Kellydale2003's BAT Mine

[tails2489 350]

The Tower looks great! Almost like a photograph. Hope you're working on The Dome next!

[kellydale2003 2,276]

Couldn't host a contest in time simply because there wasn't enough of it.

Regardless, here's a simple version. I realized I need to do a couple of fixes. Those will be uploaded within the next week or so. 

Happy New Year's Day everyone.

 

 

[EvansRE4 796]

Looks amazing @kellydale2003 I cant wait to see more buildings from Toronto especially the TD center you were working on

[SpartanBadger 4]

Your work is incredible! Thank you for sharing it with us

[kellydale2003 2,276]

Toronto-Dominion Centre

5 out of 7 towers are are 95% complete. I usually save the roof junk for last as its my least favourite thing to do.

This building is also going to be tricky because it exceeds the 32 FSH tiles as explained by SimFox here:

 

The Toronto-Dominion Centre will have to be exported in separate buildings. Even the base plaza itself fits snug into the 32 tile limit.

 

I still haven't figured out the logistics of this and I've never done such a feat before either. I created a custom LOD for the CN Tower in order to fit the 32 tiles into one LOD, but this BAT is impossible to do in one full export.

The challenge isn't necessarily plopping the buildings on top of the plaza, but the challenge lies with the nightlighting. I will be doing a test export in the coming weeks and will start better texturing the buildings. Right now, they're all basic architectural materials with little to no effort.

 

All towers are currently being completed as independent and separate model files and then merged into the full scene. I had to make some tweaks to accommodate the single tower scenes. The real-life counterparts will be modified soon.

- Kellydale2003

[art128 4,618]

I think It's better to have every tower made separate anyway, that way people could decide to use a tower and not the other etc.

[redfox85 659]

gezz that is incredible looking !

[rivit 3,391]

3 hours ago, kellydale2003 said:

exceeds the 32 FSH tiles

I'm not sure that that's actually the real limit - I think it might be 64 per view. Your "The Bow" has 33 and 34 tiles in different views. (I've adapted GoFSH to reassemble the FSH to full views for proofing after Bat4MAx to MaxisNight conversions and have been testing with that one).  

Since day and night are designated by a different a digit (5) being 0 and 8  in the IID, and Zoom is in Digit(6), I think that view0 has 0x,4x,8x,Cx available, View 1 1x,5x,9x,Dx, View 2 2x,6x,Ax,Ex and view3 3x,7x,Bx and Fx  in digits (7,8) where x=0 to F

It could depend on the Renderer - Gmax and Bat4Max may be different - but I can't find an explicit limit in the Buildingmill.ms (it just seems do Width/256 and Height/256) and I don't know the tools well enough to judge whether the GUI places a limit on rendersize otherwise.

[kellydale2003 2,276]

On 1/2/2019 at 6:48 PM, rivit said:

I'm not sure that that's actually the real limit - I think it might be 64 per view. Your "The Bow" has 33 and 34 tiles in different views. (I've adapted GoFSH to reassemble the FSH to full views for proofing after Bat4MAx to MaxisNight conversions and have been testing with that one).  

Since day and night are designated by a different a digit (5) being 0 and 8  in the IID, and Zoom is in Digit(6), I think that view0 has 0x,4x,8x,Cx available, View 1 1x,5x,9x,Dx, View 2 2x,6x,Ax,Ex and view3 3x,7x,Bx and Fx  in digits (7,8) where x=0 to F

It could depend on the Renderer - Gmax and Bat4Max may be different - but I can't find an explicit limit in the Buildingmill.ms (it just seems do Width/256 and Height/256) and I don't know the tools well enough to judge whether the GUI places a limit on rendersize otherwise.

I tried to export the CN Tower and got the Error 6 pop-up. I contributed this issue to the 32 FSH limit. After some experimentation and creating a custom LOD, it appeared to have solved the problem.

As for The Bow, I previously posted about rendering issues and tried about 8+ times to export. The issue randomly fixed itself on the 9th attempt.

