Placement Blocking items for Castles

This is a serious question or 2 so lets all try not to de-rail it before we get an official answer...

-The new castle tool is for a customisable plot, does this mean that the winning castles will all have (raised) footprint levels like houses do now?

-What about the many castles on live shards that have placement blocking items in their forecourts?

-What is the height restrictions for new castles? Is it 4 storey like the tool shows or is it 3 storey and a roof? No point spending time designing a castle that wont meet restrictions.

-What are the restrictions you briefly mention?

-What about if new castle designs block the views of houses behind them (after decorating winning designs on live shards? Many items are not "see-thru"

@Mesanna @Bleak @Kyronix ;

I'd like to add to this....
If I don't place tiles where the "dirt" is on the first floor, can that space be open like the current castle is? 

Cinderella said:

I'd like to add to this....
If I don't place tiles where the "dirt" is on the first floor, can that space be open like the current castle is? 

I think that's how it is intended to work....would make sense anyway. This seems to be the easiest way for them to allow us to do this so just pretend that the dirt floor is the actual ground and create the custom castle/keep in the space provided.

Hopefully we'll get an official answer soon!

Last I heard, castles with trees in the courtyards are SOL. 

yeah, that's like every castle owner apart from Minoc or Ice isle has placement blocking items in the courtyards.
Some owners are not even aware as they bought their castles and not placed them.

Really could do with some answers here from an official source... @Mesanna ;

Also too add to others, the tool crashes the game "ALOT".
Nb, odd that only Bleak now shows as having an account? Mesanna and Kyronix are no more???

Slayvite said:

yeah, that's like every castle owner apart from Minoc or Ice isle has placement blocking items in the courtyards.
Some owners are not even aware as they bought their castles and not placed them.

Really could do with some answers here from an official source... @ Mesanna 

Also too add to others, the tool crashes the game "ALOT".
Nb, odd that only Bleak now shows as having an account? Mesanna and Kyronix are no more???

https://forum.uo.com/profile/Kyronix
https://forum.uo.com/profile/Mesanna

looks like they are both still here

weird...if you click on their @names it shows User not found, I wonder if any posts actually get pinged to their attention anymore?

Oh dear, I have a tree in my courtyard. Boo!!! I was very much looking forward to using this option. I hope there may be a fix...pretty please Bleak and posse!

Don't worry maybe they will hire a GM tree surgeon otherwise the usefulness of the new designs is somewhat limited! I didn't realise so many castles had trees. I checked my keep and I don't think there is anything in there, but it can be hard to tell if you don't know which items are a problem..

once again i wonder if spending Dev time energy on something that benefits or affects such a small percentage of player base a wise thing

Slayvite said:

weird...if you click on their @ names it shows User not found, I wonder if any posts actually get pinged to their attention anymore?

I click on them and it goes right to their page, strange.  @Mariah

McDougle said:

once again i wonder if spending Dev time energy on something that benefits or affects such a small percentage of player base a wise thing

There are more Castle/Keep owners then PvPers/PKers and we cater to them all the time.

@Bilbo hahahaha that was quite funny, or it would have been funny if it wasn't also true! 

if they would allow the dirt patches to remain empty, then the floor above it would also have to be clear. Hubby has raised pavers there to be the same level as the floor & deeded trees poke through.

jaytin said:

@ Bilbo hahahaha that was quite funny, or it would have been funny if it wasn't also true! 

The sad part is that for 13 years we have been asking for more choices with Castles and Keeps and now the DEVs are trying to do it and alls we hear is it is a waste of DEV time and I bet all of them are the we want it all crowd.  

Kyronix lives he just posted here https://forum.uo.com/discussion/1867/anon-problem#latest

I enjoyed making my design, it was actually quite fun, let's hope we get some really good ideas and not just shoe boxes with a couple of windows!

I'd really like to see someone use the gothic tiles, gargoyles, and stained glass and make a cathedral, abbey, or monastery.

I'm terrible at house stuff, but I'll toss the idea out there.

Arroth_Thaiel said:

I'd really like to see someone use the gothic tiles, gargoyles, and stained glass and make a cathedral, abbey, or monastery.

I'm terrible at house stuff, but I'll toss the idea out there.

Check out the house at 1985 2270 - probably exactly what you are looking for!

Once voting starts, you will be able to teleport to each castle using the castle stone.

Seriously? we get a dev response and its to tell us about a design?

Didn't bother to answer any of the questions in the OP which people are wanting to know about??
…..where's that Picard emote....

for those unfamiliar with the devs co-ords that's 56.04s 46.24E northern side of Trinsic swamp

I just want to say that this is a terrible idea to be able to customize castle and keeps,  the stone tiles was a horrid idea and this is just going cause more lag and issues with the game that no one that plays wants to deal with.

