SPAs Urbanist BAT Thread

[Kwakelaar 92]

Much improved with the new flat roof, it is a bit strange that there are only installations on the flat roof, you might consider putting a "chimney" or two on the rest of the roof as well.

[spa 970]

Trend Fashions is now on the STEX. It can be donwloaded at the link provided below. Below you can also see photos of it in game.

https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=16708

Jacqulina: Thanks as always.

JBSimio: Yeah this one did speed along. I'm a little faster at this stuff than I use to be. Getting the front right took the most time.

Josefmayor: Thanks

Bixel: Yeah Maxis didn't give us much in the way of shops. I'm glad you like them. I know I'm in awe of what you guys have done over in the Hong Kong project. Thanks for stoppping by.

Simdad1957: Ahh Halifax's only real rival in the region. I'm definitely looking forward to moving back East. Calgary, and Kensington in particular, has been nice, but it's not home.

Kwakelaar: Thanks for stopping in again. I thought about putting a chimney on the sloped roof but I ended up deciding not to. I figure that with a big flat slab in the centre, the buildng's designers would send everything up the centre since it's easier to build and maintain on a flat surface. Thanks for the suggestion though.

[tankmank 853]

can't wait for more great buildings from you spa

[dmscopio 225]

good job spa. your building fits perfectly with the original ones in game. Especially your texturing, you done a great job on that. Can't wait to see more of your releases on the STEX.

[sorchin 18]

Very nice detail spa. The roof texturing has especially caught my eye.. I'm looking forward to downloading my friend..

[spa 970]

Well everyone I made it and so did my stuff. I'm no longer a resident of Calgary, I'm back home on the East coast in good old Halifax. It's good to be home. I love this city. As you can imagine things have been pretty busy lately what with setting up my apartment and starting my new program. I'm just entering the first year of my urban planning degree at Dalhousie. So far it looks good. My class mates all seem like nice people so that is a plus since I'm going to be spending a lot of time with them over the next two years. My program looks good too. Very hands on which is a definite plus. There is nothing more tedious first thing in the morning than a lecture. 

In other news Canada Post didn't break my computer and I managed to get the internet up and running this evening. I didn't ship my old monitor so I bought a new flatscreen from Staples (it was on clearence so I made out like a bandit on that one) once I found out that my computer was okay. I don't know how I used the old clunker for so long. So with my computer okay I have started batting again. Several pages back I posted a picture of the Richland building and said I would be batting it. Well I'm finally getting around to it. Below is an image of what I have so far.

It's an interesting building in that the streetscape has kind of spread up to the second floor. The second floor storefronts are accessed through stairs at either end. This bat will fit on a 4x3 lot. I'm planning on having stairs accessing the second floor from the back too (as you might guess I'm going to have my usual decorative parking lot on the back). Ignore the light blue windows, I just haven't picked out a glass texture yet. The shops housed in this building are: 

Cyber Park (internet cafe) 

Blue Nile (Ethiopian restaurant) 

Box, Paper, Scissors (stationary store) 

A Taste of Ginger (Asian restaurant) 

Rejuve (body consultants or maybe plastic surgeons I really don't know what they do) 

Richland Development (property developer) 

B & Donna (clothing store that'll probably be out of business shortly) 

Kensington Dental Care (a dentist) 

Still a lot left to do on this one, but it's a good beginning. 

Besides the Richland Building I also have a two other office buildings from Kensington on the go, but they're just in the early stages so I have nothing I want to show just yet. Over the next few months I'll probably start to focus on Halifax's Spring Garden Road, Quinpool Road and downtown since that's the city I'm now living in. We'll see though. A lot depends on my mood. Anyway, as always, feedback is welcome.

[jacqulina 162]

now those are beautifull what a finish,and a fantastic start to your new project the detail allready is excellent

[JBSimio 152]

Spa's back!  Wooooohoooo!  Looks like a great start.  I really like these buildings with the shops on two levels.

JB

[asturianu 4]

The new proyect is Perfect, i can't wait to build it in Lloyd, you know, i always use your perfect buildings, my friend!!!

[Jasoncw 11,941]

Nice to hear your classes are turning out ok.  Good luck with the new project.

[sorchin 18]

Oh very nice spa. the ad signs look great and will be a nice addition my friend

[spa 970]

Jacqulina: Thanks.

JBSimio: Yeah I find the building a very interesting one too. The two floor shops is what got my attention.

Christian: As always I look forward to seeing my stuff appear in your excellent CJ. Thanks

Jasoncw: Thanks. Classes are fine except I'm a little busier than I like to be.

Sorchin: Thanks

So as I was alluding to, I'm fairly pressed for time these days. Classes and other school activities are taking up most of my free time. What little computer time I have, I have actually been spending playing Sim City. I just started a new region, which has kind of reignited a lot of my interest in the actual game. Still, I did get around to doing some batting this weekend. I have put the Richland Building down for now and I have spent some more time on one of the three mid-rise office buildings that I mentioned earlier. I'm ready to introduce one of them now. Check it out below.

It doesn't look like much but quite a bit has already gone into this sorting out angles and dimensions. I do know now with certainity that this will fit snugly, but not w2w, on a lot 5 tiles across. This makes this the biggest project I have yet undertaken and my first office building. This is of course based on an actual building in Kensington called Kensington Place. Below are some photos of the real building that I took back in the Spring that will give you all a good indication of where this one is headed.

