Swats BATs

[JakeMD 107]

Now that some of my ST projects are done, i have some free time.  This came into my head, and I just made a small outline.. Well I worked on it all night and day, and actually payed attention to the little things.  Here is what I came up with.

I really like it, but I am sure I could improve on the textures a lot.  What do you have in mind for roof items?

[Utvaw 45]

I really like this building, but the base is bothering me. Maybe cut the outer corners of the base so it follows the shape of the tower more?

Either way this looks great and I cannot wait to see it on the STEX.

[jeffsandychelsea 3]

 this looks cool but a bit colorless. oh well its a work in progress  but i would suggest putting the same waist high wall that is currently on the roof and adding that same thing to the roof of the base so it doesnt look like a sudden dropoff   

as for roof junk, maybe a little rooftop elevator door, a/c vents/equipment to 'spruce it down'  

EDIT: also, on the lower roof tiers you could put doors leading to a courtyard type area with benches and pwetty flowers  

[jacqulina 162]

great building so far

[paulvmontfort 616]

Looks nice, I can't wait to see what you come up with next

[JakeMD 107]

I did some work (not much) on the roof and changed the base a little.  Also changed it black.

[masochist 111]

Looks good!

[LE0 5]

Nice building!

[sithlrd98 66]

Looking good...first time seeing with the nightlights. I like it!

[JakeMD 107]

Sorry for updating so much... but I think its on its final stages.

The roof is still very poor, what else can I do?

Click for larger image

[pagenotfound 53]

om nom nom i like it

[Jasoncw 11,840]

For the roof, I would personally remove everything that you have up there now. On the highest roof I would put a mechanical penthouse, or a screened off area for mechanical stuff, set back from the roof line, and made out of some kind of material like white marble or white aluminum. This wouldn't be very visually prominent, but it would cap off the "composition" of the building, and the white would contrast well with the dark facade (which would make everything seem more dark and rich and vivid instead of being muddy, right now I think the building is dark and muddy looking). I also think you should make the opaque part of the facade at the top two or three times taller. You could add rails for window washing cranes, though these wouldn't be very prominent. I think the most important things for roofs is the texture.

For the facade, I would take the panels that are supposed to be spandrels, and I would make a slightly different texture for them. Not enough to make them look different, but just different enough to imply floor lines. Right now the facade feels sort of loose an undefined to me.

For the base, I don't think the base is working. I think it should be taller. Also, for the way you have the base now, I feel like it should be made out of concrete instead of glass. Maybe it could be modeled like retail spaces, or like lobby space or something.

So that's my advice for now. You don't have to follow it, but that's what I would do if I were working on this BAT.

[spa 968]

Partially why your base isn't working is because it doens't have a front door! Looks like it did on the old version but it got lost in the changes.

On the roof, your hvacs aren't working and I don't think the penthouse access is either. I would ditch them all (keep the TV antenna) and go with what Jason was suggesting. A simple penthouse with some large scale mechanical equipment would be more fitting for this type of building. It's a modern tower so the roof would likely be accessed by an elevator to a full penthouse. There would be one or two large mechanical units for air. What you have is dinky access and lots of little units. It's the type of roof you would find on an older structure. Modern buildings aren't built like this. On the whole, it's a good model and just needs some tweaking.

[JolsonLim 1]

Love your American Style BAT's ! Keep up the good work

[SimHoTToDDy 2,938]

I'll be keeping my eye on you Jake, so make sure you do a good job

And nice work so far. I don't think I have stopped to say that with all the nitpicking I have been doing in chat.

[Kryptowhite 9]

I agree with much of what jason said. For the base, maybe something similar to the recent Kodebo [hope thats the right name] upload with the big blocky columns, and then as jason suggested, you could put retail down there, or maybe even some large windows. Gray concrete would work well for that I suppose.

My one other suggestion would be to redo the nightlighting so that your "interior" matches up with the floors. Right now there is a bright streak running down the side, it doesn't really look realistic. It looks like you might have a bit of "matching" although its difficult to tell.

Regardless, I like what you've done so far, the black against the windows looks really nice, and the tower has a great design.

[JakeMD 107]

Thanks so much everyone!  I have really tried to combine everyone's suggestions into one.. 

I have made what I think you meant by the base and the roof.  I also adjusted the floors and the roof texture.  I moved over the antenna because I really liked it, and added a cord that leads to the penthouse.  (With a little of todds help  )

[paulvmontfort 616]

looks much better in my opinion

[Kryptowhite 9]

yea that looks much better. Good improvements.

[Cockatoo 2,256]

Hey, you're getting better.

I mean it's a step up from the stuff you did in this thread, a big step up from this thread, and an even bigger step up from the FBC thread.

If you choose to stick with BATing this time I have no doubt that you'll be able to finally create some really nice stuff with the BAT.

With this latest one, the window texture could still use a little work ie. cloud/sky reflections of sorts to break it up a little. Also the UVW maps on the roof(s) look a little stretched out at first glance. Maybe take a look at them too.

[JakeMD 107]

Thanks again!

I completed more of the base and I hope I finished most of the nightlighting.  Just need to iluminate the words and the base a little..

click me !

EDIT: Cockatoo - you are right.. i'll probably need to adjust the UVW maps.  Thanks

[Kryptowhite 9]

Looking good. I would either add more windows to the blank parts of the base, or add some sort of flora in lot editor. Nightlights look better too.

[bixel 1,223]

some roof stuff inspiration for you

too big to post it here

[JakeMD 107]

Ooooh thank you Bixel! 

What I have here, is two versions of the base.  Todd made one of them, I bet you can guess which one

(This one is todds base)

[art128 4,618]

great building there, I like the design of it and, good work on the light.

[simcity4fan12 13]

The finished one looked great! Can't wait for more!

[JakeMD 107]

Thanks guys!

Here's something new

i have a feeling the window texture needs work and that the roof thingy is too big/needs to be moved.

[Kryptowhite 9]

yea i think a lighter blue like the color of simrabbits tower would work. also add a bump map. good design though! Looks somewhat like 111 huntington without the crown.

[SimHoTToDDy 2,938]

Not bad at all. I agree that the pent house needs to be re arranged for this building, perhaps a square one would go well with the shape of this building? As for the glass, you will just have to try a bunch of things and see what works best. It doesn't look all that bad now, but there is something about it that just isn't right.

Best of luck Jake,

-Todd

[JakeMD 107]

Well then, keeping your suggestions in mind, i made a sort of update thing. 

Now what to do with the rest of it.  

edit: