Real Life AFK finally over!

  So my real life AFK took longer than expected. First, I went on vacation. Then I went on vacation again, this time to see my brother across the country. Then I came home and spent some time with the Beau. And then I went down with a migraine.

  Two months after I went AFK, I'm finally back!

  There are a lot of things I have coming up in the near future:

• Checking up and confirming with the few people who didn't let me know they'd gotten their prizes to find out whether they did or if there was a miscommunication.
• Catching up on guild admin.
• Doing the limited time in-game event.
• City fest!
• Running guild events.
• Catching up on an Everfrost commission.
• Catching up on a Qeynosian Riverfront Property purchase.
• Catching up on a tower commission.
• Finishing up the NotD maze (Cogworts Laboratories) for this year.
• Opening up the NotD maze (Cogworts Laboratories) to participants.

  You may notice that I'm not including video tutorials of the layout editor on my list. This is because JesDyr is working on a new version of the layout editor, and I can't justify spending the time it would take on new tutorials when I'll just have to redo them in the near future.

  However, you can still request tutorials for me to do once the new editor comes out. So if you have tutorial requests, feel free to post here.

How To: Commission a Decorator

The following post is also sold on the broker on Antonia Bayle in a book (as long as I remember to keep it stocked).

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To begin with, please remember that your decorator is a player, just like you. While decorators enjoy decorating, often to the exclusion of all other aspects of the game, that does not mean they are a second-class gamer.

Please also remember that you are hiring someone in a GAME, and real life may come up to bite your decorator in the rear. Try to be understanding.

If you approach a decorator right before or during an in-game holiday or event (check the in-game calendar for holiday dates), you’re unlikely to be able to hire them. Most decorators spend the holidays stocking up on furniture and materials.

1. DETERMINE THE SCOPE

Before you approach your decorator, determine the scope of what you want done. Do you just want one room? A section of a room? Half a house? An entire house?

Which house do you want decorated?

How elaborately do you want it decorated? Do you just want furniture in the existing house? Do you want the walls of the house “skinned” (covered over with tiles, dividers, or other items to create false walls directly in front of the existing walls, so that you can have the walls look different from how they currently look)? Or do you want an entire house built from scratch?

If you want a house built from scratch out of building blocks, how big of a house do you want? Small? Medium? Large? A castle?

Are you having a home built? A bar? An orphanage? A medical center? Be sure you know what the theme of the home you’re commissioning is before you approach your decorator.

2. PAYMENT

You don’t have to know an exact amount you want to pay your decorator. You and the decorator can come to an agreement. But you should still have an idea of your maximum price you’re willing to pay. Your decorator will know the minimum price they’re willing to decorate for, and the two of you can haggle from there.

Remember that the price you pay will depend on how large a project you want, as well as how experienced the decorator is. As a rule of thumb, the more experienced a decorator, the pricier their minimum price will be. This makes sense--they’re a desired commodity. You aren’t the only one who wants to hire them, and so their price will be high enough to make decorating your home worth their while.

If you aren’t sure what a good maximum price would be, think about how much you can make in an hour of gameplay. Then think about the fact that the average home takes at least a week of gameplay, if not more. (A smaller house will, of course, take less time. And a larger house will take longer.)

Also consider whether you’re comfortable paying everything up front, or whether you’d prefer to pay half at the start and half at the end. Make sure your decorator addresses WHEN you are to pay them. Keep in mind that in addition to your fee, most decorators request that you also cover fuel costs for any items they have to make, or commission costs for any furniture they have to commission. Find out beforehand whether you’re expected to cover these costs, or whether the decorator will take it out of their fee.

Never, ever, EVER insist that the decorator is to receive the payment after they’ve decorated. Too many decorators have been burned by people refusing to pay after they’ve done the work, or claiming “It isn’t quite what I wanted,” and then refusing to pay the agreed upon amount.

If a home isn’t quite what you wanted, TALK TO THE DECORATOR and see if they can make it closer to what your vision is.

