Grapevines For Shade

Hi everyone~!!!

If you haven't already checked my profile, I go by Ellie. I like to build in Minecraft both with and without mods, as well as with various shaders. Pretty much whatever I can get my hands on, to play with. I didn't like how the site I used to post my work at was changing, but I still wanted to share my work as it is much more fun to share my creations, than keep them to myself.

I do sometimes work on small, one room builds to see how close I can get that room to what I see in real life, with what I have in Minecraft, but mostly I worked on a gigantic monster of a structure that is called Tainted Halls. Tainted Halls is an ongoing project and may always be, as it has gained a life of its own. The structure is influenced by a combination of Victorian, Mediterranean, Steampunk, Fantasy and Dark Alchemy. That just...happened 😅

While originally, Tainted Halls was supposed to be the horrific castle from my nightmares, it has gradually evolved into something different. It has both areas filled with light, and dark areas that hint at something sinister possessing the very stones of the foundation (MWAHAHA.) When it comes to in-structure lighting, even weather can make a big difference. Take this area for example:

 (Built with ConquestReforged 1.12.2 with Conquest of the Sun Shaders)

Grapevine Veranda

This first screenshot shows the grapevines extending over a Mediterranean-style veranda, during sunny weather in game. It feels airy and open. The grapevines allow just enough shade so that overall it isn't too cool. Cue an ambient nature background track and it feels peaceful, maybe a tad energetic too!

Grapevine Veranda during a rainstorm

The second screenshot has the rain trickling between the lattices, darker skies, overall visuals, and reduced range of sight. It has the effect of making the player feel enclosed in a small space, even though it is an open air area. 

I love this effect, and this atmosphere is something I check in each part of my build as I go along, so that everything aligns mostly how I want it to be (and so that I can drive myself crazy.) This particular veranda is on the backside of the structure, overlooking some courtyard gardens, and a glass-roofed fountain, with the sun rising behind.

Gotta get those happy little flowers in there too!

I looked at quite a few different images of vineyards to get to this point, and to be honest I am still not happy with it. I want each area in my structure to feel as believable as possible when walking through, within reason, given it IS Minecraft.

Anyway, enough of my babble. I hope to continue to share pieces of this structure with you as it grows and changes. If you have a suggestion, throw it at me, I may include it :)

If you want to try out Conquest Reforged yourself, here is a link to give them some love:

https://conquestreforged.com/