mipro Barry Sanders Project

[Jasoncw 11,840]

So much excitement!!

Fledgeling:  All deadlines I make, not matter how much I insist I'll make them, will always be missed, lol.  Hopefully I won't forget this.  Like I said before, this has been something I've thought about, for about 2 years (when I first started BATing for the BSP), so it will happen someday (hopefully!).

Spa:  Hi!  Nice to see you drop in!  I think this will do a good job complementing what you make.

Irfox:  Thanks!   I hope it won't take long either, since I've been getting kind of tired of these 6+ month buildings.

And I found out that 751 Griswold Street has a name!  "The Olde Building" which is a great name for SC4, in my opinion.

Also, a few days ago, ItsJeff, a member from the website DetroitYes.com, died.  I didn't know him personally, but he was always really helpful in the forums, including when I was asking for reference photos and histories of buildings for BSP projects, which is why I'm mentioning him here.  He provided some reference photos for 211 West Fort Street, and almost everything I know about 751 Griswold Street.

Here's a link about him on the Detroit Free Press, where you can learn more about him.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

btw everyone, I uploaded 751 Griswold/The Olde Building.

[schm0 27]

Count me in! Great work so far. I'd like to help out as much as possible. Give me some grunt work for now, I guess, until I can successfully download the 3D modeling software.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Great to have you here!

I sent you a really big pm.

[jayo 44]

nice!good work!

[jacqulina 162]

excellent work

[nofunk 1,933]

Hello! It's been a while since I've updated here.

Current buildings: The Allmendinger Organ Co. is with JBSimio right now to have custom queries added to it. It should be up on the STEX very soon. Also, the McNamara Federal Building is in the final stages, too. I'm having some problems lotting it -- namely, I don't like the way it looks -- but once that's ironed out, it'll be up too. Expect Allmendinger within a week or so, and the Federal Building surely within the next month, if not sooner!

Regarding future work for the Barry Sanders Project, I think I have decided to focus specifically on the Grand Circus Park area of downtown. (Well, for the foreseeable future, anyway.) After all, I've already modeled or begun 5 buildings in that area. Also, this way I won't step on Jason's toes in the financial district lol.

blue = buildings finished (Park Avenue Building, Park Apartments)

pink = buildings in progress

green = Kales Building

So, I think my next BSP project will be the Kales Building! It's a gorgeous building and stands right across the street from the Park Avenue Building, another of my releases. I believe it had been started by farminism years ago, but since nothing ever came of it and he's M.I.A., I'm going to go forward with it.

Don't worry: I still plan on finishing the Cadillac Tower... eventually! But for now I want to focus on this section of the city.

Hope everyone is doing well. Look for the Allmendinger Organ Company on the STEX very soon!

[jacqulina 162]

looking forward to more progress

[ilikehotdogsalot 308]

That's a beautiful building, Great choice, I can't wait to see the finished product

[parisinflames08 0]

I was wondering if anyone can reccomend some buildings from the STEX for my detroit-esque city. It takes alot of searching to find just the right style. Im especially looking for buildings to create near seamless downtown blocks and older residential brick apartments

[Sim shady 12]

paris, search Jasonscw, nofunk, BPS, Spa, JBsimio, and some of simgoobers stuff is like that...but then agian he has everything you can possibly think of.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Time for an update I suppose.

As you have probably all seen, Nofunk uploaded a BAT.

I've been working some more on Chase, but I don't have any screenshots ready.  Expect some decent progress tomorrow.

[Krio 624]

Kales building will be sweet. I've similar looking building in the storage, only textures and minor details needed.

[gshmails 534]

We expect more than just decent updates (cracks the whip)! Can't wait for the pictures!

[josefmayor 8]

NoFunk I love that building you posted I'd love for that to be in my city.

[jacqulina 162]

looking out for more

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Ok, well, I did most of the roof modeling.  All That's left for the roof is the sign, and texturing.  Sorry about the dark colors, when I was modeling it I just made "dark" things that dark grey color.