3. HIRING YOUR DECORATOR

There are a multitude of ways to choose a decorator. You can visit homes on the Leaderboards, find a style you like, and go about contacting the homeowner to find out who decorated their home. From there, you can contact the decorator directly (assuming they still play).

You can browse the Homeshow forums (http://bit.ly/eq2homeshow) for decorating styles you like, and send a Private Message to the decorators there.

You can post in the Homeshow forums or in the Homeshow channel (/join Homeshow if you're on Antonia Bayle, or /join Antonia_Bayle.Homeshow if you're on another server, barring Nagafen), requesting the services of a decorator, and laying out the scope of your project. I don’t advise this route, as very few decorators are willing to step up unless you’re offering a large chunk of platinum. It’s much harder for decorators to say no when you approach them directly, especially when you’re praising a home they’ve already built.

Much better are the first two options--talking directly to the decorator of your choice via in-game or the message boards. This has the added benefit of ensuring that you like the decorator’s style of decorating.

4. TALK TO THE DECORATOR

Your decorator may have ground rules when decorating. Some decorators don’t like having housepets out while they work. Others insist that the homeowner not touch ANYTHING until they’re done. Still others don’t mind you adding items, as long as you’re willing to allow the decorator to move them around.

Talk to your decorator. Converse with them to find out what they find acceptable and not. Yes, it’s your home, but why make it difficult for the decorator? While you’re paying them, they’re still taking THEIR playtime to do something for YOU. So treat them with courtesy, and try to create the appropriate decorating environment for them. If you want to add things after they’re done, that’s your prerogative; it’s your home. But while the decorator is decorating, it’s THEIR home.

Try not to offer too much advice, or too many opinions, either. Yes, it’s your home, but if you’re constantly telling your decorator how they should decorate, you might as well decorate the home yourself. A request here and there doesn’t bother decorators. When every little thing has to be changed, it does.

5. DO A WALKTHROUGH

Walk through your house or zone with your decorator, and discuss with them what you want each room to be, and any ideas you have for how each room should be decorated.

If you’re having the decorator build an entire house from scratch, still map out ideas.

It’s always helpful if you have pictures of things you want the house to look like. Do a Google search, and come up with some images that are similar to what you want, so that you can direct your decorator to them. This will allow them to have a clear picture of what you’re interested in having your home (or whatever you’re having the zone decorated as) look like.

6. GET IT IN WRITING

Whatever you decide, get it in writing. Have the decorator create a player written book with all of the details you discussed, including:

• Pricing
• Estimated decorating time
• Whether you’re paying before or half before, half after
• Whether you’re covering the fuel cost separate from the fee
• What you want the zone to look like
• If you’ve already paid for the work, make sure the decorator includes that you’ve PAID IN FULL on the house.

Have the decorator give you a copy, and have them keep a copy. That way both of you will have everything you need to know right in front of you.

How To: Take Housing Commissions

Original post up at the Homes and Tomes Information Desk.

This information is for sale in a book on the broker on Antonia Bayle (as long as I remember to keep it stocked).

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Always remember when accepting a commission that YOU are building a home for SOMEONE ELSE.

That means that what you build may not match their vision of what they want, and they may ask you to change aspects of what you have already built. DO NOT BE OFFENDED BY THIS. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and while what you built may be wonderful, it may not be what the homeowner wants.

But also remember that you are just as much of a player and are equal in status to the individual who is commissioning you. The fact that you are working for them does not make you inferior to them in any way. Do not feel guilty if you need to take breaks from the commission to do other things in the game. Just because you have accepted a commission does not mean that all of your time must be spent working on the commission.

On the flip side, always be polite to your homeowner. A big part of receiving future commissions is the reputation you build. A decorator who is a pleasure to work with is more likely to receive commissions than one who is a prima donna, no matter what their decorating skill level.


1. FIND OUT THE SCOPE
The very first thing you should do when someone approaches you about a commission is to find out the scope of the project.

Does the homeowner want just a room built? Just a feature in a room? An entire home decorated? An entire home built from scratch?

Knowing the scope of the project will help you to determine how much you should charge the homeowner for your work.


