K4404 BATS- (curr. Harbor Center B.C. and Modular Ski Project)

[kevinman4404 55]

EDIT: WELCOME TO KEVINMAN4404's BATs AND OTHER!

Current Projects: Harbour Centre (BAT), Ski Project (BATs), Venetaar (map)

f I can get past my knowledge barriers, I will keep you all updated on the project.

First a couple questions:

How do you make joining lines, ie Maxis/Stex power lines?

also, I saw something to do with animations in one of the modding section programs. Which was it?

My first update will be of the chairlift beginning/end, I think

[kevinman4404 55]

Here's my first update, on the skilift station. Havent put any detail really on it yet, it will come. Also, sorry for the bad quality, I saved it in paint lol.



Next I'm doing the beginning of the lift, which connects to the back of the station, then I'm gonna add detail. Hope to have another update today, I may or may not. 

If anyone knows the answers to the above questions please tell me, either that or its going to be a split, sloping lot =D which may or may not work, we shall c

[NewEnglandGangsta511 1]

ahh ive been waiting all my life for a ski thing.... good luck ill be watching

[lrfox 2]

very cool. i wish i could help you w/ the project, but i'm guessing in order to use power lines as your lift poles and line (which is what i get that your intention is by reading your post... so correct me if i'm wrong) that you will have to do some serious Mod work which i'm sure can be done but it may be difficult. Check one of the mod threads for that.

My guess is the easiest way to do it would be to make each lift line an overhanging prop. each one could be different lengths and angles so you could have different length liftlines. i DON'T know how that would work w/ changing elevations though. Someone from BSC did a scenic cable car but it was horizantal, not rising up a mountain. if you search the STEX for "cable" i'm sure you could find it and PM them a question.

I'm getting ahead of myself. i'm sure you know more than i do already, and i hope someone can give you the right answer. i love where this is going and if it can work, it's incredible.... nice job on the model. that looks like the lift entrance to a detachable high speed quad and it's perfect. keep it up.

[kevinman4404 55]

@NewEng.. Glad it can be of use There are other attempts, but none had any modding, barely any batting, and werent practical liek the sets made by peg, ddwd, etc

@Irfox thanks for the reply. Hmm, I was thinking about that. If it was all one building on the lot (station, pillars, cable) it would all be tilted, including the posts which should be straight, and it may require different lots with different slopes, which would be crazy (in numbers, lots of files are needed already ). 

My thought is that I will either do my latest idea, which are blending, thinning cables, to give the illusion that they continue, but you just cant see them That or make a sepearte lot in different lengths for the pillars+cable, which would possibly work nicely, thought I am most worried about how the cable would stay attached, yet slope with them, cuz remember, the pillars have to remain straight. I will keep anyone watching this thread updated to this... until some practicality comes to light it will be blending cables lol

Here is a nice big update, the start of the lifts...

yes, theres now nightlights. As you can see, as described above, the cables thin into nothingness (for now)

to do list:

~snow covering on building, supports, station, etc

~new textures (more noticeable and realistic ones fr station and metal on the supports)

~warning print on crashmats (on supports)

~name (random) of lift on both sides of rim of station

~other detailing, ie attendants, furniture in the building (cabin), shovels

then there is the list of the entire pack:

~beginning station

~supports w/ disappearing cable

~ending station

~warning signs ie slow down, condition signs and difficulty signs

~ski resort-type trees and tree configurations- mayor and god mode trees dont exactly look that great for this

~lignups

~parking lot

~entrance

~tickets/equipment

~shops

~lodge

~village

~residences (those pretty colourful condos like the ones at blue mountain and mont tremblant, Canada )

~emergency dispatch

~random snowmobiles

~jumps

I'm sure there are more, not that theyre needed, lol, if I remember I'll post them.

Lots of hw, ill try 1 update every day or two

EDIT: I also plan on making the wooden rim, the one on the right of the snowy ski-in, wider and thus more visible.

Enjoy

[WeirdOne 0]

Hey there,

I'm not expert, but I think the easiest way to do this would be to make the lots "slope conforming" (or maybe slop resistant) meaning that when you plop down the specific cable lot, it will be unaffected by the terrain, that way you can have a constant cable slope. For example, say, I had a really steep mountain I wanted to get up. I would use the 60-degree cable slope instead of the 30-degree cable slope (or whatever). I hope that makes sense. That way you can have several sets of cable lots for different angles to match the terrain. Naturally, they would have to be placed at a distance to which was suitable for the mountain/hill slope itself. 

EDIT: - I think a 1x1 lot with the pillars and overhanging cables would be the best solution combined with the above. I forgot to include this bit.

I hope any of that made sense and I hope some transportation or BATers can provide more insight.

[NewEnglandGangsta511 1]

WOW thats looking great. looks pretty realistic to me. all i can do is some basic batting, so i dont no much about modding. but i think the idea weirdone had looks good. cant wait to see how this turns out!

[lrfox 2]

yeah... i like your idea. and from the pictures above i get a better understanding of what it actually entails and i think it'll work. Like WeirdOne said, maybe talk to some of the Transportation Modders and see if they can help. i bet they can think of a way to give you a hand. keep it up tho, you're definitely on the right track.

