Spa's Atlantic Retreat

[TopCliff]

Holy cow!!! That looks like Miami Art-Deco meets Coroscant! I can't wait to put it in my cities. I mean, even our beautiful cities we make have to have at least one monstrosity in them. I'm not saying what your doing is hideous, just the actual building. Seriously, what was the architect smoking at the time? Whatever it is, you're doing a great job and you should never quit what you're good at. Later.

[tag_one]

Nice modeling. I like the shapes of the building.

[rooker1]

This is going to be a nice one when it's done.  I also love the shape and the underground garage is a nice addition.

Robin   

[ky72x]

Great work, spa! 

Over at ST, Jason mentioned that the ledges looked a bit thick, and I have to agree.  Other than that, there really isn't anything else that needs to be pointed out.  Except for a patio. 

Keep up the good work. 

- Kyle 

[sebes]

Looks great spa! And I kind of like the thick ledges too.... and the yuppie residents probably as well

[spa]

So nothing new to report. I did some very minor tweaking to the Lexington (nothing worth showing). I move across town tomorrow and it's going to take all day to do and probably all weekend to setup the new place. I won't have the internet until Tuesday so it's going to be a minor vacation from the web for me. So a few replies before I sign off for a few days.

Topcliff: Thanks. It is a rather strange building. Personally I like it because it's not boring! The angle of Sim City doesn't quite capture it but from the street the real building has a great sense of mass and a lot of visual interest. I actually think it's one of the better buildings that has been built in Halifax in recent years. So many modern buildings are uninspired, boring boxes. In the 1970s we built concrete boxes. All that's really changed is our boxes have more glass now. At least that's my two cents. Anyway, below is a more flattering view of the Lexington

Tag: Thanks!
Robin: Thanks! The underground addition was actually surprisingly easy. Arranging the retaining walls and grass to hide it from view was the more challenging bit.
Kyle: Thanks. I posted this over at Simtropolis, but I figured I would post it here too. The ledges are wider to accomodate the columns at the ground level. For the ledges to be consistent throughout, they have to be as fat as the ones that the columns go into. So the choice was fat ledge, ridiculously thin columns or differing ledge widths. I ended up deciding that fat ledges and consistent harmony throughout was the best course. It seems to have been the same problem and solution the actual architects encountered. I made a little collage of various ledges/balconies from the actual building from the reference photos I have. Check them out.

Sebes: Thanks. Difficult for yuppies to tumble off when they're that thick, but then again they might tempt people to climb out on them because of their thickness and a false sense of safety. You could probably develop a mathematical formula for the relationship

[TopCliff]

Great building you're doing. I look forward to putting it on my city. You know, that actually reminds of another apartment building in New Rochelle, New York. I'll see if I can find a picture.

100th post! Time to bring out the clown! 

[JBSimio]

Yep... I still love that building.  I just ended up staring at it for about ten minutes.  Then I decided I should probably post something since I sat here for so long.    I'm anxiously (yet patiently) awaiting more on this beauty!

[bat56]

Super, I love the Lexington ... You do not choose something easy but it promises.
News from the CBC? You did not give up?

Take Care______Sam! 

[jacqulina]

wow excellent building there

[Krio]

Is that Lexington, Kentucky? If so, why that city has been "in spotlight" for days in teh inter webs and media 

[spa]

Marczar: hehe that was a bit of a slip
TopCliff: Thanks.
JB: Thanks. Hopefully it'll have a similar affect once it's textured up and in game.
Bat: Indeed the Lexington is a bit more of a challenge than the typical small shops that I have been doing. Every now and then you need to mix it up though. The CBC, well I'm hoping to finish it sometime in the first half of this year. It has been a battle of motivation on that one which isn't helped by its large size and the amount of effort it requires.
Jacqulina: Thanks.
Krio: Nope. The apartment building is called The Lexington but it's just a name. The apartment is located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

So it has been a busy streatch. School has started again and I have successfully moved across town. I love the new apartment. It's up on the 3rd floor of an old apartment building (we're talking 19th century which is old for this side of the Atlantic). We have hardwood floors, a big old cast iron tub and five windows, one of which has a harbour view. The downtown location really can't be beat. My commute has gone from 30-45 minutes on a bus each way to 5-10 minutes on foot. Anyway, I have pushed the Lexington closer to the finished category. With the exception of the patio and decks, the modelling is done! Check it out below.



