Roof struggles

[Chanelle Granlund]

So this is my forge, which may or may not be inspired by another build in the launcher. But I am struggling with the roof! I am fairly new so I don't have a full grasp on all the blocks yet, but nothing I try looks good. and I don't think the placement of the windmills helps   Ideas? 

[TristamIzumi]

I also find roofs to be the hardest part of builds. If you have an excess of fire clay, you might try using fire clay slabs and stairs to make the roof; I'd alternate slabs and stairs so it's not too steep.

Edit: Taking a closer look at your screenshot, you may already be doing exactly this?

Edited May 2, 2021 by TristamIzumi

[ahueonao]

Clay shingles are the more 'roofy' block out there, but that doesn't mean they're your only choice. Almost any block can look good as a roofing material, especially if you use some chiseling here and there to add some variety to the shapes (cobble, wood planks or hay blocks can all look pretty good). You might want to do a few test runs in a creative server to see what design works best for you, but I'd suggest switching the fire clay for blue clay shingles if you're going to keep those walls, since that would give a better contrast between the roof and the rest of the building, while fire clay is just slapping brown on top of brown. There aren't a lot of good VS tutorials for nice-looking roofs (or nice-looking builds in general), but there are a lot of minecraft ones, which work more or less the same as in VS. Here's a couple:

A few extra pointers:

- Vertical slabs and chiseled blocks mean you have a wider range of options for roof shapes than in vanilla minecraft. 

- Look for real-world (or fantasy) reference! Do an image search for "concept art house", "fantasy house", "medieval roof", "historical roof", etc.

- Your roof shape is going to be determined to a degree by the shape of your walls. If the overall layout of your building is just one big rectangle, your roof is gonna end up a bit boring. Try adding some extra recesses or jutting out portions in your design here and there (which you can use for bay windows, chest racks, staircases, or anything else) and you'll be able to add some variety to the roof, too.

- the most basic roof shape is two opposing slopes of stair blocks that meet in the middle. If your building is a rectangle, you'll want those slopes on the *long* sides of your rectangle, since that's the option with the lower elevation/ less materials. The remaining two sides of the rectangle won't have slopes, but a triangle-shaped portion of wall. Those are the 'gables', and you can use that extra wall section to add a window, balcony or some other decoration. That's a simple "A-frame" roof layout, and most of the fancier roof styles you'll find in references are just intersecting A-frames or changes on the angle of the slope.

- You can make your roofs look fancier by adding an overhang and a trim. An overhang is basically when you don't start the slope directly from the wall, but let it 'hang' one block (or more) further out from it. This is used in real life to keep the water runoff from dripping down the walls (and i think it's even visible in the game when it's raining). A trim is simply having the edges of your roof in a different color/material (usually black, white or wood) to make it stand out more.

- In real life, the angle of the roof usually depends on the climate (the heavier it rains or snows, the steeper the roofs, while in desert areas roofs can be competely flat), but in the game you can just pick the angle for looks. Since your building appears to be wide but single-storey, you might want to keep a low elevation, otherwise you'll end up with a roof that's taller than the walls, which looks kinda weird, and it'll also keep the roof from covering up too much of your windmill towers. A slope comprised of alternating full blocks and (horizontal) slabs will give you a lower roof angle. 

- If your roof is still looking a bit boring, try adding some decorations like dormers (windows jutting out from the roof slopes) or chimneys.

[Chanelle Granlund]

On 5/2/2021 at 4:47 PM, TristamIzumi said:

I also find roofs to be the hardest part of builds. If you have an excess of fire clay, you might try using fire clay slabs and stairs to make the roof; I'd alternate slabs and stairs so it's not too steep.

Edit: Taking a closer look at your screenshot, you may already be doing exactly this?

I was trying something with maple slabs 

[Chanelle Granlund]

On 5/3/2021 at 1:01 AM, ahueonao said:

Clay shingles are the more 'roofy' block out there, but that doesn't mean they're your only choice. Almost any block can look good as a roofing material, especially if you use some chiseling here and there to add some variety to the shapes (cobble, wood planks or hay blocks can all look pretty good). You might want to do a few test runs in a creative server to see what design works best for you, but I'd suggest switching the fire clay for blue clay shingles if you're going to keep those walls, since that would give a better contrast between the roof and the rest of the building, while fire clay is just slapping brown on top of brown. There aren't a lot of good VS tutorials for nice-looking roofs (or nice-looking builds in general), but there are a lot of minecraft ones, which work more or less the same as in VS. Here's a couple:

A few extra pointers:

- Vertical slabs and chiseled blocks mean you have a wider range of options for roof shapes than in vanilla minecraft. 

- Look for real-world (or fantasy) reference! Do an image search for "concept art house", "fantasy house", "medieval roof", "historical roof", etc.

- Your roof shape is going to be determined to a degree by the shape of your walls. If the overall layout of your building is just one big rectangle, your roof is gonna end up a bit boring. Try adding some extra recesses or jutting out portions in your design here and there (which you can use for bay windows, chest racks, staircases, or anything else) and you'll be able to add some variety to the roof, too.

- the most basic roof shape is two opposing slopes of stair blocks that meet in the middle. If your building is a rectangle, you'll want those slopes on the *long* sides of your rectangle, since that's the option with the lower elevation/ less materials. The remaining two sides of the rectangle won't have slopes, but a triangle-shaped portion of wall. Those are the 'gables', and you can use that extra wall section to add a window, balcony or some other decoration. That's a simple "A-frame" roof layout, and most of the fancier roof styles you'll find in references are just intersecting A-frames or changes on the angle of the slope.

- You can make your roofs look fancier by adding an overhang and a trim. An overhang is basically when you don't start the slope directly from the wall, but let it 'hang' one block (or more) further out from it. This is used in real life to keep the water runoff from dripping down the walls (and i think it's even visible in the game when it's raining). A trim is simply having the edges of your roof in a different color/material (usually black, white or wood) to make it stand out more.

- In real life, the angle of the roof usually depends on the climate (the heavier it rains or snows, the steeper the roofs, while in desert areas roofs can be competely flat), but in the game you can just pick the angle for looks. Since your building appears to be wide but single-storey, you might want to keep a low elevation, otherwise you'll end up with a roof that's taller than the walls, which looks kinda weird, and it'll also keep the roof from covering up too much of your windmill towers. A slope comprised of alternating full blocks and (horizontal) slabs will give you a lower roof angle. 

- If your roof is still looking a bit boring, try adding some decorations like dormers (windows jutting out from the roof slopes) or chimneys.

So you are saying to add angles to the walls to get away from the rectangle and add details to the roof? Could add a room for my metal piles and maybe also coal and charcoal I like how immersive you can make vs. in Minecraft a room for storing iron would not really have a practical application for example. 

I plan to make a chimney for my steel furnace and forges. But the cementation furnace it right behind the right windmill. And the forges in front of the left. And there is not much space in between them The hard thing is not to add chimneys or details. The hard thing is to keep it balanced.

Maybe I should change the walls to make the roof choices easier but I travelled so far to gather clay stone! This base and my old one has basalt, granite, periodate and andesite.

if only I could find the original build...

[ahueonao]

 okay so here's what i have in mind - extending the windmills shouldn't be *too* costly if you use cheap materials for the walls and roof (plus, windmills are more efficient the higher up they are). this should leave you more room for the roof, and maybe add some extra touches here and there. let us know what it ends up looking like!