Solid_Snake's BATs

[Solid_Snake0911 306]

hi guys how are you? I'm back.
This time by this topic, im looking for your suggestion about a interpretation of a floor plan.

First thing first. I would have liked to continue with a good rhythm of projects completed and shared through this community, but unfortunately my computer was damaged at that time and with it I lost many things that I already had in development. In my country it is very difficult to buy a pc, so at the moment I am using the one I have in my work office, where I have the opportunity to start from scratch with the excuse of doing some extra hours. XD. I am afraid this will only be for a while, but I am excited to finish at least one project. If I change jobs I will leave you a notice where I will stop my work until one day I have a computer again.

One of those projects is the one that I will present below. It is a Brooklyn style brownstone building. I'm not sure about the second floor (private deck) and how it fit with the other floors below. And I see what appears to be a front door in the garden floor and one more in the parlor floor so i thing it is because some building has stairs to get to the front door of the parlor floor and some others not.

That is why I came here, to be able to finish it in the best possible way with the help of someone who can give me light on these details and to be able to share with you something of the best quality that I can offer.

I thank you in advance for any suggestion and opinion to help me improve as a BATer. (sorry for my english, google did half the work here)

And here is the floor plan

[Solid_Snake0911 306]

This is an update in diagonal format. Should I put fences between backyards?

[brancra 1,114]

1 hour ago, Solid_Snake0911 said:

This is an update in diagonal format. Should I put fences between backyards?

These look dense/upscale enough that they probably would have a wood or iron fence IRL, but it's really a matter of preference. Your brownstones look fantastic solid_snake0911!

[gutterclub 2,729]

Really like these, massive fan and we definitely need more in game.

Only thing that I would say is that the roof looks a little washed ouit and bright, leading it to look a bit flat. Not sure how the building looks in RL but might be worth trying to darken, sharpen and reduce blur in the material if you haven't already.

Otherwise awesome work.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

I thought I had posted before, but it looks like I didn't. You're right that the floorplans are inconsistent. I think your interpretation is good.

For your windows, they are very bright. Windows should be dark, because the inside of a building is in shadow. Like if you were coloring a cave in a mountain, you would color the cave dark because it's dark inside. Window blinds are usually brightly colored, and they're also right behind the window, so they are in the sun, so those are usually bright, but only some windows will have blinds in them. And then finally, windows reflect their surroundings, and sometimes a nearby object will be bright, and that will make the window seem bright. Overall, the windows should be dark, and should have some brighter areas mixed in.

Also, all of your materials (except for glass), should have "ambient occlusion" turned on. It's very important. I usually set the "distance" to 4 meters.

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Wow, these are lovely! I totally missed the second post with the diagonals, too.

One thing I'd like to mention for the orthogonals: If you want them to be compatible with other US W2W buildings (such as the ones made by NYBT, Jason, nofunk, and a few others), these all use a setback of 1 paver from the front edge of the lot - since the standard base texture has 10 of these pavers and a tile is 16m x 16m, this corresponds to 1.6 m.

I don't think this is possible with your current design if you keep those little front yards. So it's a design decision at this point: Lose a bit of realism for better compatibility in game, or live with different setbacks in game and have a fully realistic recreation? There is no right or wrong answer here; it's simply a trade-off, and the decision is a matter of taste and preference. I just wanted to bring this little aspect to your attention.

...and with this being said, I'm looking forward to your next progres shot because I know it will be amazing again.

[Solid_Snake0911 306]

Ok. Until here it is my bad. I writed not much about the building and my intentions for recreate it.

I has to say that i wanted to bring a bit of realism on some aspects of design and materials but more like a good balance between both mainly because i had to recreate the material from zero and the design by itself looked like not being compatible with most of BAT's here in the community.

So i was thinking in made, first: a version that can be fitted into projects already started with buildings recreated by NYBT, Jason, nofunk and many others. Second: a version that can satisfied my own vision and style and share all that with you guys most of all due to the lack of diagonal designs that are sorely needed to give our cities a better look (i went too frustrated when wanted to design many years ago a big project and could not find too much offers in those formats) and third: gradually to make my own work for all of you creating a set of buildings for various functions, styles and wealths.

Once said that

16 hours ago, gutterclub said:

Really like these, massive fan and we definitely need more in game.

Only thing that I would say is that the roof looks a little washed ouit and bright, leading it to look a bit flat. Not sure how the building looks in RL but might be worth trying to darken, sharpen and reduce blur in the material if you haven't already.

Otherwise awesome work.

This picture shows what the roof might look like and yes it seems like washed out and bright. apparently it is some aluminized cloak to counteract sunlight. Maybe could be too much realism to the model

17 hours ago, Jasoncw said:

I thought I had posted before, but it looks like I didn't. You're right that the floorplans are inconsistent. I think your interpretation is good.

