Sgt Pepper's BATs

[Sgt Pepper 864]

I poorly did this in Paint but it compares the new roof texture I gave it. I could not do much with it. This is all I could do-

I think I might just leave it as is for now, I changed up the glass texture too. Here is a pic that you can see the glass texture better-

The big white spot(it was supposed to be a cloud) is gone now.

[Cockatoo 2,256]

Tbh, I think the glass texture could be a little more impressive here. At the end of the day, it's what's going to either make or break the building. It's a real pity you're not using Max actually, we would do so many things cool things with it if that were the case. Your only option in Gmax is to mess about in Photoshop until you're happy with the results. I used to try and do all sorts of crazy things to try and fake reflectivity, I might have come up with something like this if I were making this building.

The key here is trial and error. See what happens if you mess about with merging RL photos of city-scapes or cloud patterns into your texture. Glass filters in photo editing programs usually give really nice results. Anything you can dream up, just make it and see how it looks on the building. Black / dark grey glass is at least from my experiences, the hardest to get right. I'd add some blue or green tones to make things easier for your self.

The rest of it is looking very nice!

[Sgt Pepper 864]

Cockatoo-210893: That Glass Texture you put in that link is a dream come true for someone like me. I have always had trouble with glass textures on my buildings, trying different things until I am satisfied. Usually what I am satisfied with gets changed(example: Glass Texture I just had on this building). Now seeing that glass texture, I cannot make anything like that in Photoshop, GIMP, paint whatever. Unless I spent a year or two working on it. I can only edit contrast, saturation, colors, brightness and all that and use the dodge/burn tool in GIMP.

But I tried applying that glass texture on this and edit it to make it darker for the building(since I like the dark glass look on it)-

Does it look good now?

[SimHoTToDDy 2,938]

I think you need to add some flashing to the tops of the walls (parapet walls). On top of that, you might want to make them thinner too, 0.3m usually looks good.

I liked the darker roof more, perhaps you don't need to make it as dark, but it is much too light as it is now.

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Well, the dodge & burn tools are really very important when making textures. A very nice method is to switch to a perspective that allows you to see the surface to be textured at 90°, e.g. when we're talking about a roof texture, the view from vertically above. Then you take a screenshot of the roof of your BAT and load it into GIMP. Now you can use the outlines of the BAT seen from above as a template for your roof texture. This way you know where the edges will be, so you can darken them slightly, etc. It's a pity that 6459978's "Toronto BATs" thread is lost, because it contained a nifty texturing tutorial.

[Sgt Pepper 864]

Not much to say right now but I felt like showing a quickie I finished yesterday-

Nothing too shabby.

[_Atticus 10]

I gotta say this is very impressive, especially if you're relatively new. I like the new one, but you could probably do a better job with the nightlights imho. Keep up the good work!

[bluemoose 223]

I like that other buuilding.. it looks like my towns federal building, but a lot thinner and grey stone rather than brick

I love it!

[Utvaw 45]

I like the new building too, but I have never liked those whitish/blue night lights. They just don't translate well to the game imo.

[Francis90b 748]

looking good ! The first one greatly improved after the use of that new glass texture.I agree that a roof which is darker in comparison with the current one would fit better, and i believe that you should consider the idea of removing the concrete parts on the main facade (thus making it completely cladded with glass). I like the second one, and i like it's style.Perhaps it's only weak points are the gravel-ish roof and the nightlights...try to use different nightmaps, and to use actual lights for the ground floor.Oh, and the penthouse could be toned down (de-saturated) and darkened in order to fit better with the rest of the building. I really like what i saw there, and i'm looking forward for more !

[Sgt Pepper 864]

Thanks guys for the comments and tips! But that new one I showed is all ready finished and I did not plan on updating it at all. I all ready liked it as is and I just wanted it as a skyline filler for one of my cities. I do not have the Gmax model of it anymore anyway unfortunately. I am unsure if I should really release it though.

But I finished the modern W2W building. I guess I should release it now eh? The last thing I did to it was darken the roof texture then exported it to move on to other things. I should really finish those apartment buildings...but I recently did two more BATs...

^^ This one was another quickie all ready finished and I do not have the gmax model anymore. There is two of these, the one in the lot editor photo, One Finance Plaza, has about 22 stories while the other one, Two Finance Plaza, has about 12 stories. There is no real difference in the two except that the roofs are different. I am not sure if I should release it either, especially what I did for the night lights. But oh well...

Here is something new from me I started on today.

I love international styled buildings. I started on this one, but made it interesting by adding a "core" part on the back. It is going to be windowless on that part, but I am thinking of puting advertisement posters on it. It was actually inspired by a building in Detroit, but I made it different by alot where it probably will not be easily recognized. It is about 25 stories or above that. Maybe almost 30.

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Well, you should know me by now - I'm all for tweaking and optimising the heck out of a BAT before it's uploaded.

However, if the gmax model is no longer available, then further fine-tuning is no longer possible. So the choice comes down to either losing the model forever or uploading it, hoping that someone may like it as it is - which, I think, will be the case.

I remember that NDEX's DuskTrooper once released a bunch of "TIOLI" (Take It Or Leave It) BATs that weren't quite up to his own expectations, but on the other hand too good to be lost altogether. There's no reason why you shouldn't do the same.

You can add a header to the description where you explain why these were uploaded this way, and I think you should be fine. Some people will still make stupid comments because they can't (or don't) read, but that's life.

