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[Eyeofanger]

I'd like to see par vollen. Seeing how the peasants of the qun are like and live their daily lives up till now we only saw the military side of the qun

[the_one_54321]

According to Sten, there are no peasants in the Qun. There are only members, each of whom carries out his daily role in service to the people.

[brushyourteeth]

the_one_54321 wrote...

According to Sten, there are no peasants in the Qun. There are only members, each of whom carries out his daily role in service to the people.

I would venture a guess that that's all semantics. The people who are common laborers we would probably call peasants - he would probably just say they were filling their role as designated by the Qun.

[the_one_54321]

What I mean is that there is no reason to assume that they live a lower quality of life. Perhaps all standards of living are equal across all roles in the Qun?

[brushyourteeth]

the_one_54321 wrote...

What I mean is that there is no reason to assume that they live a lower quality of life. Perhaps all standards of living are equal across all roles in the Qun?

I think you're probably right, though what I think he meant was that when it comes to the Qunari he's used to seeing this:

http://t3.gstatic.co...Mxxzx82XQ03kHcq

And what he'd like to see is this:

http://t1.gstatic.co...Rh-Fstq30zjPeQ0

[Das Tentakel]

@Begemotka

Concerning the Hungarian Parliament, that is really hilarious, others can attest that it is the building I was going to suggest as inspiration for the Orlesian Imperial Palace. If not for a symposium I had to attend, I would have beaten you to it:D.

Hungarians - well, the aristocracy, to be exact - once had the reputation of being rather flamboyant, and Budapest has been called the 'Paris of the East'. The reason I wanted to suggest the Parliament is because, first of all, it is beautiful, second because it's huge, as befits an Imperial palace, and third, it's imitiation-Gothic (thus Neogothic) architecture sort of fits Thedas' general level of stylistic and technological development (late medieval/early modern).

Stylistically, it would go together perfectly with a Duomo of Milan-inspired Grand Cathedral in the capital.

Edit: The Dragon Age wiki contains some pictures (computer models even) in its Grand Cathedral entry. I am not sure if this is some fan modeller's effort or 'official'.

.

Pretty impressive, but if I would have to make a comment, it's that it looks more intimidating and depressing rather than elegant and uplifting. Brutalistic architecture with a Gothic surface, which is why it wouldn't surprise me if this is official, given Kirkwall's visual design.
The kind of stuff a major 20th century dictator would have built. Notice how airy and 'light' the Hungarian Parliament, not exactly a modest structure, feels compared to it. Or Minas Tirith, for that matter.

Edit again: Yup, it's more or less official; it's concept art from 'Dawn of the Seeker'.

Modifié par Das Tentakel, 26 avril 2012 - 09:47 .

[Vovea]

brushyourteeth wrote...

the_one_54321 wrote...

According to Sten, there are no peasants in the Qun. There are only members, each of whom carries out his daily role in service to the people.

I would venture a guess that that's all semantics. The people who are common laborers we would probably call peasants - he would probably just say they were filling their role as designated by the Qun.

I think there is something in the codex about construction camps and mines for people who refuse to convert to the Qun. It'd be interesting to see people who live like that along side the serious believers.

Das Tentakel wrote....
Pretty impressive, but if I would have to make a comment, it's that it looks more intimidating and depressing rather than elegant and uplifting.

I agree with you. I thought it'd be lively. I guess I got a picture into my head during the conversations with Leliana in Origins. Still it is a concept. Maybe it will change a bit?

Modifié par Vovea, 26 avril 2012 - 10:45 .

[Direwolf0294]

I'd like to see a really huge city that's got a large slum like section reminisce of the alienage in DA:O or Vizima from The Witcher but also has a high class section with tall, glittering white towers and the like.

[Das Tentakel]

Vovea wrote...

Das Tentakel wrote....
Pretty impressive, but if I would have to make a comment, it's that it looks more intimidating and depressing rather than elegant and uplifting.

I agree with you. I thought it'd be lively. I guess I got a picture into my head during the conversations with Leliana in Origins. Still it is a concept. Maybe it will change a bit?

