|
BAP building and decorating tutorial
Author: Peshi Date: Saturday, May 25 2002 SimCity 3000 Unlimited comes with Building Architect Tool (BAP). BAP allows you to create your own buildings to replace the default buildings in SimCity 3000 Unlimited. Amazing buildings can be created with BAP, but you need to know how. The "block like" structures of most BAPs comes from the fact that most people don't know how to take full advantage of the tools available. For more information on the building tools in BAP, I recommend reading this: Click Here BAP buildings created by such masters like Pink Tulips/Free China, SAC, Couchpotato among others all use different styles in their buildings (everyone has their own), but they all have some things in common which is what this tutorial is about. Before you start a building you need to decide what size you are going to make the building. You need to remember that different sizes have different height limits. As a rule, the taller the building, the bigger the tile you'll want to use. For a building to look realistic the building scale needs to be realistic. This is the most important decision you'll have to make. It could allow you to make your building perfect or it could completely ruin your building. Now on the actual building............. You'll want to start off with a general base of your building by "tracing" a layout with the brick tools available. You don't need to use the blocks for the same thing they were made for. After you've finished the base you should start making the walls. I recommend painting the building as you build instead of paiting it all at the end. It doesn't work. You should really keep the building hollow unless you really need to so it is easier to change anything should it become necessary. This same rule applies to decals. Remember you can always change something if it doesn't work out. You can now start to build up the walls and the roof (and don't forget to add paints and decals as you go). There really isn't much to the actual structure of the building. Because of the limited blocks paints, decals and props are crucial to make your building look nice. If a building looks ugly when it is unpainted, decaled and proped chances are that it will look good after you've completely finished the building. If a building looks good without being painted the paint might actually ruin your buildings. The key is to keep the building balanced. Never use only one or two colours on a building. ......and now paints and decals....... Painting buildings has to be the most delicate part of any building. One paint can make all the difference in a BAP building. This naturally is why painting a building normally takes such a long time. There is no general rule for painting a building as each building is different, but the key is that the colours have to work together. The decals also have to match the paints. A decal that "grabs" attention away from the background colours will make a building look too "big" for its actual size. Remember that just like bricks, paints and decals can be used for anything. A "roof" paint can be used at the base or on the wall. .......and finally props...... Props should only be used on roofs and on the ground. BAP includes dome props that are meant to hang from the wall, but in reality these are either too big or too small to match the props. The only exception to this rule are the small balconys. Props are perfect to liven up the base and to fill up the roof with objects (the roof was one of the major problems with BAT). Customn props are highly recommended for all your buildings. That is as easy as it gets. The most important tip I can give you is to experiment with different props, decals and shades of paints and downloading custom addons are a must for any serious BAPer as they add enormous amount of choices for you. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to E-Mail me at peshi@simaddons.zzn.com |