I'm Modeling SimCity 4!

[Propfam 2,311]

1 hour ago, PixelPerfectWP said:

Ingebretson Place. In-JEB-ret-son? IN-ge-bret-son? I have no clue about this one  Enjoy the weekend, folks!  

More like the latter. I'm not a Nord or German, tho. Either way, this is also my fav building. It's also one of the best compact R$$$ Maxis has ever made, right after Sky View Condos of Euro tileset. It has a quite elegant front terrace (whatever the term is), featuring red carpet in the middle.

[PixelPerfect 565]

7 hours ago, elfrjz said:

More like the latter. I'm not a Nord or German, tho. Either way, this is also my fav building. It's also one of the best compact R$$$ Maxis has ever made, right after Sky View Condos of Euro tileset. It has a quite elegant front terrace (whatever the term is), featuring red carpet in the middle.

Yeah, the latter seems more like it  And you have a good eye! Thanks for pointing out the carpet, which I was undecided about elevating. Your comment made me realise that I ought to raise it by a voxel, so that it'll show in the base geometry. I'm happy to model another of your favourite buildings!

—

The topic of colour raises exciting prospects. Our printers can only handle four colours at a time. It's slow, error-prone, and wastes a literal bucket-load of plastic. Thriving as always within constraints, I feel it would hardly feel like a compromise if I printed my models in a duotone of metallic colours. The experiment would be feasible in terms of cost, but it'd take half a week and occupy our most important printer. I plan to try it when the Bambu Lab A1 Mini becomes available in Canada!

[PixelPerfect 565]

Colour render of the base model for Russo Condo, my latest build!

I've shelved the idea of colour prints, to be revisited again someday.

[Propfam 2,311]

3 hours ago, PixelPerfectWP said:

Colour render of the base model for Russo Condo, my latest build!

I've shelved the idea of colour prints, to be revisited again someday.

Look so Minecraft-y to me. Nice job

[PixelPerfect 565]

The Long Building. The ornamentation was challenging but so worth it! 

[Propfam 2,311]

7 hours ago, PixelPerfectWP said:

The Long Building. The ornamentation was challenging but so worth it! 

Would be lit if the top can glow in the dark.

[PixelPerfect 565]

I bought a copy of SimCity 3000 and finally got it working on Windows 11! I'm no stranger to some of the buildings and the general gameplay, since they were ported into the SimCity DS games that I started out with when I was a kid. However, my main objective is to take screenshots of every building, since I can't find them anywhere. It's a gargantuan task. I'm therefore focusing on the buildings that stand out the most to me.

I've hacked together a Python script to roughly skew my 2.5D isometric screenshots into 2D faces that I can trace. Filling in the rest with my imagination, I begin with South Mountain Insurance, now adorned with katakana transliterations of 'nya—', 'neko neko', and 'moshi moshi' (all very creative ). The colours remind me of the Doraemon cartoons I watched growing up. (It was big in Hong Kong, and my parents downloaded dubs to help us practise our Cantonese.)

As a note, I upload photos of production 3d prints (complete with textures) to my Etsy storefront a few days after sharing screenshots of the base colour models here. It takes a while to print, and I'm eager to share the latest here. I think that's going to be my approach going forward.

Enjoy!

[Propfam 2,311]

2 hours ago, PixelPerfectWP said:

(It was big in Hong Kong, and my parents downloaded dubs to help us practise our Cantonese.)

Same here in Indonesia, even to this day. I guess, Doraemon is very big in pretty much all of Asia. Despite the presence of western cartoons, it seems like it won't be declining anytime soon.

Sorry to ask but do you really have HK background? Or are your parents working there? Anyway, nice creation. Keep it up!

[PixelPerfect 565]

5 hours ago, elfrjz said:

Sorry to ask but do you really have HK background?

I was born in Canada, but most of my family immigrated here almost half a century ago. Because of the significant presence of the immigrant diaspora hereabouts, many people retain much of their heritage, even as they integrate themselves with Western culture, broadly speaking. It's an interesting contrast to my fiancée, who doesn't speak a word of German.