[gerAndi 29]

looks really good that far

[kevinman4404 55]

Thanks for the comments The conforming thing that was mentioned is what I was originalyl thinking, but I would have to do lots with different slopes, which is possible, but I doubt I'd be able to keep this pack under 10mb, then. Because, even if I do supports and cables seperately, and have them conform to the slope, the cables would not connect to the supports (unless you by some magic get the perfect slope). Otherwise, if it was attached, you would need BATs with different slopes.

Here is my last update on the ski prokect for a week or a week anda  few days, I have accepted a request to do a BAT for Ryan's BC project. This may or may not be shown in this thread.

I have now updated my to-do-list !!!

~beginning station

~supports w/ disappearing cable

~ending station

~warning signs ie slow down, condition signs and difficulty signs

~ski resort-type trees and tree configurations- mayor and god mode trees dont exactly look that great for this

~queues

~parking lot

~entrance

~tickets/equipment

~shops

~lodge

~village

~residences (those pretty colourful condos like the ones at blue mountain and mont tremblant, Canada )

~emergency dispatch

~random snowmobiles

~jumps

~terrain park items, ie rails, boxes

~snowmaking machine(s)

I will update this after every accomplishment of an item. I am (for now) done the chairlift bottom-of-hill station. IT is in PREREADY stage, meaning I'll prolly wanna do really tiny things like small texture tweaks before it is exported. Otherwise it's done. Only other modeling thign I'll do is add some racing skis leaned against the wall of the cabin.

Here are the near-final pics:

lol btw i know the roof texture looks distorted/fake/stretched, all of which it kinda is. I'll consider makign it tileable, or at least tone it down, before release. So don't worry that'll go lol. I'm also considering further randomizing the snow on the cabin roof.

Otherwise, ready to go!

Modding-wise, the vanish/blend idea of the cables still stands, and I have some ideas. I will take your advice and discuss with a BSC or CSX (small but maker of cable car BAT) once the project is restarted.

Please comment and I look forward to resuming this BAT project ina  week and a bit, or exhibiting the Harbour Place in BC even sooner.

Thanks all!

[bwatterud 7]

Looks good, I'll be following this one. I like the idea to make "disappearing" cables, and it might be hard to tell that they even disappear on the snow.

Also, you can change the thread's title by editing your first post.

[Gaston 0]

Okay , admittedly I am not a BATter by any stretch of the imagination.  But,  I might have an idea that could help with the lifts and supports.    What if you re-designed power lines?   They form lines between each other on slope at regular intervals.    Couldn't you use them as a base to start from?    And nothing says you couldn't have a modular ski lift located in the power menu, right?    Basically all you'd have to do is drag them then.

Proably a dumb suggestion.  But there it is anyway.    Hey if it works, You can name one of the dack diamond runs after me sometime.   LOL    

Okay, so I haven't ski'd since I was in college.    Trust me that was a long time ago.

---Gaston

Heck I just thought of how you could make snow making machines; using water splashing effects.   LMAO

[kevinman4404 55]

@ bwatterud: Thanks SO much Title changed and thanks for the following.

@ Gaston: I would do the power line thing, if i knew how, prolyl by asking Simgoober, or whoever was the maker of the heavy power line package. However, even if i did know how, the supports are centered int he middle of squares, so I can only do 2x1, and power liens are 1x1, and I dont think you can change that . I really like your snowmaker idea That really could work! And you never know maybe there's a snow version someone made somewhere. 

PS sure Ill make a run (sign) for you. Maybe beginner run tho  wudnt wanna break ur neck first time back skiing lol. I may implemet a sign-run-name suggestion system, and maybe in-game I could make it so it cycles through the run names and difficulties using the TAB key.

Thanks ppl

EDIT: I remembered and added the last item for the list: snow making machines. Thank you to Gaston for giving me that friendly slap in the face lol

[cammo2003 20]

Using the power lines isn't a bad idea I have to admit. Unfortunately I can't shed any light as to how it's done, either. You'd also be stuck with 4 cables, but I guess you could find a work-around. I'm sure there's a way to make the power lines look like supports for a lift vehicle, but still looking like power cables too (using power cables has a second advantage - you could establish the base stations as power plants and use them to power the snow villages.

I've always felt that the monorail system would make a good stand-in for a situation like this - and it wouldn't look out of place. You'd just need to change what the game sees as the 'deck height', and create new stations. This is definitely possible as it's how the GLR works. You wouldn't be able to use it with the HSRP, but with the new fast curves on standard rail (included in the latest NAM), I suspect more people will be modifying the railway speeds and just using them as HSR (which is what I do - I use the heavy rail as HSR and freight, subway, GLR and el-rail for suburban rail (occasionally using the NDEX sub-rail transition to convert over to rail for short sections) and I don't really use the monorail.

Under-track monorails DO exist (I believe they're used in Japan a bit) and simply suspending the monorail underneath makes it look a lot more realistic in a snow environment. You'd need to modify the track model, but that's definitely possible.

