simpeg-forum-threads Becca up to BAT

[RebaLynnTS 276]

This seems like the place where folks are talking about what they are doing, so...

 

After searching the STEX and not finding any U-Store-It type places, I decided to make my own, here is a photo of the first one as it is so far.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//U-Store-It.jpg align=baseline>

 

Any thoughts will be welcomed.

[ardecila 125]

Wow, this looks great!

I'll wait to see a rendered preview before I judge anything, of course. My only comment would be that everything is the same color; it might seem kinda dull and flat-looking in a game where each building uses many different colors.

So, I'd change the walls to a medium gray.

[RebaLynnTS 276]

Date: 11/27/2005 9:27:34 PM Author: ardecila Wow, this looks great! I'll wait to see a rendered preview before I judge anything, of course.  My only comment would be that everything is the same color; it might seem kinda dull and flat-looking in a game where each building uses many different colors. So, I'd change the walls to a medium gray.

quote>

 

Thank you.

 

I have considered a color change already, but I have yet to add the highlights, which are in a brighter (and different) color. If this still is not to my liking, then I will make needed adjustmesnts. Still, I thank you for the input.

[nycsc4 5,250]

i would make the walls white and the doors orange, if that is possible.  It would be just like the Public Storage places in real life.

[RebaLynnTS 276]

Date: 11/27/2005 10:56:30 PM Author: nycsc4 i would make the walls white and the doors orange, if that is possible.  It would be just like the Public Storage places in real life.

quote>

 

Those Colors would be for a U-Haul Storage place, which I plan to build (I'm not stopping with one). This one is modeled after a place close by to me.

 

Here is an updated version with some highlights added.

 

If you look closely, you can even see the little bumber guards

 

I still need to add some more details, and lighting, but it is coming along nicely.

 

here is a photo of the place it is modeled after.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//100_1655.jpg align=baseline>

[RebaLynnTS 276]

I am hoping to upload the finished project soon.

[NicolaiS 8]

It looks very promising Rebecca ... as a beginning Batter myself I know that you already have come a long way. Keep it up and I am looking forward to the finished product.

[RebaLynnTS 276]

Date: 11/28/2005 2:31:18 PM Author: NicolaiS It looks very promising Rebecca ... as a beginning Batter myself I know that you already have come a long way. Keep it up and I am looking forward to the finished product.

quote>

 

I did a lot of reading here on ST before getting started. The tips and tricks and extra tools have come in very handy. I am having to render the finished lot in three parts due to a lack of memory on my computer, but I hope to remedy that problem very soon.

 

[RebaLynnTS 276]

This is the first attempt at a rendered lot, I am not happy with it, and am going to try something a bit different.

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//New%20City-May.bmp align=baseline>

[TheCrybKeeper 301]

Great Thread title, Becca! Can I call you Becca? Anyways, I cannot resist catchy word play and it is worth it! Your already quite skilled at BATting and your first is not only a first, but very accurate!

Homerun, your first time up!

[Mickebear 2]

Hi Becca - this looks very cool! I wish you luck with wonders of BAT

[bixel 1,228]

Keep at it, by the looks it wants to be in the Industrial, but the reality of it is that its a CS$$, either way its your call. A realistic and needed addition to Simcity.

[RebaLynnTS 276]

Date: 11/28/2005 9:28:37 PM Author: bixel Keep at it, by the looks it wants to be in the Industrial, but the reality of it is that its a CS$$, either way its your call. A realistic and needed addition to Simcity.

quote>

 

I was kind of thinking this one would be a CS$. The real one is in a rather low wealth part of my home town. I fully entend to make more for higher wealth areas. I like the way Simgoober offers both plopable and growable versions of his lots, and think I will do the same. 

[sparkythepenguin 90]

Becca,

You certainly found a type of building that really begs to be in Sim City 4! There are tons of U-store-it places in most big cities.

I'd say that you are right on the mark making this a CS$ lot. It makes a lot of sense!

