Hello, my fellow Devotees! Recently, I decided to finally learn to BAT and followed philippbo's tutorial over at ST. I won't bore you with the details, but in the end, my first (or perhaps zeroth) creation was successfully rendered via BAT4Max and SimFox's excellent new plugin, Let There Be Light. But enough about that.
For my first serious project, I've taken on a daunting task: making a ~740m-tall skyscraper/mall combo for a future update to Nyhaven. You won't see this update until at least October, but you can get a sneak preview as you follow my efforts at modeling a real behemoth. In true Nyhaven fashion, I'm not just making the finished tower; rather, I'm also making a series of construction models (because what would Nyhaven be without construction?). Here's what the first of these models looks like right now:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aanhrush.com%2Fimages%2Fkzt_0714.jpg&hash=3efa23f4186ea20b4b3a1bd819e7f9e687d88cce)
I haven't really settled on a name for the final tower, so I'm open to any suggestions you may have. Its current working title is "King Zachary Tower". Back with more soon!
But Zack perhaps you should call it La Galleria de Gaston LOL Hmmmmm, not a bad ring to it.
---Gaston
Not bad, I'll stick by to see it textured soon. Keep it up!
Al (Gaston): Heh, that name does have a certain nice quality to it... You never know; I just might run with your suggestion!
just_a_guy: Thanks! That first pic actually shows everything in concrete textures, which I think are apporopriate for a building under construction. But yes, you can be sure that the finished building will look a lot better. Thanks again for stopping by!
I've gone loony for lattices!
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aanhrush.com%2Fimages%2Fkzt_0720.jpg&hash=89d6847e87660136a165bae45de158e6e8fdcf8f)
I had a look at a construction BAT shown in Youcefk69's MD, Orania, and I just had to add a heaping helping of steel meshes to my construction site. I think it looks pretty good now, and I'm inclined to render it as is. However, if any of you can suggest extra details that would make this first version even better, I'd love to hear what you have to say!
This does indeed look very good, especially (or even regardless) of the fact that you're a first-timer! I wouldn't have believed that if you didn't tell me! :P
I like what I see. Is the top part supposed to be a plaza? Or it that the part where the tower will go?
When I started bating (a very short while ago) I thought the main dificulty was getting the model done. Now I know it's all in the textures. Your textures are good. I like how they show the "under construction" style, but since the roof is what we see the most in SC4, it's best to have more variables in the textures. I would probably make about 4 to 5 diffirent but similiar textures, same concrete style but some more dirty looking than others for an example. And then use all of them on the part where the small pillars are. Or maybe make one big texture in photoshop and change some parts with the dodge and burn procedur. Finally, on the upper two decks there, just rotating the texture so that the lines align with the edges of the deck in the material editor would make it look much better.
Hope i've been of some help. And good luck!
&apls &apls That is very good for your first. Personnaly i don`t have patience but you do very good. Just take care to put details if you want have succes.Have fun
Quote from: just_a_guy on July 21, 2009, 08:06:49 AM
I like what I see. Is the top part supposed to be a plaza? Or it that the part where the tower will go?
When I started bating (a very short while ago) I thought the main dificulty was getting the model done. Now I know it's all in the textures. Your textures are good. I like how they show the "under construction" style, but since the roof is what we see the most in SC4, it's best to have more variables in the textures. I would probably make about 4 to 5 diffirent but similiar textures, same concrete style but some more dirty looking than others for an example. And then use all of them on the part where the small pillars are. Or maybe make one big texture in photoshop and change some parts with the dodge and burn procedur. Finally, on the upper two decks there, just rotating the texture so that the lines align with the edges of the deck in the material editor would make it look much better.
Hope i've been of some help. And good luck!
Thanks for your advice! The top part is, in fact, where the tower will go, but the lower deck with the long hole in it is going to be the roof of a mall attached to the tower. As for texture variations, I tried using a different, dirtier texture on a couple of added shapes on that lower deck, but it stands out too much. I think I'll have to do something more like what you've suggested - editing the main texture in Photoshop so the dirty patches blend in better.