2. AGREE ON A PRICE
After you have found out the scope of the project, you should agree on a price and payment plan for your work with the homeowner.

Are you including the fuel cost in your fee, or is the fuel cost an additional fee that they must cover? This is something you should think of before you discuss payment with the homeowner, and that you should tell them up front.

Will you be charging them per room you build? Or will you charge them a flat rate based on the estimated amount of time you think it will take you?

Are you charging them in Krono? Station Marketplace items? Platinum? A combination?

Is the homeowner expected to pay you everything up front? Or will you accept half now, half at completion?

No matter what payment option you go with, it is suggested that you bank the payment until after the completion of the home. If for some reason you must end the commission early, before you have completed the scope of the project, this will allow you to refund the homeowner.

If you have done some decorating, but not all, you are within your rights to retain some of the payment. You have done work, after all.


3. INFORM THE HOMEOWNER
Often, we as decorators find ourselves busy during the 1st through the 7th of each month, as well as the 20th and 21st. We put our projects on hold in order to stock up on City Festival and Moonlight Enchantments items. If a holiday makes an appearance, we may be even busier collecting the once-a-year items holidays offer. MAKE SURE YOUR HOMEOWNER KNOWS THIS BEFOREHAND.

It may be necessary to remind them that you are a player in addition to being a decorator, and that you will be stocking up on items during those times of the month, so that they do not look at their home and wonder why it has been a week since any work has been done.

If for some reason you are unable to work on a project for an extended period of time, communicate with the homeowner and let them know what is going on. Even if it is something as simple as, “I have been having a hard time on your project and will be taking a weeklong break to work on other things and clear my head. The project will resume in a week’s time.”

Do you have problems with other people changing things as you are building? Let the homeowner know in advance. It is often a good idea to inform them of things such as, “I understand that this is your home, and you may wish to make changes or add details. Please refrain from doing so until I am finished with your project.”


4. DO A WALKTHROUGH
There are two walkthroughs you should do before you start on any project.

The first walkthrough is a tour of your own work, if the homeowner has not seen any of it yet. This will ensure that the homeowner likes your style before agreeing to the project. There is nothing worse than agreeing to a project, beginning to build to the homeowner’s specifications, and then for them to say, “I am sorry, but your style does not suit what I am looking for.”

The second walkthrough is of the house zone you are planning on building in. The homeowner should give you a tour of the zone, noting any specific ideas for the home that they have. TAKE COPIOUS NOTES! Forgetting an important feature that the client requested is always a pain!


5. GET IT IN WRITING
It is always a good idea to create a player written notebook with the scope of the project, the price you are charging, the payment plan the homeowner will be using, any details about the project that the homeowner has given you, and any information you wish the homeowner to remember.

Make two copies. Keep one copy for your own records. Give the second copy to the homeowner. This will allow them to reference your information easily, and will act as a reminder that you are a player with your own game to play (as long as you include that reminder in the book you give them).



IF YOU FOLLOW THESE FIVE STEPS, YOU SHOULD HAVE VERY FEW PROBLEMS WITH YOUR COMMISSIONS.

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EXAMPLE NOTEBOOK

Jazabelle's project for Jadirah

SCOPE
A copy of the Qeynosian Riverfront Property (created by Jazabelle), modified to fit on a Tenebrous Island Refuge. A shed for tinkering will be added on, and the entire island will be landscaped.

PRICE
3000 platinum for the Qeynosian Riverfront Property.
1000 platinum for the landscaping and shed.
Fuel costs included in the prices.
Total: 4000 platinum
HALF PAID UP FRONT. Other half to be paid upon completion of the project.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION
I will be busy on the 1-7 and 20-21 of each month. If any holidays occur during the time I am working on your home, I will be taking time to do the holiday quests for furniture and the like.

I will not be able to work on your home 100% of the time I am online. I too have a game to play, and while I love decorating, sometimes I feel the need to do other things.

I understand that your home is an extension of you in game, and I will do my utmost to complete it in a timely manner.

