It's an R$$$, with an 8400-resident capacity. How is it?
Please note that the textures and nightlighting are still in progress and will most certainly improve.
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Does anyone have any idea what is causing the odd shadow over the lower third of the tower? I've seen similar effects on other BATs, such as NDEX's Vendel Tower.
Ahh.. recycling an old design... ;)
That shadow is caused by using too small a lighting rig I believe.
nice !! :thumbsup:
Quote from: SimGoober on September 18, 2009, 05:29:29 AM
Ahh.. recycling an old design... ;)
Are you referring to Prism Tower Condos, or the old Rayline? I certainly am recycling the old one into the new - it still is the same building at heart. Everything here is an upgrade of sorts of the original design. As for any similarity with Prism Tower, it is likely that
all of my Residential Towers will have some form of a roof ornament.
QuoteThat shadow is caused by using too small a lighting rig I believe.
I suspected as much. I'll fix that.
Here it is:
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Here's a roof update:
I added a bit of roof clutter.
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What else is needed on this tower?
Just an awesome work! :o
Guillaume :thumbsup:
What are your plans for the base? Looks like you have a small lobby there now. Making it 2 or 3 storys tall may balance it with the height of the tower, and at a glance, there is no obvious entrance.... ;)
Quote from: SimGoober on September 19, 2009, 04:40:31 AM
What are your plans for the base? Looks like you have a small lobby there now. Making it 2 or 3 storys tall may balance it with the height of the tower.
I can double its height, sure.
Quoteand at a glance, there is no obvious entrance....
I've added two since this image upload.
Does this mean it's ready for the (likely 24-hour-long) export?
What this tower needs is a working lighting rig. The one you are using now doesn't. Ask around for a fixed rig or fix it yourself. It really is very simple procedure. tedious but simple. You'd need increase "catchment area of all lights in the rig.
look there are no shadows and odd lit up bits and pieces here and there...
Apart from that... well I think SimGoober meant more than just "tiara"
Given that the tower is in fact a twin... at least it seem that way the cross-section is perhaps a bit to small to be both structurally sound and provide meaningful residential space, particularly as you market it as R€€€
Base is also needs to be FAR more substantial. Right now it doesn't look realistic....
You may want to show a new shot of the base, but one more idea. SimFox hit on a point; the tower IS rather thin, so where is the living space? With elevators and ductwork, there wouldn't be as much space per floor as you might think. Maybe an elevator shaft up the backside? (wait, that sounded off....) You have an indention on the front and back of each side in the center. Maybe on the back, you could revers that, having a protrusion out that contains the elevators?
Quote from: SimGoober on September 20, 2009, 05:16:11 AM
You may want to show a new shot of the base
I will.
Quotethe tower IS rather thin, so where is the living space? With elevators and ductwork, there wouldn't be as much space per floor as you might think. Maybe an elevator shaft up the backside? You have an indention on the front and back of each side in the center. Maybe on the back, you could revers that, having a protrusion out that contains the elevators?
I like that idea.
I have one problem - and it's major. I did a test render at zoom5, high quality, just to estimate how long it will take to export, and it took nine hours just to do a day render of one view. Which means that it will take about 242 hours to export - 10 days. I obviously cannot do that; what do I do?
Try simplifying your geometry. Delete any non-visible faces, use less geometry, (Less vertexes)
I would make a separate scene and do a few test renders. 9 hours is a bit much. :D
Quote from: swat-medic on September 20, 2009, 07:31:37 AM
Try simplifying your geometry. Delete any non-visible faces, use less geometry, (Less vertexes)
I built it simple from the beginning. There's nothing more I can do that won't be immediately obvious in quality.
QuoteI would make a separate scene and do a few test renders. 9 hours is a bit much.
I render small models with ease, but large towers take hours. My Prism Tower Condos - you remember that - took 36 hours to render. I'm not going through
that again.
What is your PC specs?
Quote from: swat-medic on September 20, 2009, 08:15:47 AM
What is your PC specs?
MotherboardASUS
ProcessorDual-Core Pentium 4, 3.6GHz each
RAM3 GB
Graphics CardNVidia GeForce 6600
Sound CardRealtek HD Audio Driver
Operating SystemWindows XP Home Edition
What are you using for your windows? Plane, box, etc. If you are using a box, or extruded spline, you could instead use a plane with 1x1 segments. this would minimize the amount of polys by a fair amount.
Quote from: swat-medic on September 20, 2009, 08:31:32 AM
What are you using for your windows? Plane, box, etc. If you are using a box, or extruded spline, you could instead use a plane with 1x1 segments. this would minimize the amount of polys by a fair amount.
