New England Colonial BAT Project

[PhilsCafe 8]

Actually, I started to wondering the same as Pingangster. I like the small commercials... on the grouped version, the roof looks very dark though (on the shadow side), why is that?

The church looks lovely.

- Phil

EDIT: Welcome to page 4!

[scotty222 549]

All of your buildings are absolutley awesome

the great thing is that they can be used in 17th century settings but also aren't out of place in modern rural settings

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Somebody is making a new tileset, eh?

[Gn_leugim 858]

Originally posted by: T Wrecks Somebody is making a new tileset, eh? quote>

it looks like that

[Pegasus 2,821]

Love the Colonial themed material. Great job!!

An observation if I may...

Earlier in this topic about one of the models you mentioned that you were concerned that the text on a sign was too small to be legible in game.  That is not neccessarily  a bad thing. Remember that SC4 is a global, multi-lingual community. Non-English speaking players will appreciate the building more if the sign looks like a sign... but the text is just not quite legible enough to tell what language it is.  Note that the game-default signs are done that way.; one sign fits all languages.

There is also the extra advantage of being able to re-use the building on different lots if the sign is not clearly legible. It could be Mary's Merchantile, Sammy's Shoppe... or  Kitty's Cathouse. 

* Modeling separate freestanding signs, instead of putting signs on the building, is another good way to get more milege out of a single building model. 

[spa 970]

Hey Kant, I missed the last few updates. The church has turned out really well. It looks great and I like the size of it (not too big but not too small). It should fit in well pretty much anywhere. The only thing that doesn't look right is the circular windows on the side. I think you need a rim around them (a circle with another circle punched in it like a donut but not fat) so that it's not just a few crosses pieces going into brick. Ditto for the circle window on the Tailor shop. You might want to vary the roof texture a bit on the Tailor and Bakery. When next to each other, because they're the same size, it's very obvious it's the same texture.... I don't think you necessary need a whole new texture. Just flip the UVW or move it on the y axis so the pieces that stand out land in different spots. By the way, I really like the round oven on back to the bakery. It's a great detail!

[kant01 5]

Thanks everyone for all the comments and suggestions. I really appreciate it.

Replies:

pingangster - thanks so much, that is very generous of you As for the direction, I hope a little of both. I would like to be able to play some games as if the region is developing historically. That is part of why I started this project. But obviously buildings like this still exist around New England, so it is perfectly fine I think to have them in a modern setting. And I know other players like the New England look besides me.

Gn_leugim - thanks!

PhilsCafe - I still can't get the shadow side of my buildings light enough. I have tried reducing the saturation, but I am afraid that it feels hopeless to me at this point. Perhaps I am just missing something.  I'm glad you like the church and thanks for commenting!

scotty222 - that is what I am hoping - a little bit of both settings thanks so much for the comment!

TWrecks - oh....um.....maybe

Pegasus - thanks so much for your comment on my project That really makes my day. I think that is an absolutely terrific point about the signs. I had not really thougth about that but I will definitely take up that suggestion.

spa - thanks for the suggestion!! You are probably right about need a frame around those circular windows. I will see what I can do. And will definitely do some altering on those small merchant lots. I had planned to do it but was just trying to throw them together for some test lots.  I'm also pleased you like the bakers over thanks!

I will have some more on the Church and merchant lots soon but I thought I should give an update on the small stone-enders set. I have 4 more to add to the collection. These are all from the 17th century and are based on some of the oldest remaining buildings in New England. They all are in Rhode Island - or, actually - they are not all remaining. A few have been torn down.

The Roger Mowry House:

The Valentine Whitman House:

The Edward Searle House:

And the Clement Weaver House:

And finally, a little something else I am trying to do with those market stalls. I would appreciate any suggestions for this lot. The dirt is not right at all when it is in game so I need to figure that out. Also a HUGE thanks to glenni who gave me the people models for this

thanks again

[nihonkaranws 88]

That last picture is stunning. Amazing work! Textures are perfect my friend, good job. Do you plan to make it overhang for a diagonal road?

[_Atticus 10]

Needless to say, the little houses are terrific, but what really made day, err night, is the market!! It looks terrific.

I have a few suggestions though. The dirt should be a bit lighter (it looks like mud right now), and the stands are a bit bright, maybe too much. Anyways, it is looking very good, and the diagonal is a big plus.

-Pingangster

[scotty222 549]

i love that last one (well all of them actually nut especially the last one

i suggest you make the dirt lighter as pingangster suggested and try to get it to match the in game dirt (on the railwaylines and sidewalks of rural roads)

[allez l'om 1]

All these houses are so amazing!!! It looks nice the building with the triangular square!!!

