Psander5's BATs

[crazyarchitect 7]

Very nice stuff you have here, I really like the newest squigs lol

EDIT: Welcome to page 2 YAY!!!

[Gn_leugim 853]

those new canopies look awesome man =)

[psander5 195]

 I think i'll wake this old thread up for a while

Many of the things that have come before in this thread now will need to be re-done as they're not up to scratch.  I expect i'll probably not redo any of them apart from Skylon maybe.  Anyway, there are more exciting things to do now i've learned a little bit more.  I've even moved on to modeling in Max... although I haven't got Bat4Max to work yet.  Still more learning to do i suppose.

This is what i've been trying to make:

Pyynikki Observation Tower, Tampere, Finland. (1907)

Its a small observation tower & cafe (26m) built on the top of the worlds highest gravel ridge!  It overlooks the city of Tampere in south central Finland from its forested parkland location, and also takes in views of the two lakes that the city is built between.  You can also get the best dohnuts in Tampere from the Kahvila in the building. It's a great place.  You should all go! Anyway, down to business

This is just my approximation of the real building.  I don't live in Tampere (sadly) so I can't just nip down there to take photo's of the back end!

The textures aren't necessarily final, I was just playing.  I need to dirty them up a bit in places, and maybe make them a bit brighter.  I also have quite a bit of modeling still to do, but I'm enjoying it now!  I think i've been doing it more or less correctly, if not beautifully now, as opposed to my previous haphazard modeling methods.

[SimsPlanet2 7]

I really like this Tampere tower !

[art128 4,618]

Wow !! that's looking excellent !

[Gn_leugim 853]

it looks very good in what it will turn in on game?

[jacqulina 162]

wow nice tower there

[Francis90b 748]

Looking good so far!

[psander5 195]

Pyynikki Observation Tower

I'm really bad at sticking to just one thing with this game! It makes me slow at updating things, but I've done some more work on the Pyynikki Observation Tower and intend to take it through to completion over the next couple of days. 

I've moved this model over to GMAX ready for completion so these next pictures won't look as good. I've done most of the modelling, just a bit of well measured roof junk to add, though in reality all there really is is a tv aerial.  I'll try to add a few pipes and such.  I've also been experimenting with nightlights.  How do they look?

To answer the question: This will likely be a static landmark in the game, lotted for a park environment.

[Gn_leugim 853]

wonderful job

just one tiny thing.. the tower walls texture is a bit big, and repeats to much.. maybe you should make some work on it

[psander5 195]

 Thanks.

The bricks on the tower are actually scaled to the real thing, more ore less, at 8 courses per segment (they're big granite blocks rather than bricks):

I'm not making an exact replica though so I could change it if it really looks odd.  

I thought I'd hidden the repetition by twisting each segment's map!  I see what you're referring to though. 

[Jasoncw 11,840]

If you were working in 3ds Max before, you should really render from it. BAT4Max isn't hard to install, it's definitely worth it. What wasn't working right?

The building is looking good btw.  I think the door in the back should be smaller though, and may also need some steps if it's up that high.  The door on the roof is also really big.

I think the wall texture is ok.  If you wanted to improve it, instead of reusing but rotating the texture (which is a good technique), you could make a new texture which was tall enough for all of the segments.  Then you'd be able to create variation within the texture, and you'd also be able to add things like gradients and stuff like that (I think the tutorials in my signature cover some methods).

[psander5 195]

Thanks for the advice.  I've made some changes accordingley.  I didn't change the texture of the tower stonework, I just tinkered with it a bit more and corrected a scaling error on the lower portion.  I don't think the repetition is as noticeable as before.  How does it look now?

I've added some steps, some roof junk, security lights and a gradient on the foundation stone texture.  The HVAC unit and the fans aren't supposed to be there, that's why the HVAC unit seems to be misplaced.  I only just realised they snuck into the export.  