At this point I think I'm going to switch to texturing and lighting. Adding all the details to all those patios will really put a spike in the polygon count and I want to avoid having to do much manipulation of this one once that happens. Anyway, I'll update again once I have some texturing underway.

[xxdita]

The Lexington is looking wonderful. Would also make a great resort hotel, on a nice sunny beach somewhere.

[rooker1]

This is coming along very nicely.  I still can't get over the shape.  I love it.  There are a set of buildings near my house that look like this.  I think it is a retirement center.

Robin 

[spa]

xxdita: Thanks. I hadn't thought about it being a resort but you're right, it definitely could fill that role. Maybe I'll make a cs$$$ plop as well as a residential.
Robin: Thanks. Must be a pretty crazy retirement centre.

So I spent some more time on the Lexington this evening and it had a rather ominous backdrop; a massive thunderstorm rolled through Halifax. Not a big deal really for most places in the world, but really rather uncommon in Nova Scotia and really, really unusual in the middle of winter! I suspect something south of me was hit by lightening since, at the height of the storm, a four fire trucks went screaming past my window. I'm glad it wasn't me. Stranger still is that this is the second time it has happened this winter. Anyway, with the dramatic light show in the background I really got rolling into texturing the Lexington. Check it out below:

It may not look like much, but it took a long time to actually do because of all the little pieces and all the adjustments I had to make to the UVW maps (see how those tiles are consistently sized and follow the balcony curves, not fun to arrange). The grass texture I used is based on one of Maxis's and is one I picked up from Jasoncw. I was wondering, is there a complete set of Maxis base textures around? I'm going to need one of the concrete textures so that I can blend the underground garage ramp into the lot seamlessly.

[simdad1957]

Interesting to hear about your winter thunderstorm. We just had plain old rain and freezing rain here in Moncton yesterday. Have you ever seen thundersnow (a snowstorm with thunder and lightening)? I've seen that twice in my life so far - very rare.

I really really like the Lexington. This will definitely stand out compared to most apartment complexes available in the game. Just a simple request from a CAM Luddite; could you please make a non-CAM growable version of this beautiful building please? This would be very greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Keep up the great work. I hope your move is going well.

[Shadow Assassin]

Just a simple request from a CAM Luddite; could you please make a non-CAM growable version of this beautiful building please? This would be very greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

Judging by the size of this building, it probably won't be CAM, so you should be able to use it.

Nice job on the Lexington, by the way.

[spa]

Simdad: I haven't but it didn't happen here this winter. The lightening combined with snow, however, was at 4:00 in the morning so few were up to see it, but they were yapping about it on CTV the next day. Don't worry there will be a non-CAM version. I actually don't use the CAM either. I don't because the region I'm playing started without it and I don't want to disrupt things when it's halfway along. Someday, in a year or two when I'm done my current region, I'll probably try the CAM but until then anything I make will be Luddite friendly
Shadow Assassin: Thanks. You're probably right, this one will probably be a stage below 8. Maybe stage 6 so that it can still grow on medium density.

So the texturing is now finished. Check it out below.



The windows are all done and took some time. On the recommendation of some of the BSC crew I desaturated the brick slightly. I think it looks better now. It's a fine line keeping the bright and loud plastic brick close to the actual building without making it too strong. The texture on the steps and the patio at the Lexington's base is the same as the Maxis high wealth pavement. It should allow the batted ground to blend in with the the lot I'm planning. With the texturing done, all that's left to do is add the patio junk and do the lighting. I'll probably finish this up this week, barring any last minute changes.

So about the Maxis textures. The texture on the concrete ramp is one I made myself after taking a print preview of the maxis base texture in the lot editor. Below is a picture of the maxis base texture next to a 16x16 box with my duplicate on it.

Its a pretty close match. So moving the texture from the lot editor and then to gmax required some adjustments. Gmax and the lot editor don't speak the same language, but I didn't find it that hard though to compensate. All that I did was darken the texture significantly, turn down the contrast and add a layer of blue. Since Jason posted several here already, here's the texture if anyone wants it.

[TopCliff]

This looks excellent. There have been few buildings ever where since the beginning, I've wanted it, but this is one. This is incredible work you're doing. Later.

[rooker1]

Super job on this one spa.  Now that you have added the brick texture, the building really comes to life.  Everything looks great so far and I have no suggestions at this point.

Robin