Nexis Works

[Silur]

Hi Fred,
I think, YOUR excellent agro serial is without any end - all objects are really fantastic 
WAITING IT 

[mrbisonm]

Thanks Schulmanator and Silur, glad to hear that from you guys.

FrankU, the roof of model 283 is supposed to be new looking and irl it looks like this, besides I have done a barn and a manureshed with the same texture already.

Roof texture of 284 and 285 is wornout green sheetmetal.

I will wait then for the whole pack to be finished, shouldn't be long anyways before I start rendering all this.
I guess you will have a lot of work after that.....lol. It will be my turn to sit back and watch your work on the lots.

Fred

[mrbisonm]

Here are the last haystacks of this pack. Now all there's left to finish are the silos and maybe some machinerysheds. (not sure if I will do them for this pack though)
Maybe this propack is already too big, but I still have over 40 different "farmthings" to create, but we'll wait for the next pack with that, I guess.

I made these haystacks a little more "old-looking", where the hay itself already is starting to fall out of the bales. Although on the pictures it seems like I am using always the same basemodel, I will change this when it comes to render these.

Here are the tarp covered haystacks, with blue, black and white tarps.

model 309


model 310


model 307


Then a smaller one, not covered...

model 306


...and three different haystacks with roofs.

model 312


model 311


model 313


And the last one is the rest of the three corncob dryers set. This one is heated with propane gaz. (see tankmodels earlier)

model 289


That's it again, more to come later this week. We're nearing the end of this propack that FrankU is waiting for. After this I will continue to make the Modern Farm Proppack Vol 2, but taking my time with it, while continuing my MD also.

Fred

[FrankU]

Hi Fred,

The haystacks you presented are nice!
But do you remember my haystacks?
Where have they been? You think it is possible to try to make one or two of these?






If you could add four poles on the corners to the roofed Haystack M1 you have a typical Dutch haystack.
The images above are all six sided stacks and they have three poles in the centers of three sides. Another quite common one (but not on the day I made the images) is square with four poles exactly on the corners. Their roofs are either corrugated steel or thatch.

Your announcement of machinerysheds make me curious. I'd like to have one or two on my farm lots. And all the other plans you have....
And 40 other props? Wow!
Maybe I just wait until you finish your prop pack 1, then I lot my lots and finish the set.
If you or someone else (the TSC people are breeding too, I guess, and maybe my own BNL team members start Batting when their vacation starts?) comes up with something new I just add new farm lots!
There is so much going on, if I wait until everybody is finished I'll be dead...

[mrbisonm]

Hm.....I thought I did. Models 311, 312 and 313 are for the dutch set. I looked them up on the net and chose those 3, which come from Holland. None of these exist here in Canada, at least I have not seen any of them. With all the wetness (snow and rain) we get here, these protections would easily spoil the harvest.

I will try though to create 1 or 2 of these showed above. I'll do my best, Be back in a few days...

Fred

[mrbisonm]

Felt like playing around without really doing something useful and I came up with this. I put together a few props just to have some fun and  a preview of what we can do with this proppack. And I was surprised of the diversity of it.
Just imagine what YOU could do with this. If this mega pack doesn't revolutionize the farmbuilding in Simcity 4, I don't know what could. Anyways, I personally like it.

Preview of a few of these props soon available to FrankU first and then everyone else. Imagine.....

Here's a possible nice Mega-Dairyfarm....



..or how about a Piggery...



Hav a nice weekend, enjoy

Fred

[FrankU]

In one word: Beautiful!

[mrbisonm]

Thanks FrankU.

I have created and uploaded the Old Barn to the STEX, available here:

http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/files/file/26534-nexis-tourist-farm-landmark/





Right now I am working on the last props for this pack and I also started rendering the first models. Somehow I seem to have a small problem with the sizes/scales of some props. Something that ain't easy at all to figure out and also something that I have always been struggling with.
Because of the many different scales that we find in the game, I never know which one I should use.
Example: If I make the scale suitable to compare with some other agricultural buildings, they will look just fine when we look at them in farmlands, but as soon as we have these near residential or commercial sites or other farmbuildings, then they seem to be totally out of scale. Ingame and in gmax, the scale are two things, and when it comes to test them ingame, I usually have to render my props two to three or even four times sometimes to fit them fairly enough into the surrounding scales.....oufff. I suppose that everyone has that problem, right?
Luckily these models are smaller props which don't take too much time to render.

Thanks for being patient, I will be back this weekend with the rest of my propack.

Fred

[FrankU]

I am sorry to hear about your struggle. However there is nothing I can really contribute to a solution. Only one thing that I think is important: if the props are in scale with the Haarlemmergold Dutch Farm pack your props will be OK for my farms. Not that Haarlemmergold has made such intelligent scale or something. It is just that I use them in my lots and all other props seem to fit quite well next to these. And this means that a large amount of props by Gascooker, Simgoober, Swi, D66 etc are OK too.
The scale issue is indeed complex. There is, for instance, a very nice old farm by Vanderaap, but it is too large compared to all other farms, barns and houses I use in my lots, so it is not applicable to me.

