HamsterTK's BATting thread

[hamsterTK 93]

Hello all.

I am starting a BAT thread here to get some guidance on the things I am working on. I once made a few terrible BATs and uploaded them, not sure why.

The first thing I decided to do is re-do an earlier "creation" of mine, the small water tower. I think this is an improvement:

original: https://www.simtropolis.com/forum/files/file/20116-water-tower-with-antenna/

new version. very simple, but I learned a lot messing with it. Also no cell antenna on top this time, I felt that was unrealistic.

It now has stairs, a solar powered obstruction light, and a mobile phone communications thing.

The steps had a bit of a learning curve(haha). So what is th "right" way of doing that? What I did was make two steps, across from one another the same distance as the tank's diameter. Clone, rotate using the keyboard entry going 45,22.5,12.25, steps until I had them in 1/32th increments in a circle the size of the tank. Then raised each individually .5 meters and combined with some helixes for railings, cloned that whole group so it would go around twice, and voila.

I'm sure there is a smarter way, like putting them on a path or something?

It is obviously not textured yet, and to me that is pretty much the hardest part. Right now it looks like a big banana with all that yellow, so I'm not sure what color it should be "painted".

Here is an experiment with a texture that I think looks kind of okay. I made it in GIMP, which works pretty much the same as photoshop for adjusting color values(as per the omnibus tutorial) so it comes out ok in GMAX.

What would you do from this point?

Now its blue:

I have some other stuff I am working on, not just boring water towers. But I do feel that they are useful in the game, because you have to provide water to your sims but there are few structures to do it.

  Edited May 24, 2011 by hamsterTK  

[LivingInThePast 364]

Wow, I've been wanting cool tanks like that, but a bit too narrow for me. One of my early BATting projects years ago back when BAT first came out (but I had no way of doing anything) was making some water tanks as seen in Hearne. They were kind of like that, just much wider and shorter.

[SimHoTToDDy 2,939]

So you are making this year's edition of Nuclear Starbucks^TM! Congratulations! It really looks like you are up to the task of mak...

...Whats that?

He's not making Nuclear Starbucks^TM?

It's a water tower?

ugh...

I'm joking of course. I like the improvements you made, the details are especially nice. From here your concern should be focused on refining your texture. It looks good for a starting point, but it still looks like a flat color (which is never good). Add subtle wear and dirt in the usual trouble spots, perhaps seams on the hull of the tower, maybe some "qualified personnel only" signs at the bottom. You get the idea. When you think you are close, try looking at the model in a screenshot (or export it if it doesn't take too long) and see how everything looks. Once in game, you may notice that saturation/value are a little off (which is the result of that horrible black background tricking you into thinking it looks good).

Anyway, best of luck,

-Todd

  Edited May 18, 2011 by SimHoTToDDy  

[harishna 847]

I love the attention to details, boring things are usually the ones that spice up the game and make it look more realistic.

[hamsterTK 93]

Thanks for the replies everyone. My plan is to make simple stuff where I can focus on detail and look nice, I hope.

Also, at least it isn't as bad as the red block fire station Sorry I am feeling jittery from that atomic coffee.

Anyways, some progress with textures. Also added a manhole and pipe on the bottom.

  Edited May 19, 2011 by hamsterTK  

[mattb325 28,892]

Very nice.

It has a good industrial feel to it: simple and purposeful.

[Ion_Cannon 677]

An improvement, I like where this is going, though I'm not so keen on the colour as of yet. Personally I think it would look great with a grimy industrial-ish texture.

[jim 546 43]

Personally, I don't like the colour, it's too loud. I think it would look better in a cream or grey colour, and I agree with Ion_Cannon that a rusted, worn texture might look nice. I also think that the stairs should have a steel plate texture, and the top could be a different colour entirely.

Of course, those are my opinions. The model is fantastic, good job there.

[hamsterTK 93]

Thanks for the comments

On the color, I hate to disagree but it really should be light blue as many water tanks are in real life. Weathered, yes, but not grimy or industrial since it would be maintained and serviced with the intent that the local water supply be safe and reliable.

Perhaps I could do different color versions? A cream, a rustbucket version, a gray, a green, etc? I don't know how to lot it so there would just be one lot and you'd get a random color when you plopped, but that would be ideal and tons of stuff I've downloaded works like this so it must not be hard. Anyone care to share how this works?

I can't think of anything to add, really. I might just do those things above and release it. I am thinking of some ideas for another project, maybe a bit more(but not too) complex.

  Edited May 21, 2011 by hamsterTK  

[Jazzmaster 716]

I think since it's a water tower, the color is fine. I've seen many towers like that around Florida, with varying designs but that one teal color is persistent. I think you're right about it being properly maintained and relatively clean throughout. I expect super dirty, brown/grey/black towers for oil etc. in dense industrial areas; not the local water tower. It looks really nice and I hope to see the finished model very soon! I think you can really fill a niche with some simple BATs like these as has been the trend lately.

best of luck,

Yoshi

[harishna 847]

About the texture you need to make them look less homogeneous there will be parts in tank that even maintained will tend to rust, like the stairs. Adding rust and stains in the right places may help creating a contrast between the elements that you so carefully modeled.

[hamsterTK 93]

About the texture you need to make them look less homogeneous there will be parts in tank that even maintained will tend to rust, like the stairs. Adding rust and stains in the right places may help creating a contrast between the elements that you so carefully modeled.

Gotcha

this is what people on SC4D have said too. That, and it may still be a little bright compared to other buildings in the game. I will experiment and post something tommorow.

I think you can really fill a niche with some simple BATs like these as has been the trend lately.

exactly

  Edited May 22, 2011 by hamsterTK  

[zahrul3 472]

Just reduce brightness and add a little bit of noise, that way it will look a little bit more dull and industrial looking.

[Ceafus 88 1,914]

Water Tower Looks Good.

[hamsterTK 93]

Here's the latest, probably will do a little more work but I wanted to post anyways. The one on top is old, bottom is new.

Now, here's my real reason for updating so soon. New project in the works. Far from being done:

[Ceafus 88 1,914]

The Water Tower Is Looking Good, Keep Up The Good Work! :thumb

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

Nice radio tower. Keep up good work .