Slayvite said:

Seriously? we get a dev response and its to tell us about a design?

Didn't bother to answer any of the questions in the OP which people are wanting to know about??
…..where's that Picard emote....

Houses must be properly placed in order to convert them.

If the customization tool allows you to commit, your design is technically allowed, just remember we do have to approve final entries.

There will be a foundation.

As far as blocking the view of other houses, the current policy will apply as of now but we will potentially review this as we move through this process for the first time.

But all Castles at the moment ARE properly placed, the trees, rocks and flowers blockers are in the courtyards?
There is probably only the ones on Ice Isle and part of Minoc that's are clear of blockers, meaning about 60% of all Castles wont be able to use these new designs then?

Slayvite said:

But all Castles at the moment ARE properly placed, the trees, rocks and flowers blockers are in the courtyards?
There is probably only the ones on Ice Isle and part of Minoc that's are clear of blockers, meaning about 60% of all Castles wont be able to use these new designs then?

Do you own a properly placed castle with trees or rocks in the courtyard?  Please PM the shard and location. 

So the new designs will all have a foundation like custom housing, not like the castles and keeps we have now?

Kyronix said:

Slayvite said:

But all Castles at the moment ARE properly placed, the trees, rocks and flowers blockers are in the courtyards?
There is probably only the ones on Ice Isle and part of Minoc that's are clear of blockers, meaning about 60% of all Castles wont be able to use these new designs then?

Do you own a properly placed castle with trees or rocks in the courtyard?  Please PM the shard and location. 

id say 40 percent of all castles/keeps (not north minoc or ice island)  have something in the courtyard areas that would block a normal foundation.  the easy ones to see are trees. there is a keep spot south of ice dungeon that you can still place a keep in but has a tree in the west and east grass areas...  The one that is going to get people into trouble is the slight change in the z coordinate in their courtyard that they dont see. 

If there is going to be a foundation for these houses i would recommend making the transition very safe to go from castle/keep to custom plot. I would not let people try to resize and place it. It should be like taking a classic house to a custom plot currently with an added check to make sure its properly placed. 
 

pics incoming. 

Side note, Thanks for finally doing this.  If done right it will be a great addition to the game long over due. Also it was important enough for me to finally make a post over here. 🙂

@Kyronix

these three castles are all fel side, ATl Shard in the North britain crossroads area just north of swamps.  location is in the map cords. 

jaytin said:

So the new designs will all have a foundation like custom housing, not like the castles and keeps we have now?

This really upsets me...I was hoping that while we have to use a foundation to design the castles/keeps, that they would remove the foundation and just use the shape and style of the structure placed on it.

Example:

I build this....but we get the second image...minus the foundation/outer stairs so we can actually have open courtyards....you're saying this isn't the case Kyronix?? That's a BAD BAD thing....

What about all the castles/keeps in Trinisc swamp or the ones near jungles.  I truely thought this was going to be one of those remove some walls and stairs from the inside and be done with it.

As I've said before, You open the can and the worms just keep pouring out.
Should never have been touched really, they should have just said "you can now convert your castle into a 25x25 plot and been done with it.

Any update on the placement blocking items issue yet @Kyronix ; ?

Objects (trees, stones, etc) in courtyards that would block house placement of the new foundation will not be able to convert to the new castle/keeps.

Well that.....makes the whole things pointless...….40% of Castle owners get to enjoy new castles and the rest of us are screwed over?

Or just make 18x18 have the castle lockdowns, and scale other sizes down accordingly.

Then those who wanted a castle for bragging rights could still have theirs, and those of us who really don't like them but want the storage space could let ours go and get an 18x18 that is easier to move around it

Two options...cancel the contest or let us have the empty plots on prodo....if you go look at the thread on Stratics there are SO many AMAZING designs. As it stands now...as Slayvite has stated...over half of the castle/keep owners have blocking objects in their courtyards so this "contest" is only for about less then half of the low % that own castles/keeps.

Re-think this Bleak...please! I have so much faith in you but right now I'm extremely disappointed and I am sure I am not the only one.

They could give the winners their own design on a special spot in Malas, I'm pretty sure some of the people who submit designs don't have a castle anyway, I don't have one!
I have only submitted a Keep design, all I want is a practical Keep layout. I could have placed a castle plot but I'm not really bothered about having a castle. 

Having run around a good part of Trammel on test center and seen just how many castles are placed, I'd seriously dispute the figures expressed in this thread. I particular did a tour of Trinsic swamp.
Yes, it's unfortunate for those who have blocking items in the courtyard, but short of removing those items for the individuals concerned I'm not sure what could be done.

