SPAs Urbanist BAT Thread

[Simbourgeois 139]

Hehe, yes, I hope you'll have more time for SC4 during the long winter evenings...

Those textures look great; but I can see that you still have titanic work ahead.

Yours sincerely,

Simbourgeois

Mayor of Belleville

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Wow, it's been too silent in here recently, but I'm all the more delighted to see some progress on this beautiful building! There's really nothing to suggest right now (at least nothing I can think of), so all I can say is keep it up, and I hope your garden will turn out just fine! If you're as good at gardening as at BATting, then it should become a little paradise.

[Kifflom112 355]

Hey hows it going? Still can't wait to download all of this stuff when it comes out.

[spa 970]

Oh don't worry Twrecks and company, I'm still around. Just been occupied with the gardening lately... my wife's also pregnant In short, I haven't had as much free time as I use to have over the last few months. Fall is upon me though so I'll likely have some more time to bat over the next 3-4 months before the baby comes. After that, all bets are off!

I have been slowly picking away at the Dominion Public Building. Texturing on it is just really, really time-consuming since every wall needs a custom job to make the bricks line up properly. Anyway, today I just wanted to quickly comment on my Farm Desirability MOD (now on the STEX) since there have been a few questions. My mod does one major thing, it eliminates traffic volumes as a factor in farm desirability. In the default Maxis game, low traffic volumes increases farm desirability until a tipping point is reached. After that tipping point, farm desirability declines as additional cars are added to the road. This effect is independent of any pollution caused by traffic. This doesn't make any sense to me. Why would just the presence of cars affect farming? Many places in the world have highways going through agricultural areas to no ill effect. It annoyed me so I “fixed” it.

My solution was to tweak the parameters so that farming is no longer affected by traffic at all. Since low levels of traffic, in the default game, increase desirability, I had to increase the base desirability for agriculture to compensate (when I firest eliminated traffic I didn’t catch that and made farming undesirable absolutely everywhere). To try and not make it too easy, I slightly increased the negative impact of air pollution on farms. So if you end up with several thousand cars on a rural road, the air pollution from the cars will cause dilapidation. A player, however, can use the automobile emissions ordinance or the clean air ordinance to actually deal with this dilapidation which is makes a heck of a lot more sense than moving all farms six tiles off main roads. My mod differs a bit from the other options available, like SPAM or the CAM. Both of those mods keep the Maxis relationship between desirability and traffic volumes intact. The CAM mirrors the default game and the SPAM brings desirability down to about zero when there are high volumes, but keeps it as a positive factor. The little chart below, made by Jmeyers during the internal BSC testing process, shows farming desirability at different traffic levels.

As you can see by the zeros on the Farm Desirability column, traffic is a non-factor in my mod. All three mods will tweak the game, this is just one more option for the tool box and probably one that will be especially useful for those who want to farm without getting into larger more game altering mods like CAM and SPAM.

[Jack_wilds 550]

Glad to hear your still around... wife is preggers ... ...[congratulations is in order then ]sure sounds like life is happening in a Halifax Box

I will give your 'mod' a try but I'm using the spam-mod at the moment, so I'll see what it does :| ...

well then, what I'm hoping for is the completion of this present government pack that it gets released, before the new life really starts 'crying [just let me get some sleep, lol ]' and changes everything...

peace and blessings

Jack

  Edited September 26, 2011 by Jack_wilds  

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Thank you very much for that "look under the hood" of your mod! Since I use neither SPAm nor CAM so far, this one is probably the most likely option for me, and with all those prop-based field crops, it's all the more valuable. Maxis' only field props were those apple and orange trees, but all the farming stuff released by the community relies heavily on props, which turn black when the associated field tile is dilapidated.

[spa 970]

Thanks Jack and Twrecks. It has been a while since I have posted. I honestly haven't done much on Sim City in the last two months. The wife and I are now only 3-4 weeks out from the birth of our first child, Janetta. We're quite excited, although Michelle is just ready to have pregnancy done with now. Over the last 2 weeks though, I have kind of picked up batting again on my long overdue set. First, I took the barely started bits of the Postal Station A and Annex, and finished the historic Prince William Street front of the building.

Still lots to do on the POA! The real building spans across a city block and has entrances on Prince William and Canterbury Streets. You can see it in real life here. I'm realizing that the big change in elevation between Prince William and Canterbury Streets means I'm not going to be able to replicate the real life building exactly. I'm either going to have add a few extra floors to the Annex (Canterbury Street side) or change how the two roofs line up since, without adding floors, the Annex won't be taller than the Postal Station. Will have to puzzle over that one some more, but I'm leaning on altering the roof since street level is what most people recognize.

