AEX BATs

[SimHoTToDDy 2,939]

Edit: Welcome to page three!

How many versions of the Alexandria Tower have you done now? lol I photoshopped it into a SC4 screen shot and it looked pretty good, the texture you used is especially lovely I might add. You might want to add some sort of detail to the top of the tower, weather it is just a small railing or a bit of flashing, because right now it looks very thick and blocky (reminds me of SC3000 BAT's wide bricks ). Otherwise I think you might want to add a subtle gradient to the white wall texture to add some interest plus it will help differentiate the sides on the left (which kind of blend together).

As for Red River Bank, I think you are off to a good start, your textures looked mapped correctly and the roof especially looks like a great starting place. You might want to desaturate the wall texture a little bit, but I will wait until you have more modeled before I get to picky about that. Try making your window frames a little bit darker and push the windows into the facade some, the point being that it might help add some interest and detail to the building without modeling anything that isn't there.

Looking good so far, and best of luck,

-Todd

[simcity4fan12 13]

Well, I've made just about 10 versions....only 2 were released.I'm just a perfectionist I guess, I wanted to make it perfect becuase it's one of my favorite buildings. I think I have like a Top....100 list and it's one of the first. The top part is very thick, and I haven't added these railing-like parts to it that are there in RL. So thanks for reminding me.

As for the Red River Bank, the windows aren't deep into the blank facade, but I'll see what I can do there. I'll decrease the saturation a bit. Here's some progress I've done on it in modeling so far.



I've added the pent house but not much detail on it yet. That other box thing has a big aircon-unit in it that sticks out I haven't added it yet. I added the base columns but not the glass there yet. It might be hard to tell, but the windows do go into the facade a bit, just not that much, like in RL.

[simcity4fan12 13]

Here's an update on the Red River Bank. I'm just about done. Here's the final look and the(maybe) final lot.

I hope the picture isn't to big. I compared it to my Guaranty Bank Building and my famous One Brooklyn Bridge Plaza. Its textures look fine to me. I got all the details done and added. The base glass texture is the same as the windows, but I don't know why it's so dark. You can't see the mullions well unless it's the night shot, speaking of which I forgot to get one. How's it look? I'm thinking the lot's sides could use some more props, like some benches or something... I'm gonna have to versions, 1) one for a small lot for dense areas 2) one with an increased lot with parking like the one in RL. The real life lot is massive and has alot of parking, and a drive thru awning that I didn't BAT. It's just a long, concrete or whatever thing that is made out of the same material as the walls. The roof is bare and empty like that too.

[simcity4fan12 13]

I did a HQ Render of Alexandria Tower to test how it will look compared to other modern buildings. It's still not finished though.

Here's an upclose pic of the back.

[Jasoncw 11,953]

The ground floor glass is darker because it's in the shadow.

Alexandria Tower looks really weird to me, because the tower is so small. It seems like there is barely any rentable space inside. Are you sure all of the dimensions are correct? It just seems so small.

[simcity4fan12 13]

It is that small in real life. The dimensions are correct. There is space inside just not alot. I've seen the inside through a window that was lit up at night. It was just some office area. It doesn't really light up at night though. I got the dimensions from google earth, and compared the height to the Guaranty Bank Building I made becuase the tower is slightly shorter than the building. I'll post some real life photos if needed.

[Francis90b 748]

It blends pretty well with maxis modern buildings!

I'm only wondering about the parapet walls on the concrete area.You see, the diagonal concrete walls do have thin parapets, whiile the central rectangle (above the glass area) do have far thicker ones.It's like that in the real building as well?

[simcity4fan12 13]

The central part with the parapet walls are thicker than the diagonal ones.


This image came from a much larger pic I took of the building.

Here's the google earth image of it-



Here's some more progress. I started adding plants. They come from those low-poly trees that are on the STEX, I can't remember the maker's name.


I darkened the mullions and the concrete peice below the tower that has the 2 wide columns supporting the tower. You can barely see 1 peeking out below the shadow of the tower. How's it look? Do I need to darken the ground areas where the plants go? Also, the RL building's triangular part that faces toward the W2W side sticks out beyond the wall. So for it to be W2W I might have to BAT the W2W building it's with. Problem is, I don't know what that building looks like. Second, I think it forms an "L" shape before connecting W2W with this Masonic(spelled correctly?) Temple Building. I'll have to try Google Street view in Google earth. Hopefully I can figure it out.

[Aaron Graham 4,417]

Its looking good, I also think that the texture it good as well.

[simcity4fan12 13]

Thanks! I appreciate it.

Here's some more progress. I added some of Glenni's roof junk pack stuff on the low rise roof and added some more of those low-poly trees. And I started on the nightlighting. How's it look?

The buidling in RL doesn't really light up at night at all. So, Most of the windows on the Low-rise part are lit up but I'm not sure about the tower. Maybe I should have the glass corners on the diagonal parapet walls lit up at night and have one or two windows on the slanted part of the tower lit up. What do ya'll think?

[Aaron Graham 4,417]

Yes, I think that everythings good and I think you are done.

