NirBats

[Nirwanda 133]

Hi all!

 

I am planning (well starting) to make custom BATs and am starting this thread to try and fix any problems, share whats happening and such.

 

You all know what a BAT thread is so yeah lets uh, dive in.

 

My first project will be Lovett Tower (formally MLC Tower), Canberra, ACT (AUS)

 

It is a 93 metre tall Hi-Rise and is the tallest building in Australia outside of a CBD, being located in the southern district of Woden Valley in Canberra City.

 

Fun fact: Because Canberra is the National Capital, there are many Government institutions scattered around the city. The 13th floor of this building has metal blinders welded over the windows and there is no 13th floor button in the elevators. I've tried researching this and asking people I know who have visited or worked in the building and nobody I have come across knows what is located in it.

 

Pics:

And one of it under construction with the rest of the district CBD in the 1970's:

 

 

Also, please be kind, It is nerve rackking starting out when theres the likes of Reddon and JasonCW, 'nono35 and everyone else who has BATted

 

Thankyou

[Nirwanda 133]

Also here is a taste of what else I have modelled and in the pipeline: Governor Phillip Tower from Sydney. I am actively seaking help for the texturing

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

What is this ...

[9gruntsand1hammer 3,198]

Usually buildings don't have a 13th floor because of a weird superstition. Since the 13th floor on this one has its windows covered and can't get to it with the elevator, it's most likely a mechanical floor those houses many things such as HVAC, plumbing, and generators.

 

Looking at the picture a little more, it looks like the 15th floor is the one that's covered.

[PBGV103 729]

I'm not sure if it applies here, but in some countries the 1st floor is called the ground floor, while the 2nd floor is the 1st floor, and the 3rd is the 2nd, etc.  If that is the case here and the lobby is double height, which is common everywhere, it would make sense that the 15th floor would be referred to as the 13th floor.

[Reddonquixote 4,339]

Governor Phillip Tower is a great choice of building for your first BAT, very simple but nice looking building. Your model is a great start but you might be jumping the gun a bit with textures though. You'll just need to work on the model a little bit more first.

 

Here's a close up of the windows, I'd start with those. You can see there are 3 strips of glass in a cube, with little protruding attachments segmenting the glass. If you make one of these cubes to start with, then you can clone 10 times to make a floor, and stack 11 times to make the tower. It should be a very easy building to assemble if you break it down like that.

 

If you want to get a bit fancier, there are two mechanical floors above the 3rd and 9th set of cubes, and lastly, the building is sitting on legs, you will want to model those in as well.

 

I'd suggest start with the cube and see how you go with that

 

[Nirwanda 133]

Okay yes I have considered that on Lovett Tower the '13th' floor is mechanical and- in all likeliness it probably is, I just felt like throwing in the trivia about the secret government blackops floor for as well, trivia as I just cannot confirm 100% that it is a mechanical or superstitious reason for it being blocked off.

 

As for the eclectic nature of the thread, sorry everyone I am visiting family back in Canberra and I am still a bit jet lagged and delirious due to my being allergic to the several cats here, mix that with excitement at finally getting a model in the game after hours of trial and error and boom you have crap everywhere 

 

Red, you're right lets not jump the gun with textures. I have also noticed the lower levels are still quite boxy so I will attempt it like you say

 

 

Sleeping on it overnight I have noticed a some more of my own flaws in the model of Governer Phillip Tower (GPT) s yeah back to the modelling, this time with a straight head

[Nirwanda 133]

Red: Yeah that block approach sounds good, im modelling the windows now but I made one other model quickly to help me understand the building a bit more and already I can feel myself getting faster This model was purely to see if my measurements were okay. I was trying out internal structures too like getting the fins up top corresponding with the base fins etc. The scale is a bit off compared to Freshwater place here which is a 205 metre building, whereas GPT is a 254 metre building. But hopefully with this lego style of modelling I can sort it out

 

Also I am using GMAX too... Sorry but my Windows is virtual and it just cant handle 3ds...

 

[Nirwanda 133]

 

a shot of the first properly modelled draft. Segmented model based on the 3 window cube as suggested by Reddon

[Reddonquixote 4,339]

Regarding scale, there is a BATing convention that requires scaling your entire model up by 133%. (This is due to a squashing effect, you can read more detail elsewhere on this site). If you look at your cubes you made, they are now looking a bit squashed, that's due to the squashing effect. In order to re-square them, they need to be scaled up by 133%.

