SimHoTToDDy BATs

[Francis90b 748]

Stunning textures, Todd ! I'd like a less rundown version of it as well, though.But anyway, it's just wonderful...it 's really like the real one .How is about the warehouse you did some time ago?

[art128 4,618]

that building looks very wonderful my friend !

[mightygoose 92]

such a large roof expanse would have some form of drainage channel and then outlet pipe... on the roof.... or would be sloped... other than that, its beautiful

[_Atticus 10]

That is the kind of stuff that I love: gritty factories, warehouses, etc. Great job. The texturing is superb, I absolutely love it.

-Pingangster

[mosin33 5]

Those are really nice, cant wait till to see some more and mabye you wont take so long to release, eh?

-mosin33

[Jasoncw 11,841]

ahh, looks great!  The brick turned out really well here, and so did your experiment with the glass. 

When you go back to finish off the roof, make sure that the scale/refinement of the detail on the roof texture is the same as the scale/refinement of the other textures and modeling.  As an analogy, if your BAT were a drawing, most of it was drawn with a fine pine, but right now the roof is drawn with a sharpee.  You could make beautfiul drawings with either, but the marks are at different scales.  I hope that makes sense, lol.

What does it look like if you make the window frames black?

[SimHoTToDDy 2,939]

Wow, Thanks guys! I guess the windows worked out alright

I exported this tonight for private use, but the throngs in chat demand it of me... so... Who wants to mod and of LOT it?

I might be able to make a half decent lot, but sensible modding escapes me. Funny I should be done with this before the ACTUAL building is! Those are just a matter of merging some scenes and re exporting so I might get to those next. There will be A LOT of models so, Jason & Nofunk, you have been warned!

Cheerio,

-Todd

[jacqulina 162]

nice windows there

[Keegan V50 15]

wow,what a nice mid-rise there Todd!,very unique

all the best

victor

[madhatter106 3,903]

Love the wear and tear and dirt and grime on the textures. My only wish is that the ground plan and layout weren't as symmetrical. And perhaps an entrance in the south side? (We're only seeing the south view, so I'm not sure how you laid out your entrances and exits.)

[SimHoTToDDy 2,939]

This isn't fair:

I think it is a lod problem, naturally. I re-exported a half dozen times and only this particular view at zoom 2 keeps going screwy...  A new batch of solutions will be tested on the marrow but in the mean time, I sulk. I might have to try something more drastic than re rendering because it effects both of the models I have exported so far and I still have two more...

[Cockatoo 2,256]

That's not an LOD problem, and I think I know how to fix it. Send me the .SC4Model - if it's what I think it is I'll be able to correct it in the reader.

Sometimes values just get a little messed up in the export and re-exporting doesn't seem to help. It happened to me once.

[SimsPlanet2 7]

I love your brown brick buildings Please upload them to the Stex. Keep on doing!

[SimFox 802]

well it is a LOD problem in a sense that there is mismatch between actual LODs exported as s3d by GMAX and FSHs exported by BAT4Max. This is possibly due to slightly different way two programs calculate dimensions and do some rounding.

In most cases this wouldn't create a problem, but at some point this tinny difference results in just such a problem - when it makes a difference between one or two slubs. In this case GMAX had obviously created only one while the BAT4Max had created two - one above the other.

My suggestion would be not to re-render, as any number of re-rendering wouldn't change anything - exact same calculations would be carried out - it is math and not a game of chance after all. What is needed is to force this problem off the wall to either side e.g. to make the LODs slightly bigger or smaller (bigger probably the safer bet). Another solution wold be to re-create the single FSH from two and manually re-inert it into SC4Model.

BTW fro Zooms 1 and 2 there aren't really specific LODs. What game does is creates bounding box and uses it as a LOD. So One way to get the needed FSH would be to simply render the preview of the said Zoom/View. It should give you very similar result - again the actual difference may be in the range of 0,5-1 pixel because the actual export uses slightly different approach to framing than actual export - this is a reason why MR in Latest Max versions are incompatible with BAT. I was thinking about solutions, but this is precisely the errors that may become more common...

[art128 4,618]

The last new tower is wonderful Todd !

[grbac80 5]

Great tower Todd.

[SimHoTToDDy 2,939]

Yeah, I'll probably send one to you Cockatoo, just let me know if your solution works and I'll see if I can fix the other three (or more down the line). In the mean time, I will try Simfox's suggestion and play with the size of the lods.

Thanks for the input everyone!

[Cockatoo 2,256]

https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=3020

This problem occurs not only when using BAT4Max, but in a straight Gmax export aswell. It's got nothing to do with the transistion between the two. I still doubt it's an LOD problem, but I may be wrong.

Have a look at this thread.

[SimHoTToDDy 2,939]

I tried both solutions and both were successful Just bay making the LODs a little taller, I was able to avoid the problem, and editing the sd3 files fixed the problems that I did have.

Here is a lot a threw together just to show what I have:

6 models,

2 different AC props that are separate from the building (which is the case for a few of the towers)

4 different tower models with different roof junk/ ground junk and mirrored.

Might add a few more little props depending if I/we/you can't find a decient maxis substitute.

And just for the hell of it, here is a completely gratuitous HD render. (click)

[Jasoncw 11,841]

Ahh, looks great!

[Cockatoo 2,256]

The detail on that HD render is fantastic, well done.

Glad you got your problems sorted too.

[Gn_leugim 858]

I can make it multilanguage ^^

[wolverine 12]

They look excellent!

I hit up these buildings (the real ones) not long ago and took a few pics:

Going up!

[bixel 1,223]

Wow... those are in such sad shape.

[_Atticus 10]

Bad shape? Yes. Sad shape? No. It's not sad to see such hideous structures in bad shape.

But yeah it is pretty depressing to see them in that horrible state.

-Pingangster

[Odainsaker 2,135]

Almost like America's own Pripyat! It will be interesting to see how successfully SimCity players use these in their own mass housing projects.

[SimHoTToDDy 2,939]

And such is the state of many things in Detroit. I've never been there, but just from google earth and live local I have seen some of the tragic ends to some really beautiful things. You can still see the Studebaker plant in live local for a few views, even though it has since been demolished. As an aspiring architect, it makes me sad every time I explore the pictures I find. Especially when you know that half of the damage is from people going in and ripping out everything remotely valuable.

Some great pictures Wolverine, I wasn't aware of the pattern of the bricks, I find that interesting for some reason. I have always wanted to try urban spelunking

Edit: We will find out soon Odainsaker, they have been shipped off to Jason for lotting and to nofunk for modding shortly there after.

[Francis90b 748]

I side with you, Todd.I share your feelings, and what makes me even more sad is that i saw many things only from pictures, and i know i can't never visit them since they're gone.Also, i'm often astonished by the superficiality and the lack of interest that some people show for architecture.If we look at this, then we can understand how some people go on abandoned buildings and cannibalize them...

Studebaker plant burned down, was not demolished.But for sure things like that should never be allowed to happen.

[Jasoncw 11,841]

Actually, if you look at a lot of modern buildings with brick, they'll also have some kind of particular coursing as well. And also, look at how the bricks line up with the windows.

For the lotting, I'll be designing a mega lot, with all of the towers on them (as in real life), a smaller lot which will have 2 or 3 towers on them, and then a 2x2 with only one tower on it.

[edmonton_stinks 5]

Detroit generally makes me sad, how so many beautiful buildings have been either torn down or ravaged from the inside out.

The towers are looking great! They would be very useful, especially for Toronto-style (lots of large, brick housing towers) cities.