SPAs Urbanist BAT Thread

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Whoa - not only is this last BAT up to your usual quality level (which has long since reached a definite "pretty d*mn great" ), but it also looks so lively and vivid - I just love it!

[jacqulina 162]

wow so much does go into the things you make,i bet you have a huge amount of files stored,well in anycase you have done excellent work and i bet you are thrilled at the results you get.

[spa 970]

Glenni: Thanks although I would definitely not go that far!

JBSimio: Thanks and your welcome

Christian: Thanks! I look forward to seeing it appear in Lloyd.

T Wrecks: Thanks! Lively and vivid is exactly what I'm going for. Kensington is a very lively place.

Jacquilna: You guessed it. I have actually declared a self-imposed moratorium on "new" files. I have 5 unfinished, barely started bats on the go. Five is more than enough. If I add more I'll never finish anything! And you're right that my misc and roof junk files that I merge out of get bigger all the time. As always thanks for stopping by.

So the word leaked out before I could make an official announcement here, the Richland building is finished. You can download it on the STEX at https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=17170 

I don't know what I'm going to work on next as I have a few files on the go. I'm feeling like tackling my rowhouse project so I'm probably going to look into that, but I also have a few other small commercial buildings that I would like to finish up. The small commercial buildings have the benefit of not being overly demanding. Here they are in real life:

Broken Plate Restaurant, Kensington, Calgary

King of Donair, Spring Garden Road area, Halifax

Jennifer's of Nova Scotia, Spring Garden Road, Halifax

KOD and the Broken Plate will be on 2x3 corner lots and the Broken Plate might include an ultra snug 2x2 version for those really dense downtown areas. What I have done so far on Jennifer's, however, indicates that it might have to be a 1x2 which makes me want to start over with it (my own personal preference steers me away from 1tile wide commercial buildings). Before I go I'll introduce the Spring Garden Road logo since I'm about to start doing some bats from it.

I'll probably add a lightly coloured background to it to prevent the logo from looking odd on the white back to webpages. Anyway, thats where things are it today. I'll update again when I have some progress on whatever I'm up to next.

[Kwakelaar 92]

Hmmm, I was just looking at the shape of the building and thinking this will never fit into a w2w, but I guess I was wrong, oops.

I have not really been playing the game since over a year, but now I have a whole new region and I have been reworking a lot of the stuff I have been downloading (yours I have not needed to do anything with, it just fits right in). And I must say I am having a ball.

Very much looking forward to your next projects.

[Mulefisk 15]

Great building!

About which one you should do next.. I think the seccond one.

SC4 doesen't have alot of wooden commercial buildings.

[simdad1957 3]

Spa:

You won't believe this but in my 2nd year of medical school at Dalhousie university I actually lived on the third floor of the K.O.D. building. Those are my windows on the left hand side of the building! It was a dive but what can you say, it was pretty typical for off campus student apartments in downtown Halifax. It will be a real blast to see this on the STEX. What a hoot!!!

[spa 970]

Kwakelaar: They're deceptive those big w2ws I think it's good that you've rekindled that interest in Sim City. If you're not careful batting can actually start to take over!
Solo: Thanks. KOD it is.
Simdad1957: Now that's kind of freaky. I guess though it is the Maritimes and anyone who has lived here long enough knows that you can't turn around without bumping into someone you know or finding some silly connection. KOD will be my next commercial bat. I'll be taking some liberties off on the right hand side so that it'll fit w2w on a 2x2. I was thinking I would add a Pita Pit to fill in the space. I'll keep the style the same though.


Well now it's time for something completely different, residentals! I didn't think I would be posting again today, but I actually had some free time this evening and I felt like batting (I always feel like batting just after releasing a building). After getting myself assigned a range of prop family IDs (thanks for that Barby) I'm anxious to give rowhouses a try. Besides commercial buidings they're probably my #2 interest. Today I mapped out a plan for the Garrison Woods serires and I picked out names. There's going to be 3 releases in the Garrison Woods set and each release will contain three different rowhouses that will grow together in random combinations. Below is where things are heading.

Garrison Woods Phase 1

3x2 lot (4 row houses on it) 6x2 (8 row houses on it)

Garrison Woods Phase 2

3x2 lot (4 row houses on it) 6x2 (8 row houses on it)

Garrison Woods Phase 3

3x2 lot (3 row houses on it) 6x2 (3 row houses on it) 1x2 (1 row houses on it)

I'm sure some of you are wondering why I'm not making more 1x2s. Well I originally planned on it, but I found that the styles for Phase 1 and 2 woudn't cooperate. 1x2s for Phase 1 and 2 are too short and fat. By making the row houses 12 units across though, instead of w2w's usual 16, I can keep the tall thin style and still make them w2w on 3x2 or 6x2 lots. Phase 3 buildings are a fatter style so they'll be conventionally sized. 

Besides mapping out a plan I also got phase one rolling along. Below is the completed base model. I'm calling it Passchendale Row (the real Garison Wood's streets are named after WWI battles so I thought I would name each building after a battle).

Overall I'm quite pleased. The only thing I'm not really sure about is the chimney. It's seems like something is missing on the top, but I can't put my finger on what it is. My digital photos don't help because I wasn't in a helicopter when I took them! Anyone else have any thoughts? The next step with this model is to save it and start making variations with different entrances, different dormers, different lighting and different backyards. Every model that I make will have windows on the sides even though they'll be covered up most the time to avoid blank walls on the ends. Depending on how much time I have Phase 1 could be well underway next week.

[asturianu 4]

WOW!! I really love your rowhomes project, and the other buildings are very interesting!!

I really love the Halifax one, and Kensington ones look very Canadian. I couldn't build yet the last from Kensington because i didn't played the Simcity since Wednesday or Tuesday, but this Weekend, i'll build the last building and think where the new projects would be good placed.

This is a great BAT threat. This is simply what i need, lots of real Canadia buildings, perfect for Lloyd, and all my Canadian and American cities.

I really like your recreations.

[JBSimio 152]

Hi Spa!  Sorry I haven't commented lately... all the pictures were taking too long for me to let the page load, so I had to wait until a quicker computer!

I like the Broken Plate a lot.  The front doors really strike me for some reason.  The row house project should be a good one.  I remember you mentioning it earlier... nice to see you back at it.  It's been on my "things I should try someday" list for quite some time, too!  I like the look of the first one... those dormers are a good touch.

You say your chimney doesn't look right.  I think that's because the real thing isn't right.  They have a traditional chimney for show which is only surrounding an aluminum vent used for what is probably a zero clearance gas fireplace or something along those lines.  From the street, it probably isn't noticable... from SimCity view, it becomes pretty obvious.  Depends on which look you're going for, I guess.  If you want to stick with what they have, then I think it looks fine.  Otherwise you could always change it into a more traditional clay liner type of opening with a larger diameter.

JB

[toxicpiano 125]

Are you sure you don't live in the UK because those houses look very British! Very nice work!

[nofunk 1,933]

Oh heck! That was super quick, spa! That's a great rowhouse, and I can't wait to see the other phases. I love rowhouses and once again you are filling a gap in the game. Even with all the rowhouses already submitted to the STEX, I think there is a definite need for even more variety.

Concerning the chimney, you've only got one outlet there. On a lot of these buildings, I've seen two or even four outlets -- so you might try just cloning that duct and rearranging them. Also, I'm not sure about the roof texture over the dormers in the west view, but I have no idea how you'd improve upon that.

Here are a couple exmaples of what I'm thinking:

(I did not add the descriptors.)

Hope that helps!

[6459978. 106]

Very nice model! If I can make a suggestion (which, you understand, I do a lot of) you might want to try to find a way to add depth to those windows. Right now they look like they're just textures slapped on a wall. This is a problem I have too, and I'm not sure what the best way to remedy it is. Maybe set the glass back farther so we can see some shadows? Or make thicker trim, but I like the proportions as they are now.

[spa 970]

Christian: Thanks. I look forward to seeing what you do with my new release.

JBSimio: Hey no problem. I did tend to go picture heavy with the last few updates. Still you're never obligated to comment Today though I'm especially glad you did. You're bang on about the chimney. Garrison Woods is one of those what was old is new again developments so it fits. I ended up adding another vent to the chimney and that made it look a lot less empty so I think I'm good there now. Thanks for the advice. You connected the dots that were right in front of my face.

Toxicpiano: It is definitely a very British kind of style. That's part of their marketing appeal. Garrison Woods is essentially a glamorized Calgary suburb. The marketing looks back into the past romantically and since Canada was colonized by Britain, it shows up now and then.

Nofunk: It did kind of come together. It was only four hours work though (I had a lot of the early stuff already finished from before). I agree about the rowhouses. I use them extensively in all my cities as they're a nice way to still be urban with low densities so more is always welcome. Thanks so much for your chimney picture. You inspired me to include a lead flashing and you gave me the word to search google with! Big help. As for texturing there, I don't know either. The UVW was tough to get around that area without it looking silly because of the curves. I'll try playing around with it again but I don't know that it will help given my earlier experience. Thanks for the feedback.

