BAT - Troubleshooting & General Discussion

[harishna 847]

The performance of your exports not only depends on the materials applied (this includes type of materials and size of images) but also on your modelling techniques (e.g. lots of objects will make your scene lag) and your system.

About the size of textures well as far as I know there is no "recommended" size, however, buildings in SC4 are tiny so no need to use huge images, I tend to make my images a bit bigger that what they going to fit.

Exporting into a sc4 model is simple, learning to model is the most time consuming part, if you can learn how to model you can learn how to export your files.

It seems to me as if you are trying to run before you even learn to crawl, I will familiarize myself with 3ds max first by starting to learn how to model something, from my experience poly modelling is the recommended way to go. Then familiarize with the different materials on 3ds max. The next extent would be to look at making your textures on Gimp or Photoshop. And finally exporting and modding.

[littlewhitebutterfly 18]

For three times I have exported a BAT and made it a prop in the PM. When trying to use it in the LE however, it would show absolutely blank. So I opened the Model with Reader: the FSH files look alright, but when I click on any S3D file, I get the following message:

"unexpected S3D format"

I click OK, and get:

"insufficient memory".

Anybody knows what's happening? I have exported many other BATs alright, this one is perhaps a bit bigger but not huge (the Model file is about 1.3 MB

Hope you can help!

(I had mistakenly posted this on the 3ds Max topic, tried to delete it but got an error message. Sorry for the double posting!)

  Edited February 15, 2012 by littlewhitebutterfly  

[darn42 1,268]

I am trying out BAT for the first time and whenever i preview/try to export my model, the meshes i used for the windows and some other miscellaneous stuff don't show up. Do meshes that are from lines just not show up in renders? Can someone help me out with this.

http://img1.uploadscreenshot.com/images/main/2/5009554821.jpg

there's a link to a picture of the preview + what I built for clarification for anyone that wants to help.

[Jasoncw 11,949]

I think you need to add a UVW Map modifier (Modfiers>UV Coordinates>UVW Map) for it to show up in the render.

[logintime 93]

I'm sorry to ask what has to be a basic question, but I've searched high and low and haven't yet found an explanation on how to do this...

I've wanted to BAT some things for a while. I've built a few models and want to add textures to them (most specifically, a few from PegProd's MTP pack), but I have no idea how to add textures in. I can get the colors from the bitmap, but whenever I try to find MTP textures or even basic Maxis textures, I can't find anything. Please help??

[Jasoncw 11,949]

The textures you're thinking of are base and overlay ground textures, like what you use in the lot editor.

The textures you use while BATing are just image files on your computer. You download images from the internet and you edit them in Adobe Photoshop or GIMP (image editing programs) to suit your BAT's needs.

Now all of the ground textures from the game/lot editor are stored in on of the SimCity_X.dats (or something like that) found in my programs. There are a bunch of them and everything in the game is in there. You can open these files using ilive's Reader (a good program to have), but you'll have to scroll through thousands of files to find then ones you're looking for. Once you find them there's an option for saving them as a .PNG outside the .dat, and then you can load them up in gmax.

But if you go on the STEX SimFox has released a pack of the most common ground textures you'd be using while BATing (various pavers and grasses). You might have to tweak them a little in photoshop to get them to match the in-game ground textures because gmax has a different lighting environment than the game itself.

If you're looking for the MTP textures you might have luck asking someone who worked on it, since they probably have a folder of all of them as .PNG from when they were making it.

[yaume67qc 0]

Hi,

I'm new to this site.

I would like to know if you can browse growable BAT or lot by Developper type (R, C or I) and wealth

It's maybe not the right place to ask, but I also would like to know if high wealth commercial requires also middle or low wealth sims to work in. I ask this because I wonder if it's possible, on long term to have only high wealth residential and commercial, or if you need also low wealth sims to run your city

Thanks

[Jasoncw 11,949]

There are charts around somewhere. High wealth buildings also include lower wealth occupants.

