So I have decided to jump into the BAT. I just started about 2 weeks ago....reading over some sugested tutorials that I thought in the end were very easy to follow.
Here are just a few that I have made use of so far....
BAT Essentials (http://www.simtropolis.com/omnibus/index.cfm/Main.SimCity_4.Custom_Content.BAT_Essentials_Page_One)
Making a Custom Foundation (http://www.simtropolis.com/omnibus/index.cfm/Main.SimCity_4.Custom_Content.Making_a_Custom_Foundation)
Simple Industrial BAT Techniques (http://www.simtropolis.com/omnibus/index.cfm/Main.SimCity_4.Custom_Content.Simple_Industrial_BAT_Techniques)
How To Create Arched Windows (http://www.simtropolis.com/omnibus/index.cfm/Main.SimCity_4.Custom_Content.How_To_Create_Arched_Windows)
will continue this thought later......
Robin ;D
Robin gonna BAT ??! What a great surprise my friend !
I wish you all luck with that and can't wait to see your first attempts.. :)
-Arthur. :thumbsup:
At last I gonna get to see some more of your work Robin :thumbsup:
Sticking the kettle on for a cuppa while I wait :D
:satisfied:
TTC
QuoteWatch this space in anticipation
I guess I shall as will BarbyW
I think we'll be plesantly surprised by what he'll have to show.
Yeah...
Can't wait to see what you produce, Robin.
For now, I'll be getting back to my chemistry homework.
Someone called Robin can't do something bad.
:thumbsup:
Watching. Anticipating.
I'm impatient to see my house I proposed you $%Grinno$%
I wait this and other BATs you'll do ;)
Guillaume :thumbsup:
Make your mind up, you're either BATman or Robin ::) Can't wait to see what this dynamic duo (split personalities or not) come up with :thumbsup:.
Dave
This will be the front office to a warehouse.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi278.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fkk83%2Frooker1%2FWarehouse001.jpg&hash=c0ad513e80eefa52bed628c0a89673291c87bef0)
What do you think so far?
Robin ()stsfd()
Looks good so far. I like inset entrances.
Now is the perfect time to get the scale for you bat close. One of the first things I do at the beginning of every bat is to make a 4X1X1 box. Four meters is the height of an in game sim. I use it to get windows, doorways, the general scale at the heights that I want.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi148.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fs26%2Fjmyers2043%2Ftip.jpg&hash=f08812fead1776b6fdaaa992c549651eb101fc28)
Good Luck with your bat. . .
So right away my scale is off. I made the door 3x1.25. So you are suggesting 4x1.5 maybe?
And does anyone know how I can make the render preview picture larger in size? &ops
Robin :)
Awesome stuff will be keeping an eye on this :D
the Joe-ker
Good work so far, Robin. I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out. ;D
Been thinking about the door height....actually height in general.
This is how the units are set up in gmax for me. In meter, should I have it some other way or will this be okay?
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi278.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fkk83%2Frooker1%2FBAT001.jpg&hash=bf18283373a7ff3daebd5e863bb93da985b8b993)
I followed BAT Essentials (http://www.simtropolis.com/omnibus/index.cfm/Main.SimCity_4.Custom_Content.BAT_Essentials_Page_One) pretty carefully and it is suggested in there that a door should be 3x1.25 in meters. I do understand that the game shrinks the hieght and we need to compensate for this. It would be really nice for the beginer (such as myself) if there was some kind of list that gave suggested sizes for the game. Heights of doors, people, floors, width for transit pieces, etc..... just a thought really. ANd maybe there is one already, I just don't know where it is.
So right now I am unsure if I should rescale the height of my model or just continue....
Robin :thumbsup:
Hehe, that would be nice, if there was any consistancy. A floor of a small house could be up to 6m, as opposed to a floor of a tower block could be as little as 3 or 4. It's best to take a look ingame and find a similar sized building and guestimate off that.
Quote from: jmyers2043 on August 28, 2009, 05:32:31 AM
One of the first things I do at the beginning of every bat is to make a 4X1X1 box. Four meters is the height of an in game sim.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought a Sim was 3m high, not 4m....
