SimFox's non-Asian BATs

[SimFox 802]

>

As my interests lay not exclusively in Asia proper, but also around the world I’ve decided to start this non-Asian thread. 

I’m opening it with this replication of new Apartment tower form Moscow. New age commieblock. Hope you’ll like it.

Building is essentially ready. Few minor details like some roof junk, may be some patio furniture and entrance to underground garage are still to be made.

Wall are basically like that, But If you think that they look too plain I’ll try to come up with some sort of texture to break monotony…

Comments, questions and suggestions are, as always, welcome!

>

[octaves 4]

Wow!!  The red and grey look a little plain though...

[sparkythepenguin 90]

OMG! I like it! The red and grey are definetly different. I think it should stay. Don't see too much of that. Is that the real building's colors?

[SimRabbit 48]

wow awsome building dude. by the way russia is part of asia...

[Chris M 406]

Looks great (for a Commie block )! Actually I don't think it looks plain at all. Colour schemes like that are often realistic and I think it would look good in many cities because it doesn't distract from other buildings. So, definitely keep it like that!

Good work. I'm looking forward to more.

[Glenni 1,444]

Ever thought of recreating finlands's non excistant highrises?

[autoVino 26]

Man, and that's a res building?  Huge!  No surprise for Europe's biggest city...

Looks great!  (what happened to your other "doodle" bat thread?)

[SpartanBadger 4]

Woah that's so cool! I do think you should texture the wall..it looks a little unrealistic

[Jasoncw 11,840]

It's looking good but definitely needs textures!

[nofunk 1,933]

It looks fantastic, SimFox! I have to echo Jason though: definitely needs some textures to break up the uniformity of the walls.

Can't wait to see this thing light up!

[teemu_om 47]

Awesome. Keep the red color there!

[SimFox 802]

Originally posted by: SimRabbit wow awsome building dude. by the way Russia is part of Asia... quote>

 

Well Part of Russia is in Asia - the biggest part, but least populated one at that...

Moscow itself is in Europe, But generally I see your point. Moscow being the capitol of Asia's biggest country. But still It isn't really fitting for HK/Asia place, and besides Moscow here will be some projects from Other parts of the world, this one is just a first.

Originally posted by: sparkythepenguin

OMG! I like it! The red and grey are definetly different. I think it should stay. Don't see too much of that. Is that the real building's colors?... quote>

 

Yep they are - Red, White, grey and silver are the colors of the original building.

Gleni:

C'mon, Actually we have here in Helsinki one quite tall residential building, Well Tall in Scandinavian (Turning Torso  aside) building, it's called Cirrius and it is about 26 floors (86 m) high. It is pretty boring looking though...  just a box. 

autoVino:

Actually it isn't all that big compared to other stuff that is build nowadays, some of the buildings are in a size of small towns... literally!

DragonAnime:

Well, technically it isn't a commieblock, as this is not mass produced one... But none the less It has some influence of Russian Constructivism of 20s (XX century that is). And I do like it's color scheme - actually that was what caught my eye. And the curved back of the building too...

XSpiderman: 

Well it, actually, is realistic, there are many buildings with “clean” finish. But, of course, it isn’t common in SC4, although there is one building in Houston set that is also “clean” like that.

JasonCW:

The real thing is clad with painted metal panels. I was thinking of doing that paneling with either texture or a bump. But it would have to be unwrapped, as the placement of “seems” have to be precise.

nofunk:

Thanx. I’ll think of it…

teemu_om:

He, he , he… I guess we, here see more of this type of finish (finnish) ;-)

Here is couple of more pictures:

[SURUMI 2]

Amazing!

Do you make them ploppable too ?

[SimFox 802]

Surumi:

Well I guess it could be whatever you want it to be.. To be honest I have no expirience with moding what so ever... I just make a model and then ... Well Eiver I give it values as close to the MAXIS as ossible, or then someone has to advise me on what to do..

[SURUMI 2]

Okay, I see.

Maybe bixel or TWrecks could help you out.

Good luck with this towers, I love design and colours very much, it's very different to the mainstream whats on the STEX.

Keep up your good work.

[zero7 68]

That's a superbly realistic looking buiding.  Great design.

Given the height compared to the ground area, I'd guess that it'd have the necessary occupation density to reach the CAM stages.   So maybe let T Wrecks create a lot as normal, but send it off to Barby as well, to get at blank lot with CAM stats.  That way you could offer CAM and non-CAM versions.

