I'm Modeling SimCity 4!

[PixelPerfect 565]

On 2023-12-07 at 7:00 PM, nos.17 said:

These look amazing. I feel like we sometimes take for granted how well Maxis modeled many of their buildings. I know I have been guilty of seeing a building and wondering who made it only to realize it's part of the game all along. Your models really carry the same vibe.

Thanks! ^^ It's an honour to have my work be compared favourably to the original. I'd be convinced if you told me Maxis hired real architects.

On 2023-12-09 at 5:16 PM, Badfish301 said:

Looks great, hope you are involved in the real new best city building game.

It'd be something of a dream come true to model buildings for a city building game. I have given thought to making a small entry to that genre, if only to showcase my original designs.

—

I've decided to stop picking and choosing buildings to model. I'm going to get through all of them eventually, so I'll start from the top of the list. Low-wealth residential. 20 buildings this week!  Distribution Shed, Impeccable Tenements, Schmidt Place, Seth's Shack, Cousin Bob's Place, Zeno's Shack, Long Tilt Tower, Wayward Apartments, Bennet Apartments, Salvation Tower, Large Tenement, Apartments (Houston Level 4 Number 1), Brick Walk Up, Ranch House, Tiny Bungalow, Small House, Small Duplex, Cottage, White Bungalows, and Cute House

[PixelPerfect 565]

Taking a break from modeling to develop starter packs for custom dioramas! This first pack revolves around terrain modification. I want to make more to present to the local museum, as they've invited me to collaborate on an upcoming exhibit!  

(This sample diorama features Houston Apartments level 4 number 6.)

[PixelPerfect 565]

Exciting news! I've taught myself just enough FreeCAD to make better buildings. And the collaboration with the local city museum is a go. On top of revamping and expanding my SimCity catalogue, I've tasked myself with modeling as much of Markham, Ontario as possible. Here's a historical building called the Wilson Variety Hall, built ca. 1875. 

[Ronno 8]

I wish I had your talent brother, keep it up!!!

[PixelPerfect 565]

Update: Chugging along with our museum exhibit! Happy to say that there'll be a SimCity case It's justified printing some rather expensive buildings, like the massive Reamon Plaza, which stands 36cm (14") tall, even at 1:400.

I was hesitant to post excessive non-SimCity content here, so here's a single picture of all the other projects I've worked on so far for the exhibit. There are buildings from Pokémon, Minecraft, Stardew Valley, an original build, and of course, historical and contemporary Markham. Because the houses are so small, everything is printed big for visibility, from 1:200 up to 1:50. I tried different materials like wood powder filament and metallic-colour filament. We're running out of space at home 😅

I'll share some pictures of the exhibit when it launches next month! I won't have time to dedicate to SimCity until then  

[PixelPerfect 565]

Update: I indulged myself and remodeled The Freytag Building, printable in duotone and at z-scale. I'm very happy with how it turned out! I think that this will be among the highlights of the exhibit.

Also printing at this very moment is a remodeled McAdams Building, also in duotone and at z-scale! Each duotone print takes 5 days.

One week remains before we install the exhibit pieces!

[Propfam 2,309]

On 3/2/2024 at 11:07 AM, PixelPerfectWP said:

Update: I indulged myself and remodeled The Freytag Building, printable in duotone and at z-scale. I'm very happy with how it turned out! I think that this will be among the highlights of the exhibit.

Also printing at this very moment is a remodeled McAdams Building, also in duotone and at z-scale! Each duotone print takes 5 days.

One week remains before we install the exhibit pieces!

Keep it up! By the way, how's your project now? Hopefully, it's fine.

[PixelPerfect 565]

The exhibit with Markham Museum has launched! My wife and I were busy last week participating in March Break programming related to the exhibit. It's been exhausting but rewarding. I wanted to share some pictures of our displays. (My wife makes all the awesome figures!)

[Propfam 2,309]

On 3/22/2024 at 2:39 AM, PixelPerfectWP said:

(My wife makes all the awesome figures!)

It's nice to have a wife like that. I wish I can follow your steps in the future. Wish me luck!

Congrats to you!

[PixelPerfect 565]

Over the past few months, I've been honing my skills with FreeCAD and Blender, but MagicaVoxel remains my favourite tool. I've explored new techniques and processes, but I find that the easier it is to get started, the more likely it is that I will complete a project. I've gotten superlatively high praise for my work via my shop, but I feel like I'm just a kid playing Minecraft.