It is likely it will take me anywhere from a week to several months to complete your project. I apologize about the time, however, as we discussed, I am not able to play as often as I would like. This impacts how quickly your home will be built.

If for any reason I find myself unable to work on your home for an extended period of time, I will do my utmost to give you warning in advance.

As we discussed, I prefer not to have anyone else working on a project when I am. You are welcome to make any changes or additions to the home once I have completed the project. Until then, please refrain from adding or changing anything without first discussing it with me.

DETAILS WE DISCUSSED
The kitchen should have two large ovens, an old fashioned stove, and pan racks. This is the kitchen of someone who /loves/ to cook.

The shed should be a tinkerer's dream. It needs to be sturdy. It also needs to be /messy/. This is a tinkerer who constantly wanders off in the middle of projects to work on other projects.

There should be some sort of support structure at the edge of the island, for someone to hang over the side.

To Commission Or Not

The Cathedral -- probably my most well-known project.

On occasion, I'll get a tell out of the blue, asking if I do commissions.

Sometimes the tell starts with flattery. The person contacting me offers praise, and specific examples of their favorite aspects of my work.

Other times, they've heard about me from a friend, or maybe they've seen a single home I've done. They aren't sure how to approach me. House decorating isn't their thing, and while they want a nice looking home, they really don't know what to say to one of those crazy decorators.

People come to me with awesome ideas, ordinary ideas, or no ideas. The one thing that everyone approaching me has in common is that they've decided that I'm the decorator who should work for them.

What do I tell them when they ask to hire me? The short answer to that question is "maybe." As I mentioned in the Cathedral blog post, I'm terrible about doing commissions in a timely manner. If it's not life biting me in the rear, it's me becoming distracted doing something else. I should say no to people, because honestly, it's not fair to make someone wait six months to a year while I hammer out a house. However, I have a hard time saying no when asked.

Do I like doing commissions?

Nope. I really don't. I love the ideas that people come up with, and I love trying to capture those ideas. But I don't like decorating for someone (see note at the end of the article). It's one reason why I had such a great time building my Tudor Farmhouse and then putting the layout up for sale. I got to build what I wanted, when I wanted, with no stress about finishing in a timely manner. Putting it up for sale as a layout like that also means that any time someone wants the layout (with or without modifications), I can easily just pop in to the house and load it up. It means no waiting for either party.

The Tudor Farmhouse -- I should have waited for building blocks!

There's also the issue of the homeowner's vision versus my own. Some homeowners are great to work for. They let me do what I want, and only pop in to say things like, "I'm not really that fond of the centerpiece you built. Do you think you could switch it to something else?" I'm okay with being told that what I've done doesn't mesh with the vision someone has for a project. It's their home, after all. However, I like to be given the freedom to do what I want. Sure, I'll discuss it with the person. I'll ask them what they were hoping for, so that I have an idea of what to aim for.

If the house is meant for roleplay, I'll ask what sort of roleplay, and tailor the home to that. When I did the Cathedral, I knew that the home would be used as a venue for speeches. Much like a real life house of worship, the people roleplaying followers of Innoruuk would be gathering there for sermons. That meant that I had to ensure that the benches I used could be sat on, and with as little fiddling around with positioning as possible. Little details like that are what make a good project great, in my opinion.

Menan's Manor. I don't think the homeowner plays anymore.

Unfortunately, for every homeowner I've worked for who has been awesome, I've had a homeowner who insisted on moving things around on me or "helping" me decorate. I don't play nice with others when it comes to decorating a space. If you've asked me to decorate your house, and then you come in behind me and tweak things right and left, I start to feel like I shouldn't even bother. After all, you've shown that you have the ability and the inclination to decorate, so why am I here?

If a homeowner comes in after I'm done and I've been paid, I could care less if they move things around, tear things down, add things in, or just pack up the house (all right, I might be peeved if they packed up the house). I did what was asked, and I've received my compensation. Besides, it's their home. But if a homeowner does this while I'm working on a home, I start to become annoyed.

