mipro Barry Sanders Project

[bixel 1,223]

Looks amazing. You are a true realist when it comes to 3D modeling.

[ardecila 124]

Originally posted by: Jasoncw Andreas:  I'm sorry, I mean I'd like to know how to make a prop that lets shadows fall on it.  You can see in this screenshot that the shadow from the tree can be seen on the dirt.quote>

I think it just has to do with the settings in the S3Ds.  I spent a long time last summer trying to get night-lights to show through a shadow that's already falling onto an object.  It never worked, no matter what settings I tried, unless I raised the prop above the level of the shadow, but that destroyed the realism.

[SimFox 802]

Hm... interesting thing - prop that allows the shadow to be cast on it...

[ianpaschal 77]

I should have seen this earlier. I can maybe help out wtih info. I live in ann arbor. Currently posting from Pioneer High School for those also familiar with the area.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Super cool!!  Are you an exchange student?  I thought you were from Europe.  Ann Arbor makes sense too though.

[nofunk 1,933]

A2 represent!

[wolverine 12]

There's actually a ton of Ann Arbor people on this forum, they just never post much. I know there are six members here who have posted in the past that go to the University of Michigan.

BTW, wolverine has some surprises coming to the BAT.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

There are a lot of people who come out of the woodwork in the comments area on BSP uploads.  South East Michigan is actually well represented here.  Glory to the BSP!!! 

Jason likes surprises. 

[Jasoncw 11,840]

I found out how to have shadows fall on props, so Chase Tower will start moving on soon.  It turns out it was the "Is Ground Model" property.  When true, it casts shadows and does these other things.  When false, it doesn't cast shadows, but then it starts to receive shadows.

But my planters will have a slight height, so I'll BAT a little ground around them, so that their shadows are still visible, but it will also still receive shadows. 

The fact that it has height but the shadows on it will still be flat is too bad, but it's better than the alternatives, and should still look pretty nice.

Anyway, long story short, Chase Tower will be finished soon! 

[Jasoncw 11,840]

The dirt squares are looking pretty nice in my opinion.  There's that glitch with the lines sometimes, but I don't think that's something I can fix.

They are accurately sized, but unfortunately the lot in SC4 isn't big enough to have them accurately spaced, so they're kind of close together.  But it looks nice anyway.

There's actually three flags in real life, and they aren't all the same flag, but there wasn't enough space for three, and there aren't other animated flags (I think the national, state, and city flag are there). 

The flags will use PEG's one flag, many nations modd (optional), and the flags need to be downloaded from the official site.  The dirt squares are included in the download.

[ILL Tonkso 1,236]

Excellent, and your doing the flag thing again which is always good!

[Andreas Roth 607]

I really love the dirt squares - it's a very small thing, but those things make the difference.

[Skyfire2275 23]

Wow, the builfing and lot look good Jason. The only thing I suggest is to maybe mix up the trees a little bit. It looks to uniform. Other than that, it is very nice. If I can get my SC4 running again without overheating my computer, I will make room for it in my current city.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Thanks guys, I'm glad you like it.  I think the dirt squares are indeed a good touch.  I'm really picky about flags and signs and that kind of stuff, so I think the flag modd is a good thing.

Skyfire, the trees are actually random, somehow most of them just happen to be that one tree.

[ilikehotdogsalot 308]

wonderful jason, just wonderful! my favorite part of the building include the chase sign and those dirt tree squares, i wish more BATS had those, very realistic!

[Jasoncw 11,840]

I've restarted the Penobscot Building!

I've remade everything that I had before, excluding the base, and everything is organized enough for me to continue with the rest of the building.  I've gotten a decent workflow for the walls, so hopefully they will be done in a couple weeks, and I'll be able to move on with the rest of the building.

Some parts of this preview look weird, or are innacurate.  That's because I'm waiting to alter parts of it until the very end, when I will alter everything at once.  That way I don't loose track of what I've done, how, and by how much.

ilikehotdogsalot:  Thanks!  Everything is as close to the original as possible.  Here the building is in local live.