For your windows, they are very bright. Windows should be dark, because the inside of a building is in shadow. Like if you were coloring a cave in a mountain, you would color the cave dark because it's dark inside. Window blinds are usually brightly colored, and they're also right behind the window, so they are in the sun, so those are usually bright, but only some windows will have blinds in them. And then finally, windows reflect their surroundings, and sometimes a nearby object will be bright, and that will make the window seem bright. Overall, the windows should be dark, and should have some brighter areas mixed in.

Also, all of your materials (except for glass), should have "ambient occlusion" turned on. It's very important. I usually set the "distance" to 4 meters.

Yeah, i was checking that too. Thinking about the final style of my windows I have been debating which one I should use at the end because I have been reviewing many other buildings and they also have styles that looks pretty well to me like for example the work of @Jumpthefence and marcszar from sc4devotion and they fit very well with the MAXIS style environment. I will read your tutorial's to see what can i do. I'm still novice in 3DS Max so if you recommend some other tutorial i will be glad to read it. i will try the "ambient occlusion".

9 hours ago, T Wrecks said:

Wow, these are lovely! I totally missed the second post with the diagonals, too.

One thing I'd like to mention for the orthogonals: If you want them to be compatible with other US W2W buildings (such as the ones made by NYBT, Jason, nofunk, and a few others), these all use a setback of 1 paver from the front edge of the lot - since the standard base texture has 10 of these pavers and a tile is 16m x 16m, this corresponds to 1.6 m.

I don't think this is possible with your current design if you keep those little front yards. So it's a design decision at this point: Lose a bit of realism for better compatibility in game, or live with different setbacks in game and have a fully realistic recreation? There is no right or wrong answer here; it's simply a trade-off, and the decision is a matter of taste and preference. I just wanted to bring this little aspect to your attention.

...and with this being said, I'm looking forward to your next progres shot because I know it will be amazing again.

Yes I know. like I said maybe I'll make a version with front yard and another one without

[Aaron Graham 4,417]

OMG!!!! I love them.

[Solid_Snake0911 306]

Hi everybody. I already posted the BAT on my Patreon page. I don't know if it is allowed to publish or to promote this here. if it is not. I apologize

If any one want to support my work and get an early access to this, go and visit my page. You can find me like SIMBAT in Patreon. Very soon i will make this public here in simtropolis for you all guys.

[Solid_Snake0911 306]

Hey everybody. They are ready the Diagonal version of the Carroll St BAT. You can find it in my Patreon page by early access

 

[Urban Vibravant 792]

@Solid_Snake0911 Shouldn't the sidewalk space on diagonal roads follow the same 1.6 meter setback rule? The building looks a bit too close to the road. BTW Awesome job on this model!

[mattb325 28,880]

Excellent job! I am loving the diagonals 

[Gn_leugim 853]

great job!

[Solid_Snake0911 306]

hey everybody here is a day preview of my new BAT. A corner residential one

but i have a little dilemma

[sejr99999 8,343]

maybe keep the building snugged up to the corner and make the empty space parking for tenants  nothing elaborate maybe just a pavement overlay with a couple cars and a small tree

if you can add some texturing to the blank wall to indicate possibly there used to be another building there or maybe add an advert or mural so it's not so obvious as a blank space?

I love the model BTW

[Jasoncw 11,840]

There's enough space there for a rowhouse, but of course then you would have to do the extra work of making the rowhouse.

I would also say that if the building is supposed to have hedges or a wrought iron fence that you BAT that in.

The building also strikes me as being too saturated. In my own experience trying to get really bold brick colors is very hard. But I would say that all the textures could be desaturated a good bit.

Overall it looks great. There are very few high quality BATs of this style. I personally haven't tried any because the stone intimidates me, but yours looks lovely. How did you go about making it?

[madhatter106 3,903]

@Jasoncw beat me to it - the brick and roof colors are super saturated.  The modelling is exquisite!  I want to live in this building...

[Aaron Graham 4,417]

Wonderful work, I do love the modeling too. 😍 I agree with Madhatter106 on the overly saturated bricks.

[gutterclub 2,729]

Yep, bit of desaturation and some contrast between brick and roof a little. 

Personally I'd also like to see some variation across the windows, maybe some blinds, sharper reflections or even interior views?

i'm being picky, otherwise its stunning Great work!

[Solid_Snake0911 306]

21 hours ago, Jasoncw said:

There's enough space there for a rowhouse, but of course then you would have to do the extra work of making the rowhouse.

I would also say that if the building is supposed to have hedges or a wrought iron fence that you BAT that in.

The building also strikes me as being too saturated. In my own experience trying to get really bold brick colors is very hard. But I would say that all the textures could be desaturated a good bit.