They are somewhere between the 3 and 4 meters tall. Hard to tell. I normally use 4.5x2 meters for a door. With a height of 4 meters I still got the idea my poor sim will have a headache from time to time :D
If a sim is 3m high, the height of a floor will be 4 or 5m. ;D
So I dedcided to continue on just so I could get something to put in game for the first time and see how everything looks.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi278.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fkk83%2Frooker1%2FWarehouse002.jpg&hash=f59adfe886627a69d9d2e51afc0126e72c780503)
Nothing spectacular, but I think it's complete enough to try to get it in game.
What do you all think?
Robin :)
Add a little Yellow & black Hetrz logo on the building and sign out front and it looks like a rent a car dealership by my house
Looks great mate.
How about a little bit of roof junk?
Maybe darken the roof texture a bit. And a drainpipe for water runoff
other than that it looks great :thumbsup:
Nice model Robin! Like TTC said it could use some dirt on the roof ;)
Quote from: tag_one on August 28, 2009, 09:27:43 AM
They are somewhere between the 3 and 4 meters tall. Hard to tell. I normally use 4.5x2 meters for a door. With a height of 4 meters I still got the idea my poor sim will have a headache from time to time :D
I used to (when I still had time to BAT) draft export then place a Maxis Sim on the LOT, to ensure correct scale with the in-game people...they generally came out around 3m or so.
Looks pretty good there Robin. just two things I would suggest: first being that you should add some roof junk (vent pipes, AC units, ducting, etc) take a look at comparable buildings on Google Maps or somethings for good comparisons. Also, and this is something that will develop over time, your textures look good, but very clean. That's fine for a new building, but dust, grime, and all will begin to have an effect on all buildings (more toward the ground that the top) so perhaps adding a color gradient (lighter at the top, darker at the bottom) would improve the walls. Good details on the front entrance, and I like the lip you added to the roof. Very nicely done. One last thing, and this varies from BATter to BATter, is you may want to vertically stretch everythin by 20% or so before export. The game seems to like to compress a bit due to the angle. Looking forward to more.
-Matt
Looks good Robin!
Actually Tag_One gives good advice. I would generally make an emergency exit at the rear of a warehouse 4.5 meters and the front entrance door of a commercial building 5 meters.
Regarding proper height of a Sim. I downloaded the JBM Sim Ruler a couple years back. It is basically a 4X1X1 box with a very small sphere above. I am not that much of a trusting soul. So I set out to verify whether it represented the height of an in game Sim. I made a 4X1X1 box, made it into a prop, and lotted it with a bunch of other "real" Sims. What I saw was the very tip top of Sim's heads peaking ever so slightly above my 4 meter box as I moved the box around in the LE. Since the subject has come up, I checked earlier this evening using the XTool. Finding that most Sim People Props are 4 meters high. I'm happy to use 4 meters as my rule for the time being.
QuoteIf a sim is 3m high, the height of a floor will be 4 or 5m.
The height of some buildings are...
Bob's grease pit is 9 meters high
And the other Bob's Grease Pit is 10
Honest Carries Used cars is 8
Gustav's Knickknacks' is 7 (this one looks a bit squashed to me in game)
The Taco stand is 6 (though I can believe that one would/should be short)
Generally speaking Maxis buidings that are otherwise known as 'small shops' are 11 meters + or - a meter.
Obviously all buildings are not of uniform height in real life nor are they exactly the same in Sim City. There is a range that should be strived for.
QuoteNothing spectacular, but I think it's complete enough to try to get it in game. What do you all think?
Probably is - if nothing more than to check scale. Make it into a prop. Put it on a bare bones park lot and plop it near
similar Maxis, SimGoober, Deadwoods, or JBSimio, etc buildings. Plop it near other Burger joints if its a burger place. Plop it near other gas stations if its a gas staion. Scale it up or down if necessary. Work on textures and other details next.
@ Robin - what paint program do you have and how receptive are you to texture comments?
That little warehouse looks great Robin, I like the textures used ! &apls
nice small building, the textures works really great together.
great work :thumbsup:
Here's something I was fooling around with at lunch yesterday and today.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi278.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fkk83%2Frooker1%2FPrison001.jpg&hash=f247b3997849573fb845df29134f6bb5a44def1b)
What do you think?
BTW....I'm working on the roof junk to the other model.
Robin :thumbsup:
What is it ? Looks like a wall of Prison.. :P
Anyway, great work Robin, the textures are really great and it's nice to see that there no repetition on the bricks, by that I mean the "switch" of the withe bricks and the brown one.