So, I guess I have another random issue not related to these FSH files?

Anyway, I gave the Toronto-Dominion a test export. A regular LOD creates 72 FSH files. So, I created a custom one and got it down to 58.

 

After a 6th attempt (gmax kept freezing), it worked! The boxes are representative of a 30-second LOD.

 

And get this: These white boxes account for a 7 MB file after being exported. Currently, the full model boasts 375,000 polys and has not yet included the trees. I've been doing my best to keep the poly amount down so this way I don't have to resort to using a third party renderer.

Having it exported in one chunk makes a huge difference! I guess I'll keep chugging along.

[EvansRE4 796]

1 hour ago, kellydale2003 said:

I tried to export the CN Tower and got the Error 6 pop-up. I contributed this issue to the 32 FSH limit. After some experimentation and creating a custom LOD, it appeared to have solved the problem.

As for The Bow, I previously posted about rendering issues and tried about 8+ times to export. The issue randomly fixed itself on the 9th attempt.

So, I guess I have another random issue not related to these FSH files?

Anyway, I gave the Toronto-Dominion a test export. A regular LOD creates 72 FSH files. So, I created a custom one and got it down to 58.

 

After a 6th attempt (gmax kept freezing), it worked! The boxes are representative of a 30-second LOD.

 

And get this: These white boxes account for a 7 MB file after being exported. Currently, the full model boasts 375,000 polys and has not yet included the trees. I've been doing my best to keep the poly amount down so this way I don't have to resort to using a third party renderer.

Having it exported in one chunk makes a huge difference! I guess I'll keep chugging along.

All I know is this complex will look just as amazing as your other BATs. And I'm guessing the lot size will be about a 15x9?

[Spamoidutout 124]

Shouldn't the limit theorically be FF? Meaning 256 in decimal?

The view number jumps to 4 to continue the 1, to 5 to continue 2 etc... so the max value could be FF.

 

Edit: LOL Ok I forgot to divide by 4 afterwards because of the four views; so yep, the limit is 64. 

[kellydale2003 2,276]

On 1/3/2019 at 11:44 PM, EvansRE4 said:

All I know is this complex will look just as amazing as your other BATs. And I'm guessing the lot size will be about a 15x9?

We have it at 17x9.

 

Toronto-Dominion Centre

The Ernst and Young Tower has been added. No night lights added yet as I usually finish the day version before. I've started a bit of texturing and will save all the roof junk for last of the modelling. I've been having trouble with the stairs and can't seem to identify why they're randomly popping up whiter in certain areas.

Cockatoo created them a few years back and they're a series of planes. I've experimented with back face culling and such but not luck. I've duplicated the polys, flipped them and extruded them by 1" but still have the problem. The same texture is applied to the rest of the plaza using the same UVW box size but that issue doesn't arise.

Anyone have any insight?

 

I've also started experimenting with the tree heights and it's brought the model more than 1 million polys!

- Kellydale2003

[EvansRE4 796]

14 minutes ago, kellydale2003 said:

We have it at 17x9.

 

Toronto-Dominion Centre

The Ernst and Young Tower has been added. No night lights added yet as I usually finish the day version before. I've started a bit of texturing and will save all the roof junk for last of the modelling. I've been having trouble with the stairs and can't seem to identify why they're randomly popping up whiter in certain areas.

Cockatoo created them a few years back and they're a series of planes. I've experimented with back face culling and such but not luck. I've duplicated the polys, flipped them and extruded them by 1" but still have the problem. The same texture is applied to the rest of the plaza using the same UVW box size but that issue doesn't arise.

Anyone have any insight?

 

I've also started experimenting with the tree heights and it's brought the model more than 1 million polys!

- Kellydale2003

Great thanks @kellydale2003 now I know the size for the block in downtown. Because I'm recreating the downtown area of the movie version of Raccoon City, which is of course Toronto.

  Edited January 6, 2019 by EvansRE4  

[tails2489 350]

One or two of the towers now have the TD logo on them as well, will this be added at some point? I know the logo wasn't always there but noticed it's been added in recent years.

