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Post by berneart76 on Oct 18, 2017 8:21:07 GMT -9
So, besides the Fishing Village, I'm also working on developing something that several others have tried, but I haven't seen brought to a fruition as of yet. A Wood/Sylvan Elf series of buildings
I figure I can utilize some of the same building structures I am working on for the Fishing Village as a base, I just need to work out soem of the details on trees and supports.
Here is a concept for one style of building in a tree, supported by branches.
I have some textures that I'm working on to go with this concept as well
The tree trunk measures approximately 7 1/2" across, each trunk vertical section is 3" tall. The building is about 6 1/2" long by 4 1/4" deep by 3 1/2" tall.
Tree House Idea by Thomas Frank, on Flickr
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Post by Vermin King on Oct 18, 2017 8:26:36 GMT -9
Quite interesting
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Post by nullpointer on Oct 18, 2017 8:41:28 GMT -9
That would be a really unique addition to a fantasy game. There's plenty of little quaint medieval towns out there, but I've never seen something like this!
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Post by wyvern on Oct 18, 2017 13:49:55 GMT -9
This would be good to see further developed - maybe with the tree being woven into the building's fabric more. World Works Games did an interesting Swampwoods Village Set which already offers something of that option (with a building set right around the tree's trunk), and which can be fairly easily modified to something still more elaborate, especially with the aerial walkways supported by branches. I guess some of us (certainly me) hoped the Elven Walls & Towers KickStarter project by Lord Zsezse Works might have gone down this route with their promised "Nature" texture and supporting model options, but sadly those items and textures never appeared before the part-completed project was finally abandoned over the summer. I fully agree that there are far too many same-old, same-old, vaguely European medieval building models available in papercraft now, and it would be great indeed to see more explorations further afield than this commercially "safe" territory.
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Post by berneart76 on Oct 18, 2017 17:59:13 GMT -9
I guess some of us (certainly me) hoped the Elven Walls & Towers KickStarter project by Lord Zsezse Works might have gone down this route with their promised "Nature" texture and supporting model options, but sadly those items and textures never appeared before the part-completed project was finally abandoned over the summer. wyvern, I too had hoped that Lord Zsezse Works had gone further on completing their "Nature" texture and supporting models, that is part of what has been nagging me to work on this. I've looked at the WorldWorks Swampwoods Village, and liked some of the ideas in their, but feel that it is too tribal/rustic for what I had been looking for as part of a Arboreal Elven setting. The hard part I have at this point is making something that is too similar in construction/style to the limited products in this vein. As an aside, it is interesting in that one of the major influences on how Elves are perceived, Tolkein, is that for the most part, a lot of his Elvish settlements are much like the Mirkwood Elves, where their major retreats were actually underground. My next major step ( besides working on textures) is to develop a Tree supporting structure that is suitably organic in appearance, but not too difficult to construct.
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Post by chiefasaur on Oct 18, 2017 18:51:29 GMT -9
Very cool! I love tree villages! I can't wait to see how this develops!
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Post by cowboycentaur on Oct 18, 2017 19:22:37 GMT -9
so excited about this. cant wait till its available!!
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Post by Dominic on Oct 18, 2017 22:44:47 GMT -9
This looks awesome! The engineer in me would like me to ask how you plan to keep this stable - will the branches extend to the table to steady the tree?
Also, thanks for reminding me to work on my own tree set, or the add-ons. I had not thought about using it for something as neat as this, though.
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Post by berneart76 on Oct 18, 2017 23:55:26 GMT -9
Dominic , I was thinking of a base that the lowest section could fit into. The dimensions could be modified to give different contours, and the surfaces could be textured with a variety of groundcover/exposed roots.
For me,, a bigger issue is the branch profiles to be used as supports. Do I go full 3D? or do a crosspiece type of design? It will porobabl be both, and then how to attach branches to trunks...
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Post by Punkrabbitt on Oct 19, 2017 5:13:59 GMT -9
Oh my! Another project in progress that I just love!
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Post by wyvern on Oct 19, 2017 13:12:29 GMT -9
I like the idea of the broad, shallow ground texture bases for the trees. I've found it difficult to make use of some of the papercraft tree types that use stump-like bases the tree trunk is meant to slot inside, as it's easy to accidentally damage either the stump base or the trunk end, so the whole won't properly support itself in the finished model.
My feeling is to maybe worry less about having to fit the buildings just to branches, and make more use of things like large buttress roots and hollow tree trunks as well. Large, ancient deciduous trees tend to at least partially hollow out in places, so the houses could seem almost to grow out of the trunk of those, trending towards that organic look you're after, perhaps. Maybe indeed some of the houses could be so old the tree really has grown out around them!