 

And because this is what all BATers do, your model will then achieve a scale relative to other custom BATs, such as Freshwater Place. Try comparing after scaling up 133%, it should look proportionally tall.

 

I think making a prototype of your model first is an excellent idea too, I nearly always make one.

 

Your current model is looking a lot better in terms of details, I was worried from your first post you were going to slap window textures on a box, so its good that you're going down this path. Keep it up  

 

Ps. Good luck with running a virtual windows, is that on a Mac? I tried that once. No good for me

[Nirwanda 133]

Yeah no problem, I was spooked on one of the prototype models I made in regards to scaling it to 133% but the further along im going the more im seeing why I was going to re model it again too because the way I modelled the cube has left a lot of fluff on unseen faces, which slowed my work time down.

 

So yes I will hit the GMAX screens again and get to work but I just want an opinion on the base, I've scouted out the base and its a heritage facade mixed with another building and instead of screwing it all up i've taken an artistic licence with the podium under the flanged legs...? Once ive got the main tower done I should be more confident enough to try it but at this stage... nah

 

Yeah thanks! Also I left my mouse in Perth at the house in Como D: So ive been trackpadding it on my slow virtual windows XP, which is run on a 2011 macbook haha. Oh well, I feel compelled to contribute

[Nirwanda 133]

Hey anybody... The building is 254m to the tip, so scaling to 133% would mean it comes in at 338 (rounded up). Im not the best at maths and even after triple checks on the calculator I thought id just ask I have it set to 338 max now.

[Nirwanda 133]

building evolved from being me figuring out how to nightlight to being what I would consider to be my best model yet.

 

There are a few issues yes but I have released it to also try and get a broader view of what I need to work on, from more people who would actually use it.

[Darknono35 3,138]

Hi Nirwanda, I've post the same comment on your upload 15 London Circuit .

 

I don't really know if this BAT was ready to be upload now !

As you explain, it's your first BAT. And I think you need to improved your model, and latter the textures. When I looking the building I can't see where I can enter, you should work on that. 

You need to reworked your Lot, the plaza is empty and not really beautiful, add several stuff like trees, bench sims etc... it's will be more real

 

For the textures, you can found many tutorials on the forum made by Jason, Reddon and many other BATers . I hope to see an update of this brutalist building soon

 

Keep it up man

[Shy Dude 149]

Your 15 London Circuit upload has a "light leaking" problem with the night lights. I got around that problem by making a simple box that surrounds the glass, flipping the normals, then giving the cube 0% opacity, and make sure your light source has "cast shadows" checked. Primitive old GMAX makes transparent objects cast shadows and I think only solid objects can trap light, so that's how that workaround works. I'm not sure if there is another way to do it though.

[Nirwanda 133]

 

Hi Nirwanda, I've post the same comment on your upload 15 London Circuit .

 

I don't really know if this BAT was ready to be upload now !

As you explain, it's your first BAT. And I think you need to improved your model, and latter the textures. When I looking the building I can't see where I can enter, you should work on that. 

 

...<snip>...

Thanks for the feedback,  after that I've taught myself to make trees and extra props for it, but as for spicing up the plaza ive raised it, added a lawn (gonna be like an office cafe space) and made it just a bit more presentable:

 

 

Your 15 London Circuit upload has a "light leaking" problem with the night lights. I got around that problem by making a simple box that surrounds the glass, flipping the normals, then giving the cube 0% opacity, and make sure your light source has "cast shadows" checked. Primitive old GMAX makes transparent objects cast shadows and I think only solid objects can trap light, so that's how that workaround works. I'm not sure if there is another way to do it though.

Yeah thanks I noticed it just then when you pointed it out! I'll do that to it!

 

But also guys Im having a bit of a problem with GMAX rendering... I go to render and it refused to render the building on centre - even when the building is in the correct spot. Ive tried moving it around and re rendering, rendering on all quality levels but it reufuses to render the building still because the file size only comes out to be like 200KB and this happens in LE and in game:

 

 

I was wondering if anybody had any ideas or if i'd have to re build it from scratch...?

[mntoes 271]

Have you downloaded the "texture fix" for the bat.? Not sure where to get it now but if you read the Bat troubleshooting thread there is plenty of discussion on resolving this problem. 