Good work. :thumbsup:
Quote from: rooker1 on September 01, 2009, 12:17:17 PM
What do you think?
First thing ? Like Arthur ;Jails . Like we have still so much in France .... and we have a very bad and justified reputation for them - Amnesty International - ... ::)
Second thing ... Good BATers are generally - to be moderate - bad LotEditors ... and vice-versa ! Are you going to breake the rule like a very few others ?
Well , this thread was a great surprise ... Robin . :)
I've heard from great BATers that the most important is the choice of textures .... both the model so far and the textures look excellent to me - looking not immediately repetitive . :thumbsup:
I'll follow this thread and your progresses with a lot of interest . ;)
Cédric.
Nice one Robin &apls &apls
those textures look so much better than the red brick ones you showed me earlier. :thumbsup:
Looking forward to where you take this ;)
:satisfied:
TTC
Just a quick update as to where I am right now....
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi278.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fkk83%2Frooker1%2FPrison001-1.jpg&hash=10a155774b4de2c397380361edd7cd4a1b5235f4)
There is actually alot more, I just needt bring it altogether. But it's more night to watch the kids, no more time tonight.
Watch out tomorrow though....
Robin ()stsfd()
Good to hear you went with the important stuff and spent some time with your kids. Looks like you're making some progress though. Did the merge work for you like it should?
-Matt
Hello all,
Thanks for stopping in and giving your opinions and help.
When learning something new for the first time, one finds out many things. I thought I was prepared enough and I did follow most of the suggestions in the tutorials that I was reading, but I somehow still got a little lost. So I started the Prison all over again. Yesterday I spent the entire morning doing what I wasn't suppose to be doing at work, working on a sort of blue print for the Prison. I have it entirely finished I believe with measurements and everything. In the afternoon I restarted the prison in BAT and this is how far I got as of now.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi278.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fkk83%2Frooker1%2FMaxPrison002.jpg&hash=6fe8ae6bd750a54bcdbab1109b8eabc65f7e90ad)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi278.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fkk83%2Frooker1%2FMaxPrison001-1.jpg&hash=7541b9cb10c89ab7f527a0f4e899ec62a3e86aa2)
This was rendered in draft mode.
As you can see I have decied to go about a few things in a different manner. Each floor is separate...I thought this would be a good idea for two reasons. 1. A different first floor texture, which I think adds some character to the overall look. 2. So it would appear to have more variations in the texture look of the walls.
Now with a definate plan things are going much faster.
So what do all think now? Better or worse? Alot more details to go.....
Robin :thumbsup:
Yay :) First realistic prison for SC. Cant wait for upload :thumbsup:
Looks great Robin.
There is one thing with the textures. They are a bit repetition.
&apls &aplsn Great idea my friend . it`s gonna be a very use bat this one . keep it up :thumbsup:
Looks great, though it probably isn't nearly as secure as Cal's Feel Good Inc. ;D
Very nice, but is it a jail? :thumbsup:
Guillaume ;)
This is a big project, and so far it is looking good. Like Vester said your wall texture is a bit too repetitive. Should maybe try to do some more work on it.
Wow what a difference &apls
Looks really good and I have to concur with the others about the texture ;)
They are the thing I have the trouble with also ::) but I'm sure we both get plenty of help in sorting them out.
Looking forward to seeing how this develops :thumbsup:
regards
Derry
I like it Robin. Now that you have a blueprint of sorts to consult things should move soomther and quicker. The textures don't look too bad, but there is some repetition that could be dealt with (something for a later time perhaps) but it's a prison. It wasn't designed to avoid repetition or to be visually dynamic, at least, I don't think they are... at any rate, I'll keep an eye out for the next progress pic you happen to get. Until then, take it easy.
-Matt
Aha! that prison is grimy and imposing--so far it looks wonderful. Will it have a scruffy dry moat and be surrounded with a high wall and concertina wire too? Very forbidding start ;)
Though the textures are repetitive, the colors and textures of the textures (if that makes any sense) are perfect. great work, apparently you're a natural at the bat.
Thank you all so much.
