SPAs Urbanist BAT Thread

[spa 970]

DragonAnime: Thanks. I have a few more large mid-rises planned so stay tuned.

JBSimio: Yeah it's a big one alright. It fits on a 5x4 lot. I never set out to make it this way but to maintain the detail on the 2nd floor window boxes this is how it worked out. It probably won't be a usual thing for me to go this big... although I do have a few other offices planned so I might have a few more large ones yet.

Well Kensington Place is basically finished. I have everything modelled and I think the textures are good. All that I need to do is put a few lights on the balconies and I can export. Below is where things sit.

Front

Back

About the only thing that I'm still considering at this point is whether or not to darken the HVACs just a tad. I asked the girlfriend for her opinion and she opted for leaving them. What do you guys think? Besides the HVAC shade now's your last chance for any last minute input. I'll be rendering tomorrow with the goal of hitting the STEX probably on Sunday evening.

[ACEfanatic 7]

I'd say go for darking the HVACs a tad. Bring them a bit closer to the shade of the ducts...

As for the rest - I had a really witty comment, but I just realized it's completely inappropriate for this board...

Shame.

-ACE

[JBSimio 152]

A bit darker would probably be good... although they look fine as is, too. I'm really only commenting because I think your girlfriend's response (and the way you chose to describe it) is hillarious!

Crap... I'm burning the wedding cake!!!

JB

[jacqulina 162]

i also think they look fine nice work

[T Wrecks 10,210]

IMHO, the shiny clean vents and HVACs contrast a bit with the worn and weathered roof, so I'd also vote for darkening a tad and making them look a bit more used and weathered, too.

[SC4Noobie 5]

Yea, definatly darken the vents and all (don't know whart they are called) I hardly use night views either (mostly for a few cool looking shots in DT) so it's not horrible. Great work.

[spa 970]

Acefanatic: Thanks.
JBSimio: Ahh thanks for connecting the dots for me. I didn't know what ACEfantic was getting at. I guess as long as she was leaving them and not me it's fine
Jacqulina: Thanks
TWrecks: It has been done. Thanks for the feedback.
SC4Noobie: Thanks. Darkening has been done.


So as mentioned, I darkened the HVACs and ducting and added some "dirt" to the ducting. You can see the final results on the STEX at https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=17087. Next up, finish the Richland Building. 

I also have a question for the experts out there. I'm thinking of returning to my Garrison Woods project. My understanding is that it would be possible to render four different versions of the rowhouse, make them into props and then make a prop family. With a prop family I would then be able to have the four rowhouses appear randomly and in a random order on my 4x2 lot. Is my understanding that this is doable in this manner correct? If so, do I have to worry about prop family conflicts with other people's work? If so what do I do to avoid that? If anyone in the know can give me some advice about this I would appreciate it.

[Sim shady 12]

Where Pegusas when u need him

[6459978. 106]

Yep, prop family should work just fine for what you want to do. However, conflicts may be an issue. There might be a registry for prop families (I know there is one for textures) where you can request a block of IDs that will be exclusively yours to work with. Of course, there's no guarantee that someone else won't ignore that and use the same IDs.

[6underground 11]

I'm definately using this as the New Rhodesian International Arena. Like Cardiff. heehehe (even if it's not even supposed to be that) =D

[toxicpiano 125]

Just to prove it's international appeal:

The city is actually called Kensington as well lol. (It's the one that came in the London region in the game). Fantastic work spa, I look forward to whatever's next.

Actually on a side note, it reminds me of the civic offices in my hometown, so it has mulitpurpose appeal as well! (Definately a universal building).

[Odd from Sweden 129]

What a great building! I will use it for sure!

[spa 970]

Sim shady: Indeed.

