New canals? Surely you can't be serious?

[Connor]

Really like the sculling club. Is it based on an actual building in Brixham, Devon?

[callagrafx]

Guess what, it's your FG settings too    ... Although I may increase the bounces to 3, which is what I normally set them to.  At game resolution it's hardly noticeable so I'm not too concerned.  The textures all have matching gamma (matching the final result, that is) and the A&D material is set baseline without reflectivity or glossiness. 

As for the whole day/night issue, I use material libraries and self illuminating textures sometimes for windows. And I somehow took it for granted I'd need to follow the two stage render process with your scripts. 

It's no biggie to have two models, I simply work on the day version and then merge the lights from the night version to reflect any changes... and yes, having the ability to change the mesh to reflect a night state is, I agree, a benefit. 

@Connor: Actually no, it's based on the one in Maidenhead, but I wanted to use the B S C acronym and thought it'd tie in nicely with the Brixham Boatyard lot 

[turtle]

Wonderful canals, Callagrafx. They really look gorgeous and will be a natural choice once released, even without diagonals.

May I ask, since you are making them in HD, why are you not releasing them as such?

Regards
turtle

[callagrafx]

Wonderful canals, Callagrafx. They really look gorgeous and will be a natural choice once released, even without diagonals.

May I ask, since you are making them in HD, why are you not releasing them as such?

Regards
turtle

Simply... filesize.  An SD model of a single piece is around 85KB, an HD version comes in almost double at 155KB.  Multiply that by 12 individual pieces (for the base set alone) and you have a release of over 2MB... and then multiply that by the sheer number that would need to be plopped to create a decent canal system and soon you're pushing the game to it's limit.  It has been generally agreed that HD is reserved for small props, such as roadside signs etc.  Even HD trees will be a bit of a resource hog, which is a shame as Girafe is making some nice ones. 

[SimFox]

3 bounces for day is a default setting...
Anyway, it is your creature so you gonna rear it the way you like. I'm just suggestion something to consider...
It is good to see such project going. these are such details that really add a lot to the game...

I absolutely agree with the fact that there is no much point in releasing things like canals in "HD" apart for wasted HDD and memory you'll get inferior Zoom5 .

However, i have to "step in" on the whole "adding up issue". Game instances models. So if your canal set will total say 2mb, even if you plop every tile on a large map with pieces, use each of them, it will never take more than said 2 mb of memory.

[zero7]

Nice work on the new canal set.  I shall look forward to replacing my existing ones.

Are you going to release the models to allow matching additions, as previously?

[callagrafx]

@Simfox: Odd, mine was set to 2.  No biggie, I can check the script and make sure it defaults to 3.  As for the HD thing, while I know it instances, it still has to load and unload images into VRAM and if you're close in and scrolling, it's gonna lag with loads of HD renders....and as the benefit is only seen at Z6 and is fairly crappy at Z5, there is, as you say, no point.

@zero7: Richard, I can do but the Max file will be limited to 2009 or higher, but I can export as a .3ds and include the texture and material libraries.  Replicating the water in lower versions may be tricky but I can include a readme with the relevant settings.  It's just an Ocean Lume as a bump map with flat diffuse colour, but I used an MR Physical sky to get the reflectivity and coloration.  Are you thinking of lowering the water again or having a path?  If so I tried that and the wall shadows really screwed with the water reflection, so much so that each tile would need to be 16m wide by 32m deep.

OK, happy enough with this one, and it's cooking now 



And from the other side:

[zero7]

I'm using 2009 Design, so that would be fine for me.  Thanks for letting me know about the issue with lower water - it saves me trying to update my last set using your water settings and finding I'm wasting my time.  From what you say it would appear that any deeper canal set would need to be separately developed this time rather than an extension set.

I was actually thinking in terms of extending your set with some footbridges and canalside buildings when I asked the question, so was more interested in matching the pieces you're currently working on.

Talking of canalside buildings - that rowing club is a brilliant addition, particularly if there are going to be some boats out on the water to go with it.

[SimFox]

Cal, may I ask, have you made those hedges with Particle Array?

[callagrafx]

No... they're part of an old set of models I bought a few years ago...simple meshes but are OK at distance.

[SimNation]

Fantastic work on the new set callagrafx.The stone makes the canals stand out quite nicely.

[callagrafx]

After some issues getting the building to line up nicely with the slipway, I've got to a point with the sculling club where I'm happy....





The LOT is far from complete, it's really a placeholder for testing, however it's more or less what'll be the final in terms of position of building & car park etc, just made oh so much better by Barby.

[cubby420]

The progress looks awesome. I know its not complete but the basic layout of the lot looks very promising.

[Diggis]

The markings on the slipway seem a bit dark, and the line of the water seems a bit straight.  You have waves showing in your reflections etc, so you need to reflect that on the ramp. 

[callagrafx]

The markings on the slipway seem a bit dark, and the line of the water seems a bit straight.  You have waves showing in your reflections etc, so you need to reflect that on the ramp. 

That means displacement... Not sure if the texture will merge properly.

Edit: It does 

[SimFox]

This is not final export, or is it?

[callagrafx]

This is not final export, or is it?

maybe, maybe not 

Actually, this one is:

[joelyboy911]

With everything else so realistic, the ramp simply disappearing at the waterline seems quite artificial to me. It also looks like quite a severe angle for the boats to slide down and be dragged back up. Other than those picky details, I very much like the building.

[tag_one]

Lovely work as always Lee! 
For the boathouse I have some small suggestions. I agree with Joelyboy that the ramp is a bit steep. Apart from that the concrete will damage the boat when the boat hits the ramp. A pier along the full length of the ramp would be better imo. I would also like to suggest some more space to clean the boats. Normally a boat gets cleaned each time it's used. This is to keep the skin free of dirt and other stuff that causes friction 

BTW, I DAMNed you canals. If you want to include the DAMN installer let me know

[Orange_o_]

I would make the same remark as my companions. The building and the canal are wonderful, but the slipway isn't perfect.
If you tilt more the slipway, you could maybe have a transparent water?