Besides the POA, I have also been slowly working away at the textures on the Dominion Public Building. It's really slow going since I'm clipping from photos I have taken which means that each section needs to be adjusted to fit. Still, besides the tower, I'm pretty much done with the front now.

Anyway, the next few months have a lot of unknowns. I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep slowly picking at thing though in between diapers and sleep deprivation

[His Divine Hand 244]

Congratulations on the new addition! It is always an exciting time; especially one as well batted as that one looks!

. . .

Bad jokes aside, I imagine the next couple of months will be quite exciting for you, and doubt we will be seeing you around here as much. Hope we will be seeing pictures of your next masterpiece when (and if) you get the chance!

[Kifflom112 355]

Can't wait and great work on the Dominion Public. Good luck and I'm happy for you. Can't wait to see what happens next and I'm still anxious for those recent BAT's. My city could use them.

[Jazzmaster 716]

That's quite a beautiful building you have there, my good man. Best of luck with the start of a new family.

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

Woah, you use the BAT. Great so far but I think the wall texture of the left building can be improved.

[gutterclub 2,729]

Woah, you use the BAT. Great so far but I think the wall texture of the left building can be improved.

His 30+ AMAZING BATS (run a little search in the STEX and LEX) and the fact this is page 48 of his BAT thread might indicate he uses the BAT

Just a polite pointer too, when telling someone that something needs improving its also useful to put why you think it needs improving as just saying 'improving' isn't really contructive enough to gain anything from.

Spa: Just wondering if there was any progress on those Civic style low rise buildings that were looking incredible.

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

Woah, you use the BAT. Great so far but I think the wall texture of the left building can be improved.

His 30+ AMAZING BATS (run a little search in the STEX and LEX) and the fact this is page 48 of his BAT thread might indicate he uses the BAT

Just a polite pointer too, when telling someone that something needs improving its also useful to put why you think it needs improving as just saying 'improving' isn't really contructive enough to gain anything from.

Spa: Just wondering if there was any progress on those Civic style low rise buildings that were looking incredible.

Thanks for this little information.

[Simbourgeois 139]

Oh la la, it's been a while since I last visited your thread, and so much has happened since...

Congratulations! Yet this must be quite testing time for you both (and the third coming haha)!

Yours sincerely,

Simbourgeois

Mayor of Belleville

[spa 970]

Wow. It would seem that my updates have become fewer and fewer as time has gone by. From the looks of things, I started the Dominion Public Building almost 2 years ago! Where did that time go! 2011 has been a really full year. My daughter is now almost a year old and is growing like a weed. She can stand on her own (hasn't taken a step yet) and is really surprising us daily with what she understands. It's simple stuff really, like I can now ask her where her turtle is and she crawls off to retrieve her stuffed turtle. She's such a joy.

I also spent most of the summer and fall absolutely run off my feet because I ran for city council here in Halifax. It was my first time trying anything like that and it was really a blood and sweat type effort (no slick campaign machine or army of volunteers behind me). My district, Dartmouth Centre, was a really crowded race with 7 candidates including the incumbent councillor, Gloria McCluskey. McCluskey is 81 or 82 and has been either a councillor or mayor in Dartmouth for nearly 30 years so she's quite entrenched. I ran on an urban planning platform of redirecting some of HRM's growth and spending away from the suburbs and back to the urban core. McCluskey ended up running away with it (51% of the vote), but I finished a strong second, well ahead of the rest of the also rans. I picked up 1,700 some odd votes (20%). Michelle and I were really pleased since that meant that more than just our friends and neighbours voted for me and that the campaign and my message really gained traction. This is likely McCluskey's last term so it leaves me well setup for next time in 2016 if I decide to try again. You can see some of my campaign up on my website www.samaustin.ca.

The other thing that was floating around this year is I organized a neighbourhood beautification effort on my street, Tulip Street. My neighbours and I formed an association and pitched for funding to whoever had cash to give away. We were successful and a few weeks ago we planted 11,000 tulip bulbs on my 4 block street (tulips on Tulip Street). To sum up, it has been a full rich year, but Sim City really hasn't factored into it.

