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How to create a small building in 10 steps

Posted: 12 Feb 2017, 18:54
by theotheoderich
Welcome to our small tutorial how to create a simple 1x1 building for TheoTown.

Basics:
First you need a graphics program.
You can use any program that supports PNG files and transparency. Possibly GIMP, paint.net or another program in which you can disable antialiasing.

It is important to know that TheoTown is using an isometric angle of view for all ingame buildings.

Some words about the scale in TheoTown.
A human being is about two meters tall. These are about three pixels in the game.
Due to some restrictions in the game, it is not possible to display a very huge factory scale to scale.
This is also the reason why a nuclear power plant has the same size of the base area in the game as a skyscraper.
Also keep in mind that even such a skyscraper can´t be higher than 256 pixel in height.

We start with the ground-area:
image.png
image.png (203 Bytes) Viewed 14667 times
Light and shadows are based on the following template:

Original size:
Image
Enlargement:
Image


Ok, let´s begin to create a small house for TheoTown.

Step 1:
Original size / Enlargement
ImageImage

We start with some basic walls.


Step 2:
ImageImage

Then we add the first part of the roof.


Step 3:
ImageImage

Now we extend the roof to the other side of the building.


Step 4:
ImageImage

In this step the roof is filled with color and slightly lowered on the wall of the house.


Step 5:
ImageImage

Now we add the window frames. Always pay attention to where the light comes from.
On the bright side the frames are dark and on the dark side bright to have a good contrast in the game.


Step 6:
ImageImage

For a "realistic" roof or window color it is worth to use a photo of a building.
Copy the photo to the graphics program and read out the corresponding color values using the color pipette.
This prevents a comic-looking look that does not match the other buildings in TheoTown.


Step 7:
ImageImage

Now we put a chimney and some structure on the roof, so it does not look too simple. Larger roofs (eg for an industrial warehouses) can also be filled with textures.
Depending on the side of the building, these textures must be rotated in order to adapt to the angle used in the game.

Image

In addition, the future owner of the building has been added to look at the construction of his house :wink:


Step 8:
ImageImage

Then some grass is added to the front yard.
Again, it is good practise to get the grass color values from a photo to have "realistic" colors.


Step 9:
ImageImage

In this step shadows are added.
For shadows I use black as a color with 20% color coverage.
The chimney throws its shadow on the roof, the homeowner has its shadow on the grass, and the right wall of the house also throws its shadow on the grass.

The length of the shadow corresponds to the height of the object that throws the shadow.

Shadows must not be drawn outside the ground-area.


Step 10 and final work:
ImageImage

In the last steps I adjust the color saturation and the contrast values (in this example using the unsharp mask in Paint Shop Pro 9...maybe it is different in other programs)
This makes the picture more contrasting and the appearance "more realistic".

ImageImage

In the last step, I cut the empty image borders exactly to the building size, so there is no blank border around anymore.

Image

Re: How to create a small building in 10 steps

Posted: 17 Jun 2017, 01:37
by Barky
This is probaly a dumb question but how do you get the scale perfect? Like the height and with of the building and keep it perfect like that? :?

(Yes I know this topic is old)

Re: How to create a small building in 10 steps

Posted: 26 Jun 2017, 22:29
by KINGTUT10101
If you want a tip on keeping a realistic size use the person. A human in TT is always 3 pixels tall. That should help with scale.

Re: How to create a small building in 10 steps

Posted: 26 Jun 2017, 22:33
by Josh
Or just look at the windows, or theos buildings, that helped me a lot. Just keep "Copying theo's buildings" Until you can make them yourselves. I learned this in a week doing this.

Re: How to create a small building in 10 steps

Posted: 12 Jul 2017, 10:18
by PhillipTheBuilder
Guys im lost.How to do the pixel?
Im just starting and im an idiot

Re: How to create a small building in 10 steps

Posted: 12 Jul 2017, 16:07
by KINGTUT10101
If you don't know any pixel art editors, Pixly and Novix (on Android) are pretty good.

Re: How to create a small building in 10 steps

Posted: 19 Nov 2019, 11:56
by darcy123
This is very useful.

Re: How to create a small building in 10 steps

Posted: 29 Aug 2020, 20:01
by Kilobeastreptile
can some one link a download file for the ground. the one in the forum wont open for me :(

Re: How to create a small building in 10 steps

Posted: 29 Aug 2020, 20:38
by Lobby
Thanks, I fixed it. You'll find more ground templates here: viewtopic.php?f=108&t=3207

Re: How to create a small building in 10 steps

Posted: 09 Feb 2021, 06:36
by Designer Anthony
There is no doors!

Re: How to create a small building in 10 steps

Posted: 09 Feb 2021, 07:59
by The_Real_Michael_1
Designer Anthony wrote:
09 Feb 2021, 06:36
There is no doors!
What about the back of the house?
There may be a door there.

Re: How to create a small building in 10 steps

Posted: 09 Feb 2021, 14:52
by TheFennekin
Designer Anthony wrote:
09 Feb 2021, 06:36
There is no doors!
ArE yOu QueStIoNInG ThE tHEo oF ThEOtoWn?! :76:

Re: How to create a small building in 10 steps

Posted: 09 Feb 2021, 19:17
by Designer Anthony
The_Real_Michael_1 wrote:
09 Feb 2021, 07:59
Designer Anthony wrote:
09 Feb 2021, 06:36
There is no doors!
What about the back of the house?
There may be a door there.
Did they rotate the house to see the door and the back of it?

Re: How to create a small building in 10 steps

Posted: 09 Feb 2021, 19:18
by Designer Anthony
TheFennekin wrote:
09 Feb 2021, 14:52
Designer Anthony wrote:
09 Feb 2021, 06:36
There is no doors!
ArE yOu QueStIoNInG ThE tHEo oF ThEOtoWn?! :76:
No, I did not. I did asked this question because it is missing something: doors.

Re: How to create a small building in 10 steps

Posted: 09 Feb 2021, 20:12
by CommanderABab
Maybe you could make a rotation aware version. With a door on one side. :)

Re: How to create a small building in 10 steps

Posted: 10 Feb 2021, 03:56
by TheFennekin
Dude it was a joke :|

Re: How to create a small building in 10 steps

Posted: 22 Feb 2021, 03:32
by Designer Anthony
Why this building has square windows?

Re: How to create a small building in 10 steps

Posted: 22 Feb 2021, 08:04
by The_Real_Michael_1
Designer Anthony wrote:
22 Feb 2021, 03:32
Why this building has square windows?
Why not?

Re: How to create a small building in 10 steps

Posted: 22 Feb 2021, 18:52
by Designer Anthony
Oh yeah, square windows are normal.

Re: How to create a small building in 10 steps

Posted: 05 Dec 2021, 13:39
by Alparingitlgnd5
I forgot it again what is the maximum height and size of the building btw?