Just a few ideas

[NewEnglandGangsta511 1]

excellent work here, love the snow on the roof. I love how this is coming along.

[kevinman4404 55]

Hey All! Couldn't  help but use up one of my 3 last days to do my entire culminating activity. Crap. BATting's too fun

Changes made:

-retextured station roof

-retextured curved grey pieces just beside/below roof

-retextured snowy cabin roof

-retextured support columns

-retextured supprot pieces

-retextures support wheels (now they actualyl look like wheels lol)

-added fence

-added skis

-added tools (nearly invisible)

Changes to be made before release:

-possible furniture inside building

-possible retexturing of station textures

Somewhere I really need some ideas: does anyone have any ideas on how to make the station more realistic? It seems a little too corny to me, although some are indeed meant to be like that. Any ideas would seriously help

Now for the pics:

Skis =D not that you can see the detail from far away lol

This is just so you can get the idea of what I did for the icy surface- it's where people ski and stand still before being picked up by chairlift, and it thins so noone gets wacked or left behind, of course

Front in daytime

Front at night- ignore that dreadful-looking grille for now lol (yes, the gray thing was meant to be a grill, texture went wacky and I never really noticed till now, will be fixed pronto)

Side during the day. That station is DYING to be more realistic

And here's the side at night.

I may post the better, handdrawn textures, they should be useful somewhere, sometime this week, since I cannot do a big update till at least Friday

enjoy

[sunrise7 0]

this is a unbelievable nice project!!!

very very nice, really really looking forward to!!

Thanks so much!

[vester_DK 477]

Looks good, but could you please convert your pictures from BMP to jpg. It will cut down the file size a lot. Your last picture is 616 KB. In jpg and with the settings set to 60 % its like 14 kb.

I can see a little difference, but not enough for the extra 600 kb downloads (times eleven).

You can use Irfanview to convert the pictures. It's free.

[patriots_1228 51]

keep up the work, the skis were nice, even though you cant really see them from afar...

[kevinman4404 55]

LMAO vester_dk, not noticing much of a difference between bmp amd jpeg is kinda an understatement. Let's just say it is quite obvious the graphics in your avatar and in your signature are jpegs, lol.

Saving as a jpeg from paint was bad enough- blue lines ran through it, on top of the distortion and discoloration. Imagine at SIXTY PERCENT lol.

On the other hand, if it is shown to be a rule, preferably somewhere not hidden, I will of course follow it.

b) i have seen really good images, ala bixel, etc. What do they use? Png? I would love to convert it, I just hope quality can be maintained.

Lastly, if I make my own textures, lol, I daresay i know how to convert it insulting even if it was not intended, lol. Thats if you don't just open it and resave it, lolol, and I really dont care If i cant use the % settings to reduce it even more, lol

EDIT: most or all of these pics shud be bitmaps. If I get the as jpegs to begin with, there is no quality loss when I save them. So Im glad I cud use em

Update: Textures if anyone wants them

Second last is metal, last, glass

Anyways, the construction of the Harbour Place of B.C. officially starts now, under a request by ... (rmstvo) <<<correct me if I'm wrong

Expect an update tonight

[kevinman4404 55]

UPDATE

Firstly, here is a picture of the Harbour Centre (Vancouver, B.C.):



Here is my first bit of BATting, the rear wall, without the base:



Hope you like it so far. Enjoy.

Ski Project is either going to be delayed or slowly worked on at the same time.

[hamsterTK 93]

Awesome!

Ive been waiting ages for someone to make a building with one of those round things on top.

[ryan04 3]

looks great

[toxicpiano 125]

YAY! A Vancouver building! AWESOME!

[SimFox 803]

well the round thingie on top of Harbour Centre wouldn't be seen much as it cones down so what you'll see is a pancake of the uppermost tire.

BTW, why such a giant text??

[jacqulina 162]

excellent work

[patriots_1228 51]

nice, the circle thing makes me think of pepsi. looking forward nice job so far. Could you put up the window texture?? that would be nice thanks.

[kevinman4404 55]

@ Simfox: Ya, that's true. However, I could always recude the inward slope =D Also, the text is (supposedly) that big on the backside. Unless you mean depth-wise? If so someone tell me and I'll reduce the extrustion.

And sure I'll put up window texture. For most projects I w ill post some of the better textures.

Somehow, I think, in terms of glass, you will be disappointed. It was handmade and texturous, but all the colour tweakign wore it down so that it seems lke one colour. It is a wall-sized glass pane with 50/70 opactiy (one of the two) and room/window textures behind it (curtains etc). I prefer depth and layering as opposed to a good texture for windows. If only I had somethign better than gmax, then I'd prolly do what the rest do and raytrace, etc.

Thanks

[kevinman4404 55]

A big teaser for tongiht's update:

Enjoy

[kevinman4404 55]

And now its time for the weekend update.... *imposing music*

Here goes:

This BAT is really starting to take shape now

The base is yet to come, some will be accurate, the rest made up, depending on the pics I find for it (I've only ever seen one). Also, I plan on animating the elevators, based on a tutorial on stex Let's hope the elevators aren't too high in polygons... Building has reached 350k

enjoy