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MCAlagaesia
Re-creating Paolini's world of Alagaesia in Minecraft.
MMO-Style
Complete with all towns and cities, with extra features including Magic and Dragons.
I really now have my target to make my way to terraformer. I hope you enjoy my building.
Also to mention i building this 5-6 hours *dont think its going for 5-6 hours* So thanks for viewing this anyways.
I hope get better by your help.
Here's my review. My "grading" chart:
+5 = type or section of terrain has been mastered, and/or has no major issues.
+4 = type or section of terrain needs a little improvement, and/or has minor issues.
+3 = type or section of terrain needs some improvement(s), and/or has major issues.
+2 = type or section of terrain needs major improvement(s), and/or has major issues.
+1 = type or section of terrain has been given very little thought, and/or is completely missing.
Please note, I'll be reviewing more as a terraformer, and seeing as you have terraforming elements, I'll point those out first. The building aspect I will review as a casual bystander who's seen um... cool stuff. I'll do my best.
Overhang - Great block variation, with an unusual use of polished andesite. I like the connection to the overhang, it gives the stone a nice prop-up, and doubling as a cool feature to the plot. There's a good use of slab too, which gives some more shape to the blockyness of the top and undersides. You also used buttons, which are always a welcomed features for detail. I saw some plates on the bottom, which also give the flooring some texture. The sound of them when people walk on them is off-putting, but they look pleasing to the eye at least. It's just something to consider when making terrain. It not only has to look good, but be practical for use in case any of those pesky explorers decide to trample on your hard work. There's only path blocks on the top for a grassyness feel, and that's probably my biggest issue with the overhang. You could try to blend some of your palate with the overhang, so that it's not just path blocks up there but also grass, dirt, heck even podzol could be used. Something to give some pattern variation on the paths. +4
Hills - Here's the tough love. Ignoring the blocks they're made of for the moment, their shapes are, for the most part, unnaturally straight. Their height is fine, and the curves look well done, it's just the parts where the land stretches is where the issues pop up. With no block variation and shape variation, they make straight lines. Nature doesn't work in straight lines, right? Some ideas could be to push out the hills to make them wider, use things like boulders, bushes, trees, and dips to provide some easy ways to add depth. The curves are good, it's just the flat straights that need to be improved. +2
Path - Efficient, with great block variation and simple. 'Tis a path, and it goes on with its path life. Easy peasy. +5
Vegetation - To start, there first use of color I noticed were the flowers. They're default, sadly, so it looks like you spent a minute or two just bone-mealing the terrain. You made some bushes, which provide a realistic touch to the land. They're only found on two hills, directly on the pond's water edge, and under trees. I think putting even just a couple more around could help blend them a bit better. Just remember that the more varied things are, the more interesting they are to the eye, as long as they're used sparingly. Less can still be more. +2
Trees - These are one of my favorite aspects of the plot. They're large, which gives you the freedom to add better shape, and you used vines to make them not look like giant green and brown popsicles. The oak fences and oak slabs were used creatively, and in a way that gives your trees characters. I should note, however, that the trees on the MMO don't have any fences in them, as realistically, trees don't have fences. But it's something that gives a good point to how to add more details into a tree. Currently, I would suggest giving the trees some more branches (keep in mind natural physics with gravity). Looking at real trees, particularly oak trees (since these are oak) might help. I like how you have the little axe on the trunk of the fallen tree. It makes one wonder where the nearest inhabitants live! You have trees of various sizes and shapes. I do like your pattern for the trunks. Some are sticking out of the ground, It would be cool to see one or two more trees, but that's more of a personal preference. I think your plot is perfectly fine with the amount of trees you have, it's just the minor details OF those trees I want you to work on. Starting with the oak fences/slabs. +4
Landscape - Similar to the vegetation, the landscape is just as important as the grass above it. This is about the blocks your plot is made up of. You have the usual, grass, some speckles of dirt, but you also have two types which draw the eye. Podzol and path. The podzol brings up an interesting point. It's only found in the paths, and yet it still works as part of what makes the path so interesting. Oddly enough, it doesn't seem like the path blocks were used to indicate a path for most of their usage? They're definitely on a primary layer, which was what I addressed in the "Hills" section. I think using the path blocks to surround the hillsides makes them stick out like sore thumbs. I saw that there were a few of them scattered around on the bottom layer too, which at least breaks up the regular grass blocks a bit. I think, some things you could try experimenting with are using the path blocks in the path itself, or maybe add more variation of them in the hills? Maybe break them up with other types of blocks so they're not just lines of uninterrupted pathways. Like I said, a little bit of variation can go a long way! +3
Cave - A simple cave, within the plot. It's done well, I'm just curious what purpose would it serve the locals? There's a head in it and uh, a wheel? But that's it. No minerals/gems for people to mine or be drawn to it, just a little room. There's a path leading to it, which makes it seem like it has a legitimate function - why else would people visit it enough for there to be a path leading to it? It looks cool, I just don't know what it does. +3
Farm - It's small, and it's cut off. Why do I like that? Because it, along with the implied continuation of the path next to it, I know that there's probably a building close by. Or a village. And that gives me some context that you didn't have to put! Why work on building buildings when you can let your viewers do the work for you? The farmer(s) must be brave, to not have any fencing or protective barriers around, but your farm (from what I see) is simple and works great. +4
Pond - I like the idea of a stone-encased pond. But I feel bad, it looks isolated from the grass and plantlife that it's obviously benefiting. There're bushes around it, but the pond's edges are purely stone. Surely, some grass, dirt, or even gravel/sand could be used to blend them together a bit more? I like your use of the palate under water, I think it's just the blending the pond to the grass around it that could make it a bit more natural. The same thing goes for the bottom of the overhang with the plot. The shape looks great, though! +4
Overall Impression - Lots of potential! I think things to work on some more would be the hill shapes, maybe some blending for things like between the landscape features. Overhang -> plains/hills for the palates, and shape smoothing for the hills. Again, wider, more rounded hills can help this, and adding more features like boulders, bushes, trees, or even things like farms, and more block palate variation can keep the plot from looking bland. Ultimately, if you can keep someone's attention on your plot longer, the better. Your fallen tree and cave are great examples of this, it's just the rest that can give the impression of 'seen it'. Get creative, like you did the trees and overhang! But remember to stay within the bounds of natural architecture and you'll be amazed with what can be done.