Keep up the good work and it is always great to see a new BATer!

[RebaLynnTS 276]

Date: 11/28/2005 10:55:50 PM Author: sparkythepenguin Becca, You certainly found a type of building that really begs to be in Sim City 4! There are tons of U-store-it places in most big cities. I'd say that you are right on the mark making this a CS$ lot. It makes a lot of sense! Keep up the good work and it is always great to see a new BATer!

quote>

 

Thank you for the nice comments ...

 

This is a lot closer to what I was hoping for.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//New%20City-Jul.bmp align=baseline>

Just a bit more tweeking, and I will upload this lot. Probably Tomorrow (Tuesday). As you can see one of the lamp posts seems to intersect with the building, I am not sure why, but I can fix it.

[deadwoods 542]

Hi. Some comments to make the model better in the game:
1. Try desaturating the textures a bit, they're very bright which makes them a little unrealistic in the game.
2. Also on textures, go to the Omnibus and read the tutorials by Gascooker. He's the master of texturing and also writes a good tutorial.
3. The roof sections look like they have been mirrored. One side appears split on a diagonal, which is what you get when you mirror a textured section sometimes (usually shows up on roofs). The best way to avoid this is to copy a section (Shift + Move) and rotate it 180 degrees.

Other than that it's a great model and something no-ones done before (to my knowledge).

[jacqulina 162]

great work

[sparkythepenguin 90]

Hey Becca, a quick thing that may help ya on texturing. I was told that BAT likes to make textures a little brighter than they actually are. Ardecelia told me once to just make all my textures 25% darker than what I want, then they look normal when you put it through an export. I found that this works great and has been a great help in figuring that stuff out.

Basicly, if you have photoshop, find the hue/saturation adjuster and change lightness to 25% less. Works like a charm almost every time. I don't know what the results would be for darker greens, but it works well for the lighter colors.

Hope that helped out a little..

[RebaLynnTS 276]

deadwoods

Thank you for the great suggestions. BTW, I really love your work.

jacqulina

Thank you very much.

sparkythepenguin

I have PaintShop Pro, but it has a similar feature. I had already read that you need to darken the textures first, but the tutorial I read did not tell me by what %. Your information was very helpful.

[SimGoober 2,365]

Hey, nice concept.  I saw it a couple days ago, but didn't comment until now.  As to the textures... what they said.. lol. Many of my early works have colors that are oversaturated, so I try to point that out when I see it.  Here are a couple colors that might be closer to what you we mean; I keep a folder of just solid colors for this sort of thing, in various hues and such.

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Green.Dark.03.jpg align=baseline>https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Yellow.02.jpg align=baseline>

[RebaLynnTS 276]

Date: 11/29/2005 8:37:46 AM Author: SimGoober

Hey, nice concept.  I saw it a couple days ago, but didn't comment until now.  As to the textures... what they said.. lol. Many of my early works have colors that are oversaturated, so I try to point that out when I see it.  Here are a couple colors that might be closer to what you we mean; I keep a folder of just solid colors for this sort of thing, in various hues and such.

quote>

 

Thank you very much for the colors, I have adjusted them on the model, and am fixing to test them out. I found your Tutorial on making plopable from growable lots very helpful.

[alynnyes 1]

This looks great. I wanted to point out many small towns have these. I live in rural SW MI about 30 miles from Lake Michigan. All of the small towns around here have U-Store Its. The rich have to have a place to store their boats. I think it should be a C$. Looking forward to the release.

[RebaLynnTS 276]

Ok, here are the day and night versions of the plopable lot. I am now ready to start making the Growable version, and will then put them in a zip file and upload them (I could use some help with putting them all in a dat file, and making an auto installer).

Day

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Day.bmp align=baseline>

 

Night

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Night.bmp align=baseline>

 

what do you think?

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Not bad at all, especially considering it's your first BAT!