6459978: Thanks. Don't worry about making suggestions. Yours are always the best kind; constructive and detailed.  I know what you mean and I'll try to move the glass back a, bit but I'm not optomistic. Each window is actually two panels. I essentially made it so that if you opened it the bottom window would slide over the top. The top glass is .075 from the wall edge and the bottom is .125 I haven't had problems with my commercial buildings with similiar measuremebts which makes me think that this might be the comlicated many piece frames that I'm using for these. Anyway, I'll try moving the glass back another little nudge just to see what it looks like or althernatively I could nudge the whole frame back a little bit. I'll try both and see how it looks. Thanks for the input.

So I did some more today. This kind of came together a lot quicker than I thought it would. Turns out that making slight variations on each model isn't that tough or comlicated. Since it was so easy I ended up adding another three variations on top of the 3 I had originally planned. So Phase 1 now includes 6 models that are basically complete. Below is a photoshop mock up of them to give you a more clear idea of where this is going.

Not bad for something I picked up again two days ago! I'm short one on the back preview because I haven't finished another deck variation yet. Besides that though it'll be time for night lighting and finishing touches before the rendering and modding phase begins. I have a ton of work to do tomorrow and Sunday though and I'm going to a Halloween party tomorrow night so I don't think I'll have much time to work on these until sometime next week.

One other issue that has occurred to me that I wanted to ask about. What tileset do you guys think these should grow in? I'm tempted to let them grow in everyone because they're new but based on an old style. Alternatively they could be New York and Chicago or Houston and Euro. I really don't know at this point. Thoughts?

[cammo2003 20]

Yeah, I think these are generic enough to allow to grow in all sets. Then again I may be biased because I like to see rowhome communities and they're hard enough to grow as it is...

Oh, and in the longer run, a few texture variants wouldn't hurt either.

[ACEfanatic 7]

I'd say restrict them to Houston or Euro. PoMo is still PoMo, no matter how closely it think it represents older architecture.

Have you considered any 'walljunk'? Gutters, that kind of thing? I think it'd give the walls a bit of depth, which they really need right now.

-ACE

[Mulefisk 15]

I say put it in the chicago set.

I'd rather have these grow next to old rowhouses than modern apartments. Regardless of what style they really are.

Looking great tho!

[asturianu 4]

Nice new Rowhomes, Sam. Will you do the plop or grow? Two possibilities are good for Lloyd and all the suburbs.

Great new project!!

[Spike345 20]

Can we expect a corner version of this building?

[nofunk 1,933]

These are really nice, spa! I agree with ACE -- these should probably go in Houston or Euro. Even though they fit NY and Chicago, they're a bit too clean, I think, for those sets. Also, if you get the chance, I also think so "wall junk" would go a long way here. That way, when they build next to each other, they don't look like one long building -- as they do now -- and instead look like separate constructions. Something as simple as storm drains might make them more distinct.

In any case, these are looking great! I love how each has a distinct entrance and deck on the back. Nice touch.

[spa 970]

Just a few quick replies today

Cammo2003: I'm leaning on the all set option too as I think it would properly be best for my own purposes. I was just kind of scouting out community opinion. I'm not planning on any major texture variations. I don't want to be too bogged down with renders. The set plus the others will either be 15 or 18 renders and double that for each texture variation. I was thinking though that I might include a dark brick version family as well if it looked alright and their was demand for it.
Acefanatic: Gutters, now that's not a bad idea. I'll give that some thought.
Mulefisk: Thanks. Opinion seems to be split fairly evenly!
Christian: Definitely growables. Plop residentals don't work. I'll probably include a landmark version of the lot though just for people to see what they look like.
Spike345: You know when I was on the bus the other day that thought occurred to me. I thought of a corner residental and a corner with commercial would be appropriate. 2x2s or 4x2s to go down the ends. It's not on the immediate to do list with this project, but it's definitely kicking around. In the interim, these are designed so that the corners won't be completely bleak. I have windows on the side so that ends won't be blank walls no matter which variation grows on the end slot.
Nofunk: Ahh you're coming in as Ohio here to swing the vote. That makes 2 for Hou/Euro, 1 for NY/Chi and 1 for all four. I'll definitely take a look at wall junk. I don't know what I could add besides some gutters to break it up. Maybe an electric meter? I'll give it some thought. Thanks for stopping by.

[Glenni 1,447]

I think it  fits for NY / CHI more than HOU / EURO. well regardless great detail  ,spa ,and i look forward to see how they'll look with "wall junk".