[PixelPerfect 565]

New original design for my "zero" series: the "Nexus de jouvence"  

[Propfam 2,311]

8 hours ago, PixelPerfectWP said:

New original design for my "zero" series: the "Nexus de jouvence"  

Reminds me of some grandeur churches, think maybe Notre Dame (I haven't gone one lol), and also Haussmann (dunno how to spell him lmao) of Paris fame.

[PixelPerfect 565]

Preview of the city-building kit system I think I'm finally confident to ship. For almost as long as I've been working on this project, I've envisioned all my buildings being integrated into city models. Through countless iterations, I've gradually approached something I feel I can maintain and build upon. It's still rudimentary, but with the right setup, it can already look pretty good

[Propfam 2,311]

24 minutes ago, PixelPerfectWP said:

Preview of the city-building kit system I think I'm finally confident to ship. For almost as long as I've been working on this project, I've envisioned all my buildings being integrated into city models. Through countless iterations, I've gradually approached something I feel I can maintain and build upon. It's still rudimentary, but with the right setup, it can already look pretty good

It looks like something Mojang, in collaboration with Lego ofc, made in the past.

[hugues aroux 3,872]

Extra, this diorama, ... this project is taking shape and consistency! Well done

[PixelPerfect 565]

14 hours ago, hugues aroux said:

Extra, this diorama, ... this project is taking shape and consistency! Well done

Many thanks for all your support all along the way! Your kindness means a lot to me!

23 hours ago, elfrjz said:

It looks like something Mojang, in collaboration with Lego ofc, made in the past.

That certainly is the dream: to be significant like LEGO and Minecraft!

—

I'm quickly refining my concept and imagining different lots for every building. My wifey and I are having a lot of fun with this project. I'm reminded of all the hours I used to spend building in LEGO and Minecraft. Having the means to build again with SimCity is really wonderful

[PixelPerfect 565]

3 Story Row House revisited ~💙

[nos.17 5,264]

On 10/9/2023 at 6:55 AM, PixelPerfectWP said:

3 Story Row House revisited ~💙

These are truly lovely. They strongly remind me of the cute diorama levels in Hitman GO (a lovely little game by the way).

[PixelPerfect 565]

On 2023-10-10 at 8:34 PM, nos.17 said:

These are truly lovely. They strongly remind me of the cute diorama levels in Hitman GO (a lovely little game by the way).

Ooo, that looks like a really neat style of game art! I could probably get some inspiration for streetscapes from game levels. Thanks for the share! ^^

—

I spent this week flushing out a concept for a diorama set I want to release for spooky season. Unfortunately, I'm running into issues with fittings 

Olde Street (featuring Lay Architects, Small Shops - Chicago level 4 #4 and level 6 #5, and a custom building called "Olde Church")

[PixelPerfect 565]

The local painting studio got back to me with their finished work the other day. They did a spectacular job! They remarked that they never realised how many windows were on these things (😅), although they do enjoy painting them

A few weeks prior, I tried to model DuBois Place for a boardwalk diorama. I couldn't do it because the asymmetric geometry wouldn't align. Thereafter, I lost my mojo  In this rather difficult time, I took a break from the SimCity project, bought Rick Rubin's book "The Creative Act", threw on my favourite classical music, and came up with an original design influenced by Hegel, Schubert, and Vitruvius.

I should be able to resume with the SimCity project now. I plan to make a Christmas diorama as a gift for my soon-to-be wife's mother

[nos.17 5,264]

6 hours ago, PixelPerfectWP said:

The local painting studio got back to me with their finished work the other day. They did a spectacular job! They remarked that they never realised how many windows were on these things (😅), although they do enjoy painting them

Wow those are amazing? Did they say how long they took to paint?

[PixelPerfect 565]

2 hours ago, nos.17 said:

Wow those are amazing? Did they say how long they took to paint?

They sure are! I haven't asked yet, but I will on behalf of fans of their work! My estimate based on the price was 1-2 hours apiece

EDIT: Confirmed! "😄It took about 1.5-2 hrs a building".