I just feel that the lot work is a bit basic... For example, the green area around the structure is pretty large and very uniform. You put some trees on it, but it's always one and the same tree. A bit more variation would look nice - try different trees or the Maxis prop families.

And why not give those sims a few parking lots in front of the structure to park their cars? Allow them to go there by car, load their stuff on trolleys and get it to their storage room. The open space inside the fence youd be reserved for trailers of any kind, and you could add a dumpster there, or a little moving van. Would a forklift be exaggerated? I guess so... otherwise it would be nice to have one, plus maybe some pallets.

A footpath to the left of the building may lead to whatever is behind it. Maybe a little stone (or wooden) bench for your Sims to sit down? And a trashcan so that they don't spread their garbage everywhere?

Streetlights are a nice touch, but why does one of them light up the empty lawn? I'd rather make some of them illuminate the entrance. And if you decide to add a small footpath to the left, you could make them illuminate the path.

Finally, I think there are better overlay textures that can be used for transit-enabling this lot for street access. Somewhere among the Maxis textures, there's a slightly narrower grey driveway that would look good here. If you think it wouldn't be very well visible on that grey concrete base, you could change the base to a tile texture that would match the sidewalks of the surrounding streets...

Well, you get the idea, I guess... I hope I was able to give you some inspiration. Trust me, lots can make a huge difference!

[jacqulina 162]

you are welcome they look really great

[RebaLynnTS 276]

Date: 11/30/2005 3:47:54 AM Author: T Wrecks Not bad at all, especially considering it's your first BAT! I just feel that the lot work is a bit basic... For example, the green area around the structure is pretty large and very uniform. You put some trees on it, but it's always one and the same tree. A bit more variation would look nice - try different trees or the Maxis prop families. And why not give  those sims a few parking lots in front of the structure to park  their cars? Allow them to go there by car, load their stuff on trolleys and get it to their storage room. The open space inside the fence youd be reserved for trailers of any kind, and you could add a dumpster there, or a little moving van. Would a forklift be exaggerated? I guess so... otherwise it would be nice to have one, plus maybe some pallets. A footpath to the left of the building may lead to whatever is behind it. Maybe a little stone (or wooden) bench for your Sims to sit down? And a trashcan so that they don't spread their garbage everywhere? Streetlights are a nice touch, but why does one of them light up the empty lawn? I'd rather make some of them illuminate the entrance. And if you decide to add a small footpath to the left, you could make them illuminate the path. Finally, I think there are better overlay textures that can be used for transit-enabling this lot for street access. Somewhere among the Maxis textures, there's a slightly narrower grey driveway that would look good here. If you think it wouldn't be very well visible on that grey concrete base, you could change the base to a tile texture that would match the sidewalks of the surrounding streets... Well, you get the idea, I guess... I hope I was able to give you some inspiration. Trust me, lots can make a huge difference!

quote>

 

Thank you for all the input, I found it very helpful. Now I know what prop families are for

 

Some of the ideas may be a bit too rich for this lot as it is a low wealth lot, but I will get to work on many of the suggetions you made.

 

 

[RebaLynnTS 276]

Here it is, the final lot. I am going now to post them to STEX.

 

Day

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Day.bmp align=baseline>

 

Nighthttps://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Night.bmp align=baseline>

[RebaLynnTS 276]

Well, It's posted.

 

For my next project I may work on somthing I've been toying around with. I have not been able to find any LA River style lots, and thought I might try that one on for size.

[rhino120 2]

Hi Becca,

Just downloaded your lot and it looks great.  Just one problem though, the plop version doesn't have the chain link fence around it.  I do have the chain fence dat installed.  Any insight?

 

 

Dana

 

[RebaLynnTS 276]

Date: 11/30/2005 5:10:02 PM Author: rhino120

Hi Becca,

Just downloaded your lot and it looks great.  Just one problem though, the plop version doesn't have the chain link fence around it.  I do have the chain fence dat installed.  Any insight?

Dana

quote>

 

I thought I had it working, but guess not, Let me look into it and repost it.