Spa's Atlantic Retreat

[girlfromverona]

Oh, wow! That's awesome. 

[threestooges]

Fancy and complex, I like it. Well done on that one, and here's to 50 more.

[JBSimio]

 

I've been awaiting this one for quite a while now (as you know).  It looks great and I'm glad to see that it's finally made a debut.  I also really like the smaller 1x1 shops you've been adding and I get a lot of use out of them already.  Thanks, Sam!   

JB

[art128]

a fantastic Bat Spa 

[spa]

Casper: I'm glad you like it.
GirlfromVerona: Thanks
3Stooges: Yeah it's definitely complex. It took quite a while to finish... that month I didn't post
JBSimio: Thanks. It's nice to have finished it. I kind of figured I would eventually, but as you know it was one that I kept picking up and then dropping for long periods of time which is kind of unusual for me. These days I tend to just go full out on one project at a time.
Art: Thanks.

Well I have been busy. I have doubled the number of finished Kingsway shops to 8 and I'm still planning 2 more. I have done a few renders of the default combinations and dropped them onto some lots. Check them out (especially the 1 and 2nd ones since they're the "new" ones).

And from the Back

And finally at night on 1x2 lots


I don't think there is anything major left to do with any of these. I'm going to rerender the model that includes Creme de la Creme and Rico's (the one with the bistro tables in front). The gentle day lighting that I shine on the floors to keep them from turning all my transparent windows dark is just a touch too strong on the cafe's ground level. I need to roll it back just a bit. Other than that, unless anyone see's anything, I'm ready to move onto the last two. I have to say these have been quite fun to make. I can generally polish one off in a couple of hours so I'm hoping to get these done this week.

[threestooges]

What I see is a great collection of shops. Well done. The only thing that I keep noticing on the Gabby's building is that the shorter building next to it seems to be built into Gabby's. Assuming they were built at separate times or were not originally the same building, I would expect to see the sides of each roof continue alongside each other. In other words, the white part of the roof of the smaller shop would run flush with the wall of Gabby's all the way to the front. That would be my only thought on these great pieces. These will certainly have a spot in my cities.
-Matt

[girlfromverona]

These are looking fantastic! 

[art128]

very nice shops my friend 

[spa]

Matt: About the roof, it's the flashing, the rest is properly separated. The flashing sticks out 0.1 from the wall. It looks odd on the Gabby's because the Golf Gallery flashing is a different colour than the flashing elsewhere. I'll adjust it. Thanks for pointing that out.
GirlfromVerona: Thanks
Art: Thanks.


So I have just a small update today. The Kingsway Shops, except for one last render to correct the problem Matt pointed out, are done. I ended up making two more so there is a total of 10 shops (two per lot). Below is a picture of the last two, Ottimo Pizzeria and Kingsmill Kitchen and Bath.

I like how Ottimo turned out on the back actually more than the front!

Here's one last look at these before I pack them up for the BSC internal process.



As usual, I have put cycledogg's prop and texture packs to use. Honestly I don't know what I would do with my lots without his and Jeronji's trees! The combos are a little different here because this is the 5x2 version. For those who don't want to try and get these to grow individually as 1x2s or 1x1s, I have made a 5x2 and a 5x1 option that includes all the shops together. A whole main street in one easy lot

[JBSimio]

These will be yet another very welcome addition, Spa!  I really like the 5x option as well... it should come in quite handy.  (Especially if I ever make a square block again!)

JB

[art128]

very nice, I like it 

[rooker1]

These shops are fantastic and I hope that you will make more like this.  Most of the streets down town Toronto, where I live, are lined like this.  This will definately be a great addition to the game and aprt of my game in the near future.

Robin 

[SimFox]

they came out really lovely! Quite an idyllic lil' town feel.

[tag_one]

Great work Samuel, they are very very nice 
These smaller shops are excellent for a starting cities or a farming community 

[Simpson]

Wow your bats are looking very nice, great work 

[Zaphod]

I really like that you made the continous alley behind the buildings, it looks awesome.

One thing that W2W gives me a hard time on is trying account for the space behind buildings.

[spa]

JBSimio: Thanks. I thought the 5x would be popular!
Art128: Thanks
Rooker: Yeah I think they're pretty typical of those neighbourhoods in and around the city centre. They seem to have been a common style when the city was growing outward just before the arrival of the shopping mall, say maybe the 1930s-1950s.
Simfox: Thanks
Tag: Thanks. I have alreayd started to use them in my region's small towns
Simpson: Thanks
Zaphod: Yeah it can be tough. That's why I tend to make my lots with the same textures with a mix of the same props with the same setbacks. So far it has worked out fairly well

So it has been a little while since I posted, but I have a new bat on the go, the Roy Building from Halifax's Barrington Street. Below is a photo of the real building:

The Roy is the largest old building on Barrington Street and it has unfortunately lost a lot of its luster over the last several decades. The building was built by James Roy in 1897 who made his fortune in organ and piano manufacturing (go figure) and speculated in Halifax real estate. The building streatchs across the middle of an entire block and actually backs onto Granville Street. It was built in three phases starting in 1897 and continuing in 1918 after a fire burned much of the original, before finally reaching its current 6 storey height in 1928. The building is home to a number of small offices and I have heard it said that the interior feels like a 1930s detective movie set. The Roy's century long stay on Barrington Street, however, is nearly over. There is currently a proposal to redevelop the Roy that will see the building levelled (a demolition permit has already been issued and several tenants evicted) and a replica with a large office tower on top built in its place. The developer's consultants have indicated that the building's facade is too far gone and too damaged to be restored. It's too bad since this section of Barrington Street is one of the few streetscapes that is still intact in Halifax and the Roy Building is one of the city's few large old building's that has survived. It's a real shame.

For my Sim City version though, the Roy is back and restored. Below is a work in progress shot.

The Roy will be a 4x4 wall-to-wall. The idea is that, like the real building, it'll be able to streatch across a whole block (I think it could look quite sharp with little 1x2s next to it. I have had to take some license though. It didn't easily fit into Sim City's tile system so I had to streatch it to fit. As you can see I have also recreated the old storefronts and dumped that awful cladding that replaced much of the original architectural detail. I based it on an old postcard of Barrington Street that shows the Roy.

You can also see Wright's Buidling in the shot (the white one, 4 up from the end on the left). Unfortunately, none of the old images I found online showed the Roy Building's old storefront shops front on so I have used a little creative license. This one is coming along fairly quickly. I should have the back wall modelled and be onto texturing in short order.

[simdad1957]

Great job SPA; the original Roy Building isn't actually deep enough for a 4x4 lot though is it?

It doesn't really matter in any event, I realize that you are using artistic licence and a 4x4 would blend in quite nicely with adjacent 2x2 and 2x1 lots.

It's a shame the original Roy will have to be razed but if structural integrity is an issue, there isn't too much you can do. Are they planning to recycle the original bricks in any way?

[threestooges]

Glad to see the original will continue to live on. I hope that their reconstruction at least attempts to imitate the original (though that'll be hard to do). Your version looks like it's off to a great start, and I like the idea of stretching it across the block. I say this enough, but I mean it every time: great work.
-Matt

[art128]

another great work