Jason's BATs & Tutorials

[Gn_leugim 853]

I have to double what has being said, porch to bright

[Francis90b 748]

Compliments for your degree!

I like very much your model of Farnsworth house, though i must say in my opinion the roof is too dark.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Thanks for the comments everyone. 

I had forgotten to scale it up vertically the last time I exported, so I did for this time (thought I didn't do my usual 133%).  I also darkened the porch, and made the lot.

In real life, the Farnsworth House is located in a rural, forested property, so I only included the area immediately around the house, on a 4x4, which seems to be a good fit for both the BAT and for the purposes of being a R$$$ growable.  I do have a site plan, specifically showing where some of the more important trees are, but while the trees work well in real life, here they just covered up the BAT too much, so I removed them.

In real life, the porch side (which I suppose is actually the "back") faces a river, while the other side faces some open grass.

If there aren't any major concerns about the lotting, I'll be sending this to nofunk for modding soon (I still need to do the nitelites).  It will be a LM and a R$$$ growable.

[JakeMD 107]

Looking fantastic Jason! A bit different than your usual works, but change is good.

[_Atticus 10]

Though I don't personally like bleak Le-Corbusian architecture, your model is very good. Definitely a nice change from the boring, monotonous R$$$ homes.

-Pingangster

[Francis90b 748]

I'm going to love this one Jason !

I'd like if you can show us the nightlighting before sending it to Nofunk.

[jacqulina 162]

great work nice design

[art128 4,618]

Nice house there jason !! I like the texture a lot !

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Thanks everyone! 

Here are the nitelites that I just did:

I still haven't sent it to nofunk yet.  I'll wait a bit to send it.

[Francis90b 748]

It's looking good, though maybe it would be a good idea to fade lighting a bit.I saw the original building and it's like this, but i'm wondering if it's the best solution for the game...

[Jasoncw 11,840]

I'll look into it.

In the mean time, here is a project that I haven't posted here.  It was originally an idea I had for designing rowhouses, and I made part of a model, and now I thought I'd finish it for SC4.

[JakeMD 107]

It looks fantastic so far! What do you think its purpose will be?

[Jasoncw 11,840]

They're rowhouses, and fit on a 2x2 lot.

Originally the idea for these (before they became SC4 BATs), was that there would be an entire block of these, and underground there would be an underground parking garage, as well as other utilities (garbage, etc.). Then there would be stairs leading to the outside, right next to the stairs that lead up into each individual unit. So they'd be walk-ups, but you'd be able to "walk up" to each unit from both the street level and the underground level.

The units are raised half a story above the ground, but even still, there wasn't enough space on the 2x2 lot to get the slope or height clearance for the parking entrance, which you can see on the side there. Oh well though, it's not a big deal. I'll try to make it look more like a parking entrance though.

[benvoliothefirst 36]

I dunno, Jason... I really feel like you've done much, MUCH better roof texturing in the past. This one... well, I hate to say it but it really feels like you're phoning it in with the roof on the rowhouses.

Haha, but seriously, looks good so far. Will it be taller than this, or is it only meant to be two stories?

[mcarch 15]

It would also make a very cool modern library!

[Jasoncw 11,840]

benvoliothefirst:  That was an experimental new texturing technique.  I wasn't sure how it turned out so now I went back to my conventional method.

mcarch:  I'm pretty sure it's going to be residential.  I'm not in a library kind of mood.  

---

Well, today was a pretty productive day.  I decided to modd the Farnsworth House myself since it wasn't a complicated job.  I know the lot isn't amazing looking, but that's what's it's like and I couldn't think of anyways to improve the looks while still being reasonably faithful.  The lot is actually based off of photos, and also a site plan I have, though I had to remove some trees because the trees that are around the house in real life cover the house up at SC4's angle.

---

Anyway, I've also made a lot of progress on the modern rowhouses, whose name I think will be "Modern Walkups".  The day version is almost done.  This one has actually come along really fast, since I didn't work on it yesterday, just Wednesday and today.

The day version is almost complete, and then I have to do the night version.  Then comes lotting and modding, which I might do myself since this one isn't complicated either.  I hope to have this uploaded within the week.