[ilikehotdogsalot 308]

yes! this is one of the buildings i was looking forward to seeing completed! good luck on it! i also have just seen the live image, and yours looks exactly like it! great job! with all these detroit bats, i think i might recreate the city

[nofunk 1,933]

That looks good, Jason!

I'll be up in Saginaw all day tomorrow, but I'll get Chase Tower returned to you on Monday.

-----

EDIT: And isn't this strange? The forums say that I just responded to a CJ, when really I responded to this thread:

[wolverine 12]

I've had that error before nofunk. 

Jason, nice work on the Penobscot!

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Thanks guys

Some progress.  As I work on it, I find more mistakes (the building actually has a lot of variation in it), but nothing so far is hard to fix.

But like I said before, some details are waiting until later for me to adjust.

[jacqulina 162]

great progress to very nice work

[patriots_1228 51]

wow jason that looks great! cant wait to to use it (i guess thats a BAT cliche lol)

[atomik 0]

Good to see you've started again on the Penobscot, Jason. I've liked all your relases but this is sure to be my favorite and I already have an open spot for it at the center of my downtown.

Also, I've never heard anybody mention it but I think the future Greektown casino tower would be a popular addition to the STEX. Maybe I'll get off my ass one day and learn how to BAT stuff. Do you need a fancy computer to do decent bldgs or would a normal one suffice?

Keep up the good work and enjoy your time off this summer!

[Jasoncw 11,840]

patriots & jaqulina:  Thanks! 

atomik:  Thanks, I think it'll be my favorite too. 

Greektown wouldn't be a bad BAT to do, although it needs to be finished before we can make it.  I won't be making it personally, since it's not in the area of downtown that I'm focusing on.

You don't need a fancy computer.  Whenever you want to learn, just send me a PM and I can start teaching you things. 

[hamsterTK 93]

whats the status on the chase tower?

I love the design. Im not familiar with detroit, so I see it as a generic small town "tallest". You, know, places that have maybe 100,000 people and have a few midrises in their downtown that form a mini-skyline. This definetely fits for one of those places.

[nofunk 1,933]

Originally posted by: hamsterTK whats the status on the chase tower?

I love the design. Im not familiar with detroit, so I see it as a generic small town "tallest". You, know, places that have maybe 100,000 people and have a few midrises in their downtown that form a mini-skyline. This definetely fits for one of those places.quote>

 

I'm about half-way done modding Chase Tower for Jason.

Detroit was actually once the third largest city in the US, after New York and Chicago. At its height it had about 1.8 million people in the city. It currently still has a metro population of almost 5 million.

It has a number of tall buildings that dwarf Chase Tower, the tallest being the Renaissance Center at 73 floors.

It is most definitely not generic!

(You can see Chase Tower snuggled in between Comerica Tower and the Dime Bldg.)

[Jasoncw 11,840]

lol, yes, Chase Tower is a landmark because of its design and location, not because of its size (although it is still a pretty big building.  You'll see when you have it in the game).

And that is only half of downtown too, although the other half is smaller.  This photo is taken from the same skyscraper as the one Nofunk posted.

And there is also New Center, the 2^nd downtown.

The large building (that looks like 4 buildings) would be a 7x10 in the game, and is taller than Chase Tower.  It holds 1,319,536 square feet of office space, and was the second largest office building in the world when constructed.  The buildings near by it are similarly scaled.

[nofunk 1,933]

And that would be my Ford Piquette plant in the foreground of the second photo!!

[hamsterTK 93]

lol I wasnt saying what you thought I said

I just wanted to say this is going to be a very versatile BAT. there really arent enough buildngs that can be used to make skylines for small towns, and this should fill the gap

anyways, looking at those pictures, wow, that thing really is a lot bigger than I imagined!

[Skyfire2275 23]

How is the Chase Tower coming anyways?