[Nirwanda 133]

Have you downloaded the "texture fix" for the bat.? Not sure where to get it now but if you read the Bat troubleshooting thread there is plenty of discussion on resolving this problem. 

 

Yeah I have downloaded it and it doesn't seem to be working. Ive tried starting again but the same problem keeps coming up on all my exports, even after completely resetting everything... I'm gonna save the scene now and do a complete reinstall...

 

But as for what that building was, it was a small W2W shop and a pencil tower together on a 2x4 Lot. Spent 8 hours straight just on the shop/warehouse fun fun

[Nirwanda 133]

Reset the LODs and that seems to have done it but I swear I did that earlier... Reinstalling anyway to be safe

[Nirwanda 133]

One thing I always download is urban warehouses and stores that make places look a bit more varied, So I've decided to make a few small footprint buildings and I'll release them as a pack. What do people think?

 

This is building #1: A Camera store and 'for rent' bookable studio lighting space. Lot size is 1x3 W2W

 

Now the roof texture is just for this render, Im going to vary the rust pattern on the iron a bit more so it doesn't look like it was applied by god in MS paint and i'm modelling some more roofjunk and old wall painted adverts incase people want to use it as a block end or stand alone.

[Huston 5,800]

Ahh, some promising gritty commercial BATs huh? Definitely could use more of those!

[jmsepe 2,039]

Interesting start. I can definitely see a good future here. Keep up the good work and always listen to your senpai. 

[Nirwanda 133]

Ahh, some promising gritty commercial BATs huh? Definitely could use more of those!

 

Interesting start. I can definitely see a good future here. Keep up the good work and always listen to your senpai. 

 

Cheers Guys! But Huston, not just commercial Take a look:

 

 

Functions exactly like the Natural Gas Plant, but with a bit less capacity. In the works along with everything else is an Admin wing (just a W2W box at the moment) and extra gas storage cylinders and an extra generator to make it modular, because I really like the modular work from Paeng and the modular abilities of the power plants in SC2013.

[Nirwanda 133]

Downloading a Maya trail to have a play on, just because I've been home the last two weeks due to being back home and 90%of that time has been spent on GMAX making a million different models and i've already maxed out my virtual machine's computing power. I've tried upping its memory but every time I do it glitches and wont boot up requiring a reinstall to get anything to run.

 

So I'm looking forward to using more powerful and realistic software and If I can get it to work for me I'll buy it So far as I'm able to tell as long as I export my Maya files as a .3ds (?) file then import them in Gmax and render it that way I'll be able to put the models in sim city? Could anybody give me any tips on this?

[T Wrecks 10,210]

I'm not sure about that, but it sounds to me like using superior software to model something only to export it to a very outdated and crippled piece of software where half of the superior features will either be lost in the process or not available in the first place. You see, as long as you don't use 3dsmax with the BAT4Max script, the final render will have to be done in gmax anyway, and that old crutch of a software is hopelessly outdated so you can probably bump up your RAM all you like, it won't matter much. The only advantage I can possibly see is if the actual modeling process is so much easier for you that it justifies the subsequent conversion hassle. I'm not an expert in these matters, though.

 

On a more optimistic note, I love that inner-city power plant concept! Making it modular is also a superb idea.

[Terring 6,476]

That gas generator could be a great W2W growable industry as well. I mean, we have residential and commercial W2W buildings, so why not industrial as well?

[vester_DK 477]

Some nice work you are doing.

 

 

Reset the LODs and that seems to have done it but I swear I did that earlier... Reinstalling anyway to be safe

 

A lot of problems can be solved by merging troublesome files into a new fresh model/file.

[Nirwanda 133]

Sorry for dropping off the radar but ive had a bit of sim city block and lots of work so ive been away from the computer, but ive been back hitting gmax and I have two new models nearing completion. One of them I am planning to maybe throw under the un-gentrification project banner and ive been working on the gas generator's modular bits too. But other than that it has mostly just been refining my (terrible) Lot Editor skills

 

Anyway these are still works in progress. The mall is having texture issues and both models need a bit of tweaking, like the entry on the tower and the mall's office roof and entries.

 

 

[Harry's Place 918]

the mall looks good

and that office building looks very commie )))

[fan o SC4 128]

I'm liking the office blocks, one can never have too many, looking good!