In ancient woodlands as well, you can get a lot of ivy and similar plants covering almost all the tree trunk, with "ropes" of ivy hanging down from the higher branches like curtains in parts. Again, that kind of greenery could help to both break up the basic tree-trunk outline, to stop it looking too "boxy", and provide support for the buildings without having to use only branches.
It might be worth thinking about having a split/double trunk as an alternative, following along the "hollow tree" route, so the building could be almost "within" the tree itself, yet still be quite exposed to view from some angles outside.
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Post by cowboyleland on Oct 19, 2017 18:37:39 GMT -9
I suspect you already thought of this, but just in case I am going to suggest sand/gravel in the tree bases to add stability.
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Post by berneart76 on Apr 18, 2018 4:20:44 GMT -9
So, been rather busy dealing with life issues, but now ready to focus on getting the assembly instructions for the Round House competed, and I've also been workign on ideas and textures for Elven buildings again. Should have a test build of this simple arch concept completed tonight or tomorrow. Arch Textures Test
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Post by berneart76 on Apr 18, 2018 18:29:07 GMT -9
Did some work on the Leaf Shingle texturing
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Post by berneart76 on Apr 19, 2018 18:43:52 GMT -9
Working out some basic architectural shapes for Elven buildings, This is on a simple cruciform floorplan.
Model size is 5 1/2" wide by 6 1/2" deep by 5 3/4" tall.
Will work on adjusting some of the geometry to make it more fluid/organic
I think this will work well for either texturing as either a wooden structure ( possibly incoporating some living/tree elements as structural members) or stone (carved to imitate nature)
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Post by berneart76 on Apr 20, 2018 7:51:34 GMT -9
Working out architecural/geometry refinements for Eleven buildings, Basing a bit of the design philosphy on the Hawaiian lānai (porch) concept of open porches/architecture open to nature. It will also incorporate ideas taken from Swiss/Nordic chalets of interior rooms connected by open, external, covered hallways, and the expansion of cruckframs to include external, covered aisles. This first building is basically a long central lānai (porch) with 2 smaller ones off to the sides on the lower floor with an enclosed upper floor.
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Post by berneart76 on Apr 23, 2018 18:23:17 GMT -9
So, if you've seen my Elven design philosophy post, you know I am lookign at expandign architecture styles into my elven building designs.
The first so far is based of a mongolian ger or yurt. The attched picture shows desing changes utilizing the same design base, but expanded upon.
At left is what woudl be the nomadic, portable dwelling, that can be disassembled and moved from location to location. In the middle is a more permanent structure, it could either be the above with the portable structure attched to a permanent fireplce at the encampment/village, or one made of wood or stone.
At right would be the concept expanded into a multistory building.
The dimensions for these woudl work out to a structure with an approximate 33 foot ( 10 meter) diameter, which for the single story structures would give approximately 900 square feet (84 square meters) of living space. the 2 story structure would be about 1800 square feet (167 square meters). Quite a substantial building! From my research, traditional yurts are up to 1500 square feet!
As far as models go, they would be about 7 1/2 inches across.
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Post by berneart76 on Apr 24, 2018 8:00:26 GMT -9
Worked out some arboreal concepts, going back and utilizing a curved log idea I had developed awhile ago for a mod of Dave Graffam's observatory: ( and a bit of inspiration from WWG's Swamp Wood Village and Hinterlands Forests sets and FDG Forests and Ruins and Woodlands Adventures sets).
As I have noted before, when working out various geometries, there are only so many ways to fold and assemble cardstock/paper ( especially for basic shapes), so there are bound to be some similarities on construction layouts among designers.
Anyways, here are some concepts for a tree circling platform, with the Elven Cruck frame, and Elven yurt concepts included.
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Post by berneart76 on Apr 24, 2018 18:49:33 GMT -9
Worked out the third influence a little, the Bedouin/Desert Nomad inspired tent. This will be interesting to see how it works into a more permanent structure as well.
The left side shows a combination of 3 in an arc around the base of a tree, the right side is a single on an arboreal platform.
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Post by berneart76 on Apr 25, 2018 9:29:59 GMT -9
Been working on Sectional Tree Ideas, both simple cylinder/tapered cone sections, and more complex geometries as well, but still trying to keep not terribly complex for assembly. The Narrrow tree is 2" across and 24 1/4" tall, this would translate to real life dimensions of 9 feet across and around 100 feet tall Large tree 4 1/4" across and 44 1/2" tall, translated to real life dimensions of about 20 feet across and a height of 200 feet) I'm thinking the trees, platforms, connecting walkways would be their own set, as people will be able to use them with their own models. Here are some pics of the more complex shapes.
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Post by cowboyleland on Apr 25, 2018 18:55:52 GMT -9
Any way to make the sapling poles be branches from a larger branch so the houses can be farther off the ground?
