Jason's BATs & Tutorials

[josefmayor 8]

incredible!!!

[ky72x 13]

Wow I can't wait for this one to be released, excellent work! Lights on the roof would look really nice.

[DarkEldar 6]

Hello there Jasoncw, one question how did you make that paneling on The Sojot Building is it just a texture map or part of the model

[Jasoncw 11,840]

jaqulina, Sim Shady, josefmayor & ky72x:  Thanks!!

Hanson784:  I'm glad you like it.  Yeah, I was lucky to get those patterns in the windows.  They're actually shapes from the texture itself, and when they got lit up (these windows are made by shining a real light on them, not the same way the in the BAT) that those shapes came out.

DarkEldar:  It's a texture.  Modeling it would have been possible, but I've found textures work better for this kind of stuff. 

I took a screenshot of the building in wireframe mode from the front viewport, and then pasted it into Photoshop.  Then I cropped the image down to the wall I was texturing, and then I used the line tool to draw the panel lines. 

Once the lines were drawn, I made a new layer, and used the magic wand to select the insides of the panels, and then I filled them all with different values of grey.  Then I set the layer to multiply or overlay (I don't remember which), and that's where the panels came from.  I also has pattern overlays and noise to give it texture.

All of this and more is described more fully in the texturing tutorial in my signature.  Thanks for asking. 

[patriots_1228 51]

Wow great job on the nightlights! Are those orange things actually modeled or part of the nightlight map? Whatever they are they are incredible.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Nitemaps don't work in 3ds max.  The night lights are actually real lights (directional lights), that point at the windows.  The include/exclude tool makes it so only the objects you choose are affected by the lights (this tool is broken in Gmax btw).

Dark things take more "effort" to light up than light things.  Most of the areas on my window texture are light enough to be lit up, but some areas are so dark that my light pointing at it isn't enough to make it totally bright.  If you look, you can see the dark spots on other parts of the windows too.

The lights in the lobby are just normal lights though.  I changed the intensity and the color until the windows and the lobby matched each other.

btw, I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but this building is actually wall to wall.  The back of this building will be right up against the edge of the lot, and the two sides are one meter from the edge of the lot, like my other wall to wall BATs.

[cammo2003 20]

Originally posted by: Jasoncw cammo2003:  Thanks!  It looks quite nice there. 

quote>

Yeah, it's not bad. I'm finding myself using it all over the place, it's one of those great "filler" buildings, that also rather conveniently stands out in the smaller, suburban skylines.

I was surprised how well it looked adjacent to your theatre building (immediately to the left of it). In fact, it works so well that it looks rather like an extension containing offices.

I'm actually quite happy with how that section of the CBD turned out full-stop. The block over the road from the Sojot in particular looks like a staged-out  convention centre and office development that had myriad delays due to DA issues, strikes etc.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

So today I thought, "I've been meaning on making an art deco skyscraper" and I spent a while looking at a bunch of photos to get ideas and stuff, and I drew some sketches of what I wanted.  And the design I sketched out would be really beautiful.  But I couldn't design something that would fit on a 32 meter wide lot at least (preferably more), and in general I could only get around 1.5 tiles.  This is actually a problem I've noticed a lot in real life buildings too.  And another thing, is that this is supposed to be a quick BAT, and all of the setbacks and ornamentation I was planning on would have made it a real BAT.

So then I decided to give up on making a skyscraper.  Another day.  One of the reference photos I had browsed had a short wing on it, that looked like what I have modeled there, from left of the brighter column.  So I modeled it, planning on it being some wall to wall CS§§§ shops.  Then I considered making it a theater, which is when I added the extension to the right.

But then I figured that there were enough growables out there, and I thought of what else it looked like.  I was hoping it could pass as a hospital or a police station, but it can't without reworking it, which isn't something I'm interested in (fast BAT!).

But it looked like a train station.  It's a 4x2 wall to wall train station with a 4x1 platform area (should it have more?) in the back.  It could either be a downtown station for a small city, or a smaller neighborhood station for a larger city.  If I can get both rail information and bus information in the query, it will also have a bus stop.

