Mushy's Random BATs

[airman15 4,111]

Woah! After a spell of silence we see some colossal updates!

Ships in my experience are horrendously complicated.. so I understand how much of a bear it is to go forth with one. But still, many of us like to build port cities so it would be great to see more of them come in! Personally, I wish there could be more of the merchant ships of the 30's through the 50's with the superstructure in the middle, one stack and four kingposts almost like the victory ships.

The Euro trucks look spectacular as well! I'd be more inclined to build US-themed cities but I can use a few. The DHL 727's in my airports are getting a little lonely and they don't care much for their counterparts serving UPS and FedEx.

[Belfastsocrates 1,753]

Yay!!! They look fantastic! Looking forward to jazzing up my lots with Euro trucks!

[MushyMushy 3,617]

I kinda got myself excited with the European trucks and ended up working on them more instead of the fire station. I'll definitely make the next update about it!

---

I present to you the longer trailer set placed next to the regular ones for comparison:

(click the image and then "full size" to get a better view)

While this doesn't actually introduce any new liveries, it is mostly there to add a little diversity in size if one were to have a big group of trucks in one area. If a truck stop set ever came to fruition, a prop family for each orientation that had both sizes included in it would make for some great diversity. As I said at some point in one of my other posts, tandem trailer setups are something I'm also interested in, although that's a ways off.

I also fixed a rather humorous mistake I made on the original Norbert Dentressangle trailer. It was the first trailer I made that had a company livery on it, and I didn't realize I needed to make a mirrored texture for on of the sides of the box due to the way it was modeled. If you look at my previous post you'll see that the logo was backwards on one side!

[MushyMushy 3,617]

It's been too long since I've posted here...

A decent bit of roof junk left to add. Still have some modeling on the back and left side (and the interior) to finish. I also need to add several details that are currently missing. It has also not been scaled up 133% on the Z axis yet (I'll likely do that last before adding textures). I'm likely going to make the night scene somewhat different from the day scene. Since you can make the scene different as long as it fits within the LOD, I'm going to make the fire chief SUV vanish at night (since those SUVs usually sit in front of their houses at night), and the ambulance will get squeezed into the garage between the trucks. They don't usually do that during the daytime at this station because it would make it difficult for the ambulance to get out of the garage but this is less of a concern at night. I'll also have both fire trucks completely inside the garage and the doors will be shut. Should make it appear to have some sort of activity going on there.

When the time comes for the lotting and modding, can I possibly interest somebody in doing the modding for the building and for the lot? I still have an interest in doing the actual decorating of the lot myself, but I don't have a clue about building and lot properties so I'd much rather somebody who knows what they're doing do that part so the building functions properly.

[JP Schriefer 5,590]

It's looking great! I like the vehicles!

[Belfastsocrates 1,753]

The building is fantastic! Lovely work! 

Good to see you still working away

[Girafe 1,729]

I missed the trucks update, they are amazing. Cannot wait the release!!

[Aaron Graham 4,417]

I have also missed a number of updates, how did I miss them? I love the fire station we need more civil buildings in Sim City 4. 

[MushyMushy 3,617]

This post will be short-ish. RIP that plan. It's late, and I'm not in the mood to write my life story this time. Edit: too late, i already did.

I have a roadmap planned for my releases (I'll go ahead and say that Firehouse No.21 will be my first new release), which primarily revolves around my planned Japanese assets. I've basically figured out how I'm breaking down different planned prop packs (not all cars) and which packs will allow me to make what kind of buildings/lots (e.g. don't need trucks to make house sets). EU truck work (the EU truck fleet will be the next release after FH21) and expansion sets and some American truck work is also planned.  I'll go into more detail in my next post.

For now, I'll sow you guys some stuff that's been going on in the background in secret:

This image looks so sleek and official it could pass for a final release image...

This is about 1/4th to 1/3rd of the total planned set. Images for this set will show what car companies are being shown. Nissan and other companies' cars are in the works, I just haven't touched them up and stuff yet (trucks are far easier to work on than cars - curse curvy angles!). I realize that BMWs and VWs may not be sold in Japan (I know Mercedes are), but there are markets for imported cars over there so... Also the only VW car here is the passenger van, which could probably pass for a Japanese car. The only BMW here is the small SUV. I may add a BMW sedan later but other than that the set will be all Japanese car makers. I need to get some more minivans, compacts, and sedans in to balance out the number of SUVs shown here. I'll also have 2 pickups in the set: a Tacoma and a micro-truck (those are more utilitarian, but they're too small to fit into any class of Japanese Truck sets I have planned).

