New Airport Terminal (My first BAT)

[wyrick]

Hello everyone, as you already know I am currently working on my first BAT, but have some questions that maybe some of you can help me with.  Here is a render from g-max.



As you can see the orange ribs a roof have a nice look but now look at the in game shot:



Is there something I am doing wrong or something I can do to make the seams and the ribs look nicer?  Any other suggestions you have would be great as well.  Just don't be to harsh it is my first bat. 

[trapmaka]

Hmmm try only having the ribs on one side of the lot (eg. the right). Then for left end of the terminal simply create a lot with the rib on that side.

[joelyboy911]

As we already know? I had no idea. This looks very nice, I must say.

To get them smoother, I think you can extend the ribs (all the parts that are orange) beyond the LOD shells you're rendering it in. I think extending all of the building (walls, floors) beyond the LOD to the left and right will help later on as well. I'm not 100% sure on this, but at any rate, what you've got at the moment looks amazing.

[cogeo]

As joelyboy911 said, the ribs (and columns) should protrude off the LODshell. For example, if the tile step is 32m (as appears to be the case here) the LODshell must be exactly 32m, but the ribs' extents should be up to, say +/-17m off the centre. This is a method that works well for bridges. For the LODshell, I don't think you need anything more complex than a simple box, for this BAT (but I may be wrong).

Then, there's the placement of the props in your lot. They must be exactly aligned and spaced for this to work as intended. How to do this? Drag a prop to the corner of the lot (as far as it can go) using the MOUSE. Then press the SHIFT key (and keep it depressed), and move the prop to the desired position using the ARROW KEYS. This moves the prop in whole meters. Repeat the procedure for the remaining props, aligning them with the first one. If you want to micro-adjust the props' position, select them ALL (surround them in a rectangle in LE) and move them all together.

A tip on how to mod these props: set the Query As Main Building property to True (0x01), and the User Visible Name Key property to 0, 0, 0. This will cause the prop to behave as the main building.

As for the BAT, it's very nice, but this orange colour is way too harsh. It needs to be toned-down a lot (desaturated) and possibly adjusted for hue and brightness. Also the roof could be darkened a little, and/or some "dust" could be added (not too much, because the model is tiled and you'll get an awful repeating pattern).

Hope this helps.

[wyrick]

Thanks everyone for all the help already!  I have to agree the orange will need toned down.  I will try and extend my bat past my lod and post the results once I get a change.  Here is a pic of where I got my orange



Sheremetyevo International Airport

[wyrick]

Just wanted to post an update, I have changed the textures some and extended some of the bat past the LOD to get a nice smooth look. Let me know what you think and any suggestions you might have!  This is still a work in progress of course 

[Earth quake]

Really nice bat.
on the contrary, I preferred the roof before, I find new version of the roof is very strange.

[io_bg]

Looks great, however, it's too bright IMHO

[gottago]

I like the shape of the terminal very much, but you should de-saturate all your textures by at least 20%--the orange is too intense, the glass is too blue-green, and the gridded sheathing is too bright. Also, the orange ribs look way too thick, and I agree with Orange, the earlier, smaller grid was better.  Think also about giving them a touch of dirt--even new stuf gets dirty quick.

Hope this helps

[BlackDragonAJ89]

They look like they could make some great airport parts. Just be sure to keep everything in proportion.

As for the orange, goodness, the game's lighting system (as with some other things) is very unrealistic, so it looks brighter than it should be, but I don't really see as much of a problem.

[cogeo]

I have to say that I prefer the old version over the new one. The new roof is brighter, rather weird (those tiles), and looks like plastic or made of porcelain. Also the colour of the windows (glass) looked better in the old version (the new one is too blueish). Also the ribs have now become too wide. Pls make them as before. Also it might be preferable to make two props, a "tile" and a "terminator" one (or any other arrangement you find convenient) so that the ribs at the edges are as wide as the middle ones. And that orange? Please! It's wider now, and this makes it look even worse (it's a basic design principle to use saturated colours on the smaller objects and pale colours on the larger ones).
I think the model has deteriorated overall, with the only improvement being the elimination of the seams. With the aforementioned issues sorted-out, it can really become a nice model.

[wyrick]

Thanks everyone again for the replies!  I will plan to change the roof tiles, rib size and window color back to or close to the original.  I am actually thinking about getting rid of the orange and using about a darker gray.  It might be more usable and fit into other peoples cities if I release this. 

cogeo: I do plan to make other pieces to go with this (like end pieces) this is just a starting point to see how things go, even if I can make something good enough.

Thanks again everyone and keep the comments coming!

[tahill79]

I am actually thinking about getting rid of the orange and using about a darker gray. 

I would keep the orange color.  It give it a distinct look and sets it apart from most of the terminals that are available.  Airports now are going with the exotic look.

[pilotdaryl]

This looks just great!  The orange on top and the doors on every piece make it look a bit odd and somewhat un-generic but nevertheless this all looks great and very promising.  Keep it up!

[BlackDragonAJ89]

This looks just great!  The orange on top and the doors on every piece make it look a bit odd and somewhat un-generic but nevertheless this all looks great and very promising.  Keep it up!

Makes me think of my train station with orange-tinted windows...

[wyrick]

Well I have changed back and de-saturated the textures. 

Here are the updated pics:



Do any of you have any suggestions on how to make the roof texture look dusty?

Here is the texture I am using:



Let me know what you think! 

pilotdaryl - every piece will not have doors, I was just testing one of the pieces, I hope to have a couple pieces that can be fit together.  I also plan end pieces.

[joelyboy911]

What you have going on now, is that the jetway is blocking windows on the terminal. It doesn't look right. Also, you have light shining in on one side of each piece, so there is an illuminated triangle on each piece. You should/could get rid of this by extending the walls and rooves and floors way past the LOD.

The textures look good. To make it dusty, you'd have to make the texture bigger and repeating in the one bitmap. Then, add a partially transparent, grey/brown dusty gradient over it.

[wyrick]

joelyboy911 - Thanks for the reply, I know about the triangle of light and the glass issue with the jetway, just trying to get the textures and basic shape looking good, this is still a work in progress.

[wyrick]

Here is a pic from the back side of the terminal showing different planes and there jetways, as well as terminal bats by Ace & Voltaire.

[img alt=]http://www.exquisiteimageries.com/photos/gates.jpg[/img]

As joelyboy911 had mentioned the jetways block windows on the terminal and each plane and jetway seems to be a little different.  But the terminal currently matches up with the other terminals well.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can make the connection between the terminal and jetways any nicer?? 

I do plan (hope to) in the future to make a tower and bridge that would move the plane a tile away from the terminal so that a road can run between them.

[BlackDragonAJ89]

Maybe come up with a few different terminal types? You know some with a set of doors on the back of them (where the people would go to board the airplane) and openings for the entryways.