Anyway, that's my long story.  I expect this BAT to be done within the next few days.  VanWingerden Plaza might also be finished within the next few days if I can get the rendering problem fixed.

[Spike345 20]

Couldn't it just be a City Bus Depot? Like a City's Transportation Department Headquarters? It looks like it could possible be one of those...

[Glenni 1,444]

Know what would be cool? it as an abandoned building, you know, boarded up, trashed, graffitied. I think it would look great

[Simfan34 11]

Errr... no.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

It does look like it could be a bus station, but then I'd need to work in streets on the lot and stuff, and this will be a wall to wall building that can line up with my other buildings.

It's not going to be abandoned, lol. 

Here's what I was thinking for the massing of things.  The bridge area is for getting to the platforms, and there will be stairs coming out of each one.  The stairs right next to the building will go a bit longer and then go down so that they don't get in the way of the entrance.

The tower part is a clock tower.  I was thinking it could have a working clock on it, like one of Simgoober's stations, which is just a seasonal prop as far as I know.  This is still supposed to be a quicky though, so I don't know if I'll actually do that.  I'm also thinking of modeling the tracks, to make it more visually rich.

The back area here is slightly inspired by the Surbiton Station, which Ill Tonkso recreated.

Any suggestions would be helpful.  I'm not much of a train person.

[patriots_1228 51]

too bad theres no way to make a train/bus combo station. it reminds me of the port authority bus station in New York. Anyway, it looks nice.

[jacqulina 162]

looks very nice

[josefmayor 8]

Excellent idea Jason! Keep up the brilliance.

[Krio 624]

Nice textures! Did you make those yourself?!?! (insert smiley here)

[ardecila 124]

Sorry about all the suggestions....  I've looked at quite a few railroad stations.

The train platforms are very short - this could not even berth most subway trains, let alone a full Amtrak-style intercity train. I'm not suggesting you go go out to 18 tiles here (), but 7 or 8 tiles would be better. The platform extensions could either be an overhanging prop, or you could include it on the lot and then fill the blank space with some other of your buildings.

Also... would you consider changing this station to integrate with the NAM's raised rail pieces? In most Northern cities, the railroads were grade-seperated between 1900-1920, so by the Art Deco age, most stations would have been designed this way.  Otherwise, the station would have been built as a stand-alone building, because grade crossings in a busy wall-to-wall commercial strip are a recipe for disaster.

Here's another question - would you consider making the raised portion of the building into an atrium with a skylight?  The way I see it, passengers would enter into a grand atrium with a skylight, and off to the left would be the ticket counter.  Then, in the atrium, a grand flight of steps would go up to a second-story waiting room, with schedules and benches and such, and then they could walk out the second-story doors onto the viaduct to board their train.

Last suggestion (I promise!): pull the facade of the raised portion out from the other facade.  What is Art Deco about if not setbacks?

[ILL Tonkso 1,236]

I wqs about to say the same thing Ardi said about the platforms, also, what station is this?

[Simfan34 11]

Great work, compliments 6s's subway station well. Could you show us these sketches?

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Patroits_1228:  It is possible to make a train/bus combo.  It works the same way as making a ploppable.  You just shove the properties together with the Reader.  I just don't know if it's possible to have the query show up for both, but I don't see any reason why it couldn't happen with a custom query.

jacqulina:  Thanks

joesphmayor:  Thanks!  lol, I'll try! 

Krio:  I spent many hours in Photoshop, making sure it was all perfect.

Ardecila:  I like suggestions!

- Yes, I think making an overhang prop would be good.  The tower takes up the entire width of the middle platform though (blocking people).  Should I extend the platforms in the other direction, or do you see a way to make them get extended in both directions?

- I just downloaded the new NAM right now.  The raised rail is too high.  Are there any shorter pieces that I don't know about?  The raised rail is almost as tall as the building is, lol.

Also, how do you make cities like that in the game?  Most of the time the tracks would be on terraformed land, and then the puzzle pieces would be used for bridges and things, right?  If that's the case, then should I also extend the building back another tile, so that there aren't alignment problems down the rail with the sloped tile?