 I am afraid this is going to be it, the movie comes out next month. Not sure who designed this (Bioware or the guys and gals making the movie), but it does betray the Kirkwall Fantasy Stalin School of Architecture.
It's a building that basically signals 'Evil - but human - Emperor living here'. Which with Anders would agree, I suppose.
At the very least they should get rid of the phallic water tower in the centre-front. I think that's supposed to be Templar HQ.
Somehow I imagined it differently:crying:

[Brockololly]

Das Tentakel wrote...
Pretty impressive, but if I would have to make a comment, it's that it looks more intimidating and depressing rather than elegant and uplifting. Brutalistic architecture with a Gothic surface, which is why it wouldn't surprise me if this is official, given Kirkwall's visual design.
The kind of stuff a major 20th century dictator would have built. Notice how airy and 'light' the Hungarian Parliament, not exactly a modest structure, feels compared to it. Or Minas Tirith, for that matter.

Edit again: Yup, it's more or less official; it's concept art from 'Dawn of the Seeker'.

Yeah, if thats what most of Val Royeaux or Orlais looks like architecturally in DA3. Well, meh. That looks like a slightly more ornate Kirkwall, but still pretty much the same damn drab, boring, blocky, brutalist stuff that made Kirkwall such a bore. And it doesn't even make sense for Val Royeaux since its supposed to be an entirely different country and so forth.

I can only hope thats mostly just for the anime and not necessarily the look for the game.

[Annie_Dear]

I also visted Lisbon last fall, and thought these building might suit Antiva:

[wright1978]

Seeing all those wrecked ships on coast in DA2 always made me long for the chance to get to sea.

One thing i would love is the chance to get onboard a ship and have a huge pitched sea fight where you have to repel enemies from boarding your ship.

[Das Tentakel]

Brockololly wrote...

Das Tentakel wrote...
Pretty impressive, but if I would have to make a comment, it's that it looks more intimidating and depressing rather than elegant and uplifting. Brutalistic architecture with a Gothic surface, which is why it wouldn't surprise me if this is official, given Kirkwall's visual design. The kind of stuff a major 20th century dictator would have built. Notice how airy and 'light' the Hungarian Parliament, not exactly a modest structure, feels compared to it. Or Minas Tirith, for that matter.

Edit again: Yup, it's more or less official; it's concept art from 'Dawn of the Seeker'.

Yeah, if thats what most of Val Royeaux or Orlais looks like architecturally in DA3. Well, meh. That looks like a slightly more ornate Kirkwall, but still pretty much the same damn drab, boring, blocky, brutalist stuff that made Kirkwall such a bore. And it doesn't even make sense for Val Royeaux since its supposed to be an entirely different country and so forth.
I can only hope thats mostly just for the anime and not necessarily the look for the game.

Well, the movie is made in Japan, so perhaps Bioware aren’t really committed to this design.
What worries me, though,  is the ‘design philosophy consistency’ with Kirkwall. It doesn’t have to be inspired by my personal favourite, the Duomo of Milan (that would be nice, but let’s face it, a sexed-up version of the Duomo might be asking too much of the DA engine), but I sure wish it’s going to be something else than this totalitarian pile of stone.

It’s also, well, incredibly generic. Big piles of stone like this have been done to death in numerous games and several movies with sci-fi/fantasy mix. If I saw this without knowing what it was, it could be any J-RPG or sci-fi/fantasy flick’s background CGI, really.

Not that Gothic and Neogothic cathedrals, palaces, parliament buildings, castles and libraries are that unfamiliar either, especially in Europe. But they’re grounded in terms of design, location etc. There are good reasons why they look the way they look, and why they succeed in being simultaneously impressive, elegant and ‘upward’/ 'airy' looking.
I suppose modellers and artists will be naturally tempted to deviate and make up things of their own, unfortunately falling prey to the fact that they often lack the time, talent, experience and resources to really pull of something that looks great, distinctive, and appropriate to the setting. The visual design of Minas Tirith, for instance, had to ‘ripen’ over decades of fantasy illustrations until they more or less ‘got it’, which is what we see in Jackson’s movies.

