ArdaCraft

A grassy meadow surrounded by trees

Wandering through the White Mountains

Well, mirror and goose #pixelart

Hi! Sharing my stuff on here, I do low-poly/pixel 3D art ☕

The forests of western Rohan

😘

A country path

Imagine starting a Minecraft project 10 years ago and then hearing an ex-Rockstar dev who worked on RDR2 say "you're using the same workflows that the mainstream game studios employ - all arrived at in relative isolation..."

🥹

Minas Tirith looming over the countryside

YouTube video by Game World Art ArdaCraft: Bag End to Bree - Environment Artist Explores #1

An ex-Rockstar Games environment artist who worked on #RDR2 and #GTAV has been exploring our vision of Middle-earth 🧙‍♂️

These are fantastic videos that really capture the fact that we're trying to do environmental art just like the pros!

youtu.be/1KUQGZLrZ3Q

AND SO IT BEGINS!!

@tearreader.bsky.social and I will be trekking through minecraft middle earth (server created by @ardacraft.bsky.social and following the steps of Frodo and Sam!! #minecraft #lotr

CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU GUYS!!!

STREAM STARTS AT 11:00 AM (PST) / 2:00 PM (EST)

PPP Moot is happening this December 18th-21st! We have a full schedule – keynotes, presentations, papers, entertainments and other digressions – from Thursday evening to Sunday noon for both in-person and online attendees!

It’s only lembas if it’s produced in the Naith region of Lórien, otherwise it’s just sparkling waybread

I can’t even avoid idiot AI bros when I go to Oxford. My brother in Earendil ChatGPT is not the same thing as the steam engine.

We were worried it was going to be that bad yeah

A Mediterranean countryside scene. Baked dirt and scrubby plants in the foreground, looking over fields towards a ruined aqueduct

Gondorian countryside

The Great Gate of Minas Tirith

Only available to attendees unfortunately

@blu3r4d0n.shutdown.network reposting here - it’s pretty clearly about generative AI and they even propose making some live at the event

Sadly it’s very much “we are going to do this and we’re even going to make some Tolkien-related AI art live at the event”

Really quite disheartening and disappointing to see the Tolkien Society hosting a discussion on “AI in fantasy filmmaking” this year at Oxonmoot.

It feels about as morally and philosophically opposed to Tolkien’s work as a talk on the benefits of deforestation.

Some recent shots - Minas Tirith, Bree, and the Dead Marshes

YouTube video by ArdaCraft Gondor | Mediterranean Nature Ambience & Music | Minecraft

We've just released a 1hr37 music and nature ambience video set in the Gondorian countryside!

Perfect background to writing, reading, or building fields on ArdaCraft 🌱

youtu.be/49vt6MgVIBM

A field in Gondor with Minas Tirith and Mindolluin in the background

A ship docked alongside a town on the River Anduin

A rural pathway

Gondor is coming along nicely.

The Blue Mountains - based on the landscapes of Scotland and Norway

An image of the Blue Mountains from the ArdaCraft project

The Blue Mountains getting a bit of a facelift

#Minecraft

At that point we can query whether this is literally true or if it comes from the bias of Gondorian historians ;)

Lifespan is a pretty good proxy for veneration of Eru, righteousness, etc. The later Númenórean gu kings were every bit as “blood pure” but their lifespan reduced nevertheless

We see this with Aragorn, where his lifespan far exceeds that of his more recent ancestors. He seems to be somehow “more Númenórean” and I don’t think it’s about blood purity but rather about deeds/fate

The Kinstrife in Gondor was a civil war kicked off because some of the old Númenórean nobility were so racist that they couldn’t abide their king being married to one of “lesser race”. But they ended up losing and were explicitly the Not Good Side.