Auckland Landmarks.

[sam_lawrence 23]

Well you may have noticed or even downloaded my Auckland Skytower landmark from the BAT exchange here, and you may also have noticed the positive response i had got from fellow New Zealanders. Here's a pic here:

 

 

In response to this feedback, i've decided to have a go at a series of New Zealand Landmarks, so us Kiwis down here don't feel so left out of the game.

 

I will most likely start off with a few Auckland landmarks, focusing on the skyline. My initial ideas are to have a crack at doing either the Vero Center (formerly Royal & Sun Alliance), the ANZ Center, PriceWaterhouse Coopers and maybe even Quay West to add some residential to the equation. I have made a start on a Metropolis model, but i have no idea how i'm going to do the brass crown on top of it. The Museum could be a nice challenge too  Also note that a Skytower V2.0 might be in the pipeline too - there are still some improvements to be done i think.

 

If i'm not bored by the time i finish them, i'll start on some Wellington landmarks, probably starting off with the Majestic Center or Te Papa.

 

So any suggestions or comments?

[sam_lawrence 23]

I started work on the Vero center this morning, and so far i'm happy with the way it's shaping out. For those of you who don't know the vero center, here it is:

And here is my verison so far:

It's still very unfinished at this point - and none of it is textured yet, but it's a good representation of what the detail will be like.

The more feedback i get the better the final product will be, so any suggestions are welcomed. https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/images/smilies/1.gif>

[Corlian 2]

Hey --

I'm revamping an Auckland map to use, and basically will end up with an accurate scale map of the 'greater Auckland area', and I've got a question, if you don't mind.

Is the real Auckland basically a normal population spread over a gigantic land area? Is it mostly very spread out?

I like using large maps on big regions, so that's part of why I'm working on this, since it seems like to include Auckland and the environs, you end up with a humongous region...and I've even shaved it down as much as I can stand aesthetically, since I like the landscape so much, but it's still so freaking huge.

[cee_em_bee 0]

you should do the chch cathedral

[Fox 1,444]

Well i hope it turns out as good as your Auckland Tower...I bet it will be better..

 

Anyway..I love the Auckland Tower, and i'd love to see more landmarks from my little neighbour.

 

You should look at doing some Aussie stuff aswell....not many of them have been done.

 

Keep up the great work dude.

[Bobi 0]

Having left NZ 20 years ago I never got to see the Skytower but that doesn't stop me from wanting it to put in my Auckland city.

I have fond memories of the Ferry Terminal - having spent my childhood in Devonport I would often sneak onto the ferry for a round trip (since you only had to pay the fare at the city end free cruising came easily).

So, while it doesn't necessarily have to be a Landmark, I'd love to see a functioning Ferry Building in the game.

[drflower 0]

Hey man,

I hope you're still working on this stuff - I just got Sky Tower and it is awesome. I just posted a comment on the sky tower saying how about Vero/Metropolis/PWC so I was very happy to see that you are actually working on Vero!

Awesome - the screen shot you posted looked good already.

For anyone interested, I took a few photos of some Auckland buildings and put them on my girlfriend's website: http://www.nancyhu.com/pages/PicturePage.aspx?pageId=1204

Good luck!

[rustawilliams 0]

This is great. I recently got the Napier land map that cirugo made for me and started building my home 'city' and now this. I never realised there were this many New Zealanders, I thought there were only a few

Thanks alot sam_lawrence.

[sam_lawrence 23]

Sorry i've never got around to updating this thread. First, there wasn't any interest in it, and second i've just been too plain busy. But after all there has been some interest, so i've taken the time to show you where i'm at.

Author: cee_em_bee

you should do the chch cathedral

quote>

That's a possibility. I'm not familiar with any Christchurch buildings, so they're not high on the to-do list at the moment, but feel free to make any suggestions.

Author: Fox

You should look at doing some Aussie stuff aswell....not many of them have been done.

quote>

I probably will do some aussie stuff in the future. I'm really keen to have a crack at Aurora Place in Sydney.

Author: Bobi

So, while it doesn't necessarily have to be a Landmark, I'd love to see a functioning Ferry Building in the game.

quote>

That's a great idea. I'd never though of making a functional one. It'd be a challenge though.

Author: drflower

I hope you're still working on this stuff - I just got Sky Tower and it is awesome. I just posted a comment on the sky tower saying how about Vero/Metropolis/PWC so I was very happy to see that you are actually working on Vero!

quote>

A few projects are still slowly chugging away, but most of my time is consumed by other things... mainly the fact that i'm studying for my architecture degree.

Here's a preview pic of Vero:



Sorry it's a bit small. One thing i should mention is that i've heavily revised the lobby/entrance for a number of reasons. Because in real life it is on a slopping street on one side, and a much lower street on the other, it would be impossible to recreate in SC4. Also for size. My computer struggles with the amount of detail it has already, so i'm not keen to add more.

This is also the reason i can't finish it off yet. My P3 isn't able to handle the amount of polys, so i have to wait until my faster computer is repaired before i can export it.

Thanks all for the comments and suggestions.

ps. good to see some kiwiscraper folk around

[sam_lawrence 23]

A bit more of an update:

The very unfinished Metropolis Apartments:



A quick model i whipped up of Auckland's West Plaza:


Let me know if you think this has potential, as i'm not yet sure if i should finish it off or not.

And although it's not an Auckland landmark, i thought i'd show you that i'm working on Melbourne's Republic Tower.

[vidioman 21]

WOW! They look great!

[Fox 1,444]

Wow...some amazing Projects you have there...I can't wait for these to come out. You are doing a fantastic job.

[sc4ky 1]

Sweet stuff! You keen on doing the Opera House in Sydney while your at it? We're down under too

[theyeti2001 0]

I can't get over how many kiwis are on this site. it's good. It's great to see buildings from my home country, and now your doing one from my new adopted home city Melbourne as well. I agree I'd also like to see chch cathedral and maybe chch Town Hall which is exactly the same design as the Micheal Fowler centre in Wellington. (wellington copied the design of chch Town hall, not the other way round like many Wellingtonians like to think  :-P...lol)

 

Yeti

[sam_lawrence 23]

It looks like kiwis are well represented here at ST And thanks for the encouragment, folks. I also forgot to mention that i'm also working on a Eureka Tower project, but that may take a while. Here's a pic of the first version i made and almost completed a while back.



I never released it because at the time i only had a few artist impressions to work off, so it ended out being all out of proportion. But now that i have alot more drawings and pictures to work off, i'm starting over with a much more accurate recreation.

sc4ky, i would so love to do the Sydney Opera House but my skills don't extend that far at the moment. Never say never though.

Yeti, i've studied the Chch townhall at uni a bit so it could be interesting to try.

[simwario 95]

Cool another great BAT project. Keep it up!

[JEC 100]

sc4ky, you asked about the opera house:
https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files/opera3.jpg

the night lighting is killing me.

to stay on topic, i was waiting to see when you would come back. the skytower was great and i was looking forward to your other projects, especially Eureka Tower. i'm looking forward to your progress.

[sam_lawrence 23]

Woah JEC... those shells on the Opera House can't have been easy. You've done a pretty fine job of them though.

Here's my Eureka model as of today:

[kd5rax 82]

The sails on the opera house arent JEC' s though i am confident in his ability to make them if he really wanted, but they where borrowed from a model on 3d cafe.  I wonder if he is ever going to finish it out and rework that awfully dull base that came with the model.

[sam_lawrence 23]

I hope he does. The model has some potential. Some more detail and improved texturing would do wonders.

I've been working on Eureka's base today, but i've encountered an annoying rendering problem. When ever i render the building, the default lighting is all wrong. It's like it's in a large shadow. Here's a pic of a daytime preview render (click the thumbnail for the larger image):



Does anyone know how to fix this?

[sam_lawrence 23]

The almost finished Vero Center:



Let me know your opinions before i finish it off. What do people think of the random sculpture on the front corner? Take it away or leave it?

Also, do you think i should include the Vero Signage:

[drflower 0]

Wow, Vero's looking awesome! Great to see so much action on this thread now.

And I personally think you should add the signage - it's good to have a bit of red up there.

[sam_lawrence 23]

Thanks drflower I've been playing around with the logo, and this is what i have:

[cammo2003 20]

Date: 9/8/2004 12:06:54 AM
Author: kd5rax

The sails on the opera house arent JEC' s though i am confident in his ability to make them if he really wanted, but they where borrowed from a model on 3d cafe. I wonder if he is ever going to finish it out and rework that awfully dull base that came with the model.

quote>

Hmm... well, that's almost exactly what the base actually looks like. that's the colour of it to a tee. Although something simply HAS to be done about the repetitiveness of the texture on the deck. eesh...

[Lord_Bertrum 3]

I've really lost my passion for towers, I know of course when everyone rushes home from the shops with their brand new copy of sc4, all they want to do is build a city full of skyscrapers asap. I've been there and done that. And now the STEX is awash with towers you can build concrete jungles to yor heart's content, now don't get me wrong, some of these towers are brilliant, but there's loads of them. They're starting to get a little common.

 

Anyway my point is, this is a great tower, that I can't wait to have because it just looks so right, if you know what I mean.

[rustawilliams 0]

You should definitely do the majestic center in Wellington. One of the best buildings I have seen in my life. Just wondering (no promises) can I or other people post a building on your thread if it is a New Zealand Landmark. I just think it'll be stupid to start up a new one.

Great work on the Vero Centre. Definitely keep the random sculpture. Adds something to look at.

[kd5rax 82]

You have greatly improved very quickly.  I am impressed by your work on the vera-corp tower, good job.

[sam_lawrence 23]

Sure rustawilliams! i should have mentioned previously, this isn't a sam_lawrence BAT thread It's for anyone with anything to do with Auckland... or New Zealand for that case. I'd encourage you to post your own stuff here.

Here's an update on West Plaza:



I'm not happy with the shape of the canopies over the entrance at the moment, but i only basically threw them together. I'll probably skip modeling the podium base too, and just leave it as the highrise portion only. It'll probably be a medium density CO$$/CO$$$ building.
Any interest in this building at all? If not i won't bother releasing.

[hackinosa 29]

that building looks good so far

[drflower 0]

Loving your work man. And yes I think you should definately release West Plaza.