[spa 970]

Glenni: Thanks. The split on which set to put it in continues

So I have had a busy week but this evening I have some time so I'm fiddling with Garrison Woods. Below is an updated front and back preview picture of one of the rowhouses. 

I have taken the advice given and made some modifications. I have set the windows back another .05 and it seems to have added some depth to the walls that was lacking before. I'm pleased with the result. Thanks for calling that out 6459978! I also added drains down to the ground to try and break up the walls as several of you mentioned. I'm not so sure about them though. I might still leave them off. What do you guys think? One mystery with them is they're identical in every way and set at the exact same difference off the wall but, as you can see, the front version is darker than the back. It makes no sense because, the one is an exact copy of the other. Such are the mysteries of GMAX. What I'm leaning on doing right now is deleting the one off the back because it kind of glares and keeping the one on the front. Anyway, I'm going to fix the windows in the rest of the models and maybe get some lighting underway. Who knows, I might start rendering some of the models tonight!

[6459978. 106]

Looking good! I'm glad you're pleased with the windows, as I am too!

[jacqulina 162]

nice work looking great

[Jasoncw 11,941]

I haven't checked here in a while and I've missed a lot!

Everythings looking good so far.  I understand what you're saying about the tilesets.  I could see them in any of them.

The only thing I have to say is that when they're lined up, the shadow from the porch doesn't fall on the building next door, and that looks weird.

For making them look less the same, you can change the window textures.

[spa 970]

6459978: Yeah they look much better.
Jacqulina: Thanks
Jasoncw: Well what can I say, I'm a busy guy At this point, since there is no consensus, I'm going to make them grow on all tile sets. About the shadows, I didn't realize that this would be a problem. I thought the game woudl be smart enough to figure it out but apparently not. Unfortunately, I don't know that there is anything I can do about it now except for put it on the things I've learned column. I could move all the entrances to the middle of each buiding. It kind of sacrifices the look I was going for, but it might be better than losing the shadows. I'll have to see.


So it was a very successful evening. I'm nowhere near done or anything but I sucessfully rendered a few of the rowhouses, turned them into props and then made a prop family of two of them. Below is where things sit.

Ignore Big Ben. The lot editor wouldn't let me create a blank lot so I picked the smallest landmark for my test. The buildings do appear randomly so the prop family thing I have down pat. Unfortunatley you can see my favourite Nvidea graphics card issue is hard at work on these. I'm going to try and change a few of the textures and the walls to see if I can reduce its prevalence because I really don't like how this looks right now. For most people, the spoltchy spots shouldn't be a problem since, from what I have learned of this issue, it's limited to just a few nvidea graphics cards. Since I'm going to have rerender anyway, I guess I'll move the doors to the middle so that the shadows don't end up messed up (that's really annoying!). It looks like the eaves troughs need to be really smack against the edges as well to avoid looking silly. So it's a little rough, but I'm on track here. I just have to go back and make some small changes. If things go well Phase 1 could be out this weekend or next week.

I do have a question for the experts though, when making buildings as props to get around the lot editor's requirements of having a "building" on the lot what do you do? Is it possible to make blank growable lots with stats or do I need to render a tiny little square to use as the building model that can be hid underneath the props?

[Kwakelaar 92]

These look very good Spa, the waterdrain and setting the windows a bit deeper was IMO a good move.

I make a see-through box as a building when I am using props, maybe Barby has found a work around for this. I think she maybe modded some farms for me one time like that.

By the way I am also starting to see the dark spots on my renders as well now, it is just such a strange problem as I have never had that before.

[spa 970]

Thanks Kwakelaar. I have a pm from Barby that I'll try to decipher later but I think I'll probably go with the tiny transparent box solution. As for the darks spots, sorry to hear that you too are now suffering them. It's a frustrating problem that sometimes makes me think that I will buy SC5 right out of the box

Just a quick update to show one of them (Vimy Row) all fixed up.

As you can see I moved the front door to the middle to eliminate the shadow bug and I fixed up the splotches by covering them up with eaves trough! The lot design isn't final or anything but this is what I have in mind. I'm going to have to use a dependency however because the Maxis hedges don't fit. Shockinly enough, I'm just discovering the built in prop families that came with the game. They'll come in handy to make the flora look even more random. Anyway, this one could be ready today, but I'll probably hold onto it for a while for some intensive testing on my own cities before I release it.

[jacqulina 162]

these are fantastic very nice texture and details

[nofunk 1,933]

These are just gorgeous, spa!