So a CO$$$ building actually has a lot of CO$$ jobs in it too.

iirc residential buildings have what they list, so to get low wealth sims you need a low wealth buildings, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

This forum is for people who make the buildings though (using 3d programs), not about anything else, the information about that kind of stuff would be in the other forums.

[IPayItForward 3]

I would like to get an opinion from anyone willing to give me one - LOL on what I hope will be the First Bat that i upload here on Simtropolis. Below please find 4 images taken from Gmax. In each of these images you will find the Day shot to left, and night to the Right. Please be honest with me and tell me what you think. Thanks so much - Stephen

East Preview / North Preview / South Preview / West Preview

I hope you all think it measures up the the STEX Quality!

[Jasoncw 11,949]

imo it's 85% done. I think there are still a few more details, and some texture tweaking to do. I think you could upload it now if you wanted to, and it wouldn't be a bad first upload at all, but you could keep on working on it a little longer to bring it to its full potential.

If you want some specific feedback you can open your own BAT thread and I can post more there.

[Fribe 150]

I'm having trouble with the oldest glitch in the book, the value errors causing Maxis buildings to invert around my BAT at closer zooms. Deleted some files, re-exported, re-exported again, merged the file and re-exported again, still getting garbage. What were the other solutions?

[Aaron Graham 4,417]

Can I see a picture of the model. It's hard to fix it if you tried merging it to a new scene and rest the cameras.

you can go here and try out the Texture Fix and see if the maxis buildings will go away.

  Edited March 20, 2012 by Aaron Graham  

[Fribe 150]

Here's the slightly warped looking BAT model

And one of the rendered views that didn't come out glitched

I'll go ahead and try downloading the texture fix

  Edited March 20, 2012 by Fribe  

[Fribe 150]

One of those did the trick, looks like it's been fixed

[kellydale2003 2,276]

Hey guys!

I've been looking a lot all over the forums for my answer but can't seem to find it. My computer power is limited (because I'm using my phone to make this post).

I have a 3x3 bat that is perfectly centered. The ground texture is purposely rendered with the scene... but here are my conflicts.

1) Trees! I have four trees that overhang the 3x3 (48x48m) lot in the scene.

AND

2) A portion of the building goes -2.5m (for the lobby effect to show the undergroundness).

I've figured that Id have the LODS stay above 0m as always, but the LODS are 56x56m.

When I render it at 56x56m the LODs capture the underground part of the BAT and make the whole building look like its 2.5m above ground (when it really isnt).

Then when I render it at 48x48m the trees get chopped off, but the underground part if perfect just the way I want it.

I can't post photos till later this week... but how do I get around these problems?

I've tried removing the geometry at the bottom of the scene so they don't get caught in the renders... but I've deleted all that I can. If I delete anymore... the underground part will be non-existent. Unless there is some magic setting with geometry that could only be rendered one way (something like a plane). But even then, the lobby floor that is -2.5m gets rendered through the walls.

Any solutions and suggestions are welcome. In the end this all needs to be a 3x3 lot. I've figured out how to change the xml file so it can fit.

, kellydale2003

[Aaron Graham 4,417]

I'm sorry I had a hard time helping you.

[alt 21]

The Bat essentials tutorials are missing pages, every time you click on the pages you get directed to Omnibus not the Bat essential pages. Can anyone help me? Thank you in advance. I think this happend after the recent update to the site.

[alt 21]

I would like to make a request for a bat tutorial on bating high-rise towers Co or Res it doesn’t matter. I see so many beautiful high-rises and I get discouraged when I think; how did they bat that? I do have a vague idea of how to go about it but I would rather get off on the right foot so that I can do it right the first time. I am sure I am not alone in this. I would $ PAY.00 for it if I had too.

Thank you in advance.

