Homefryes' BATatorium

Sheep49 · February 14, 2009, 10:56:15 AM

I really like that substation! It looks very nice, and fits very well used in the suburbs. Great job!

Oh, and the dependency is the BSC_TexturePack_Cycledogg_V 01.dat (Checked in SC4Tool). Unfortunately, I can't recall if it's in one of BSC Mega Texture Packs, or must be downloaded seperately.

Keep up the great work!

Piotr

Pat · February 14, 2009, 10:59:40 AM

Don I cant wait to get home to test these out!!!

homefryes · February 14, 2009, 11:10:37 AM

Sheep49/Piotr - thank you for finding it. I believe this is the correct dependency item on the LEX (linkie).

Don

homefryes · March 25, 2009, 08:33:03 AM

Hi, all -

Let's wake up this thread for a moment. I want to share with you a little something I created for my MD as a supplement to my utility poles. I needed to make something to carry the (imaginary) subtransmission lines across a river gorge (which will be featured in an upcoming MD update). These Subtransmission Mini-towers are designed solely for areas where mountains, steep hills, wide river gorges, etc., make it difficult for standard utility poles to be used. They feature the same hardware as the utility poles situated atop graceful metal structures. I have made 4 variants:


orth-to-orth	diag-to-diag	orth-to-diag-right	orth-to-diag-left

Example river crossing

Close-up view

Close-up with utility pole

I have no plans to make more of these at this time. The purpose is just for crossing gorges or scaling steep hills, and not for going cross-country. In fact, they utilize the same "hardware" (insulators, etc.) as my utility poles, just as their real-life counterparts do, so to use them cross-country would look kind of silly, I think. And, if I do say so myself, they look pretty great in the game. I made a rusty-greenish texture to simulate an old paint-job, and found a great concrete texture off the web for the base. I designed these for "special-use," and have no intention on doing a full public release; however, if anyone is interested, let me know either here or via PM.

Let me know what you think!

-- Don

metarvo · March 25, 2009, 09:11:25 AM

Nice job, Don. I was wondering when I would see more of your utility pole project, and I really do like what I see.

I have seen situations IRL where subtransmission lines switch to small towers temporarily to cross a large highway intersection, so I suppose these could also be useful when crossing the wider RHWs in SC4.

homefryes · March 25, 2009, 10:04:04 AM

Thanks, Metarvo. I was looking at an area in one of my quads in my region (I'm working ahead of my MD) when I realized I needed to do something different for my utility lines to get across the river gorge. Then it hit me that IRL, there are towers in this area, not poles running up and down the hillside and across the river! So I went to work on these. I wish I had a RL picture of the towers near Ashtabula. They're difficult to get to, because of the remote area they traverse. I made these up off the top of my head in the absence of a picture. There's also this interesting specimen near Conneaut ...

Center Rd. near SR 7, just north of Monroe Twp.

... though when I get to this quad in my region, I will probably just use one of the towers instead. Sadly, the days are numbered for the one pictured. These lines have been decommissioned for quite a few years now, and I fear they will eventually be removed altogether. It's so sad to see something that is a part of my childhood disappear.

Then again, to preserve this for posterity, I may in fact have to duplicate it for the game ... we'll see!

-- Don

homefryes · March 26, 2009, 02:58:17 PM

After an offline conversation with Metarvo, in which we discussed the virtues of Street View in Google, I found this:

Tower along Plymouth Ridge Rd. near Ashtabula, Ohio

I previously stated I didn't have a picture ... well, now I do! So, I just had to start my minitower project over from scratch! So here are the new towers:

Collect all four!

River crossing

River north

River south 1

River south 2

I'll be using my new ones, since they are a better match to the real one!

-- Don

SimGoober · March 26, 2009, 05:04:22 PM

The towers look nice, though the base is distracting. Is it necessary?

homefryes · March 26, 2009, 06:05:22 PM

Quote from: SimGoober on March 26, 2009, 05:04:22 PMThe towers look nice, though the base is distracting. Is it necessary?

Well ... I don't know for sure. I'm afraid because of their size that if they didn't have a base, they might appear to float somewhat on a steep hillside. That would not be good. Perhaps I could tone it down a bit ... would that be better?