I'm using an extruded spline, but the problem is I can't use planes - the windows are not simple rectangles. They are often angles.
For example, one shape looks like this from above:
_
| |__
|___/
There is very little you can do to reduce the time of your render, GMAX is very slow and it's a case of suck it up, or simplify the models.
Interesting design, but I think it's too tall. What about a version which is half of the size of this?
Quote from: io_bg on September 20, 2009, 08:47:39 AM
Interesting design, but I think it's too tall. What about a version which is half of the size of this?
I don't know about half - that's only 35 stories - but I'll reduce the height, which should help. I'll try 52 stories.
There's always splitting the model up.
Quote from: swat-medic on September 20, 2009, 09:18:35 AM
There's always splitting the model up.
I do not understand.
EDIT:
I'm completely remodeling the main part of the tower. The new one should be larger and have simpler geometry.
Now, you don't have to take my advice on this...I have almost no experience with BAT, so don't bite my head off...
Anyway, what if you were to make the tower shorter, say 40 stories, and then maybe make it a whole double tower on one lot sort of thing? Maybe copy the tower, and then do something else with the roof. Also, when you're rediesigning, I suggest that you make it shorter, and wider. Like someone took an hand and squashed it. Then I siggest making a fairly large lot, to make everyting fit together, maybe adding a park or two into it...think of these towers near a city centre, with enough space to do almost what you want.
I ahve to go now, but I'll return to let you pick my brain a little bit, how does that sound?
Quote from: Strategist01 on September 20, 2009, 10:17:44 AM
Now, you don't have to take my advice on this...I have almost no experience with BAT, so don't bite my head off...
Anyway, what if you were to make the tower shorter, say 40 stories, and then maybe make it a whole double tower on one lot sort of thing? Maybe copy the tower, and then do something else with the roof. Also, when you're rediesigning, I suggest that you make it shorter, and wider. Like someone took an hand and squashed it. Then I siggest making a fairly large lot, to make everyting fit together, maybe adding a park or two into it...think of these towers near a city centre, with enough space to do almost what you want.
I ahve to go now, but I'll return to let you pick my brain a little bit, how does that sound?
The idea is good - HKABT likes to do that - but it won't work in my case. All my lots need to be 3x4 or smaller. Large lots waste much of their space, and worse, rarely find a place to grow. This is exacerbate by the fact I do not make plop-ables.
EDIT:
Here is an update - I've used the lobby's shape for the tower, and made a new lobby. I've also added an elevator shaft (up the back, not visible here).
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Ok, I didn't realize the size constraints...maybe, if you were to make another tower, similar to this one, maybe have a different thing on the roof, and make that a commecrical tower? LIke a whole company that owns these towers and makes residential towers and commecriacl towers? Call yourself Rayline Industries, and then make a small, growable 2x2 industrail lot, and it could be a whole set of BATs...anyway, my 2c for the day ;D
I had an interesting idea that I might try to do when I BAT a tower, but I'll share it with you.
You could model a single storey of the building, and when it comes time to lot the thing, stack them on top of each-other. You could model 5 or 6 (or however many you like) different variations, with lighting in different spots, and different balconies etc, and put them in a prop family. This would mean a much smaller thing to render, and you can create heaps of different lots, midrises, highrises, you could make multiple bases and tops - all without too much repetition.
Of course, the modding is a little more complex, but you seem to be an aspiring giant of the BAT world so it would probably do you good to learn some of the more advanced techniques!
There are plenty of people (myself included) who have some knowledge of such programs as the Reader and others, who would be happy to offer some advice. There are also some real experts :P
As for your current model. The window textures are a little bland and too dark for my particular liking. And the night windows are a little bit too blue as well - just think if your lightbulbs emitted light that colour. I would recommend you try something like what you can see in this post [linkie] (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=6088.msg194835#msg194835) by APTX in the Japanese devotion area. What it involves is changing the textures present in C:\gmax\gamepacks\BAT\Maps\NightWindows to something more varied. I think this is a fairly widely used method, though I am not entirely certain.
Also, and this is a very personal opinion, I am not a fan of big decorative elements - I prefer more utilitarian things. Form follows function. I appreciate good design, but I don't like your big fins - not a problem with your model, I wouldn't like it on anyone's TBH. Also, in New Zealand's windy conditions, such a thing could be a danger. If you implemented my earlier suggestion, you could please me, and people who do like big glass spires - as well as cutting down your render time. Also, by editing your textures, you can get a more interesting BAT without increasing your poly count, and as a result your render time.