Occasionally, when someone hires me, they start to feel like they're better than I am. They've hired me to do a job. That means that no matter how much they admire me or my work, they're in a class above me. I'm working for them, after all. It doesn't matter that my $15 a month for my Gold subscription is just as good as their $15 a month. It doesn't matter that decorating is just as valid a play style as combat or raiding. I'm not "really" playing the game as it's meant to be played, so I'm not as good as they are. (Don't get me wrong. I respect all other play styles. Just because it's not my cup of tea doesn't mean that I don't respect it. However, this is the attitude that I've had thrust upon me more than once simply because I prefer the non-combat aspects of the game, and am working for someone.)

Then of course, there's the problem of cost. What do you charge someone who's asking you to build something? Especially something as individual as a house?

My guild's hall, and the only guild hall I'll ever decorate.

It's only recently that I've learned to save my platinum. I've been playing since late 2005, and my platinum amount across my account fluctuated from between no money to maybe, if I was lucky, thirty platinum. At one point, I had to sell some of the gear I'd saved for appearances in order to afford the price of the boat (back when the boat cost money in Freeport and Qeynos) in order to go out questing.

A house one year ago would cost me approximately sixty to eighty platinum to decorate. Today, I can drop sixty platinum on a stable. Not an entire house, just a stable. This doesn't take into account the amount of time a house takes me. Even when I'm obsessed with completing a project and work on it nonstop (and this doesn't happen often), it still takes me upwards of 40 hours of gameplay to finish. It's not that I'm slow at decorating. I'm actually pretty fast about getting the structure up and into place. The problem is that I'm also compulsively detail oriented, and will tweak items until they are lined up to the pixel. Shifting items by 0.0001 units is not uncommon for me.

Back to platinum and gameplay--in 2 hours of gameplay, questing in a level 90 zone I've never been to before, I can make probably 20 platinum. Questing in a zone where I do know the zone and quests, I can make more than that.

So if I were questing rather than decorating, I could make 400 platinum or more in the amount of time it takes to build a house.

The Norrathian Research Library is perhaps one of my favorites.

However, as I said, it's only recently that I've begun to actually save platinum. 400 platinum sounds like an obscene expense to me. And when you do projects, you're supposed to come out ahead, not just break even. That means that to "come out ahead," I'd need to charge more than 400 platinum. I understand that there are people out there who wouldn't blink twice to drop 400 platinum on a house. I wouldn't drop that on a house, and I'm the one building the house!

Then we need to take into consideration reputation. I don't believe I'm that good. Yes, my houses are close to flawless from an alignment standpoint. My textures line up the best I can make them, and if it's a tossup between a wall with varying sizes of building blocks that only takes three items, and a wall of identically sized building blocks of twenty items, I'll go for the twenty items because it looks better. But for the most part, the homes I build are simple homes. The Tudor Farmhouse? It's just a house. My Kelethin cottage? Once again, just a house. The Cathedral isn't, but that one was done on commission. And when you come right down to it, the Cathedral isn't actually that architecturally impressive. It's a rectangle. A pretty rectangle, but still just a rectangle. There are plenty of people out there with the vision to put together architecturally impressive pieces of work that I'd love to have for my own. They may not line things up as nicely as I do, or have flawless textures, but their work is more intricate than mine.

So should I be charging what I feel I'm worth, or what other people feel I'm worth? Especially when the amount I feel I'm worth is very different from the amount that other people seem to be willing to pay?

But not all people think my work is worth much. In quiet times, I've had people request houses. We discussed the house they were interested in very seriously, right up until we got to price.

There are people who think they're doing me a favor by offering me an empty house to decorate, and expect that I should do it for free. Of course they'll cover the fuel costs. They're keeping the house, after all. But I should be honored that they're offering me an empty house to indulge in my silly decorating pastime!

I've never had so much traffic during construction as I did with the Cathedral.

Then there are the people who would like a house, but don't have a lot of platinum. For them, a couple of hundred platinum for a house is outside the bounds of reasonable. They'd have to save for a year or two to see it.

And then, I've been offered upwards of 4000 platinum to build a home.

