Live data from Hacker News

A Dutch graphic artist reconstructed Tenochtitlan in 3D

tenochtitlan.thomaskole.nl

81–90 of 106 posts

Re: A Dutch graphic artist reconstructed Tenochtitlan in 3D

#82
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you fill it with buildings? I imagine they’re not all unique?

Certainly not. Take a look at Blenders new Geometry Nodes system.

I was gonna ask, "did you use geometry nodes?" But then I CTRL+F this comment chain.

I've gotten absolutely incredible mileage out of geo nodes for forests and cities. Once you get used to the peculiarities, geometry incredibly superior to using particles and heatmaps. And I'm just a hobbyist! I use Blender for gamemastering, but haven't ever been paid to do it . . yet.

(If that sounds like fishing it is totally fishing. How does a middle-age MilStdJunkie break into the modelling / simulating market?)

Did you do any street-level renders? I realize that it's completely, totally a different kettle of fish, the detail you got here would murder the entire world's computers if it had 1m scale detail.

Fabulous, fabulous work. Amazing. I did something similar for New Amsterdam ~1660CE, for "Providence", a Lovecraftian horror game set in colonial New England. But New Amsterdam and Seekonk in 1660 is nothing compared to this, Tenochtitlan in the immediate pre-contact period.

Re: A Dutch graphic artist reconstructed Tenochtitlan in 3D

#84

Hey all, author here! If you have any questions, feel free to ask. The question I always get from tech people - yes, all open source software. 90% Blender, 9% Gimp, 1% Darktable or so.

Has there been any attempt to recreate the daily wood/charcoal smoke released from that all that ?

[deleted]

Re: A Dutch graphic artist reconstructed Tenochtitlan in 3D

#85
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

is there evidence of that many street trees, or was that artistic license

A bit of artistic license, but the trees play a crucial role. They are Ahuejotes, and they keep together the plots of farmland called Chinampas. You can see some of this today in Xochimilco. We don't know if that was what it was like in Tenochtitlan, but it is likely. What adds to this is the fact that the houses are all one story, so the trees look taller and more numerous than they are.

> You can see some of this today in Xochimilco. Yikes https://maps.app.goo.gl/5XgfQTpiNaz8QUtf6

Re: A Dutch graphic artist reconstructed Tenochtitlan in 3D

#86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is amazing work. Do you have any street level views? Would be interesting to see some of the neighborhoods and plazas from ground level.

No streetview level, the reconstruction is definitely "impressionistic" in that way. There's only illusion of detail, it does not hold up up close.

yet? if you still have the files, would you consider turning this into a VR experience and add in street level detail slowly over time?

if that sounds like way too much work, any chance you would open source your work for needs to add to it?

Re: A Dutch graphic artist reconstructed Tenochtitlan in 3D

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazing work. Are any Blender .blend files available? How large are they?

Not at the moment, the problem is that the total project is quite large and would require me to write quite some documentation if you wanted to get started. Once I free up some time I might!

please do, this is great and it would be a shame to lose all this initial hard work

Re: A Dutch graphic artist reconstructed Tenochtitlan in 3D

#88
post #56
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mosquito borne disease didn’t exist in the Americas prior to contact, both the viruses and species that transmit them come from the old world. Cortes landed at Veracruz the next year, in 1519. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Acuna-So...

I guess when the aliens finally arrive, the important part will be to avoid hugging them.

Probably safer to hug them than another human. Most diseases don't even cross species boundaries, seems unlikely they'd do well trying to infect a completely alien being.

The reason that diseases from the old world were so deadly, when they crossed the pond, is that they'd evolved to spread quite well even in humans with an evolved or acquired resistance and were suddenly in a completely unprepared population.

Re: A Dutch graphic artist reconstructed Tenochtitlan in 3D

#89
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Text mentions smoked peppers, but there is no smoke rising from the city. Was that too hard or distracting or both? Might smoke be added in the future as an addenda? Inspiring as is to be sure, but for sake of realism it struck me as off since the rest is so detailed and eye catching.

This image shows smoke rising from the temples: https://tenochtitlan.thomaskole.nl/image_dest/newfire_twopea...

Is that really the expectation? That fire would only be used within the extremely limited range of temples? It seems more likely that there would be fires for cooking and basic industry all over the city. This would have a big impact on how the city looks. Maybe they are using induction for cooking?

Re: A Dutch graphic artist reconstructed Tenochtitlan in 3D

#90

Hey all, author here! If you have any questions, feel free to ask. The question I always get from tech people - yes, all open source software. 90% Blender, 9% Gimp, 1% Darktable or so.

How long until Ubisoft offers to buy it off you for a new Assassin's Creed game?
Post reply on HN