[kellydale2003 2,276]

On 1/6/2019 at 1:58 PM, tails2489 said:

One or two of the towers now have the TD logo on them as well, will this be added at some point? I know the logo wasn't always there but noticed it's been added in recent years.

Actually, I will not be adding the logo onto them. I've recently started doing a lot of business work with them and I've decided that I need to respect their logo. I won't be adding any real-life logos onto future buildings.

 

Toronto-Dominion Centre

Just a quick illustration of the new names of the buildings:

 

Furthermore, I have moved the whole model to the left by 5 meters to create a stair frontages for 121 King Street West. As you can see from the first photo, there is a terribly large drop at the front entrance. The real-life building is at street level but as it progresses, it becomes stairs on the opposite side.

So, since the stairs in front of 121 King are already an added and not-real-life piece, I figured making it more realistic by adding stairs (where the orange highlight is) to fill the lot will make it look better. 

Also, additional modelling to connect the TD Pavilion, Ernst & Young Tower and the TD Bank Tower will be complete before starting work on the last tower: TD South.

 

TD South will also be rendered completely separate from the entire block! The streets are also added in there for reflection purposes. They will not be included with the actual rendering.

[kingofsimcity 5,739]

Looks absolutely gorgeous!

[SpartanBadger 4]

Beautiful!

[gutterclub 2,729]

So good mate! Like a 1 man BAT team, up there for best BAT 2019

[Belfastsocrates 1,753]

Absolutely incredible work! 

[kellydale2003 2,276]

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

TD South has now been built. I will be moving onto the roof junk next. In the meanwhile, if anyone would like to contribute any models such as cars, sims (even your own custom one), model props (mailboxes, newspaper boxes, lamps, chairs, tables, patio sets, etc.) and anything else, you're more than welcome.

Your contributions will be mentioned in the upload.

 

So, when I was doing TD South (the tower across the road from the main complex, I quickly modeled out its surrounding buildings to ensure the lots were not conflicting with one another. I did some rough modeling and well...

 

I mean, the Royal Bank Plaza was hard not to adore. The Toronto-Dominion Centre and Royal Bank Plaza are literally side-by-side to one another. Since I need a little break from TD-Centre (as you can see how slow I am progressing), the Royal Bank Plaza might be a good little distraction.

 

In this photo, you can see the Toronto-Dominion Centre on the left, 11 King Street West (a BAT I released), Commerce Tower and now the Royal Bank Plaza.

 

If @.soapy finished his other two BATs (also in the photo), we would have 6 more Toronto skyscrapers from downtown to complete these photos!

 

 

Between .soapy and I, we have 16 towers from Toronto that need to be finished and/or exported.

Personally, I want to have mine complete and exported before summer of this year. That will bring that 16 would-be towers down to only 4 if I complete the ones on my end. .Soapy on the other hand... that's a different story and entirely up to them if they want to come back.

This Royal Bank Plaza I am working on, it is a short project. Should be quick!

 

- Kellydale2003

 

PS; The Four Seasons is sitting idle until I can figure out some nightlighting issues! Will post an update in February or so.

[Aaron Graham 4,417]

OMG!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!

[JP Schriefer 5,590]

Very impressive models! I can't wait to see them on STEX.

BTW do you intend to also model the Royal York?

[kellydale2003 2,276]

2 hours ago, JP Schriefer said:

Very impressive models! I can't wait to see them on STEX.

BTW do you intend to also model the Royal York?

I would like to, but I think I have a lot to chew as is. After I am done the main towers of Toronto, I would like to focus on some mid-rises and residential towers. 

When it comes to older buildings, I am fairly slow because I don't have much knowledge on the architecture of the buildings (like typical window size, wall gaps, window spacing, door sizes, etc.). 

Eventually, I will get around it -- but not anytime soon. It certainly is a key piece to downtown Toronto. Almost every single building in this photo will be in SimCity 4 within 1-2 years.