6459978: Thanks for the info. I think the risk of using a prop family and possibly creating conflicts is worth it for what I'm doing. It would add a lot more variety and randomness if the rowhouses were prop families. I'll have to look around and see if there is a registry. I actually messaged Baryby as I know she was involved in registering props but I never heard back. I'm not working on the rowhouses right now though anyway so it's not yet a pressing issue.

6underground: I'm glad you've found a use for my building. It should look nice next to your great bats.

toxicpiano: Thanks for the picture! It's always fun to see the stuff I make going to great use. I never would have thought of using Kensington Place with the small British street shops (I have the British set myself). I'll have to give it a whirl in my own region.

Odd: Thanks.

So I have had a busy week. My Sunday through Tuesday was absolutely nutty schoolwise. I survived of course, so today I took the day off. It wasn't really a planned day off. I ended up going to the dentist to have a tooth I had a root canal started on finished up. Waking up with the tooth throbbing kind of left me no choice. Anyway, for anyone who hasn't had one all I can say is that root canals suck and they're a good reason to take the day off and become committed to flossing  

So despite the tooth pain I did spend time batting. I returned to the Richland Building. I'm in the mood to finish it up. Below is where things are at right now. 

It's coming along fairly well. Figuring out the geometry for the three stairways actually took some doing because it's difficult to pick out all the pieces from one and other once you get enough of them in one place. Anyway, they're done. From here it shouldn't be too long to get the back and left sides squared away, then it'll be the roof and night lighting and that'll be it. This one could be done sometime on the weekend and if not, it'll be wrapped up next week for sure. As always comments and feedback is welcome.

[simdad1957 3]

Sorry about your tooth but I'm glad to see that pain is your inspiration. Keep up the good work!!

[spa 970]

Thanks Simdad.

Just a small udpate today. I didn't have much time today, but I did manage to finish up the back and the left side. Below are the pictures. 


All that needs to be done now is the roof and night lighting and then it'll be ready to go. The one thing that I'm thinking of doing still is darkening the wall texture about 10-15. Just a shade down so that it's a little less bright. Probably do the same for the garage door. That won't take long though. I'll probably release Sunday night.

[marc 13]

Ah, this looks like another winner!

[jacqulina 162]

wonderfull in game shots nice roof details,and the next project looks really great

[cammo2003 20]

The city is actually called Kensington as well lol. (It's the one that came in the London region in the game). Fantastic work spa, I look forward to whatever's next.

Actually on a side note, it reminds me of the civic offices in my hometown, so it has mulitpurpose appeal as well! (Definately a universal building).quote>

Yeah, I'd say it does. it almost makes me think of a small urban mall, too.

[asturianu 4]

Wow, Sam, you won't stop making me amazed. This building (the last) is incredible. Wow!! Is simply magnific. Lloyd will be the Sam's BATs capitol, when you do a new building i build it in Lloyd, and one day, i'll have a totally Spa BATs city because yours are the best buildings in SC4.

Nice new project!!!!

[sorchin 18]

Another lovely building Spa. Personally I would try to add a second color to the wall texture. Perhaps something "dirty" or darker. Just my opinion of coarse. The detail is fine the way it is. I wouldn't add anything to the detail..

Take care..

[spa 970]

Marcszar: Thanks

Jacqulina: Thanks. I too like how Kensington Place turned out.

Cammo2003: hmm I hadn't thought of it as an urban mall. Having walked by it so much to me it's only an office building. Interesting to see how everyone else sees it. Thanks for your comment.

Christian: Thanks for your comment. You're unquestionably my #1 fan. It's nice seeing my bats go to such great use in Lloyd.

Sorchin: Thanks. I have darkened the texture and changed the UVW map so that there is slightly more detail to it. It's still fairly clean, but that's kind of how the real building is so I'll probably leave it (I believe the building's owner has his own pressure washer and enjoys it because it seemed like all summer long they were giving the building a blast every couple of weeks).

So not much to report. I know I estimated this for Sunday, but I have ended up a lot busier than I thought I would be. I did end up with some time today though so I have put the finishing touches on the Richland Building. The roof junk and texturing is done and it's all lit up for the night. Below are the pictures.

