Advanced building guide

A good build in Minecraft is made up of a mix of style purpose atmosphere and detail for an advanced builder there are a number of useful tools available to them

Purpose
For a build to excel it needs to show purpose not just in it's structures but also it's environment. When building ask yourself, "why is this here" if the reason is only because it looks nice it's usually a not a good idea. the building themselves can show purpose via their use. the easiest buildings to show purpose in are mills and blacksmiths. this can be done just through block placement. The sign of a poor quality build that lacks purpose is one that it needs signposts to show what it is.

The environment is also capable of showing purpose. Roads are one of the most overlooked when it comes to purpose. Usually people just chose 1 material to build a road out of regardless of it's purpose. look at it and ask yourself "why would this poor farmer have a road made entirely out of stone brick?" In truth a farmer should at most have a road made of cobblestone and gravel, or dirt.

The landscape itself can also show purpose through it's features. Rivers display this via erosion. if a 4 wide river just starts somewhere wouldn't that be a little odd? Therefor you should add rivulets and creeks from the hills surrounding it to add to the purpose of a build.

a castle -> why is it there and what is it defending?

a smith  -> where does it get it's ore from?

a mill     -> where does the grain come from and are there fields nearby?

a mine   -> is it mining stone or ore, where does this material go to?

Trees can add a lot to a build if you put in a lot of effort. vanilla, or notch trees are very unimaginative. try modelling off real trees like pine and oak. Good custom trees often use a "skeleton" frame of branches which are then covered up by leaves.

Terraforming (by the Civilisation )
Worlds that haven't been civilized are very fertile and have lots of trees and plants (of course), so depending on how new your civilization is you may want to have more or less of those. Also, the older the civilization gets the more advanced their farming gets (such as the three plot system, where two farms are in use each year and one takes a break). Also, city locations are generally placed best near water (for easy transport and defence) though it does not always have to be that way.

Location
The location of the city also determines the building style. If your terrain is more mountain-like then there will be a rougher type of city, perhaps more work oriented (mining, etc). Flatter terrains are more suited to calm lifestyles such as farming and as such that will change your style of builds.

Style
a good build should have 1 consistent style throughout it; a bad build has multiple / lacks a prominent style

Atmosphere
atmosphere is what truly defines a plot. it can give a plot a sense of life.

Lighting
lighting is one of the most important, and easy ways to add atmosphere to a build. If used correctly it can make a build seem cozy & warm, or ominous and foreboding. it can really add to a build, and is often overlooked. Redstone torches, lamps, beacons without the beam make good interesting light sources.

Environment
the use of trees, rocks and biomes within a build also can create the affect of atmosphere, an important thing to note is the use of flowers in a build, they should be used sparingly or in groups of 1 type, mixing flowers rarely enhances a build so be careful if doing it.

Trees can add a lot to a build if you put in a lot of effort. vanilla, or notch trees are very unimaginative. try modelling off real trees like pine and oak. Good custom trees often use a "skeleton" frame of branches which are then covered up by leaves.

Detail
one of the most important things in a build is detail. usually it is overlooked by most people, however a build with lots of attention to detail is usually epic. the easiest way to add detail is, by asking yourself "is that space too plain?" if it is then, ask yourself "what can i add?"

Story
Story is super important if you really want to do something well. Thinking about religion, culture and the environment around it all contribute to the style of the build. A great example of this is the industrial revolution. The time period was all about mass expansion and production with little thought to the damage it could do or little thought to make structurally strong builds. As the city gets busier they aren't going to take the time to make a home "home" like, so the builds are very sloppily put together and can often be very dirty looking. In context of a medieval build you could create a religion or use one that already exists in that time period (Catholicism is the most common choice). To use that example, having a religion of catholicism in the theme or image that you create leads you to create a priest's home which would be humble yet completely devoted to their God.

Depth
Depth is important as well and, the larger you go, the more important it becomes. It would be especially important in such a build like a castle because of its ability to draw your eyes into the build as it emphasizes everything around the build. Your eyes expect something to be there but there isn't, so it tricks the eyes into thinking the build is better than it is. I'm sure you guys know all about it

Colour palette
The Colour palette you use in Minecraft is very important. Though it may be practical and make sense in your theme to make a house completely out wood planks, in minecraft it won't look as nearly as good (just like looking at plain old hills looks cool in pictures but not in mc) so you have to break the rules a little bit in order to acheive the right effect of realism. Everything built in MC is theoretically fantasy because it's not a real life building, so with time you learn which rules to break and which to not.

Tools
there are various tool available to a builder to help them
 * https://donatstudios.com/PixelCircleGenerator - Circle generator
 * http://www.ancientfortresses.org/rooms-in-a-medieval-castle.htm - how castles really are
 * http://minecraft-ids.grahamedgecombe.com/ - block ID list