Of course, walking in the streets and squares and experiencing it all in first-person view is another thing. A massive but detailed frontage like the Hungarian Parliament or the Duomo bristles with details, something a computer model in DA3 is likely to lack. This gets even worse with an even more over-the-top construction like the Grand Cathedral in the forthcoming movie, which, based on its structure, will sort of ‘envelop’ your view. This is different from the Duomo in Milan, which has this huge square in front of it and varied buildings to the left and right. The result is visually imposing but more varied and far less oppressive. This is very important when you spend longer periods of time in such an environment; what looks impressive on a model can quickly turn out to be boring and depressing when you have to stand and walk around for several hours.
It’s why an area with ‘layered’ history and varied buildings, like the Piazza del Duomo (Çathedral Square’) in Milan, the Grote Markt (‘Great Market’) in Brussels or the Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s square) in Venice keep looking beautiful and interesting. This is also why, for instance, Vizima in The Witcher I is such a beautiful and interesting place to walk around in for hours: the variety and details.



(Piazza del Duomo, Milan)



(Grote Markt, Brussels)



(Piazza San Marco, Venice)

[Das Tentakel]

Begemotka wrote...



.

The main building looks a bit Mayan to me.

I think I see what you mean, the roof and the flanking 'wings' ('towers'?) of the central section (which I have given the nickname 'the Motorblock')  somewhat resemble certain Maya constructions (for instance in Palenque).

However, I think it's essentially a 'chimaera', a mix, of some existing European buildings. I think I recognise bits of the Notre Dame and maybe even the 'Altare della Patria' in Rome - which is much nicer looking, I might add.



The smaller towers in the model of the 'Grand Cathedral' seem to be taken from the British parliament in London. Not a bad choice by itself.

Modifié par Das Tentakel, 27 avril 2012 - 05:51 .

[Das Tentakel]

I took a quick peek during my break at the movie trailer ( www.youtube.com/watch ).
The model of the Grand Cathedral is definitely in it. At 1:25 you can see a bit of the city of Val Royeaux.
Boxlike dirty-white buildings reminiscent of flat-roofed houses in the Middle East and parts of Greece.
Not exactly inspiring. Let's hope this is what Funimation had to do to keep it quick, dirty and cheap, and not what the Imperial capital is actually supposed to look like. <_<

Because there will be nerd rage, and it won't be pretty:(

Modifié par Das Tentakel, 27 avril 2012 - 01:23 .

[Vovea]

I always imagined the white, imposing buildings in Kirkwall were based on Tevinter architecture. Odd that Orlais, heart of the Chantry/totally against Tevinter, etc, seems so similar. I was hoping for colours closer to the Barcelona Cathedral - brown, yellow-ish lighting, green from foliage.

I like the openness of it however. I think that maybe some inspiration was taken from the Vatican city?

[Das Tentakel]

Vovea wrote...

I always imagined the white, imposing buildings in Kirkwall were based on Tevinter architecture. Odd that Orlais, heart of the Chantry/totally against Tevinter, etc, seems so similar. I was hoping for colours closer to the Barcelona Cathedral - brown, yellow-ish lighting, green from foliage.

I like the openness of it however. I think that maybe some inspiration was taken from the Vatican city?

Possibly, but the basic set-up, with wings and a statue/obelisk/fountain whatever in centre-front is not unusual. The 'openness' of the Grand Cathedral model, however, is nullified by the somewhat squat, blockish, intimidating, depressing style of architecture.

Here's another view of St. Peter's, from the basilica itself:



Much nicer than the 'Grand Cathedral', and, while huge, somewhat more human-scale. Friendlier somehow, and not so depressing.

Begemotka wrote...
I wanted to ask,if I may,Das Tentakel : are you by any chance a "learned council" in architecture / design,or a related discipline,or is it simply a personal interest?

 

Mostly personal interest, though also a bit from my education (history degree).  
Keen archaeology lover, though, and a DM who uses a lot of pictures in his sessions.
And a soft spot for Austria-Hungary . Es lebe der Kaiser!

Modifié par Das Tentakel, 27 avril 2012 - 06:14 .