I've done a lot of research on the scales of people's BAT work, and have discovered that unlike most assets, Japanese BATs are much closer to RL scale, including the existing Jim car pack. This contrasts with the shk and VIP sets which are technically overscaled. With this in mind, I'll likely need to make my own parking textures for these cars as I'm going to have them parked 5 to an orthogonal row. This may seem tight, but looking at it in 3DS, I took the 90s Land Cruiser model shown (the largest car currently in the set), and put 5 of them next to each other, evenly spaced out. It looked normal. Despite these scaling issues, I'm sure people building European cities could use this set as I'm sure at least some of these cars are common over there. It would definitely be more compatible than an American car set! Who knows? Maybe I'll make an American set one day.. lots of pickup trucks, noisy muscle cars, and oversized SUVs....

Also, since this is me and I'm known (er, if I'm known at all ) for my angled props... you guys know what that means...

A FULL FAR CAR PROP PACK

Isn't that a first or something? I'm planning on only having FAR-2, but maybe I'll be willing to make a FAR-3 set...

Now that that's out of my system, here's a quick preview of Japanese Trucks:

This is VERY, early. I actually have more work done than this but didn't feel like rendering it. Next post I'll go into more depth about size classification, cab variations, and cargo variations.

So uh, this turned into a long-winded post full of me making comments to myself... just like all of my posts here do. I guess that just means I'm into this? I don't even know...

-Mushy

Also:

I'm looking to recruit somebody who would be willing to do the boring and tedious fun and exciting job of making prop families for some for these different sets (EU Trucks, JPN cars, etc) as I finish them. Of course whoever made the families would be 100% entitled to make the upload to the STEX and make posts about it on their mod thread (if applicable), to get rep points or whatever.

Anyway, any help with this when the time comes would be greatly appreciated. I would try to learn to do this myself, but doing the rendering and modding for large prop packs is such a huge drain already. Details about groupings and stuff would be distributed to whoever was interested.

[JP Schriefer 5,590]

Wow lots of cars (and texts I have to say ) . I am looking forward to this pack, it is already looking awesome!

[Bombardiere 591]

2 hours ago, MushyMushy said:

 

I've done a lot of research on the scales of people's BAT work, and have discovered that unlike most assets, Japanese BATs are much closer to RL scale, including the existing Jim car pack. This contrasts with the shk and VIP sets which are technically overscaled.

Yeah, This give me constant headaches. The Scale. Maxis was very flexible on the scale and while they claim that a tile is 16 m x 16 m they certainly didn't match their models on it.

I am new to SC4 and I don't know exactly what has been discussed many years ago, but I have impression that Euro batters agree on overscaled models. I think they tried to match Maxis Sim- people, which are huge. Over 4 m meters tall if I understand correctly. I personally think that it is not good try to match Sims. I just ignore those. But I do overscale my models, may be 25 %, as it will make those look better in the game.

 

Anyway. Automatas are what would make my interest tickle.  However, I don't know if your models are made in that way.

[Belfastsocrates 1,753]

YAY! I could most definitely use them and I get the added bonus of the Japanese being LHD, so they'd fit my quasi British style perfectly 

I like that you're doing some minivans as well, something lacking from current car prop packs. 

Some exciting releases planned, really looking forward to the EU trucks as well, especially now that we have some new UK retail BATs  

 

 

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

Who would have thought we would get a new mikeseith some day ...

[philforhockey51 4,211]

More awesomeness from Mushy YAY!

[kingofsimcity 5,739]

These cars look amazing! I'm especially stoked for the FA2 variants - I know exactly what I'll be working on once these come out.

[airman15 4,111]

Just curious, what's the poly count/complexity of those cars? They look so crisp, it's almost UHD!

[nos.17 5,120]

Obviously, you should do you. It appears that you have done lots of research on the topic and I trust your judgement; I'm merely offering my opinion. While the SHK/VIP are technically over-scaled, I would recommend going with a similar size anyways. From my experience, most of the buildings released, large and small, are scaled so that they look a lot nicer next to taller and larger cars. Personally, I have found it more useful to compare scale to buildings others have created & uploaded. Scale can still vary a bit (e.g some of my uploads do utilize the Maxis/Jim cars because they simply look better sitting next to an (apparently) smaller scaled building), but SHK/VIP cars look more appropiate on a large majority of the lots. Finally, you mentioned you would also have to make custom textures. Probably a dozen or fewer would suffice for mostly every basic circumstance, but nevertheless, a certain someone released textures that can cover every circumstance. I'd be thinking, "why not take advantage of that?," especially since you want to release FAR variants too.

