Chicago style Brick 2 flat R$$

[FlibbidyFleu 0]

Hey all this is my first post,

I figured after all the cool stuff I have downloaded from the STEX I should at least make some sort of contribution, so I decided to mess around with BAT a little, I figured I should start small so I am making some brick 2 flats. I think I will make 4 mesh varients and maybe some alt textures so so that there are around 16 different growable R$$ lots. 

 

The mesh is about 90% done and needs some roof junk. I am just starting to make the textures now.

Please let me know what you think of the following:
I was planning on making each building 1x3 so there would only be 1 building per lot.
Also I was thinking of making the grow as chicago architecture only.

Thnx

J

[Jasoncw 11,840]

wow, your first post!

Your project sounds good. I only suggest making them 1x2, since the ones in the game and most of the custom ones are 1x2.

ah, I can see picture now. Remember that each floor should only be about 5 meters tall. Since that building is 2.5 stories tall, it should be about 12.5 meters tall, plus some for what extends past the roof. Just from the looks of it, after scaling, it will probably be a 1x2 with two buildings per lot. I like the way that the sidewalk lines up with the steps, but unfortunatly that sidewalk is actually a driveway, lol.

[irishgrapes 1]

Cool, you should look at some of the rowhouses on the HABS website (see HABS topic for more information).

[JayStimson 211]

Very nice style and an excellent beginning. Chicago tileset works okay. New York would work too I think. I always have "ALL" checked anyway... lol... so that doesn't really matter to me.
I have to agree with Jason though, the scaling needs adjustment. After reading what he wrote and then looking back at the pics, the building is huge. lol Don't take offense please. Getting the scaling right can be a real PITA sometimes. I really like the parking in the back. Looking forward to the next iteration.

[FlibbidyFleu 0]

Thanks for the replys...



Yeah now looking at this in context with other buildings this size it was too big. I scaled it down and have 2 on one 1x2 lot. Driveway? Yeah I knew that

I took a look at HABS. Cool site, got that bookmarked now.

These type of rowhouses are very common in Chicago but I would assume that New York style is probably pretty similar.

J

[ten1902 4]

you might see some buildings like this in SOHO or the village, but it is more previalent in NJ suburbs of NYC, such as Jersey City, Union City, West New York, etc.

i really like the style, cant wait to see the variations on it

[JayStimson 211]

Much better now. A little texturing, some roof junk, a touch of nitelites and I'd say you got something pretty nice here.

[onlyplace4 603]

Just a quick comment. These look awesome, but you might like to consider the scaling of the buildings. From what I can tell looking at these pics you have fallen into the same trap I fell into at first by scaling to a Sim. I assume you are working in gmax in generic units. If so, check the door height - you need to be aiming for a door height of about 2.5 generic units. Easy way to check this is to do a 'dirty' draft render, plonk the model in the LE, and plonk a Maxis building nextto it for comparison. If it looks right, then you have the scale right and I'm talking out of what I'm sitting on. If not, it's a simple matter to rescale without loosing any of the impact.

Keep up the good work ... I'll look forward to seeing these great buildings on the STEX

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Hold it, wait a second... FlibbidyFleu? The FlibbidyFleu? Creator of the Bank One Plaza?

Anyway, it's nice to see you here, and I'd love to have more Chicago-sytle rowhouses!

As onlyplace4 said, however, the scale looks indeed a bit off. For a reference, you can also make a draft landmark lot and put one of the game's default 2-storey rowhouses (those yellowish/orange ones) next to your BAT to compare the dimensions.

Keep it up and good luck! I'll follow this thread for sure.

[FlibbidyFleu 0]

Ah!!! Red x's. I am having some server problems but I should be back up soon,  so please bear with me. Sorry bout that.

T Wrecks, lol. Yeah that was me, If I remember right I never did get the nitelites working on Bank One Plaza. Unfortunatly my hard drive crashed and I lost all the Bank One files, 2 Pru, and the Carbine and Carbon building. Not to mention I started a new job and got distracted, but I finaly decided to get back into into doing some BAT stuff. Maybe I will remake Bank One (Chase Building now), hmmm...

I am nearly finished with the first rowhouse varient and as soon as the scale is right I will start working on the other varients.

