AnnoyingDans BAT Showcase

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Are you planning to add some structural elements like balconies etc.? So far, the walls look a bit bland, but maybe that can be changed by means of texturing, I'm not an expert in this respect.

[GingerBlokey 30]

I love the Zeller Building. I think there is a lack of just 'normal' buildings on the STEX.

[annoyingdan 42]

No update yet, probably later today though!

@ Lord_Bertrumd - Are you talking about the Perrington apartments? I haven't applied window textures to the building yet! However, it will retain that color scheme.

 

@ T Wrecks - You know I'm not really sure if I'm going to add stuff... There is a part of me that says 'do it! It's too boring! Nobody likes boring' but another part of me says 'don't do it. boring buildings are a part of life. Not every building has to be beautiful'. It is designed in a 60's modernist style, which a lot of times consists of boring repetitive themes. And living in Phoenix Arizona, (buildngs here can be pretty ugly, and few of the major buildings are in 60's modernist style, Phoenix Civic Plaza, Sky Harbor International Airport), I know that not every building has to be an architectual masterpeice.

    Anyways I was saying that I probably won't try to add stuff (balconies, etc.) to the building, but I am planning on fixing the textures (I don't have photoshop and I'm trying to learn the GIMP program). I promice though that my next apartment building wont be as ugly a design (whether it comes out ugly is a different matter).

 

^ wow! I noticed I can really ramble on about something (then again I've seen longer).

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Well, it's not necessarily bad to have simply shaped buildings that even look a bit ugly. However, the rear wall of the building might really need something - maybe it would look best if the staircase (at least I suppose it's the staircase behind those narrow window sets in the middle) stuck out a bit from the wall.

Of course, as you said it depends a lot on the textures - big, flat surfaces can look interesting - if they are well textured.

Btw, did you have a look at that building I linked? The creator gave his permission to release it to anyone who can render and export that thing successfully - and it sure looks beautiful for a mid-wealth residential tower!

[annoyingdan 42]

Hmm... That gives me an idea... I'll do something with the staircase portion (It really was the staircase, along with utility rooms, essentially the core of the building. you guessed right).

And I did look at the linked building and I liked it, I will add it to my rendering queue!

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Hmm... you like to create some suspense, don't you? Well, I can't wait to see what you have in mind for the staircase.

As for that other building, it's great news to hear that you want to give it a try! The author said he had errors, so I don't know if the building has some problems or if it was his computer that couldn't handle the render... anyway, it would be a ahame to lose such a great 3DS model, especially since the building looks like it could house 5,000 - 6,000 mid-wealth residents, and residential buildings of that size would be a great addition! I already modded heckk's The Seasons Hong Kong skyscraper and superstar's Atricia Plaza to 7,000+ R$$ buildings in my desperation, lol...

[annoyingdan 42]

I tested the Zeller Building for the first time today and I'm afraid that I am going to have to re-render it. I'm not an expert at the subject (I only know enough modding to make my buildings) but I think it is a Texture conflict with somthing else (my guess a transport tile of some sort). It only appears at zoom 5 and 6 (but as far as i know both 5 and 6 use the same s3d model so they are essentially the same). Here's a pic of my problem:

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Is there a way to fix this without having to re-render or will I have to re-render? I really hope I don't have to re-render because I was hoping to render the residential by akwx128.

[kefka 3]

they use the same model, but different LODs.  go into the 'parameters' division in the BAT (I think it's right above the preview division, and below the render, but I'm not sure).  Click refit LODs (or whatever it says).  That will also delete the old ones which is ok (unless you made custom ones).  Then hide the new LOD boxes, and re-render.

If you made custom LODs, since the problem is only at those certian zoom levels, maybe you forgot to clone them, or mis named them.

 

If your problem is what I think it is, this should solve it.

[ardecila 124]

When was the last time you updated the BAT?

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Hey, I've seen that problem already. The AOX Corp Building by LurkinG46 had it, too. Well, if the hint kefka gave solves the problem, I'm gonna PM LurkinG46 and ask if he would be willing to make an update, because it's really a shame to have such nice buildings suffer from this drawback.

Btw, it's good to see that you obviously check and test your stuff before you release it, unlike some others.

[Lord_Bertrum 3]

Date: 7/5/2005 6:20:26 AM Author: T Wrecks 

Btw, it's good to see that you obviously check and test your stuff before you release it, unlike some others.

quote>

 

You'll be amazed how often that happens

[T Wrecks 10,209]

@ Lord Bertrum: Sorry to disappoint you, but I am probably the last person to be amazed about that.

Here's the reason:
I have spent the last four months analysing SC4's default buildings and their stats, and afterwards tweaking and correcting EVERY download I considered interesting - and I'm not finsished yet (~520 down, maybe 100 more to go). I have seen two buildings by the same BATter set to the same building ID, so that each building could grow on the lot of the other one. I have seen buildings that generate more pollution and garbage than 50 Maxis industrial buildings. I have seen buildings that were labelled growables but couldn't grow, because the BATter made a growable desc, but only a landmark lot. I have seen two buildings of the same size and category differ in job numbers as radically as 400 vs. 3,000. I have seen buildings that boost your city's EQ to 200 as soon as you plop them, and others that grow over the edges of their lots etc etc etc... That's why I have stopped being amazed at anything, you know.