Kensington Place Left Corner

Kensington Place Front

As you can see the building sits on a corner and has some interesting geometry. I have decided that I have made enough corner buildings for now though so I'm modifying this one so that it fits on a normal lot. I still want to do the interesting side details though so that's why I have decided that this one won't fit w2w. They'll be a small amount of surplus space on each side so that the side details show up. Anyway that's what I have been up to. If I find some time I'll bat some more this week and post an update, otherwise I'll probably update again this weekend. We'll just have to see what my schedule brings.

[sorchin 18]

That looks much like a building up near where I live in Toronto. It should be an interesting project.

[jacqulina 162]

great and an interesting project i look forward to seeing more and you are welcome

[SC4Noobie 5]

Hey your back! Good! I like this new project going on... I need some low rise buildings. Good work, maybe take a break from batting and start a CJ on your new region! That would be great. Anyhow, show us some pics.

[6459978. 106]

Urban planning at Dalhousie, eh? My cousin's starting that program this year too. Maybe you'll run into him. Well I know it can be hard to find time for the BAT, but keep up the good works!

[Kwakelaar 92]

Hope your Urban Planning will make for an interesting study, (should not be a problem) and very nice to see that you are working on the BAT again.

[spa 970]

Jacqulina: Thanks as always for being a loyal viewer.

Sorchin: hmm. Interesting. I guess its a unique enough building but also generic.

SC4Noobie: I have toyed with the idea of starting a CJ, but I just don't play on any kind of regular basis so the updating would be too sporadic. I'll leave CJs to the real dedicated players. Perhaps though I will take a few shots of my new region and I'll put them up here next time I'm playing. I do have to agree with you too. We can always use more mid-rises. Most batters, unfortunately, go for the glamour of the skyscrapper.

6459978: Small world! Indeed. With summer over you must be feeling it again too since, if I remember correctly, your time is fairly booked up by school too.

Kwakelaar: Thanks. So far the urban planning degree has been great. First time in quite a while that I have been really enthusiastic about school. Still it's nice to find the time to do some batting. I noticed that you've updated your thread this evening too. It's nice to see that you're still working away too.

So this urban planning degree is a lot of work. Much more time intensive than the humanities degrees I have done up until this point. It's a good thing it's interesting because I certainly wouldn't work myself at this point for just anything. This weekend though I'm out house sitting at my parents place while they're up in Ontario. It means I miss all the hoopla in Halifax around the Rolling Stones concert, but it has been pouring rain (the concert is outdoors) and I'm honestly feeling a little old for all that nonsense so I'm happy to hang out here in the country with the girl friend and pretend I'm on vacation. Anyway, I have spent some more time on Kensington Place this evening so I have another update ready (some of this I added during the week).

Apologies for the poor quality image. My parents don't have photoshop or any other image editing program so I was stuck using MS paint to make this. As you can see lots still left to do, but the front is really starting to come together. I'm hoping to have everything on the front except the right corner done by the end of the weekend, but I'll have to see how much time I have tomorrow. Anyway, I'll pop back again soon.

[sorchin 18]

It's starting to take shape my friend. The basic features are well detailed..

[spa 970]

Thanks Sorchin! So I did most of what I had hoped to get done on Kensington Palce today. I was also tired of starring at untextured materials so I went on a texture creation binge this evening. Anyway the result of today's modelling and texturing are pictured below. 

Almost ready to move onto the back and sides. Just need to fill in the UPS store entrance on the right and darken the white sign on the 3rd floor. Ignore the funny effect on the top of the brick post on the right. That'll be covered up soon. Anyway, school looks like it'll be busy this week and I'm going to be in and out of the country so I don't know whether or not I'll get anything more done. We'll just have to see. I would like to move this one along as I'm enjoying making it. It's something quite different from the buildings I have made so far. Anyway, I'll update again soon.

[josefmayor 8]

wow the detail on that is amazing!

[Bobbo662 23]

I like it very much! Excellent job!

[simdad1957 3]

I really enjoy the style of buildings that you are specializing in. Downtown commercial streets have been sorely neglected on the STEX. I can't wait to see you tackle Spring Garden Road or Quinpool Road. Thanks for your hard work but remember that your studies always come first.

[JBSimio 152]

Looks good Spa! The textures definitely help show what's really going on. I can never seem to get as far as you did without doing the textures... I just need the visual.

JB

[sorchin 18]

Nicce Spa. Just curious. Will we be able to see the interior of this building once it's done? That would really look nice. Of coarse that will slow the BAT down considerably as well.

[Sim shady 12]

very nice! the buildngs looks great, and i must say i love how its turning out. heck the textures on it look better than the real building's

[Kwakelaar 92]

Nice work on the new building. I like the way you have been making the windows on the 'mezzanine floor', futher all details do look very good.

Glad to hear that you enjoy the urban planning, is there a lot of design or more theory?

[jacqulina 162]

you are welcome my friend,beautiul work and the details are excellentl

[ILL Tonkso 1,239]

Now i like this one I have been using all of your stuff, its really usefull.

[toxicpiano 125]

that building is very nineties! It looks awesome! (will fit anywhere in the UK).