Welcome to the BSP Blog Extravaganza! This is part one of the event, which features an interview with its members and an overview of the Barry Sanders Project’s history. This will be followed by part two by nofunk in a few days. But it wouldn’t be an extravaganza without STEX uploads. Keep your eye on the STEX over the next week for a bunch of BSP uploads.

But what is the Barry Sanders Project? Well, the BSP is a BAT team dedicated to re-creating buildings from the state of Michigan in the US. Who’s part of the BSP and what has it been doing all of these years? Read on!

BSP HISTORY

The Team is Formed

The Barry Sanders Project was started in the spring of 2004, as a thread by BudweiserDude23, which brought up the possibility of a project dedicated to recreating buildings from Michigan. Within a week there were five pages of replies of excitement in what became the original BSP thread. Soon after that, a handful of people picked up the BAT, and the Barry Sanders Project was underway.

Of course, the team had to be named. Suggestions like The Michigan Simulation Society, The Michigan Project, and The Michigan Sim Construction Company came in. Barry Sanders, an American football player for the Detroit Lions won out, and the team was named. In the late 1990s, Barry Sanders was featured on a large mural on the side of Cadillac Tower in downtown Detroit. A few years later the mural was replaced by Detroit Red Wing Steve Yzerman. Given the Lions’ record, I’d say the BSP picked the wrong Detroit sport team's legacy to name itself after!



As the name was selected, a long BAT to-do list was formalized, and more BATs were started. A BSP website was even started by member Wolverine. There were high hopes! But those high hopes never materialized into much, aside from a few small uploads (some of which are still on the STEX if you’re interested), and a lot of lost interest. In the meantime, contemporary regional BAT teams, like those for Portland, Oregon, and Buffalo, New York pushed American BAT re-creation forward. Fortunately, one thing the BSP thread did do was to attract Nofunk and JBSimio, who would play important roles in the future of the team.

Things Get Going

The BSP had attracted Nofunk and JBSimio, but it hadn’t attracted me yet. I was but a wee lurker at the time. When I did become active in the BSP in spring 2005, I started working on the Detroit Free Press Building, and became the defacto team leader. JBSimio returned to the project the next fall, offering to create custom queries. T Wrecks was also on the scene, ready to lot and mod, having already been doing my non-BSP BATs. Things fell into place, and the BSP was finally up and running! The Detroit Free Press Building, the Barry Sanders Project’s first solid upload, was released in February, 2006.

The next summer, Nofunk made a comeback, first joining my ill-fated BAT School and being the only student to finish, and then BATing Borders Books & Music and Burton Tower. He quickly became the BSP’s most prolific BATer.  Finally, we had a strong team, with me and Nofunk BATing, T Wrecks lotting and modding, and JBSimio making custom queries. All went well, and between fall 2006 and spring 2007, eight high quality BATs were released, averaging over one per month. A new team thread was created in the BAT – Open Discussion forum. Nofunk’s Borders Books & Music was even featured in an article in PC Gamer about custom content in SimCity 4!

Modern History

By 2008, the team had boiled down to me and Nofunk. The previous year, Nofunk had taken the essential job of modding BSP BATs over from T Wrecks, and I had taken over custom queries from JBSimio. In 2008, Nofunk held down the fort with several uploads, and I contributed one. It was the least productive year for the BSP. But the good people of Simtropolis still nominated the BSP for the “Favorite BAT Team” award in the 2008 Trixies!  It was a big surprise, and we appreciate it a lot.

On the STEX, 2009 has been similar to 2008, but there’s been a big change behind the scenes with the addition of SimHoTToDDy to the team. Todd fell from the sky (or was it the city journal forum?), mastered BATing in a few months, and started BATing for the BSP this year. His BATs are coming out of the pipeline around the time of this blog entry, and we are sure you’ll enjoy them.

The BSP Blog Extravaganza certainly marks the beginning of the future for the BSP. With 3 solid members, and a string of upcoming BATs, 2009 is poised to become the Barry Sanders Project’s most productive year!



BSP INTERVIEW

When and why did you join Simtropolis? What are some of your first memories here?

