SPAs Urbanist BAT Thread

[cammo2003 20]

Hmm, looks nice. Personally I don't think it matters which side windows you use (I'll be downloading this either way). But I do like the squarer look...

[cammo2003 20]

Hmm, looks nice. Personally I don't think it matters which side windows you use (I'll be downloading this either way). But I do like the squarer look...

[Jasoncw 11,941]

The problem with the alpha maps is that nitemaps won't show from behind them.  I think actual nitelites show up though.

I like the new square windows better.  Can you make the lines on the wall line up with the windows?

Maybe you could add some rails to the back porches?  imo, rails are a nice chance to add detail.

[Jasoncw 11,941]

The problem with the alpha maps is that nitemaps won't show from behind them.  I think actual nitelites show up though.

I like the new square windows better.  Can you make the lines on the wall line up with the windows?

Maybe you could add some rails to the back porches?  imo, rails are a nice chance to add detail.

[Jasoncw 11,941]

The problem with the alpha maps is that nitemaps won't show from behind them.  I think actual nitelites show up though.

I like the new square windows better.  Can you make the lines on the wall line up with the windows?

Maybe you could add some rails to the back porches?  imo, rails are a nice chance to add detail.

[jt_144_2004 0]

Looks good, the only thing I notice is that the whilte looks a bit clean on the roof in the back

[jt_144_2004 0]

Looks good, the only thing I notice is that the whilte looks a bit clean on the roof in the back

[jt_144_2004 0]

Looks good, the only thing I notice is that the whilte looks a bit clean on the roof in the back

[spa 970]

Cammo2003: Thanks. I decided on the square look

Jasoncw: Thanks for the heads up. I tend not to use many night lights so having alphas block them shouldn't be a problem for me most of the time. That said, I did bump into a similiar problem on Sam's. The posters I put on the outside windows blocked the nightmaps and made for a strange visual effect. The posters, however, had virtually no width since they sat on top of the windows so I just made them nightlite textures too. They blended in perfectly. You couldn't tell that they were there and I imagine you can do the same thing with alphas if the object is small. As for railings, they're on there already. They just aren't that noticable. So I took your advice and decided to scale them up to be more eyecatching. Finally, so far my attempts at lining up the tiles with the windows have failed. The scale of the beige tile textures just doesn't match the windows. I'll probably just leave it. Thanks for your advice and suggestions. Much appreciated.

Jt_144_2004: Thanks. I added some 'dirt' to the back roof. It has some charcter now and isn't just a plain slab.

So I spent a fair bit of time on this one today and I have basically finished everything up. I have put on some roof junk, I put floors down inside and I cluttered up the roof top patio. You can check out the results below. 

The tables and plants are recycled from some of my earlier creations (Royal Manor and Corner Gas) and the benches came from wiz1989's furniture pack, but I made the circle barbecue for this one myself. The only thing I'm wondering about is whether or not to change the wooden bench texture to one that fits a little better with the surrounding 'light' textures. Anyway, I just need to finish up the lighting and then I'll be ready to render it. Barring any last minute snags this should be done and ready to go either tomorrow or on Sunday.

[spa 970]

Cammo2003: Thanks. I decided on the square look

Jasoncw: Thanks for the heads up. I tend not to use many night lights so having alphas block them shouldn't be a problem for me most of the time. That said, I did bump into a similiar problem on Sam's. The posters I put on the outside windows blocked the nightmaps and made for a strange visual effect. The posters, however, had virtually no width since they sat on top of the windows so I just made them nightlite textures too. They blended in perfectly. You couldn't tell that they were there and I imagine you can do the same thing with alphas if the object is small. As for railings, they're on there already. They just aren't that noticable. So I took your advice and decided to scale them up to be more eyecatching. Finally, so far my attempts at lining up the tiles with the windows have failed. The scale of the beige tile textures just doesn't match the windows. I'll probably just leave it. Thanks for your advice and suggestions. Much appreciated.

Jt_144_2004: Thanks. I added some 'dirt' to the back roof. It has some charcter now and isn't just a plain slab.

So I spent a fair bit of time on this one today and I have basically finished everything up. I have put on some roof junk, I put floors down inside and I cluttered up the roof top patio. You can check out the results below. 

The tables and plants are recycled from some of my earlier creations (Royal Manor and Corner Gas) and the benches came from wiz1989's furniture pack, but I made the circle barbecue for this one myself. The only thing I'm wondering about is whether or not to change the wooden bench texture to one that fits a little better with the surrounding 'light' textures. Anyway, I just need to finish up the lighting and then I'll be ready to render it. Barring any last minute snags this should be done and ready to go either tomorrow or on Sunday.

