Well, after enjoying the many wonderful BATs that the community has given to us for a very long time, I think it's about time for me to try to give something back.
So here is my first attempt at a small building:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg195.imageshack.us%2Fimg195%2F3404%2Fdominosbatpers1.jpg&hash=bca371742fdef9cda235da23871767913ca28415) (http://img195.imageshack.us/i/dominosbatpers1.jpg/) (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg195.imageshack.us%2Fimg195%2Fdominosbatpers1.jpg%2F1%2Fw627.png&hash=07d52d7e3c0b77b448e80f6cb00270409905fc8b) (http://g.imageshack.us/img195/dominosbatpers1.jpg/1/)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg269.imageshack.us%2Fimg269%2F6455%2Fdominosbatpere1.jpg&hash=c16524514babac34e282e5fd22bf08f51cd957a6) (http://img269.imageshack.us/i/dominosbatpere1.jpg/) (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg269.imageshack.us%2Fimg269%2Fdominosbatpere1.jpg%2F1%2Fw627.png&hash=40aaf90f012bf4603df6f6ba705440b9c3c98ecb) (http://g.imageshack.us/img269/dominosbatpere1.jpg/1/)
And here is the render:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg200.imageshack.us%2Fimg200%2F6015%2Fdominosbatrender1.jpg&hash=43a7b06c601f084ceade49c07a118869b72303e2) (http://img200.imageshack.us/i/dominosbatrender1.jpg/) (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg200.imageshack.us%2Fimg200%2Fdominosbatrender1.jpg%2F1%2Fw527.png&hash=7ad2c9a867f6361c4dfbd5643b035947f3c7d4b6) (http://g.imageshack.us/img200/dominosbatrender1.jpg/1/)
Well it's supposed to be a Dominos Pizza and some other small buisness.
Since this is the first time I've ever bated i'm not really sure if it's alright so far.
So please, give me your comments about it. Constructive critizism is always apreciated.
And hopefuly I'll be able to make more bats in the future for your enjoyment.
Thanks in advanced!
Not Bad for a first timer , it could use some more textures to the roof and siding :thumbsup: &apls
moin just_a_guy,
always good to have more bater around for the variety of the game!
so, welcome!
your bat looks pretty cool, seems that you've read more then one tutorial! :thumbsup:
though, you semi_roof texture still needs to be worked one, ... looks kind of blurry.
but for your first bat, well done! keep us updated.
b_schlurf
It looks great for a first timer
Thanks a lot for the comments!
So I tried changing the roof texture a bit. And I also added the sign
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg39.imageshack.us%2Fimg39%2F595%2Fdominosbatrender2.jpg&hash=ea14a7144d024fa88930cbca5ab08028d00aa66b) (http://img39.imageshack.us/i/dominosbatrender2.jpg/)
Hopefully the new texture looks better. Tell me what you think.
Edit: Oh and one more thing. Does anyone know how to make the big sign light up at night?
Personally, I'd render the sign separately and make it a prop. I also recommend making separate textures for each surface. I use a ratio of 40 pixels to 1 meter, works really well for me. Also, when doing textures with small details (bricks, shingles, etc) it is best to make them between 50 and 100% larger then they should be.
Hope I have been of some help.
great progress :thumbsup:
So i was finally able to fix it a bit thanks to all your valuable feedback, and I think it's acceptable now. Here's an in-game shot:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg22.imageshack.us%2Fimg22%2F8210%2Fdominospizzaingameday.jpg&hash=52667b967854eccc3872a7a027b78133ef42dc1f) (http://img22.imageshack.us/i/dominospizzaingameday.jpg/)
I made the shingles bigger and made the sign as a seperate prop (Why didn't I think of that) as RebaLynnTS said. Thanks a lot for your valuable advice. I just wasnt too sure wow to make the seperate textures for the roof.
Well, tell me what you think, Is it good enough to be uploaded to the LEX or is something wrong?
Meanwhile, i'm already working on my next bat...
Great job, looks a lot better.
The model is looking great there just_a_guy :thumbsup:
But maby you could add some props on the lot - e.g some cars or people - looks a bit empty at the moment.
