The Portland & Oregon BAT Team, Chapter 1

[screamingman12 30]

MAX progress report:

As all of you already know, Vester has told me to redo the windows (they look to dark) and I have decided to redo the whole skin (ne windows from photographs, and new stripe colors) but don't worry, it will only take a few days, but I was wondering if you could possibly get a picture side on of the high-floor MAX in clear-day coditions (possibly to make the windows look brighter, but not reflecting sunlight off of them) but the released version will look very different (but better) than the ones that Sparky and Vester have. 

Sorry for the double post. Could one please be deleted?

[sparkythepenguin 90]

No prob with the double post Screamingman! It's OK. Did you find the Fox Tower OK? There's a link to its STEX page on the front page of this forum. I'll get on the MAX photo shoot ASAP.

And for other news, I have Bishop's House all drawn out on paper! It is nearly ready for modelling. Later, I'm going to draw out Bank of the West and get two other things I'd like to do down the pike ready for modelling! That way, it'll be much more of an incentive to me to get stuff done and faster. Not that this statement guarantees that, but I hope to be able to get some serious stuff done before RLS kicks in.

[bixel 1,228]

Just to show you guys I am actually working on the Henry (I know I should post in here more often! ) here's a progress report. Henry is taking longer than normal since each level is unique it requires new geometry, unlike my normal HK projects which is just repeated levels on top of each other.

[sparkythepenguin 90]

Looking cool Bixel! Will we see the Adidas store in there? That looks awesone, just like the real base! I'll see if I can't find a picture of The Henry  so the non-Portlanders know what this beauty looks like.

And to just give you a little background on what this building is, here's the lowdown:

The Henry Condos are located in the new Brewery Blocks development, just inside the Pearl District. The Pearl is basicly everything east of I-405 and north of Burnside street, an area which was mostly warehouses and railyards. It has mostly been transformed into high-end condo developments and trendy businesses. The northern end of what is now the Pearl was featured in the movie Drugstore Cowboy, which is a good comparison to what it used to look like.

The Henry is a high-rise, half-block condo tower, with the mandatory ground-floor retail Portland city development code requires. It sits on part of the old Henry Weinhard's Brewery, hence it's name. Henry Weinhards beer was brewed in the nearby blocks up until about 2000. The surviving brick brewhouse has been preserved on another block.

Pics to come soon, both a real-life one and more progress from Bixel!

[sloppet 3]

Great work bixel! Yes, you should post here more often!

[Yisginlasvegas 5]

Looking very good. I like the texures.

[lrfox 2]

Long time follower, first time poster here... This project is one of the most succesful/ long lasting collaberations. glad to see it's still going strong. as i'm from the east coast and have (unfortunately) never been to Portland, i don't know how to recreate it. But i do have nearly the entire Portland skyline mixed into my major cities with all the buildings from JTPortland, Sparky, and the rest of the crew. Keep it up.

[subedei 3]

Looks good so far. Looking forward to more updates on this. I was curious about one thing. I knowthere is already a Loyd Center on the STEX. Is there any possibility of a BATed version of it coming out?. Thanks and keep up the great work.

Subedei

[sparkythepenguin 90]

@Irfox: Glad to hear from you! Keep coming back and commenting. We really appreciate the support and welcome any constructive criticism or supportive comments you can provide. Thanks for downloading our BATs!

@Subedei: A full re-BATing of the entire Lloyd Center complex is quite an undertaking as I envision it. I don't think Bixel is interested in doing that, JtPortland has retired from BATing, and I have a lot of other things in the works that are of the utmost priority in front of something like that. However, if I did do it, I would include the office tower that is connected into it on the lot. I may do the Lloyd Center Tower seperately somewhere down the line, so if I do that, a re-BAT of the mall is much more likely. Another thing is that JtPortland did it originally, and I don't want to upstage his work.

Now onto other news, some good  and some bad:

Bad news first: Real-life is demanding more from me, but nothing to bad yet. My laptop is once again broken, so my plan to draw out  old buildings for future fast-BATing is on-hold until I get that fixed. I am also really stuck on the Fort Garry Hotel, over in the Winnipeg Re-creation Project. Kinda saps your desire to BAT when you're stuck.

Good news:  I have Bishop's House drawn-out!  Since the Fort Garry Hotel is in a state of flux, I can start BATing it ASAP while awaiting news on the Fort Garry. Getting Bishop's House going will likely re-energize me. CDI_Spy informs me that once a project he's working on is completed, he'll start the Governor Hotel!

I am hoping to get a jump on the Bishop's House very quickly, within the timeframe of Kell's hopefully.

[sparkythepenguin 90]

OK I guess it's time for less talk, more show! About time we got something to show here,  and also a pic for those of you who are asking, "What the heck does the Henry look like??".

So here's The Henry Condos, Bixel's next masterpiece:

And I decided to start a project that was requested and I thought about doing a while back: The Galleria:

Bout time I got around to that, eh?

Comment away!

[subedei 3]

Looks very nice so far. Keep up the great work.

Subedei

[Spike345 20]

Yeah! this looks beautiful! Can't wait for it. Congratulations for having such talent!

