mipro Barry Sanders Project

[Jason 0]

That Ford Field is amazing. You must finish that. I am dying for a real NFL stadium...with all due respect to soccor and tennis and baseball it's time for a real football stadium.

I've given up hope of ever seeing Lambeau on the STEX so FF would be a good alternative.

I can't wait for it to be done.

[baldy 0]

[wolverine 12]

WOAH! That was random. Was I not informed of your construction of the former GM Headquarters? It is looking awesome though!!! This is one building I definitely want to see in the game. Isn't the building currently filled with State offices? I heard there had been some major restoration projects on the building.

Right now I'm at my sister's apartment in L.A. She has been kind enough to let me use her laptop so I can check up on the progress every evening. I can't wait to see some more updates!

[vidioman 21]

The Tim Hoirtons is great. That's the older model though. The newer ones are nicer. Still, it's great to see a good Tim Hortons on an exchange. I never expected a Tim's from you guys! That other building up top (Former GM HQ) is off to a great start, too!

[budweiserdude23 80]

Yeah, that Tim Hortons is the style they have by me. They are putting up a new one a mile in the opposite direction. I actually considered modeling the Tim Hortons/Wendy's combo restaurant but since there's a Wendy's already on the exchange I figured I'd stick with timmy's only.

 

Man this K-Mart is a little bit of a bear to model. She's going to be big too. I figure it's going to have to sit on a 5x4 lot by the time I do the garden area. It's a little hard to see what's happening so far but here's a picture---

 

 

The plan is to model a garden area on the right. You can faintly see where the door to it will be on the right wall. In addition, if you are asking, what the heck is that extension in the rear it's the shipping and receiving area. There will be a bay door modeled there. This thing still has a long way to go as you can see.

[subedei 3]

Very nice bud. Glad to see you making name brand lots.

 

 

Subedei

[khanate 1]

Hello all,

I have parsed the comprehensive list of Michigan cities, towns, townships and counties into word segments for the purpose of using them in muhtadi's City Name Generator to create 100% Michigan-inspired place names. The file contains names.txt, suffix.txt and prefix.txt. No registered Michigan civil entities in my comprehensive list included a 'middle name' (-upon-, -in-the-, etc.) so none were included, but you can still use the middle-name option in the generator.

To use:
1. If you want only Michigan names, copy the files in the directory with SING.exe.
2. If you want other names as well, you can copy the contents of the file into your existing files.

If you go with the first option, you may want to save a copy of the original files under another name or in another directory so you have a backup.

Have fun!
HHS

[SpartanBadger 4]

SO THAT'S WHAT YOU WERE MODELLING. Haha I could not think of what it was going to be. It looks great, hoping to see some new updates of that. BUT what happened to 150 West Jefferson?? Bud, that BIG K looks good.
I wish I were good at BAT, but I have had too many issues with that lately so I am not going to get into it for a while. My wounds need to heal

[Sabretooth78 808]

Wow, I guess I should be paying closer attention to this thread - I forget about it for a few days, and look at all this stuff that pops up!  The Tim Horton's is great, it was actually on my Operation Buffalo Wing wishlist.  If you don't mind I'll update it onto my completed projects list with full credit to BSP?

 

K-Mart looks great as well and will definitely find a way into my cities as I despise Wal-Mart, therefore Target is my only viable option at this point.  I know they're out of business now, but are you guys going to consider doing up an Ames store as well?

 

I noticed some talk about a suburban shopping mall.  I have a connection who is going to be providing me with all sorts of info on the McKinley Mall, a 775,000 sq ft mall in the suburbs of Buffalo (about 2 miles from where I grew up).  While it doesn't fit the Detroit project, I thought I'd just let you guys know that at least one shopping mall will be made by myself.  Hopefully some others will come out as well!

 

Ford Field is looking good as well.  I'm definitely happy to see someone else here in the arena field.  Given time and patience, I may eventually create the Bills' Ralph Wilson Stadium, but at this point, who knows!

 

Keep up the excellent work, and don't eat too many timbits!