[annoyingdan 42]

I re-rendered the Zeller Building and it's fine now. I found out that I also didn't properly update the BAT. But it's updated now and should be fine.

 

After this fiasco, I decided to check and make sure my older buildings didn't have the same problem, but I learned that the White Sands Resort (really old) has the same problem so I will also update that.

 

EDIT: I forgot to add... As far as I know, it has nothing to do with LODs. From what I understand it has to do with the instances that are assigned to the textures placed on the LODs. When a BAT building is rendered, The LOD is what the computer sees as the building in the game. What it does is places special textures on the LOD to give us the illusion (for lack of a better word) that the building is a full 3D model. What sometimes happens is when rendered, the special textures are given an instance ID that already is used. So instead of using the texture that is supposed to be used, it uses the other texture with the same ID.

[annoyingdan 42]

I made a little change to the back of the Perrington Apartments. Now instead of being perfectly in flush with the building, the core area is now slightly indented.

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In addition I also textured the windows (still could use a little tweaking) and worked on the texture of the stone facade to make it fit in better with it's maxis counterparts.

 

 

[scififan68 23]

WOW!!! looks great!!! Great job Dan!!!

[brancra 1,114]

Do you have any plans to distinguish that as a residential? Perhaps a decorated entrance, or balconies, maybe a rooftop plaza of sorts? It looks very good, but it just doesn't seem to suggest it's a residential tower just yet. I'm sure you'll do something to make it stand out

[carlosau 76]

Woow! I loved!!!!! really great job ^-^

[annoyingdan 42]

The Zeller Building has been released and is now live on the STEX.

You can get it HERE .

 

THE ZELLER BUILDING:

align=baseline> align=baseline>

 

Stats:

PLOPPABLE:
Lot Size: 4x2
Plop Cost:

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Great work again!

Btw, I just noticed that the staircase windows of your residential building are off center in that indented section - was that intended?

[annoyingdan 42]

I am announcing that I will not be able to work on anything for about a week. Tomorrow I will be leavng for Marching Band Camp and I will not be back until thursday. I will try to make an update before I leave, but I cannot guarantee anything.

 

@ T Wrecks- Yes the off center windows in the stairwell area was (somewhat) intentional. When I first modelled the building the stairwell portion did not exist. When I added it, I added it off center, and it stuck ever since.

[annoyingdan 42]

Here's one last update before I leave for the week...

I tweaked Akwx128's Paranash apartments (don't worry, I only made it easier for my machine to render, it is still the exact same building). The building sits on a 4x4 lot and had about 570,000 polys (to some that might not seem like a lot but for my computer that size with that many polys is harsh). I got it down to about to about 330,000 polys (but still with the same amount of detail) I have a pic of what it looks like after the optimization.

 

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I will probably start the render tonight so that it can render over the weekend (my guess is that it will probably take a day - that is if it doesn't overload the computer).

 

Until next week...

[Glenni 1,444]

Nice Dan!!and pretty nice of you to fix and render that guy's building too.

[T Wrecks 10,209]

OMG, this looks SO good! Great work on that building, especially since you had to change so much about it to get the poly count down. Thank you so much, this will be an invaluable help to fill the R$$ gap.

[toxicpiano 125]

It's a tower of epic proportions...

[schooner2 2]

Wow, that building is fantastic.  It looks straight out of New York City!!

[Lord_Bertrum 3]

I missed the Paranash apartments before, but seeing in now, I think this really would look great in any Hong Kong style CJ.

[Mexicanboy13r 12]

Well I am going to say your work has changed dramatically. It has improved greatly. I am really enjoying your Mid-rise stuff. It's something I always enjoy. Your latest uploads were amazing. They are already plopped in my Downtown Area. Great work! I do look forward into more of these updates as they do come a long. I am tracking this BAT Thread.

Great work! Once again!

[annoyingdan 42]

I'm back from band camp! The render of the paranash apartments failed (I forgot to turn off the screensaver and it ran out of memory). I will try to render it again tonight.

 

[scififan68 23]

Date: 7/14/2005 4:51:42 PM Author: annoyingdan

I'm back from band camp! The render of the paranash apartments failed (I forgot to turn off the screensaver and it ran out of memory). I will try to render it again tonight.

quote>

Oh! no! bad luck. Hopefully everythnig goes the right way.

[annoyingdan 42]

Only a small update for now. I added further detail to the windows. I have added an awning to the entrance and I added more detail to the windows.

align=baseline> align=baseline>

 

I am planning on putting some foilage on top of the entrance area. The roof junk will go on top of the roof level floor (to be honest I don't know what it's called) and the three other open spaces on the roof will probably stay empty like most residential buildings of this type.

 

 

I also went around digging on the internet trying to find pictures of the building this was inspired by (Murray Hill Mews Apartments, located at 159 East 37th Street, It took me 2