IDS's (mostly) Minnesota BATs

[darn42 1,268]

Btw, ids2, not sure if you need this, but a really easy way to scale them all up at once. Save before you do this as this could be potentially a bit destructive (not much, but enough to be annoying). Make the spandrels and windows one object, weld all the overlapping vertices, hopefully they are 2 objects right now so it will be easy, go to edit poly, select one of the windows (if they are all the same good, if not you'll have to select one from every row and/or side) then go to the graphite modeling tools under modify selection and hit similar. This should select every window. Then select grow. Since you welded all the vertices, this should select every part of the spandrels jutting out. Then just scale up, do the same selecting windows as you did before, and detach them all. The scaling up should be by polygon and be very easy. I think you need max 2010 and after to use this method, but you probably have at least 2010.

[gutterclub 2,729]

Great progress, the glass is looking good but the spandrels I think need desaturing a fair bit, it might jump out too much if put into a game screen shot.

As for the residential, I love it!

congrats on the upload by the way, SUPERB first BAT!!!!!

[Francis90b 748]

Could the fact that i really love the apartments, and i'm fantasizing about how i could use them in my game, be "something that demands immediate attention" ?

I also think that the riverview is looking better now .

[IDS2 3,369]

Darn: Unfortunately, as I was giving that a try, I discovered that I modeled the tower using a crappy technique This was like a year ago that I modeled the tower itself (before I was doing poly modeling), so I suspect it's just a bunch of stacked primitives that I attached to each other. I guess I'll wind up remodeling the whole facade if scaling the whole thing a bit doesn't work out.

GC: Thanks a lot! Desaturated it a bit It might need more but it gets tricky beyond a certain point, I'll check it against the game's palette to be sure.

Francis: I'd be more than happy to start working on its nightlights already The day scene needs a tad more tweaking, but I'll post what I have next update. I think it's getting closer. Should I do multiple color versions? I was thinking maybe both red and blue or maybe a green...

Riverview after a bit of desaturation (1.0 to about .89, as far as I could go without it losing its color)

I'll try to get an ingame shot for you guys next update. Honestly I feel like this one is getting close but I need to fix some of the modeling first.

And because I was bored I started a couple enormous generic concrete boxes inspired by some federal buildings not too far from me. I had a lotttt of fun with bevel and inset on these

Might need some vertical scaling on the top one to get the effect I'm going for...

  Edited July 18, 2012 by IDS2  

[MTT9 187]

I think that yellowish texture needs to be desaturated even more, but i haven't checked against an in game shot so i might be wrong.

I really like your upcoming projects, we are in need of this kind of bats...

Keep it up!!!

[darn42 1,268]

Oof, stacked primitives, how primitive If you do end up remodeling the facade I don't think it should be too hard. Imo, the hardest part of anything is the proportions. Once you have those, you know what you are modeling, therefore you can model it You can almost definitely model that facade again in a few steps if you feel like it, though I'm not positive if it would be worth that effort. It's a very minor detail that is fixed with some very major reconstruction that might throw off everything else you've done, so I would just stick with what you got.

[Francis90b 748]

Primitives could have been killed by diseases we could now cure with an aspirin .

What to do is up to you...but I think it wouldn't take too much to remodel the the main mass tower ( not the roof and the front canopy).

I'm not really confident about a green glass apartment version, lol, but i think you should really do a blue one if you wish .

The last building you've shown looks quite interesting.Is that a real building?

  Edited July 18, 2012 by Francis90b  

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

Wow, I'm glad to hear you also try to make non-existing building

I haven't stopped by for a long time so I dont know what exactly has been desaturated. Also, I don't know what all these spots on the roof are supposed to be.

I'm looking forward the in-game shots

  Edited July 19, 2012 by skyscraper241  

[Jasoncw 11,934]

Try making the metal a little brighter, and a little more reflective.