Also looking forward to se your next bat :)
Regards
Iskrem
moin Just_a_Guy,
great progress, i bet you're happy with the result, as well!
keep it up!
b_schlurf
Quote from: iskrem on July 02, 2009, 10:31:10 PM
But maby you could add some props on the lot - e.g some cars or people - looks a bit empty at the moment.
Very true, so after a quick fix:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg3.imageshack.us%2Fimg3%2F5288%2Fdominosbatlotfinish.jpg&hash=948af21a531b0a3413a4cc42737f6b21893b7b14) (http://img3.imageshack.us/i/dominosbatlotfinish.jpg/) (https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg3.imageshack.us%2Fimg3%2Fdominosbatlotfinish.jpg%2F1%2Fw332.png&hash=38e303651e668ea1ca458109d7e007c2c0a2b69a) (http://g.imageshack.us/img3/dominosbatlotfinish.jpg/1/)
Much better I think. So I think I'll be putting it up on the LEX later today. I'll post a link her to it later as well.
wow that came out nice, it certainly will have a place in my cities! &apls
Good day everybody
While I try to get my last BAT into the LEX , I've had time for my next BAT:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg33.imageshack.us%2Fimg33%2F8791%2Fbatneighborhoodgrocerie.jpg&hash=52735820713775ea54e080deb553a99f817be7fb) (http://img33.imageshack.us/i/batneighborhoodgrocerie.jpg/)
Doesn't look like much now though but it's supposed to be a small super market designed for a tight neighborhood becuase the parking lot is on the top. I've seen something similar in the area were I live here in Mexico, only that the retail space is in the 2nd floor and the parking lot is directly underneath on the ground floor.
I just see one problem. Does anyone know where I can get car models in .gmax? I don't think it's possible to put cars over anything in the lot editor. Without cars on the parking lot, this BAT would look... boring.
So stay tune for more progress, and your critizism is always apreciated!
moin just a guy,
looks interesting! :thumbsup:
you wanne have cars on the roof, i guess?
i would refer to models out of google warehouse for sketchup, ... scale the to the right dimension, save then as 3ds file import them and finaly place them ...
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/ (http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/)
otherwise there is this page, where you might find something, the problem though is, that there providing not always 3ds files ...
http://archive3d.net/ (http://archive3d.net/)
... here is a website as well, i think there doing 3ds files as well!
http://artist-3d.com/free_3d_models/04vehicles_design.php (http://artist-3d.com/free_3d_models/04vehicles_design.php)
..hope it helps! :P
b_schlurf
Hello b_schlurf
Hello Just_a_guy ...
Looks nice. Tell me about your paint program. I find that I spend 2 hours in Paint Shop Pro for every hour spent in gmax. Some here have the more expensive Photoshop. I find that Paint Shop does everything that I want. And I think it's the tool that Jeroni and Peg use ( or have used in the past ) You'll otherwise find yourself spending many hours finding the right texture which can be time consuming.
As far as criticism? I find that terra cotta tile roof is the most difficult to do and make look right. Andreas once said in one of the private BSC forums that "SimCity is a roof top game" So getting your roofs to look right should be at the front of your thought process. Avoid texture repetition especially on a roof. Every roof I do is new or is an altered version of a previous roof.
Also - when you plop a building (as you've done) into the game you should do so near other buildings of similar type. Make your model into a prop and set it on a park lot. Open a real city and plop your building next to ones done by SimGoober or others like GasCooker, Deadwoods, etc. . Look and make scale comparisons. You can always exit without saving.
Keep the building and watch it grow for a few weeks. Gmax'ing is one way that I spend my evenings relaxing after my days work. I don't get paid so there is no need to release a building quickly. Sometimes people will say thank you. The only payment I expect is pride for what I've done. I remember doing a building that was light in color once. I had it in my game. I was watching it grow, would spin it around and look at it from different angles. I made a couple of prop changes to the lot, continued to play, and then came to the conclusion that it was too bright. It was drawing my eye everytime it grew. So I toned the texture down and the bat blended in with it's surroundings better.
Good Luck.