Meanwhile I am indeed patient, but not bored: I am trying to mod a Dutch style replacement for the Maxis Mayor's house. It is more complex than I thought. SC4Pim gives me the opportunity to make a building that promises to be a Mayor's house, but it does not replace the Maxis one and it turns out into being a simple ploppable lot. So there is some digging to be done.

[mrbisonm]

Only one thing that I think is important: if the props are in scale with the Haarlemmergold Dutch Farm pack your props will be OK for my farms.

Any specific ones in mind? Maybe a link? Thanks.

I am trying to mod a Dutch style replacement for the Maxis Mayor's house. It is more complex than I thought.

Good luck with that, I surely won't be able to help you there....

Working on the silos, finished the machinerysheds and that other haystack.

Fred

[jmyers2043]

Hey Fred!

I suppose that everyone has that problem, right?

Welcome to my pain.   

You're right about Maxis sense of scale. The tractor is a good example. It's gigantic. I've used it on lots but don't dare place it near any other building or prop. The Maxis farm buildings a suffer similar fate. Farley's farm and Bartletts stables are good examples of two models that are way too small ... when compared to other Maxis farm buildings.

All one can do is to achieve a happy compromise. Not too big, not too small, just right.

Good Luck

- Jim

[FrankU]

Hi Fred,

The STEX is down at the moment.
I can show you an image of the Dutch Farm Pack, though:
This is the barn and one of the two houses.


The second house you will see here:


The size of the barn is one and a half tile wide and two and a half tile long.
I'd say that your large barns should have more or less the same size.

Another barn that I like a lot, and will use on the stage 4 and 5 is the RP industrial shed:


This is a 2x3 lot, so the shed is a bout one by one and a half tile.

I hope this is of any help.

Waiting curiously........

[mrbisonm]

Ok, I will adjust my BATs (more or less) to these sizes. I will need the links for the green barn in the first picture and the barn in the second picture. I cannot find them anywhere and I will need the model files for the LE (to compare)I am almost finished with the rest of the props, maybe a day or two and I will start rendering all that stuff.

Thanks

Fred

[mrbisonm]

Ok, here we go and let's try to solve my headaches that I have with the *freaking* (to stay polite) scale of this game.

I am totally lost, I mean, I don't really know where to go anymore and scale all my props (over 60 of them, geeeeez) so that they look right for everything and everyone.
If I make them right for the farms then they look weird with houses and other models, and if I make them look right for industrial models then they look weird for farms and houses and so on...omg...(now, where's that darn big hammer to knock on 'em)

Even worse, I made them right looking for the farmbuilding props that FrankU asked me for, but then they don't fit so much with others anymore. I'm not aiming for perfection, oh no siree... because I don't think that exists, anywhere. Nothing is perfect, (not even youuuuu!) So I don't bother with it, but something that looks good for the gameis what I would like to achieve.....
I don't want to render my props in a scale that ONLY fits one modeltype, but all....I'm starting to think that's impossible....dohhh

First let me explain the way I scale, maybe it is THIS that I am doing wrong, but it's easy. I open gmax and start building without scaling first, meaning no measurements are taken and I don't bother using the grid as reference. ( I used to take measurements before and screwed up almost all of my models before) Everything is done by eye judgement, which I am best at. Then I merge an older model that I know that it was very well scaled and compare the sizes beside it in gmax. Using that square scaling option I increase or decrease the size of my new model until it looks excellent beside my old model. Then I render them in draft and look at the scale to fit them with props and other game models. Sometimes I rearange the scale a little again. Most of the time it works just fine, but not with all these farmprops. Why?...I am asking myself, but I cannot find an explanation why it doesn't work out fine this time.

So...any ideas on how to make the "excellent fit" that suits most of the game models, whether they're Maxis or custom? Or... is it even possible to do so? Help would be appreciated, anything to make me feel better.....lol.

Here are two pictures. On the first I made sure that my model (machineryshed) has the right size for all the smaller props, like sims, bales and trucks, they all fit inside the shed, but then on the second picture it doesn't really fit in with the other buildings, like barns and especially the houses. (the Maxis tractor is a little out of scale, but still tightly fits in there).

Pic1

Pic2


I posted this over at Simtropolis also, just to make sure that I get all the comments, ideas and help I can find. These props will be used by you anyways.

Here are some other props that I finished, the machinerysheds. I didn't show all of them, but they exist in different shades and sizes. They can all be easily filled with any props of the game, so they look "occupied" and "used", but they are all empty rendered, for you to fill with anything that suits you in LE.







I am still working on the upright silos, the last set of the MFP1, but it will not take a week to finish them too. So I will be ready for rendering them soon. Thanks for comments and anything useful you got to say.

