BAT Help - General BAT Problems

[fosterk 4]

Please use this thread as a help index regarding problems with General problems not covered in the other threads.

If you require help in the subject, make a post here, with details of the problem, and prefferably an image of the problem you are having. Hopefully, someone will reply with information on how to solve your troubles.

[ripptide 2]

Sorry for getting the wrong thread FosterK, I had expected pinned threads to be more for tut's or gudelines rather than questions. My apologies. Still not sure if this is a modeling question, rendering or what so hopefully it's alright to post it here.

 

Hey all, I'm still a $%&^! in BAT creation, and am having a problem figuring out how to make BATs/Lots that have a below-ground component. I'm working on a couple of projects that require a dry moat. As an example, the current one, a martello tower called Murney tower, shown below. Ground level should be just slightly below the lip of the surrounding moat wall, but I can't get it to move below ground level in LE. Do I need to create a specific seperate matching foundation, with the round portion cut out of the model, as well? Or do buildings like this need to be split into an above- and below-ground portion, with the below ground being the foundation? Any help would be greatly appreciated, otherwise I'm stumped for my other projects like this (. Thanks

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Test%20City-Feb.%2010,%20001111079730.jpg align=baseline>

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//tower%20model.jpg align=baseline>

[fosterk 4]

No problem with posting it here Thanks

I'd suggest making custom LODs for it. Here's a little walk-through:

Delete any LODs in the scene already.

Lower the model so that the part that you want to be at ground level in SC4 is at the thick black horizontal line [ the X-Axis, I think] in the BAT viewport, or just slightly above it.

Make a cylinder that encompasses the whole model, so none of the model is outside of the cylinder, yet the cylinder is right next to the model's outer wall.

Call this cylinder LOD3.

Clone LOD3, name it LOD4, then clone again, and name it LOD5.

Render.

That should work fine for you. If you have any queries, post here again.

[ripptide 2]

Finally got it worked out (I think) and was wondering if there was a resident volunteer corps for test/feedback. I'm still a bit hazy on the settings for the buildings and what is reasonable.

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//Murney%20Tower%20In%20Game.jpg align=baseline>

[Anarchy 0]

I'm working on a canalkit and if i edit it in the lot editor the darn thing is totally wrong. I think it has something to do with the height buth u don't know. Can somebody help me?

screenshot

[fosterk 4]

I'd suggest changing the base texture for the water to something plain. No details, just a flat dark blue, and then making the water part larger, so it covers the extents of the grass in the lot, and will merge into the lot placed next to it, if you know what I mean.

[michas 1]

Hello

I'm build in GMAX a tower, and i have look in lot editor that the tower is verry little

How to increase the building in simcity 4??

Think of your contribution !

Good bye

[ILL Tonkso 1,236]

select everything i GMAX and use the scale tool to enlarge it all then re render

[simcitygame 40]

 

hi evryone!!
how to change the n

[needgames 0]

 

In the help of the plugin manager I found this sentence:

'The descriptor information found in the SC4Lot file can be modified in the plug-in manager.'

 

It doesn't say how to do this. So is this possible at all? How do you do this?

[GaryReggae 80]

Open up the Plugin Manager and navigate to the relevant category, if you have created a lot for your building, you should see two entried for the building, a lot and a descriptor (.sc4desc file).  Double-click the descriptor and there is a 'demand satisfied' option, I'm not all that familiar with the values here but changing them will directly change the number of jobs.

[simcitygame 40]

thanks now my building have 58 jobs ^^

[debussyman 1,348]

Hi! I have this problem: evey time I mirror an object the texture seems to mess up when rendering, in the viewport looks right but once rendered it distortions, now I can't mirror my objets the only thing I can do is rotate them.

[Guignol 8]

Hello. I have a big problem with my new BAT buiding. After the transfert, when I open it in the lot editor, the buiding appears in the wrong sense, as if the camera had been put from the bottom to the top, or as if the final image had been return in a mirror.