The most detailed piece I've created to date is this interpretation of Curtin Fabrics. It shows pretty well in this Z-scale print.

My pace has slowed down a bit, but I'm still at it!

Also, my wife and I are doing livestreams again. If anyone wants to hang out and watch how the sausage gets made, please feel free to drop by. We're pretty much streaming whenever we work in the evenings now. I have made a lot of amateur music over the past few years to fill the silence.

https://youtube.com/@Bread_Pix?si=AS8h8uF6VP-Y0i1a

[EffTheGrid 3,728]

AWESOME!!! WOW!! How long will the exhibit be up for? I'd love to drive up and come see it! Congratulations on the culmination of this project. It will definitely be cool for me to see SimCity 4 represented in a museum case like this, however I especially admire your efforts to preserve the architectural history of Markham. Kudos!!

[PixelPerfect 565]

9 hours ago, EffTheGrid said:

How long will the exhibit be up for?

Thank you so much for your kind and appreciative words!!  Our exhibit (Markham Community Makers) will be up for a year, ending March 2025. Please feel free to let me know when you can make the trip. It'd be cool to meet a SimCity fan and give a guided tour of our little dedicated space.

[Ronno 8]

Amazing.

[PixelPerfect 565]

Hello Simtropolis, it's been a very long time!  First, SimCity-related highlights of the last year:

Assembly kits, like this discontinued Farly Audio:

And this haunting monument to my self-sabotage, The unfinished 1:220 Pratt building sitting in our studio basement kitchen:

And this never-will-be-released colour assembly kit of Hayashi Consultants:

CAD software has enabled me to model geometry to a greater degree of accuracy than ever before. E.g. the Freytag Building (previously seen in this thread) that I finally convinced myself to release, one year later:

And this Creightview Condos that I was sitting on for just as long:

My other projects so far this year include Animal Crossing colour buildings, FlameCraft board game pieces with shopfronts, and my first simulation "game" developed for the *Game Boy*.

I actually love this community, and my headspace is often filled with doubts about how my interactions come off. I've had a lot of self-inflicted guilt trips about turning this thread into a personal blog. It's true that my life and passion projects carry me all over the place, but that's not what brought you here to read this, presumably.

[nos.17 5,264]

Happy to see you back!

14 hours ago, PixelPerfect said:

I actually love this community, and my headspace is often filled with doubts about how my interactions come off. I've had a lot of self-inflicted guilt trips about turning this thread into a personal blog. It's true that my life and passion projects carry me all over the place, but that's not what brought you here to read this, presumably.

Nah, bs - that's why we all come here - to talk to other people about our hobbies and passions. Yours happens to blend into the physical world that you can show to people in an IRL exhibition. That's unbelievably cool! 

[PixelPerfect 565]

On 2025-04-06 at 10:49 AM, nos.17 said:

that's why we all come here

Thanks so much for this reassurance! <3 Well then —

At some point last year, I happened across The Seven Lamps of Architecture by John Ruskins. And while Wikipedia describes the book as having offered little new to the debate on the Gothic Revival, and while I'm not spiritually inclined, I found in reading the chapter entitled "The Lamp of Sacrifice" what I consider to be a gem of a message that I've kind of preached since to anyone who will listen:

Quote

All old work nearly has been hard work. It may be the hard work of children, of barbarians, of rustics; but it is always their utmost. Ours has as constantly the look of money's worth, of a stopping short wherever and whenever we can, of a lazy compliance with low conditions; never of a fair putting forth of our strength. Let us have done with this kind of work at once: cast off every temptation to it: do not let us degrade ourselves voluntarily, and then mutter and mourn over our shortcomings; let us confess our poverty or our parsimony, but not belie our human intellect. It is not even a question of how much we are to do, but of how it is to be done; it is not a question of doing more, but of doing better.

The SimCity modeling project has given me an opportunity to try to do my utmost at something, and it is invigorating to aspire for it. My wife and I occasionally find videos of Old World craftspeople from Europe and Asia, and watching them work has taught me more about perfection than Plato.

When I started this project two years ago, my method of perfecting my work was to trace each building and match it pixel by pixel with meticulously calculated and realistic depths. To quote one of my favourite interviews with the electronic composer and musician Caterina Barbieri though:

Quote

In my experience, music always comes out of a process of negotiation between the design of the technology and the human imagination, rather than a simple imposition of an idea upon passive matter.

I work with 3D printing, and the constraints of the technology I work with are rather different from the digital constraints that the game artists faced. If what I create is to be considered creative work at all, and not simply a technical feat of engineering, then my buildings need to get at the inspiration behind the source material, and not just the visual artifact.

Many of my more accurate models from before come across as rather flat to my eye now. The surfaces don't play with light and shadow, which somehow makes some of the buildings feel dull and less than spectacular. To borrow from 2D art now, my latest façades can be described as almost "chiaroscuro". I'm particularly fond of my interpretation of Reflect Systems Incorporated for instance, which could have been one of my flatter and rather dull works.

—

Gallery:

Brink Real Estate (credits to my wife for aligning the cylindrical portion with her mastery of Blender):

Fennell Corp re-modeled:

Weber Designs re-modeled:

Zilber Communications:

The McAdams Building re-modeled:

  Edited April 30, 2025 by PixelPerfect  
Writing style :)

[PixelPerfect 565]

Latest from the workshop 🛠️

Residential Hotel

Tenements

Apartments

Up An Alley

~

I love working on this project. It's easy to start, with ample room for improvement as I learn better. My process has evolved from a voxel-based approach to a CAD-enabled approach, and now, I am putting everything together in Blender. I feel that my constant experiments have all served their purpose in improving the quality of my work. Each setback has in turn taught me better.

Freed from the limitations of a pure voxel approach yet equipped with that tool, I feel that my current approach is a combination of many things that work. My learning doesn't stop here. I'm eager to do more.

Thanks for visiting! 😊

[Ura 223]

On 20.05.2025 at 06:31, PixelPerfect said:

Последние новости с семинара 🛠️

Жилой отель

Многоквартирные дома

Квартиры

Вверх по переулку

~

Мне нравится работать над этим проектом. Его легко начать, и есть достаточно места для совершенствования по мере того, как я учусь лучше. Мой процесс эволюционировал от подхода на основе вокселей до подхода с поддержкой САПР, и теперь я собираю все вместе в Blender. Я чувствую, что мои постоянные эксперименты послужили своей цели в улучшении качества моей работы. Каждая неудача, в свою очередь, учила меня лучшему.

Освободившись от ограничений чисто воксельного подхода, но вооружившись этим инструментом, я чувствую, что мой текущий подход представляет собой комбинацию многих вещей, которые работают. Мое обучение на этом не заканчивается. Я горю желанием сделать больше.

Спасибо за посещение! 😊

I’m absolutely blown away by your work! It’s incredible. The level of detail is just perfect. Amazing job! You’re someone who has truly moved from theory to practice.

I once thought about trying 3D as well, but I had no knowledge or experience, so I stuck with paper. But 3D — that’s definitely super cool!

[PixelPerfect 565]

On 2025-05-24 at 10:06 AM, Ura said:

I’m absolutely blown away by your work! It’s incredible. The level of detail is just perfect. Amazing job! You’re someone who has truly moved from theory to practice.

I once thought about trying 3D as well, but I had no knowledge or experience, so I stuck with paper. But 3D — that’s definitely super cool!

Thanks so much for your kind words! I took a look at your thread as well, and I love what I see 🤩 You can be sure that I'll be following along as you and your family resume work on your project.

If you are still interested in trying 3D, I would be happy to start posting tutorials on how I approach my projects. My process is steadily evolving, and I'm constantly thinking of ways to improve. Right now, I'm learning Blender. I just finished modeling Pauvre Apartments and Somer's Place!

I get discouraged thinking that my work is always falling short of what I want it to be (which makes real-life buildings extremely difficult to model to my satisfaction!), but at this moment, I think it's worth reminding ourselves that we should be having fun and enjoying what we're doing!

[PixelPerfect 565]

First off, if anyone hasn't noticed @Ura's work yet, I want to direct your attention there!  I really respect how he and his son have applied their expertise and imagination towards their paper models of SimCity and beyond.

A couple weeks ago, I modeled some buildings that were loosely inspired by Toronto's heritage architecture. These buildings have been designated as "at risk" by Architectural Conservancy Ontario due to recent provincial legislation meant to get homes built faster. And while I understand that supply is one big factor in solving our nation's housing crisis, I lament the sacrifice of our rich heritage for cheaper homes. So without further ado, here's a tribute to 41-55 Colborne Street (the Milburn and Baxter Buildings) and an unnamed (as far as I am aware) building at 422-426 College Street:

These buildings date back to the late 1800s. They have a lot of character, charm, and craftsmanship to them, which I cherish and admire. I modeled these buildings using a combination of the tools that I now have at the ready -- MagicaVoxel, FreeCAD, and Blender. Deeply studying traditional architecture has enriched my own practice, and with some words of encouragement from my wife and from ChatGPT, I decided I'd once again take to the canvas and craft some original designs. This time, I filmed some of the process, and I wanted to share that with you all today.

These are some buildings for a fictional street named Tortoise Street.

Here's the "Cornerstone Cafe": 

And here's an unnamed old bookstore: 

Thanks for stopping by!  

 

[Ura 223]

Looks really awesome! Your Blender skills are impressive Amazing level of detail!  Great job!

[PixelPerfect 565]

For a brief while last year, I experimented with printing SimCity buildings first with hollowed windows, then in full colour. Given the constraints of the 3d printers available to me, I could only use up to four colours per print. This constraint forced me to innovate with different assembly methods. The product of all this was a series of assembly kits that I briefly offered at my shop:

Ultimately, I gave up on hollow assemblies and full colour prints for SimCity models, owing to issues with printing and assembly. But the lessons learned and my desire to print in colour did not end there, and I began expanding my body of work beyond SimCity. Thus began a lot of my side-side projects, which I've greatly enjoyed making, and which I want to share. I can say that I am still thinking of ways to bring it all back to SimCity!

First, there were some shopfronts and accessories that I designed for my favourite board game, Flamecraft! These shopfronts were inspired by Sandara Tang's artwork for that board game, and integrated with a complete set of trays that I made for the game, which my wife and I both love.

I also started modeling buildings from Animal Crossing New Leaf in full colour as assembly kits. The game was a safe haven for me when I was reconciling with the part of me that is called schizophrenia. I wanted to pay tribute to that world by modeling such buildings as the iconic Roost Cafe, Leif's Gardening Store, and the player's house.

I also made one-offs inspired by my childhood, like standees from Tamagotchi and Mega Man Battle Network.

I also made a musical GameBoy simulation game from scratch using GB Studio, and created a standee to commemorate the occasion of Pixel Garden's debut. 3D modeling is probably my second big hobby, after making music.

Lastly, I just completed a couple buildings which somewhat older Pokemon fans may be familiar with  

--

If you've read this far, I want to thank you for accompanying me on this adventure. A couple weeks ago, I happened by chance upon a book by Dr. Gabor Maté entitled The Myth of Normal. I've been reading it aloud to my wife many evenings. Just yesterday, I shared a profoundly emotional moment of reconciliation with the misunderstood part of me that is called "schizophrenia" -- storyteller and weaver of delusions borne from a lifetime of trauma, guardian "spirit" that has protected me from the void and that saw the inherent value to my life when I could not. Just as healing involves becoming whole again, I thought to bring more of my whole self to this post.

Thank you for sharing this moment.

[kingone 2]

so good

[PixelPerfect 565]

It's been a busy month at the workshop! Dozens of new and redone models aside, I'm excited about a new line of multicolour buildings that I'm assembling by hand. It's easily one of the most rewarding experiences I've had at my shop. I've also been wanting to realise my work in colour since forever. For those unfamiliar with 3D printing, this will be a bit of an explainer on the unique technical constraints of the technology.

First, given my automatic multi-material system, why not just print in colour? Indeed, I can illustrate with a sample of just that. These here are the Houston tileset Modern Apartments and Charvat Imports:

The total print time for these two small prints was over 2 days non-stop. It also ate up about a third of a spool of plastic total. I would have to charge my customers accordingly, and the quality isn't even that good for the price. You can see the blobby window frames as the printer struggled to resolve finer details. There are also blobs on all the overhangs, but this is from bad work on the supports, which is my mistake. My wife suggested settings that work well for her organic work, but it still requires a bit of experimentation.

Speaking of my wife, her work is an inspiration for the level of quality craftmanship that I aspire towards. This is her 3D printed and handcrafted rendition of Stolas from Helluva Boss. She's been working with colour sculpts for her shop since we got the machines:

So, I have a lot to learn.