Fred

[mattb325]

I am totally lost...any ideas on how to make the "excellent fit" that suits most of the game models, whether they're Maxis or custom? Or... is it even possible to do so? Help would be appreciated, anything to make me feel better.....lol.

Fun - isn't it? 

Maxis creators all used a different scale: it is also compounded by the fact that even amongst the same creators, they used a different scale within different wealth levels. Take a look at their low wealth commercial and low wealth residential - often they are shorter than a sim! So, heaven help the rest of us trying to figure it out.

But luckily for us, in most custom buildings as a general rule the usual floor height for will sit around the 4.0-5.0m for most RCI types.

Grand commercial foyers for instance can have a ground floor up to 6.5m, low-wealth applications may have less than 4.0m, high wealth buildings may be closer to 4.8m, but largely the above number is a happy medium for custom content.

This also conforms reasonably to the 1.33 scale on the Z axis that many users will quote. Mind you, the visible in-game diference in a 4m floor and a 4.5m floor is only a pixel or two.

There are some exceptions to above, and some of these deal with the odd viewing angle of SC4. Notable ones include:
* skyscrapers - the higher you go, the smaller the upper floors;
* low rise buildings which are quite wide and shallow should be scaled up to avoid the 'squished' look;
* buildings with a considerable visual bulk in the X,Y & Z axes can usually be scaled down a bit as these tend to look overscaled;
* The custom content european W2W use iterations of a 5m per floor scale (EG 3 floors at 5m = 15m; or ground floor = 6m + first floor = 5m + 3rd floor = 4m still = 15m);
* Smaller props - are overscaled so that their details can be visible (otherwise they become a blur).

There are other examples, and of course many people will express a different opinion, but the best option is to compare your creations to similar Maxis content (as you have done) before deciding on whether a building is over or under scaled

Based on the way you say you create a GMAX model, if I were you I would download one of the sim height markers from Simtropolis to have in your model as a reference guide (look under the old 3ds models on the STEX for a link). This will save merging multiple scenes before deciding on a scale and will save you some headaches.

[FrankU]

Hi Fred,

Two topics to reply on.

First: scale.
Yes indeed. Fun, isn't it? This might even be one of the main reasons that I refrain form BATting.
While searching for useful props for my Farms Set I found many props that look good on their own lots, but that are hard to put together.
I already mentioned the Vanderaap farm house(http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/files/file/2802-ter-aar-aardamseweg-2325/).
Another one is the SFBT "Alter Schuppen" http://kurier.simcityplaza.de/details.php?file=1089.
I use it on this lot:


It has the same problem as your machinery shed: next to a house it is too large.

Haarlemmergold's Dutch Fram Pack is here: http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/files/file/19453-dutch-farm-pack/
And the other shed I showed is here: http://www.simtropolis.com/forum/files/file/11328-industrial-unit-1/

I also use this shed a lot:

It is by Citynot and I am quite sure you can find it in here: http://sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_filedesc.php?lotGET=613
I can put vehicles under this roof. At least Simgoober's farm vehicles fit in. I don't know for sure about the Maxis tractor.

I hope you will find a reasonable solution.

Secondly:
Your machinery sheds. They look beautiful and really useful.

[mrbisonm]

Fun - isn't it? 

lol...Fun?.....lol, not sure about this.

Thanks for the list of measurements, which will surely help me to find the "ideal scale". (one day) Appreciated.

FrankU,

I have downloaded all the models you provided the links with and I surely will make serious size comparisons with my models, but I also would like to have them fit with other models.

I think that the modeling was fairly easy and fun, the texturing was a little more difficult, but the scale will be a real spurr in the a** compared to the rest. lol
But don't worry, I know that I will get around it. I always do.

Only two more models to finish and then....wooohoo, ready for rendering.


Fred

[mrbisonm]

By now you probably all know how much "I love" manure.....lol. Well, I added another one to the set. These are manure ladders working with chains and delivering the manure outside the building onto a pile. I made three models, one can be seen below. Still often seen in remote areas of Canada and the US, these will soon disappear once and for all.
These props can be added to whatever barn or building in the LE.
I finished all the props now, will show the last ones tomorrow and then start rendering.

Fred

[mrbisonm]

Here is the last "manure" prop, an elevator or whatever you call this in english. In french it's called: *Montée de fumier*.(manure elevator) You can use this prop in many ways just as most of the MFP1 props. It attaches easily to any building or other model.



And here are two ways to use it together with other props of the MFP1 Package.



I finished all props tonight. There are too many to count....lol, or let's say I'm too tired to do so right now. Tomorrow I will start rendering all these props and show you what some of them will look like ingame.

Fred

[marsh]

Awesome work. Those hay stacks at the beginning at the page are beautifully realistic.

Can't wait to see these. 

,marsh