New England Colonial BAT Project

[Orange_o_]

I like the big choice in food option    

[alan_vzla]

The new buildings and props look good... And the church even better... Great work!

[Pat]

OMG Kant simply stunning wow!!! I love the new props and the buildings!!!

[JBSimio]

I haven't replied here yet, but I've been lurking for the past few days.  I really like this project a lot!  The buildings look great and the lots fit them perfectly.

I think the new commercials fit together quite well.  Given the scale you mentioned, I wonder how they might match up with other BATs though.  A door and two windows seems like a lot to fit in 5.3 meters...  but it's hard to say without comparing a little.    The only thought I might offer would be to switch the Apothecary and Bakery around... just to randomize the back a little bit instead of having it follow a single line.

I love the idea of the carts!     The wheels do tend to blend in a bit... but I think it's getting lost against the cart itself.  Maybe a lighter shade of the same texture would be enough to make them stand out a little better.

This is a very cool project and I'll be following along (whether I remember to say anything or not)...   

JB

[kant01]

Thanks for the comments

Nexis - hey thanks for commenting and glad you like the project
Orange_o_ - thanks
alan_vzla - thanks for the comment I am glad you like them!
Pat - Thanks for stopping by and for the comment
JBSimio - Thanks for the comment and welcome I really appreciate it! As for the scale, these are definitely small buildings, but I had based them off of some very small commercial buildings at Colonial Williamgsburg. For example, this one was one of my models:



As for the doors and windows, I followed the scale on those for all the other buildings I have been doing so I *think* its ok, but I could be wrong. Also, I wanted these buildings to be able to stand alone on a lot, as it does in the picture above, or else to be able to be grouped together in a wall-to-wall fashion.

That's a good suggestion about switching the buildings around. I have a bunch more of these I am working on, so I was hoping to make them into a building group so they would automatically be randomized. And I think lightening up the wheel carts is a terrific idea. I will try that out and see what I get Thanks!

Ok, so I am trying to complete the Rhode Island stone-ender set. Here are four more to add to it. All of them are 17th century:

The Roger Mowry House:



The Valentine Whitman House:



The Edward Searle House:



And the Clement Weaver House:




And finally, here is what I am trying to do with the carts. This is a big 4x4 diagonal lot which would go in the game along a diagonal road. I made a market building to go at the center of the lot. Its roughly based off of an 18th century market building. And then I scattered the differt 4-wheeled and 2-wheeled carts about. There are also a couple of meat tables on there. As for the people, those models are from GTA and were given to me by glenni at ST.



Thanks everyone for your comments!

[JBSimio]

Hi Kant,

After a little comparrison and thought, I'll definitely buy into your line of thought concerning the scale.    The latest batch of buildings look great!  You're developing a lot of subtle variety here that really keeps things interesting.  The market lot looks wonderful!  It looks very lively with plenty of visual interest... but it seems like something is missing.  I have no idea what to suggest, because I really don't know.  It's just a gut reaction which could easily be wrong and therefore ignored...

JB

[Sciurus]

Just good work, and I think you're very patient to do this, because it's fantastic of realism!

[kant01]

Thanks guys

JBSimio - Thanks for the comment again! I agree with you about the market. I have not entirely satisfied with it but I am at a loss as well. I may need some more people in there and I think I will try doing something with the base texture to make it more interesting and varied. Will keep you posted

sciurus54 - thanks so much!

Ok, I am also working on a R$$ house, although the size is a bit off compared to some of the other R$$ in the game. I suppose I could make it R$$$ if people thought it would fit better.

It is the House of 7 Gables in Salem, Mass, built in 1668. This one is part of my Salem set It spent a lot of time on the roof and the different side pieces - what with all the gables and all - and I am happy with how the basic model turned out. But I am not so happy with the textures as usual. I would love some suggestions on what I should to do get this closer to being done.

Here is the building in RL:





Here is the model:



And here are some test shots in game:





I could really use some help with this one. It doesn't really look right. I am not sure if it is the textures or what but I would love some suggestions!!

thanks!

[mattb325]

Hello Kant01. My First time posting here, but I must say this project is delightful - the details in your work are just superb and all of the models are really delicate!