I know I need to do some work on the textures still but this is where I am at today with this liltte project.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi278.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fkk83%2Frooker1%2Fprison003.jpg&hash=1b56002859c76c1e1d2859527e5cd8647557d941)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi278.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fkk83%2Frooker1%2Fprison002.jpg&hash=68c679c88fc34a2c8ab7a116e4ccf36fc038a864)
Still more alot more details to add. I plan to do something for the roof line. Still need to add in the ground floor doors and smaller front buildings.....I think I'll make these props.
I hate the roof texture.....I'll need to look for something else. Unless you all think it's okay. Maybe I'll try a tar paper texture.
Thoughts are more than welcome here.....so please do.
Robin :)
Too much repetition in your textures I'm afraid Robin. Have a look for some tileable ones.... http://www.cgtextures.com is a good resource. Failing that, make the texture fit the model. For example, if you look at the lower wall, make a texture that fits right the way across without needing to tile it. You will need to use a decent photo editor to do that.
Re: the roofs, the texture isn't a winner, and they're too flat for such a large, old building. Each block should at least have a low coping wall. And perhaps some large, long, grungy skylights to get light inside, a bit like older factories. For the coping walls, you could even make crenellations (like medieval towers) by extending the grey piers a bit higher--this is a common motif on older prisons. Also, on the upper right corner, you might think of adding a 2-floor square block that would serve as an observation tower.
Prisons with crenellations: http://www.joliet.com/prisons/images/collins/collinsGuard.jpg and http://www.bigskyfishing.com/Montana-Info/city-photos/deer-lodge/old-prison.jpg
And some that look remarkably like yours: http://img77.imageshack.us/img77/4945/prison1hu5.jpg and http://www.tomme-stevenson.com/images/Tino_On_High_Wire.jpg (tightrope walker optional)
Robin WOW!!! I am at a loss for words here... You are doing a darn great job here with batting and I know with great advice your getting you will get that prison just right!!! I will back in for more...
Hello,
Thanks Lee for the link to http://www.cgtextures.com (http://www.cgtextures.com). It seems now you have to be a member of the thread. So I have joined...pain in the butt that was. But in the end I am a member and made a friend on the site and he has directed me to some very cool tutorials on tiling, mirroring and resizing textures. I am trying to get permission to post these tutorials here.
And a big thanks to everyone else that has stopped by with thier opinion and to just take a look at my fumblings in BAT.
So the prison has got me down a wee bit. It's over all size and stuff. So maybe I should have gone so big....and maybe I shouldn't be working from my mind on the first few projects I do. So I have taken all this to heart on moved the prison to the back burner and started on something that I have some a few pictures of and I clearer end in sight.
First I would like to thank Lynn for the picture.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi278.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fkk83%2Frooker1%2FDevineBrosClinicandHospital.jpg&hash=804220c3a5a3c87236a2d958297b3283ae39dea6)
And this is where I am at.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi278.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fkk83%2Frooker1%2FDevineandBrosBATPic01.jpg&hash=ae82d4bbba70de7378bb3c907e9a8f32dd971ce3)
I am up to any kind of comments and I do need a lot of help. So anything that can be offered would be greatly appreciated.
And since I am in the thanking mood....I would like to thank Matt and Shaun for answering all my questions on MSN over the last month or so.
Robin :thumbsup:
Already some details, only in the door... :P :thumbsup:
Can't wait to see more progress on it..
Take care,
-Arthur. :thumbsup:
Nice details, but I think your scale is off. If you have the grid set to 1 meter increments (which you should), then those doors are 3 meters wide, each.... Hmmmm...Narrow them a bit, and then they should look better proportioned.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg32.imageshack.us%2Fimg32%2F4651%2Fdevineandbrosbatmod.jpg&hash=f0ff9a584466dabc334cf9d7cc1acab2b2321335)
Hey Robin I noticed where I highlighted in Red there some miss alinement's or glitch's? Otherwise liking what I see!!!
Those glitches won't be visible in the game, they're to small to be rendered ;)
This is becoming quite a big building Robin! I like the textures, but the roof textures could be a bit darker, maybe with some dirt as you did on the walls. Apart from that it's great :thumbsup:
You've heard most of my thoughts on it already, but I'll second SimGoober with the scale thing. I have seen 7ft wide doors before that are that massive, but I think, looking at the reference pic you posted bringing it down to 2m wide might work better. You'll get a better idea of that as the rest of the building develops too. Nice work.
-Matt
OK thank you Merijn for letting me know ;D