After some discussion on MSN with Kumba, and taking
just_a_guy's advice into consideration, I made a couple of minor changes:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aanhrush.com%2Fimages%2Fkzt_0721.jpg&hash=ecca73d38495b4120a6fd07fe9374c475a881398)
The lattices are now denser, the top two decks' textures have been rotated to match the deck edges, and I've added a couple of dirty patches to the lower deck. I think they may be too round, although I tried to make them more intersting by subtracting pieces of the original cylinders. The textures for the dirty patches might also need some adjusting; they really stand out against the main deck texture.
Well done woodb3kmaster! Those lattices are great.
I can't wait to see more.
Matt
That's progressing quite nicely Zach. I like the texture variation (angles and such) on the roof, and the lattice work is nice (ardecila's tutorial at ST?) but for a construction BAT, I'd suggest ading some construction scraps: plywood, rebar, bags of concrete (yes I know it tends to be mixed on the ground and lifted, but I think I can recall seeing it mixed on location too) and perhaps a porta-potty so workers needn't run all the way to the bottom when nature calls. Aside from that, it's looking great. How do you plan to lot it?
Thanks for your encouragement, Matt (
emmotic)!
Quote from: threestooges on July 21, 2009, 05:06:52 PM
That's progressing quite nicely Zach. I like the texture variation (angles and such) on the roof, and the lattice work is nice (ardecila's tutorial at ST?)...
Thanks, Matt (
threestooges)! As you rightly guessed, I followed ardecila's tutorial to make those lattices.
Quote...but for a construction BAT, I'd suggest ading some construction scraps: plywood, rebar, bags of concrete (yes I know it tends to be mixed on the ground and lifted, but I think I can recall seeing it mixed on location too) and perhaps a porta-potty so workers needn't run all the way to the bottom when nature calls.
I agree that little details like the ones you suggested would really being this BAT to life. I think I might have some trouble modeling the bags of concrete, but everything else is simple enough that I could include it in the model (although I'm also considering adding them in the LE, provided that I give the model fairly tight LODs). It's really just a matter of finding good textures, especially for the porta-potty.
QuoteAside from that, it's looking great. How do you plan to lot it?
I intend to put the model on an 8x6 lot (that being the size of the city block on which this building will be built), with plenty of contruction-related props on the ground. I'm undecided as to whether to include a crane in the model itself or use Lord_Quillian2's popular crane props, something else which would require tight LODs, but I definitely will need to include a crane on the lot somehow, as the finished building will be very tall.
Well, I'm back at BAT after a few months away from it, since I just bought 3ds Max 2010. It's so nice that SimFox released a new version of BAT4Max that's compatible with it soon after I bought Max! Based on the feedback I received in this thread (http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=9511.0), I tweaked the design to make the floors slightly shorter. Making that change resulted in adjusting the pattern of setbacks this building will have (you'll see what I mean soon), which in turn made me add more floors to the design. The building's roof will now be 802m above the ground, and I'm considering including a crown to make it even taller (kind of appropriate for a building named after a king, no?).
I also did a little research on Wikipedia about less glamorous architectural elements, such as mechanical floors and elevators as they relate to supertall buildings. What I learned about the latter made me redesign the central core of the building, so that there are now 28 elevator shafts in it (in the image below, most of these shafts are in pairs, with walls around the two shafts but not between them). Memories of some IMs I exchanged with Kumba also resulted in scrapping the idea of having partially-poured floors, as in his opinion a whole floor would most likely be poured all at once. But enough talk! Here's how the model looks now:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg693.imageshack.us%2Fimg693%2F7574%2Fkzt1221.jpg&hash=8fd558dd069f50aacb6f1828f3a28ec24ebb4566)
I have no idea why the light is coming from a different direction than in all other BATs; I'll have to ask SimFox why this might have happened. As you can see, I still need to add the construction scraps suggested by Matt, but that's what I intend to do next. I'm also considering moving the outer columns at the base around so that they're more evenly spaced. Your comments are welcome, as always.
