hkabat-forum-threads Amthaak BATS Thread

[Amthaak 1,501]

Hi Everybody! It was a hard day (night) today! Never try to do something in a hurry, that I did...

Cockatoo: thank you very much, it works (of course!) But, I should have read what you say more carefully, because I didn't do the right operation and lost, in Gmax all my nightmaps, then I though that it didn't work and I... reinstall Gmax etc..etc... (Never try to do something in a hurry...) I though that I made a copy of my Bat and textures..., AND I LOST EVERYTHING!

Fortunatly, dear Cockatoo I found in the "bin" the zip file with BOR6, and fortunatly I have a backup of nearly all the textures I lost. After few hours, I had nearly recover everything.

SimFox:  About exporting to max from Gmax , I though at the beginning that it could a good option to start. But in fact,after some trials , I think the best for me is to start with a completly new project. I have just a small question, when you say that it should be better to move to a 64 bit environment for windows, does it mean that I have to move to vista or stay with XP?

For the trees, yes , of course, I agree entirely with what you said, in terms of quality, it has nothing to see with yours for instance, which are so incredible. Did you bat them with max? I don't use Photoshop, but Paint shop pro, and I experiment what you said, with a similar tool, the adjustment are a little different, but the result , like your make a good amelioration compare to the initial pic.

Anyway, thanks a lot to appear on my bat thread, as you maybe know , I really appreciate your work.

Jacqulina: hi jacky, if you want the farm , I'll send it to you.

art128: thanks for your support!

[SimFox 802]

well, Vista or XP is sort up to you... As long as it 64 bit version.

I personally use Vista and love it far better than XP...

One thing to keep in mind is that it should be compatible with the version of MAX you gonna use. Vista may have issues with Max 9, for instance, but would be fine with Max 2008.

I made those Chestnuts and few other types (still haven't time to release them) in a special plugin for Max called Onyx Garden. They are rather Poly heavy and ther are few tricks how to make them look their best in game. But generally it is a very capable and easy to use tree modeling package. THey have (or at least had) a student version of it for about 100$

[Francis90b 748]

Glad you've recovered all the gatas (or at least the majority of them).Losing hours of work after a crash isn't funny....but at least you were lucky.

[jacqulina 162]

hiya my friend yes i would love to have the farm thankyou.

[grbac80 5]

Phew, that was close, aey? Glad you could recover all those files. I like the farm as well so why not release like the first one?

[Amthaak 1,501]

Grbac80: YES my friend, why not! BTW is there an award for the one who use the biggest quantity of dependencies?

[bixel 1,223]

Amazing work my friend...you should srsly consider using 3d max from now on - because really gmax can't handle what you are going to put it through, besides your model will look so much better in 3ds max anyway.

[Amthaak 1,501]

WAOOWWWWW! The great Bixel talked to me! You know what? 

Well dear Bixel, seriously, I am , since all the difficulties I met recently with Gmax(certainly due to the size of this Bgd) strongly tempted to move to max. The main problem is that (like when you wear old shoes), I am very confortable with Gmax, I know that my "new shoes" are really more beautifull, but I'll need some times to make them confortable too. So I really need a lot of time  to learn. I have to admit that I am quite lost with max, for instance I have no idea how to make a render. If I do the Gmax way, I get that:

Yes, the object is the small thing at the bottom ,  when I come back to the normal vie, the zoom on the perspective screen is very limited, and I have the box in the front view with this flashy green color, which make me mad. So you can see what I can do today with max... That's even more frustration that I have with Gmax today. If you have any idea to help me you are super welcome. BTW, I love your work man!

[bixel 1,223]

the renderer (f9) will render whichever view you selected, so if you have top view selected - it will render the top view, if you render the perspective view it will render that. Also if you add a camera, and in the perspective view right-click in the upper left corner (where it says perspective) you can change it to the camera01, the view then becomes what the camera is looking at, and then you can render that. In File> Xref, you can add a camera rig - I suggest downloading my TruNight tutorial inorder to grab my scanline camera rigs, add the camera rig in the Xref and render - you will have a nice sun and shadowing. In Render > Renderer select Catmull - Rom in the filters and you will get a sharper image. - and you will need Bat4Max. goodluck!

[Amthaak 1,501]

Bixel: thank you very much, hope you'll have time for more advice.

[Amthaak 1,501]

Okay, my friends, first of all some stats:

And now, here we are...

Thank a lot for your comments! BTW, somebody can tell me , how I can eliminate from the game , the small car on the top of the bdg, and the small plane, and the small train and the small boat and...   Thanks a lot!!!

[Gn_leugim 853]

first, good work, and you were luck, imagine if the export went worng? eheh

now it is moding time btw, how it will be on game? LM?

to remove those circles, go to the "my sims" tab (those two persons you can see bellow, on the corner) and on vehicles select to turn off the UDI missions

PS: btw, I'm trying to make some pine trees now lol

[Amthaak 1,501]

Hi Querido Amigo: You right, if it went wrong, maybe I'll stop to work on it ...! In the game, I think that I 'll do one R$$ or R$$$, and one LM with jobs CS$$ (kind of "Apartamentos Hoteis" like in  Sao Paulo). Thanks for the trick. .

I am still trying to make oak, but after seeing what SimFox upload recently, I think I'll use them instead of mine. Anyway, good luck for your pinetree.

[Cockatoo 2,256]

Congrats on getting it exported, it looks great on that lot. How many poly's is the final thing?

