La Previsora Building 2.0.0

Perdón por no revisar tus edificios antes, les he pasado por encima varias veces pero recién tengo tiempo para decir algo coherente al respecto.

Como he escrito antes con otros creadores novatos, lo primero es justificar mi evaluación: estoy poniéndole solo 3 estrellas a un buen modelo, no porque crea que yo podría hacer algo mejor (de hecho, no podría, soy bastante malo para modelar en 3D), sino porque ponerle una mejor nota a este edificio sería quitarle valor a las mejores evaluaciones que tus futuros edificios tendrán: una y otra vez en la comunidad hemos visto como llegan creadores que hacen contribuciones bastante modestas y van avanzando hasta producir auténticas obras de arte; si no me crees, revisa los edificios de @Diego Del Llano, que son la mejor evidencia de que la práctica, la persistencia y el compartir aprendizajes dan bellísimos frutos. Te doy ahora 3 estrellas para poder poner después 5 estrellas a tus futuros edificios, que vamos a tener que mirar con cuidado para diferenciar de fotografías aéreas.

Ahora, respecto a qué mejorar en específico, creo que la clave está en que, cuando recreas un objeto de la vida real, tienes que poner el foco en copiar tan bien como sea posible, antes que en crear algo que recuerde conceptualmente al original. Tu torre es inconfundiblemente la Previsora de Caracas, no hay forma de confundirse, pero no se ve como la de verdad:

Uno de los motivos más fundamentales es que omitiste el modelado de los primeros pisos y que estilizaste muchas características del edificio, como los cilindros que sobresalen de las paredes laterales. Lo mismo ocurre con el techo: de lo que se alcanza a ver en las imágenes satelitales, es una cubierta metálica pintada de rojo, con una varanda, un par de antenas y algunos aparatos de aire acondicionado:

Algo en lo que además el software te está jugando una mala pasada es el uso de texturas para el modelo: Gmax es conocido por tener problemas de 'quemado' de texturas, por lo que todas ellas se ven más iluminadas y blancas de lo que son en realidad, obligándote a usar texturas más oscuras que las reales para balancear. La estrategia ideal en este caso es buscar texturas de buena calidad, lo más parecidas posibles al color y la forma original (una búsqueda de google por 'concrete texture seamless' puede dar buenos resultados gratuitos) y oscurecerlas con algún editor de imágenes (como Paint.net o the GIMP) hasta que en el modelo final se vean lo más parecido posible a las fotografías de referencia (siempre tienes que usar fotografías de referencia, de preferencia de días despejados de verano, que son los más parecidos al clima mediterráneo que el juego simula). Por último, una regla de oro: en la realidad, no existe el color blanco perfecto: todo es, como máximo, de un gris muy claro, más aún en el contexto de Simcity 4, en el que todos los colores son bastante pasteles y apagados.

Otro problema que es más del software que tuyo es el de los cristales, pues Gmax no es capaz de trabajar con materiales translúcidos, pero de nuevo hay formas de resolverlo: usa una textura grisácea y oscura pero varía en pequeñas cantidades de cristal a cristal dependiendo de lo que estarían reflejando en la vida real: como esta torre es piramidal, y curvada, los primeros pisos debiesen mostrar los edificios de en frente pero angulados, mientras que las plantas superiores apuntarían al horizonte más distante. Usa como referencia el trabajo de @madhatter106, uno de los pocos creadores veteranos que siguen usando Gmax.

Finalmente, y como ya te sugirieron antes, crea un hilo de desarrollo para tus edificios en la sección de creadores, en la que otros jugadores con más experiencia estarán felices de ayudarte a mejorar, y otros tantos menos talentosos nos apareceremos de vez en cuando a celebrar tus esfuerzos.

 

Spoiler

Sorry for not reviewing your buildings before, I've gone over them several times but I just have time to say something coherent about it.

As I've written before with other novice creators, the first thing is to justify my evaluation: I'm putting only 3 stars to a good model, not because I think I could do something better (in fact, I could not, I'm bad enough to model in 3D) , but because to put a better note to this building would be to detract from the best evaluations that your future buildings will have: again and again in the community we have seen how creators arrive who make rather modest contributions and with the time they go on to produce authentic works of art; If you do not believe me, check out the buildings of Diego Del Llano, which are the best evidence that practice, persistence and sharing lessons give great results. I give you now 3 stars to be able to put 5 stars to your future buildings, which we are going to have to look carefully to differentiate from aerial photographs.

Now, on what to improve specifically, I think the key is that when you recreate a real-life object, you have to focus on copying as well as possible, rather than creating something that is conceptually reminiscent of the original. Your tower is unmistakably the Previsora de Caracas, there is no way to get confused, but it does not look like the real one:

[front view]

One of the most fundamental reasons is that you omitted the modelling of the first floors and stylized many features of the building, such as the cylinders that protrude from the side walls. The same thing happens with the roof: what can be seen in the satellite images is a metal cover painted red, with a veranda, a pair of antennas and some air conditioners:

[overview]

Something in which the software is also playing a trick on you is the use of textures for the model: Gmax is known to have 'burned texures' problems, so they all look brighter and more white than they are actually, forcing you to use textures darker than real to balance. The ideal strategy in this case is to look for good quality textures, as close as possible to the original color and shape (a google search for 'concrete texture seamless' can give good free results) and darken them with an image editor (such as Paint .net or the GIMP) until in the final model they look as similar as possible to the reference photographs (you always have to use reference photographs, preferably of clear summer days, which are the most similar to the Mediterranean climate that the game simulates). Finally, a golden rule: in reality, there is no perfect white colour: everything is, at most, a very light grey, even more in the context of Simcity 4, in which all colours are pretty pastel and turned off

Another problem that is more of the software than yours is that of crystals, because Gmax is not able to work with translucent materials, but again there are ways to solve it: you have to use a grayish and dark texture but varying in small amounts from crystal to crystal depending of what they would be reflecting in real life: as this tower is pyramidal, and curved, the first floors should show the buildings in front but angled, while the upper floors would point to the more distant horizon. Use as a reference the work of madhatter106, one of the few veteran creators who continue to use Gmax.

Finally, and as it was suggested before, create a development thread for your buildings in the creators section, in which other players with more experience will be happy to help you improve, and we, the others less talented will appear from time to time to celebrate your efforts.

 

I agree that this is really a very promising first model and you've made a good job of some of the details. It fits in pretty well amongst the original Maxis buildings, which is not as easy to do as some might think.

The lotting is also acceptable, you've avoided the common pitfall of placing a tower on a concrete base. Instead we've some walkways/paths and flora, along with other details.

You've forgotten to list the SFBT Essentials package as a dependency (textures). Also, I checked and the NAM isn't required to use this lot. You may find an application SC4 Tool useful, it has a Dependency Scanner that will help you identify which files you've used on your lots.

Lastly, I see you've included two lots in the download, but I'm not entirely sure why, is one different somehow? I see both are landmarks? It's always helpful if you mention things like this in your upload description. So people will know exactly what to expect when they download your work. Is it a Growable, Ploppable building? How big is it (Lot Size), how many (if any) jobs it has and some other details. Again SC4 Tool can help you here, it has a function that collects this info for you, so you can simply copy/paste it however you want to use it. Please feel free to ask for help (even in Spanish) if you need help with any of this.

You've also included a SC4Desc file, but actually these are only needed temporarily. When you add a building in the Lot Editor to make your lot, this file is embedded (included) in the new SC4Lot file. Ideally you should remove such files before distributing.

Overall though, a fine first effort, thanks for sharing it with us all.

Very good for a first one