The Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet) BAT Preview

[spincrus 0]

Hello all. I'm not new to Simtropolis, have been watching this community ever since 2004. I have been an active modder in the Civilization 3, and recently, Civilization 4 modding scene (in CivFanatics). I've always created 2D images (texturing, buttons, UI, etc.) using Paint Shop Pro, as it was cheap to afford in the first place, unlike 3D Studio Max or Maya. I always envied the 3D people pumping out new units using various different 3D modelling programs.

But I said "enough is enough" and I started my first, ever (in my life) modelling journey. I played around with 3DSMax for about 3 days and I've learned quite a bit. But animated units for Civ4 (when the SDK for Civ4 is released) are very hard to make, so I said to myself, "why not just practice on easier stuff AND contribute to a community I've been leeching off of for the whole time" and decided to be involved in the BAT community.

So my journey began, and I decided to make some stuff which I REALLY think the modding community lacks. Even though there are great, great examples of similar models on the STEX, and even though the Hagia Sophia is included in SC4, there's an imminent lack of mosque and masjid BATs in the community.

I'm currently taking the Sultanahmet Mosque in Istanbul as a reference, using some pictures I've Googled up, and started a very robust version of it.

This is how far I've come, and I'm intending to update this thread with new images until I'm finished.

I REALLY appreciate ANY criticism from the community, even harsh ones. As the quality standarts have been raised quite a bit by the modding community, I don't want to publish something that you'd look at and say "meh...".

I'd also appreciate any help with textures for the models, as I'm very confused with the whole concept of Materials. I've never thought texturing would've been such a challenge.

This is a very, very early example. And, thanks in advance

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Welcome to Simtropolis!

That's quite an impressive story you got there, and it seems to me that once you get the taste of creating some kind of custom content for one game, you somehow get started on custom stuff for other games, too. Before I dicovered SC4, I used to be a bot waypointer for a Counter-Strike bot myself. Quite a change, too, huh?

Anyway, that mosque you showed already looks very promising, not n00bish at all. YOu already seem to have mastered the modeling part pretty well. So are you using the BAT for Max script or whatever it's called? In this case, we have some experts here who use 3dsMax as well - not me, I'm just a humble lot making and tweaking guy who couldn't BAT a brick.

That's why I won't be any help when it comes to applying textures with 3dsMax, but I can always try to give some constructive criticism. I hope I'll be able to follow this thread, because the beginning sure looks both interesting and promising.

Good luck with your BATting ventures, and I hope you can get some qualified help around here.

[1ajs 49]

hmm looks beutifull can't wait for you to finish this.......... good luck

[S70 0]

That looks great so far!

[choco1 4]

Welcome to simtropolis! I'm sure you'll love it here, its the home of simcity batters everywhere! Good luck, and your design is looking great so far, I look forward to seeing what happens to it!

[spincrus 0]

Thanks for the moral support That's what I love about modding communities, especially when the people who appreciate the challenges of modding do the posting.

I've actually decided to not make this a fictional one, but instead, a replica of the Blue Mosque.

[1ajs 49]

wow just stunning after you do this one wana do the worlds tallest one......... its locaded in moroco ...

[spincrus 0]

Please note that the textures won't all remain the same! Some of the texturing is just temporary, more like "place holders" as it would really ruin the feel if I let the polygons and elements remain in their original color (like, horribly bright red and pink, etc).

I'm actually having incredible fun doing this!

[spincrus 0]

@1ajs: Of course! I'd love to! I can just extract the textures from the picture and use them. The golden crescent at the top is already modelled for this current project anyway Can you provide me with the name of the structure? Even better, can you provide me more pictures?

@everyone: I can do the BAT modelling, I can do the Lot arrangement, but I'll need help in giving stats to the building. Cost, monthly cost, cap reliefs, etc... It's better for me to leave this part to people who have been doing it for a while already and have a good grip on balance.

[S70 0]

Wow! The original is beautiful! I can hardly wait!

[Kwakelaar 92]

I must say this mosque is looking very promising, the domes are very well made. Good luck.

[1ajs 49]

die Moschee Hassan II its in casablanca ... i have stood at the foot of its tower

[brtim2 10]

Just remember to scale the domes up a bit as the camera angle in SC4 makes the domes look squished and ugly. Depending on how you want the dome to look you only need to scale it up to 125% or you can go all the way to 167%. Keep it up.

[meowza 230]

Cant wait for this first release man! Keep it up!

[spincrus 0]

Our workers have been working non-stop to build this great piece of architecture.

(Working on BATs has given me a greater sense of appreciation of the architects and the workers)

[spincrus 0]

I have encountered a huge problem: the BAT is 3DSMax 8 incompatible! NNNNOOOO!

Therefore, I've put a halt on this project for now, but I'm refining my modelling skills.

I'll DEFINITELY release this once the BAT is available.

[toxicpiano 125]

there's a BAT for max conversion, however you'll have to wait for the modding files section to be up. there's a thread on it but i dont know if the download link still works.

[vester_DK 477]

I am sorry to hear that you have encountered this problem. Was looking forward to see this building.

It has the best ratio between span and thickness of the shell. The span is 44 meters and the thickness is 0.65 (average). This gives a ratio of ~68. The St Peter's Basilica has a ratio ~19. Its has a span of 48 meters, but the thickness is 2.5 meters. This ratio was first surpass around 1925.

btw: Hagia Sophia was build as a church, but converted into a Mosque.

[nurhak 1]

yeah i think we need much more mosques and the blue mosque is a good start .

Heres a nice picture of it.

[patriots_1228 51]

ive never really thought about putting mosques in my cities, mostly because ive never seen one in RL before, but thats a beautiful building. If they opened up Disney in Turkey, that would be cinderellas castle

[Scaley McSlither 1,714]

Originally posted by: 1ajs wow just stunning after you do this one wana do the worlds tallest one......... its locaded in moroco ...

quote>

It's already been done by Fukuda...

https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/index.cfm?id=17442

[Sim shady 12]

lol mike thats exactly what i was gonna say, looks like you beat me to it, even though we are both a couple of months late!

[MarcosMX 216]

Umm do you even realize this thread is like 1 year old!!!

[Sim shady 12]

ya! lets all flame nurhak for reviving a dead thread!!! lol