- Yeah, a skylight would work there.

- I don't know.  I liked how the facade visually organized itself even though it was all flat and repetitive.  I might pull it out.

But you can make more suggestions!  I like suggestions!  I also like long posts. 

Ill Tonkso:  It's not a real station.  The facade is based off part of this tower in Battle Creek Michigan.  I can't find the photo I had before though.  Here's a photo that shows the tower part, but not the shorter part.

Simfan34:  Thanks!  No, I'd have to get my scanner out and hook it up.  It's a very rough sketch, and it probably only means something to me.  It's not a real drawing, just some scribbles to get my ideas organized a bit, so that I don't try to figure things out after I've already started.

[ardecila 124]

Well, I was envisioning the platforms extending in the one direction, but an archway through the base of the tower would allow passengers to go that way too.

I know the raised rail pieces are very high - it's a pet peeve of mine.  When they were being created, I advocated for a lower height, but Tropod, I believe, wanted them to be at the same height as the road puzzle pieces to allow midair grade crossings.

I don't know about terraformed viaducts.  Most people make raised viaducts with smoncrie's Ground Lifter lot, which raises the land to 15m, same as the puzzle pieces.  Hand-terraforming would give inconsistent results, unless the platforms were separated into a prop (which would raise or lower depending on ground height) but then a believable door into the building could not be created if the platform height changes.

[nofunk 1,933]

Jason, I'm still not sure about this being a train station, for all the reasons that ardecila has listed. I still think this would look better as a civic or administration building.

Also, don't model the tracks. Really.

[Sim shady 12]

lol a lot of grief with this building

[Swiss_Canadian 2]

Well Jason, I really like this building - it could give a city a real Detroit feel to it. My only advice for this building is: don't worry too much about it! If it's meant to be a quick BAT, then just keep it a quick BAT, you have a lot of other things to work on too I'm sure. Bet you a hundred smackaroos that it'll still turn out a thousand times better than anything I could do! The less you worry about something, the more you enjoy it, and the more you enjoy it, the better things turn out in the end.

Just for a future suggestion though, next time you create a BAT and don't quite know what it should be, I've always felt there is a good lacking of hospitals on the STEX, and a deplorable lack of beaurocratic buildings both in-game and on the STEX. Walking around so many big cities recently, I noticed there are several different court buildings, numerous offices for municipal, state/provincial, and federal affairs, and a never-ending line of organizations, authorities, and corporations that run a city. All the transit companies, the water works, electrical companies, social services - they all need offices and headquarters. And one question to direct to all here: What happened to mail service in Sim Nation? It seems that it doesn't exist here, and yet there are so many grand post offices around the world. But this is all just to digest and keep in mind for if you ever don't know what to BAT (because, you know, you have such a shortage of things to do! lol)

Anyway, I think it's looking good so far; it has great "bones", and wonderful structure to it. Keep up the awesome effort, I smell another shining star coming soon to the STEX!

[Jasoncw 11,840]

I extended the platforms two tiles in both directions, and I think I like the way it looks.  Much better being longer.  I also added some walls on the edges of the platforms, since those areas are facing the backs of buildings/alleys.

I was thinking the entire building would be a prop, with a dummy building for the actual building.  I was thinking then I'd just merge the two together and call it a .SC4Model file for convenience.

Ardecila:  That makes sense, I think that's what will be done.

LOL, yeah, that doesn't make much sense.  The whole point of the raised pieces is to avoid intersections.    If they were shorter I would have made it compatible, but it will just be flat.  For the cross roads nearby the rails, the roads can go underneath the rail, and then the rails can get raised/sunk.  If a mod was magically made within the next few weeks that lowered the raised rails I would make the station compatible. 

Another possibility could be modeling the platforms to rest in a ditch.  The station would be plopped in the ditch, and the station would be the overhang part.  The station would be elevated by 15 meters to fit with the buildings outside of the ditch.  Would this be a good idea?