J


Ok I have the server issue fixed for now...



ten1902, Yeah its kinda the same here you wouldn't find these right in the loop downtown, more in areas like West Town or Lake View.

JayStimson, Thanks! I am getting to the details now.

onlyplace4, lol yeah thats exactly what I did. I never realized that sims were giant amazon people! I did check against the other buildings like this, It is much closer now but I think the issue now is that the windows and doors are a bit oversized, especialy on the side. I will do some work on that now.

[JayStimson 211]

Looking mucho bettero !!! Nice touch of nitelite.Texture looks great. Windows look okay to me ... in the front anyway. Can't really see the side ones very well in the pic. Scaling things (like your windows) is always hard. Sometimes you scale it accurately and then you lose the detail in the game. It's such an art to decide how to scale what. The front stoop looks real good too from what I can see in the pic. If you wouldn't mind, attach a full size pic (this way you get a thumbnail and Andreas won't yell at you, lol) and we get to see the full detail.
And yes, sims are gigantic. That's what happens with growth hormones and steroids.

[onlyplace4 603]

Looking real good We need to hide those darn steroids I think ... even the kids have trouble getting through a properly scaled door! The windows may be a little too large, but personally I don't think that is bad with these models as, as JayStimson said, you can lose so much detail when you scale things down. Have a play with it by all means but I would suggest keeping an untouched copy just in case - so much easier than having to scale things back again!

[ten1902 4]

lovin the nitelites, great touch.

i agree with both above posts, that properly scaled windows and such can lose detail ingame.  personally i like them the way they are, but you are the BATer.

[Simen 1]

Woooow... This is seriously the first time youve batted? this is great work, was thinking of commenting on the textures till I saw that last picture... this is simply amazing!

[wolverine 12]

Nice!

[FlibbidyFleu 0]

Thanks for the kind words everyone, like I said it's the least I could do to give back to the community!

Ok... I think it's done(ish). I have a few areas that light is bleeding through that I need to fix, maybe a few tweaks to the lighting.




When I make the lots do you think I should make the buildings props?

Thanks

J

[onlyplace4 603]

Those are gorgeous, you've really gone that extra mile with attention to detail etc., that makes them very special. As far as making the buildings props, I have now got into the habit of producing one lot with the building as just that - the building, and then releasing the building as a prop for people to use on their own Lots. It's all down to personal preference really. I'm currently converting about 20 of my buildings into props for a mega pack, so to me it makes sense to have your buildings as both pre-determined and designed Lots that people can just plonk in their plugins folder and get on with it, and to have them as props so that people can build their own custom lots which is especially useful for CJers.

I can't wait to get my hands on these little beauties. You deserve a 10/10 rating from everyone who downloads them!

[Dale Kent 28]

They look fantastic!  One suggestions though, with the internal lights like that you might want to think of putting a couple of pieces of furniture in the house, like a chair in front of the window etc.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Looking good! I don't like how the grass is BATed with it. It's going to block shadows from other buildings and props, and plus that grass isn't in any special shape, so you could just as easily use the lot editor grass. The nitelighting is really nice, especially with those window curtains. The windows on the side are too big though, they're almost floor to ceiling. I think a flower pot or two would be good for the porch or the "balcony" too.

[ten1902 4]

Jasoncw is right about the grass, there arent many lots that will match that.

however, i think the side windows are fine the way they are, the small window in the back indicating a bathroom which is very realistic considering the almost "railroad" style layout...any smaller on the back window would lose detail.

personally, i like to use "spare parts" to create my own lots in my cities(i never upload these to STEX for many reasons) so i think a prop pack would be super cool.

finally, flower pots and whatnot would be nice, but certainly not essential.  this BAT is ready for release and the 10's that will follow....

keep on keepin on my friend

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Hmm... that looks sweet! I agree about the windows, though: The door to the backside, for example, is much smaller than the windows. That's really a bit out of proportion IMHO. The night lighting scheme and the roof textures are great, though. Oh, and Jason is right about the grass, too. I would leave the grass and the fence in front of the house to lot makers, especially if you are going to release this house as a prop. Keep up the great work!