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Post by berneart76 on Apr 25, 2018 19:37:08 GMT -9
Any way to make the sapling poles be branches from a larger branch so the houses can be farther off the ground? Working on it.. Those will probably be 2.5D style. Should have a rough-out of higher level supports by tomorrow evening
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Post by berneart76 on Apr 28, 2018 8:27:18 GMT -9
Been workign on devolpement some more, basic tree designs, including hollow trees, which necessitated my thibnkign from a horizontal floorplan t a vertical one, so the floors woudl be laid out like a bailey or tower keep. I've also been workign out thoughts on how to attache main (supporting) branches to the main "trunk" There is always the tug-of-war between apperance an playability going on as well Anyways here's for simpler tress, might work off some slight offsets in the trunk sections to give a more sinuous apperance. I'm thinking of having trunk sections represnt from 10-20 feet tall, or from 2 1/2" (50mm) to 4 1/2" ( 115 mm) tall Basic Trunks: Hollow Trunk concept with support branches. For side branches/foliage I was thinking of just using 2D cutouts that can be glued along the main branches (or other locations). Thes can be made in a variety of leaf patters ( oak, maple, beech, pine/fir) to represent different tree types. I was thinkign thes would work well printed on transparancies.
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Post by lightning on Apr 28, 2018 10:50:50 GMT -9
The foliage is very similar to my approach of trees. The only feedback I have is that the leaves don't really get that much smaller on the outside.
I am working on a little tool to randomly generate the branches, so I don't have to manually paint the leaves. I have tried to work with a texturing artist last year but wasn't able to communicate what I really want.
What I want to make is more scatter terrain trees. For your idea it will be interesting to see how you get a big tree sturdy enough. I am dreaming about Lothlorien kind of forest for gaming terrain but have not found a solution for sturdy big trees that I am satisfied with.
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Post by marzman on Apr 28, 2018 18:47:34 GMT -9
I would suggest looking at trees that go up in a V shape with larger platforms as you go on up, might be easier to do than big trunks with stuff around them.
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Post by berneart76 on Apr 28, 2018 19:16:26 GMT -9
I would suggest looking at trees that go up in a V shape with larger platforms as you go on up, might be easier to do than big trunks with stuff around them. The issue with that, and it ahs been somethign i ahve thought of, is that as you go higher up,the limbs get thinner, and can support less weight. By physics alone, larger, heavier structures would be lower in the tree, or closer to the main strength of the trunk. Also from a design standpoint, V Shapes woudl be more difficult to model than a central trunk. A solution to that is to use a copse of more mature trees to act as multiple supports.
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Post by berneart76 on Apr 28, 2018 20:19:58 GMT -9
I have given some thought to using an inverted "cone" on the trunk with trunk/leaf/branch texture on it to provide more support, as in this picture: At this point I'm also working on flattening out several concepts to see how they build, and their stability, and on developing bark/leaf/branch textures.
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Post by lightning on Apr 29, 2018 10:35:52 GMT -9
Been driving around today and had some time to think a bit :-) And was thinking about this! For me the flat branches are not a problem. The horizontal layer could be on either fortified cardboard or even a 5mm foam board (at least the center parts) but how do you thread the trunk segments together so that they keep stable and the figures don't fall off when the table is knocked? With my trees I have a core part on which I thread all the other parts but then again they are just deco trees and no figures are on them. Is it designed as a glued together assembly in the end? Or modular?
The foliage on a real tree is more on the outside of the branches, so I guess you could have branch parts that are more decorative which you add to the core center and just have the platforms as gaming terrain. I'll try to make a sketch tomorrow if it is unclear what I am saying. This could be then modular a bit.
My wood elven heart is very curious to see how this develops :-)
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Post by berneart76 on Apr 29, 2018 12:07:03 GMT -9
lightning, I am looking at the trees being modular, and possibly even fold flat. Anyways, the test build for the Large base went well, I went with it being constructed in 4 sections on an 8 sided base. Will be doing some tests on 12 sided and 16 sided shapes to see if they are more visually appealing, but I think an 8 sided shape will work well enough. Massive Tree base. This is 5" (127mm) across opposite flat sides, and 4 1/2" (114mm) tall. this would translate to a section 20' (6 m) across at breast height, and about the same height. This shows the current interior construction of one section.
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Post by berneart76 on Apr 29, 2018 14:56:13 GMT -9
So working out emgineerign details for Fold Flat 3D trees, this needs some refinement but I think I'm on a good plan forward. This idea utilizes tabs and slots to friction hold pieces together. the first picture is of an assembled 1/4 trunk, the flattened piece, and the auxillary stiffening tabs. These two pictures show back and front views of two 1/4 sextions being assembled together, the tabs going thru the slots: These two show how well the tabs and auxillary tabs hold things together. Still need to work on details of putting two assembled halves together.
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