• Welcome to SC4 Devotion Forum Archives.

SimFox's Pixel Torture Chamber

Started by SimFox, June 23, 2007, 04:00:45 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

SimFox

Oh, and by the way here is a Nigt&Day shot - showing the changes in the buiding when the light turn on!



Rayden


FromTheAshes

Quote from: SimFox on June 28, 2007, 12:49:53 PM
FromTheAshes:
Phoenix? may I call you that??  ;)
I use Max9
Enjoy!
Ya if you want to  :D
Good I can get the 9er as well, is it much better than the "old" versions?

TT: An absolutely amazing building. Looking at some details I really thought "that must be a photo". But I guess the only place to use this is a tall downtown, because of the reflexions. You cannot use this in rural zones :D
Visit Vorsfelde.

jimmymac

The lippo center always had a place in every business district i built, now it looks like it's going to be taking more of a centrepeice for the area, beautiful redesign I must say.

Andreas

Wow, this is really spectacular!  :o  I must admit that I had some doubts about the reflections when you showed us some development screenshots a few months ago, but the additional work definitely has paid off hugely. The nightlighing looks absolutely amazing, it makes any Maxis building at night looking like an amateurish approach compared to this beauty. Hats off, this is just amazing!  &apls
Andreas

SimFox

marcszar:
I have E6600 (currently running at default speed) with 4gb of Kingston HyperX DDR2 about 1,2 Tb of disk space and GeForce 7900GTX with 512Mb onboard.  But for modeling/rendering purposes GPU is irrelevant really. There is such a thing as nVidia Gelato, but it isn't really useful for BAT. Most important is a CPU! I can overclock mine so that render time will come down about 35%-40%. After a lot of tweaking and testing I've managed to get this export done in 309 minutes. And this is with all the side show stuff running along - Skype, about dozen windows of IE, Norton IS etc. Shutting all that down would give another 10% boost.
As for Vista, I have 6Ultimate x64 and just love it! Not only it looks fantastic (finally a Windows that looks better then MacOS and I know as I have both systems) it's all around best Windows ever, remarkably robust and stable. As I have pretty up-to-date hardware there was NO problem what so ever with any drivers and such. Only two things that were a bit a drag in the beginning were Power ISO that wasn't compatible (virtual CD driver wise) with Vista, and surprise-surprise MAX9! So although I've got it as soon as it was out I had to wait till there will be update for MAX9 released that solved compatibility issue.
Well if you have 32Bit Vista then there is nothing could be done, no 64bit application would run on it. But if it is 64bit version Max9's 64bit version still wouldn't install automatically. But Vista isn't one to blame, it is all because of MAX, so all the stones should be through to Autodesk windows and not Microsoft ones. Bastards were trying to squeeze extra buck or hundred from people who already paid a ton for their software and sell as "extra feature" support for system that was coming out basically in the same time as Max9! To install max you have to do it manually, I mean just locate installation file in proper folder on MAX9 DVD. It will install fine, but after that you'll have to install updates that you can download from Autodesk site. Now they are available for free, although first were released as a part of "productivity booster" for subscribers only! Without these updates MAX9 wouldn't run properly on VISTA. Any version of MAX9 on any version of Vista. That is in Direct3D mode, you can run it in OpenGL, but then you'll loose all the fantastic speed improvements that are the core of max9. The culprit is DirectX. Updates from Autodesk solve this, but not 100% - about 95% So it is totally workable.
from the Ashes:
Well, why would anyone built thing like that not in downtown?? Would it be absurd? And I'm glad that reflections would be "outing" that absurdity! But anyway, this is just a beginning!

Andreas:
Thank you! Some tweaking is still possible, but the major difference is that the basics are clear now. What and how works. There are few new approaches in this one and I plan to use and develop them farther.
I don't want to say that maxis buildings are bad, they are NOT! The only problem was that Maxis couldn't nail down the glassy look. So all the maxis stuff stone, or glass looked basically the same. And it shouldn't have. Now there will be true contrast between styles. It should only increase the realism of either one.

Jimmymac:
Lippo wouldn't be alone for very long, it will be little by little getting brothers/sisters styled along same lines.

wouanagaine

QuoteThe nightlighing looks absolutely amazing, it makes any Maxis building at night looking like an amateurish approach compared to this beauty. Hats off, this is just amazing!  
Ditto. I'm impatient to see a full developed CBD with all buildings nitelighted like this one

New Horizons Productions
Berethor ♦ beskhu3epnm ♦ blade2k5 ♦ dmscopio ♦ dedgren ♦ emilin ♦ Ennedi ♦ Heblem ♦ jplumbley
M4346 ♦ moganite ♦ Papab2000 ♦ Shadow Assassin ♦ Tarkus ♦ wouanagaine
Divide wouanagaine by zero and you will in fact get one...one bad-ass that is - Alek King of SC4

Pat

OMG i dont know what to say here but wow!!!