19 hours ago, MushyMushy said:

I'm looking to recruit somebody who would be willing to do the boring and tedious fun and exciting job of making prop families for some for these different sets (EU Trucks, JPN cars, etc) as I finish them. Of course whoever made the families would be 100% entitled to make the upload to the STEX and make posts about it on their mod thread (if applicable), to get rep points or whatever.

You have one volunteer. Prop families sure are fun and exciting (no really, they kinda are), and I have been getting kinda tired of making all the B62 content lately and could use a recess from it.

[rsc204 21,808]

Only the other day I was talking with @Belfastsocrates about this, he linked me here and I'm greeted by these wonderful cars :).

But I don't just want cars looking this good, I really want automata too, it annoys me the cars/automata in my game don't really match up. Are you working in 3DS max? Would you be prepared to send me one model as a test, to see if I can do something I'd like to try?

If these models could be turned into automata, not only would that make the roads look great (massive improvement), but you can make them into props with just a prop exemplar. BUT, unlike a normal prop, because they'd be full 3D models, you could rotate one model around 360 degress and even (not sure why) on the z-axis if desired. Therefore one model = infinite possible uses, something I think could be desirable for lotting.

One word of caution: I'm unable to say what sort of load/strain placing so many 3D props around would have. But I'd love to know what you think? MMP's, timed prop families and grouped models (like SHKs) is something I'd be super-keen to help with, however they turn out. Since the more flexible the modding, the greater the possibilities for using the models will be.

[MushyMushy 3,617]

I'll reply to everyone and show off a little bit more truck stuff tomorrow. I'll also go into more detail about my plans tomorrow.

I finished the next 13 cars today (probably going to have a set of 39 cars? idk) and felt like posting them, but don't have time for anything else.

Without further ado:

-Mushy

[Aaron Graham 4,417]

Wow!!!!!!

[airman15 4,111]

Do I spy a CR-V at the left end??

If you can make one in blue, you would win my heart!

[philforhockey51 4,211]

Soooo Many new great looking cars makes me sooooo happy, feeling a little mushy in my heart for you

[Harry's Place 918]

will the cars be automata?

[MushyMushy 3,617]

Ah RL has a knack for messing up plans... anyway...

Replies for the previous two posts:

Some of the replies given may go beyond what is necessary for the given reply, but that is just me explaining everything in the replies instead of having to write it again in a general info paragraph afterwards. Read: I'm lazy.  Because of that I'd suggest reading through the replies.

• @JP Schriefer - Thanks! I'm looking forward to using it too 
• @Bombardiere - Yeah, I've noticed that European BATs (particularly the Polish and Parisian ones) are over-scaled the most. The NYBT BATs generally cross me as fairly scale-accurate, if perhaps a little over-scaled. I like the scale the NYBT used because it seems like a lot of props (like shk's car set) fit well with it. Japanese modders seemed to make their BATs to RL scale, which sometimes doesn't mesh well with the some of the other custom content out there.
• @Belfastsocrates - Yeah, when I was working on this set I figured it would work reasonably well with most European countries too (at least better than shk's which is decidedly American in style). And I do agree about the minivans, there aren't a whole lot out there (maybe one or two in each major car set). I think you can expect to see these particular Euro trucks released the next time I have some time off so I can render them all out and mod them in (can't say when I'll get around to expansions, but it's planned).
• @Toothless Stitch - I don't know if I've earned a title like that yet! Mikeseith had some great stuff!
• @philforhockey51 - Thanks!
• @kingofsimcity - Thanks! And yay, more KOSC parking lots!
• @airman15 - Most of them are between 30,000 and 70,000 I'd say. It largely depends on how sleek the car is. The more expensive cars shown that are sleek and have some defining lines in their bodywork are probably the heaviest in polys. I think the Tacoma has the fewest - it's mostly just a stripped down version of the Land Cruiser. The poly count isn't actually the ridiculous either, most of my works from my gmax days were between 20,000 and 60,000 polys.
• @nos.17 - Thanks for taking me up on my request for help with the prop families! I'll be sure to give you any info about groupings once I get closer to releasing some stuff.  As far as scale goes, my plan was to make this set fit the scale of the Japanese BATs, and then make an American set of cars to scale to match with the shk set. Of course, I could always also re-release this set to match the shk vehicles. I mostly chose this scale since my original intention was for them to be use with Japanese stuff.
• @rsc204 - Thanks! While I suspect these cars could be made into automata by someone like Airman, the models would need to be made from scratch due to the high poly count of these models (so that they look crisp and detailed in HD view). I think (may be wrong) I remember from Airman's thread when he was working on a Cruise Ship that he said the poly count limit for automata was something like 1,500 polys. I suppose that these models could be used as texture sources for automata, though, since I could make images of renders from the top/front/back/sides so a texture for the automata could be made easily (I'm not familiar with how easy/hard it is to make an automata texture from scratch).
• @Aaron Graham - Thanks!
• @airman15 - That most certainly is a CR-V! Not every car will be in every color, but I'll make sure CR-V is one of the ones that gets a blue color variation. Do you have a particular shade of blue you want? Otherwise I'll just make it a darker blue.
• @philforhockey51 - Thanks and
• @Urban Constanta - (see previous replies about this) - long story short with automata is it depends on what our resident automata-makers are up for. If one of them makes an automata set out of these they could pretty much place themselves on the same level as Mikeseith

I don't have a new image for the last bit of the car set - modeling for that is slow (even though certain parts and all textures are recycled) and the next batch is not done yet.