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Well, in order to make the building visually more appealing at night, I think it's ok to light it a bit more than its real-life counterpart. Your plans sound quite appropriate. Where would the staircase be? Behind that long vertical glass section on the back of the tower part? If so, you could consider lighting it as well - maybe not so brightly. Just a thought, though.

Some more finishing touches I could imagine would be...

 

(a) some more work on the flat roof texture. You could add a partly opaque layer over it and use Photoshop's "dodge" and "burn" features (or whatever the functions for brightening/darkening are called) to add some bleaching effect in the middle sections and some darker edges around the parapet wall and all roofjunk components. This would add more visual interest to the otherwise most lackluster part of the BAT. Not that I want to blame you, flat rooftops are boring by nature!  That's precisely why I'm making a suggestion concerning the texture rather than adding unrealistic masses of roof junk - it might make the roof look boring and realistic in a more interesting way, so to speak.  

(b) a more varied texture on those planter beds. You could try a texture that has some undefined greener spots and a bit more noise, to simulate the bare earth and some smaller plants growing there between the trees and bushes. This would also help to make said trees and bushes appear more natural and less like monolithic flora elements placed artificially on a a flat brown ground.

Anyway, these are just minor observations. The building turned out great, I'd love to see an in-game shot!  How big is the lot going to be anyway? 1x2?

[simcity4fan12 13]

@ T Wrecks. I'll keep those ideas in mind. Thanks! The lot is actually going to be 2x3 like the Guaranty Bank Building was. If I scale it to where it fits on a 1x2 lot, it will look way to thin. And here's some in game shots for you-


I have to fix the LODs a bit since that happened. I kinda chose a random assortment of buildings to go next to it. I put One Chase Manhattan Plaza and my first NYBT labeled upload Federal Hall next to it. Speaking of NYBT, I'm gonna get some NYBT work done and hopefully and maybe upload a V2 of the St. Nicholas Orthodox Greek Church I uploaded. And maybe finish up my HSBC Bank Building. Any way, I'm getting a little off-topic. Here'e and in-game night shot so far.


I highlighted those pointed glass areas on the front of the tower part. That's sort of a feature of the building at night in real life even though it is different slightly. Also that middle glass area on the front might actually be where the stair well or the elevators(or both?) be located. Maybe some dim lighting can go there. Also, I made the lights green becuase on the all glass part of the tower, the lighting of the rooms has a green tint to it. Maybe it should be the beige lighting? What do ya'll think?

EDIT: I changed the roof texture...now it looks....bad...

What do ya'll think? Later I'll show a pic with the scaled changed to fit on a 1x2 lot and see what ya'll think of it.

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Ok, I see - looks like I totally miscalculated the size of that building. 1x2 might be too small indeed, but who knows? A shot next to similarly sized Maxis buildings should reveal more. Otherwise, 1x3 might be an option worth considering.

As for the night lights, personally I don't mind the green tint at all. As a matter of fact, the night lights look fine to me the way they are now. I know I made some more suggestions, but in fact, if you want to go for that no-frills look that won't look out of place next to Maxis buildings, you have achieved a pretty nice result already.

Yeah, the new roof texture was less successful. Speaking of roof textures, I think adding a slight gradient to the inclined roof sections might be worth a shot.

[simcity4fan12 13]

Here's some night pics for ya'll-

(^ I don't know why this zoom 5 is always that small...)

I have some regular night windows on the building and some really dim ones. I'm thinking I'll add these dim lights to the front vertical strip of glass on the front of the tower as well.

Here's a RL night photo of Downtown Alex-

It's an old photo where the former Guaranty Bank Building was occupied by Hibernia, and now Capital One occupies it.

I haven't changed the scale yet. I did for 1x2 and it looked horrible and odd so I didn't save it. Maybe 1x3 will be good. I'll post a photo later to see how it looks as 1x3.

[simcity4fan12 13]

It looks to thin to me as 1x3...what do ya'll think?

Any comments or replies are welcomed and appreciated.

[Vlasky 1,803]

Your city looks great! I love it! Must be great place for family life!

[simcity4fan12 13]

@Vlasky- Thank you! I love Alexandria.

Any opinions about the new scale of 1x3 should I keep it the old way? BTW I think the old scale is actually 2x4 becuase part of the trees in the front barely stick out enough to increase the lot size. Also, the large tree in the front looks kina odd to me becuase the sphere with the transclusent texture and the leaf texture combined is noticable. Should I scale it down abit since the smaller one isn't really noticable?

[simcity4fan12 13]

I have a new BAT that I made, just moved on from Sketchup to gmax with this one- A local bank. Just from my imagination. I believe the shape came from a bank in a city I went to but I'm not sure, but it looks no where near it honestly.

All I gotta do is add the trees and night lighting. I might have to improve the textures. Also, any opinions on Alexandria Tower's scale yet? I need to know so I can go ahead and finish it.