Petra_Fyde said:

Having run around a good part of Trammel on test center and seen just how many castles are placed, I'd seriously dispute the figures expressed in this thread. I particular did a tour of Trinsic swamp.
Yes, it's unfortunate for those who have blocking items in the courtyard, but short of removing those items for the individuals concerned I'm not sure what could be done.

The Difference between what you see on test center and whats on a normal prodo shard is very vast.  The test center was placed fresh.  On a prodo shard these castles have been built of years through determination and patience. a lot of castles only fit in certain areas because of legacy houses, poorly placed 18x18s, etc etc.  On ATL for example there is no wiggle room at all to move a couple tiles to avoid a tree, gravestone, random z coordinate etc etc. 

I dont think the total number is above 50 percent however if you exclude north minoc and ice island i do believe the number gets close to 40 percent. 

However with all that said, im still happy they are doing this.  And as much as i dont like that certain people wont get to enjoy the new design i do think its still a great idea that needs to continue. There isnt much that can be done to help the situation other than getting rid of the foundation and picking designs that give players some wiggle room to fit trees inside the 31x31 area. 

I have rocks in 2 of my castles and on test both of those spots now hold an empty plot 31x31.  I think rocks only prevent you from placing if they are blocking the foundation.  My 3rd Castle is in Trinsic Swamp and there are 2 castles there so I guess if I slide mine over another castle can go there.  The only people so far that may have a problem is people with trees.

How are we going to be able to tell whether we can convert or not? Can you not adjust placement to turn off tree, flower, rock blocking?

Andrasta said:

How are we going to be able to tell whether we can convert or not? Can you not adjust placement to turn off tree, flower, rock blocking?

Im hoping they do it like the classic house to custom house conversion they have now.  

Other wise some people will risk losing their castle by attempting to resize and failing to place again. 

Easiest solution is leave castle and keeps as is.  Then no one has a reason to be upset.  We don't need anymore house lag in the game.

The only time I have house lag is when I get into a heavily custom housing area and zero lag when I go to Tram/Fel north of minoc or ice island where a majority of the castles are located so how is offering a few more classic house designs going to cause more housing lag when it is custom not classic housing causing it.  Oh thats right ya just gotta have something to whine about when the DEVs don't work on what you want.

Larisa said:

Two options...cancel the contest or let us have the empty plots on prodo....if you go look at the thread on Stratics there are SO many AMAZING designs. As it stands now...as Slayvite has stated...over half of the castle/keep owners have blocking objects in their courtyards so this "contest" is only for about less then half of the low % that own castles/keeps.

Re-think this Bleak...please! I have so much faith in you but right now I'm extremely disappointed and I am sure I am not the only one.

All the non castle owners are having a party at WBB. Castle owners with trees in courtyard are welcome to join us 

Slayvite said:

Well that.....makes the whole things pointless...….40% of Castle owners get to enjoy new castles and the rest of us are screwed over?

Not like you repeatedly brought that up for over a year now and Devs ask "send me coordinates" lmfao.

I would suggest anyone who is worried go have a look at the co-responding spot on test center as Bilbo has done. If there's a castle there, then you're going to be fine. I know the castle spot I have used for the contest is the exact location of a castle I know on Europa. 

Take a look at the pictures Slayvite has submitted above. The pictures show 9 castles in all. 3 of them have blocking objects, that's 33% not the 60% that's been claimed.  My own estimation of the number of castles unable to convert would be closer to 20% or even lower.  Look around for yourself before you decide which of our guesses are closer to the truth.

Petra, go to any sale with 4 friends. When you get there and the manager tells you this sale is only open to 4 of you, come back and tell us how happy you or one of your friends were.

My post was meant to re-assure @Andrasta and others like her that have been worried by the gross exaggerations floating around in this thread. A small number of people may not be able to convert, the vast majority will, and many won't want to because of the time and effort they've already put into customizing their existing castle with crafted walls etc.

Less drama and more facts would improve this thread immeasurably.

Petra_Fyde said:

I would suggest anyone who is worried go have a look at the co-responding spot on test center as Bilbo has done. If there's a castle there, then you're going to be fine. I know the castle spot I have used for the contest is the exact location of a castle I know on Europa. 

Take a look at the pictures Slayvite has submitted above. The pictures show 9 castles in all. 3 of them have blocking objects, that's 33% not the 60% that's been claimed.  My own estimation of the number of castles unable to convert would be closer to 20% or even lower.  Look around for yourself before you decide which of our guesses are closer to the truth.