No replies? Were my previous modifications not very interesting? I don't blame you if so. Perhaps today's preview render will pique your interest more:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aanhrush.com%2Fimages%2Fkzt_1223.jpg&hash=20b668638ffa0cb6bdf6c85ee848f98b96fd8005)
As you can see, I fixed my light direction problem with some help from SimFox and others at ST, but SimFox still says that my shadows are too dark and saturated. Fixing this little problem is taking a while, mainly due to the large gaps between our posts (on account of the large time difference between California and Finland), but I'm sure it'll get resolved soon enough.
Anyway, you probably noticed that I added some of those "construction scraps" that Matt (threestooges) suggested I add, and I have to say, they really do add life to the model. Do you agree? Should I maybe add more of them at random points on the top floor? Finally, would the columns at the bottom of the model look better if they were more evenly spaced? I look forward to your advice.
Looks good! The pillars look fine to me and the construction "scrap" looks great on the model!
Thanks, Alex!
In between Christmas celebrations, I rendered this first version of King Zachary Tower, as it will be called, and here's an LE view with construction props added:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aanhrush.com%2Fimages%2Fkzt01_lot.jpg&hash=8c3c6add474e7214b47f8a57ea2e9a50b82a1b65)
As you can see, the building takes up most of the lot, so there wasn't really much room for other props. Nevertheless, I was able to add a few cranes, and I'm sure that a building this large would need at least this many of them. How do you all like it?
nice work, it's going to be an interesting construction/building. Those cranes are still to be textured right?
Thanks, thingfishs! The cranes are actually not my creations; they were made years ago by Lord_Quillian2. What you see above is just how he chose to texture them - all blue.
With one version of this building's construction under my belt, I've moved on to the next version:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aanhrush.com%2Fimages%2Fkzt_1226.jpg&hash=940f50cb88cec559071cc5ea359cf58e1d16bf4e)
As you can see, this version is much taller than the first, and now you can clearly see the pattern of setbacks emerging. I haven't finished adding all the new shapes yet (including windows), and the lower part of the building has yet to be textured to look like the exterior cladding that will cover the completed building.
I also decided to show the construction of the next highest floor (the 40th) in a much earlier state than the one in the first version - the columns are just beginning to be built, and so there's no lattice of rebar for the next floor in place yet. I'm going to make a few new lattices for columns that are about to be poured to make this clearer.
ok i just want to give you some advice from a guy who has previously attempted to model structures in the 600m plus bracket.... convert all those floor plates into editable poly's and attach them to each other rather than using groups... max has more issues with object count than poly count, so you have to keep the object count down as much as possible... secondly... when you get towards the 300m stage, consider splitting the model into two separate scenes.... on for the to one for the bottom, if you make the LOD's tight you will have no issue parking them together in the LE, thats how dmscopio did the shanghai WFC, anyway looks great just thougt i'd forewarn you...
Thanks for the advice,
mightygoose! It's great to learn these little tricks of the trade from those who have already been down the road of BATting supertall structures.
Quote from: mightygoose on December 28, 2009, 11:56:04 AMconvert all those floor plates into editable poly's and attach them to each other rather than using groups... max has more issues with object count than poly count, so you have to keep the object count down as much as possible...
Interesting. What effect, if any, does attaching all the floor plates together have on UVW mapping? Can I still use a standard box-shaped map and have the material appear identically on all the polys that are facing the same way (most importantly up, in this case)?
Quote from: mightygoose on December 28, 2009, 11:56:04 AMsecondly... when you get towards the 300m stage, consider splitting the model into two separate scenes.... on for the to one for the bottom, if you make the LOD's tight you will have no issue parking them together in the LE, thats how dmscopio did the shanghai WFC, anyway looks great just thougt i'd forewarn you...