Like the break for the mech area, adds visual interest. Here's an experiemtn for you. Google "sky" and find a darker blue sky pic with some wispy clouds. Then take all your windows, group them together, and apply a UVW map to the group, and apply the sky texture. Play around with a few different shots and see if anything catches your fancy. It will break up the solid color of the glass.
And all those are outdoor decks? Needs some variation, but that will add polys. Maybe make a deck every 5 or 10 floors, not every one??
QuoteI had an interesting idea that I might try to do when I BAT a tower, but I'll share it with you.
You could model a single storey of the building, and when it comes time to lot the thing, stack them on top of each-other. You could model 5 or 6 (or however many you like) different variations, with lighting in different spots, and different balconies etc, and put them in a prop family. This would mean a much smaller thing to render, and you can create heaps of different lots, midrises, highrises, you could make multiple bases and tops - all without too much repetition.
That would cut the render time greatly, but at a huge cost - game performance. Can you imagine what happens when five or so of these grow, each with 50+ LODs for the game to manage? It's an excellent idea that might work in some cases, but not here.
QuoteAs for your current model. The window textures are a little bland and too dark for my particular liking. And the night windows are a little bit too blue as well - just think if your lightbulbs emitted light that colour. I would recommend you try something like what you can see in this post [linkie] by APTX in the Japanese devotion area. What it involves is changing the textures present in C:\gmax\gamepacks\BAT\Maps\NightWindows to something more varied.
The color of the light is not reminiscent of the color of the interior lighting - white light would become blue by passing through blue glass. But you are right about the daytime textures.
QuoteGoogle "sky" and find a darker blue sky pic with some wispy clouds. Then take all your windows, group them together, and apply a UVW map to the group, and apply the sky texture. Play around with a few different shots and see if anything catches your fancy. It will break up the solid color of the glass.
I like that idea, but would grouping them all together destroy the nightlighting? (the lights all have different intensities, and thus different names).
QuoteAnd all those are outdoor decks? Needs some variation, but that will add polys. Maybe make a deck every 5 or 10 floors, not every one??
Most towers have them every floor - how would you feel if you didn't get one with a balcony? (This is R$$$, remember.)
Take this triple-tower in which I live. It's a good demonstration of the "array" tool, with every floor essentially identical, except for the top few.
it also has good examples of the "decorative elements" that serve no other function.
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Quote from: RadicalOne on September 21, 2009, 02:39:46 PM
I like that idea, but would grouping them all together destroy the nightlighting? (the lights all have different intensities, and thus different names).
Grouping them doesn't change the individual object names...nightlighting will still work. However, SC4 is a rooftop game and any reflections in glass should reflect what's on the ground, not the sky (sorry Goober)... What I've done in the past is taken a image from one of the many fantastic MDs that best reflect the type of development the building would grow in, then add some blur/streaking and apply that as a map (but changing the diffuse bitmap setting to lower than 100).
Quote from: callagrafx on September 21, 2009, 04:45:36 PM
Grouping them doesn't change the individual object names...nightlighting will still work.
Good.
QuoteWhat I've done in the past is taken a image from one of the many fantastic MDs that best reflect the type of development the building would grow in, then add some blur/streaking and apply that as a map (but changing the diffuse bitmap setting to lower than 100).
I've done that before, and unfortunately, I haven't gotten it to work. I can't map one image onto the whole tower - it gets pixelated unless I use a small UVW, and if I do
that,I have the cityscape repeating up the tower...
if it's blurred you won't see the pixelation...but don't blur it so you lose the idea of cityscape :thumbsup:
LOL.. the age old debate, reflect the clouds or the street. To be correct, you should do as Callagrafx stated, and use a reflection from the ground. But most people see buildings from the street, and expect to see a sky reflection as if they were seeing a real building. It's "wrong", but looks visually appealing. Whatever works for you, will probably work for the community as well.
And patios on every floor is fine, just an idea to save polys...
And WHEN do you plan on BAtting your own building? hmmmm.... ;)
Quote from: SimGoober on September 21, 2009, 06:10:25 PM
LOL.. the age old debate, reflect the clouds or the street. To be correct, you should do as Callagrafx stated, and use a reflection from the ground. But most people see buildings from the street, and expect to see a sky reflection as if they were seeing a real building. It's "wrong", but looks visually appealing. Whatever works for you, will probably work for the community as well.
To be perfectly honest, the sky idea sounds much more attractive to me.
QuoteAnd WHEN do you plan on BAtting your own building? hmmmm....
I doubt I could to any appreciable extent.