Building Style Examples
These are some examples of different types of builds and tips & tricks on how to build in those styles. Feel free to use any of the ideas or parts you see here- incorporating pieces of other builds into your own builds can greatly improve your skills. Also, I've tried to put little lessons in most of these that you can use in all your building, so you should read all of these, if only for completeness' sake.
Style 1: Classic Medieval
This is the style that most people are familiar with, and is the easiest to pull off well with little experience. Regular wood and pearlwood are both great choices, though I prefer pearlwood- it makes great flooring in my experience. Planked wood is also great for walls, since solid stone brick can be a bit boring. Notice how I made my spiral staircase and ladder- these designs are some of my favorites to use in all my builds. Medieval builds are great for using squares and rectangles- simply add a few towers to a box, put some crenellations on top (the alternating brick, in case you don't know), and you're well on your way to a great medieval house. Lastly, I'd like you to notice how I put brick walls right below the crenellations to create that raised effect.
Style 2: Grungy Modern
This type of build is actually sort of my own creation- it's clean, but has a seedy sort of look to it. This build in particular looks like it could be a restaurant of sorts on the outskirts of a city. Sandstone and tin bricks are a must for this style, and stone slabs also work well. It sort of has a greyish, dull look to it with the sandstone to break things up a bit. I recommend using glass furniture and lights, though you can, of course, choose whatever you like. Remember, experimentation with builds is always a good thing- they might not work well often, but sometimes you'll come up with a whole new build style, like I did.
Style 3: Clean Modern
This is similar to grungy modern, but cleaner and whiter with crazier geometry. This is actually a style that I sort of "imported" from Minecraft, and I think it works rather well in Terraria. The flooring is actually boreal wood painted grey- always remember that paint is an option. Also, that clean, white wall is really white dynasty walls in disguise. One of my favorite things to do when building is to use blocks for purposes they're not intended for- the results often surprise me.
Actually, now that I'm looking at the build, I kind of wish I put a row of tin bricks along the top of the first floor instead of just the second. Looking back at your builds a day or two later is actually really pivotal in the building process- all these were built in about half an hour each, and definitely aren't as good as they could be.
Style 4: Oriental
Sometimes, Terraria will give you a set of default blocks and walls for a specific style. Using just these blocks will give you an OK build, but it'll never be as good as it could be. Sometimes you need to mix things up with different blocks, and that's what I've done here. This build is sort of a mix between dynasty and living wood, creating a unique feel that neither can have by themselves. I'd also like to point out that this type of build can be a lot more impressive than my example shows; some styles are easier to build with than others, and this is definitely one of the harder ones for me.
Style 5: Dark Medieval
Think classic medieval, but with lots of dungeon features and more outcroppings. This is also more likely to feature angular geometry- sort of an upside trapezoid shape like the featured build. I recommend dim lighting like the carriage lamps used in this build. Generally, blue and pink dungeon bricks are better, though green is still definitely a viable option; really, it's all dependent on your personal taste. I believe that's pink slab wall I'm using as the main background- remember, there's 3 different types of walls for each color of dungeon brick, resulting in a staggering 9 different options of wall! And that's just for the dungeon walls- gray brick is also viable, as is anything else with a sort of dull feel and lots of texture.
Style 6: Hellish Medieval
Yep, more medieval. This time, it's a variant that works well in the Underworld. Something that honestly surprised me is how well red brick goes in this type of build. I always imagine red brick to be pretty much reserved for "alley pizzeria" type builds, but it actually ties the whole build together, along with the lighting. Lighting is very important in a build, especially if you're using some sort of colored torches or lanterns. The diablost lamps create that lava glow without me needing to pour lava everywhere or put down ugly living fire blocks. The proper lighting can also expand the types of materials you use in the build- normally, wooden beams would clash horribly, but the red light it's bathed in helps it fit in with the rest of the build.
Style 7: Icey
Sometimes, the style you choose means you have limited materials. This forces you to be creative with what you do with them, and this is a great example of that. I sort of deviated from the classic "all ice/snow bricks, all ice furniture" approach many take to icey builds. I put in blue stained glass- seriously, that's amazing, you people should do that more often- and mixed in some boreal wood and a pearlwood door. The curved roof actually works surprisingly well, but it may be challenging to create that sort of roof for some of you. Overall, this style is simpler and harder to deviate from, but can create a pleasant look.
This list is in no way complete, but it should give you some inspiration for your builds. Also, please leave feedback on this tutorial and feel free to ask for me to elaborate on anything or suggest future parts of the guide!