[Mike the Mayor 51]

Hi. I have just downloaded and installed GMAX, BAT, Plugin Manager and Lot Editor. I am ready to do a tutorial for GMAX but the BAT tool won't open as it says the GMAXLOC Environment Variable cannot be found.

Now I've already looked for a solution including the changing of the file path in system properties but it doesn't need to be changed as it is in the same folder as the GMAX.exe.

What else can I do to make this work?

[thesantiagossj4 26]

I can not install BAT Installed With SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition, which is not reinstalled simcity 4 deluxe, for that I have no cds, please help meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[BIWDC 2,296]

To use the BAT you need to have gmax installed as it's a game pack

for that program.You can get gmax here:http://www.turbosquid.com/gmax

Register it here:http://www.turbosquid.com/RegisterGmax/ (if needed)

Also make sure you have the rush hour ep1 update from Here:

https://www.sc4devotion.com/SC4D_Maxis_files.html

(The Bat download is on that page aswell).

You can get the nightlight update on there aswell,use the 2nd useful link

in my signature to go to that page directly.

I don't know why you don't have The Cd's,if you illegally downloaded

the game we can't help

If you downloaded it as a digital copy you should still be able to reinstall.

  Edited April 17, 2012 by BIWDC  

[thesantiagossj4 26]

but i got the gmax ¬¬

[BIWDC 2,296]

If you have the BAT installed use the BAT shortcut on your desktop,doubleclick

it to open gmax with the BAT gamepack then the game pak(BAT)will be open.

(If needed go to where gmax is installed then in the gamepacks folder is the BAT

Folder then in there is The BAT launcher doubleclick that to open it).

If gmax won't start let me know the error message your getting if your getting one,

likewise if installing the BAT gives an error please post it

The Bat is just a Gamepak for Gmax so it won't load with the game,it does

include the plugin manager to create your desc files for your created BAT's.

If you need help making your first building,prop,ect go to the ominbus section here

or search the forums.There are plently of tutorials available.

Edit:had to change the location of the BAT launcher,sorry about that.

  Edited April 20, 2012 by BIWDC  

[Jerry_512 16]

Hi I am trying to make a BAT but there is a message displaying that says: "IO Error: The Help path (D:\gmax\Help) does not exist. Use Configure Paths to set the location to a path that exists." Please help here.

-Jerry_512

[madhatter106 3,931]

Hi I am trying to make a BAT but there is a message displaying that says: "IO Error: The Help path (D:\gmax\Help) does not exist. Use Configure Paths to set the location to a path that exists." Please help here.

-Jerry_512

Does it pop this message up when you first load the BAT? I seem to recall seeing this one time ages ago, and I either configured the path so that it pointed where it needed to go, or I just clicked out of/around it. But I can't say for certain, as it was a while ago...

[Jerry_512 16]

Found the problem: I was running the desktop shortcut.

EDIT: It works well when I run it on the gmax folder.

  Edited April 28, 2012 by Jerry_512  

[thesantiagossj4 26]

Well, here I go, I did everything you said, but sige I say that is not thesimcity 4 deluxe edition, not to do. I have the gmax 12, is that whynot?

[Fribe 150]

The X-Y-Z axis arrows that are displayed on the object you have selected aren't functioning. They're still there, but I can't move my objects by just dragging along the highlighted axis. The Move cursor doesn't come up when I hover over any of the arrows.

Something I accidentally toggled off? Can't find it.

[Jasoncw 11,949]

Yeah, try pressing "x" on your keyboard.

[Fribe 150]

Ah, nice. Things still seem a little goofy though; the viewpoints aren't being labeled (nothing says Top, Left, etc) and in the Top view specifically, things are being hidden. Where normally everything sort of overlays each other, the highest object blots out everything underneath it and I can't see what's where underneath.

Fixed: Okay, Wireframe was off. Figured that one out quick, but the viewports still aren't labeled.

  Edited May 9, 2012 by Fribe