------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Creative Build of the Week 1st of September French Cathedral Plot By @nanobot10 -+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+- Re-branding this to Creative Highlight of the Week. I feel this better encapsulates the feel of the series, in that it's builds that I catch my eye for what I find intriguing, but are not necessarily the best builds on offer. Pour instance, this week's plot built by Nanobot10. Guaranteed way to catch my eye is with a cathedral. Ever since Anor Londo in the first Dark Souls they've been one of my favourite things to look at. This French-style cathedral is no exception (There's a French flag on the plot btw, that's how I know. Not seen: The spiders stuck in the chimney signalling for help As always we begin with the good. First and foremost I'm obviously going to being with the centrepiece, the cathedral. I'm not going to be cliché here and compare it to Notre Dame, there are surely other cathedrals in France. This build is a testament to Nano's ability to build and think of a large scale. It's well proportioned, and no part of the exterior suffers or went unbuilt. The quartz serves to provide a trim to the grey of the brick, and despite the massive amount of it, it's never overbearing. The interior continues to impress, the the central area imposing upon the visitor, reminding them of the raw power that the church commands. Surrounding the cathedral on the south side is a rather impressive town (or maybe city, the plot sizes make it hard to tell). With the average height being 4 stories, the walls rise high around you as you wander the streets navigating between the horses and carts that you share the road with. More than that they also feel historically accurate for the time, which I'm sure is an impressive feat (Again I remind you I'm from a younger city, and don't see much of this stuff around me). Quick-fire round: The horses are adorable, and the buttons for "leavings" is a great idea. The inside of the cathedral naturally draws the eyes up, which is tricky to do and I'm jealous. You didn't go overboard with the interior columns, which is honestly kinda hard to restrain yourself from considering the detail on the outside (I mean the fact that you used only full blocks and no stairs) I always thing of Rugrats in Paris when I see a cathedral And as always we come to the critique, and I always hate it when I can think of more for this than I can for the good things. The first one is fairly major, while the other two are still important, but less so. My main grief is that this build is crazy flat. There's little to no variation in the elevation, and it's especially apparent in the northern section which I assume is countryside. In a plot this size terrain is a must, that or things that disguise its flatness. On an apprentice plot this really matters as it's one of the criterion for promotion, as well as an incredibly valuable tool in the builders arsenal. Speaking of the surrounding area, as well as flat it feels empty. Sorry for sounding scathing here, but the wide open flat streets, coupled with the large empty buildings make the town feel like a shell. Linking this back to a building lesson for you peeps reading this, the focus of a build is only as good as the background; which in this case is the town. The central building isn't your build, everything on the plot is your build, and if you neglect 2/3rds of it then the remaining 3rd is going to suffer. The final quickfire thing that I'm going to say is simply regarding the torches on the cathedral. I understand the need to have everything lit up, but placing torches everywhere illogically is not worth the lighting it creates. I understand putting them on top of arches and whatnot, but how realistically is the clergy going to light them? A better alternative is lamps and such built into the walls, or alternatively not lighting the area so the eyes are drawn the the things that do like the windows. These buildings would cost more today that I'm going to earn in 10 years Concluding remarks: I enjoyed wandering around the build and making notes of the building techniques employed, and the detailing for future reference, but the build is let down by the classic focussing too much on what you do know/enjoy and letting down the other sections that you don't want to do. Believe me guys, you'll improve so much if you pay as much attention to what people don't see than to do to what they do. What do you think? As always, I appreciate your feedback on these. What went well? What didn't? What would you like to see more of? Comment below, even if it's just to say that you enjoyed the build. Also sorry if it seems a bit rushed/not thought out. I had to write this on a schedule again as I'm heading out soon. I swear I can only take one really good screenshot a week