Jim Myers
Hello everybody
I have more progress of the last BAT I was working on but first: Replies.
b_schlurf:
I certainly didn't know you could open .3ds files in gmax. My only problem with that now is scaling. Some cars I've found are either too small or too big and I haven't found out how to scale them yet. I also tried sketchup but you can't save to .3ds without the pro version. Do you know of a way to make .3ds files with sketchup or is there a tutorial somewhere?
jmyers2043:
First, I use photoshop. It's a bit hard to get used to but once understanding it a bit you get the hang of it. Since I started to BAT I've begun to realize how important it is to spend time fixing textures to make them look good. It's hard, but judging from other creators works (like yours for example) I really see how it pays off. So far, I think the hardest part of making BAT's is getting the textures right.
Thank you all for helping me become better at this so far.
So now for progres
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg29.imageshack.us%2Fimg29%2F8791%2Fbatneighborhoodgrocerie.jpg&hash=49a199c39b3abf900472b477e3c91ecfda50bb00) (http://img29.imageshack.us/i/batneighborhoodgrocerie.jpg/)
I just now spent about 30 minutes in photoshop trying to get the ramp texture right. There's still a LOT of details missing in the front though.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg9.imageshack.us%2Fimg9%2F8791%2Fbatneighborhoodgrocerie.jpg&hash=5b92e21f9b28e1176577e00a0946edc6165d4dd0) (http://img9.imageshack.us/i/batneighborhoodgrocerie.jpg/)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg9.imageshack.us%2Fimg9%2F747%2Fbatneighborhoodgrocerier.jpg&hash=891fc81bab4053e3e3074f1ee2179a814ad4b0d6) (http://img9.imageshack.us/i/batneighborhoodgrocerier.jpg/)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg10.imageshack.us%2Fimg10%2F8791%2Fbatneighborhoodgrocerie.jpg&hash=d5cd440bca8d1ab58fcc9d7517e433fe38dbce72) (http://img10.imageshack.us/i/batneighborhoodgrocerie.jpg/)
I'm probably only 30% of the way finshed right now, but it's starting to really look like something.
Cheers!
moin just a guy,
i'm sorry to tell you, but if you don't have the pro_version you can't save 3ds files.
... to scale, just use this tool!
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg33.imageshack.us%2Fimg33%2F3978%2Faufzeichnenq.jpg&hash=1d7565f28295a6adf35603dba064fd039afcff03)
there are three choices: not_uniform scale, uniform scale and squash ...
... and for you thoughts about texuring, you're so right!
b_schlurf
Good day everybody!
I have the current progress on my last BAT. Now it really seems almost complete:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg36.imageshack.us%2Fimg36%2F8791%2Fbatneighborhoodgrocerie.jpg&hash=dec8005c121878910eef9c281c02dd864e7da508) (http://img36.imageshack.us/i/batneighborhoodgrocerie.jpg/)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg22.imageshack.us%2Fimg22%2F8791%2Fbatneighborhoodgrocerie.jpg&hash=dab60d6c2b612244fdc5b649cc23407ff21d5fc6) (http://img22.imageshack.us/i/batneighborhoodgrocerie.jpg/)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg27.imageshack.us%2Fimg27%2F8791%2Fbatneighborhoodgrocerie.jpg&hash=fd68d476232807b2d3452777e95247656c06d166) (http://img27.imageshack.us/i/batneighborhoodgrocerie.jpg/)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg6.imageshack.us%2Fimg6%2F8791%2Fbatneighborhoodgrocerie.jpg&hash=39db864bd572ca8dc3664bdbf991a8a34b0f14c0) (http://img6.imageshack.us/i/batneighborhoodgrocerie.jpg/)
All that's left now is signage, small and final details, and night lighting.
Let me know what you think!
Cheers!
PS to beutelschlurf : wow, I found that tool out about 40 seconds before I read your post! Anyway, I really apreciate your help, thank you very much!
I'm waiting to see more progress on your last building as well.
Looking better and better there just_a_guy :thumbsup:
Maby you should add some signs etc on the SuperMarket - other than that I think it looks good!
Just saw that you mentioned this in one of the last lines ::)
Keep up the good work :)
Regards
Iskrem
Hello Just a Guy
I think that the walls on your building could use a gradient.