The advantage of printing things all in one piece is that for certain forms of geometry, it saves a lot of assembly time and possibly even material. The plastic is fused together, which makes it effortlessly seamless. Those advantages are clear in printing the base model for Charvat, for instance:

Note that there is no overlap of colours on the same layer (assuming an upright orientation of printing). Many colour printing technologies take a lot of time and even end up wasting material in order to swap colours. The more colours on one layer, the more time it takes. On our model of printer in particular, it also takes a longer time and more material to switch from dark to bright filaments (but not the other way around). I could detail the technology, but it should suffice to say that prints that require frequent colour swaps are an emphatic no. So many things can and do go wrong on a multi-day print. Unfortunately, this limits the types of projects I can print in colour at present, since there's no avoiding colour swapping sometimes. But there's a blessing in the guise of this limitation: the opportunity for manual crafting!

These are my first three production-ready colour assemblies. First, Tinklers Inc.:

Second, Charvat Imports:

Third, the Houston tileset Small Shops:

There's a lot of manual work involved, which I find really fun despite how shaky my hands are from my medication. Seeing my creations come to life in colour like this is a real privilege of the hobby. And a selling point for my customers is that this method uses a fraction of the time and material, meaning that I can charge a fraction of the price!

But before we call it a wrap, that's not all I've been up to! In the realm of monochrome printing, my SimCity work has become more and more loosely inspired and freely interpretative. I am starting to imagine details for myself, as might be seen here in Fancey Foods, Ham LLC, and Brown & Sons:

And then there's this original design, which I've named the Tortoise Street Librarium:

Thanks for tuning in!  

[CorinaMarie 29,899]

Beautiful work again, @PixelPerfect.  

[nos.17 5,264]

On 8/8/2025 at 1:06 PM, PixelPerfect said:

First, given my automatic multi-material system, why not just print in colour?

I really don't keep up too well with advancements in 3D printing, but it's really amazing the details and fidelity they're capable of these days. The multicolor too is very impressive.

[PixelPerfect 565]

A few developments to mention!

I designed some more colour assemblies last month. The projects were labour-intensive, with each window being a separate piece for instance, but each project was rewarding! Among the models that I listed at my shop were Leong Accountants, Stoic Arms, and LeTourneau Architects:

This culminated in a project closer to home. Here's a model of The Queen's Hotel from my hometown of Markham, painstakingly crafted by hand:

Printing the walls flat with multicolour turned out to be a watershed moment, as I quickly realised that the textural possibilities were endless. This has led me to start experimenting with stone and wood textures, which I was excited to try on actual models...

Except then the tariff madness reached my shop. As of the end of August, I've stopped selling south of the border just because of all the uncertainty, even though my products are all technically tariff-exempt per the current North American trade agreement. But with most of my sales gone, I've pivoted towards designing my models digital-first, and printing even the drafts on demand only.

I have a lot more time to dream up models now. I actually started working on an ambitious design for an entire neighbourhood, which I have called Forum Viride. I'm livestreaming my work on this project on my YouTube channel BreadPix. I expect this and other similar digital projects to keep me busy, since I won't be printing much at all for the next while.

And oh yes, I modeled my childhood role model Professor Layton as well as some Mega Man cannon viruses, both for fun and to learn Blender!

[PixelPerfect 565]

Hello there! I'm still crafting SimCity buildings! I recently did a facelift of the listing photos at my side shop, and boy, I'm seeing my old work in a whole new light. With orders coming in fast, I've had the wherewithal to print at larger scales, and it's made a big difference too! So without further ado, here's a jumbo pack of SimCity 4 brought to print!  

THE FREYTAG BUILDING (2024)

ZILBER COMMUNICATIONS (2025)

LEONG ACCOUNTANTS (2025)

BRINK REAL ESTATE (2025)

COMFORT ARMS (2025)

FANCEY FOODS (2025)

MEEHAN MARKETING (2025)

LETOURNEAU ARCHITECTS (2025)

KANAROWSKI & CO (2025)

HAM LLC (2025)

BUNCH ENGINEERING (2023)

RUSSO CONDOS (2023)

CURTIN FABRICS (2024)

REFLECT SYSTEMS INC (2024)

MACE CO (2025)

RESIDENTIAL HOTEL (2025)

ZVENIGORODSKY INC (2025)

BROWN & SONS (2025)

THE SUNDY BUILDING (2023)

MARSHALL PRINTING (2024)

THE LONG BUILDING (2023)

2-STORY ROW HOUSE (2026)

HI-RISE APARTMENTS (2026)

SMALL CONDOS (2026)