Good idea, and actually, I had considered doing this very thing when I was thinking of switching back to my 32-bit version of Max 9 (long story behind that). Since this BAT will be over 800m tall when it's finished, do you think I should split it into three chunks - top/middle/bottom - with the splits at about the 300m & 600m points? Also, how tight will the LODs need to be to make the chunks fit together seamlessly in the LE? I know that LODs are supposed to be as low-poly as possible to minimize the load they place on SC4's graphics engine, so I'm hesitant to make them totally form-fitting, especially since there are so many curved walls on this model.
Another couple days later, and I'm most of the way done with the exterior cladding for the lower part of the model. I'm going with a blue-and-gold design for this building; how does it look?
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aanhrush.com%2Fimages%2Fkzt_1228.jpg&hash=61041b657c0c1ffe67623c8be3e5a51e78b5cd24)
All that's left to do as far as the cladding is concerned is adding metal dividers around the future doorframes and putting glass above those frames. Then the only things left to add should be the new rebar lattices for the columns under construction on the top floor. (The gaps in the walls on the second and third floors of the lowest part of the building will be left empty, as those floors will be part of the parking garage. As for the gaps on the ground floor of the tower, that's where the doors will go, and they haven't been installed yet at this stage of construction.)
Quote from: woodb3kmaster on December 28, 2009, 11:27:19 PM
Thanks for the advice, mightygoose! It's great to learn these little tricks of the trade from those who have already been down the road of BATting supertall structures.Interesting. What effect, if any, does attaching all the floor plates together have on UVW mapping? Can I still use a standard box-shaped map and have the material appear identically on all the polys that are facing the same way (most importantly up, in this case)?
Yes that is totally correct, there will no affect when using a box UVW map.
QuoteGood idea, and actually, I had considered doing this very thing when I was thinking of switching back to my 32-bit version of Max 9 (long story behind that). Since this BAT will be over 800m tall when it's finished, do you think I should split it into three chunks - top/middle/bottom - with the splits at about the 300m & 600m points?
That seems like a grand plan, and although will cause you a little extra work will save on render time and in fact make the load on the game less than one big model.
QuoteAlso, how tight will the LODs need to be to make the chunks fit together seamlessly in the LE? I know that LODs are supposed to be as low-poly as possible to minimize the load they place on SC4's graphics engine, so I'm hesitant to make them totally form-fitting, especially since there are so many curved walls on this model.
you will have to experiment, for the majority of the structure you will be able to use a box, but remember that any excess LOD from the upper parts will project empty space over the model underneath at the interface. so surrounding the interfaces i would consider going totally form fitting (or at least experiment with a repeated hexagonal profile.) for 15-25m either side of the join. (i assume you know how to make custom LODS
QuoteAnother couple days later, and I'm most of the way done with the exterior cladding for the lower part of the model. I'm going with a blue-and-gold design for this building; how does it look?
All that's left to do as far as the cladding is concerned is adding metal dividers around the future doorframes and putting glass above those frames. Then the only things left to add should be the new rebar lattices for the columns under construction on the top floor. (The gaps in the walls on the second and third floors of the lowest part of the building will be left empty, as those floors will be part of the parking garage. As for the gaps on the ground floor of the tower, that's where the doors will go, and they haven't been installed yet at this stage of construction.)
this all looks great, careful of the texture repetition on the gold part, out of interest what material is the gold meant to represent as i can't really tell?
but fantastic progress and im fascinated to see how this tower will turn out.
Thanks again, mightygoose! I'm sure your advice will come in handy. The gold texture is supposed to be a yellowish type of stone, but I'm not absolutely wedded to this particular texture, and it certainly doesn't look great when tiled like it is. The hospital on my university campus is clad in a nice-looking yellowish marble, and if I can't find a texture online that more closely resembles it, I'll just stop by there once I get back to school and take a picture to make my own texture.
