Project: Darlington Nuclear Generating Station

[why 3]

As you can see, this is the project as of now. I am relatively new to 3d modeling and Cities Skylines modding, as this is my first mod, but I have been working on it on and off for the past 2 months. Any critiques and suggestions are encouraged!

[why 3]

UPDATE 1: New Vent Stacks, Improved Roof Model, Most Recent Problem

1: New Vent Stacks: I have completely remade the two vent stack variations that can be seen on the roofs of the reactors and the turbine hall.
The new vent stack is not only more detailed but has wires and is generally more visually pleasing in my eyes.
Here we can see the other vent stack remodel, the previous was quite lazy while the new one is much more attentive to detail.

2: Improved Roof Model: I have revamped the roof model as well, making the insets much smaller and extruding some new geometry around the outside to allow for railings. However, unlike the vent stacks, this isn't a huge improvement and wouldn't be noticeable until I add textures to it, which will be in quite a while.

3: Most Recent Problem: My most recent problem is what appears to the piping and pumps into the turbine hall because I can barely tell what it is and I can't find good images of it on the internet. Here's an image from google earth.

[jduffett 34]

52 minutes ago, why said:

3: Most Recent Problem: My most recent problem is what appears to the piping and pumps into the turbine hall because I can barely tell what it is and I can't find good images of it on the internet. Here's an image from google earth.

 

Those are transformers down at ground level on rails. The fluid connections are cooling for the transformers. Suspended above, the wires connecting the transformers to the switchyard.

[why 3]

3 hours ago, jduffett said:

Those are transformers down at ground level on rails. The fluid connections are cooling for the transformers. Suspended above, the wires connecting the transformers to the switchyard.

I had a feeling it was a transformer, but the large tank and pipes made me think it was a coolant pump for the condenser. Thanks for clearing that up.

[jduffett 34]

7 hours ago, why said:

I had a feeling it was a transformer, but the large tank and pipes made me think it was a coolant pump for the condenser. Thanks for clearing that up.

Actually, I think I'm (partly) spreading misinformation... I believe what look like large pipes are actually the electrical connection from the plant to the transformers, and they'd be self-contained as far as cooling goes.

[jduffett 34]

And to make up for misleading you... I believe on the left side you see three generator step-up transformers, while on the right are the auxiliary transformers. The low voltage connection from the generators to the transformers appear to be called isolated phase bus ducts. I couldn't find much in the way of good images of Darlington or Bruce transformers, but those search terms should give you something close enough to work with.

 

 

 

[why 3]

13 hours ago, jduffett said:

And to make up for misleading you... I believe on the left side you see three generator step-up transformers, while on the right are the auxiliary transformers. The low voltage connection from the generators to the transformers appear to be called isolated phase bus ducts. I couldn't find much in the way of good images of Darlington or Bruce transformers, but those search terms should give you something close enough to work with.

 

 

 

Thanks for the images, but damn that looks like it's gonna be a pain to model, and it'll raise Tri counts up even more (the total count is already 33K). Oh well, making this power plant was my idea.

[why 3]

UPDATE 2: Generator Step-Up Transformers
After 12 Days of annoying school work out the way and some difficult modeling, here comes Update 2. Although a lesser update compared to the last update, it is still definitely a step in the right direction, but as a new issue- one which may be much more problematic.

First, the Transformers. Although images of Darlington Nuclear's transformers (or something similar such as Bruce Nuclear's) are quite limited, I was able to infer enough from Google Earth thanks to the images from @jduffett to make the model after discovering the Shear Tool in blender.


Now for the problem; the full file's Triangle count is 54,000. From a purely technical standpoint, this isn't a problem. However, this is an issue for performance. If I want this mod to do well it needs to run on more than just the most beastly machines. I am looking into this problem to hopefully devise a solution unless I am overreacting, which if I am please tell me.

[why 3]

UPDATE 3: Final Details and Start of Texturing

Although relatively small in change from update 2, this still is important as it is the point where I will start to heavily focus on textures as opposed to models.

First change; I've added some final details onto the building.
Before:

After:


Also, I have made my first texture: a simple vent texture, but a start. I will still alter models if need be, but at this point altering the model is mainly to make texturing easier.


Finally, the Tri-Count issue persists, as the number of Tris has increased to just under 60K. At this point, I fear I may not be able to decrease this number without harming the model. However, given the nature of where this should be placed (away from population centers and placed once) I hope this won't be as big of a problem. I will make sure to create LODs that are very low-poly and much more stingy about where faces can be created (in contrast to on the main model I have aimed for as much detail as possible). I already have 1 LOD model which is 336 Tris while the main model is 2,765, and I intend to have many more.