Building Log: World Trade Center (Pre-9/11)

[USA_Pride 49]

Rubik,

Great work and thank you! Please consider instead of the 15 on the helipad putting 343. But I can understand not putting it because this is meant to be an extremely accurate re-creation and not a memorial.

[MayorTim 16]

Im getting a twitch Rubik... HURRY UP!!!!!

[Zeplo 0]

Is the helipad functional?

PS. Great work on the towers

[jcabassa 20]

WHAT'S TAKING SO LONG?!?!?!

 

-jcab

[Incognito 19]

No words are strong enough to express the awe I feel.
Maxis would be very lucky to be able to make something like this.

[BigMac 24]

rubik3, I didn't know this until recently, but the latest configuration of the plaza benches before 9/11 was a spiral pattern (with potted flowers in-between two benches), starting at the fountain and spiraling outward...as opposed to the previous pattern we have often seen in pictures in which the benches simply circle around the fountain. Here is a picture of the spiral configuration:

 

http://www.911digitalarchive.org/images/files/2212.500px.pjpeg>

[+Guest]

First of all, let me say how awesome your building is. It actually looks professional, like it belongs in SC4. As a WTC nut, I have to give a few nitpicks:

There was a post earlier in the thread that said there were no american flags on the outside of the WTC.... That is incorrect. There was a flag on the rooftop.

Also... There were two smaller antennas on either side of the main antenna that were more prominent than the other rooftop antennas. You can see that on this diagram (on the right of the page):
http://www.skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=15&drawingID=20703

Good luck!

[MTLT_17 27]

----------------

On 2/13/2004 5:27:42 AM ATPjohn wrote:Bloody hell! Is that done from memory?

I agree that Maxis should recruit you.

----------------

Well man that is a very ironic phrase. Bloody Hell! I mean wasn't that what happened on that tragic day? Really man you should really read your typing before you post.

[rubik3 118]

Thx for the pic Bigmac....its an angle i haven't seen before.  Here's another update showing a closeup of the entry.

[BigMac 24]

I read an excellent study on the World Trade Center a few months ago called Twin Towers by Angus Kress Gillespie (I highly recommend it to rubik3 and other World Trade Center enthusiasts). I was impressed to read that the Sphere was mounted on a turntable that rotated the sculpture at variable speeds (a complete rotation could occur from every 36 minutes to every twelve hours). I was not aware of that, and such subtleties add to the former trade center's appeal and endearment to me. While not a crucial detail, it would be interesting to see it applied to the lot...a slowly rotating Sphere.

[The Evil Octopus Man 25]

rubic3, that is amazing!  I found a site that you might want to look at, it has tons of pics of the World Trade Center.  This is the address: http://www.september-11th.us/Archive.html   Again, great job!

[Equinox 1,218]

Unfortunately, BigMac, I don't think that's possible unless it's a preexisting prop (which I'm 99% sure it's not).  One of the BAT's limitations (probably half-caused by the impatience of so many of the members here) is that it can't do animations.  Which is really too bad ...

 

And Rubik3, do you have any idea on the timeframe of these?

The bases look incredible, that's the hardest part of any skyscraper I think.

[BigMac 24]

Thanks Equinox; I'm not as familiar with the BAT because I'm so far too intimidated to start working with it. https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/images/smilies/2.gif border=0>

 

 

[rubik3 118]

I think if everything goes smoothly i'll have both towers finished and exported in about a week.  Detail work is taking quite a bit of time and draft previews are taking longer and longer.  But I guarentee it'll be worth the wait.

[SimTiki 4]

Rotating props are already in the game. The signs outside fast food restaurants are set to rotate (the soft drink cup and the burger). Theres also an oblong-shaped prop (originally related to the airport) that rotates.

While it is probably possibly to make the sphere rotate, that kind of obsessive detail is a bit excessive IMHO. But, its rubik's creation, so he can obviously choose to include whatever he wants.

[BigMac 24]

I agree, SimTiki...that's more of an expendable detail, but one worth mentioning since few people knew about it. I'm looking forward to seeing what kinds of details will be in the final release.

[jcabassa 20]

Rubik, it will definately be worth the wait! I know for sure it will! This will be the best building in the history of Simcity!!!!!

 

-jcab

[BigMac 24]

Here are panoramas of the plaza and observation deck.

[The PhantoM 1]

awesome! Outstanding work there... can't wait when they're finished.

[jcabassa 20]

Well, rubik. Its been about a week. Are they ready yet? How are they going?

 

-jcab

[frogface 354]

rubik shall we start betting how long it'll take to render that WTC? https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/images/smilies/9.gif>

 

[SimTiki 4]

They're still rendering actually.

[rubik3 118]

Well, rubik. Its been about a week.

 

Did I miss a meeting with the National Calander Committee?  I didn't know a week was changed to 3 days .

 

I had a rush job and I was helping Joerg with his Space Needle so I haven't been able to post any updates.  I have a high quality preview rendering right now and I'll post some images when it's done though.  Tower 2 is close to complete with some miniscule but important details left to add and when thats finished I just have to finish the roof and change the entry of Tower 1.

 

The models will probably be done sometime this week.  Then it's anybodys guess on how long they will take to export.  I'm guessing that these 2 models might break the 24 hour mark for each export.

 

Thx for that link Bigmac.  When I first clicked it a couple days ago I must have missed the top views somehow.  It shows everything I was missing....which turns out to be a lot.  All the views I had were of the inside out and I didn't get to see all the interior light posts which I had previously guessed on.  Looks like the release is going to be pushed out a few more hours.

[rubik3 118]

Well 5 hours later the preview is finally done.  Multiply that by 4 and thats 20 hours for the zoom1 images alone.  It looks like this might be a multi-day export.  Now that the renders are finally complete I can get back to work changing a bunch of details on the roof.

 

 

[falcon5018 22]

wow, 20 hours for zoom 1...

 

imagine zoom 5.  that will take a week https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/images/smilies/3.gif>

 

good luck, these are incredible!

[Smurfer2 7]

This is the best BAT building or Maxis building ever! You are creating a building surpasssing Maxis itself. Great job!https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/images/smilies/2.gif>

[DarkMatter 21]

Hey Rubik, I've got a question. What camera/lighting rig are you using? The shadows look like your using the huge rig, and it looks like its WAY too big. I figured out you can manually select the rig you want to use, and I was able to get the Medium sized rig working for Ed_Diaz's Sears Tower (he was having problems with rigs). When I used the huge rig, render times took a lot longer (I only did low-quality renders, not high, but there was a noticable difference)....maybe this is why its taking so long? I've got a model that over 100,000 polygons, and it takes maybe 20-30 minutes to render one angle at zoom 5, and thats with the normal lighting rig. I know the WTC has more polygons than my building, but it can't be more than a few hundred thousand, and your render times seem overly long for a building thats only as  tall as the Sears Tower. If you don't already know how to manually select your cam/light rig, let me know, and I'll give you instructions.

[rubik3 118]

Actually I meant zoom 5.  For some reason I always think of zoom1 being the closest.

 

Thx for the tip DM i'll give that a try right now.  I am using the huge rig so i'll downgrade to the medium and give it a test.  That might also explain the shadow problems i'm having on the roof.  I always thought the rig was too small but it might be the other way around.

[DarkMatter 21]

Heh, yeah, the rig you got going is WAY too big....its streaching and blurring your shadows so much they almost dissapear. I think that at that distance, there are more light rays to calculate, or something, because render times really do increase the bigger the rig.

[rubik3 118]

Well after doing one test it looks like the medium rig took about 10% longer and now the shadows have completely disappeared.  Off to try the large rig.