[mightygoose 92]

bixel that looks awesome and the galleria loooks wicked to reminds me of knight building

[choco1 4]

I am loving the Galeria, its looking great!  I look forward to seeing more work on it!

Nice stuff.  Choco.

[bixel 1,228]

OMG the Galleria, oh of the history of that place! For all you people that dont know the Galleria has been one of mixed Legacy here in Portland, owned by the famous/infamous Naito fmaily it has been in the ups and now severly in the downs. A great (2 block, 1 commercial 1 parking garage+shops) peice of business freak storm of crazy money venutres, wacky management and even (hush, hush) real shady history. I think a novel could be written on the place complete with drug binging, protitues (just a guess), chinese ex-mafia and under the table city employed deals and risk taking. Well anyhoo I can't wait to see Sparkies description on the building.....its getting me very enthoused to finish the Henry, afterall I am completely done with all my HK projects.

[cammo2003 20]

I like the Henry. It seems to be in that height bracket that really needs filling - 10-20 storeys.

[diablo_del_bano 3]

I can't wait to seee em' [done I mean]!

[sparkythepenguin 90]

Well, I've got a little farther along on the Galleria, then had to stop because I had to get some more pics. That I took care of yesterday, so work can resume until I get to the roof junk phase. I'll have to go up into the US Bancorp Tower to get that covered.

While off the Galleria and Fort Garry Hotel, I managed to get this secret project's modelling completely finished!

Here is part of the New Fleidner Block in real-life:

And here it is BATed!

(mostly scaled as I intend to release it at zoom 5)

In order to make it fit on a 2x2 lot, I had to take some small liberties with the building, but I think the spirit is captured well. Still needs roof junk and lighting, which won't be too hard to do.

I am going to hold-off on texturing until I get the Galleria 100% modeled. That way, all that stuff is taken care of at once.

[sloppet 3]

This is just awesome SparyThePanguin!! The building is just so.. real!

[lrfox 2]

This one looks great. can't wait to use it in game

[sparkythepenguin 90]

I'm glad the New Fleidner Block's getting a good reception. After this evening, I should have it moving along farther toward exporting. Since I am pretty much being a nite owl, I got a lot done on the Galleria today. I have finished up the modelling, put in roof junk, added textures, and am ready for lighting it up, provided everyone thinks that the present texturing is OK:

(views are Zoom 4, preview rendered at highest quality)

So if this looks fine, I'll get the Galleria's lighting done and have it ready for export in the next few days. Now to get the New Fleidner textured and roof junked-out.

As always, constructive criticism is wanted!

[bixel 1,228]

Oooh Nice!

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Wow, another impressive building, and another one that will be very useful in game because it fills a gap left by Maxis. I'm wondering if it is 3x3 or 4x4? Anyway, I'm sure it will look great in any city!

What I'm not sure about is the roof texture. On such a large flat surface it is rather noticeable that some of the cracks and smudges are a tad oversized IMHO. Slightly more "grain" or more subtle smudges with less defined edges might also help a bit.

Another detail that caught my eye is the overall colour scheme. The buildings is practically all white and grey. While this looks great on the facades and on the windows (very realistic look!), I think that at least the skylight shouldn't be all black/grey/white, but might profit from a slight blueish hue or something, I dunno. The ground level is not exactly colourful, either, but this could be alleviated by some props, and not to forget, I don't know anything about the real building, so you probably made an accurate recreation.

The stuff you've been showing recently once more makes appetite for more, keep it up!

[sparkythepenguin 90]

Glad everyone likes so far... If you like the Galleria, then take a look at what I just a few hours ago figured out how to do!

Got my hands on some old, now-gone Portland businesses and made them into faded adverts on the New Fleidner Block!

Here's the frontside:

And to answer back Twerck's comments:

I could add the fire escapes and the base's green awnings back in to spice some things up. Those were removed in the last 2 renovations of the Galleria. It now shines really bright since they re-glazed the terra cotta last year!

I'll take a look at the atrium's texture. I'll also try a few things out with the roof later after some rest today. Been up all nite and on a BATing roll!

Quick edit: The galleria will be a 4x4 lot. The New Fleidner will be a 2x2.

OK Comment away on this and don't forget to add your 2 cents (or whatever your  own currency converts that into) about the Galleria!

[subedei 3]

Both of those looks good so far. They will be a fine addition to anyones cities. Keep up the great work.

Subedei

[lrfox 2]

Awesome... these buildings look great.

[thecitiescenter 3,059]

sparky, that faded advertisement with waddles looks awesome!!! cant wait to add them to my portland

[ricb 19]

Hey Sparky, have you seen the pics for the new MAX cars TriMets buying for the green line?

I understand there will be operaters cab at only one end.

More info here:

http://trimet.org/promotions/newmax.htm

[Jasoncw 11,949]

I agree with T Wrecks about the Galleria.

and whenever I see buildings like this I always have a strong urge to texture them, lol.

[Cobb32118 244]

Great stuff going on here, Sparky, and Bixel. The effect on the back of the brick building is great! I'm looking forward to their releases.