-Chris

[budweiserdude23 80]

Personally, I have little interest in modeling a mall. I might entertain the thought of a strip mall at some point but a not a full scale mall. I wish you all the luck in creating that. I have no problem listing the Timmy's on your completed list as well. Some of the projects on our list have been completed by those not associated with this project but they are listed as completed with credit given to the creator. That reminds me, I should update our list soon.

 

I have not touched the K-Mart all day. I've been too busy with other things to work on it. I may mess around with it a bit tonight. I wouldn't expect this thing to be finished for several more days.

[ead88 0]

Hey ford field is lookin good, seeing all these buildings makes me wish i knew how to use the BAT

[SpartanBadger 4]

Hmmm, a mall, not something I really would want to model...
Still no word from JD?

[budweiserdude23 80]

Here's an update...man it's late. I worked on the model a bit tonight. I couldn't sleep so what better way to waste my time than with the bat. Take a look---

 

 

It's still quite colorful as I haven't textured much. There are still some details to add, most notably roof junk. I also plan to model some junk for the garden area as well. I figure I have a day or two left in the modeling process. My guess is that this should be finished around midweek.

[khanate 1]

If it's any comfort, the garden areas of the K's in my neck of Macomb County tend to have a couple rows of canopies covering the plants and the pallets upon pallets of bags of potting soil. Maybe be easier to model that way, with just some plant props peeking out of the edges of the canopies at the lot-building stage.

HHS

[budweiserdude23 80]

Just to let you all know, baldy and myself are taking a trip this Saturday down to Detroit for a picture/sightseeing adventure of sorts. Anyone is welcome to show up. I have created a separate thread for this here--- https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=54726  Should you want to come, please just post your intent either here or in that thread.

 

Hey baldy, what's the deal with that pickem fantasy league? I tried to log in but it said the league I was looking for doesn't exist or something like that. Can you post the info here when you get the time?

 

Khanate, welcome!!! Nice to have you here. I haven't had an opportunity to check out your city name generator but I'm sure it one nice addition. It would serve a good purpose if I ever played the game anymore but it seems that I'm more interested with the bat at the moment. As for the K-Mart gardening area, the one by me is similar with the exception that it does not have the canopies. I've seen them both ways. I'm not sure which route I'm going on it, open air or covered. It' ll depend on how good I can get the junk in that area to look.

[dev 47]

I'm loving it!

[baldy 0]

I guess I should explain a few things instead of just posting a picture.

 

Wolverine is correct, it is the former General Motors Building, now known as Cadillac Place.  At the time it was built, it had either the largest, or second largest amount of office space in the world (I've heard it stated both ways).  I'm not really sure where it stands now.  Due to the design of the building, there are an extraordinary amount of windows.  I think I was at 1600+ without the crown (3 more floors) and the mirrored back side.  Since I have never made it past the modeling portion, even in the tutorial, I don't know all that goes into the windows as far as texturing and lighting.  After talking with Budweiserdude, I am going to redo the windows and in the process probably redo the model since it's really just two different types of walls.  It shouldn't take me very long.  Since I really don't have a lot of time he kindly agreed to take over the model after I am done to texture, light, and lot it, so this is kind of our first real team project.

 

As for 150 west jefferson, I haven't given up on it, although the windows might be messed up.  Anyway, due to my wedding stuff and the computer problems, I haven't had a whole lot of time on this stuff.  When I reformatted my HD and reinstalled Gmax, things were acting strange with 150, so I started a new model to see if it was building or Gmax.  It's Gmax, but since I liked how Cadillac Place was coming along, and very quickly I might add when compared to 150 west jefferson, I decided to continue on it.  This allowed me to refamiliarize myself with Gmax on something a lot less complicated!  On the downside, I am still having problems with my desktop, so a new hard drive is on the way and that means another clean install of things, ugh.  I guess what I am trying to say is, don't expect anything in the near future.

 

For the Fantasy Football pro-pick 'em league, it says:

 

League ID#:  18796 

Password:   dirk

for anyone that wants to join.  BD, let me know if this doesn't work.

Hopefully some more people will be able to make it downtown this weekend!

