Xiahou's BAT Showcase

Travis · September 20, 2007, 04:20:39 PM

That second pic- I know of a texture that could work well for that path.

QuoteI also have an idea for one of the props that I want to test out (they are allowed to overhang towards the road correct? or would that cause issues?

I assume you mean the driveway? It won't cause issues at all, good idea.

Pat · October 04, 2007, 06:03:58 PM

WoW XD those are some amazing houses.... great Job on that my friend

XiahouDun · October 05, 2007, 08:42:20 PM

Thanks Pat

Mostly done with my next house also. Just need a few minor details and its done.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v151/phoenixcaptain/SC4/Reiterpreview.jpg
*edit* I forgot to place a shutter on the house. Fixed it after uploading

Note: Final preview is now lower on the page.

Heblem · October 05, 2007, 09:03:40 PM

really nice homes!

jmyers2043 · October 05, 2007, 09:43:06 PM

I am looking at your reply #22. You've done a good job with the roof. I can see that you've done some spots where dirt has settled leaving smudged areas. The house is an interesting shape and I like the realism of the air conditioning unit. The night lites on the side deck is well done. How does it look in the game compared to other homes as far as scale?

You should also consider different colors to make the best use of your model and the time you spent on it. Colors such as earth tone yellows, greens, tan, or blue. Color corrdinate the shutters as well.

XiahouDun · October 05, 2007, 10:10:16 PM

Thanks Heblem

Quote from: jmyers2043 on October 05, 2007, 09:43:06 PM
I am looking at your reply #22. You've done a good job with the roof. I can see that you've done some spots where dirt has settled leaving smudged areas. The house is an interesting shape and I like the realism of the air conditioning unit. The night lites on the side deck is well done. How does it look in the game compared to other homes as far as scale?

You should also consider different colors to make the best use of your model and the time you spent on it. Colors such as earth tone yellows, greens, tan, or blue. Color corrdinate the shutters as well.

Thanks. My earlier buildings I didn't have to dirty the textures (the real life versions of the houses have both been resided/roofed within the last 6 months), so this was my first real attempt at it. I'm glad it turned out well.

I haven't gotten it in game yet, however I can say that the house not counting the front and back porch is 15.8 meters long and 8.4 wide, fit to scale with the real life version of the house. So basically 1 tile x .5 tile. And thanks for the ideas of the alt colors. I wasn't really sure what to go with. I'll probably do a tan with the brown shutters, then maybe a lighter blue with different siding. Maybe give the blue one white shutters.

Chrisadams3997 · October 05, 2007, 10:21:30 PM

that's a pretty good first atempt. This tends to be rare, but I really have no critiques to give here, these are looking good

XiahouDun · October 05, 2007, 11:30:11 PM

Glad you guys are liking them

I just have to finish the porch junk now and this one is done. Then I can start part 2 of my secret project (and finally post some previews

)

jmyers2043 · October 06, 2007, 05:47:26 AM

QuoteI haven't gotten it in game yet, however I can say that the house not counting the front and back porch is 15.8 meters long and 8.4 wide, fit to scale with the real life version of the house.

The best thing to do (before you get much further) is to export your current model. Make it into a prop using the Maxis PIM. Then go to the lot editor and open up one of the parks. Place your house prop onto the park lot and 'save as' XXXXXXX. Then open up the game and search through your parks until you find your new lot. Then start to plop that park/house around your residential areas. Plop it beside some of Simgoobers stuff as well. He did an excellent job at scale. You'll soon get the sense if the house is properly scaled or not when comparing it against all the other models in the game. If you think that your home should be a R$$ then plop your version next to other R$$ homes in the game.

As far as scale? You can't really depend on real life numbers when making bats. As an example - You almost always have to increase the height of your building due to the top down angled view of the game. The other thing is that Maxis did not use hard and fast rules as far as scale goes either.

What do you do if the scale is not right? Gmax has a scale tool. You can make things taller, longer, overall smaller, etc. . .. Just play with the controls to get the desired affect. Don't forget to save before you start.

Good Luck.