[AndisArt 2,068]

That's a great project, wonderful work here! :::thumbs up:::

in regards to the too dark shadows: r u using MAX? if so r u using Exposure Control? I just played with that recently and what could help is increasing the value for Midtones (if you use Logaritmic exp. control at least)

[art128 4,618]

amazing ! amazing work there kant01 ! excellent work ! the last one is simply extraordinary !!!

[Gn_leugim 858]

that looks nice.. will you make other version for diagonal only?

[TheSixCents 0]

The houses are great!

[kant01 5]

Thanks for the comments!

nihonkaranws - I'm glad you liked it! Yes, I do plan on making that to fit with a diagonal road.

pingangster - thanks for the suggestion. Yeah, I agree the dirt doesn't look quite right. I will try to lighten it a bit and see how that turns out. And a few of the market stalls are definitely too dark. thanks!

scotty222 - thanks for commenting and for the suggestion!

allez l'om - thanks so much!

andisart - thanks for commenting No I am using gmax so I am not sure I have that capability. I really wish I could get the shadow side lighter. It may just be my textures are too dark and so no matter what I do the shadow side will also be dark. But I am working on it to see what I can do

art128 - thanks so much!

Gn_leugim - this market is just going to be diagonal at the moment. I will probably make some other diagnoal buildings in the future though

TheSixCents - thanks!

Ok, I am also working on a R$$ house, although the size is a bit off compared to some of the other R$$ in the game. I suppose I could make it R$$$ if people thought it would fit better.

It is the House of 7 Gables in Salem, Mass, built in 1668. This one is part of my Salem set It spent a lot of time on the roof and the different side pieces - what with all the gables and all - and I am happy with how the basic model turned out. But I am not so happy with the textures as usual. I would love some suggestions on what I should to do get this closer to being done.

Here is the building in RL:

And here is my version:

And here it in game for some test shots:

Thanks for your help and your suggestions!

[mosin33 5]

Your work is very intresting and I like it alot! For your newest building I must say that its to brown. You should make the roof lighter. Other than that looks very good. Even the lots your BAT's are on are very good and match the buildings.

Nice work

-Mosin

[belfastuniguy 18]

Very impressive, I love what you have created thus far, such lovely work.

Once released I shall happily use these

[kant01 5]

mosin33 - yeah, i agree that this looks too brown. I have lightened up the sides and also made the roof gray. I think this is an improvement.

belfastuniguy - thanks for commenting and stopping by I am glad you like these.

ok, so in order to counter my troubles with this one I also added some gable and roof edges. I think the building is improved but I am still not entirely happy with it.

Also, I noticed that the quality of the building is greatly reduced once I opened it in LE and the game. I think you can tell by looking at the screen shots and the previews that the actual game shots make the edges look a lot more jagged. I am not sure if there is a way to avoid this or not

Finally, I have been working on my own fence props, but much to my horror they did not render right at all either:

If anyone knows how to fix this I would appreciate the suggestions.

thanks!

[nihonkaranws 88]

Did you use a semi-transparent material in between the fence wood? If so, that is why it looks black, because Gmax cannot render and object to be transparent to other buildings in SC4.

[art128 4,618]

Very nice house there !

[Neofita 31]

wow nice buiding i like it

[allez l'om 1]

It's so great and the LOT editor is well done with the sidewalk to get on the house!!!

[Simbourgeois 139]

Great work, indeed!  My favorite so far is the market! It really feels like going back to those wonderful times when people didn't know what gm food is... And i's great to have more diagonal lots, we certainly need more of them!

But I've one question - is there any chance that you would release those market stalls as separate props? They're looking so great, that I would be eager to use them in making other lots for my city

Keep up the great work

Simbourgeois

Mayor of Belleville

[Gn_leugim 858]

very nice house

[rklesc 0]

I am awe struck by the sensitivity and attention to detail. You are creating a series of masterpieces that would fit into most peoples cities, if for no other purpose then to create a historical district. 

I am truly hoping that these great models will enter the public domain soon. They would do wonders on my rural CJ.

Continued good fortune to you...

[danielcote 9]

Wow this is great I even want it!

[Z1x2c3v4b5 0]

where can these be downloaded?

[_Atticus 10]

This thread is inactive as evidenced by the date of the last post. But to answer your question, I don't believe they were ever released.

-Pingangster

[Deus_Payne 2]

>almost 8 years later

It's a shame this will never be finished, I've been looking for american colonial style buildings and found a few okay ones that I can use. Too bad there isn't any closure for this project.