[Mexicanboy13r 12]

Hey Bud! I was thinking. Are you going to put out like a road sign for the

K-mart? Because stores like those need a big sign..

[budweiserdude23 80]

Date:8/30/2004 6:13:36 PM
Author:Mexicanboy13r

Hey Bud! I was thinking. Are you going to put out like a road sign for the

K-mart? Because stores like those need a big sign..

quote>

In all likelyhood the answer to that question is yes. It would be modeled as a separate entity though as I would make it a prop. One of the quirks with this lot is that is going to be big, 5x4 at least. I may create a 6x4 so it has more parking. I'll have to see how everything turns out.

I've progressed pretty well on the model today. I modeled some soda vending machines out front, modeled and added a whole mess of flora and pallets to the garden area, and did some fine tuning. On top of that I textured everything that has been modeled thus far. All that is left is roof junk, the back bay door, and a few miscellaneous doors on the back and left side. That and the lighting as well. Here's todays update---

I'm shooting for a Wednesday release but it depends on how long this thing takes to render. It's going to take a while, I'm sure of that.

Hey baldy, I'll check out that league tonight or tomorrow and let you know if all goes well. Thanks!!! By the way, where do you want to meet on Saturday?

[wolverine 12]

Guys I am impressed! Nice to see some new buildings going up and a new member!! Keep up the great work!

Remember, I should be resuming Ford Field in 1 week. Tomorrow is my last day in L.A. There will be a two day break back home in Michigan, and then I'm back off to college.

[hackinosa 29]

K-Mart, there here in MA too, but there slowly closing the ones around me, and theres only one near where i live now, but thank goodness it's close, i hate Wal-Mart...

[ert90 8]

Big K looks great bud! God, the first day of school sucked. Practically everybody has blisters from trying to open the damn lockers. My finger still hurts.

[Farminsim 7]

Hey Bud I noticed that your plops are a lot more expensive then SimGoobers. It would be beter if maybe you lowered the prices a little to be similar? Also how did you make the landmark have jobs?

Nice work on the K-Mart. You can probly use the same model to make a Meijir with a little alteration.

[khanate 1]

Hey BD,

When you are finished with your Big K, could you send the gmax to me? I'd just like to test my computer's rendering speed really. I'm working on modelling some plans that are non-BSP and have not done much extensive work in the BAT yet.

Great model, excellent textures. I don't know about the Meijer though. I think those are generally much wider than a Kmart or Big K (I think they are comparable to the Super K's, if I remember Super K's correctly; the usual Kmart plus a full grocery store).

HHS

[budweiserdude23 80]

Date:8/30/2004 11:34:50 PM
Author:Farminsim

Hey Bud I noticed that your plops are a lot more expensive then SimGoobers. It would be beter if maybe you lowered the prices a little to be similar? Also how did you make the landmark have jobs?

Nice work on the K-Mart. You can probly use the same model to make a Meijir with a little alteration.

quote>

Yeah I noticed that they are too. Simgoober's rule of thumb is to go 10% of the value of the lot for his plops.  My basis of thought has been trying to keep them somewhat in line with the other landmark plops. Yes my buildings are smaller but some of the default plops are quite expensive. It's a catch-22 either route I go, some will say they are too expensive they way they are now but if I lower them some may complain that they're too cheap to plop. It's something I may change inthe future...I'll wait for some more feedback but thanks for letting me know how you feel.

As to making the plops with jobs, it's actually pretty simple. You have to make a grow and landmark lot the use either datgen or the reader to change some of the properties of the plop using properties from the growable. Simgoober wrote a good tutorial on it. Check it out here--- https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=51229

At first it seems like a lot of information to take in but once you play with it, it starts to get easy. My next goal is to make a custom query but that is going to wait. I'm enjoying the bat too much right now.