Overall it looks great. There are very few high quality BATs of this style. I personally haven't tried any because the stone intimidates me, but yours looks lovely. How did you go about making it?

i was thinking the same. maybe add a rowhouse that fit in the place. i might use the 500 carroll st model for modified it  and save some time.

furthermore could take the opportunity to evaluate a possible 500 carroll st retexturing. i think that i have been improving my work and could make something better with the textures

Yes. its a bit saturated but i wanted to know what you guys think and i'm glad that you like it. thank you

and you are right. i will desaturate the orange and the roof color. its too intense compare to the lateral wall which is less intense but visually appropriate for the game

 

Man. that stonewall took me months i mean literally 3 months. i had to use a script for the flat walls and unwrap the map carefully to cover the edges and borders between the stones.

with the towers i didn't use the script but i had to unwrap well too. its tedious.

that's the matter. i couldn't figure out how to make a texture looks good as a stone wall due to its own shaped characteristics because of the generation of shadows over his own vertical plane and at the same time is much more difficult not get a pattern in texture. i tried and was easy to see stones sliced by the middle, between windows and model edges. not good. definitely not good

[Solid_Snake0911 306]

1 hour ago, gutterclub said:

Yep, bit of desaturation and some contrast between brick and roof a little. 

Personally I'd also like to see some variation across the windows, maybe some blinds, sharper reflections or even interior views?

i'm being picky, otherwise its stunning Great work!

dont worry i like to read you  . well in this case i wanted that the windows take an older look due to be a old residential building. but i have something in mind  i will try and see what i can do

[BartonThinks 3,416]

I'd agree with what everyone else is saying here. The modeling looks superb, but the wall and roof textures would both benefit from desaturation, and it would help to have the roof in a contrasting color compared to the brick.

I like the idea of adding a townhome beside the building. That said, given the ritzy nature of the building, I could definitely see the other option working, depending on how you landscape that area. I think it might help to model some props that blend in with the building in that case, such as fencing, planters, etc.

The only other note I'd offer is about the stone detailing. As others have mentioned, the modeling is exceptional. It sounds like this took a ton of time and effort, but the results look well worth it. That said, the color of the stone and brick are so similar that it's hard to distinguish the stone as a separate material.

I assume you're going for something like the building below, where there's a subtle difference in color between the brick and the stone detailing. Given the scale of SC4, I'd recommend upping the contrast a bit so that the stone is *just* distinct enough that you can see the difference at a glance.

[Solid_Snake0911 306]

1 hour ago, BartonThinks said:

I'd agree with what everyone else is saying here. The modeling looks superb, but the wall and roof textures would both benefit from desaturation, and it would help to have the roof in a contrasting color compared to the brick.

I like the idea of adding a townhome beside the building. That said, given the ritzy nature of the building, I could definitely see the other option working, depending on how you landscape that area. I think it might help to model some props that blend in with the building in that case, such as fencing, planters, etc.

The only other note I'd offer is about the stone detailing. As others have mentioned, the modeling is exceptional. It sounds like this took a ton of time and effort, but the results look well worth it. That said, the color of the stone and brick are so similar that it's hard to distinguish the stone as a separate material.

I assume you're going for something like the building below, where there's a subtle difference in color between the brick and the stone detailing. Given the scale of SC4, I'd recommend upping the contrast a bit so that the stone is *just* distinct enough that you can see the difference at a glance.

yep. I planned from the beginning to remark the differences of the materials by they colours. Again: i share this because i wanted to read your thoughts and get some advices. The BAT is not finished.

BTW here is the reference. obviously with a few changes on the BAT

[BartonThinks 3,416]

5 minutes ago, Solid_Snake0911 said:

yep. I planned from the beginning to remark the differences of the materials by they colours. Again: i share this because i wanted to read your thoughts and get some advices. The BAT is not finished.

BTW here is the reference. obviously with a few changes on the BAT

Ah, that makes sense! Beautiful building, by the way. Now that I can see the reference, I'm wondering if it might help to exaggerate the size of the Italianate tiles for the roof texture? That change in texture might help with the contrast between the walls and the roof.

[Solid_Snake0911 306]

Guys the 111A 115A 8th Ave Carroll St is available on my patreon page. if you want yo support my work you can do it there it will be very helpful to me

Soon in Darknite version and Diagonal version with some colour variances and soon here too in simtropolis

https://www.patreon.com/SIMBAT

 

[Fin44850 46]

This BAT is just awesome. I would have liked to have seen maybe a slate or gray roof just for less color-clashing. Where is this ? Can I use it in-game?

[brancra 1,114]

26 minutes ago, Fin44850 said:

This BAT is just awesome. I would have liked to have seen maybe a slate or gray roof just for less color-clashing. Where is this ? Can I use it in-game?

He has a Patreon where it can be downloaded. 

https://www.patreon.com/SIMBAT

 

[Vitoraju 675]

On 09/09/2021 at 2:07 AM, Solid_Snake0911 said:

Guys the 111A 115A 8th Ave Carroll St is available on my patreon page. if you want yo support my work you can do it there it will be very helpful to me

Soon in Darknite version and Diagonal version with some colour variances and soon here too in simtropolis

https://www.patreon.com/SIMBAT

 

Your BAT is very beautiful! Congratulations!  

[Solid_Snake0911 306]

Here is the the 111A 115A 8th Ave Carroll St in maxisnite and darknite. I hope you like it. enjoy

 

 

[Solid_Snake0911 306]

In my Patreon is already post my last project 815 817 Carroll St MN/DN check it out if you want and there you can support my work. Thanks