Don't forget the SC4D Podcast is back and live on Saturdays @ 12 noon CST!! -- The Podcast soon to Return Here Linkie

FromTheAshes

Quote from: SimFox on June 28, 2007, 01:59:22 PM
from the Ashes:
Well, why would anyone built thing like that not in downtown?
Good question, ideed. ;)
Quote from: SimFox on June 28, 2007, 01:59:22 PM
But anyway, this is just a beginning!
A beginning of what?
Visit Vorsfelde.

callagrafx

Impressive...they look like bitmap projection maps with excludes. Excellent technique, whatever it is...sure adds depth  :thumbsup:  &apls
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it

SimFox

Quote from: callagrafx on June 28, 2007, 03:20:33 PM
Impressive...they look like bitmap projection maps with excludes. Excellent technique, whatever it is...sure adds depth  :thumbsup:  &apls

Nope they are not  $%Grinno$%
those ARE the reflections :)
and as such do require some, rather simple post, but anyway as such are automatic and consistent (unlike projections) with the geometry of the model.

Andreas

Quote from: SimFox on June 28, 2007, 01:59:22 PM
I don't want to say that maxis buildings are bad, they are NOT! The only problem was that Maxis couldn't nail down the glassy look. So all the maxis stuff stone, or glass looked basically the same. And it shouldn't have. Now there will be true contrast between styles. It should only increase the realism of either one.

No, of course the Maxis models aren't bad - on the contrary, I like most of them a lot! It's just the nightlighting that looks less than stellar one some of them. One prominent example is McCarthy Condos, which doesn't look so bad in day mode, but the nightlighting is absolutely horrid (way too bright and indifferent).
Andreas

Krio

This is indeed better work than previous one, but I must be honest: that nightlighting looks weird and it will look lonely if someone don't make another building with reflections.  But, you are one of the best ever with that nightlighting  &apls

glepet

Truly spectacular building! I am humbled walking among giants on this site! Everyday, someone is producing content that reaches that "next level". You have done that here.

bixel

Simfox! Its just so happens that your One Silver Sea, and my Island Harbourview are right next to each other!!!  ;D

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Hong+Kong&ie=UTF8&ll=22.319044,114.158345&spn=0.00526,0.008572&t=k&z=17&om=1

Your is on the left, mine is on the right.

mightygoose

and there is a lovely avenue roundabout between them.... now that would be a megalot :P:P:P:P
NAM + CAM + RAM + SAM, that's how I roll....

bixel

Simfox, this is the website for Olympian City, use the flash map to navigate, you can click on buildings and get some info.

http://www.olympiancity.com.hk/OC/transport_eng.asp

flame1396

CAM wont ahve much use for me.....

I dont build even as big as the stage 8 maxis towers....
The most astounding and unique aspect of the human race is our fervent application of our ingenuity to kill each other, thus completely defying the near-universally proven fact that the ultimate goal of a member of a species is to ensure the survival of the species.

toxicpiano

#38
Quote from: SimFox on June 28, 2007, 01:59:22 PM
marcszar:
I have E6600 (currently running at default speed) with 4gb of Kingston HyperX DDR2 about 1,2 Tb of disk space and GeForce 7900GTX with 512Mb onboard.  But for modeling/rendering purposes GPU is irrelevant really. There is such a thing as nVidia Gelato, but it isn't really useful for BAT. Most important is a CPU! I can overclock mine so that render time will come down about 35%-40%. After a lot of tweaking and testing I've managed to get this export done in 309 minutes. And this is with all the side show stuff running along - Skype, about dozen windows of IE, Norton IS etc. Shutting all that down would give another 10% boost.
As for Vista, I have 6Ultimate x64 and just love it! Not only it looks fantastic (finally a Windows that looks better then MacOS and I know as I have both systems) it's all around best Windows ever, remarkably robust and stable. As I have pretty up-to-date hardware there was NO problem what so ever with any drivers and such. Only two things that were a bit a drag in the beginning were Power ISO that wasn't compatible (virtual CD driver wise) with Vista, and surprise-surprise MAX9! So although I've got it as soon as it was out I had to wait till there will be update for MAX9 released that solved compatibility issue.
Well if you have 32Bit Vista then there is nothing could be done, no 64bit application would run on it. But if it is 64bit version Max9's 64bit version still wouldn't install automatically. But Vista isn't one to blame, it is all because of MAX, so all the stones should be through to Autodesk windows and not Microsoft ones. Bastards were trying to squeeze extra buck or hundred from people who already paid a ton for their software and sell as "extra feature" support for system that was coming out basically in the same time as Max9! To install max you have to do it manually, I mean just locate installation file in proper folder on MAX9 DVD. It will install fine, but after that you'll have to install updates that you can download from Autodesk site. Now they are available for free, although first were released as a part of "productivity booster" for subscribers only! Without these updates MAX9 wouldn't run properly on VISTA. Any version of MAX9 on any version of Vista. That is in Direct3D mode, you can run it in OpenGL, but then you'll loose all the fantastic speed improvements that are the core of max9. The culprit is DirectX. Updates from Autodesk solve this, but not 100% - about 95% So it is totally workable.

The updates you are talking about are the Extension 1 productivity booster?
I find that alcohol, taken in sufficient quantities, can bring about all the effects of drunkenness.

ExiLe

incredible work, I'll have to go fetch my jaw... ;)

take care,
...coming soon