As to your problem with 7 gables, I believe that the issue is the fact that the whole model is largely brown, so the details become blurred: I have made models with very difficult roof planes (the Bathurst St Police Station/High Holbourn Train Station) and sometimes it can be very disheartening seeing the results of such hard work fade in-game on your first render.

To fix it you could try any number or all of the following (I'll try and list in order of how I might do it):

1) The roof in your pictures appears more grey-blue, perhaps adjusting your texture colour from brown will help, and/or;
2) Add a ridge cap in a darker brown/grey blue. If a ridge cap already exists darken the colour of the texture used to pick out the contrast - you can see the gables all merging together on your two left most renders - this should address that, and/or;
3) Add a more distinct gradient to the roof texture - this will also assist the eye in working out the different roof planes quickly (just make sure your UV maps align correctly...); and
3) Pick out your Barge boards/Gable ends (not sure what these are called in the US) in a similarly light texture as say the one you used on the window surrounds.

Hope this is of some use....but as I said, this whole series is thoroughly charming 

[kant01]

hey matt,

welcome and thanks for the very helpful suggestions!

I have lightened up the wall textures and I completely revamped the roof, making it gray and also more uniform in texture. I then added some barge boards and roof edges to the entire thing which I think helps the gables stand out more in the shadows:



But now I have noticed much to my horror -  - that the rendered version looks terrible in the game. For some reason the edges are very jagged and the quality of the render looks much poorer in the game than it did in the preview with gmax. Not sure why it is rendering in a poorer quality.





And I have a further problem. I am trying to make some custom fence props but my fence looks really terrible when I rendered it with some weird black edges all around it:

   

Not sure what's the cause of this. Perhaps just because the fence is too thin?

In any case, I appreciate any suggestions. thanks!

[girlfromverona]

Sorry I can't make any suggestions (not being a BATter myself) but I just wanted to say that the diagonal lot looks amazing! I can't wait to get some of your buildings into my game. 

[jmyers2043]

The fence pic? Probably because the vertical fence slats are too close. You'll also find with time, that very thin stuff looks wider in game than your gmax preview. I used to place lightning rods at the top of my barn buildings. What happened? The part of the rod that was within the roof showed up fine and thin but the portion that contrasted with the ground and appeared above the roof line was fatter. With regards to the finest of stuff? There seems to be this 'minimum' amount of fine-ness that the game/gmax will make. I keep my lightning rods short now.

You'll obviously have fewer slats but the affect - not realism per se - is what you're trying to accomplish.

[mattb325]

Ahhh - the joys of GMAX.

The jagged edges on the side cannot be helped - they were probably there with the darker version (Gmax and the game only have a limited number of pixels to display the models); however it was less contrasting to the ground texture so it was less visible. A slightly browner texture on those pieces can assist visually...

With the jagged line on the top of the roof in the first render, again - darkening the texture may help, or model a small ridge cap, or you could increase the whole building size by about 5% - as jmyers2043 said, Gmax can have difficulty displaying the 'fine' stuff - the point on the roof seems to be one of these cases.

With the fences - as well as the previous comment on removing every other board, there is a great little tutorial on using alpha maps: http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=1127.0.

[threestooges]

Very nice work kant. The houses have been turning out quite nicely. I like the market but, as has been mentioned already, there is something missing. Perhaps a more varied base texture, or some greenery (small bits of grass, or even a tree or two). As for the produce carts, very nicely done. I would suggest that you either thicken the wheels of the 2-wheel version, or color them for more contrast. They seem to get lost with the rest of the model. Very nice work, and a great selection of it too.
-Matt

[shoreman905]

It is with pleasure that I see you have attracted the attention of some of the old hands of SC4. I have visions of an entire region devoted to an early American theme, though the material we now have is scant, it would be worth waiting for. There have been other developers who put together mods that changed the look and feel of the game, perhaps you have hit upon an untapped (but welcomed) arena.  I can only speak for myself, I await the release of your outstanding work so that I can greedily manipulate my own visions. Congratulations on a new vision.

[DaveN]

I know that a lot of time has passed since the last registration and perhaps the author has not given here, but I wanted to say that the buildings are fantastic. They look sensational and are great for rural areas. And I question whether they are available somewhere? Here or on the STEX or some other site. They are simply amazing.

[Aaron Graham]

Wow!!! wonderful job, keep it up.