Tarkus' Non-Transit Stuff

[EDGE4194]

alex- the station looks great  I only have one Chevron lot, so it would be nice to have another more modern looking one. Looking forward to seeing progress on this.

[Tarkus]

Thanks for the kind words, metarvo and EDGE!  I've actually just replaced the textured thing I did entirely with edited box polygons.  I think it looks quite a bit better now as a result.



-Alex

[Tarkus]

A little more work done on the Chevron--I've added some of the trim that they usually have on their stations.  I'm getting more comfortable with splines now, particularly after having a lengthy and very helpful conversation with mightygoose.  I had been relying exclusively on primitives and the Edit Mesh modifier before, which sometimes got to be a handful.  Here's a preview render:



I basically just have nightlighting left, and then the actual station model will be finished.    I understand the basic premise behind the nightlighting, but I'm still a bit clumsy with manipulating the actual lights themselves, so if anyone has any tricks, I'd be more than grateful!

-Alex

[nerdly_dood]

Ah, much better roof texture. I can't wait to download it! Wait ... I have to get another copy of SC4 first...

I pity my mediocre computer... I have about a gigabyte of new stuff to download to update my plugins folder which hasnt' changed since i switched computers back in fall - I'm unable to install SC4 due to a lost CD1 and a scratched CD2, so $20 it is then...

Anyway, great job with the gas station!

[Pat]

ooo Alex that is simply amazing to see you have snucked in a gas station!! BTW whats more natural for a roady to do if there is nothing more road construction left to be done for awhile but to make the cars run with gas stations!!!

[Tarkus]

nerdly_dood and Pat, thanks for the all-too-kind words!  (Hope you're able to get a new CD here soon, nerdly! )

At any rate, I've got my first real attempt at nightlighting in game.  Not sure how well it really turned out, though.





I tried to make it so that the signs on the sides of the canopy were lighted, as well as the underside of the canopy where the pumps are.  I mostly used Target Spots on the signs, which I had adjusted quite a bit, and used an Omni for the under-canopy lighting.

If anyone has any suggestions on the lighting end, it'd be hugely appreciated!

-Alex

[cogeo]

Great to see you BATting Alex!

Let me make some comments here:
- The roof looks way too light-coloured. In places you can see just a flat white colour. I think it won't look right, esp if plopped/grown next to SC4 buildings (not to mention jestarr's industrials  ). It should be darkened, and I would say a lot, to look just right. This isn't hard at all, you don't need to change the BAT, only the texture - the new texture can be saved under the same name, so the change will take effect as soon as you reload the BAT in gmax. I would recommend that you don't work on the original texture, but instead make a new .PSD file with the original texture as the background, and a Brightness/Contrast Adjustment Layer (or whatever it is called in Photoshop) and experiment with Brightness (and possibly Contrast) adjustment. This way you avoid possible distortions of the texture or its gamma (as a result of multiple adjustments). So if your texture is named Roof.jpg, make a new file named Roof.psd with the original texture as the background and the adjustment layer on top of it, and experiment with different values. After each adjustment you can save your file, and then Save it As (or export as) as a Roof.jpg (overwrite the original) - loading the BAT again will reflect the changes immediately (you will have to re-export, of course  ). You may also find that you might have to adjust also Contrast, and possibly Saturation or Hue, or even manipulate the colour channels slightly (it's impossible to tell now if this is really needed, as the roof currently looks just bright white).
- The blue "facade" might need to be de-saturated (this may become more apparent after the roof texture is fixed). Even if you have used the exact Chevron colours (though I think the blue is actually light blue, nearly cyan, in reality), this won't look just right in SC4, I'm afraid.

As for the lighting, I think you will be able to get it right. I always found lighting much easier than modelling and texturing, so I have applied it even in my first BAT. Here is a sort of tutorial (mostly tips and advice for beginners) about nightlighting.

Hope this helps.

[nerdly_dood]

RE: The roof textures: IMO they're absolutely perfect. The type of gas station this one is based on would likely just have corrugated aluminum sheeting as the roof, with a steel frame and supports, and then the edge where they often advertise the business. I don't know about gas stations in Greece but at least around here that's how they are, and they often do stand out in aerial images just like that.

And the blue color in the logo is indeed cyan, but the blue colors on the advertising signs and around the edge of the awning is the darker color blue that Alex has on it already.

[Pat]

Alex the night lighting is good very good and the roof is OK but to white... The texture you used for is perfect but if you can darken it a bit more??? I would be intrested in seeing a day shot too!!

[cogeo]

[emilin]

I think it looks really good (both the BAT and the lightning). Considering I don't know anything at all about BATting, I would still like to suggest lighting up the ground below (if possible).

But, all in all: very nice...  oh... and an extra thumbs up for chosing to BAT a gas station. We need many more of these kinds of smaller service lots in the game.

[mightygoose]

great work my friend, very believable nightlights... if you need any modelling tips you know where i am...

[SimFox]

I hate to break the choir but night-lighting as it is at the moment isn't really very convincing. It is full of obvious and annoying contradictions that are easily fixed even in GMAX with method Cogeo so expertly presented. Given that there is no any kind of "honest" GI/bounced light in GMAX you have to fake it with extra lights.
the area under the roof also screams to be light. the odd blackness now isn't very convincing. to ensure "proper" shadowing during the day it could be made into a flat prop/non ground.

He is also 100% right on his points in regard of the day view textures. texture needs to be altered somewhat to prevent this slide into pure white.

[Tarkus]

Thanks for all the kind words, and perhaps most of all, the constructive criticism! 

I've lightened/dulled the blue on the canopy and darkened the roof texture, and I think the end result looks much more realistic now.  I still need to adjust the nightlighting a little bit more, and then I'll have a pic of that as well.



-Alex

[Pat]

Alex I cant wait to see the improved version here on Chevron

[Tarkus]

Still working on things here with the Chevron . . . here's how it looks in game after being further desaturated.



Still trying to get the hang of the nightlighting as well . . . I added a flat plane underneath the structure as SimFox suggested, which seems to have helped, but things need to be toned down quite a bit here still . . . it looks like the sun is stuck under the roof.



I'm also still trying to figure out if there's a way to light up the signs on the sides of the canopy from within--if anyone has any ideas on that end, they would be an absolute lifesaver.    Right now, I'm lighting them from outside, and while it's been at least somewhat successful on the logos, it's not been as successful on the "Chevron" text.

-Alex

[Pat]

WOW Alex could I play with that model? PLEASE ooo Pleasieweesie lol   OK now I am sounding pathetic lol....  No I will wait till you got Chevron done before playing with it 

[vester]

Try to add some color and some decay to the lights.

[Tarkus]

Pat, it's getting ever closer.

vester, thanks for the tip!  That was just exactly what I needed to figure all this stuff out.

Here's the latest night render.



-Alex

[vester]

Looks a lot better. Not sure about the green tone.

Had my own trouble figuring out how to do nightlight.