[spa 970]

Cammo2003: Thanks. I decided on the square look

Jasoncw: Thanks for the heads up. I tend not to use many night lights so having alphas block them shouldn't be a problem for me most of the time. That said, I did bump into a similiar problem on Sam's. The posters I put on the outside windows blocked the nightmaps and made for a strange visual effect. The posters, however, had virtually no width since they sat on top of the windows so I just made them nightlite textures too. They blended in perfectly. You couldn't tell that they were there and I imagine you can do the same thing with alphas if the object is small. As for railings, they're on there already. They just aren't that noticable. So I took your advice and decided to scale them up to be more eyecatching. Finally, so far my attempts at lining up the tiles with the windows have failed. The scale of the beige tile textures just doesn't match the windows. I'll probably just leave it. Thanks for your advice and suggestions. Much appreciated.

Jt_144_2004: Thanks. I added some 'dirt' to the back roof. It has some charcter now and isn't just a plain slab.

So I spent a fair bit of time on this one today and I have basically finished everything up. I have put on some roof junk, I put floors down inside and I cluttered up the roof top patio. You can check out the results below. 

The tables and plants are recycled from some of my earlier creations (Royal Manor and Corner Gas) and the benches came from wiz1989's furniture pack, but I made the circle barbecue for this one myself. The only thing I'm wondering about is whether or not to change the wooden bench texture to one that fits a little better with the surrounding 'light' textures. Anyway, I just need to finish up the lighting and then I'll be ready to render it. Barring any last minute snags this should be done and ready to go either tomorrow or on Sunday.

[spa 970]

Sorry forum bug double post.

[spa 970]

Sorry forum bug double post.

[spa 970]

Sorry forum bug double post.

[spa 970]

Sorry I don't mean to bump my own thread, but I have one final update on Kensington Manor. So it's rendered and will be released today. It fits nicely on a 3X3 lot and is compatiable with the parking lots in my other BATs. Below is an example of the alleys you can make with my BATs that currently work together.  

Now you might have noticed that there are some funny blotches on Kensington Manor. In case you didn't I have highlighted them below.

I don't know why they're there, but I have faced this problem on my last project. It's next to impossible to fix and all I know how to do is coping methods. So far I don't know of any solution. All I can do is change the nature of the problem, I can't make it go away. It's really tough to do anything about because it only appears in the lot editor (the splotches aren't evident on the model's fsh files) and it doesn't seem to be a GMAX problem. After a few renders in which I slightly modified textures that I figured might be causing the splotches I have got it so that the distortions are only a serious problem on zoom 3 on the back view. On the other zooms and in the other angles, they aren't an eye sore. This is a big improvement over my first render in which the front view was basically broken. I think this is as good as it's going to get. It's not perfect, but I'll take one ugly zoom on the back view and call it a victory considering that the rest is now okay. I'm going to try uninstalling GMAX and reinstalling just incase that helps (I already deleted and reinstalled the lot editor but that didn't change anything), but, again, since the fsh files are fine I don't think it'll do any good. If anyone missed my battle with this problem on Sam the Record Man and has any advice I would love to hear it. I'm out of ideas.

[spa 970]

Sorry I don't mean to bump my own thread, but I have one final update on Kensington Manor. So it's rendered and will be released today. It fits nicely on a 3X3 lot and is compatiable with the parking lots in my other BATs. Below is an example of the alleys you can make with my BATs that currently work together.  

Now you might have noticed that there are some funny blotches on Kensington Manor. In case you didn't I have highlighted them below.

I don't know why they're there, but I have faced this problem on my last project. It's next to impossible to fix and all I know how to do is coping methods. So far I don't know of any solution. All I can do is change the nature of the problem, I can't make it go away. It's really tough to do anything about because it only appears in the lot editor (the splotches aren't evident on the model's fsh files) and it doesn't seem to be a GMAX problem. After a few renders in which I slightly modified textures that I figured might be causing the splotches I have got it so that the distortions are only a serious problem on zoom 3 on the back view. On the other zooms and in the other angles, they aren't an eye sore. This is a big improvement over my first render in which the front view was basically broken. I think this is as good as it's going to get. It's not perfect, but I'll take one ugly zoom on the back view and call it a victory considering that the rest is now okay. I'm going to try uninstalling GMAX and reinstalling just incase that helps (I already deleted and reinstalled the lot editor but that didn't change anything), but, again, since the fsh files are fine I don't think it'll do any good. If anyone missed my battle with this problem on Sam the Record Man and has any advice I would love to hear it. I'm out of ideas.

[spa 970]

Sorry I don't mean to bump my own thread, but I have one final update on Kensington Manor. So it's rendered and will be released today. It fits nicely on a 3X3 lot and is compatiable with the parking lots in my other BATs. Below is an example of the alleys you can make with my BATs that currently work together.  

Now you might have noticed that there are some funny blotches on Kensington Manor. In case you didn't I have highlighted them below.