And try making the glass less gold. The glass should just be normal glass with just a little bit of gold. In the photos you can see the blue sky and white clouds and everything else getting reflected without much change in color. So the overall impression should be of a gold facade with horizontal ribbon windows, rather than a monolithic gold prism.

For the roof, when I make roof textures I usually take a screenshot from the top viewport, and crop it down in photoshop. Then I make a new layer and use a fuzzy yet beefy black brush and I trace along the edges of the roof, and along other features of the roof like roof junk. The best way I can describe it is to call it "eyeliner". And then I set the layer to multiply and lower the opacity quite a bit.

The new buildings are looking good too.

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

Thanks Jason. I know this post was supposed to be for IDS but it helped me a lot.

[Sgt Pepper 864]

I'm really diggin' these new projects.

[IDS2 3,369]

MTT9: Yeah, I can't seem to get it quite right :/ I've tweaked it a lot more and I think I might be getting closer, but it's an unusual facade which makes it hard to replicate. I really like the building, though, so I'll keep at it.

darn: I gave in and remodeled it I couldn't live with it being the way it was

Francis: That's for sure I'll do a reddish one and a blue one, then. I agree that green might not look as good.

skyscraper: I'm trying to get a but more imaginative The spots on the roof appear to be loose tiles or something, I'm not really sure, I just copied them from the real roof.

Jason: I tweaked the metal (although I'm still not sure how I feel about it), made the glass normal with a gold tint and I darkened the edge of the roof a little bit. It's not really noticeable on this building, but it's pretty pronounced on the others I've been working on.

Sgt Pepper: Thanks brah It seems we both really like boxy/modern/international style stuff, don't we?

So, I've been a bit AWOL lately. I'm posting this from LAX during a layover, so bear with me Also, this fall is gonna be really busy for me...so I might be updating even less than I do now, just so y'all know.

I finally took the 5 minutes to remodel Riverview and I've been goofing around with it in my free time, I'm still not sure what I think about it, but I played with the metal, glass, and roof materials and it has the potential to be an improvement. I visited the RL building and I think I'm actually really close to it, but I'll let you guys decide.

A little update on my generics...ignore the black smear on the top one, I figured out what the problem is and I've since fixed it, although I'm not sure if I still like the building. Or any of them, for that matter. I've seen them too much by now to stay neutral.

Finally, I decided I need a nice dull suburban fire station in one of my cities, so I came up with this (based on the one in my RL neighborhood). Textures are just preliminary, and I modeled it with the potential for different modular designs in mind. If you like this one, I have 2 others planned out that are a lot like it.

  Edited August 9, 2012 by IDS2  

[Sgt Pepper 864]

Ooh these all look great, and ready. Are you pretty much done with the generics? Seems like you'd put them all into a pack. Something Madhatter did with all of his great mid-rise offices. Ah I can't wait to add these to his.

Seems like we like International Styled buildings indeed.

[IDS2 3,369]

Generics should be pretty much done (except one that isn't in the picture) except for nightlighting...which I'm a bit too lazy to do at the moment It shouldn't be much more work, though, since they're pretty bland buildings that don't really require any special attention. I'll probably tweak the materials on a few things while I'm at it.

I was goofing around with Riverview and decided the glass needed something to reflect other than the ground plane, so I came up with a pretty basic plaza design. It's just there to give reference, but I can keep it if enough of you like it (though I'll probably stick with traditional lotting for this one). Honestly, I'm kind of starting to hate this building

Every once in a while I get totally sick of the building I'm working on at the moment (I have a really short attention span sometimes) and in this case I took a break from Riverview to try my hand at some residential stuff. These houses are all from the south side of Minneapolis. I've really enjoyed modeling them so far, so I'll probably wind up making 20+. They're nice and quick; I've spent about an hour and a half total on everything pictured here (but they're all just basic sketches so far).

Perspective shot for fun? Why not...

PLENTY more of these houses coming soon, I promise. Lots of designs I'd like to try.