After doing nothing in SC4 for months and months, though, I have finally started to pick away at things again. The Dominion Public Building is once again inching towards the finish line. Here's what it looks like now:

I have also textured the side (may need to tone down the glass on this side):

I'm hoping that over the next few weeks I'll be able to finish the project. All I have left is the roof, three sides of the tower, the stone on the Lower Water Street side (the angled wall) and lighting. Still a fair number of hours left because the texture creation on this one is really, really time-consuming. Making textures has really taken more time than the modelling did! Once I get the Dominion Public Building finished, I'm going to upload my finished batch of Government of Canada Buildings. It'll be 6 instead of 7 done, but goodness knows how long it will take for me to finish the Saint John POA. Anyway, sorry I have been such a stranger.

[Susaji 523]

Nice Building!

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Haha, sounds like you took the "Sim" out of SimCity for yourself. It's a pleasant surprise to see that you have returned to the BAT, and your Dominion Public Building looks just as stunning now as it did the last time.

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

OMG, it's a spa!

But I still think the wall texture is too blurry.

[JayStimson 212]

Great to see you back. Always admired your creations.

BTW, my daughter is 23 now. You're best memories are yet to come.

[Aaron Graham 4,417]

OMG!!!!! your back on this building, I have been waiting for you to continue this master work of yours.

[SimCoug 5,976]

It's exciting to see a number of legendary BATers return with updates in recent months. My plugins folder is full of your creations, so I'm very happy to see you make an appearance.

With a 1 and 3 year old keeping me busy, I can relate to your excitement and joy as a parent. It sounds like she will be walking in no time - watch out.

[mattb325 28,891]

Welcome back!

The dominion building is really exceptional quality and I've been enjoying following its progress.

Great news about the campaign: that's a great result for the first time against an entrenched incumbent, well done!

[Sgt Pepper 864]

Another for the category BAT of the Year!

Fantastic job so far. I love it.

[spa 970]

Wow. Two updates in a month. A personal best. I guess some replies first:

Hazani: Thanks

TWrecks: Thanks. It was a very eventful year, but there life is once again giving me a little bit of time to work on hobbies with.

Skyscrapper: Indeed I'm back. I guess it's just a matter of taste. I like slightly indistinct masonry. I think it tends to work better with the game's scale.

Jay: Thanks Jay. You're just coming out the other side of the parental adventure then! I'm told that it passes by in the blink of an eye.

Aaron: Yep back and picking away at it. Texturing this one is just unending. Too many custom textures on too many little surfaces!

SimCoug: 1 and 3! You must be doing well if you still find a few minutes for Sim City. Since I posted at he start of December, my daughter is now mobile. She stills falls on her but a fair bit, but she can fairly consistently do over a dozen steps in a row.

Matt: Thanks Matt! I'm pleased with how the election turned out. I have kept all my signs and my list of supporters so I'll be ready for next time if I want to try again. This is likely the incumbents last term. If that happens someday, then I'll truly have no time for Sim City!

Sgt Pepper: haha, I need to finish it first! It has been a glacial process!

Since I last posted I have made some more progress on the Dominion Public Building. I have been picking away at the tower and it's now textured on both the south and west sides. You can check it out below.

Still hoping that I might finish this up in the near future. It won't be by the end of 2012, but maybe in the first month or two of 2013

[Gn_leugim 858]

a lil suggestion, maybe a smooth mod in the tower roof ein?

other than that, great job so far

[Sciurus 323]

That's splendid!!

[Toothless Stitch 2,901]

Yes, you may be right. But another thing, the right garage doof looks strange, is it supposed to have diagonal stripes or is it because of the render opetions?

[spa 970]

GN: Done. I have actually never used the smooth function before and it did adjust it very slightly. It was an improvement. Thanks.

Sciurus: Thanks

Skyscraper241: Embarrassed to say it's not a garage door at all. It's metal. I'll adjust the texture.

 

So I may have been quiet since the New Year, but I have been picking away at the Dominion Public Building and I'm nearly done. So nearly done that I did a render of the parking lot free version last night. Below are the day pictures.

The parking lot free version actually fits snug on a 5x3. I didn't plan that. I'm thinking a 6x3 would be better as this one kind of has a "stand alone" rather than a wall-to-wall feel. I'll probably just make two lots in the end I still need to adjust the night lighting in the atrium because the light is spilling out in funny ways. It's also a touch brighter than I was going for. Since I'm going to be rerendering, if anyone has any last minute suggestions. The version with the underground parking lot is still to come (need to texture the parking lot walls and put in the ground textures). Here's where the night lighting is heading.

[Gn_leugim 858]

wonderfull work

[Altus 111]

So cool to see awesome buildings from my home town be BATed so fantastically like this. Makes SC4 that much better!