Darkmod: Inspiration thread

[Zerg Rush]

Some mushrooms

https://file.coffee/u/9d5TN0B4x_ISAEuOze0G1.webm

 

[taffernicus]

i never see coleman or petromax kerosene lantern in TDM (or perhaps i made up one, unsure)

[nbohr1more]

Salem Cemetery gravestones roughly from the era of TDM:

[datiswous]

On 10/3/2023 at 11:54 AM, Zerg Rush said:

Some mushrooms

https://file.coffee/u/9d5TN0B4x_ISAEuOze0G1.webm

Are these real?

[Zerg Rush]

5 hours ago, datiswous said:

Are these real?

Yes, In the world of mushrooms there are some of the most amazing specimens, there are even some species (Mycetozoa or Eumycetozoa) that actively hunt for food. It's really a world apart from fauna and flora, they're something in between.

 

[kin]

On 10/19/2023 at 4:39 PM, datiswous said:

Are these real?

No they are not. Very obvious that most of them are computer generated if not all of them.

[Zerg Rush]

Harsch Victorian times for newborns

 

[Taquito]

The assets in this game are

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Free Demo on Steam.

Edited December 31, 2023 by Taquito

[Taquito]

 

Not sure if this was posted before

A few pics of the Game The Unluckiest Man, a Free Short Mission created by the same guy in the post above. He's pretty good at creating cozy environments, good exterior atmosphere and lighting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the Link for the game on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2140900/The_Unluckiest_Man/

 

It's free.

 

 

Edited January 2 by Taquito

[Petike the Taffer]

Stokesay Castle, one of the best-preserved fortified manor houses in England and the British Isles in general.

Rather than remain an original castle or castle ruin, or completely converted into a mansion, manor house, chateau, or romantic folly, this older rural castle was converted into a traditional fortified manor house in the early modern era and hadn't really changed its nature throughout the centuries. I feel this is a very good inspiration for TDM, given the style of architecture in TDM's fictional universe.
 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Stokesay_Castle

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Stokesay_Castle_(interior)

https://www.geograph.org.uk/snippet/6359

https://www.geograph.org.uk/snippet/4859

Loads and loads of great photos behind these links, so don't think these are the only interesting ones I could share.

There's a huge amount of interesting details in this fortified manor house.

Edited March 26 by Petike the Taffer

[Petike the Taffer]

 

Salter's Hall, Sudbury, Suffolk, England - 15th century

The George Inn, near Norton St Philip, Somerset, England - 14th-15th century, upper storeys repaired in 16th century after fire

The George and Dragon public house (now a former inn), Codicote, Hertfordshire, England - dates back to the 14th and 15th century, not used as a pub anymore since the late 2000s, but has a restaurant instead

The Salisbury Arms Hotel, Hertford, Hertfordshire - the oldest parts date back to the 15th century, the inn was called The Bell until 1800, there had been some minor additions in the 17th, 19th and 20th century

The Bell / Ye Olde Bell and Steelyard inn, New Street, Woodbridge, Suffolk, England - an inn constructed during the second half of the 16th century, its street then known as New Street. The latter of the two names is the contemporary name, the former name the original one. Disregard the Volkswagen Polo, please, LOL. Woodbridge has several old rural inns dating back to the early modern era, e.g. The Angel, also from the second half of the 16th century.

The Stag Inn, Rockeford, Devon, England - the oldest parts are apparently 12th/13th century, the overall look solidified in the 17th century

Ellesmere House, Whitchurch, Shropshire, England - early 18th century house, showing the transition from traditional vernacular timber-based construction to brick-based construction (I feel this could be used as inspiration for depicting townhouses reflecting TDM's socio-cultural tradition from a more medieval era to a tentative early industrial era)

St Mary's Cottage, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England - I just found this a cute timber-framed house, so feel free to use it as inspiration for smaller TDM townhouses or taller rural houses in a market town, village, or something or other

"Bayleaf House", an early 16th century farmhouse, originally from Chiddingstone, Kent, now at the Weald and Downland Living Museum, an open-air museum in Singleton, West Sussex, south England

3D tour of the "Bayleaf House" at this open-air museum

Farmhouse built in 1609, originally in Midhurst, Sussex, now at the Weald and Downland Living Museum, an open-air museum in Singleton, West Sussex, south England

3D tour of the 1609 farmhouse at this open-air museum

Poplar Cottage, originally from Washington, Sussex, England, now at the Weald and Downland Living Museum, an open-air museum in Singleton, West Sussex, south England

3D tour of the Poplar Cottage at this open-air museum

A small house, originally from Boarhunt, Hampshire, now at the Weald and Downland Living Museum, an open-air museum in Singleton, West Sussex, south England