I turned them down.

Why?

When it comes right down to it--stress.

I decorate in EQ2 for a variety of reasons. I play because I love decorating--I've done it everywhere from The Sims to SWG. I decorate because it's a form of art, and the fastest and easiest method I've found to express my artistic side in a method that people can interact with and enjoy. I decorate because it's stress relief. I become absorbed in the numbers of the editor, in the placement of items, in trying to get reality to match my vision. Yes, there can be times when it's frustrating, especially if something isn't working out, but overall it's much less stressful than anything else life can throw at me.

Stress is a big problem for me. In Homeshow, I've mentioned a few times (all right, probably more often than I should--I do tend to whine about it) that I suffer from food allergies. I've mentioned that the foods trigger migraines for me.

What I haven't mentioned is that the food triggers are only one set of triggers. Stress, weather, sudden exposure to light--the list goes on. And I don't just get migraines. I have what one neurologist likes to call "intractable chronic debilitating migraines." In layman's terms, that means that I come down with migraines so bad, I'm put out of commission for days or weeks at a time. And it happens a lot. And they don't respond to medication.

Did I mention that stress is a big problem for me? I think I did. Even thinking about being stressed causes me minor migraines. Actually stressing out can send me to bed with the curtains drawn and the covers over my head.

Decorating is a sort of meditation for me. You don't need to use (much) math with the layout editor, but to get things lined up precisely, it helps to know how to do it. Math is also a form of meditation for me. It keeps me calm, even when the numbers aren't adding up right. I use more math than the average decorator because of that. Not only do I use it to ensure that things line up perfectly, but it's soothing for me.

It's one of the few things I can do even with a migraine. And while it doesn't help the pain, it allows me to mostly ignore it.

The real answer to "to commission or not?" is "I really shouldn't." I'll do it, especially if I really like an idea that someone has, but I shouldn't.

Note: Thank you to Niami for reminding me of this. I wanted to add it on, but forgot to before I posted.

One thing to keep in mind though, is that this is mostly about people I don't know approaching me with commission projects. When people I know approach me, it's a different story. This is especially true when they understand chronic conditions.

I like to do projects for friends and close acquaintances. Strangers are different. Strangers may say they understand chronic issues, but chances are that they'll become frustrated if their home isn't done within a month. I've had it happen time and again. I tell people that it'll be a while before I can start on their project, and once I do, they may not see a lot of progress. I tell them they can expect the project to take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a year from when I start. They say they're okay with it, and then they become pushier and pushier if it's not completed quickly once work starts.

Friends understand that I've had periods of time where I disappear from the game for a month or more, and that when I do, I'm probably flat on my back in bed, desperately wishing for a migraine cure. Close acquaintances have the potential to become friends, and oftentimes it's a decorating project that does it. I enjoy those sorts of projects. It's much less stressful for me when a friend and I can negotiate a price, instead of the onus being on me.

So feel free to approach me about a project, but understand that I may say no. And if I say yes, please understand that I will take my time. It's not that I don't like you. It's not that I'd rather work on other projects. It's that I do what's best for my stress levels at the moment, and if I'm not feeling like your project is one I can handle at the moment, I may work on others, or I may not decorate at all.

Happy decorating!

Building blocks, building blocks, building blocks oh my! (And a cathedral!)

Those of you who've been following my Facebook have seen all of these pictures already. However, you haven't heard what I have to say to go along with it! So here it is.

Approximately one year ago, a character by the name of Dolthaic contacted me. He wanted a temple to Innoruuk constructed. I was reluctant. I am notoriously terrible at commissions. I usually have several going at once, and they always take me longer than expected. Additionally, I had some out of game things going on that made decorating take second, third, or fifth place.

But then Dolthaic mentioned the magic word. He said, "Gothic." And then he said another magic word. "Pipe organ."

You don't know this about me, but I adore the Gothic style. I love the intricacy, the arches, the stained glass, the high ceilings. I also adore organs, and pipe organs are a beautiful specimen of the organ family. I started itching for a chance to build a cathedral utilizing these objects, and I'd just been presented with the opportunity!