I do, however, have a decent progress pic for the JPN Truck Pack:

Side notes:

• I intend to make several different textures for the flatbed so it appears less repetitive
• There will be another cab design for the Class 2/3 and Class 4/5 trucks

Classes:

1. Light duty commercial truck - this is bigger than the microtruck (will be shown in the next JPN car pack update), a basic version of which will be included in the JPN car pack and will be expanded upon in my planned JPN van pack
2. Medium duty commercial truck - bigger and longer than the C1 trucks, will likely have more types of cargoes/rear designs than the C1 trucks as well
3. Medium duty haul truck (not made yet) - shorter wheelbase version of the C2 series, will be used as a light duty semi tractor and for purposes like a medium-sized cement truck or dump truck, among other things
4. Heavy duty commercial truck - largest non-articulated truck series
5. Heavy duty haul truck (not made yet) - shorter wheelbase version of the C4 series, will be used for regular-sized semi trailers and as a full-size dump truck and cement truck, among other things

General Content Plans

As it stands, I am often busy with mind numbingly boring school-related tasks. I generally pool the process of exporting and modding props into the same category. As such, it is my intention to first finish FH no.21 and then enlist the help of someone who knows how to mod buildings after I render it. Since it's my first building that I'm releasing I'd like to make the lot for it, but I'll also probably need someone else to handle any lot properties after that if it's possible to edit such things after the lot has been made (if there even are lot properties that need to be edited like a building's do - I personally have no idea). After that, I will deal with exporting and modding the EU Semi Pack when I have some time of from school next, or over time if that doesn't come soon enough. This is due to the fact that a prop pack on the scale of that one (150-160 props) takes about 10-12 hours total to export and mod, provided no issues come up.

While I'm waiting to process the EU semis, I'll probably continue working on other packs. As it stands with the Japanese stuff, the basic prop packs I have planned are: a general prop pack(s) (benches, poles, fences, small foliage, etc), the car set, a van set, and the truck sets. During that period, I'll also probably work on some textures (Japanese-style parking, paths, etc). Once I have more Japanese prop stuff done, i can also work on buildings. I can technically work on W2W buildings before finishing any prop packs. Really I'm not in any rush, I just want to make stuff that looks nice. As I finish more of the prop packs, I can make other kinds of buildings I want to make (based on what props they need). Eventually I'd like to get into making some port stuff (hence the ship, which I'll put on hold until then) as well.

Basically, my plan is to have different kinds stuff going on at the same time so I don't get burnt out from working on the same thing constantly. As I finish prop packs I'll work towards getting them into the game when I can (and provided that nos.17 stays interested in making prop families, those will follow at some point for relevant prop packs). My building releases will likely be split between groups (like house packs), and individual releases. At some point I'll probably learn how to mod them myself but in the meantime I'm sure there will be people who know that they're doing who will do it.

---

Hopefully I'll have another update on the car pack soon. I'm also working on some stuff for FH no.21 so I'll be sure to make a post about that as soon as it's worthwhile.

-Mushy

[tigerbuilder 131]

Take your time. Relax.  This is our hobby and it is for fun. Even learning the modding should be entertaining to you, its definitely not harder than modelling. I switch around projects also, its easy to feel like its work...then i move on and come back. Your projects are really awesome looking, so i hope you keep going. 

-Tiger

[airman15 4,111]

@MushyMushy

I got real excited because I happen to own a CR-V just like it! It looks to be the same generation and year. If you wouldn't mind, I would like the blue to be close to this shade:

Spoiler

The name of the color is called Eternal Pearl Blue. The car in the picture enclosed is actually mine.

[raynev1 1,886]

Oooo , The  Japanese Car Pack looks pretty cool and the Trucks ... I really like how they are coming along . 

[JP Schriefer 5,590]

Wow those trucks are looking great!

[mattb325 28,880]

Some seriously good looking vehicles

[tankmank 853]

Wow, so much potential new stuff, i would love to see more variety to the automata, i can't wait to use some of them.