This is the firts time I see it and I made two transferts with different LODs  and the results were the same.

 

I have an other problem with this building : there is an underground structure (till 15 meters under the base). I dont know if it is the reason of the other problems. I don't know if it is necessary to supprim it and I don't know how to supprim it. I tried to make it by cutting and supprim as editable mesh but the results were bad. Is there a solution to cut a complex volume with a simple line

 

Sorry if it is hard to understand but I am not a perfect english speaker

 

[debussyman 1,348]

Yes, that has happened to me before, I solved it by exporting it to Low quality level, I think in only happens on the draft.

[Guignol 8]

I allways export in high quality

[debussyman 1,348]

Perhaps a problem with the cameras, try merging only the geometry and lights to a new file.

[mntoes 270]

Have you downloaded the texture fix ?

Download it here:- http://simcity.ea.com/coolstuff/bat/index.php

 

you need to be logged in to download it.

 

Hope that helps

 

 

[Tunafish 48]

Hey guys

 

I just reformated my computer and when I try to open up a gmax file it syas faild to open, looking for reference memory blah but found blah, program will now close.

 

It's doing it everytime and i can't BAt until its resolved

[GaryReggae 80]

Try uninstalling GMAX and reinstalling it? I'm not sure what else to suggest.

[GaryReggae 80]

I've got a question now!

Is there any way of getting models to display smoothly in GMAX?  I attach as an example the following screenshot of the Perspective view.  Texture Correction is on for this viewport but it really doesn't look very good, it's far too jagged and the shapes are all merging into each other.  Is there any way of getting GMAX to display models smoothly in the perspective view?

 

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//gmax_bad_view.jpg align=baseline>

[Equinox 1,209]

I doubt it, Gary ... if it gets much smoother, moving or rotating the model would take as long as preview shots! 

[majorpain 0]

my model never exports, it gets stuck at the south zoom 5 at 13%

[Jeem 17]

I've found that if you set the screen resolution to 1600x1200, the perspective view looks a lot better. I had been using it on 1024x768, but I do everything now on 1200x1600.

[mrbisonm 1,620]

majorpain, getting stuck at a certain angle and at a certain percentage has happened to me quite often. Here is what I do, maybe not the right way, but it works for me.

Restart your computer first.

Group your model and then click on it,make sure the LOD's are ok and reset lighting, open the file menu and save selected as...give it a new name, save. Now open this new file and render it, it should be ok now. Once rendered, delete the old file (so you don't end up with dozens of double files in your folder.

 

Another thing that helps solve a few problems is to keep your scenes folder as empty as possible. Once finished rendering your model, place that file in another folder somewhere else. I have a folder in Mydocuments called gmax scenes and I keep them there.

[wybs 0]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place, but was wondering if there was a way to provide more light in a scene so that i can see the shadowed side of my model to make it easier to texture. I am just learning how to use the BAT, and can not figure this slight problem out.


thanks wybs

[GaryReggae 80]

Wybs: Is this within GMAX or at the rendering stage?  If it's within GMAX, try right-clicking the word 'Perspective' in the viewpoint and going to Viewport Configuration, then select the Default Lighting and 2 Lights option.  If this doesn't help or if the textures are showing too dark to see properly at the rendering stage then go into the texture editor and increase the 'self illumination' value, this will make the texture lighter.  But make sure you change it back to 0 before final export of the building otherwise your texture will be lit up at night!

[wybs 0]

GaryReggae: thank you for the suggestion. It is in GMAX and your suggestion worked out perfectly. Now I can see to do the texturing much easier and faster. hope to be able to post something soon, but not much free time now that nice weather is here to spend on comp.

Thanks again wybs.

[debussyman 1,348]

I have this problem:

many times when I get preview of the building the textures go gray.



Why does this happen?

[debussyman 1,348]

Also, when I use the mirror tool in any objets and render the mapping goes crazy bu it shows well in the viewport.


Sorry about the double post, my explorer doesn't let me edit my reply for some reason.