[Crackdtoothgrin 0]

"Some people will still make stupid comments because they can't (or don't) read, but that's life."

--Bienvenidos to the internet, haha.

But, if you've put the time into them to actually make them, whether or not they live up to your expectations, someone somewhere will download and use them. Who knows? You may find one in someone's CJ one day. The world is littered with buildings that didn't live up to the designer's expactations, but like these BAT's, the work put in was too much to throw away. At the very least, they can provide more variety to someone's future city(ies), like mine, for instance.

I like the work, on an additional note.

[GlobexCo 33]

Originally posted by: pingangster

I gotta say this is very impressive, especially if you're relatively new.quote>

That's because he isn't really new...

Anyway, I think that the roof texture in the last building is too noisy... while the other textures are very clean.

Try to adjust textures, and maybe add some lights (omni or spot) in the nightview.

[Sgt Pepper 864]

@T Wrecks- That's what I might do with those. Call 'em TIOLI

@Crackdtoothgrin- I take that as a hint for me uploading those BATs.

@GlobexCo- OH NOz Who told you!!??!?...oh wait...

Well the modern W2W building was released over at rainyday's site. You should be able to get it there.

And here's some work I recently did-

Not much...

[nofunk 1,933]

Haha! I knew you'd be back!

This new building looks really good! Especially the granite texture on the back portion. I'd say it needs just a bit more contrast. I also think you should brighten the window texture on those windows so they contrast more with the dark frames and wall, but this is coming along quite nicely!

What is the size of the lot?

EDIT: One more thing! You should adjust the uvw map or the texture so that the panel seems don't break across a window.

[Sgt Pepper 864]

@Nofunk: Be back? I don't believe I have ever truly left. Thank you for the compliment on the building! I'll see about the glass soon. And the lot size seems to be 2 tiles wide and 4 tiles deep at the momment.

 

I'm pretty sure I've done more to it since I've taken this picture but I can't remember, I just took it to show a friend in a IM chat so I made it a far out zoom to show him. By the way, all these renders have been low quality, soon ya'll should be able to see in in High Quality in game.

But I'm having trouble getting omni lights to show out of the base glass, it barely or doesn't at all shine through the transclusent glass. What can I do?

[Sgt Pepper 864]

Here's something new I started on today.

Not really finished yet, it's based on the Lever House in New York but not going to be it.

[Larks2242 251]

Excellent work Pepper!, your BAT is looking awesome!

[Sgt Pepper 864]

@Larks- I thank you.

Brutalism is pretty.

[Aaron Graham 4,417]

Wow, you move really fast on your BATs in need to step my game up on that because its taking me months to complete a building. Great Job on the buildings.

[Crackdtoothgrin 0]

I like them, for what it's worth. Having never been to NYC, I don't really know how many 'giant boxes' they have, haha. It'd be interesting to see you take on a more complex building, although I still do love the brutalist style.

[Sgt Pepper 864]

@Aaron- You should take your time with your BATs. They come out better in time. I really like your apartments you've been doing.

@Crackdtoothgrin- Yes NYC has alot of "giant boxes". haha  That brutalist building is made up but the "columns" next to the windows were inspired by some brutalist building I saw in a photo of another city not New York but even though I made the detail different. A more complex building eh? We'll see.

Here's a little more on the brutalist building-

I plan on making TWO...count 'em...TWO versions of this building.

Version A- The current one in the photo as a CO$$ Building

Version B- A smaller one(maybe about 5 or 6 stories) as a Police Station.

I think that would make this one usefull.

[Sgt Pepper 864]

Any guesses on what it's going to be?

[Sgt Pepper 864]

Just another teaser of it-

How it looked earlier in HQ renders.

And this is it currently in LQ Renders. Any guesses what it's going to be? I'll say more about it later, but it's going to be an interesting Brutalist Styled...something...

[mben92 9]

looks like a modified Big Ben.

[_Atticus 10]

It's probably some sort of a high rise mosque. Can't say I like that combination =/

-Pingangster

[Sgt Pepper 864]

@mben92- A modified Big Ben eh? Good one....but that's not what its supposed to be.

@pingangster- A highrise mosque? And you don't like that combination?????? I love odd combinations.  

 What this thing really is....well I had an idea to make a government building for a city I'm working on, and I think I might have a CJ coming up...This is supposed to be a Brutalist styled/mosque look Building to serve as the Capital Building or what ever. It's not supposed to be a stand alone tower. The tower, if alone, would be on a 2x2 lot. It's about 15 stories tall or slightly shorter than that. But the final lot size, so far, is about 4x11. It's big.

It's barely cut off at the end of the photo...

I'm still not done with the tower, but I wanted to get some basic shapes for the building it's connected too. I think it needs to be connected to more buildings or make the current one bigger... The entire building is just about windowless. It's supposed to be a government building for a dictatorship country. BTW, the shingle-things on the roof of the tower are metal...and this is a LQ render. How does it look so far? Bad? Good? Decent? Don't know? Wouldn't hurt to say something... Or any tips to make it better? Tips that I can actually do?

Oh, and when I'm done, it's going to be just a landmark. I was wondering if someone could lot this when I'm done?

[madhatter106 3,903]

I'm on the fence. Like pingangster said, it does look like a high-rise mosque.

Or if you took the Taj Mahal and glued it on top of the Empire State Building...

[rainyday 2]

Wow. That looks nice!