Jasoncw: I tried to install BAT4Max, but i'm not yet very adept with Max, so I don't fully understand the way these things work.  I had a problem when exporting that involved crashing and error messages.  This was some time ago and I didn't record the errors.  I will try again sometime.  I think I need to re-install Max, as I'd had it installed for a while before I got hold of BAT4Max, and I think it might be to do with either;  the spaces in the install directory - I renamed it manually but it made no difference, the fact i'm using Max9, or maybe this 'deltree' thing that I have no knowledge of.  

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Yeah, you'll just need to reinstall it. The spaces in the path are the problem, and that can only be solved be reinstalling it to the correct path.

[psander5 195]

Aha! That's it. I have BAT4Max working now... at least in the first instance. It was the spaces in the file path.

I think i'll finish this model off in Gmax as I've made a lot of changes since I exported it from Max. I also have another couple of models that are quite far along (not pictured) that I need to complete in Gmax, but I'll start and complete all my new models in Max, although i'm sure there'll be issues along the way

On the tower I've corrected a nightlights issue and removed that misplaced HVAC unit. To my eyes it's finished now:

Lotting will be my biggest challenge! I have little patience for it!

[madhatter106 3,903]

Great roof texture, and nice nightlighting. I do hope the lot will be better done than in your post yesterday - this one deserves a top notch lotting!

[Gn_leugim 853]

progressing very well

[psander5 195]

I quickly lost my patience with the lotting of Pyynikki Observation Tower, so I started something new as a distraction.

Angel of the North, Gateshead, England

The Angel of the North is a 20m sculpture just outside of Gateshead, Tyneside in Northern England.  It's by Antony Gormley and was completed in 1998.  It stands on a hill overlooking various major arteries, including the A1. 

I think when it's finished i'll try and put it on a 1x1 lot so it can overhang RHW and be used as a median feature.  It's not intended to be a city centre, I don't think bankers would tolerate the rust!

[Gn_leugim 853]

woow.. that is some odd looking statue ^^.. you are going good so far

[jacqulina 162]

interesting statue there

[psander5 195]

Thanks, it is odd, but it's very impressive when you get up close to the real thing.  It really makes an impact.

Textured and exported as a HD model.  There's still no night lighting on it though and I think i'm going to remove that base and replace it with a custom texture.  That way it will be more easily customised by the end user if they really, really want to put it on a city centre plaza lot!

In context, similar to how it's placed in real life:

Zoom 6:

 

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Try lowering "Specular Highlights" in your material. That controls how shiny the material is, and since that is rusted metal, it should probably be a matte finish (I think). This way you won't get as strong of highlights on the top edge of the wings, or on the top of the head, etc.

I think modeling the base into the .SC4Model would be better than doing it with a texture, unless you use a Maxis texture. But as it is right now, it could easily be relotted into a plaza (the base is already concrete after all), and BATing it will make the rest of the model feel more grounded.

I think there's a way to have no/transparent ground textures though, which might be something you'd want to do.

Anyway, it's looking good.

[edmonton_stinks 5]

Interesting model. It might look good in a roundabout as well.

[psander5 195]

Ahem... wakey wakey!

I went away on holiday recently, and when I came back I didn't get back into BATing, hence the sudden disappearance

I thought I'd get back into things by finishing off my two most recent projects and maybe get round to uploading for the first time.

The first hurdle was to figure out how to export night views in Max.  I couldn't get my head around all the lighting rig stuff yet so I went basic for the time being.  I put some simple spotlights on the Angel of the North, which is true to how the real thing is lit.  I also corrected the specular issue.

lt took me hours upon hours to search and figure out how to make transparent/zero base textures, export the night views and edit the aparent size of the building model, but here's the result;

With transparent base texture, the lot accomodates drawable paths, and the overhanging building allows roads to be drawn underneath the wings. 

l even slapped it on one of my old roundabout props to check out edmonton_stinks' suggestion, and I think it might work with some work.

One question I'd like to ask: does anyone know of a tutorial/technique to make props/overhanging props that also display night lights?  I've searched the forums for a while but couldn't come up with anything.  I don't necessarily need to know for this model, but it would be useful for future props such as lit signage.

Pyynikki observation tower is done.  I still need to lot it, but I hate doing complicated lotting (the shape of the building makes it difficult).  I might need to outsource that particular task to get it finished. 

