Zero7 - BAT studio

[art128]

Excellent, the tower is just perfect. I will surely use it ! The parliament is good too, thought, like Fabian pointed, there's too much inner courtyards, maybe try to put only two like it's showed in this picture ?

[zero7]

Nightlighting for the tower:



This is still work in progress.  I need to add some people to the two restaurant decks and details behind some of the lit windows.


art128 - I've gone with two lightwells on the government building, though not quite as big as those you've drawn.

[Orange_o_]

This building and the sight of night, are truly sumptuous 

[TheTeaCat]

The tower looks stunning both during the day and at night 
Excellent work.



TTC

[just_a_guy]

awesome tower and great night lighting!

[tr0ub1es0me]

Hi tr0ub1es0me

The mullion cottage is an old BAT that was created before CAM came out, so if you're using CAM it may be that it won't grow as you would expect or might be being out-competed by more recent models with appropriate stats for CAM.  In my region I have seen it grow (mainly the 1x3 version), but it grows in bigger cites than you might expect as I think it is stage 5 (1x3) or 6 (1x2).  I use Maxis building blockers and CAM for my regions.

I ran it through PIM-X and it came up with 34 residents and stage 4, so if you're happy in the Plug-in manager and lot editor you could alter it to that and see if it grows any better.

If not, let me know and I'll take a look at creating an updated version.

thanks for your reply. do you know what, it turns out that it will grow for me. i've got a map in my region filled with an abundance of Maxis content: R$, commerce, industry, and services... for the sole purpose of eleviating stage caps (and temporarily boosting R$$ and R$$$ demand before i started using a demand mod instead as it is more effective).

i tried entering this map while my Maxis Buildings Blocking Mod files were still being used, and lo-and-behond the Mullion Cottage started popping up everywhere replacing the Maxis R$ buildings.

i find this quite odd though as i've always been under the impression since i first learnt about stage caps many years ago that they were on a regional basis, and not an individual city basis. if this were the case then they should grow in any map, and not just that one which has a much higher R$ population. maybe i'm wrong about that??? i don't know... anyways, what i may do is alter the building properties so it is a lower stage to see if it will then grow on fairly unpopulated maps, should i feel the need.

it's definitely not that they are being out-competed for development by other buildings as i currently am using no 1x3 or 1x2 growable Residential Lots in my plugins and for this reason the Lots stay permanently emtpy where i would expect the Mullion Cottage to grow.

i also don't have the CAM.  as great and totally simulation-revamping the mod appears to be - it's just too much hassle to get everything updated for it so i've opted out of trying it.


continuing to love these new buildings, and those recent car models look very realistic too! fabulous work. after seeing the government building you're currently working on, i'd love to see you have a go at doing Walthamstow Town Hall. 

[io_bg]

Great work on both buildings! I'm really interested in the government one!

[zero7]

Orange_o_, Derry, just_a_guy - Thanks for your comments on the tower; you may be interested to know that the tower is now on the Lex.

So everyone will now be happy to hear I can concentrate on the government building (yes I have noticed how much interest it's generating  )

io_bg - Thanks for your interest.  I look forward to seeing any relot you may do once the government building has been released.

tr0ub1es0me - Glad you managed to get the cottage to grow.  I'm not sure why blocking Maxis buildings would make the difference if nothing is out-competing the cottage - SC4 growth can be weird sometimes.  I think demand caps are part region and part city based, but don't quote me - I  play the game and BAT, getting involved deeply in modding has never held any appeal for me so I leave it to the experts!

[zero7]

An update of where I am with the government building ...

[zero7]

I decided it was time to render the government building to see what it would look like in game and to play with some basic lotting ideas.  So I exported, did the FSH insert, ran it through PIM-X (as CO$$$ plop) and this what happened ...



I have no idea how it's done it - in both Max and GMax the LODs are at ground level - as is the building itself.

So anyone want a Ministry of Levitation?   

[Andreas]

Hmm, you know, with those tiny windows with crossbars, it looks more like a jail to me - so the hovering building could be a feature, actually.

[zero7]

Hmm, you know, with those tiny windows with crossbars, it looks more like a jail to me - so the hovering building could be a feature, actually.

A levitating jail?  Maybe the lot should be a pit of lava then, to discourage anyone wishing to jump to freedom 

The tiny windows are 1.2m wide.  In my apartment the Georgian windows are that wide and have 4 panes across the width, but if I did that in SC4 you wouldn't see that part of the window frame at all.  Everything's a compromise at SC4 scale 

Anyway the good news is that the levitation problem has been solved by merging into a new max file and re-exporting.  What caused it is still a mystery.  To finish the building I just need to complete the detailing and nightlighting - and give it a custom LOD to allow props to be placed against all the walls.

The bad news is that there'll be no progress for two weeks as I'm going on holiday.

So I'll leave you with a couple of in-game images of the Ministry of Information (as I'm going to call it) with a part-made lot.

[Sciurus]

Very very nice , but will you put textures on it? Or is it finshed?

Guillaume

[art128]

Very very nice , but will you put textures on it? Or is it finshed?

Guillaume

I guess these are light grey bricks textures.  Am I right, Richard ? Anyway, good work with that Government building, it looks quite nice.

[Earth quake]

Wonderfull governement building zero7.

[zero7]

As usual when I've been on holiday I've created a simple 'warm-up' BAT before returning to my ongoing projects.  So here's a w2w office building that just needs nightlighting and will be completed and released in the next couple of days before I continue with the Information Ministry.

[Earth quake]

Beautiful Bat.
It's just perfect for a modern town cneter or a small cbd.

[Orange_o_]

   
My god I'm stupid ... What is your building?

[zero7]

   
My god I'm stupid ... What is your building?

Mine is the tallest of the group, with the stepped glass arrangement.

Earth quake - Thanks.  It should get released this weekend.  I think I'll probably make some more w2w buildings at that height; it seems a good stepping stone between all the older w2w buildings that are 4-6 storeys and the pencil towers and highrises that are much taller.

[gottago]

Great little building there!

I'd only remark on two things: the glass is too uniformly black and needs some reflections/highlights to make the receding planes stand out. And for some reason the ground floor area, especially the sentry box, looks too bright yellow compared to the band of stone on the top floor and could be toned down a bit. It will be a good transition building; there's not enough commercial out there at this scale.