AndisArt's BAT cookery

[gutterclub 2,743]

Great start, would desaturate both the walls and definately the roof and work on the tiling on the roof..other than that it is delightful

[RepublicMaster 428]

They look better than in SimCity 2013

[Vlasky 1,803]

Great job on the house! Loving the model. Completely agree with gutterclub about texturing! 

[AndisArt 2,068]

Thanks for you comments :-)

 

Yes, the roof needs some work, it's quite obvious now to me. The blue wall though I dont really wanna change (I'll try reducing bump), it's supposed to be a bright color (the SC2013 version is, naturally, even more saturated). I'm gonna bring some color joy into your SC4 neighborhoods, hehe. So watch out for other colors ;-)

 

You should put a modern art sculpture or fountain in the empty area.

Yes thanks, I think I will create a prop of the sort for the empty area.

 

I love it! Could this be the start of a little set of homes... Perhaps with diagonal versions as well?

Hehe you got me! This is indeed a BAT aimed at the diagonal growables project :-) So expect it to show up there soon!

[Gn_leugim 858]

good, it looks like a child's painting (the houses on that link)

 

but ya, both walls and roof may be de saturated

[libellibicus 396]

Very nice model of the SC13 inspired house. Many thanks for deciding to go down the Diagonal route. Can't wait to see these grow.

[AndisArt 2,068]

good, it looks like a child's painting (the houses on that link)

 

*sigh* it looks like a game.

seriously, cant anything have a game vibe here anymore?

All this pushing for realism all the time is starting to annoy me.

Yes, BAT creation has made enormous leaps over the years in terms of realism.

But SimCity 4 is still a game and there's no reason less realistic styles shouldnt exist anymore.

Just because we can BAT very realistic doesnt mean we have to and it neither means it's the only thing people enjoy.

And I wont because I very much enjoy other styles, like game style for that matter.

[Gn_leugim 858]

good, it looks like a child's painting (the houses on that link)

 

*sigh* it looks like a game.

seriously, cant anything have a game vibe here anymore?

All this pushing for realism all the time is starting to annoy me.

Yes, BAT creation has made enormous leaps over the years in terms of realism.

But SimCity 4 is still a game and there's no reason less realistic styles shouldnt exist anymore.

Just because we can BAT very realistic doesnt mean we have to and it neither means it's the only thing people enjoy.

And I wont because I very much enjoy other styles, like game style for that matter.

 of course it can have a game vibe. SC4 has it. I have to say honestly that most of the new BATs (specially in Max) coming about have too realism to my taste.

 

The cartoonist look of SC2013 isn't the thing I criticise the most about it. 

 

Now, about your BAT in particular, it is good, but for the game's parameters is a bit saturated. not cartoonist or unreal, just saturated

[darn42 1,268]

I really like this new house you have. Personally, I like how vibrant the colors are on it. Especially if you are going for a more stylistic approach. My opinion on this whole "game vs. realism look" is that having a style for a BAT is great, but it also has to have a basis in reality.

 

Look at pixar. Normally, people don't associate them with realism. But charming characters and beautiful animation; but, if you look closely at most anything they do, the environments are extremely realistic but have exaggerated features. 

 

For example, look at these 2 images of the house from UP.

 

 

See how similar the real one is from the rendering from the movie. (the first image is real life, the second is the movie)

 

The house you just made reminds me a lot of that. The only things I suggest you change about it are technical. The wall siding looks like its much too large, though that might be an illusion, and the roof is tiling. Otherwise, I like the colors etc. and I'd love to see more like this. Though, they will have to be a little bit harder to grow cause they will look bad in game if there are a lot of them, but great in small amounts. Overall, the reason I prefer to recreate to realism is because its easier to make something look good when its realistic, than to make it look good stylistically. It takes a lot more charm and personality to do the latter well.

 

On a related note, I think the up house would be good thing to BAT if you are going to be making more houses similar to the one you just made

[kellydale2003 2,276]

Just do what floats your boat Andisart!

 

It's YOUR project overall! (:

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Hahaha, making the UP house is a nice idea - add some of Maxis' air balloon props, and it's perfect!

[ROFLyoshi 1,760]

To me, I think the colour is saturated just fine...

[AndisArt 2,068]

Thank you darn42, I appreciate your elaboration on the subject.

And who knows, maybe I will fly Up with the balloons...

 

Roof texture has been corrected. The side wall texture didnt need de-saturation, but a new structure (as darn42 pointed out).

So I made it to look more like actual wood planks.

 

Here is more saturation for you

 

[darn42 1,268]

Beautiful little houses. I can't think of a way to improve them.

[SimCoug 5,977]

I love the different colors - especially that red one, it really pops.  The pink might be a little much for me, but hey, everybody has different tastes

 

what about a grey and a off white version to round them out?  I know you are going for colors, but a few neutral tones might help the others pop out more

[Za 164]

They remind me a bit of glenni's colorful Norwegian houses from a while ago. And danggit, you may have inspired me to attempt some small houses in the future. Keep up the good work

[Roger51 381]

Fantastic colour variations and they are so cute I want them!!!!! hahaha Love it!

[Gn_leugim 858]

Here is more saturation for you

 

oh my eyes XD

 

it looks better now indeed with improved roof and wall texts

[gutterclub 2,743]

I think you are conflicting yourself here..you say you don't care about realism, it's just a game and want it to have a 'game vibe'...but yet, the houses look like real houses, they are sharp renders with great details!! We aren't talking about realism, we are talking about making the colours slightly desaturated to fit in the game pallette..because it IS a game and we want the BAT to have a game vibe..as you pointed out. Nothing wrong with bright colours..just nice if they don't stand out too much and end up not looking like SC4 buildings.

