The Portland & Oregon BAT Team, Chapter 1

[sparkythepenguin 90]

Wow JT!!!! That's looking quite awesome. I'm thinking Ishould have added the mullions to the windows, but that shouldn't be difficult to texture 'em in, should it?

Oh, and I'll have to check through all my files, but I think I forgot to send you the transition peice with the windows added. Perhaps it wasn't entirely finished?

I took a crack at modeling the Fox Tower base just a little bit ago.. I wasn't happy with what it looked like. I'm going to have to continue window counting and drawing it all out on paper before I get back on the PC. It's quite a task. I may leave in a while to go downtown and take some more pics of the Fox to help with this task. The front and back entry blocks are giving me trouble.

[Superstar 69]

WOW!!! I really love all the BATs yu guys are working on, great job

[sparkythepenguin 90]

Thanks for all the comments and compliments! Keep 'em coming...

I just got back from downtown. I made a HUGE photo sweep of the Fox Tower's base to aid in modeling the base. I should know the Fox Tower very intimately by now. I also took some photos of the inside. It's really neat in there!

As soon as I can find the USB cable (just gotta love moving-nothing's where you can find it!), I'll upload my pics and start drawing more of it out on paper. Now if only I could get my hands on a scanner... Maybe this weekend.

If all goes well, I may have some Rhino-rendered progress pics tomorrow.

[sparkythepenguin 90]

I've decided to tackle the base before finishing up the roofs and tower. The base is quite a detailed, tricky thing. However I made some progress on it today.

I've decided to start making all the windows first, since it will help give me a fence for the roof section. The window sections poke out a tiny bit from the bulk of the structure. If they protruded out much more farther, I'd say that they were cantilevered. Once the window sections are done and scaled, then I can add the lobby and Box Office coverings with the base's bulk.

Here's a shot of progress so far. I'm much more happier with this than my attempt yesterday:



This section will go on the southeast end of the tower (looking at the building from the corner of Salmon and Broadway). Also the windows are transparent. Very clear in real life. They appear blue here because of the render background I set.

[JaWood 194]

I love when people do real world stuff; it ends up looking so much more believable. Great job on the project so far. Kudos for making the base; too many tend to just build the tower and leave the bases out. Even most of Maxis' landmark skyscrapers don't have bases.

[dudyconstructor 46]

wow nice start you got there...nice to know someone is doing portland buildings to add more realist to our SC4 cities!

[jtportland 184]

thanks everybody!

sparky, the base is looking good! i don't think you need to go into detail that much! so many lines there... wow, looks very nice though

now, for another portland landmark:





as ugly as it may be, it is the 6th tallest in portland (just behind Fox). and i think there are lots more buildings around the world that look like this too. so it's very generic! haha.. i think now it mostly only needs work on roof junk...

[sparkythepenguin 90]

Thanks!

I'll keep working on this... The Fox Tower base is something I haven't really ever studied this closely before. I guess my drawing it out paid off...

I always try to include as much of the real building as possible with the fewest modifications. If the building has skybridges connecting it to other buildings, I'll add them. It's all about the detail and the realism here. If it ends up being a huge lot, I've found it's best to play on the safe side and release both tower-only and complex versions of the building. I prefer having the whole entire complex, but there are quite a few people out there that want just a tower. I learned this in the US Bancorp Tower project.

Also because of limits in the game, I have to level all buildings that are, in real life, on a slope. I'm still trying to figure out if Pioneer Courthouse Square is worth a try.

JT: Great work on the SIC! I'll dig up of my pix of the base and maybe draw up something to help to compensate for the real life slope this building is on..

Another quick note: I'll be away for the weekend again. I'll pop online to see what's up, but no progress on the Fox Tower can be reported until Tuesday. I'll leave it up to Jt to keep everyone entertained for now...

[crazyarchitect 7]

very cool, nice job so far on the base, and we could use some more generic buildings

[jtportland 184]

thanks sparky and crazy!

actually i'll be gone for the weekend too, but im sure ST can live with out us for two days! lol

here is an update on KOIN, with more base detail:

[Tunafish 48]

Awsome JT and sparkey. very nice. is the fox tower on the east side where the apple store is and near the rose garden?