I'm not sure whether this should be R$$ or R$$$.  It's refined but has a sense of modesty.

[jacqulina 162]

great looking rowhouses there

[Francis90b 748]

I think texturing looks really nice.I feel somewhat strange about the rightmost glass surface on the front of the building, though.I'd be very interested to see some interior plans, if you've done them.I think you need to add an access to the roof.Flat roofs needs to be cleaned, since they tend to hold grim and the rain..Also, i think it would be a good idea to add an indent to the back.Although the front and the back may be very bright, i'm wondering about how can light flow to the central part of the building.

As for modding, i must say R$$.I don't think they would look good as low-wealth rowhouses.I think they're too much refined.

That's a really nice try, keep on.

[_Atticus 10]

Very nice homes. I actually like the lots, and I think R$$$ would fit with these best. They seem too upscale for R$$, but that's just imo. Anyways good job and I'll be looking for these on the STEX.

-Pingangster

[madhatter106 3,903]

I agree with Francis90b, a roof access would work on these. And I'm torn between R$$ and R$$$ - I think you can make a case for either. What does the game need more of, and what is Maxis content sadly lacking more of?

The texturing and detail is great - the only thing I would do is to add some more variation to the back yards. There's some differentiation between them, but I think they need one or two more modelled props included into them, to really give a sense of variety. Even if it were a kids' sandbox or backyard BBQ, something in one or two of them to make each yard unique.

[JakeMD 107]

Wow!! This turned out way different than I pictured in my mind.. I really like it.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Francis:  I never really sat down and figured the interior out, but I had a general idea of where things would go.  Here's a quick plan.  I wasn't paying attention to scale when I drew it, so the doors are about twice as big as they should be.  For scale, the living room is 10 meters wide.  The kitchen is up against the wall of the bathroom.  Light probably wouldn't be able to get all the way to the middle, but the bathroom is there anyway.  If I were doing this for real I'd probably figure out how deep the light would actually go, and tweak the dimensions according to that. 

jacqulina:  Thank you!

pingangster:  Thanks!  Yeah, I think the "lot" (it's really all BATed in) is turning out well too.

madhatter106:  ok, I've added a grill, a tree, and a turtle sandbox  .  I also added a small roof hatch.  I think I might make it an R$$$.

SWAT-MEDIC:  Thanks, how were you imagining it?

Well, I think I'm actually going to try and finish and upload this today.  We'll see how that goes.

[Iniesta 0]

I like these mdern rowhouses!! I have already seen rowhouses like that in Chicago!!!

[Gn_leugim 853]

I have to be honest, I don't like the windows look, with that reflections.. apart from that, I like them

[JakeMD 107]

SWAT-MEDIC:  Thanks, how were you imagining it?

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[nofunk 1,933]

Jason, these are great! I can't wait to have them in my game.

[SimHoTToDDy 2,938]

Very cool Jason. Not sure what else to say, lol.

Any chance of a 2nd model with a few variations so that repetition can be kept at bay when people make rows of these? Rearranging the front/backyards and switching around the blinds would be more than enough. IT all depends how they look stacked together in game I suppose. Either way, looks great! (I vote R$$ by the way)

Jake, I have tried numerous time to get a tar paper roof to look good, but I never seem make out so well. I usually end up falling back onto something like what Jason did, to the point where I would just do it that way from the beginning

-Todd

[art128 4,618]

That's looking excellent Jason, nice house there! !

[josefmayor 8]

SWAT: why would you use a dark roof that makes the heat island effect greater, and causes higher cooling costs because of the way dark colors absorb light. Being a lighter color will not only bring down the heat island affect but will reduce the amount of cooling you need to use. Or is that if you saw this in real life you'd expect it to use tar paper roofing? In the Tampanian neighborhood Ybor Village we have a group of row homes that look very similar to this, but they have rooftop gardens

This is the same reason behind the Sears Tower's potential color change.

I'd prefer a rooftop garden This acts double to reduce the heat island affect and it also helps insulate the roof.

[mightygoose 92]

how about a skylight for the hallway above the stairs, although bathroom light access is not essential, the main chamber of the property needs some light..... also, front door into living room, where do peole put their shoes and coats?