About the K-Mart, I don't think I'll even try to modify the model into a Meijers. There is a fair amount that I would want to change. One of the biggest problems is going to be trying to size it. Baldy and I were discussing this the other day. The footprint of some of these large retail stores would exceed 6x6 if done to scale. The average Meijers is anywhere between 200,000 and 250,000 square feet. That translates to a 7x6 building minimum. Many retail stores have bigger footprints than skyscrapers. It's one of the reasons I have yet to attempt it. The footprint of K-Mart is like 4.1x3.3 so by the time I get done with it in the LE it will be 5x4. That simply isn't large enough for a Meijers.

Just curious, what have you been up to? How's the State coming along?

EDIT---Khanate, I can send it to you if you'd like. Do you want to render it for me? If that's the case there are several steps I need you to take before rendering it so it will show properly. Also this thing is going to be a small beast to render. Just warning you, it's upwards of 250,000 polygons and it's still not finished. That coupled with its size is going to make it a long render, my estimate is the better part of a day. If all you want to do is test speed I can give you my Dominos model which took 47 minutes to render.

[budweiserdude23 80]

This is going to be a lengthy post but a funny one. My uncle forwarded this to me.I thought I'd share it with you guys because you should all get it. These are Jeff Foxworthy type jokes---

 

If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 18 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will swim by, you might live in Michigan

 

If you're proud that your region makes the national news 96 nights each year because Pelston is the coldest spot in the nation, you might live in Michigan

 

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from November through March, you might live in Michigan

 

If you instinctively walk like a penguin for five months out of the year, you might live in Michigan.

 

If someone in a store offers you assistance, and they don't work there, you might live in Michigan

 

If your dad's suntan stops at a line curving around the middle of his forehead, you might live in Michigan

 

If you have worn shorts and a coat at the same time, you might live in Michigan

 

If your town has an equal number of bars and churches, you might live in Michigan

 

If you have had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you might live in Michigan

 

You know you're a true MICHIGANDER when.............

1. Vacation means going up north on I-75.

2. You measure distance in hours.

3. You know several people who have hit a deer more than once.

4. You often switch from heat to A/C in the same day.

5. You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching.

6. You see people wearing camouflage at social events (including weddings).

7. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.

8. You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend knows how to use them.

9. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.

10. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.

11. You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction.

12. You can identify a southern or eastern accent.

13. Your idea of creative landscaping is a statue of a deer next to your blue spruce.

14. You were unaware that there is a legal drinking age.

15. Down South to you means Ohio

16. A brat is something you eat.

17. Your neighbor throws a party to celebrate his new pole shed.

18. You go out to fish fry every Friday.

19. Your 4th of July picnic was moved indoors due to frost.

20. You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.

21. You find 0 degrees a little chilly.

22. You drink pop and bake with soda.

23. Your doctor tells you to drink Vernors and you know it's not medicine.

24. You know what a yooper is.

25. You think owning a Honda is Un American.

26. You know that UP is a place not a direction

27. You know it's possible to live in a thumb.

28. You understand that when visiting Detroit, the best thing to wear is a kevlar vest.

29. You actually understand these jokes, and you forward them to all  your Michigan friends.

[baldy 0]

Funny BD!  The K-mart is coming along nicely and it looks really good!

 

By the way, does anyone need pictures of buildings while we're downtown?  Just let us know, or better yet, why don't you come down and join us....

[khanate 1]

Hey BD,

Okay, I could use the Domino's model instead, and we'll see how that goes!

[Farminsim 7]

Bud I work in spurts on a project so I have gone on to work on a Murray's until I get the urge to work on the State again.

[budweiserdude23 80]

I know the feeling farminsim. I'm getting a little frustrated with the K-Mart myself. If I wasn't so close to finishing it I might have put it on hold for a bit. gmax is just dragging whenever I open that file. It's getting to be a pain to work on. I've yet to tackle the lights or the HVAC units and it's so slow...oh well. I might finish it tonight if I'm lucky. As for its release, I'm not sure now, tomorrow if I'm extremely lucky.

 

Khanate, something is messed up with the Dominos file. I'm not sure what but it refuses to open properly. I can send you the Little Caesar's file instead. It took 4400 seconds to render. The file is pretty large, over 1 MB with the textures. Therefore I can not attach it here. I need an address I can forward it to.