XiahouDun · October 06, 2007, 12:49:34 PM

Quote from: jmyers2043 on October 06, 2007, 05:47:26 AMAs far as scale? You can't really depend on real life numbers when making bats. As an example - You almost always have to increase the height of your building due to the top down angled view of the game. The other thing is that Maxis did not use hard and fast rules as far as scale goes either.

Thanks for the suggestion. Here is the comparison you wanted:

Goober's RLS small home is about the closest thing I could think of to match my house next to. I think it turned out pretty well. I did two more comparisons also, next to the 2 floored Rod Stuga, and homefryes' American Four Squares:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v151/phoenixcaptain/SC4/RodStuga.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v151/phoenixcaptain/SC4/4square.jpg
I'm pretty satisified with how this current house turned out, though my second house (the blue one) is going to need to be enlarged a little. The only thing I really think I need to change on this one is to make the chimney just a little bigger.

Pat · October 06, 2007, 03:21:16 PM

Oh MY Goodness this is really looking Great XD you are truely walking up to goobers homes lol... SGXD

XiahouDun · October 06, 2007, 03:53:34 PM

Thanks Pat

Still a long way to go before I feel that comparison would be valid, but that means a lot.

jmyers2043 · October 06, 2007, 04:28:12 PM

QuoteI think it turned out pretty well.

I think so too!

And you're right about the chimney.

XiahouDun · October 06, 2007, 08:23:19 PM

Updated preview:

And two alts done:

Pat · October 07, 2007, 07:34:27 PM

XD hehehe anyways its notta problem... the new shots are wow also there M8

XiahouDun · October 07, 2007, 08:08:51 PM

Currently working on more parking lot textures (10 bases textures and 46 overlays). To go with this, I am working on a prop pack to replace the grass/curb textures. I figured this could save some objects on the lots, and allow for more customization in lots since placing props has less restriction than overlays. I chose to leave the grass area bare so you can layer a tree or bush prop onto it to give it a more unique look. Since the props are rather easy to make, I figure this would be a more flexible alternative to overlay textures.

Not pictured above are the two other speedbumps of varied lengths (also note that I haven't textured the speedbump above, thats just the naked model). I still have at least 11 more props to make.
Here are examples of the textures I've finished. A huge thanks to Pat for laying these out and testing them.

Pat · October 07, 2007, 08:14:47 PM

XD its been my pleasure to help you out my friend... Its good to see this out of the closet so to say lol

Heblem · October 07, 2007, 08:16:02 PM

excellent work! really nice home!

I see something odd, about the quality in game of your home... did you exported it as draft export or high? looks different in comparison to gober home...

Now again incredible work about your props and that parking lot... about the parking lot i suggest you in make the asphalt a bit more white and the yellow line not too much wide... if you want help in making that parking lot count with me

I could edit that texture better

Hope not to disturb you, i just love your work...

XiahouDun · October 07, 2007, 08:22:21 PM

Quote from: Heblem on October 07, 2007, 08:16:02 PM
excellent work! really nice home!

I see something odd, about the quality in game of your home... did you exported it as draft export or high? looks different in comparison to gober home...

Now again incredible work about your props and that parking lot... about the parking lot i suggest you in make the asphalt a bit more white and the yellow line not too much wide... if you want help in making that parking lot count with me I could edit that texture better

Hope not to disturb you, i just love your work...

Yeah, I just exported that house as a draft to test (I'm impatient, why wait 3 minutes for your test when you are going to delete it right after?

)

Yeah, I went back and thinned a few of the lines since that preview (also cleaned up around the handicapped spots). I tested it again earlier, and I may need to go in and narrow it more

This is my first time using alpha textures, so there was some rookie mistakes on my part. The reason I went with the darker asphalt "blacktop" style is just to give some contrast to the majority of the lighter colored parking lot textures in existance. I could lighten it up some though. Its one of the things that has been bothering me, since I wasn't sure if people would think it was too dark or not.

Heblem · October 07, 2007, 08:38:46 PM

hehe dont worry even I dont know how to make alpha textures... I just know make simple textures

About the darker textures you can make it to match the the Road or avenue asphalt texture, and at the center of the driveway make it a bit darker for realism, I can help if you want

take care