It might have seemed more logical for me to turn down the commission and decorate a cathedral for myself, in my own spare time. Fortunately for everyone concerned, multiple housing had just barely come out, and I wasn't used to the idea yet. Plus, what use would I have for a cathedral? So I said yes. I warned him it would take me a while, and that I would probably need to wait a few months before starting it. I needed to get my other commissions out of the way.

Instead, I started it pretty much that night. I broke out of Neriak, and used floor tiles to figure out the best place to build the cathedral. I checked for load times--I wanted the loading of the cathedral to be instant when you zoned from one teleport pad to the other, which meant that the cathedral had to be in Neriak, close to the original house structure. I also took direction into consideration. When you use a teleport pad, you appear on the new pad facing the same exact direction as you were when you stepped onto the old pad. So the cathedral had to be built with the altar directly across from the teleport pad, for maximum "wow" effect.

After I'd figured out location and direction, I built a mockup of the first window. It took me a couple of hours to get it right, but eventually I was satisfied. Dolthaic saw it, and was satisfied, too.

That first window took nine crude stone blocks to build, and looked very rough. But at the time, crude stone blocks were pretty much the only thing we had to work with that would look decent as a stone cathedral. So I churned out a bunch of blocks. Unfortunately, we didn't have crafting AAs at that point. We had a few crafting options for character development, and some crafting gear, but not the AA tree. And crafting the crude stone blocks (which use fletching) as a carpenter (who uses sculpting) was agonizingly slow. Especially since I needed probably a couple hundred of them.

So I built the west wall of the cathedral. Then I took a break to slowly begin stockpiling the stones I needed while working on other projects. Very slowly. Very very slowly. In fact, it was so slow, that even though I was playing with test ideas in another house, that one wall was all that had been done in Dolthaic's house.

Then building blocks were announced. Suddenly, it seemed like a good idea to put off entirely. Building blocks would make the cathedral so much easier. Fast forward to March 15th, 2012, when building blocks were unveiled. This was awesome, because we'd originally heard we'd be getting them in June.

It wasn't until March 26th that I managed to get in-game to craft some blocks and give rebuilding the cathedral windows a go. For the first mockup, the decision that the crude stone blocks looked better was unanimous from people I dragged in to see. Unfortunately, my heart sank at the thought of using the crude blocks, especially since I'd put crafting them on hold at the announcement of building blocks. I was determined to make the building blocks work. So I ripped down the crude stone blocks, and put up the building blocks anyway. Then, just to make sure it looked good, I tossed up a second tier of windows, and created half of the arched ceiling.

March 26th, some time in the evening--the first wall and ceiling were completed.

For those interested, I created this by creating a single panel of the window. Then I used the duplicate feature on Jesdyr's layout editor to copy the arrangement of items. Duplicate pulls items from the moving crate when used properly, so I just had to make sure I had the correct number and type of items in the moving crate.

Once I'd duplicated the location, I could move the "copied" section to its new spot beside the original section. I duplicated the first window twice, shifting each window the appropriate units North (In this case, each section is 8 units long, so I had to shift each new section 8 units North) so that they lined up in a straight line. Once I'd created the lower wall, I duplicated it and tweaked it a little to make the upper wall. Then I raised the upper wall and shifted it East, so that it hung over the lower wall a bit. Then I added some of the details, like the curved trim between the two tiers.

After the easy part was done, the hard part happened. I needed to make the vaulted ceiling. That meant either painstaking trial and error to get the angles right as I shifted things into place, or it meant engaging in a little bit of trigonometry. I chose the trigonometry, especially since there's a lovely little website that allows you to input two of whichever combination of numbers you have (and in decorating, you always have at least two of the numbers--the length of one of the sides, and the angle it's at), and it will pop out the rest of the numbers you need. Even better, since it's on the computer, I can just copy-paste the resulting numbers instead of having to type them out. It's a huge time saver over trying to do the trig by hand or Texas Instrument.