[SimHoTToDDy 2,939]

Personally I would prefer to have it as a 1x3. Fortunately the shape of the building maintains its proportions very well after you squeezed it, so I think you could get away with it. When you plan things (unless you are aiming for absolute accuracy) you should take the foot print into account, the closer to fitting on the tiles exactly the better

The new building looks good so far, it seems very Japanese to me for some reason.

[simcity4fan12 13]

I made the foot print based on google earth images. Unfortunately, it slightly stuck out of a 1 tile wide. Any way, it did look all right to me as 1x3 as well and your opinion helped out, I'm rendering it now. I'll show in-game photos with it's final lot and put it near the Guaranty Bank building as comparison to RL. I keep calling that one Guaranty Bank Building when its the Capital One Bank Building now, I just didn't want to make the logo on it.

I'm just about finished with the night lighting and added the trees with the local bank so I'm gonna get some in-game photos as well.

[spa 970]

3x1 would also work well. My only comment is things are fairly plain up at the roof level. Specifically, the top of the concrete walls. They're blinding white and plain. I would apply a darker dirtier texture or cover it with some thing. From my limited knowledge of architecture, there is usually some kind of metal or plastic cover over the top of a wall at the roof level to protect it from the elements. If it is just plain concrete, it typically is going to be weathered and somewhat discoloured. On the plus side I like the glass texture and the building's unique shape. I don't think it's too small and should fit in well with Maxis' 1x1 commercial towers

On the new bank, I have pretty similiar comment. Great wall texture and design. It's a nice interesting modern building that achieves visua. interest without being overly splashy. Things are a little plain, however, up at the roof level. The roof equipment you have up there is blandly textured. The ducting has no dimension even though ducting in real life is divided into sections that are stiched together (we should see seams). The box on the left that the ducting feeds into is blank and bland and as a result stands out and detracts from the rest of the building. Also, is it just me or do the columns not actually connect to the building that hangs above? I think I see the inside of the first one.

On the whole, both buildings are fantastic bats, but fall down somewhat at the roof level. A few tweaks and they'll be really great. I sympathize too. I know how difficult it can be to get things right on the roof since we don't typically see that level when we're out walking around in real life. All I can say is that in time you develop a bit of a knack for it, but it's amongst the toughest things to master because there isn't much in the way of visual guidance available.

[simcity4fan12 13]

I agree and understand your tips. The columns on the new building are connected but I chose a black metal texture for this square thing that comes out of the columns. It would be more noticable in an ingame photo. I belive I've seen a building that did something similar even though this one is made up. I can change textures colors and sizes, but I can't add something like dirt and grime unless it's all ready there and I just have to mess around with contrast for it to show more. On Alex Tower's roof at the top, should I add something like a trim on it or something? Or maybe I should just change the texture with one I have that has more dirt and grime and just change the colors to match with the concrete walls? The concrete walls actually have more contrast on the BAT then they do in RL. In RL, they are solid white, and from a distance(like SC4's views for example) it would look like a solid white color.

That new building's basic shape( like how part of it is suspened in the air by columns) I believe came from a building I saw in a small town that my Grandmother lives. But it's details and architecture is made up by me. It's supposed to be like Brutalism. Brutalism, modernism, and international style are some of my favorite architectural styles. One of my favorites in one of those styles is One Brooklyn Bridge Plaza(375 Pearl Street) in New York. I made it on the STEX not to long ago.

As for the roof of the second BAT, maybe I should add a trim as well(you know what I mean right?) and add some seams to the ducting and darken the air units' textures. Sound good?

[simcity4fan12 13]

I got some pics now. I think I'm just about done and captured it perfectly.

Well, I'm thinking it's just to small compared to the Guaranty Bank and Trust Building. It is small compared to it but I'm thinking when I rescaled it it made it to small. But here's some RL pics that compare them and I'm thinking it's just fine.

This one is at night but it's much closer than the other two.

^Capital One Bank Building(former Guaranty Bank Building)                        ^ Alexandria Tower

All right. Am I done you guys? Does it's scale look all right?

[DHNola 0]

Awesome! I am from SE LA and have friends in Alex. I have downloaded what you had available and are looking for more. Also if you ever feeling like branching into new olreans I think it would be good. THERE IS ONLY 2 biuldings on here. TWO.

[simcity4fan12 13]

I thought about doing New Orleans Buildings, like One Shell Square, and the New Orleans WTC.

[Utvaw 45]

I've always liked the Sheraton and Marriot hotel buildings in New Orleans. But back on topic, got anything else from Alexandria coming down the pipe?

[simcity4fan12 13]

Yea I got two things from Alex coming up-

The Rapides Parish Court House

And the modern part of the Alexandria Art Museum

Both are in Downtown. Not finished yet.

[simcity4fan12 13]

I'm renaming this project to AEX. A name after Alexandria's International Airport- AEX.

Here's some progress on the Rapides Parish Court House, Alex's 5th tallest building with 7 floors-

Still gotta add more then it's on to gmax with this one. I'm about to update my first post in this entire thread with a list of Alex BATs that are in progress and done.

EDIT: The First Page has been updated with a list of most of my Alex BAT Projects that will be made.

[Aaron Graham 4,417]

Nice!! Keep up the good work.