Looking at the photos, I realize that I need to go back to photoshop and burn the top left corner of the roof texture again and I think I'll cut the bluish grey HVAC entirely since it doesn't gel with the rest of the roof equipment. Both of these edits are minor so unless there are any last minute show stoppers I'll send this to the render while I'm at school. My evening should be pretty free and the girl friend is going to some law function so I should have all the time I need to sort out an appropriate lot and get this uploaded. Up next, I want to finish up two small commercial buildings that I started ages ago and return to my Garrison Woods project. Barby has assigned me some prop family IDs so I should be good to go ahead and finish that one up... as long as making prop families isn't too difficult that is.

[toxicpiano 125]

it looks excellent! Would you mind posting the roof texture for that or kensington?

[asturianu 4]

Hey, Sam, my friend, i'm in the breack time now in the High School and i can post one thing:

This building is incredible, i don't know where i'll build it in Lloyd, but i supose in South Downtown, it will be great!!

Yes, i'm the #1 fan of your buildings, the most realistic!!

[jacqulina 162]

wonderfull work there,the textures are great,all the little details must take forever

[Kwakelaar 92]

I really like the rooftexture, and the roof junk, this is another great BAT. Pitty you have not made a w2w but that is just my preference.

I have been installing all your buildings now for a new region, can't wait to see which ones that will start growing.

[nofunk 1,933]

Wow, spa! I regret having only now stumbled upon your BAT thread. You're doing some great work here. I especially like Kensington Place -- it reminds me of a couple office buildings in my hometown. Both are red brick and tiered. (Maybe I'll BAT them eventually.)

The new commerical shops look great too! I think the work you and JBSimio and a few others are doing is really important -- everybody wants to BAT a skyscraper, but there's so much more to a city than just skyscrapers!

[spa 970]

Thanks guys,

Toxicpiano: Not at all. You can find them at the bottom of this reply. Feel free to do whatever with them. No credit necessary.

Christian: Thanks

Jacqulina: Yep. The tiny details that you can only see if you look closely definitely add time onto everything. That said things do get sped up for me in several areas. Since I work from digital photos, I have 75% of my textures just a cut and snip in photoshop away. That really speeds things along. For my Corner Gas bat I didn't have photos and the time difference was fairly substantial. I also keep ever growing files of misc objects and of roof equipment and, unless the building calls for something unique, I'm often able to merge whatever I need from those files. Huge time saver.

Kwakelaar: Thanks. It's your lucky day though. This one is w2w! It'll fit on a 4x3. I'm glad my buildings have found a home in your new region. Best of luck with it. I know it can be a lot of fun to start on a blank screen again. I just recently started a new region after working on my second one ever for the last two years. It really rekindled my interest in actually playing the game.

Nofunk: Thanks. Kensington Place is definitely one of my best ones so far. It seems to remind everyone of a building they know. I never though about it as being nice and generic since their are no buildings like that here in Halifax, but apparently it is. I agree about the skyscrapers. In my new region I deleted a lot of files from my plugins folder because 40 towers for a region with only one downtown is just wasting space on my computer. We really need more mid-rises and small buildings to round everything out. I'm happy to play a small role in that even if there isn't any glory the way their is for large towers

Kensington Place texture

Richland Roof Texture (sorry I didn't have a version without the darkened spots where I put roof equipment).

[Glenni 1,447]

oh wow!you're such a great batter Spa,always top detail and textures,most probably even better than i am at batting,lol

anyways love the detail on this new one!

[JBSimio 152]

Looks great, Spa! That one came along pretty quick.

And thanks for the textures!!!

JB

[asturianu 4]

Ive just seen the Richland building in the STEX, i can't wait for downloading it in the afternoon, now as usual, i'm in the school, Nice Work!!

Cristian