Well, happy new year to all of you! Here's where the model stands right now:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aanhrush.com%2Fimages%2Fkzt_0101.jpg&hash=fbd132eec3a0ccf9239bb25918653513dba5b881)
It's almost done as far as the second stage of construction is concerned. All the new geometry is in place, and I've made the custom LODs. The main thing keeping me from rendering it is the gold texture issue I just described to mightygoose; I think I could definitely do with a better texture on the lower part of the building, and if I can't find one online, I'll just have to make one. Besides that, I'm not sure whether to add the geometric relief pattern I intend to add onto the empty walls on the mall part of the building or not; it may or may not be the sort of thing that the builders would have completed by this stage in construction.
I also need to figure out what I'm going to do about the outer walls of the tower on the mechanical floors, the lowest of which (the 9th and 10th floors) are already part of the model. According to Wikipedia's article on mechanical floors (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_floor), they usually don't have glass windows because they would block air flowing through vents on those floors, so at the moment I intend to just place a bunch more columns to mask the floors while keeping the façade of the building interesting. If you have any other suggestions as to what I could do, don't hesitate to post them!
EDIT: After downloading a bunch of different beige marble textures and stitching a couple of them together to make one giant super-texture, I'm much happier with the building's appearance:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aanhrush.com%2Fimages%2Fkzt_0101_no2a.jpg&hash=e0400ca6ab4e9d75e021c88f8bf4f0fe8b254c56)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aanhrush.com%2Fimages%2Fkzt_0101_no2b.jpg&hash=2277889f98f6a143813235e0ea3a1b2e4c479ac2)
Nevertheless, I still want to hear your opinions on the things I mentioned above. If you have any suggestions for improvement, please let me know!
that new texture looks much better than the gold. I found the contrast between the blue and gold a bit much, but now it looks nice. :thumbsup:
Also I think your two big black smudges are a bit crude, maybe make some more smaller marks here and there. It's coming along well.
that new stone textue looks superb, my concerns primarily now are the window material now not matching up with your new fantastic stone texture. also on the upper floors of the parking garage you have a large expanse of plain wall, i am concerned it might be left feeling empty and under detailed.
the new render looks fantastic, btw what height are we up to now
Thank you both very much! thingfishs, if I understand you correctly, you're saying that the stains are perhaps too dark and too few. I've lightened them up some, and I'll see about adding in some more of them in random places.
mightygoose, I've lightened up the window material, and I think it matches up much better with the new marble texture (thanks for your compliments on that texture!). I took your second comment to mean that I should add in that geometric pattern I mentioned in my last post, which I have done. It took a bit of work to get it to look right, and I ended up having to use a different texture under the relief pattern to make it stand out. I hope you like it! The tower is currently 207.5m tall; the next stage in construction will put it at over 350m.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aanhrush.com%2Fimages%2Fkzt_0102a.jpg&hash=50a2edbc6f680b0d39e00113f88d175e70046bde)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aanhrush.com%2Fimages%2Fkzt_0102b.jpg&hash=eb9b4aa91ccc320bcbf717b55b3cbd500b412ad3)
I'm tempted to just ignore the issue of mechanical floor decoration so I can move on, but if any of you think I should do something different, I'd love to hear it. If there are no further suggestions for improvement, I'm going to go ahead and render the building as it is now.
Yes you understood me correctly, and I think lightening them has helped a lot. I would just expect there to be various marks and bits of litter etc. around during construction. The lightening of the windows has helped as well.
Glad to know that I understood you correctly, thingfishs. Thanks for your comments and kind words!