[Aro0w 1]

that looks amazing over the RHW!

I will definitely download it when you release it...

[art128 4,618]

that statue (or totem ?! ) looks quite amazing my friend, fantastic work !

[JoshuaTwerp 1]

Please upload your Skylon

[psander5 195]

art128: It's a sculpture

Thanks for the comments, and in case you haven't noticed, Angel of the North was uploaded a few days ago. I don't have any project to show yet, but I have lots of things going on. I'm making some props at the moment for personal use initially, but I'll have something to show soon. I also still have Pyynikki Observation Tower to release in the meantime.

JoshuaTwerp: Skylon needs re-modelling at the moment, but I'll do that soon. It shouldn't take too long, but I need a break from monuments for the moment. I need practice with something that has windows and doors next

[psander5 195]

Well, onto something new...

I have lots of projects burning away at my soul, and not enough time to do them all.  Some are waiting until I reach the level of required competence, some are just in the queue!  This whole thing is difficult for me as someone who is easily distracted and likes to change tracks frequently!

Victoris Arena:

This is a project I started a couple of days ago as a 'warm up' exercise for a recreation of something else.  See if you can guess what I plan to make in the near future

It's a fictional sports arena of medium size (10,000 - 14,000 capacity), designed primarily for my upcoming CJ. It's not necesarily intended for release, unless it works out well that is.  In which case, I'd remove or generalise some of the CJ specific details.

click pics for full resolution:

The arena's still not finished, clearly.  There's still some detail and textures to add, but I'm currently experimenting with the base/floor element.  I wanted to be able to flood parts of the floor with nightlights, so I decided to try to 'BAT the Lot'.  I'm unsure if this will ultimately work, but I've managed to get the Maxis textures to blend into the ingame versions prety well.

I know it's not the conventional way to do it, but it suits my playing style.  Realistically BATed floors with photoreal textures look great on their own, but where they meet the Maxis sidewalks and other lots it always disappoints. That said, I might still photoshop some flair into the maxis paving.

There's an element of roof truss missing in this render, I only just realised, but it's present in the other pics

Because I'm BATing the Lot, I'm also experimenting with Max trees.  I know nothing about how to use them though, so they might get replaced by some non-tree-ish 'props' or features.

In the end, my experiment might fail.  In which case I'll make the lot in a more conventional way.  I can make custom textures if I need to, and custom props, so I can replicate what I make in Max... only without the floodlit floors.  The lot editor and I don't really get along too well though. 

Cricket:

I'm also working on a cricket project.  I think cricket is under represented in sim city, so I intend to flood the market.  I'm beginning with a small county cricket ground, and with a basic pavillion:

Still in early stages, but this project should bubble under some of my other things.  Eventually I'll make a cricket ground as big as Lords or the MCG.  I know cricket isn't really a popular sport in the SimCity community, but I don't care

In any case, there should at least be some things to come out of this project for all to appreciate.  Most of the models for the cricket grounds will be seperate props (for lot variation), so there will be some 'floating stands' for lot builders to use. 

[psander5 195]

Bump

The arena's on the shelf for the time being.  I want to get back to basics for a while: small, quick models that I can learn from and get some little kicks from finishing. 

The game will never have too many small commercial buildings in my opinion.  It's my aim to make about a million of them.   This is the first:

Superimposed into the game amongst similar buildings:

I know you're not really supposed to compare the scale with other custom BATs, but since I intend it to be an extension of these wall-to-wall's, which Maxis didn't make any of, I think it's ok.

This building is based on a real building, a clothing store in Nottingham, UK, but this being England, all our buildings are funny shapes, so they don't fit nicely on a simcity grid.  As a result I had to push, pinch and stretch the building to make it fit onto a 2x2, so it's not an exact replica. 

The blue box is going to be a separate shop, modeled into the final export, again to make it fit wall-to-wall on a 2x2 corner.

No textures yet

PS: I've never been in this clothing store, so I'm not responsible for any fashion opinions this building might arouse  I just picked it for it's architecture.