Here is a photoshop tutorial you may be interested in.
http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=5230.0 (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=5230.0)
And also down around reply 17 of Bobbo662's thread I tried to explain how I used layers to create textures on the walls of a building
http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=621.0 (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=621.0)
Good Luck.
Jim Myers
Good day everybody,
I have more progress to show, but first:
jmyers2043: Thanks so much for all of your support. I have checked out those tutorials and started changing a lot of my textures. So the new pictures show everything changed in that aspect. I just couldn't find that "threshold" option in photoshop so I could use broccoli, so I used the burn feature to simulate that.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg11.imageshack.us%2Fimg11%2F7530%2Fbatngrender3n.jpg&hash=e7b4a21e8f21e2b1d8af029ffbeca15ebff1288c) (http://img11.imageshack.us/i/batngrender3n.jpg/)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg119.imageshack.us%2Fimg119%2F4959%2Fbatngrender3s.jpg&hash=0a25be0fb36fdbfade4ebd199afbcd54ce97af0b) (http://img119.imageshack.us/i/batngrender3s.jpg/)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg119.imageshack.us%2Fimg119%2F8607%2Fbatngrender3e.jpg&hash=08cd4d391955e32b9ca5edd50a16971c05ec6699) (http://img119.imageshack.us/i/batngrender3e.jpg/)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg9.imageshack.us%2Fimg9%2F4369%2Fbatngrender3w.jpg&hash=1452165901cd041711d7ecb13c65a8c28e52f411) (http://img9.imageshack.us/i/batngrender3w.jpg/)
I've added all signage and any little detail I was missing. I decided to name the store "Neighborhood Groceries" (cheap I know), it's made up but I thought it would be ok. All the signage although it's really hard to see it have the name on it. I've also finished the night lighting, so i'm pretty much ready for exporting.
So tell me what you think. Good enough, or am I missing something?
Thanks for your time and have a good day!
The 'Threshhold' tool is a Paint Shop Pro feature. I'm sure there is something similar in Photoshop. I don't know what it would be called.
You'll get the hang of enhancing your textures as you move from project to project. I hand painted by air brushing gradients and smudges for my first set of barn buildings. Learning short cuts and alternative methods as I went.
The light stucco walls are much better. Just a little touch here and there makes all the difference.
Good Luck
Jim Myers
I got the loting done and I will soon post it up for the scrutineers. Here's the final product:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg6.imageshack.us%2Fimg6%2F9444%2Fmakingmoneytutorialfeb1.jpg&hash=e22ef77e906ea1d0675dbfe9113ea2b938819e18) (http://img6.imageshack.us/i/makingmoneytutorialfeb1.jpg/)
When the upload is ready, it shall include both a growable version and a ploppable version this time. It's a CS$$ lot meant for RS$$ neighborhoods.
Thanks for your comments and have a great day!
It looks great ,but i needs just a tad more textures to make it fit in more with the other game surroundings :)
I've been gone for a while. RL hasn't given me much time to continue bating. But now I have progress.
First of all I've decided not to continue working on my last BAT (Neighborhood Groceries, the one with parking on the top floor). I noticed the scale was a bit too big and rescaling would be to hard becuase of the parking lot size on top.
So now I started something new:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg8.imageshack.us%2Fimg8%2F8641%2Fihop01003.jpg&hash=c94817a17a7fa0c066c5f0da062ff543a3fd59d4) (http://img8.imageshack.us/i/ihop01003.jpg/)
The above picture is not mine.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg43.imageshack.us%2Fimg43%2F4741%2Fihopbatrender1.jpg&hash=274fa82ebaa1ad478f7be04129bf5964c0c5079c) (http://img43.imageshack.us/i/ihopbatrender1.jpg/)
IHOP. This one I think is in Monterrey, MX. I thought the design was interesting and very different an I quickly decided to bat it.
It's not finished yet. Almost though. I still need to tweak various textures, add a bit of flora and night lighting. But the basic building is done.
Please tell me what you think.
Note: For anyone interested on my first BAT: Dominos Pizza, it's been released on the LEX:
http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=2224
Thank you and have a great day!
wow just, thats quite spectacular. i wonder why the architect decided to go with the different color eave. it kinda throws it off a little bit. bot still a great bat... :thumbsup: