or hard. You can have a look here at my limited success curving plank floor textures. If you're interested in trying something like that I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about it.

cheers
Meshon

[Green-Pilgrim]

This looks like it could turn into a very cool temple map. I might suggest changing the fill of your walls to differentiate them from the stone floors. Even adding a shadow around them to suggest height might be enough. Also I'm not sure about the wood floors. Depending on the construction technology you could just use straight planks, rather than trying to fit them to the circle, or you could actually warp the texture. Depending on what software you're using this could be easy or hard. You can have a look here at my limited success curving plank floor textures. If you're interested in trying something like that I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about it.

cheers
Meshon

Thanks for the tip on the walls. I figure that I'll add in shading for the walls to show depth (or height). Logic would suggest that the floor on the ground level would be stone or tile or something easy or sturdy. When I posted the first image I thought to myself that the whole thing looks like a center-boss shield. lol.

I'll be posting an updated version here in a bit.

Btw: Love the theater work Meshon!

[Green-Pilgrim]

round-temple-02-sm.png

Ok - wall color was changed to provide more contrast from the floor tiles. Shadows were added to give the walls some height and doors are being added all over the place. The sand pit in the center still needs something but I'm not sure what. Maybe a fountain or something.

I have to add all of the doors for the individual rooms plus things like fireplaces, etc.

Still a work in progress but I think it's coming along nicely.

-GP

[Green-Pilgrim]

round-temple-03-sm.png

Here's the improved version of the round temple with the shadings, windows, doors, fireplaces and the like.

round-temple-03-part.png
And here's a closeup of the fireplace, internal and external windows and doors.

Now...i'm not sure what I can add for detail. I think I need to work on the sand pit in the center a little.

[Meshon]

Nice work, the walls stand out now and are clearly walls. The sand pit in the centre might do with some more texture or maybe even just a noise filter. And then of course you'll want some of that sand to be spilling out on the stones around it. I really like maps that have a bit of mess and debris scattered around, it helps to make the place look like it has felt the passage of time.

I like the details you have so far, but the rest will depend on what it is going to be used for. The windows are great, clearly show their position without getting in the way.

cheers,
Meshon

[Bogie]

Nice work. I agree with Meshon, if the sand is at the same level as the tile floor some would have spilled out. If the sand is contained down in a shallow pit, then you could use an inner shadow to show the depth.

I hope when you are done that you post the whole map at a much higher resolution and size. Even the close-up of the fireplace is still to small for those of us who print battlemaps.
100 dpi = 1 inch = 5 ft works well.

[Green-Pilgrim]

The sand pit would be sunk down by at least one step so it wouldn't be scattered all over the place but I love that mention of detail.

The original map is something like 4000x4000 so I'd have to post it once when ti's all said and done otherwise it would spam the forum.

The overall map design is of a monastery - where a few monks and pilgrims can find rest from the outside world. The sand pit at the center is both for training in combat but also as a sand table where the instructors can draw on the floor to help illustrate their points (since chalkboards are dull).

Thanks for the suggestions.

-GP

[Green-Pilgrim]

This next one is a typical residence of a people with a partially clan or tribal structure (it's in a state of flux). The building takes some inspiration from a type of chinese communal dwelling called a Tulou - they are really interesting. Original Post is here.

When I saw Larb draw out a building with the similar idea I had to go digging in my own posts. Yup - I had sort of the same design for the type of building but I'm not the best at drawing 3-D.

[Green-Pilgrim]

So I haven't played with this design for a while but wanted to jump back into the idea of a circular or 'shell fort'.

Since Sketchup helps me construct the model faster than I can map it out through traditional means, I tried a new take on the idea and made it smaller than the original sketches which I posted earlier. In this iteration, the circular keep is only 100 feet across with the circle of rooms only 20 feet wide with a 10 foot ambulatory (covered porch). The central feature is a covered well at the center with gardens and such in the four wedges.
circle-keep.jpg
Conceptually, the keep would be something like a temple of healing, with a large chamber to the right as you walk in as an infirmary with a kitchen and dining hall north of it with guest and acolyte quarters on the other side of the circle. By adding stairs on either side of the four towers, the central buildings can rise to a second story to allow for more room for their work.
circle-keep-02.jpg
The four towers are basically the 'work rooms' of the temple, allowing alchemists and apothecaries to work in the preparation of medicines and potions for the sick and injured. Each tower would be three stories tall with an internal stair on the second floor (which I have yet to build).
The walls are two-feet thick with small windows on the exterior of the ground floor and larger (perhaps 1 foot wide rather than 6 inches for the smaller windows) ones on the upper floors.

Ideally, this shell keep would be surrounded by a dry moat with a drawbridge connecting the tower with the entrance to the land outside.

Comments? Thoughts?

-Green Pilgrim.