Last September I began playing around with 3DS max, and now I finally reached a point where I can start doing work that may be considered suitable. I did some concept art for the building (which went un-posted), and whipped it up today. The building is meant as a simple residential house. It would consist of 2-5 rooms on the interior (as well as a basement), plus a kind of exterior deck-like area.
The dome is meant as a kind of chimney (the hole at the top allowing smoke to escape) and storage area, with a shelf going around the interior and allowing the inhabitants to store things (such as grain, dish ware, etc) on it. The house as a whole is a bit smaller, and intended as a middle class house for a couple or small family.
The red brick is representative of the player's size (6'4"x2'3"x1'0")
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/Haydenwashington/SampleBldg.jpg[/img]
New Guy
Moderator: Lead Developers
New Stuff (Finally)
-Hayden
this is a pretty good start, but i do have some 3dMax-specific critique` 
try not to use chamfer boxes and rather simply convert your boxes to 'editable poly" and chamfer the desired edges once. (saves a TON of tris)
apply mesh smooth (under modifier list) to your dome and set your iterations to '0'. this will "shadow" the edges so they aren't so outstanding.
also, don't use so many polys in your dome or similar objects: when you smooth it you won't be able to tell the difference, and domes can really take up alot of triangles.
AND... rotate your sphere so that little nipple of vertecies is at the top, then morph 'that' part into your chimney. this will save you a few triangles as well, but more importantly it makes the object look much more smooth and makes texturing WAY easier!
try making the lower level taller, so a human has about two feet of head clearence, also; it might be good to widen the building slightly, it looks a little out of proportion for a main building (it would make an excellent add-on though!)
keep experimenting with MAX! your doing good.
try not to use chamfer boxes and rather simply convert your boxes to 'editable poly" and chamfer the desired edges once. (saves a TON of tris)
apply mesh smooth (under modifier list) to your dome and set your iterations to '0'. this will "shadow" the edges so they aren't so outstanding.
also, don't use so many polys in your dome or similar objects: when you smooth it you won't be able to tell the difference, and domes can really take up alot of triangles.
AND... rotate your sphere so that little nipple of vertecies is at the top, then morph 'that' part into your chimney. this will save you a few triangles as well, but more importantly it makes the object look much more smooth and makes texturing WAY easier!
try making the lower level taller, so a human has about two feet of head clearence, also; it might be good to widen the building slightly, it looks a little out of proportion for a main building (it would make an excellent add-on though!)
keep experimenting with MAX! your doing good.
Rippin' through mesh,
Is what I do best.
Tear off a poly,
Amputate a Vertex.
Dexter: I dropped the word "communism", and people are thinking that Rihad is going to have red flags and lots of potatoes.
Is what I do best.
Tear off a poly,
Amputate a Vertex.
Dexter: I dropped the word "communism", and people are thinking that Rihad is going to have red flags and lots of potatoes.
I decided to abandon the original attempt all together and ended up with this after implementing your suggestions. Right now, the poly count sits at 492 for the new house alone. Not sure how good that is, or what I should aim for. It is, however, much less than the 1,338 polys of the original.
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/Haydenwashington/HouseSample2.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v632/Haydenwashington/HouseSample2.jpg[/img]
-Hayden
good! looks much better. hahah (too little polys of the dome now XD ) i would say between 17 to 20 segments on your dome. (thats BEFORE cutting it in half)
you've got the right idea with the chamfers, just make them smaller:
_
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|
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| like this detailed side view illustration
_/
once your skeleton is done, you should start working on adding details like trim, arches, pillars, windows, etc.
Fairwater's Showcase would be good to take a look at for an example. his buildings are between 3000 and 5500. if they had chamfer boxes and curves he would be looking at 10k - 20k per building. (nightmare for houses!) it takes alot of work to develop technique to create low poly architechture that still looks good.
something you can try is adding railing to your deck.
if your not sure how to do that its under
CREATE:
AEC EXTENDED:
its also a good idea to use snaps when creating railing: i.e. so the railing is the exact distance of the deck and at perfect center.
you've got the right idea with the chamfers, just make them smaller:
_
\
|
|
| like this detailed side view illustration
_/
once your skeleton is done, you should start working on adding details like trim, arches, pillars, windows, etc.
Fairwater's Showcase would be good to take a look at for an example. his buildings are between 3000 and 5500. if they had chamfer boxes and curves he would be looking at 10k - 20k per building. (nightmare for houses!) it takes alot of work to develop technique to create low poly architechture that still looks good.
something you can try is adding railing to your deck.
if your not sure how to do that its under
CREATE:
AEC EXTENDED:
its also a good idea to use snaps when creating railing: i.e. so the railing is the exact distance of the deck and at perfect center.
Rippin' through mesh,
Is what I do best.
Tear off a poly,
Amputate a Vertex.
Dexter: I dropped the word "communism", and people are thinking that Rihad is going to have red flags and lots of potatoes.
Is what I do best.
Tear off a poly,
Amputate a Vertex.
Dexter: I dropped the word "communism", and people are thinking that Rihad is going to have red flags and lots of potatoes.