SimHoTToDDy:  I first found Simtropolis when I finally got my own PC that had its own internet connection back in late 2006 (I jumped on that band wagon a little late ). I was already quite the SC4 player and all the custom content coming out at that time accelerated my interest in the game. I remember fondly of the STEX being alive with NDEX, BSC, HKABT, and so on. I would go on multi-hour downloading sprees grabbing just about anything I could get my hands on! I really didn't join the community on the forums for another year in January 2008 when I started my first CJ, Stratton.

nofunk:  I joined in August of 2003, and I remember it being a very small community then. I had been playing the SimCity games since the first was released, and joined out of curiosity. Who knew I'd get so involved!

Jasoncw:  I came across Simtropolis in 2004, for more than one reason.  I was looking for a free 3D modeling program, and found Gmax.  Then I found the BAT to use as a renderer, and I found BAT tutorials on Simtropolis.  I've also been a SimCity fan my whole life, and around the same time, I came across Simtropolis through the official site's fansite listing.  I first started BATing for SimMars, but I moved on when my interest in architecture took over my interest in science fiction.

What do you do outside of BATing?

SimHoTToDDy:  I Spend a lot of time working on my CJ, SBU, but lately I have been playing other games like Team Fortress 2. Then there is the whole real life thing, with my job as a Projectionist at the local Überplex and engineering classes at college taking up the rest of the time.

nofunk:  I graduated with a Master's in urban planning in May, and now work for the state. In my spare I enjoy photography and plunking away on my acoustic guitar.

Jasoncw:  I like to play the guitar, and SNES games, and occasionally other games.  I recently finished my undergraduate degree in architecture.


Chase Tower by Jasoncw

What's your favorite part about BATing?

SimHoTToDDy:  I love the process of modeling, being able to make something beautiful (or ugly, as the case may be), out of a few simple shapes, literally making something from nothing. The feeling you get when you finish a project, drive past a building on your way to work and say to yourself  "I made that" is one of the best things about the whole process. Texturing can be annoying, but making a texture from scratch and having it look beautiful on your BAT is an achievement in and of itself.

nofunk:  My favorite part is probably seeing everything come together. I also really enjoy the great feedback I get from everyone--it definitely keeps me going!

Jasoncw:  My favorite parts are the moments when things come together and start looking really good.  I like it when I've just modeled something and the form starts shaping up, or when I start texturing and the model comes to life, or after I export something and I plop it around to see how it looks in different situations.


Park Avenue Building & Park Apartments by nofunk

What kinds of buildings do you create? What kinds of buildings would you like to create in the future?

SimHoTToDDy:  In short? The ones I like! Really though, I prefer to make modernist residential buildings, American factories from the early to mid 20th century, and other pre-war American architecture.  For the future, I am trying to model the whole of Pripiat, plus many many factories in both Philadelphia and Detroit, the holy grail of which would be something huge like the Packard Plant or Fisher Body Plant 21.

nofunk:  Up to now I've primarily created early 20th Century American buildings, and I suppose I'll probably continue with those architectural styles. Maybe one of these days I'll make a modern building or two.

Jasoncw:  So far I've been making about 2/3rds pre-WW2 American buildings, and 1/3rd modern buildings.  In the future, I think I'd like to share more of Michigan's architectural heritage.  There's a good bunch of noteable architects who either called Michigan home, or had significant projects here.


Iodent Building by SimHoTToDDy

What attracted you to Michigan's architecture and the BSP? When and how did you join?

SimHoTToDDy:  Besides the fact that that is is some of the most beautiful? There is something about seeing something on the brink of being torn down that makes you want to jump out and save it, and the best way I know how, being in New Jersey, is to model it. I spent a lot of time looking at it only after I was invited to the BSP by Jasoncw back in January 2009 (I had only learned how to BAT in October of 08). I was surprised to see one of my STEX favorites pop into the chat room and ask me if I wanted to model things from Detroit. In hindsight I don't why I ever hesitated, but it has definitely been worth it! I couldn't ask for better team members

nofunk:  I guess I was attracted because we all had something in common, and I love a lot of the architecture in Detroit. I initially posted a few times in the BSP in 2004, but didn't really become active until 2006, when I started the Borders bookstore and Burton Memorial Tower.

Jasoncw:  I was interested in both local history and architecture, as well as BATing.  The fit must have been very natural, because beyond that, I don't remember the reasons.  It just sort of happened.

Visit the BSP team thread in the BAT - Open Discussion

Browse BSP BATs on the STEX

Related Entries:

• Interview with the HK-BAT Team

Interview with BSP