Now that a new academic quarter has begun, I don't have as much time to BAT as before, but I can tell you that I went ahead and exported the last version I showed you above, and it's now completely lotted. I can show a pic of the lot if you'd like. I've also done most of the work on the next version, which is a full 32 stories taller than the last; the total height is now up to 367.5m.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aanhrush.com%2Fimages%2Fkzt_0109a.jpg&hash=d9844c23b6ec8841de114dcd8690470d976e0f3a)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aanhrush.com%2Fimages%2Fkzt_0109b.jpg&hash=d41924025df5fbacfe5a5ad8e49543a2a809e5f7)
If you're wondering why all the construction scraps are clustered in a small part of the highest floor instead of being more widely dispersed, it's because I am going to have most of the rebar lattice for the next floor in place, so they would be hard to see if they were on other parts of the floor. I still need to add that lattice, as well as a small guardhouse and barrier at the entrance to the parking garage. Once those are in place, this version should be ready to render.
Very original how you do to show the growing up :thumbsup:
And of course, beautiful building!! &apls
Guillaume :thumbsup:
Thank you very much, Guillaume!
I was finally able to get back into BATting yesterday after a three-month hiatus. I went ahead and tried out my geometric pattern idea for the mechanical floors, and the results look kind of mixed:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg22.imageshack.us%2Fimg22%2F5468%2Fkzt0410.jpg&hash=e612967730b6d9498ee907f9bf890c12c380aedb)
I think the pattern itself looks pretty decent, but there's a host of weird shadow issues with the new geometry. I suspect that those oddities have something to do with how I made the new wall sections. What should I change, if anything? What else could I do to break up the monotonous repetition of the façade?
Hi again,
Now before I say anything I will present my disclaimer: I've never made a skyscraper. (and looking through the STEX I'm thinking a few other people have - from memory you have this up at ST anyway so hopefully you get some more advice there, it seems most of the skyscrpaer folk hang out at ST)
That said, for me the windows are very repetitive. Looking at some RL skyscrapers it's seems variation in the windows, even by day, is crucial. For example:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimgur.com%2FmAGw3.jpg&hash=376aa8d03cf2f470d182fbdadf327ed342f6033e)
If you had the right image(s) behind semi-transparent glass perhaps you could add this sort of variety...?
Its really cool to watch this thread. In a unique way it seems like I'm actually slowly seeing a building being constructed. Its a very unique style and something you may or may not have planned...but I like! :thumbsup:
I'm really digging this building. Keep up the great work!
nice work.
Thank you all! Thingfishs, I agree that the finished BAT should have the blinds drawn in some of its windows, but since it's still under construction, I don't think any blinds would have been installed as of yet. I'll definitely make use of your advice when the time comes to finish the model, though!
After a very productive exchange of PMs with SimHoTToDDy at ST, I've made a few more changes to the façade:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aanhrush.com%2Fimages%2Fkzt_0425a.jpg&hash=685d0bf8e05c2eda71e5eed2942d391f994b569a)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aanhrush.com%2Fimages%2Fkzt_0425b.jpg&hash=a4ded3f474344372176faedbd88c42e4151187b0)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aanhrush.com%2Fimages%2Fkzt_0425c.jpg&hash=a2456b8a03ca92b4dfb1141058cf36be4f95c038)
Based on one of SimHoTToDDy's recommendations in our PM conversation, I'm looking at ways to make the floor transitions more subtle, since right now, they just look like simple concrete slabs. I know that there's always more to the spaces between floors than meets the eye (with utility spaces, steel supporting trusses and so forth), but the only idea I've hit upon so far is making the marble cladding between the windows taller. If any of you can think of a better idea, I'd love to hear it.
nice :thumbsup: having the variation in the windows has helped lift the whole creation immeasurably.
Some of the lighter patches look a bit too light in comparison to me, a bit blotchy sort of... Like that patch just over half way up the third column from left, and the way all those ground columns change from darker to lighter looks odd. It seems like maybe the reflections (or whatever it is) need some tweaking but overall you've made a huge improvement.
Looks good woodb3kmaster. &apls
thingfishs: Thanks! The blotchiness you see in the window texture is simply the clouds on the environment background that the windows are reflecting. I'm not sure what you're referring to when you say,
Quote from: thingfishs on April 25, 2010, 02:59:27 PM
...and the way all those ground columns change from darker to lighter looks odd.