What materials are used on the wall of the real building?  

I'd agree with the walls seem too plain for SC at the moment.  How about assuming the white is render and add a slight amount of bump noise just to take the edge off it's smoothness and for the red introduce some thin lines to suggest panelling.

Also, have you seen AutoVino's link about variable haze in the MR sky ... you might get some cloud shadows playing against the white to add some variance to the tone.

[SimFox 802]

Zero7: yes the entire building is clad with painted/anodized Aluminum panels hang over the monolith concrete covered with insulation materials(concrete that is not the panels, naturally) the standard practice in Moscow these days. The technique is called

 Ventilatede Facade

The cloud thing, isn't anything new for me... I knew of it from the moment it was actually "created" and if you look at some of my early works you'll see that there. The issue with these clouds is that they aren't clouds per se... The cloudy bitmap is placed in Haze slot. Meaning it more like a dispersion of light in the atmosphere. As a result more light is redistributed through the sky. But because it is NOT a cloud there is no shading. Also as this is an sub-kind of environmental mapping it doesn't work with orthographic projections.

But for some slight visual clue it does offer some variety. But for truly spectacular skies you would have to do it with Dreamscape… And to get better effect with lighting do with through HDRI. (actually Mr Physical sky map is a HDRI gradient)

[Simfan34 11]

Amazing!! And you don't even need textures, in my opinion. And the fact that tis is european makes it even better!

[SimFox 802]

Well it definitely need some texturing - roof, some elements, etc.. My dilemma is what to do with the vast expanses of the walls both red and white (and a grey of elevator shafts block) As I've said earlier they are clad with aluminum panels, so they are very smooth and monotone in a way. The only thing that is there is very fine lines where panels meet, but those are visible ONLY when you are really next to the building. So, the actual dilemma is should I follow the way it really looks (e.g. leave walls as they are now) or go with SC convention and create web of seams. The second solution to which I do gravitate could be quite labor intensive and scary as I would need to do UW unwrapping (and I never done that before)

[SURUMI 2]

In my opinion, you don't need this textures.

I have nearly similar buildings in my hometown, they are looking plain in this way too.

[nofunk 1,933]

So, the actual dilemma is should I follow the way it really looks (e.g. leave walls as they are now) or go with SC convention and create web of seams.


That's the constant rub. Personally, when I model/texture, I always keep in mind that I am doing this for the game and try to accommodate accordingly. If that means slightly more exaggerated details or texturing even when it's not necessarily true-to-life, I do it.

That said, I'll download and enjoy this building regardless of whether you texture the walls or not. It really is a superb model.

(EDIT: Not sure why the quote tags are screwing up... grr...)

[Andreas Roth 607]

Ohh, I really like this one! I guess it would make an excellent R-$$ highrise, which is still lacking in the game, the HK stuff aside. What about a small set of similar buildings that feature different colors?

[gt6282 3]

I like it! It is really nice Simfox

[patriots_1228 51]

Like all your buildings, the modeling is jaw dropping. Looking forward to seeing what you do with this one.

[SimFox 802]

Andreas:

Sure just name the colors. What do you think – should wals be made more “busy” with some sort of patterns? or may be just a mild noise??

Blue:

Green:

Yellow:

 

Actually this reminds me of these Moscow towers:

They are called spring, summer winter and autumn and are part of larger Mirax Park residential complex in the south west of the city.

I’m considering also making other residential towers from Moscow, for the entire range from R$ (but not old commieblocks, but new ones mass produced by thousands) and some upscale developments.

GT6282: & Pantriot:

Thanx guys!

---

BTW I want to ask an opinion of revered public:

 Take a look at these two versions and tell me which one do you think should go ahead. I know difference is minor, but it drives me nuts for last couple of days. One is the actual building is built (it is already finished) but I’m not sure if that is the best way. So please choose:

New:

Old:

So what do you think??

[josefmayor 8]

This looks like a scaled up version of a Miami/Tampa (Tamiami) Modern Art Deco tower. I like it! Its awesome.

The red and grey is the best!

Here's the building in the Channel District

 (I ike to call that style modern art deco because its cool and its seen in the historic art deco district of Miami and stuff)

[CarmineHilton 6]

Fabulous! And I like the new colours..

[JakeMD 107]

It looks asian great job, love the new colors

[autoVino 26]

The building looks awesome!  I think the new version is better, though...

[skyliner22 16]

Wow i love the colors, the new one i think looks better too, i guess just like Russia these are Eurasian!