There's still work to do for the first floor.  I need to model and texture almost all of it.

All in all it's not bad for two day's progress.  I'll see if I can finish up the roof area tonight.

I'm kinda worried about how thick I modeled the window frames on the walls.  They're too thick.  I might end up remodeling the walls, which shouldn't take as long as it might seem.

Well, that's all from me.

[Sim shady 12]

i had no idea Albert Khan was such a diverse architect. I found out today he designed many of the Ford automobile plants!? I should be asking what did he NOT design. lol. nice job on this building, i think the walls look fine

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Albert Kahn is actually famous for revolutionizing factory design.  He used reinforced concrete (something new at the time) to open up floor space, and to allow for huge windows, like the building in this picture.  He designed thousands of factories all over the world.  His work even continued during the great depression, where he designed for Russia.

You can read more about him on his Wikipedia entry.

Albert Kahn did not design this building (I think he was even dead by this time), but I think his architecture firm did, I don't remember.

Anyway, I'm pretty much done texturing this part.  I'm having trouble making the area with the fans look right though.  It doesn't look textured enough, but I think it's all just concrete in real life, so I don't know what to do.

The roof texture turned out pretty good, but I made it without realizing I'd have to remake it for the next lower roof.

[st louis dude 6]

Downtown Detroit is prosperous,but what are the suburbs like?

[josefmayor 8]

Nice looking awesome.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

The difference between the city is huge.  While the city has some of the worst crime and poverty in the nation, the suburbs are some of the safest and richest in the nation.  A handful of the suburbs are in the top 10 safest in the country according to the government.   Right now the City of Detroit is usually 10th or 11th place in most ranking of various things, but when the metro as a whole is counted, it jumps up the list to around 6th.

But all of this is a problem.  Such a concentration and division of wealth is a bad thing.

Edit:  I just noticed the sign was too big, so I scaled it down. 

[josefmayor 8]

Ya well Nothing beats Tampa!

Ranked #9 in 2000, Ranked #340 something in 2006

Crime Reduced in a single year by 34% whats up Detroit!?

Btw the sign looks better

[nofunk 1,933]

Jason that's looking awesome. Really superb modeling of that roof junk!

[Skyfire2275 23]

Wow, that's some great attention to detail. Good work! Keep it up!

[Sim shady 12]

nice roof. lol i have learned a lot today! thanks for all the info

[wolverine 12]

Downtown Detroit is doing well for a city of its size, although it could use a few larger companies.  Typical class A office vacancies are low, but there is space available here and there throughout the CBD.  Basically its average in comparison to other cities.  However, there is a lot of vacancies in class B or lower buildings.  Many of them are being converted into more suitable uses like residential, while a few others remain abandoned.  While downtown Detroit is pretty stable, the rest of the city is a different story.  But the suburbs are doing  well, although Michigan's recent economic recession has resulted in some office vacancies and a cooling of the housing market.

[Sim shady 12]

There was a lot of news about how Comerica moving to dallas was a huge victory for the city, but i realized that that surely must have been devasting to Detroit. what has been the reaction up there for all you guys who live in that area?

[wolverine 12]

It's depressing to lose the headquarters title for a company that has been in Michigan for over 100 years, but that's business. Our state is in difficult position of balancing a budget that requires raising taxes, especially on businesses and corporations, however this creates an economic climate that is unsuitable for large companies like Comerica. Their areas of growth are occuring down south, so from their viewpoint, it makes sense to move. We won't be losing too many jobs. Like any bank, they operate regional offices, so jobs will remain, but still it sucks to lose Comerica has a home grown company in the state of Michigan. It was also the largest bank in Michigan. I feel it's only a matter of time before Comerica gets eaten up by some other bank, so maybe this is just an early end for Michigan's claim on this corporation.

[gshmails 534]

Looks great Jason! I wouldn't worry too much about the fan area. When dealing in detail, you can forget that it will only be one small part of a great overall building (basically, only you will notice it). Can't wait for more!