Nofunk:  I think the design works really well for a train station.  I don't think it looks like those other types of buildings because of the ground floor retail (I plan on putting in doors and signs later).

When the time comes, I'll see if I feel like modeling the tracks.  But I don't like how flat they are, especially compared to how un-flat everything else will be.  In real life I think the details are big enough to be worth modeling.  The mound of stuff the tracks rest on (I don't know what it's called) isn't short, and while the rail ties rest in-on the rocks, the tracks stick out a bit.  I think it's a nice place to add some quick and good detail.

Sim Shady:  I like input! 

Swiss Canadian:  Well there's nothing very Detroit about this building, but I'm glad you like it. 

I've been meaning on making a hospital set, but it's such a big task that I haven't gotten to it yet.  I'd have to do research to see what needs to be included.  And since Ardecila made that post truck modd I've been meaning to make a central post office.  JBSimio made one, but I was thinking of something for a bigger city.

I'll get working on this again over the weekend.  I'll make the clock tower, and make the benches and stuff for the platforms.

[ardecila 124]

Ditches could work. I've never seen a ditch run in an alley behind a commercial street, but I'm sure it's possible. Usually, raised viaducts were preferred because they caused less intrusion on the cross streets during construction. In certain circumstances, though, a ditch (referred to as an open cut) was used to cut back on noise pollution, and to avoid splitting up neighborhoods with "Chinese walls".

I've considered a modd to lower the raised rail pieces now that Tropod is gone, but I think I'd just anger several batters who have already done stations, as well as the NAM team which has put a lot of work into the existing set of pieces. ArkenbergeJoe, for example, is doing a modd to replace the current pieces with stone viaducts, although he's not changing the height (to be honest, his pieces don't look beefy enough to be real stone construction).

Also, rail viaducts in North American cities have no definite style or height. There's the High Line in NYC on a steel viaduct, in other cases the railroads built earth embankments with concrete walls at varying heights. Sometimes there's a concrete viaduct wall on one side of the tracks and a smooth slope down to ground on the other. It would be tricky to represent the range of designs with just one set of pieces.

[SimFox 801]

oh! I like this station! The only thing that look a bit not right are the platforms.. I think the fact that they are extending symmetrically on both ends clashes with the architectural expressiveness of the station building (incl. the tower) itself. there is clear direction in the that, and symmetrical placement of platforms goes against it. I think if platform would just extend to the left right, or say 2/3- 3/4 to the left right it would be much more in tune with the building design.

BTW I also like looong messages...

[ILL Tonkso 1,236]

This could work better as perhaps a terminus building. Just looking at the shape of it in general?

Additionally, i just saw ArkenbergeJoe's rail viaducts. I agree with you they dont look right. I think with some experience (modding NAM tiles?) i could make something more like this.

The boxes can work alongside your station quite well, and if you can lower the NAM pieces, i can model them at a lower hight too.

[Andreas Roth 607]

I like the general shape of the station - it's surely something different, and it will fit in very well in a rather crammed urban development. An elevated station would be nice indeed, since it's always hard to lay down a decent rail line in a city center. But elevated or not, I'd download it for sure. In addition, I can't see why the building itself shouldn't be occupied by some government organisation as well. You can't really do multi-usage buildings in SimCity, but we always can pretend, can't we? That said, as nice as separate government buildings are, if they don't have a proper function in the game, they're more or less waste of space in the menues...

Regarding the elevated rail tracks: Sure, 16 m is somewhat unrealistic, but it's the default height of all NAM overpasses and the elevated highway as well. 8 m might be more realistic, even with the game perspective that makes everything short, but I'd say it's not feasible to change everything yet again. Also, I appreciate ArkenbergeJoe's work very much - maybe it doesn't look exactly like the rail viaduct Tonksi posted above, but hey, he did take the challenge and actually started working, rather than suggesting thousands of things, but not getting into gear.

[Swiss_Canadian 2]

When I suggested it was Detroit-esque, I just ment that it was very 1920's boom-era, which is a look, I think anyway, that Detroit has in many places.