Nofunk's BAT Thread

[SimHoTToDDy 2,938]

I'd like to file a missing person's report. Here is what you should be on the lookout for:

You had better not let Vlasky see this! I'll have the paramedics on stand by just in case.

[Simfan34 11]

Just fantastic! I don't have time to explicate upon particular details, for then I'd be up all night, but I can't wait to see this in my cities!

[harishna 847]

you are so good at this!

[Francis90b 748]

I think it's coming along very well, but to be honest i'm not too convinced by the current set of textures...

While each texture blends well with the others, i believe that the overall effect is too light, almost ethereal or evanescent...

In this respect, i liked more the older set of textures you used (the one you weren't so satisfied with...sure, they were bright, but they didn't look too "light"...

Maybe you might play a bit with brightness and saturation...

I'm glad you're planning to fullfill my (and other people's) little wish, and i will surely wait for the separate versions .

[T Wrecks 10,209]

So if you want these separated, and can be patient, then I will sure try to oblige!

I might very well be a patient once all this is done.

I'm eager to see how you will tweak and finish the textures, too! Right now the walls still look somewhat sterile, but seeing your previous releases and considering your skills, I'm pretty confident that this will change.

[Vlasky 1,803]

My My MY . .. . . MINE

[Jazzmaster 716]

That's quite amazing sir!

[art128 4,618]

I.... Awesome!

[Jack_wilds 550]

Pretty awesome ability there NoFunk... its a grand project showing real progress...

you got some talent with this sort of thing, don't ya? Merry Christmas dude... [insert Christmas emoticon]... like the notion of separating the two buildings as well...

Peace and Blessings

[nofunk 1,933]

SimHoTToDDy: Organizing the search party right now...

T Wrecks: Yeah, I agree... I think at the very least I need to add some pop / contrast to the base limestone texture. I'm also hoping the glass texture will add some much needed variation.

Francis90b: Hehehe... you realize the only texture I've changed (that you saw on the previous render) is the roof? The brick, terra cotta and limestone are all unchanged!

Vlasky: Where do you keep finding these videos?! (I mean, I know... youtube... but still!)

Jack_Wilds: Thanks! Merry Christmas to you too!

Simfan34, harishna, Yoshiiland, art128: Thank you all!!

[Francis90b 748]

Nay, i'm afraid i didn't notice this .

Actually, i've thought that feelt so different, now that they're combined with the base, that they were different textures!

You know what is my opinion (and TWreck's one, with whom i also agree) about the current situation, but i think will just look for how the situation will be once you will add the window texture, and then comment again on it...one should learn from his mistakes, right ?

[shinkansen1 84]

Oh wow, it took me two whole days to figure out that SimHoTToDDy's picture was a lower jaw! But that aside, your creations are going to revive the STEX with new high-quality content, and I very much look forward to it!

[nofunk 1,933]

Hey everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the holidays. They sure have kept me busy!

I know I have been pretty quiet lately, and I had anticipated (and blown) a Christmas release of Carew Tower, but don't worry! I'm still working on it, just putting the final touches on things.

Take care! Happy New Year!!

[Jazzmaster 716]

No worries my friend. We all are just human in the end.

[nofunk 1,933]

Hey everyone! Happy New Year!

I've started working on Carew Tower again, and I think the day version is all done! Here it is, in all its glory:

Hope everyone is doing well! I should have more updates soon!

[Andrey km 304]

Fantastic! I love this building Have you did the nightlights??

[Sgt Pepper 864]

BEE-A-YOOtiful!

[Delecto 941]

Fantastic

[gutterclub 2,729]

Wonderful..a work of art!

[Francis90b 748]

I think it's looking good, but far from perfect.

You can almost notice every brick on the brick walls, and in the same time, you can hardly notice a limestone block here and there in the light, uniform mass of the limestone cladding!

To be honest, i don't really think that the two textures blend well together, and i believe their contrast level should be adjusted.

If you want to keep brick the same, perhaps you should make the limestone blocks more noticeable.

If you want to keep the limestone the same, perhaps you might want to make the brick less noticeable.

Personally, i think that both those operations are necessary, and that the "best possible outcome" lies in the middle.

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Wow! I'm eagerly anticipating the moment when I see this one on the STEX listen to the sweet "badonkadonk" sound when it falls into my plugins folder.

However, I partly agree with Francis about the limestone. I don't mind the bricks personally, but the limestone at the base looks a bit cloudy to me in places. The first thing I noticed, however, is that the window texture doesn't seem to work in some places. The towers are great - you really get the illusion of curtains there. I like that a lot. However, on the larger window panes at the base (which are not separated by wider columns of solid wall) it looks like some undefined veil of smoke, and it appears to be entirely black and white while the rest of the building is colourful.

Well, probably my description is rather helpless and crappy, but in any case something about the base windows doesn't sit quite right with me.

Apart from these points, this building is sheer awesomeness!

[art128 4,618]

That is a great news! Looking really sweet, Nofunk!

[Aaron Graham 4,417]

Looks fantastic I can't wait to keep the night lights.

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

:wub:

[Jack_wilds 550]

all I can add is... WoW! you can be really proud of this one

  Edited January 13, 2012 by Jack_wilds  

[nofunk 1,933]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions! I have tried to address the concerns that Francis90b and T Wrecks mentioned:

1. I increased the contrast on the limestone base texture, to bring out more of the detail and match it better to the brick.

2. I darkened and lowered the contrast on the ground plane (it turns out this had more of an effect than anything on changing the overall look of the building).

3. I tweaked the glass texture.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure how much more I can do on the glass, although it's still not where I want it to be. I think it looks fine on the towers, but on the base it's still a bit dull and muddy. I think the main challenge is how big those windows are -- it's very difficult to make them look realistic without actually modeling the insides.

In any event, here's a new preview! Thoughts? Suggestions?

[Vlasky 1,803]

Truly orgasmic your building is!

For that not so nice reflection of white roofs on the base glass, try changing the very map building is reflecting. Just localize where on the image those nasty reflections are and replace them

Also, about my precious badonk-a-donk, that air shaft looks very funky just sticking out of the concrete, maybe something around it can help with that (like darkening of the material around it, if not modeling a tiny base). Another thing is that huge chimney, which, even if it never was chimney or blew some kind of smoke, must be quite darker on the inside and bit on the edges where the opening is on exterior part.

[Amthaak 1,501]

Same as Vlasky...! I mean, I want it now!

  Edited January 14, 2012 by Amthaak  

[Francis90b 748]

Better now !

I really like the changes you made.

If you still want to dedicate some time to it, i'd say to make the lines betweeen the limestone blocks a bit visible...it might seem counter-realistic at first, but maybe adding some "dividing lines" would help in further enhancing the illusion that your texture is aiming to give.

I'd also (but this is just personal taste, and no more) tone down the bricks a little further.

But the current situation is pretty good, and i don't think that any significant change should be taken into this direction...if you take my whims over this topic you should be subtle, or you might end up with an amorphous orange "something" !

Is the flashing (the thin white lines at the top of every wall section) going to remain white?

I think that Vlasky hit some important points, and i quite agree with his considerations about the chimneys and roofs.

Oh, and one last thing, since it looks like you are going to work on the glass anyway (and i know i'm extremely demanding!) you might, if it is feasible for you to do so (i don't know how did you model it) add some curtains and drapes on some of the windows...they should help bringing out some "life" on such a large building with so many windows...maybe you might detach some parts of some of your glass panels and apply a bitmap to fake this.

  Edited January 14, 2012 by Francis90b  

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

Looks great so far. But I think the textures on the windows of the ground floor need to be improved