-- Don

Ennedi · March 26, 2009, 06:10:29 PM

Towers look very good (although it would be nice to look at them in Zoom 1 and 2 too

)
In my opinion the base is important and it would be better to leave it. But it is too contrasting. You shouldn't make it too dark, maybe darken it only a bit and put some green tone (moss?) onto it - but not too much!
The base should be less visible in farther zooms. Generally it shouldn't contrast with the terrain more than the tower itself.

Adam

homefryes · March 26, 2009, 09:29:40 PM

Adam, thanks for the suggestions. I've given it a whirl, so let me know if this is better:

-- Don

Swamper77 · March 26, 2009, 09:35:50 PM

These would look better with several smaller bases that just sit under each of the legs, just like the real ones do. The large block base sticks out too much despite the retexturing.

-Swamper

homefryes · March 27, 2009, 07:35:06 AM

Quote from: Swamper77 on March 26, 2009, 09:35:50 PMThese would look better with several smaller bases that just sit under each of the legs, just like the real ones do. The large block base sticks out too much despite the retexturing.

-Swamper

Yes, I'm not thrilled with the result either. Right now, these are "buildings" on lots. Perhaps making them ploppable with the 4 individual bases under the legs would work? I know that if I try that with it being a "building," I will end up with a flat, raised box directly under the tower, which will not work either. Plus, I am unhappy with the lot texture I've used, but there's no way to match it to the terrain in every situation. Ploppable would alleviate that issue too. I might get a better (more consistent) rendering this way too (notice how the tower looks where the base is behind it compared to above the base?). I'll try that tonight or over the weekend. Thanks for the great suggestions, Jan, Adam, SimGoober and Metarvo. I'm thrilled to have a panel of such experts stopping by to critique!

-- Don

WillG_75 · March 27, 2009, 08:27:50 AM

Try making then into props, the base problem should go away.

Ennedi · March 27, 2009, 10:10:20 AM

Maybe you would try to make the base a bit smaller (but not separate legs) and use texture similar to these (JRJ Walls). They should be less contrasting

Adam

PS. You have a good experts panel because you are making good work

homefryes · March 28, 2009, 07:20:01 AM

Well, I figured out part of the base problem. It's the "negative shadow" that comes from the base which goes underground. After trying 4 separate bases, I can now see that was the problem above, as it's even MORE apparent now:

Doing this as a ploppable prop instead of a lot didn't resolve this issue. The protruding bases also do weird things visually, in that the ones to the back show more sticking out of the ground than they should. So, I'm beginning to think that it is going to have to be a lot, and it's going to have to be 0 (zero) elevation change ... or whatever it is that makes it flatten the ground. It's what I see as the best solution. Bases that go below ground level don't work, visually, and the alternative would be floating "feet," which would also be visually unappealing!

On a side note, I played with the tower texture once again. Lightened it up a little. I think it's about right now. Comments?

-- Don

EDIT: Nah, maybe the new texture is "too pristine" now. Needs more rust! Yes/no?

Ennedi · March 28, 2009, 07:30:22 AM

Maybe not necessary rust (power poles shouldn't be rusted!

), but some dirt... ie. the texture shouldn't look as freshly painted

, it can have brighter and darker parts

homefryes · March 28, 2009, 08:13:20 AM

No rust? Tell that to my local power company here! LOL! Here it is in gmax, first with individual "feet" and then with one contiguous base:

Sorry ... I kinda like the rust. I think it's just the right amount, and it happened to land in good spots too.

Ennedi · March 28, 2009, 08:34:04 AM

Do you like the rust? I like it too, it gives me money

. A big part of my company's activity is anticorrosion protection of industrial installations

Yes, make some rust, looking at these poles I will think how to paint them

Adam

metarvo · March 28, 2009, 08:59:19 AM

Oh, it's too bad that the "feet" didn't work out right on the slopes. It would have been so cool for this to work, since I see supports that are virtually identical to those quite regularly. As far as rust goes, I've seen varying degrees of rust myself. I've seen poles that are solid red with rust, and I've seen those that are perfectly silver, so there may be no right or wrong way to do this. Perhaps a tower with a moderate amount of rust, like the previous model, would work best. In any case, you're doing a great job here, Don, and I look forward to more.