[vester_DK 477]

FlibbidyFleu: I most say that I am impressed. 4 post and already able to make a bat like that. You textures are wonder ful with wear and tear.

The roof is a bit to clinical compared to the walls.

Keep up the great work.

[JayStimson 211]

Looking good. Almost there.
I agree about the grass. Use the LE for that. Same with the fence. However, you may not find a fence that has a gate opening that aligns correctly with your front stoop so you may want to make your own fence as a prop and include it in the .dat file.
Make the building a building and not a prop. People can still make their own custom lots with it using a different "save as" name which is easier than expecting them to create their own hidden "dummy" buildings and using a prop to cover it. That's the old way it used to be done.
T Wrecks made a very good observation. Scale the side windows down to look more in line with the back door.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Detail is only lost when you just plain scale something down. It is easy to make the frames thicker once they've been scaled down.

[FlibbidyFleu 0]

I don't know why I didn't do this before. I was scaling based on the first style of rowhouse in the picture but it seems to be the odd man out as far as size goes.




To do list:

I will scale the height to match the other models and widen each building so that each one still takes up half a lot. That should solve any scale issues, and I think if I am careful I can do it without loosing all the details or making the model look squished.

Also I will model some props for inside the house and a few for outside.

I took out the grass, but I do want to have a fence infront of the building so maybe I will make it a prop, personaly I didn't want to make any dependancies (even if they are my own)  but I suppose there isn't anyway around it.

I may do something else with the roof but I am not sure what yet. Maybe just dirty up the textures a bit.

And then the varients... I kinda started on one already.

Thanks for the feedback everyone this will take a bit longer then I expected but it will be worth it since I am learning all this stuff for the first time. I am happy to know that this will make my first STEX release a good one!

J

[onlyplace4 603]

The question of props depends on whether or not you are going to release these as Lots, or as props. If you are going the former route then I would suggest that when you release the files you release them as .dat files rather than a group of SC4 Model, SC4Desc and SC4Lot files. In this way you can incorprate the prop into the .dat file and leave your lots having no true dependencies. You need to have a copy if iLive Files2Dat to merge all the individual files, but I know that this was available from the Mods section of the site which is, of course, still awaiting it's rebirth. Not sure if it's available elsewhere, though you might have it already so that's not an issue

I think these houses are going to make a great impact on the STEX when they are released, and if this is the quality of your very first BAT I can't wait to see what you have for the future!!

[6459978. 106]

Those look great! The question of scale is a minor one; even as they are they blend with the Maxis tileset very well. It's great to (finally) see BATers putting out superbly detailed BATs with worthy texturing (something that in my opinion, most early BATs lacked).

[Odd from Sweden 129]

This project just looks great, those will hit lots of 10

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Just include the other props with the download. Unless the person deletes the props, there will be no problems. When you add everything into the .zip, include some kind of a folder structure so that people keep things together.

I really don't like having everything all shoved into a .dat.

I'd also suggest making more variations other than the colors. You can rearrange the roof junk and make a few quick changes to other things to make them look more different.

[FlibbidyFleu 0]

I was going to wait until I got closer to releasing this BAT before I brought this up but I have been trying to decide the best way to approach the lots.

Here is what I am thinking for the varients:



1: Brick 2 Flat model A1 and B1
these are the ones I have started

2: Brick 2 Flat model C1 and D1
2 more building meshes

3: Brick 2 Flat model A2 and B2
texture varients for buildings A and B

4: Brick 2 Flat model C2 and D2
texture varients for buildings C and D

5: Building with empty lot? Most neighborhoods have the ocassional empty lot I would like to recreate it.

I thought it would be cool to have the buildings grow randomly on the lot, that would make something like 100 lot variations with 1 lot.Unfortunatly I don't think it is possible to randomize the building or have more than 1 building per lot but I am pretty sure I can use a prop family and have a different prop grow each time. I don't think props show up in region view though. Or I could just save myself the hassle and make them 5 seperate lots.

Overall I would like to make something with a neighborhood type feel, so in the future I was thinking of making some 3 flats, maybe an apartment building or two, and a few low rise commercial buildings to cap the whole thing off.

onlyplace4: I had ilive at one time I probably have it on disk somewhere.

J