Do you suppose you could elaborate? There are a few different things I think you could be referring to, and I want to see which one you had in mind.
Aaron Graham: Thank you!
Well, after a couple more months with no progress, aside from further discussions with
SimHoTToDDy, I've returned with a major update for you all! I've revised the floor layouts so that there's now a second "staircase" of floors going the opposite way to the original "staircase". As a result, the tower is now going to be considerably shorter than I had originally planned, at 100 floors instead of 160. I've also made the outer walls thinner in an attempt to bring them closer to the glass, to give the façade a smoother look. Here's how it all turned out:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg514.imageshack.us%2Fimg514%2F1251%2Fkzt0703a.jpg&hash=4733f0939ccbbb4db4cf29e7c1127414e8ea0ce0)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg153.imageshack.us%2Fimg153%2F4757%2Fkzt0703b.jpg&hash=738b57e58067b3092b56822a38fe27940b00e0f7)
Please let me know what you think. Thanks!
Good work, especially reflections are great :thumbsup: and the outline of building is more interesting now :)
Thank you, seraf!
I've gone ahead and made the floors 0.5m taller (which resulted in far more work than I had expected), and I think the results are pretty decent. I also lowered the transoms/horizontal mullions relative to the floors, so the windows are no longer evenly divided. I have yet to try out a lighter texture for the mullions or experiment with possible taller floor transitions (in the latter's case, because I don't really know what I could try, other than what's on the façade of the 777 Tower).
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg146.imageshack.us%2Fimg146%2F5749%2Fkzt100716a.jpg&hash=45931ca17be19e05cc9ef7ac3fee4fa6db132afe)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg210.imageshack.us%2Fimg210%2F674%2Fkzt100716b.jpg&hash=5a11d336ffae9c122fde0c57cc4408307ad58d57)
Any suggestions on what would make good floor transitions are most welcome.
I just switched the texture for the mullions to a bronze/copper texture, and I have to say, it looks quite a bit better now. Here are a couple parts of the latest zoom 5 preview so you can judge for yourselves:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg155.imageshack.us%2Fimg155%2F6713%2Fkzt100717no1.jpg&hash=b36db78ea3fbc0341c912237bf6087a8a622efec)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg819.imageshack.us%2Fimg819%2F3267%2Fkzt100717no2.jpg&hash=a82ddb10bb211957480218d2439fc27f5b7799a3)
Hey! The tower is looking great! :thumbsup: I think you are also getting better at texturing, but how would I know as I'm not a BATer (yet ;)) Are you sure you're going to make the building shorter? It would be a shame, because it seems no one BATs any fictional over-100 story buildings anymore except for Xyloxadoria. How about if further up on the tower, you half the size of the cylindrical things you have going up the building (hope you understand what I mean). That way the staircase would have to climb higher. Just a suggestion. Keep up the great work! &apls &apls ;D
citycapitalizer: Thank you! I'm definitely making the building shorter, sorry. Your suggestion sounds interesting, though (and I do think I know what you mean).
I haven't done much BATting over the past few months, but I've had more opportunities to BAT this past week. Here's my latest preview:
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aanhrush.com%2Fimages%2Fkzt_110225_no1.jpg&hash=8cd4c16e2ada4dbb3b78135a281a5f3d792f5e8f)
I decided to try remodeling the decorative walls at the top of each "step", since there were some odd-looking glitches with them as they were (look at them in the above previews if you're not sure what I mean). They look better now, but still not quite right, so maybe I'll try another design. I also added decorative railing above those walls to make the tops of the "steps" more interesting.
At this point, I don't think there's much more I need to add to the model before I can call this version finished. If you have any suggestions for things I can add, please let me know. Thanks!
Zach, this stuff looks great! Definite download for me when it's done . . . . perhaps it'll be your MD's embassy building in my upcoming MD!