[jtportland 184]

thanks tuna, i believe that fox tower is on the west side, along with most of the skyscrapers in portland. on the other side of the river from where the rose garden is.

[sparkythepenguin 90]

Date: 10/16/2004 2:30:24 AM
Author: Tunafish

Awsome JT and sparkey. very nice. is the fox tower on the east side where the apple store is and near the rose garden?

quote>

More specificly, the Fox Tower is right by Pioneer Courthouse Square. It's next to the Nordstrom fort. There's a picture on the first post in this thread showing the Portland skyline looking east. The Fox Tower's the blue and white building just a little left of the center.

In fact, the architect designed the curved section to make sure that the tower's shadow doesn't fall on Pioneer Square.

[jtportland 184]

ahhh, beautiful portland oregon...



i wonder if portland now has the most BAT buildings? does anybody know?

looks like i need to make SIC shorter! haha, that would actually be cool to have one short and one tall of that building, they might look good together...

and a close up on koin, it's almost finished!

[crazyarchitect 7]

wow, that's nice progress on the KOIN Center
My 600th post!!!

[jtportland 184]

thanks crazy!

here's my first 'brand name' bat



still have a lot to do with the roof, and windows...

[sparkythepenguin 90]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

The Nordstrom Fort!!!!

Jt, you're great! I've toyed with doing it, but I get all caught up in the big projects. Which reminds me, Union Station still sits unfinished somewhere in my collection...

I'll be sure to put it in the screen of the Fox Tower once I get it up to snuff!

And with the light rail mod out there, I'll be able to add another integral part to the corner of Broadway & Yamhill: MAX tracks and trains!!!! Once the Fox and Waddles get out of my queue, I may model the MAX trains. There's a lot of people that can mod it in once I get a few stations made.

[DuskTrooper 316]

I like that Nordstrom's! That would be a good building to place about anywhere where a middle/high end store is needed!

[jtportland 184]

thanks sparky and dusk!

i noticed that there wasn't a nordstroms in simcity! how could our R$$$ sims live without one! haha

ohyea, here's a pic of the real thing, right next to the fox tower

[sparkythepenguin 90]

They're actually trying to build a new Nordstroms somewhere downtown (I've heard somewhere on the Park Blocks), as this one is too small for them now. I've seen some city plans showing that the block it's on is slated for redevelopment sometime in the future, so who knows what'll happen to it?

For now, it makes a good anchor to the end of Pioneer Square and a good downtown department store. It is unfortunate that the old Orpheum was razed to build the fort in the '70's, but it brought the foot traffic into this area.

BTW Jt, that pic reminds me to ask you something.... Ever thought of trying to make Pioneer Courthouse Square? How would one go about it?

[SpartanBadger 4]

WOW! You guys have some great talent with the BAT, I really like the way your buildings are turning out so far! Great job guys, keep up the hard work!

[jtportland 184]

thanks sparky and xspiderman.

i didn't know that this nordstroms was too small for portland, it is a pretty big store!

also, i think it would be almost imposible to create pioneer courthouse square, since it is built on a slope, with the stairs and such... we might be able to make it flat haha, but whats the fun in that lol

anyways, im almost done with nordstroms, all i need to do is night lights

[DuskTrooper 316]

Just one thing- can you make the texture less grainy?

[jtportland 184]

which texture? the bricks? if so, this is the best brick's i could find, you know any other better textures i could use?

[DuskTrooper 316]

Well, you could soften them up just tad, if you have photoshop...

[jtportland 184]

well, i don't have photoshop, but i'll see what i can do...

[DuskTrooper 316]

Well, the graininess isnt too bad. I guess it will look better after rendering- things usually do.

[crazyarchitect 7]

very cool, we need mor high end stores, that's a great start to that

[jtportland 184]

thanks for the suggestion DT! it looks a lot better now, less grainy. i lowered the contrast amung other things to make it look more smooth



now for the night lighting...

[subedei 3]

Looks awsome JTP. I sthis going to part of laregr retail area?. Keep up the good work.

 

 

Subedei