I don't know why they're there, but I have faced this problem on my last project. It's next to impossible to fix and all I know how to do is coping methods. So far I don't know of any solution. All I can do is change the nature of the problem, I can't make it go away. It's really tough to do anything about because it only appears in the lot editor (the splotches aren't evident on the model's fsh files) and it doesn't seem to be a GMAX problem. After a few renders in which I slightly modified textures that I figured might be causing the splotches I have got it so that the distortions are only a serious problem on zoom 3 on the back view. On the other zooms and in the other angles, they aren't an eye sore. This is a big improvement over my first render in which the front view was basically broken. I think this is as good as it's going to get. It's not perfect, but I'll take one ugly zoom on the back view and call it a victory considering that the rest is now okay. I'm going to try uninstalling GMAX and reinstalling just incase that helps (I already deleted and reinstalled the lot editor but that didn't change anything), but, again, since the fsh files are fine I don't think it'll do any good. If anyone missed my battle with this problem on Sam the Record Man and has any advice I would love to hear it. I'm out of ideas.

[tag_one 133]

very nice building, the blotches aren't really disturbing imo. they look a bit like chimneys still I'll hope you find out what caused the problem.

[tag_one 133]

very nice building, the blotches aren't really disturbing imo. they look a bit like chimneys still I'll hope you find out what caused the problem.

[JBSimio 152]

Looks great Spa!  Would it be wrong for me to say that your buildings have really nice rear ends?

Too bad about the blotches again.  Hopefully someone can help get that squared away.

JB

[JBSimio 152]

Looks great Spa!  Would it be wrong for me to say that your buildings have really nice rear ends?

Too bad about the blotches again.  Hopefully someone can help get that squared away.

JB

[SC4Noobie 5]

I posted it on the comments part of the Kensington Manor, but congrats on front paging it!! Great work...

[spa 970]

Tag_one: Chimneys it is then I hope to one day know what this glitch is and what causes it. It seems to appear at random. I talked to Sparky about it when it first showed up on Sam the Record Man since he had the same problem with his Hadfield Courthouse and he figures its certain colour shades that does it. Since it changed to a more managable problem when I dumped the splotchy green trim he might be right.

JBSimio: Who can resist a nice looking rear..... Okay joke aside I do try and make for pleasent backs of my buildings. A lot of buildings do have grungy mechancal stuff behind them, but not all. I have leaned towards the pleasent back, but I'm sure I'll eventually come upon a project with garabge and junk. It just doesn't fit my usual style.

SC4Noobie: Thanks for your comment. I appreciate it. I have actually had two comments left on Kensington Manor that I found to be a bit off and actually bordering on rude. It's nice to have supportative and constructive criticism to offset them. Thanks for being one of the good guys

[yoder7652 21]

Spa..I did a little investigating and plopped your building on a couple of different computers. It seems that your splotches are computer specific, so your render was correct. The splotches were not present on one of my computers but was on another computer. I'm guessing the difference is in graphics card...not sure how to remedy the problem as the computer with the splotches has the most recent driver for the graphics card installed. I guess there could be another explanation, but the graphics card seems most likely. Here is you building on the splotch free machine at the appropriate zoom.

[spa 970]

Hey thanks Yoder! You don't know how great it is to have some info on this bug. It has been maddening to deal with. It never occurred to me that it might be computer specific. I just assumed it was a problem in the lot editor or maybe GMAX. Finding out that it works on some machines just fine is a very interesting bit of news. It's nice to know that at least on some machines the thing works spotlessly. Do you mind if I ask about the two computers? What type of graphics cards were they using and was the older one the one that worked or was it the newer one? I really appreciate you looking into this. Thanks a lot.

[yoder7652 21]

Well...

The computer that was glitch free had a Mobility Radeon 7500C (by ATI) this computer is a laptop that was purchased two summers ago. The specs on the card is 128-bit DDR.

The other computer (that had the glitches) is a desktop purchased approximately the same time it has a NIVIDIA GeForce FX 5200, also 128-bit DDR.

I don't know much about graphics cards so I can't be too much help, but I'd bet that this is the problem.

[spa 970]

Interesting. My computer is also a desktop and also uses a NIVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 and, as you know, it too has the glitch. That's very interesting. I'm going to message Sparky since he ahd the same issue to see what type of graphics card he uses.

[yoder7652 21]

now that is interesting....

[spa 970]

And it gets even more interesting. Sparky messaged me back and he was using an Nvidia card too and he had the same issue with his Hadfield Courthouse. Very interesting. This might explain this bug (I have seen it in small measures on other people's bats too). Very interesting.

[simdad1957 3]

Spa:

re: your note above about negative comments towards Kensington Manor; don't let the bastards get you down. To thine own self be true. You do excellent work and you are currently one of the top contributors to the STEX. Keep it up!