Dresik's BAT

[dresik 0]

Hi, 

Welcome to my BAT corner where I’d like post my projects before uploading.

 

I’m newbie when it comes to the 3D modeling so I may need some help at the start.

[dresik 0]

Here is my first model I’m currently working on.

 

It’s a small pub found in the Irish town Kilkenny.

It is nothing special but I’m still learning so I wanted to start with something simple before advancing to the bigger projects.

 

Here is the original picture: 

And this is what I have done so far - link.

If you cannot see the picture here is JPG version, but much worse quality than the PNG:
 

 

The model is far from finished, only the front facade is done so far and when finished I plan to make it on 1x1 tile so this is just a provisional lot. I also plan to do some nightlights.

I will do some more details and the other sides of the building, but I’ve encountered couple problems already.

The main problem I have is that I can’t fit the building into the centre of the camera and the centre of the lot in the same time. The result is either that I get only a piece of the building rendered or I get the model right but not in the centre so can’t fit the building into the 1x1 lot. I’m sure there is an answer somewhere in the tutorials so I will keep searching and reading but maybe someone more experienced could help.

 

I also wanted to ask for any suggestions, this is my first BAT so any input is welcome.

 

I wonder if the scale is right, maybe I could make the house higher – currently each floor has 3m.

 

Another thing is the details. I noticed that when rendered and imported into the game, no one will be able to read the sign “Kilkenny house” or the Guinness banner or see the details of the flowers in the windows.

Is it worth modeling it or shall I focus more on the roof as this will be the most visible part in the game?

 

And what should the stats be? I think there could be 4-5 CS$ jobs but I have no idea about the others. How about the stage? Is it too big for stage 1?

 

Thanks for any help and I hope I will be able to post about a progress soon.

[ILL Tonkso 1,238]

Try this on your roof.

Its quite a neat texture.

[patriots_1228 51]

good to see you taking the smart appoarch, working in a thread and getting advice and help before uploading, instead of uploading the "supermagic black box of doom" and then getting flamed at. Your BAT is an excellent start, try adding tonks roof texture.

to get your BAT perfectly centered, open up the sc4tool (DL it if you don't already have it) and open up this BAT, then change the occupant size to 1x1. that will make the footprint for the building 1 meter by 1 meter (TINY!) but the building stays the same size. this allows you to place the building anywhere on the lot without having to worry bout going over the borders

[jacqulina 162]

wow i love that just the sort of design i need in my cj beautifull work

[Mr. Glamazon 9]

What a quaint little building! I really like the feel it has. I think for the lot, if I had done this building, I would have put the parking lot behind the building (making it a 1x2 instead of a 2x1). I notice it a lot at the bars and pubs in my city, and other cities I go to. This way no-one has to see the cars or anything. Also, it seems a little squat to me. Rendering (as everyone around here will tell you, lol) squashes buildings a little so that they seem shorter than you made them. Keep this in mind for the next time! I really love that you paid attention to landscaping! Keep us posted!

[Jasoncw 11,933]

Where you do preview renders, there is also a rollout named "Parameters".  Open that, and reset the LODs after you center your building.  Hopefully that will fix your problem.

You're off to a good start.  The best way to judge the scale is to place it next to Maxis buildings that you would like your building to be used next to.  I think that you will probably find that the building is underscaled.  If you modeled the building in real scale, then you should vertically scale the building up by 133%.  This will correct the isometric squash you may have noticed.

Some details are too small to bother making, and many details are small enough that you don't need to make them perfectly.  You'll find a good balance as you BAT more.

[Cleaner475 150]

very nice so far

[dresik 0]

Hi,

Thanks for all the help. I've made a few changes yesterday thanks to your advice.

1. I've used ILL Tonkso's roof texuture and it's brilliant. Thanks!

2. I've scaled the building up a bit just like Jasoncw advised.

3. I've adjusted the LODs so the building is centered now.

4. Thanks to that I have been able to fit it to 1x1 tile.

5. I've made small holes in the chimneys so they actually look like chimneys.

here is a PNG version - link

And JPEG is here, sorry about the quality, I dont know how to make good quality Jpegs:

It is just a screenshot from the Lot Editor, I will test it in the game if I have time for it today.

I'm bit afraid it will be small compared to other buildings.

ILL Tonkso: Thanks for the texture, it is great.

patriots_1228: I absolutely agree with you, I'm in no rush to upload on the STEX before the house is complete. 

Good idea to change the occupant size, right now I'm still reading the tutorials so everything that has to be done after rendering is quite new for me. I will download the sc4tool. Thanks!

jacqulina: That will be great to see it in your CJ, do you have some suggestions how it should look when finished? I mean for example the size 1x1 or 1x2, or growth stage or some special props around the building... 

Mr. Glamazon: I think when finished I will make it 1x1 without cars. Some people use custom car models so I dont want to use too much of the default maxis props. And I also dont want to let sims drive drunken when leaving the pub

Jasoncw: Thanks, I adjusted the LODs and it is allright now. I also scaled the model a bit. Next time I will keep this in mind. I will thest the scale in the game today if it is underscaled I will try to correct it...

cleaner475: Cheers.

[Mr. Glamazon 9]

Hahahah, very responsible of you! The changes you've applied make a great difference. Good work!

[dresik 0]

Hi,

Here is a random screenshot from the testing in the game.

I'm still not sure about the scale.
Notice the 2 storey house on the left looks tiny compared to my pub.
On the other side the Maxis little shop on the right looks about the same size but it has only ground floor.

Is it like this with every Maxis building that commercial buildings are bigger than residential?


I will be on vacation next week so I wont rush this to the STEX, I will finish the house when I come back and after that I'm looking forward to do some more projects.  

[jacqulina 162]

i think maybe trees and a fence around it are you doing a plop one as well as a growable i think one with a dirt track would be great too,mayve some seating area outside too

[paulvmontfort 617]

the size is about right. Don't worry to much about Maxis scale. It's way off. That house is just tiny compared to the rest.

May I suchest putting the building on the front of the lot and not on the back. That way it's more like the real thing

[Jasoncw 11,933]

Yeah, the scale in SC4 is really messed up.  The only thing that can be said for sure is to scale your building so that it looks correct in the environment where it will be while playing the game.  The most correct scaling is 133% higher than the real building, but in the game, that could even still be oddly scaled in some environments in the game.

But what you have looks fine.  You can continue tweaking it if you'd like though.

[brtim2 11]

See, and here I am gonna tell you the scale is still off. This isn't a game where we take things as they are perceived in real life, but in SC4 terms. Ask any batter, big or small, and a lot of 'real world' buildings come down to 'how big is this compared to this?' As in, how big is this door compared to this window. 1.5 to 2. It's all about scale.

Taking a look at your last picture there, I'm thinking only hobbits can get in this building. Your doors on the first floor look smaller than the windows on the top floor. They may be the same, but they are perceived to be smaller and that makes them look wierd, squashed you might say. When I'm batting I make sure to make the 1st floor at least 1 gmax unit taller than the other floors. That way they are perceived to be the right height in game. Try making the ground floor taller and preview it to see how it looks.

Everything else looks good so far. And when it comes to detail, it's good to model it because even if it shows up as 1 or 2 blurry pixels, it still shows up. And that blur makes it look 10 times better than if it were plain. They may not really 'show up' in game, but they are there and they do add to the overall.