The Painted Metal Problem: A Condo Suggestion

As an experienced and passionate condo builder, I pay great attention to the items I use, and how I use them. I keep an eye on the colors, lighting, and textures of my builds. Recently, we have seen many new items released for us to play with. However, I have noticed a concerning trend with the new items added.

Here are a few of our suspects:

At a glance, you may be confused as to why these props may be considered problematic by anyone. But take a closer look at these objects.

If we compare these props to their real life counterparts, we begin to notice a trend:




It seems, that in an attempt to make the models feel a bit more “gritty”, their textures have been roughened to the point that which they just don’t feel like they should. The metal on the in-game typewriter almost looks like leather, the utility cabinet and the washing machine looks like the paint was thrown on by a chimp, and the bathtub looks like it has a snow camo on it!

But the metal on the real typewriter is glossy, the utility cabinet is smooth and specular. You can see the window reflect in the washing machine! The bathtub, even in it’s age and wear, still shines as clear as ever.

This roughening issue seems to happen the most with props that would be made of a painted metal. The primary exception being the clawfoot bathtub, which would be porcelain or acrylic. Strangely, the more modern bathtub does not have this issue.

My suggestion here is more so of a pointer for future props. As much as I would like these to be reworked, as this strange grittiness looks a little jarring for my personal tastes, I find it unlikely. Changing props is always a mess for compatibility (unless given a legacy option).

Other than the material, these props look great! It bugs me that these props are bogged down by this issue. I wish I had noticed it sooner, I would have mentioned it in my Condo Item Reviews.

Just be a bit more wary of how you texture your materials in the future, okay?

Glad to know I’m not the only one who noticed this! Great observation.

2 Likes

This is something I’ve been noticing for a bit with different models. I don’t MIND there being grittier models for sure, but also I feel like having more ‘clean’ versions of these props would be nice. My condo mainly goes for a resort vibe and having an older ‘bumpy’ fridge or gritty filing cabinet doesn’t really fit it despite the nice models.

3 Likes

Yeah, I REALLY don’t like how rusty the new filing cabinet is. I don’t know why people act like those are super old, I saw them in schools even back in high school right before covid.

2 Likes

Ughhh fine… flicks hair from over eye

I toned down the grittiness on the Classic Fridge already, idk if you noticed that (it isn’t detailed here).

The filing and utility cabinets were specifically based off of older cabinets in real life, filing cabinets have essentially looked like that for 80 years so I leaned into making it distinct from the “modern” filing cabinet.

The typewriter however is very much intentional, many typewriters have faux-leather chassis and that’s what this one has, not all typewriters have really glossy metal or enamel cases. Clawfoot Bathtubs were also made from enameled cast iron, not porcelain exclusively (the one you pictured is even enameled metal).

I can town down the grittiness on some of these.

2 Likes

hmm… it seems kind of strange to me to pick a typewriter with a leather chassis, i can only find one pic of a typewriter with leather, is this the one it’s based on?

1 Like

Not this specific model, but it was based of an Underwood (hence the brand being “Carrie”) from around this era. The make comes from 1930-1950 (I think it was a late 30s / early 40s model to match the time frame of the Explorers’ encampment in Catzek). A detail most people won’t pick up on: typewriters typically didn’t have “1” keys (writers would just use l or I), I added it so people wouldn’t think it’s missing.

I’ve since deleted my reference photos so i can’t easily track the model. It’s just a leathery texture on the chassis, I’m not sure what material it’s actually made of… it may just be leather pinned to a metal case or even a painted metal case with a texture.

1 Like