Also, here's a quick update:

PS; The base of the tower's plaza actually shares a wall with the Royal York hotel. Guests of the hotel unload their luggage under Royal Bank Plaza's plaza. So, creating the Royal York is already considered as these BATs are W2W.

[EvansRE4 796]

12 minutes ago, kellydale2003 said:

I would like to, but I think I have a lot to chew as is. After I am done the main towers of Toronto, I would like to focus on some mid-rises and residential towers. 

When it comes to older buildings, I am fairly slow because I don't have much knowledge on the architecture of the buildings (like typical window size, wall gaps, window spacing, door sizes, etc.). 

Eventually, I will get around it -- but not anytime soon. It certainly is a key piece to downtown Toronto. Almost every single building in this photo will be in SimCity 4 within 1-2 years.

Also, here's a quick update:

PS; The base of the tower's plaza actually shares a wall with the Royal York hotel. Guests of the hotel unload their luggage under Royal Bank Plaza's plaza. So, creating the Royal York is already considered as these BATs are W2W.

Getting closer to being able to fill in my downtown skyline as I wait patiently for your releases...cant wait.

[thecitiescenter 3,045]

Ah, the Royal York.  That would be awesome to have in SC4.  I stayed there on my last visit to Toronto. Very cool hotel.  Funny enough (in hindsight), I also got stuck (briefly) in the elevator of the TD Centre on that same trip, then subsequently on the 40th floor on my way up to dinner reservations at Canoe.  Cool to see these in SC4, keep up the good work and look fwd to their release!

 

 

 

[kellydale2003 2,276]

14 hours ago, portlandexpos04 said:

Ah, the Royal York.  That would be awesome to have in SC4.  I stayed there on my last visit to Toronto. Very cool hotel.  Funny enough (in hindsight), I also got stuck (briefly) in the elevator of the TD Centre on that same trip, then subsequently on the 40th floor on my way up to dinner reservations at Canoe.  Cool to see these in SC4, keep up the good work and look fwd to their release!

 

 

 

That's actually hilarious. First time I visited Toronto I was in crutches and couldn't see the buildings all I wanted to see. Every other time after that was business-related with little to no time to go sight-seeing. Best I did was go in the CN Tower and visit Yonge & Dundas Square for 10 mins.

 

Royal Bank Plaza

Told you this was going to be quick.

Also, notice the caustics! This is the first time I've applied caustics to a BAT. When opportune, I will definitely do this more.

 

The ground has been darkened to prepare for export. I should have this uploaded before Sunday. Night lights will be quick and, again, available in Dark Nite only. Sorry to the Maxis Night users, but my laptop is incredibly busy during the day and Maxis Night exports usually take more than 12 hours to render -- tying up my computer. So, Dark Nite it is.

- Kellydale2003

[Barroco Hispano 26,695]

Beautiful work! 

What kind of cars do you need?

[matias93 7,535]

OH, the caustics!!! Can I cry over the keyboard??

[T Wrecks 10,209]

8 hours ago, matias93 said:

OH, the caustics!!! Can I cry over the keyboard??

Only if it's tears of joy. Which are perfectly justified after looking at such tasty renders IMO.

This would make for a funny CML: "Notice the caustics!".

[kellydale2003 2,276]

15 hours ago, Goldman Sachs said:

Beautiful work! 

What kind of cars do you need?

For the Toronto-Dominion Centre, something like a worker's car pulling into the underground garage. So, an everyday, upper-middle class vehicle. Maybe the new Honda Civic or something millennial-like.

 

Royal Bank Plaza

Working on the night lights. I should have this rendered by tonight and uploaded sometime tomorrow.

 

Here's a render of the Financial Core of Toronto with the Royal Bank Plaza in it. Unfortunately, I think the Bay Adelaide Centre was lost on my old hard drive. I will add Scotia Bank Tower in there and the Toronto-Dominion Centre when its complete sometime in the future just as a candy render. Click the photo for full size (it's more than 3,000 px wide).