[Amthaak 1,501]

Hi my friend! thanks a lot, I had nothing to loose.... Forgot to put that in my stats...

As you can see, I eliminate, as you suggested, a lot of flora, but the result is Okay I think! Next time , must be with max ( when I see the Simfox's trees!), I go to bed , have a nice day!

[art128 4,618]

it's looking excellent my friend !

[Gn_leugim 853]

a breath taking count eheh.. thank you, I'll make a nice tree you will see

[Amthaak 1,501]

Merci Arthur!

[Amthaak 1,501]

Querido Gn, nao posso esperar mais ver o seu arvore. Sorry for the grammar mistakes and spelling, it's like max ... I have to practice!

[Gn_leugim 853]

not bad ^^ I spell wrong English so, we are even ^^

btw, you should say: "nao posso esperar mais para ver a sua arvore"

[Amthaak 1,501]

Muito Obrigado, I forgot that "avore" is feminine.... Thanks a lot to teach me! Anyway, I'm still impatient tosee yr tree!

[SimFox 802]

Amthaak:

the problem you have shown here :

is a result of 3ds Max set wrong. You need to set you system units to meters (by default they are inches). It confuses the calculation in preview script. Anyway Max should be set to use meters as system units - that actually was an important condition specified in readme for Bat4Max 2... And that my assumption when I was writing the preview script...

[Amthaak 1,501]

SimFox:

Do you mean that?

:

 I'm using Bat4max 2-5, and there nothing in the readme file, so, do I have to follow for the installation, what it is written in the Bat4max 2 readme file?

BTW, even putting here "meters", I still have the same rendering problem , that I have not by doing "F9"...

Anyway, thanks a lot for your help! All your advices are very appreciated.

[SimFox 802]

well that is because so far you've set only display units, not system units to meters (notice the label of the frame)

You see that button at the top of that window saying System Unit Setup - notice it is a button, not a label.

Click on that button and you shall see window like this:

there you must make sure you have meters (as picture actually shows), not inches. This is a key, since that is an unit max uses in all internal calculation (including those for lighting)

PS

no, of course you don't have to follow the instructions in Bat4Max v2 readMe...

It was my mistake forgetting about the unit system unit setup.

I'll add this point to the installation instructions of Bat4Max 2.5 and later.

[Amthaak 1,501]

Thanks a lot, it works, How can I have a good resolution for the rendering because , I have that (the object is 10mx25x):

Perspective view:

Renderview:

BTW, It was not so bad with F9 before I changed from inches to meters.

[SimHoTToDDy 2,938]

The Ghost of Readmes Past has returned to haunt Simfox!!!

lol

Things are looking pretty good! Is there any way you could export a version that has the other tower parallel with the street? It looks like it could make a great corner lot plus the LODs would probably allow for a much smaller lot, which would be great for downtowns.

As a side note, the shadows on your in game shot look really wonky, It looks like some of the props you are using. I can't tell if it the planters under the palm trees are base/ overlay textures (which wouldn't make a shadow) or if the problem is with the maxis trees.

Great work so far

-Todd

Edit: what version of MAX do you have? That will help a lot

[Jasoncw 11,840]

The best thing you can do, is use google and the documentation that came with 3ds Max (which is also available on their website) is to learn the program and techniques outside of the context of BATing.  You'll learn what all of the buttons do, and you'll learn good techniques for doing things.

[Amthaak 1,501]

SimHoTToDDy:

Dear Todd, I am afraid that I will not make a version with the 2 towers parallel to the streets, I understand your point to reduce the size lot. Actually the size is 7x9. In fact , what I find interesting in this building (and what I like) is the conception between the 2 towers  which make an angle of 110°  (or 70° depend the angle you are considering). That's why you also have a special design for the intermediary part , i.e. parkings + swimming pool. To reduce the size lot, I think I have to Re export my bat after re centre my bat in Gmax, as , actually, the front of the bdg coincideto  the front of the lot, which not really seems on the pic (it seems that the bdg is 2 squares behind the front of the lot. My mistake , I admit...)

For the shadows , I think it's coming from maxis props, because the planters under the palm tree are overlay textures . Anyway , I made this lot rapidly to check what will be the result in the game. The definitive lot should more like that:

(Thank you Mr. SimFox...!)

(Re thank you Mr. SimFox...)

My max version is 9 (and I also would like it help me a lot...), like revolution N°9 in the Beatle's double white CD , in fact, max 9 remind me this piece of music... If you don't  know it and if you have time, try to find it and listen to it, you will understand what I mean...!

Anyway Todd , thanks a lot for your comments!

[Amthaak 1,501]

Dear Jason,

First of all, I am very impressed by your CV. Your advice is of course very pertinent, but  there is a big fight in me between what is right and what is easy... and sometimes a good simple drawing is better than a long speach. But if there is no other solution, I will have to find inner motivation and do what you think I have to do, I already have on my knees the "Le Robert & Collins Senior new edition", whish me good luck!

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Learning every detail about the program could take a really long time, but I just mean something more like an "intro to 3ds Max 9" tutorial which would go through all of the menus and say what's what, so you could learn how to change your render's output, and learn about some of the basic concepts behind lighting, etc. I don't know of any tutorials offhand, but I'm sure some exist someplace.

ah, I didn't know you were French. I'm always impressed by everyone on the forum who learns all of these things in a secondary language--it's hard enough for native English speakers.