Medieval stone cottage with thatched roof, originally from Hangleton, Sussex, England, now at the Weald and Downland Living Museum, an open-air museum in Singleton, West Sussex, south England

A medieval house, originally from Sole Street (Cobham), Kent, England, now at the Weald and Downland Living Museum, an open-air museum in Singleton, West Sussex, south England

A medieval house, originally from North Cray, Kent, England, now at the Weald and Downland Living Museum, an open-air museum in Singleton, West Sussex, south England 

Rural market hall, originally from Titchfield, Hampshire, England, now at the Weald and Downland Living Museum, an open-air museum in Singleton, West Sussex, south England  

You can read more about the individual buildings at said open-air museum here.

The Old Market Hall, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England - additional photos here and here

Edited March 29 by Petike the Taffer

[Petike the Taffer]

I've decided to make a list of my posts in this thread thus far. Only the posts where I shared images of real world locations for inspiration (mostly reference images of various historical architecture).

 

19th century octagon houses as inspiration for more fancy houses of industralists (12 May 2015)

Old electric powerplant building in Poprad, Slovakia - red brick Gothic Revival stylistics (17 July 2015) - needs image fixin'

Plas Mawr in Conwy, Wales - well-preserved medieval and early modern Welsh townhouse, with interior museum (29 July 2015)

Castell Coch in Wales - reconstructed medieval castle, with minor 19th century industrial details (13 August 2015) + addendum

Illustrations and concept art for Bree from various game projects (3 September 2015)

Run-down Neo-classical manor house in a rural area (15 December 2015) - dated image links, I need to fix 'em

Smaller but interesting manor houses and fortified manor houses in Slovakia (30 August 2016)

Manor houses and fortified manor houses in Slovakia (13 March 2017)

Environmental storytelling inspired by "reading" real world ruins (3 May 2021)

Stokesay Castle rural fortified manor house, one of the few of its kind in England (26 March 2024)

Houses, inns and market halls of medieval and early modern England (26 March 2024)

Aberconwy House in Conwy, Wales - well-preserved 14th century Welsh medieval merchant townhouse (27 March 2024)

Edited March 30 by Petike the Taffer

[Petike the Taffer]

Aberconwy House, one of the best-preserved medieval houses in Wales, originating in the 14th century. Includes a house museum.

If you happen to visit Wales, you can find it on 2 Castle Street in the town of Conwy.

 

National Trust website for Aberconwy House

Visit Wales website for Aberconwy House

Geograph.co.uk entries for Aberconwy House

Wikimedia Commons entries for Aberconwy House
 

Conwy has several other preserved historical houses and buildings from earlier centuries. These include the later Tudor era Plas Mawr, which also has a house museum (and which I've already featured in this thread years earlier), and there's also the famous 'Smallest House in Great Britain' and plenty of preserved fortification monuments. Speaking of...

The 'Smallest House in Great Britain', in Conwy, a tourist attraction that's more on the cheesy side due to its notoriety/record, but is still a nice example of a period house centuries old, that was built in the spirit of "How can our ingenuity provide us with a small house and lodgings even in a narrow, cramped part of the street ?" vernacular ingenuity.

Official website for the Smallest House

Visit Conwy website for the Smallest House

Geograph.co.uk entries for the Smallest House

Wikimedia Commons entries for the Smallest House

Various narrow houses from around the world

 

English Heritage website for the Medieval Merchant's House in Southampton

Geograph.co.uk entries for the Medieval Merchant's House in Southampton

Wikimedia Commons entries for the Medieval Merchant's House in Southampton

Combine these photos with the medieval early modern housing and market hall photos from my previous post, and you'll have plenty of inspiration on how to furnish rural houses and townhouses in TDM's setting.

Edited March 29 by Petike the Taffer

[Petike the Taffer]

I usually share other people's photos of historical and industrial architecture in this thread, but I've decided to finally share some of my own photos that I've accumulated over the years. Over the years, especially the last twenty or so years, I've wandered many of the old town quarters in cities and towns all around my country, taking snapshots. Wereas many of the main streets and major landmarks have long since had nice and beautiful restoration work done, many of the more obscure side streets, back alleys and occassional overlooked corners had interesting sights to behold. I've particularly been fond of old townhouses that show elements from different eras of history, as well as all the wear accumulated over the years and decades. As much as I like that many of these eventually also receive decent restoration work and look nice again, the sight of a well-worn, dilapidated or even ruined house or ocassional public building can prove really stimulating for the imagination. They've got a lot of proverbial "texture" (not just in the surface sense) and "character" that can hike one's imagination, especially with regards to lived-in environments with long histories.

 

Edited March 30 by Petike the Taffer