You can be sure to see more of their work here in the future!

  Edited October 31, 2023 by PixelPerfectWP  
I don't want to spam users with separate updates. Thanks!

[PixelPerfect 565]

Hi everyone! An introspection:

I read a news article on Gen Alpha slang recently and felt time's inexorable march. I did originally plan to complete the SimCity project by 2028. It's bringing me places I couldn't have foreseen however, so I can't promise on that date now. (Plus, what will I have left to contribute to this community after that? )

I recently reached out to the local museum with parts of my portfolio. They expressed interest in a possible collaboration. It'd be a dream come true to be designing and printing models full-time, and also to be preserving moments in history for the rest of time 🌠

I just completed the Christmas diorama I had planned for the holidays. It's inspired by all the Charles Dickens I read growing up. Everyone seems to think of log cabins when they think of Christmas. I always think of Victorian London 😅 Anyways, I'm gifting a copy to my fiancée's mother for Christmas (the wedding is in less than two weeks!) I'm also gifting a copy to the nurse at the city hospital who has seen me all the way through my recovery from schizophrenia.

I've come so far, and someday I'll be a forgotten face in a nameless photograph, but maybe this site and our work will outlive all of us.

[PixelPerfect 565]

I finished the Chicago tileset Boutiques (level 5, number 5) and The Sundy Building! As my skill improves, I often revise my old work.

[jonnboy1976 220]

This project is brilliant!  And your work and talent are really amazing.  I love it!  

[PixelPerfect 565]

Many new buildings to share! Reamon Plaza (credits to my wife for rendering the master file in her software), Vu Blue Denim HQ, Small Condos (Chicago Lvl 6 No. 7), Marshall Printing, Wilsonoff Condos, and Lowerenti Manor  

[PixelPerfect 565]

Really on a roll now! Thanks to everyone for your continued support!  Jolly Manor, Fennell Corp, Karim Medical Supply Company, Bunch Engineering, Apartments (Houston level 4 number 6), Grey Stilts Apartments, Chuck Calamity Information Center, Creighton Bricks, Cooling Unit, Chin Corp

[Jackspital 391]

On 4/1/2023 at 12:06 AM, PixelPerfectWP said:

Hello everyone,

SimCity 4 was among my favourite hobbies growing up, and I want to pay homage to the series by modeling all of it, because nobody's done it yet, so why not. I thought perhaps you would be interested to see how it's coming along! Current progress: 19/600+ buildings modeled, 11 printed (4 not shown here), and a city-building set is in the works. Estimated completion time: 5 years. I keep a blog with daily updates. Don't want to spam this forum. See you all in 2028! 😊

This is amazing! I wish I was this talented  Now you can build your in-game cities in real life. When I was a kid and a teenager I was really into modelling ships and aircraft etc. and recently got back into the hobby. This defintely gives me some motivation to finish painting a spitfire I was working on!  

[PixelPerfect 565]

3 hours ago, Jackspital said:

This is amazing! I wish I was this talented  Now you can build your in-game cities in real life. When I was a kid and a teenager I was really into modelling ships and aircraft etc. and recently got back into the hobby. This defintely gives me some motivation to finish painting a spitfire I was working on!  

Thanks! It's been a real adventure working on a long-term project like this, where psychology plays a factor in staying committed. I'm happy that my work motivates you to finish a passion project of your own. You've got this!  

Quote

Crafting contains a paradox. To create our best work, we are patient and avoid rushing the process, while at the same time we work quickly without delay. — The Creative Act, Rick Rubin

 

[nos.17 5,264]

On 12/2/2023 at 11:39 AM, PixelPerfectWP said:

Really on a roll now! Thanks to everyone for your continued support!  Jolly Manor, Fennell Corp, Karim Medical Supply Company, Bunch Engineering, Apartments (Houston level 4 number 6), Grey Stilts Apartments, Chuck Calamity Information Center, Creighton Bricks, Cooling Unit, Chin Corp

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.

[Badfish301 60]

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