Making Buildings

[lifeless08 1]

Im not exactly sure if this has come up before, but will there be a program with or sold seperately to Cities XL that will allow u to freely design buildings for your cities. If anyone knows, tell me!

[JakeMD 107]

There will only be a program for those who have the ability to export models in .3ds format. In other words, you must have 3ds max or equivalent in order to make things.

[Xyloxadoria 1,099]

Well one of the first thigns that you will need to know about making buildings in cites XL is that since it is full 3D, you have to make your building have as few polygons as possible.  So if you go to make something, dont go too crazy with little details.

Any 3D program can be used to do this. As far as what can be used, gmax can be tricked into working, and you could also use blender.

[toxicpiano 125]

Originally posted by: Xyloxadoria Well one of the first thigns that you will need to know about making buildings in cites XL is that since it is full 3D, you have to make your building have as few polygons as possible.  So if you go to make something, dont go too crazy with little details.

Any 3D program can be used to do this. As far as what can be used, gmax can be tricked into working, and you could also use blender.quote>

gmax is very old, outdated, completely unsupported and discontinued and can't export to 3ds format.

[JakeMD 107]

ASFAIK, it is against the EULA to actually make a 3ds model export script for gmax.

[lifeless08 1]

I believe because of the sheer amount of design put into buildings in cities xl, i think they might have there own, so u can keep it simple enough, and make them still look good

[toxicpiano 125]

Originally posted by: lifeless08 I believe because of the sheer amount of design put into buildings in cities xl, i think they might have there own, so u can keep it simple enough, and make them still look goodquote>

They use 3ds max.

[jon7985 3]

So long custom buildings, I sure can't afford a $1000 program just for fun.

[Siguy 0]

Blender (http://www.blender.org/) is free, but then again the learning curve is like Normandy on D-Day. (okay, I stole that metaphor)

[vershner 11]

Originally posted by: Siguy Blender (http://www.blender.org/) is free, but then again the learning curve is like Normandy on D-Day. (okay, I stole that metaphor)quote>

Surely nothing can be as bad a Gmax?

[Xyloxadoria 1,099]

Originally posted by: vershner

Originally posted by: Siguy Blender (http://www.blender.org/) is free, but then again the learning curve is like Normandy on D-Day. (okay, I stole that metaphor)quote>

Surely nothing can be as bad a Gmax?quote>

There are two main things that you have to understand when learning a 3D package, one applies to them all, and the other applies to each one idividually.

The first concept you have to understand is what vertexes, faces, splines etc are, and how to visualize things in three dimensions. That will always be the same. The second thing is figuring out what to press to make a shape that you want. At first this can be really difficut, but it gets easier as you go along.

I have used both blender and gmax, they are both about the same. I learned blender second, and it was eaiser for me becuse i already had learned the baisc 3D concptes i talked about above from max. Its alot easier around the second time becsue of that (at least for me)

[vershner 11]

Not having a totally broken UI helps as well.

[gabe1337ness 0]

google sketchup = free and can export 3ds

[bixel 1,223]

Actually. The model process will involve a super ultra highely detailed Master Model, from there you use that to make the lightmap textures (baking) in-order to create the illusion of depth and intracatcy on the lower poly model copied from the master version.

It will be a hard process, meaning the 3d artist will no longer have the liberating option of apply textures to separate objects of geometry, render, and not worry about the 30+ textures they used.

Now we will potenially have to learn how to make one or two textures, that cover all or most of the model. Not just the individual objects that make the model. Instead of modeling with the idea that I make all these boxes, put them together and bang I have a building, you have to start thinking like this.

I am going to make a shell and it is hollow, and anywhere (and I mean anywhere) that the camera cannot see, the geometry will be deleted.

This type of modelling is hard to do, and it can be painfully agrivating at times. The biggest problem is that we can no longer slap textures anywhere we want. I think what could happen is that you render parts of your main detailed model into a texture, then reapply that on the shell model. Useing uvunwrap, assemble all the rendered textures onto a single map, which is wrapped around the shell model.

That will ultimately make it into the game. Anything else will probably be rejected by Monte Crisco simply because its not a low resource model.

[dasilva 3]

Hi guys,

When we'll start working closer with the 3d artists outthere that want to introduce new buildings to the game and allow other players to use them in their own installment of Cities XL, we'll put in place all the required support including tools, tutorials and the like. Be sure you won't be on your own this time trying to find out how the studio made these buildings you find in the game

[grbac80 5]

Fantastic, briliant. This is one of the best thing I heard/read lately.

[Wrightguy0 40]

Well it's nice to see you guys care about the modding community to the point where you won't leave us high and dry when we try to create new buildings. I love it when a gaming company recognizes that a significant portion of their fan base is into creating mods and downloads, and is willing to at least nurture that aspect of the greater community.

[Asheroo 53]

That's good to hear Philippe! B) I've been making some models in 3DS Max that I really do hope to put into Cities XL, and hopefully it will be more friendlier than the City Life tools, but my version of 3DS Max is too new for that. But anyway, some good news there!

[Hanson784 165]

Good to hear about creating custom content as it's one of my favorite aspects. Hopefully it won't involve a learning curve that is too steep.

[+Guest]

That is AWESOME! I hope it comes to the game sooner rather than later.

[korsferd 4]

And now I'm much more confident on CXL. If a mutual respect between gamers and developers can be made, I only expect the better from Monte Cristo Cities XL franchise.

And maybe, a new standard on game development has been born.

Custom content is the key.

[DuskTrooper 314]

AHEM....any updates on this?

[bixel 1,223]

oh? whats this? DuskTrooper is gonna dust off his 3DS Max and make some wonderful buildings???

[SimHoTToDDy 2,938]

Wouldn't that be fantastic? Shoot... I'll dust it off for you if I have too.

[DuskTrooper 314]

Originally posted by: bixel

oh? whats this? DuskTrooper is gonna dust off his 3DS Max and make some wonderful buildings???quote>

Yeah, I was exceptionallyy busy with my architecture schooling; I could not do anything SC4 related for approximately a year; the last time I exported a scene was about April 2008!  There was actually a nice run of small models back then consisting of experimental W2W housing, which came to an abrupt halt when I decided to brush up a bit on my real media rendering skills.  This of course came in handy in my architecture classes, where they still rely on good ol' pen, paper, chipboard, and crafting wood when it comes to making projects. 

I actually took up a decent 3D Studio class this previous semester, and was able to use it for my final project(which I totally knocked out of the ballpark, if I may say so myself ). I'm a tad rusty when it comes to making models in XYZ space, but I definitely want to take it up again this summer (if I could give myself a kick in the butt for being lazy...lol). 

I am so far out of the loop that it is ridiculous.

*Methinks I should post about my absence in another thread somewhere....*