So I guess the hard part wasn't too hard after all. I used the same practice I did with the windows. I built one section, then duplicated it and shifted it North until it was in the correct spot. In less than 10 minutes, I went from having just a wall of two tiers of windows to having a wall of two tiers of windows and half a vaulted roof.

from http://www.reims-cathedral.culture.fr

But if you look at pictures of the Reims Cathedral (which is what I've been using for inspiration), the ceiling doesn't just have simple beams going across. It has what are called "ribs." It's more ornate. If this were a real building, it would also be sturdier. Luckily, this is just a game building.

That meant I had to figure out the calculations to make the columns slant in two directions while lining up at different angles, so that they followed the slant of the roof. I calculated everything perfectly, except that I forgot to take EQ2's mechanics into consideration. I had to use both the "pitch" and the "roll" options to get the columns to do what I wanted, and pitch and roll don't play nice when used together in certain combinations. Just my luck, I was using those combinations! So I scrapped my calculations and did it the good old fashioned "shift this one a tiny bit east. No, shift it back west. Shift it north. There! It's lined up. Waaaaait, no it's not. Shift it just a little to the south. I think I need to shift it down. PHEW finally!"

In the end, it was worth it. It added a lot of detail to the ceiling for a minimal amount of item count, and made it look a bit more realistic.

The ceiling after adding ribs and chandeliers.

If you look at the screenshot to the left, you'll see that it appears I also managed to build the second half of the roof. That's true! It was very simple. I just put all of the items that created the wall and ceiling together into a layout then duplicated the items. Then I selected the duplicate items, and rotated them 180 degrees around the center point. I had to do a little bit of tweaking, but it took me at most five minutes to go from having a quarter of a cathedral to having half a cathedral (not counting the time it took me to craft the necessary items).

First test top and bottom of column.
You can see the plain columns in the background.

Slowly, ideas and execution come together. I had to tweak the first tier, shifting it out a bit in order to put in the second row of columns. Then I had to figure out what to do for the capitals of the columns, and by extension, the bases.

Luckily, my first attempt worked out, and I was able to easily duplicate it for the rest of the columns along that side. Then I simply duplicated all of the columns along the east side and rotated the duplicates around the center of the cathedral again, to get the columns into place along the west wall. Duplicate and the group mod option "rotate" are real time savers!

The original dome.

Once I'd finished the side walls, I decided it was time to work on the front dome. Aside from the (not yet built) pipe organ, it's probably the piece that takes the most items. Better to get it out of the way so I could see how many items I had left to work with.

The modified dome with alternating glass colors.

But I wasn't satisfied with the dome. While the blue was fantastic, it felt a little monochromatic. The temple was drowning in blue. So I swapped out some of the blue glass for purple glass.

That was better, but there was still something off about the dome. I wanted to draw the eye to the altar, and with the huge expanse of grey wall culminating in colorful windows, the eye would be drawn up instead of down.

BOOM!

So I figured I could extend the windows down towards the floor, so that the altar would be the first thing to catch your eye. Then the windows could draw it up, much as a real cathedral's window does. I believe I've heard somewhere that the architecture does that on purpose, so that you're looking towards the heavens.

And that's what a double sized window looks like.

Before I did that, I decided that the bottom tier of windows was too short. Looking back at the reference shot of the Reims Cathedral, the first tier is very tall. So I used the layout editor to raise practically all of the cathedral 8 units higher. Of course, that involved blowing it up...

Once that was done, I could extend the walls and windows down until the met the floor again.

It's now been three days (this is the start of the fourth!), and all that's left to do is to add in the pews, finish the niche in the east wall, put in the organ loft, and build the organ.

It's almost done! Thank you Jesdyr, for your lovely layout editor. This couldn't have been done so quickly (minus a year) without you.

It's a cathedral!

For anyone interested in visiting, this is at 3 Walk of the Dead in Neriak, under Dolthaic on the Antonia Bayle server. At the moment, the homeowner has it open to the public. Stop on by, but if you do, do a /who. If you see me in the house, send a /tell so you don't scare the daylights out of me when you pop up!