The Iron Castle - Massive Build Project!!

[Satorri]

Hello!!

I'm Satorri, and I'm a build-a-holic... I'd like to share my biggest build so far:

Please forgive the total lack of production value and croaky voice. I've been wanting to make this for months, but never got around to it.

This structure, code named Iron Castle, was my biggest build project. It was meant to be the primary base for my tribe (we played on a private, PvE server), and I wanted to make something that was designed from the get-go to support all of our core needs. We had other sites to serve other purposes (workshops to support building and resource farming in various area, dino ranches, and a deep sea access base). 

Build features a forecastle to act as an airlock of sorts for visitors and excursions; living quarters for the tribe where people can place personal storage, beds, etc; a workshop that was fully equipped at the time (before the addition of the industrial forge, industrial cooker, etc); a central garden for growing important veggies and berries, as well as having a nice green space in an otherwise cold metal castle; and a stable/aerie for housing our personal transport dinos.

Outer wall features watch towers, murder holes, a completely traversable walkway, a main gate for the stables and a side gate for alternate access.

The sub-structure houses a pipe and cable construction to keep these unsightly pieces hidden (metal reservoirs on the roof of the workshop feed the water to avoid long pipe runs to the river). 

Construction was entirely done with metal, fed by an off-site workshop full of smelters, positioned between this build site and the volcano. Total footprint is roughly 40 x 40, and the amount of walls, ceilings, and other metal bits and bobs is measured in the hundreds. I spent 2 weeks creating schematics before I built, and it took about 6 weeks of total actual build time (not including farming that started before the building proper.

Before building the castle itself, I scouted a site with the help of my tribe, and roughed out the foundations required to set the continuous grid in thatch. I then replaced the thatch with metal (making some adjustments along the way to maximize foundations and minimize ceilings at the very base. I kept a painted footprint through each layer to keep the blueprint functional. From the foundation layer, I build up to a large flat surface, and proceeded to assemble the rooms on top of that. Finally, I constructed the outer wall, and the forecastle last. Images from the assembly process stages are here: http://imgur.com/a/Us2J7

[Trix2806]

Oh wow, that castle looks awesome! Really nice with the use of metal instead of stone, to give it a more modern/military look.

I would never been able to do anything as epic as that. Great job!

 

[Satorri]

Hindsight (and I may go back and edit/improve on the video...), the whole layout was heavily blueprinted because I wanted to take into account all of the practical design aspects for the sake of an efficient and useful design.

So, the Workshop had to be directly connected to the stables/hangar so that farmers returning would have quick/direct access to where their materials would need to be stored or used. Garden needed central access to both stables and workshop, plus it was very aesthetically pleasing to have growing things visible from the rooms and the entryways. Key storage needed to be near where it would be used, and the dorms needed to have the nicest aesthetics in terms of views, space, and ability to customize the interiors to each inhabitant.