romualdillo's little BATs & Problems

[vester]

I have been trying to set my finger on it. The building stand a bit to crisp and sharp.

Try to chamfer the corners. If you use max you can add a edit poly modifier.
In this modifier chamfer the corners/edges. This way you can always go back and remove the modifier if you don't like the result.
When I back at my computer I will post a few pictures on a way where you use the animate to make this dynamic so you can go back and change the settings on a later stage.

EDIT: Here is a little something, sorry about the quality, but its take from a youtube:

With the editpoly modifier that you see at the top, you get this animate option (mark with red).
Yes it is something to do with animation, but can use to other things as well.
Here is an example of the use of the animate "mode":
Edit Poly Modifier - Modifier Stack 3ds Max - Workshop 02
by Paul Fatkins

[carlfatal]

What kind of gem will this set become? 

This transition is clever, together with the narrow street lots it gives some possibilities, and if I look to this ingame pic - this is a massive diversity although everything matches perfectly together. I am absolutely sure, that I will start a rural Mexican region as soon, as your lots will come out. 

And thanks for the link to this blog. Particulary I love the houses with mosaic facades. 

[romualdillo]

deora: Thank you!! Lots of neighbourhoods, cities and villages in Spain have the same problem. That's the result of the political corruption that gets worse near the coast. And this neighbourhood is just in front of the beach... And about the inner courts, the traditional Spanish house is built around an inner court, and it's used as another room of the house. They exist even in country houses without space problems. The climate and the Mediterranean tradition have developed this kind of architecture.

vortext: Thank you!! You're too kind!! These are the new and the old versions together... I think it looks better now...



vester: Thank you for your advice!! But I don't know what corners are you referring to. I have no problems to chamfer any corner you want, but tell me first what should I change to improve the buildings. 

carlfatal: Thank you!!! Let's see how does it end!!!

EDIT:

Following a friend's advice I changed the colour again:

[vester]

vester: Thank your for your advice!! But I don't know what corners are you referring to. I have no problems to chamfer any corner you want, but tell me first what should I change to improve the buildings. 

If you go around to take a look on real life buildings, there are hardly any totally sharp cornes (except some of the newst materials and to some degrees metals).
Lets taken plaster you can make it real hard 90 deegrees corner, there will always be a small radius of at least 3-5 mm.
Now you probaly say you can't see that, but you can.
Not the detail itself, but the "softness" of the corners.
Found out myself the chamfer will do the trick for me.

Here is few of these lines/edges:

Haven't gone over all of the bats, but hope you get the idea.

[romualdillo]

Now I understand what you mean!!    I never thought that such level of detail would be visible, but if you say that it makes a difference, I'll try it! Do you think that mosaic tiles should be chamfered too? (e.g. the green house of the picture) I think they have normally sharp corners. Thank you very much for your help!!! 

[vester]

About mosaic tiles as I said about the roof tiles: Make the scaling bigger.
I know it the roof tiles are to scale, but I tend to make the scaling bigger to fit with the game and not
At least give it a try to see what it will do.
All my brick textures is like scale to 250-300 pro cent.
It give a more carm result and you can see it IS bricks.
At the moment the mosaic tiles is a bit of a blur.

[romualdillo]

OK  . I'll do a new version of one of the houses, with bigger bricks and roof tiles to see the effect. 

Presumably (I hope I've chosen the right expression)  you'll be right, and it will look much better. I have to say that I was a bit reticent to change the roof tiles, because I modelled them row by row and I don't find very likeable to repeat all them again. 

It's incredible to see the repercussion of this project and how you all want to make the best of it. I want to thank you all for your help and for the time you've taken to help me with it. Thank you very much!!! 

EDIT:

Let's see the final result:

Previous version:





New version:





I chamfered all the exterior corners (plaster 5mm and stone 2mm), oversized the different patterns (mosaics 150%, roof and bricks 130%) and added interior textures for the nightlights. What do you think?

I changed some things again:



In-game views:









I hope you like the changes!!! Please comment anything you dislike!!!

[vester]

How did I miss that you posted
5 days and not seeing it.

Love the new UV mapping. The textures shows up so much better now.

[c.p.]

Wow, what an amazing level of detail.   The new, larger roof tiles are much better, in my opinion.

[Simcoug]

I also agree the exaggerated roof tiles are an improvement.   

[vortext]

Third-ed! Upscaled roof, walls & mosaic look great!

How did I miss that you posted
5 days and not seeing it.

That's probably because text was posted first and pictures were added in later, or so I've noticed more than once. Sneaky romualdillo. 

Anyway, the tip about chamfers has paid off indeed. Though frankly I didn't notice any particular issue with the corners before, it looks a lot better now, much easier on the eyes somehow! 

[vester]

That's probably because text was posted first and pictures were added in later, or so I've noticed more than once. Sneaky romualdillo. 

Next time, if more than ~30 mins has gone by, make a new post for the pictures. It is allowed to double post, when you bring something new to the table.
... and you did with the edit.

I have done quintuple in one of my threads.

[carlfatal]

Like said you really should make a double post in such a case. I mean, it is always a pleasure to look into your thread, and I also missed the last update! 

I must admit, that I never thought about texturing problems, but indeed the roofs now - the whole buildings look better with overscaled roof tiles. Seems to be the same like with bricks, some optical illusion. Also the more bright version looks better. Wonderful! 

[vester]

I have to say that I was a bit reticent to change the roof tiles, because I modelled them row by row and I don't find very likeable to repeat all them again. 

What I would do in such a case, render the tiles into a normal map using the function Render to texture (press 0 (zero) to open the dialog box). Some call that proces "Baking Normal Maps".
Then apply the normal to a plain roof surface with the diffuse map.

[romualdillo]

Thank you all for your comments!!!

Well, I think it's time to start doing double posting.  I wasn't sure if I could do it, that's why I've always used the edit... 

What I would do in such a case, render the tiles into a normal map using the function Render to texture (press 0 (zero) to open the dialog box). Some call that proces "Baking Normal Maps".
Then apply the normal to a plain roof surface with the diffuse map.

I didn't know that function (as many others), but I've always had problems with bump and displacement maps obtaining weird results. I don't texture in gmax but in sketchup, so sometimes I have some problems by rendering. Anyway, thank you for your advice!!! 

About the nightlights, do you know any texture I can use? I think they look better with the texture I used, but if you know better ones, I won't have any problem using them. I wasn't convinced with the plain one.

[vester]

Sorry, thought you was using Max not gmax/blender.
Forget it then. Pretty sure it isn't in gmax.

[kelis]

You will put Spain on the map with those models, they are really nice my friend !!

Enorabuena una vez más, las texturas son una pasada 

[romualdillo]

vester: Thank you for your advice anyway!!

kelis: Thank you!!! But I'm not the only one doing Spanish BATs...    ¡¡¡Muchas gracias!!! Viendo ahora las primeras texturas casi me avergüenzo de pensar que estaban bien. 

Now a small update: The same building in different colours. Next to come: Corner buildings.

[Vizoria]

Really impressive stuff. Those roof tiles are great.

[Simcoug]

Looking great!