 

That said

 

a) they look great now

b) you are free to do as you chose

 

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

Like your textures

[Gn_leugim 858]

I think you are conflicting yourself here..you say you don't care about realism, it's just a game and want it to have a 'game vibe'...but yet, the houses look like real houses, they are sharp renders with great details!! We aren't talking about realism, we are talking about making the colours slightly desaturated to fit in the game pallette..because it IS a game and we want the BAT to have a game vibe..as you pointed out. Nothing wrong with bright colours..just nice if they don't stand out too much and end up not looking like SC4 buildings.

 

That said

 

a) they look great now

b) you are free to do as you chose

 

 

I have to second this. that was somehow what I intended to say earlier

[Renedius 25]

Congrats

[libellibicus 396]

I really, really like this new BAT. I reckon that it is probably the best BAT I've ever seen. IMO it manages to achieve that fine line between Realism and cartoon. A family of these would be outstanding (especially diagonals). Fantastic.

[kellydale2003 2,276]

I actually adore those cute little buttons! :b

[Jasoncw 12,030]

For the colors, you should try making them brighter and less saturated.

 

Our eyes have a thing when we're trying to figure out colors, where when something looks too saturated and we notice that it's too saturated, when we try to adjust the color we make it darker, and it kind of makes it seem less saturated.  But at that point the colors are actually both too dark and too saturated.  Your textures are about as saturated (sometimes slightly more saturated and sometimes slightly less saturated) than the maxis screenshot, the main difference is that your textures are much darker.

 

 

Here's an example.  I've made that photograph of a brightly colored house black and white so that it's easier to see the values.  Some of the colors are close to being white, while one of the colors is a light/medium grey.  The white picket fence is easy to pick and say, "white" and the sidewalk is a very generic concrete texture which is very easy to pick and say "maxis paver" (that would roughly be the in-game equivalent in terms of value).  So I made the walls quite a bit brighter.  And then I reduced the saturation by a ton, just going by eye.  Since I knew that the values were about right, I could just increase or decrease the saturation without trying to be scientific about it, because it was the only variable left in the equation.

 

Of course, some of the colors that houses are painted are genuinely dark, but a lot of them are deceivingly bright. 

[AndisArt 2,068]

For the colors, you should try making them brighter and less saturated.

 

Our eyes have a thing when we're trying to figure out colors, where when something looks too saturated and we notice that it's too saturated, when we try to adjust the color we make it darker, and it kind of makes it seem less saturated.  But at that point the colors are actually both too dark and too saturated.  Your textures are about as saturated (sometimes slightly more saturated and sometimes slightly less saturated) than the maxis screenshot, the main difference is that your textures are much darker.

 

Here's an example.  I've made that photograph of a brightly colored house black and white so that it's easier to see the values.  Some of the colors are close to being white, while one of the colors is a light/medium grey.  The white picket fence is easy to pick and say, "white" and the sidewalk is a very generic concrete texture which is very easy to pick and say "maxis paver" (that would roughly be the in-game equivalent in terms of value).  So I made the walls quite a bit brighter.  And then I reduced the saturation by a ton, just going by eye.  Since I knew that the values were about right, I could just increase or decrease the saturation without trying to be scientific about it, because it was the only variable left in the equation.

 

Of course, some of the colors that houses are painted are genuinely dark, but a lot of them are deceivingly bright. 

 

Thanks for this illustration, it sharps the eye on how colors work in SC4. So it is brightness more than saturation, interesting.

With your ingame image I see now that the textures are a bit too dark, although the effect they have when you brightened them isnt the one I want.

Just brightening them creates the common pastel colors that a lot of (Victorian) houses have. Also the reference image you used (from the Up house) is mainly in pastel colors. I'm more wanting full bright colors. See some examples:

 

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4130/4991217771_2d69f0c8e2_z.jpg

http://media.mlive.com/baycitytimes/photo/2012/04/10792506-standard.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7168/6647389763_a73ff46682_z.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4149/4991876638_288f7f2b28.jpg

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/266/p1000724.jpg/

 

So I guess I will find a middle setting inbetween what I have and what you showed.

[Jasoncw 12,030]

oh, I see.     Yeah these ones are not bright.

[AndisArt 2,068]

oh, I see.     Yeah these ones are not bright.

 

They do blend perfeclty with the Maxis buildings though :-)  (meaning the ones you brightened)

It remains to be seen if it actually works to create fully bright colors that blend in.

Everything in the game is desaturated, but also lots of pastel colors were used in most of the lower stage residentials.

[AndisArt 2,068]

Ok, I'm trying to create a custom building foundation for the homes, but it's not working.

This is what's wrong:

https://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/jettiblue/foundation_zpsdjzll0yo.jpg

 

 

Steps I've done: 

 

- create foundation below ground level, topping out at zero.

- render LODs in gmax with "Foundation" option ticked.

- render as normal in Max

- in Pluginmanager create a .desc for "Foundation"

- in Lot Editor my custom foundation chosen.

- in Reader "building foundation" property set to instance of the foundation .desc

 

It looks as if it got the correct LOD and therefore model, but why is it messed up? 

[SimCoug 5,977]

I wish I could help, but I have no experience with custom foundations (on the BAT side).  Mattb325 is working on an extensive custom foundation project, maybe you could PM him - I know he is always happy to help with BAT questions. I'm glad you are taking time to add custom foundations - I think they add alot of versatility to the game.  Plus, I get bored working on perfectly flat terrain