non-asian branch of SimFox' pixel torture chamber

[SimFox]

DF:
The the grey part of the roof is fully procedural - it is tiles map with cellular used for tiles themselves and plain very dark grey for the lines between those
Base is a bit different  it is also tiles map with bitmap as the tiles

Well as there seems to be more demand for midrise I guess this corner accessibly will be first of CommieBlocks ready for STEX. It is basically ready only night lighting left to be done also I've be planting the seeds again:


PS.
Rooker1
well that's a good idea...
I'll try to though some procedural dirt on it...

[Shadow Assassin]

Commie blocks?

No way, these are far too nice for commie blocks. Are they going to be R$$?

[SimFox]

but they are commieblocks, just new ones - mass produced prefabricated assembled on site accommodation for the masses. On a separate note commie blocks don't need to be nasty... they could be nice too. Finland for instance is the most commieblocked country on earth - 99.5% of all accommodation built in last 30-40 years are commieblocks and many of them espectialy things built in last 10 years are pretty nice.. And Russia with China are moving the same direction - adopting modern technology and most importantly people onse becoming owners of the places they live in treat them entirely different. plus overall increase in wealth means- clean and nicely treated loans, flower bads nicely paved walkways etc etc...

[callagrafx]

I'd advise against including the trees with the building render...They probably won't match the ingame flora palette and look odd.  Better off using seasonal tree props in LE

[Shadow Assassin]

Heh, I suppose you're right

Pre-fab's all the rage nowadays, because it saves a lot of time in construction... a company here in Australia's begun selling custom pre-fab homes, and after being created in the factory, only takes two days to be set up on a block of land. And they're just like normal houses.

Cal, they look kind of similar to that set of English oak trees that Ripptide did a while ago. So, I dunno. Something different would be nice when it comes to trees.

[SimFox]

Callagrafx:
I'm considering it..
But the logic is flawed at best... like those seasonal trees look right in game?! by whose authority, simply because some one was bold enough to put them there and OH HORROR make them even seasonal!!! What a nerve! They don't match the game!!! or do they??
I always can make them props, but then the whole shadow issue. It will loose quite a bit of atmosphere...
But I'm considering making something like Marast's Avenue divider - or more like a boulevard sort of thing...
SA:
yep you're right  those are the very best of Flora ever been made for the game. ever since I've seen them I was looking to recreate the style - perfect marriage of realism with a teaspoon of cartoon... I'll try to match these as close as possible to the color pallet of games default trees. so they may become a bit more olive-brownish

[Andreas]

Cycledogg has created a series of "shaded" props that are darker on one side, simulating the shadow of a nearby building. Maybe you can recreate something similar when rendering the trees as separate props. I also agree that flora shouldn't be included in a building model if it's not really necessary. As you said, not everyone might like seasonal trees, but not everyone might like evergreen trees for the very same reason.

[jmyers2043]

I've been known to take the time to place shrubs or flowers into a bat. But only when I know that the buildings LOD will not allow for good placement of other props.

color pallet of games default trees. so they may become a bit more olive-brownish

And you're right about the color. The first one I did was a nice bright green then went back and changed it to more olive green after looking at an in game test render.

[callagrafx]

I always can make them props, but then the whole shadow issue. It will loose quite a bit of atmosphere...

Probably not as much as you think...and from experience, the render times will dramatically increase too.  The only time I would consider putting trees into a BAT is if I wanted the tree to cast a shadow onto the building like this:

[SimFox]

Marcszar:
yep it is... but it wouldn't be problem with export as the background is such that would blend seamlessly  with anything in game...

About trees.. well reasons to include them as such an integration first is very beneficial to the looks of both them or building  - shadows, occlusion, color bleed etc.. none of it would be possible to recreate with similar degree of fidelity with props all the attempts to "fake" it will be very time consuming and still not right, but sometimes an approximation is better than nothing.
I might simply make two versions with trees and without... and I will release assorted trees and groups of trees as well so ti recreate some sort of park and some such.
BTW how many stages of seasonal trees should there be?? is that some sort of preset limit or could there be any??
here is an approximation of autumn:


PS:
Callagrafx - was that a XFrog tree, right?? Or basically a try with opacity mapped leaves??
For that sort of perspective it is way to rarefied... it needs much more leaves, and leaves must be much much smaller. now one is something like a foot across...
For such a shot it would be possible to use RPC trees as well, but I would say that model is still better...
Here is an example of the tree for that sort of visualization. I know it is of a different family, still...: (these are not mine but from one very talented guy - believe it he just stared making trees about a month ago - he is quite an inspiration for me!!!:





and just take a look at these lilacs:



If flora is modeled and set up right it should affect render times all that much that bunch of trees in my render is adding just 40 seconds so this is
3min21sec


4 min 01 sec


taht is I think you'll agree quite inconsequential in either absolute or even relative terms...

[wouanagaine]

I don't know if you should or not add them in the BAT
but I'm sure I wish to have them as prop for other things

[Heblem]

i concur with wouanagaine, i think you should place those trees as props in LE

[autoVino]

I personally think that the trees (and similar small things) should be rendered as much as possible with the scene and not just placed there in lot editor.  It looks more realistic and nicer (usually also much nicer in the game too).
But those trees are amazing!  you do have a talented freind :-D

[JosefBrisko135]

SimFox I would respectifully ask if I may become your apprentice. Your skills are absolutely mouth watering. I just can't believe it. You're my hero!

[Shadow Assassin]

The trees are definitely a keeper.

But release them as seperate props too... they'd look great on a boulevard.

[callagrafx]

@Simfox:  No I use Onyx.  The generated polycounts are sometimes quite hideous and it's a bit of a bitch to control, but it's good software for doing detailed trees. 

[SimFox]

Callagrafx:
How do you bring you trees from The "growing" program (Broadleaf and such ) into max??
You should use TreeStorm Plugin - now available for ALL versions of MAX (2008 including) that makes polycount almost irrelevant as if you choose schematic representation there is practically NO new geometry added to your scene! The entire tree is fully procedural and is created only when rendered and only as much as fits into the bucket! So you could have thousands of trees  many million polygons in each with practically NO penalty (object count aside). My trees (one with te house) are about 600 000 polygons each and there are 11 of them and as I've mentioned these almost 7 million polies added just 30seconds to render time - basically just the extra pixels on teh screen. In fact the FG is calculated on the faster that on building (due to material property differences)
The "brocolli" trees are MY ONW creations but the rest  - those big renders are from guy nicked Mentor and he is planning to release a DVD with models (it will be for sale though like say Evermotion models. But for people working with visualization it should be a MUST buy! I haven't seen better quality trees anywhere! Just to keep thins clear and not to grab any fame of the lilacs...

Marcszar:
it is more result of properly set materials, and render then raw computer power.

Autovino:
Well, you know I share that opinion. But I have run into a problem... truNite that add so much to the looks of buildings actually is very detrimental to the look of trees... since all that shape is created by shadow. You remove shadow and you loose the shape...

JosefBrisko:
I have couple of tutorials in various stages of readiness...

Wouanagaine:
Sure!

[jeronij]

JosefBrisko:
I have couple of tutorials in various stages of readiness...

Will this be true finally ....  ...  ....   

[SimFox]

well it is true... but i just don't find time and also optimal way to finish them...

[jeronij]

Come on, this is not a Pulitzer contest   

Seriously, I think the simpliest, the best, but of course you must be satisfied with the result