  Edited August 16, 2012 by IDS2  

[Fargo 561]

That looks fantastic We could really use more quality suburban housing like this on the STEX.

[SimCoug 5,973]

Great houses - I don't think we can get enough variety in single family homes and these are starting out great. 20+ cool!

[IDS2 3,369]

Thanks guys! I've since made about 6 more of the houses, I'll show what I have soon.

Quick update on CNA Center. Modeling is pretty much complete except for the roof, which shouldn't take too long.

[Andrey km 304]

We already have one in STEX, but another version of CNA Center made by you will be much better, i hope. =D

[harishna 847]

looking good, but I am struck by the similarities with the Daley Centre being modelled by darn42...what about your collection of mid-rise offices?

cheers

[Aaron Graham 4,417]

I love those houses, i know I will download them when you release them, the red office building looks fantastic and so do the rest of your bats. you came a long way.

[IDS2 3,369]

Andrey- That's what I was hoping. I really like the building, but the one on the STEX is buggy and almost unusable.

harishna- Daley Center is actually what reminded me I still have this thing sitting on my hard drive. No worries, I'll finish up the mid rises first

Aaron- Thanks a lot

Back in school again, so obviously that's gonna take a massive chunk out of my time (especially until December). Since I decided I probably won't be retaking the ACT or SAT, 95% of my work after December (until may) will come from calc and physics. Perhaps I'll actually have some free time this year when I actually need to use it...especially when AP exams roll around.

Oh, and I'm applying to colleges this month. Wish me luck

Here's a (pretty much) final day render of everything that will be included in the office pack. The lots are only temporary. Nightlights up next.

I completed the roof of CNA and made a few more houses, but I'll post those when I get something more substantial.

[Vlasky 1,803]

I have to say that I'm really liking what you've been doing and I'm looking forward to seeing more. I especially like the yellow one, tho you need to work more on the materials to achieve realism (the big yellow building from previous posts). This pack will be adorable.

[art128 4,618]

I agree with Vlasky, that big yellow building is insane! How I would like to use it so much in Hiroshima man!

The most recent one on the post above are also really cool, love the small white one, and the glass one, and.. Well the four of them!

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

To be honest, there is nothing I would adivse you to improve. I love the roof textures and maybe you could show us how you are doing them. Also, the glass looks awesome.

[Ion_Cannon 677]

This office pack will be another great addition to the game

[harishna 847]

Can that kind of skylights be that big?, I am talking about the bottom left building, I got no idea so I am just curious to know...

[IDS2 3,369]

Vlasky: Thank you! Indeed the big yellow one has probably been the most difficult for me so far with materials. I think I'll try photoshopping it ingame to see how it blends in.

Art: Thanks! Well with any luck you'll be able to make good use of them very soon

skyscraper: Thank you, I'd be happy to create a tutorial for it I'll try to post one in the next update.

Ion Cannon: Thanks! I'm hoping it helps fill a gap in something we don't have much of.

harishna: I think so Or at least I hope so. This building is a combination of 2 RL buildings, and I think under the skylight is a big atrium that opens to office space.

I haven't done a whole lot lately, but I've exported the day views of all 4 offices and I've started nightlighting 2 of them. What do you think so far? Are these good to go or do I need to fix anything?

If they're good, then I can move on to lighting the larger and trickier pair.

[Sgt Pepper 864]

I was just going to lurk through but I'd feel bad just not saying anything.

Marvelous job. I think they're ready.

But I did notice on the white on above, below the awning it doesn't look like their are doors, unless the doors aren't glass. I mean that's just some nitpicking. I don't think anyone would really have any attention for that.

Can't wait for these to be released.

  Edited September 22, 2012 by Sgt Pepper  

[Andrey km 304]

Amazing job with the night lights! That's the part I was waiting to look in the projects. Keep up the good work.

[IL. 1,043]

Really nice