I look forward to seeing your next submission!
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Hey! I'll say right off the bat, your plot is a good start! There are several areas that I think you can improve in though.
First off, get rid of the path blocks. They are repulsive. Even if you are making a path, I would recommend avoiding this block, it just doesn't look good. At all.
Also on the subject of paths, around the edges of the plot, specifically the southern and eastern edges, you have it built up into a really unnatural hill and have paths that are inconsistent and look weird.
The Hills, especially the southern edge of your plot, are not natural at all. Try adding more variation, and bringing the hill out further into the plot. Also just remember, the plot should not confine you, you are building a 'section of a larger landscape' and a plot is just a snippet of it. So build your hills like they continue on past the confines of the plot.
Quickly, on the topic of trees, your trees look really pretty good! The middle one is a bit too tall, either add a thicker trunk, or lower the tree. And when using wood for detail on the tree, try spruce planks with oak logs, they are a bit closer in color.
Onto the stone part, which looks really good! The stone mix, and overall detailing is really pretty nice. A couple of things, 1. there needs to be a better mix/transition between grass and stone. It should not be an immediate break, rather a subtle mix/gradient. 2. The pond is pretty good, maybe have some sand on the shores if you are going to have sand on the bed of the pond. 3. No waterfall. Especially one your size, does not sprout from nothing. A couple of ways to fix that is either make it a lot smaller, or make it a river that follows from a source outside of the plot. 4. You used path block for the 'shores' of the waterfall and just no. Try coarse dirt, or gravel, or sand, or stone, or anything else. 5. The interior of the cave is pretty good, though I will say, the little torch/campfire thing doesn't work. Try building an actual campfire or else just put a torch (or lantern in 1.14) and get rid of the armorstand thing. It just doesn't look all that good.
Some final notes: 1. Don't have path blocks scattered around in the grass. if you need variation then use coarse dirt or podzol (use podzol somewhat sparingly). 2. Don't just bonemeal the grass blocks to create grass and flowers. It can be a starting point, but add in better flowers (be consistent, pick 2-5 flowers and stick with them throughout the plot; also remember flowers grow in groups/clusters). Also add ferns and tall ferns. 3. Cut back on vine usage in the trees. 4. Try varying the wheat growth and don't just make all of the wheat full-grown if that makes sense.
Here are the takeaways:
1. Your plot is a snippet of a larger landscape.
2. Very rarely in nature are there straight lines. Which makes building nature in a game of blocks tricky, try experimenting with curves and more natural shapes for your hills, and pretty much everything.
3. Nature is not abrupt, where grasslands and mountains meet, there a large 'buffer/transition' zone where there is a mix of grasses/dirt and mountain rock.
4. Without large modpacks like Conquest, builders and terraformers in vanilla minecraft have to be creative in detailing their works. Part of that is variety, and your detailing is pretty good especially in the stonework, but try using 3-5 flowers, and vary the growth-level of your wheat. Maybe even vary the crop in a specific farming patch. Like mix carrots and wheat or something. Try building more farm patches, add little walls or fences or something.
5. There are tons of talented people who have passed through MCA through the years, if you are struggling with something, take a look at well done plots and get some ideas!
With a bit of practice, you can be a good terraformer! Keep at it and I can't wait to see your next plot!
~Zebra
"Have you seen it on the map? It looks amazing on the map! See it on the map." ~99
Thank you so much everyone! Gonna work on next plot now. Yeah i failed with path because somebody said that i need to " smooth decline for the outlying hills, maybe mixing up the grass block with some other blocks that are available." so i kinda do it like that. Well gonna try to fix all the problems and show up again.
Thanks for submitting your plot, and sorry for the delay in the review.
Both Nikradical and Shameful_Zebra have left some excellent and in-depth reviews, so I hope they have provided enough feedback to go on for future submissions.
I fear my review will simply be reiterating points that they have already covered so eloquently, particularly, the points about the straight lines.