Filling up those ''ugly' terrain tiles

[VonBeerhofen]

8 bit texture in 256 x 256 pixels and fully working R/S:

Object may still undergo further enhancements, plenty of room left!

VonBeerhofen

[VonBeerhofen]

Not sure if above pictures will autimatically update when they're changed in my FTP site, so here's the final? object from most angles after adding some extra details and meticuously mapping the texture:

 

VonBeerhoffen

Edited July 29, 2019 by VonBeerhofen

[VonBeerhofen]

What would an addon be without the right atmospheric buildings to get you properly in the mood of things, only 1/2 as good right? So as in all my addons new cities are build trying to capture that atmosphere. In this light a new colorfull MedTer building set is under devellopment and this is a first try of the first city model out of 5 or 6 or so. A new model with appropiate R/S and just a start to use every polygon and node 3D models will allow.

These objects are a real pita to build when done right, but this isn't my first try. Ofcourse the texture is what makes or breaks the model, and a lot of time is spend on gathering the right (copyright free) pictures and mold them for use in the game, or if necessary construct it from my parts and buildings database, which is growing fast.

I'm sorry for the low quality picture and distortions to prevent unauthorised use of my drawings, I hope there's sufficient left for an impression of what's to come

This is the first finished MedTer city block out of 6 to come. These proofed to be a little more problematic then I thought but it got there in the end. In total I spend 100 hours on this creation, including gathering textures, and it's still not finished yet. The toughest part, getting the rendering sequence to work is done but now the detailing starts.

VonBeerhofen

 

[RIBob]

I understand your reluctance to post final views, lest they be stolen; Completely understand that.

But what I see, with ALL respect, is buildings "floating" above their natural terrain.  In short. the depictions (with caveats noted above) don't look natural  The buildings look OK, but their connection to the underlying terrain isn't natural-looking, at least in what has so far been provided. 

Speaking as your longstanding friend and supporter.   I eagerly await the final version.

RIBob 

[VonBeerhofen]

Hi RiBob,

Rather then testing the objects where it belongs I used a tree slot for it and that's not where it's supposed to be. It's a city object and is supposed to sit on a city tile but it saves time when a tree is replaced. You don't have to search to find the object as cities are sometimes hundreds of miles away. Hope that explains it.

VBH

[RIBob]

19 hours ago, VonBeerhofen said:

Hi RiBob,

Rather then testing the objects where it belongs I used a tree slot for it and that's not where it's supposed to be. It's a city object and is supposed to sit on a city tile but it saves time when a tree is replaced. You don't have to search to find the object as cities are sometimes hundreds of miles away. Hope that explains it.

VBH

Perfect explanation for something that I ought to have known in the first place.  Thanks.

[VonBeerhofen]

Pictrures shown only relate to the object itself, not it's placement in the picture or the used sky sets or terrain tiles or other visible obkects. There's just too much stuff in my game at once which may be still experimental which has caused quite some controversy in the past elsewhere. You may understand that I'm not going to remove these things and portray the most ideal situation, it's simply too much extra work, so don't pay attention on it. It only shows how hard I'm working on getting things done and make it all come together nicely.

How's this for you RiBob, just to show one of the possibillities of this new Italian city block, which is still using the stock textures but will soon be transformed to my own drawings. It's about the 3D model, not the drawings, or the people running around, :)

VonBeerhofen

[RIBob]

Certainly looks intricate, and time-consuming to do properly.  I wonder if climbing ivy is possible?  Not so sure it is native to Italy, but it sure is in England.  At any rate, keep up the good work!

[VonBeerhofen]

Hi RiBob,

Plants are no problem in general but when on buildings it usually just on the drawing and not fully 3D to save framerates and memory. Often they come with the photographs I use but sometimes the drawing scale doesn't leave much detail.

For those still interested here's an altitude shot of Rome as it stands now:

VBH

[RIBob]

11 hours ago, VonBeerhofen said:

Hi RiBob,

Plants are no problem in general but when on buildings it usually just on the drawing and not fully 3D to save framerates and memory. Often they come with the photographs I use but sometimes the drawing scale doesn't leave much detail.

For those still interested here's an altitude shot of Rome as it stands now:

VBH

That pic looks nice.  Some neighborhoods might have different roofs due to being constructed, and subsequently repaired/renovated in different time periods.  A certain variance is artistically--and realistically--correct.  Even the shade of the roofs can vary due to different materials being used over time and location.  I commend this variable/different-shading of the same overall hue for your consideration. Roof-tile suppliers' products can be expected to vary in color over time.

As to "Climbing Ivy" granted it is a simple overlay, so to speak, but If I may suggest, such might be very appropriate to certain climates, and in particular, older stone buildings.  Climbing Ivy has a very nasty effect on wooden buildings, and such plant encroachment is generally avoided in such building types.

Submitted in all helpfulness.

RIBob 

[VonBeerhofen]

Right, there'll be plenty of differences in the roofs and shapes of buildings when finished RiBob. 6 entirely different city block models go a long way in terms of diversity, :) Just look at the above pictures.

VBH

[RIBob]

Thanks!  I appreciate your efforts!

[VonBeerhofen]

The Italian theatre is slowly getting the right atmosphere. This is the first of two special historic models.

VonBeerhofen

[VonBeerhofen]

Historic building Nr, 2 just got finished and took 5 days to build, fulltime, so people interested in modelling have an idea of the time invested in these.

VonBeerhofen

[MarkEAW]

I see the ledges around the building, that must have made it harder to make.

Anyway good going. To bad it takes so long given the current tools used for the last 15 years or more are the same.

[VonBeerhofen]

Mark,

it's a bit more work to add those ledges but it's making it harder to obtain a proper rendering sequence from the R/S calculator. This object has it's own peculiarities which needed solving as it wasn't working right off the bat. That's where a lot of time is spend, on figuring out the problem and finding solutions.

It's still not entirely there but I know what the problem is and will fix it, next I'll use the remaining space in the model to add more detail and/or appropiate objects, which should add a little more to the realism aspect. This again depends on how much room my drawing still has to add such items, and may potentially interfere with the R/S calculator again, as every polygon added will change that outcome.

There's no need for these additions right now when the object works as it should, and they can always be added at a later stage, it all depends on the energy I have to work further on these things. For now I'm pretty pleased that I am 100% certain that I can solve it's issues given the current situation.

VonBeerhofen

Edited September 9, 2019 by VonBeerhofen

[VonBeerhofen]

Another 100% model, i.e. it can not be further improved as it's using everything a single EAW 3D model can use. A British icon, the Flying Scotsman.

VonBeerhofen

[rwatson]

Geez wouldn't look forward to attacking that beast,,Could troops be added to it ??

[Jel]

Here's a link to the real thing

Video

I saw it several times when it was in the shed at Dinting, and the last time I saw it was when it visited Adelaide.

I remember standing in front of one of the big driving wheels for a photograph, and those wheels dwarfed me

 

Edited September 19, 2019 by Jel

[VonBeerhofen]

After a few minor texture tweaks for the rivet counters:

Plus a little matching Scottish Railway station:

VonBeerhofen

[VonBeerhofen]

Redesigned wheels to dwarf Mr. Jelly even more.

VBH

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