Remember Petra that those pictures only show 9 castles...in one SMALL area on ONE Shard on ONE facet...times that by how many castles are on each shard in tram and fel.....math is not my strong point but it's WAY more then 33%. A lot of people have tried to place where their castles are on prodo and cannot so it's going to be a very delicate situation.

PS I saw your tweet...don't hate on yourself, those designs are amazing, I love them both!

Wasn't aware I had posted any picture of castles...didn't even know you could post pics on these forums but anyhow....

On Europa I can tell you for a fact that people used to buy houses all around castles just so they could then drop everything and re-place the castle to get trees IN the courtyards, this was done before we had tree deeds and was classed as a status symbol.
Most Castles have been there for many more years before the housing rules were slightly changed in Pub 95 I think it was.

Test shard is NOT a good example of what a live shard looks like.

As I've said earlier, some people don't even know they have an item blocking piece in their courtyards as they traded castles not placed them for years.

3 out of 4 of my castles have trees in the courtyard so that makes 75% that can't be upgraded.

Apologies, the pictures were posted by scribbles. I didn't page back. 

I guess we'll just have to agree to differ. I persist in believing the problem isn't as large as you think.

Thanks for your comment on my designs @Larisa only I built them in deep, remote Felucca. I fear few will venture out there to look at them.

ZekeTerra said:

3 out of 4 of my castles have trees in the courtyard so that makes 75% that can't be upgraded.

Who cares.. there are more than 5 people cheering at Mesanna and that's only what counts! 

Judging by how little people have a castle at all, you are in good company.

Does UO ever do anything right, listen to yourselves and yes I am one of the biggest pain in the asses here but I got off my ass and went to the spots where my castles are on Baja and all 3 spots are blank castle plots waiting to be customized so I guess I am 3 of 3 for %100 ok, so much for all the nay sayers math.  Go to Tram.Fel and look around at all the plots before you come here and whine.

Bilbo said:

Does UO ever do anything right, listen to yourselves and yes I am one of the biggest pain in the asses here but I got off my ass and went to the spots where my castles are on Baja and all 3 spots are blank castle plots waiting to be customized so I guess I am 3 of 3 for %100 ok, so much for all the nay sayers math.  Go to Tram.Fel and look around at all the plots before you come here and whine.

Hmm ok...
Went to Castle 1 …..tree in the forecourt, rock in front of steps = No new castle option.
Went to Castle 2...…tree in the sidecourt = No new castle option.

So i'm 2 for 2 on the negative count...…..i'm still listening

I have rocks in 2 of my castles and on test there is a custom plot there so as long as the rock is not under the foundation it looks ok, so rocks do not appear to be a problem.  Trees have always been a no go for any house that does not have an open area like the castle/keep, yes some may not be able to replace their castle/keep because of a tree and yes it may have been a thing on some shards to place as many as these as possible but some how that is all UOs fault and the person placing/buying that castle/keep shoulders no responsibility for their own action.  These are being built on custom plots so could anyone please provide us with the location of any custom plot that UO has removed a tree or has a tree in it.  Has anybody contacted UO and asked if they could design a plot with trees in mind?

There's only 3 types of grey rock now that block placement since pub 95
Be aware though if these are within 5 spaces for your "new" front steps, it will also block placement.

Here is an old guide, still helpful for explaining house placement. (pub 19 not 95...I wonder why I thought it was 95?)
https://uo2.stratics.com/homes-and-decorations/the-homeowners-guide/placing/

Slayvite said:

Here is an old guide, still helpful for explaining house placement. (pub 19 not 95...I wonder why I thought it was 95?)
https://uo2.stratics.com/homes-and-decorations/the-homeowners-guide/placing/

TY for that info. I was under the impression that you could not walk through blocking objects.  There are 4 rocks shown in the blocking objects 3 left and 1 right, I just walked through the big one on the right side of the photo on Baja Shard and so far can not find any that look like the ones on the left side of the photo to see if you can walk through them.  Could not find any trees/crystal that I was able to walk through.  Not sure about the moon gate one either but the big one in the wild seem to not block.

Remember Test is a new shard, probably based on Origin and not the "old" shards like Europa or Atlantic. 
Things are different on the live shards, most likely they removed the majority of blocking items for test over the years.

Not sure if you're reading the page correctly. The rocks in the picture above the 'blocking objects' heading are non-blocking. Only the picture below the heading is of blocking objects.

So far the only place I have found those rocks are in Luna, still can't find any on Baja Tram/Fel yet

I recommend go test on the Homare plains its flat but lots of little things you'd think would not block placement but does...

TY Will ck it out.