The Planetarium at Caer Dracwych (WIP)

Debated somewhat where to put this, hopefully this is appropriate enough.

Last week @Lord Andernut and @Stryker Sparhawk, along with a few others.. presented to me a village sized ornate moondial through both their efforts and the generosity of an impressive list of players..

I can think of no better way to say thank you than to use this moondial to build a public venue.

I do not know how long this will take me or what the finished product will look like.. but as part of showing my appreciation for this generous gift I thought I should keep a screenshot journal here on the forum.

And so.. it begins.



For starters I am using a city lot that I had planned to use a List Field for future events.. jousting and the like. However, that is a long ways off and potentially doable exclusively with town décor. And so this city lot will hold the observatory.

The current plan is that it will be completely enclosed with elevated seating all around with minimal lighting. I hope to come up with a meaningful design with displays to share information. Perhaps a merchant to sell books.

I'm not sure yet what I want to do with the exterior.

Feedback and discussion is welcome.

EDIT: To expedite construction I've placed 2 "Observatory Donation Chest"s.. The first is at the construction site.

We're located along the northern coast just Northwest of the Grannus Colossus.

The 2nd chest is at the New Britannian Market..



The chest is located at the Scholars of Novia Publishing House behind the Museum and a couple doors down from Vyren & Womby's bookstore.

 

don't forget you can swap an observatory and a list field with the property manager.

 

Aye I've thought of that.. but if the List can be built with just town décor it would be ideal since both could be up at once. The List was going to be a big part of the town atmosphere so I'm hoping I can do both. Otherwise I'll plan to swap.

 

Looking good Bowen

 

Gratulations and a thumbup to the donors

 

Great idea! Would love to come visit this once it's all set up.

If I may make a suggestion... if you could get your hands on an Adobe Brick 2-Story Keep with Courtyard that would make a fantastic observatory for the village sized moondial.



A few reasons why I suggest this:
- The moondial easily fits in the center of the courtyard, with plenty of room around it for seating.
- If you manually turn off all the interior lights (lanterns and wall candles), it can be pretty dark inside the courtyard at night.
- You can hang any kind of wall sign, bulletin board flyer, painting, or any other kind of deco on the interior walls of the courtyard.
- You can have seating up on the roof/balcony section to look down on the moondial or up into the open sky.
- Or, if you prefer, you can stack stone blocks around the perimeter on the roof to make a higher inside courtyard... which would help block surrounding buildings and landscape from view (but also might limit the skyline range visibility).
- The roof has 2 "rooms" and one even has a dome on it... kind of fits the theme.

All around a great option for a no-fuss observatory though IMO.

 

Do we know for certain the moondial will fit inside? Decor options might be nice but I'm not sure if I can get the look and layout I want.

 

@Bowen Bloodgood - I have one if you want to try it out.

 

wow that would look awesome . i would definatly like to see that when its done.

 

It definitely fits.

 

This is awesome Bowen! I can't wait to see the finished product and get a tour/lesson on some Novian astronomy!

@Lord Andernut and @Stryker Sparhawk You guys are just freaking awesome! So psyched I got to meet you at SotA Con 2016!

 

And awesome are all the other community members who also supported this (hopefully all are okay with me sharing the names since nobody specifically said not to):
@Jack Knyfe
@SpookyJenny
@WrathPhoenix
@Lady Addy
@HannahAlpenglow2
@Lady Venusada
@Browncoat Jayson
@Scottie
@Bow Vale
@Thexedor Markhamm

Thank-you

 

And @WrathPhoenix
Jenny is @SpookyJenny

 

In order to expedite construction, I'm placing two public donation chests. One at the site in Caer Dracwych, and one at the Scholar's of Novia publishing house in New Britannian Market located behind the museum. Maps to be posted here (or I'll probably edit the OP with this notice and maps too).

What I need is granite.. lots.. and lots of granite.

Edit: Maps posted in the OP

 

I'm posted maps in the OP to the donation chests if anyone wants to contribute. My thanks in advanced.

In the meantime I've been tinkering with building concepts. Among key features I really want.. is an actual, functional entrance. Another is elevated seating that provides a good view.



The castle gateway is really the only option I have in terms of doorways but I like that it gives the structure a grand feeling. I'm also playing with the idea of an elevated floor. The lighting in this image doesn't really show off the floor in the entryway but as soon as you go inside you take a couple steps up.

The lower left image gives you an idea of the view. I really like this angle. Whether or not I use bleachers or blocks is still up in the air. Bleachers will be hard to transition with 360 viewing but offers 3 levels of seating which I like. Blocks require extra space for stairs and might only be enough for 2 levels of seating with stairs but blocks will allow a more rounded 360 degree seating arrangement.

In the lower right image you can see the elevated bleachers on the right. So it looks like the moondial will be in a 'pit'

An alternate idea was to elevate the moondial but that would be limited to whether nor stages stack and how high that could go but I think I prefer looking down on the moondial as it's a little different and there are no obstructions.

 

Hi @Bowen Bloodgood - what do you need exactly? Lights, furniture, blocks etc... ? Got all sorts of odd stuff in my chests & drawers

 

Just granite for now.. lots of granite.

 

dropped 1500 in your chest at NBM

 

Added 526 granite blocks to what @Fiero already deposited. More once I do some heavy mining this coming week

 

That's very much appreciated thank you.