BAT - Troubleshooting & General Discussion

[Psycho_Teddy 25]

I am having a problem with texturing. I have the model complete, but it is all one big poly. Should I have separated the model into separate polys before I textured it? I get the entire model covered with a window texture intended for two faces of the building. I have tried using a UVW map, but to no avail. I just need to get the texture on one face at a time, and its not working, please help!

[Jasoncw 11,840]

You already asked this in your BAT thread. 

[WeekendCityPlanner 19]

I've just recently exported my latest model, but when I use the plugin editor, I can't place the model within the power octagon in the descriptor rollout. Every time, I get a message that says "the plugin is corrupted".  I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that means I probaly did something wrong.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

The file has some how been corrupted. You'll have to re-export.

[Ferox 286]

I have small problem with Gmax. Few days ago i reinstaled gmax and BAT, and now in top, front and left view displays diagonal lines. Now it's hard to see something ;/ Where i can switch off those lines ?

Before

Now :/

[SimFox 802]

Those are there because right now you've set you driver to display Wireframe with triangle strips. Just turn that off in Driver configuration.

[Ferox 286]

It works, thanks !

[Jasoncw 11,840]

ahhh, good. My Gmax started doing the same thing once and I couldn't find where to turn it off.

[WeekendCityPlanner 19]

I know that for applying night textures to objects you can have different colors, but can you do the same for omni, spot, and direct lights?

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Yes. Nearby the place where you change the intensity of the light, you can change the color of the light.

[Jazzmaster 716]

Okay, so I rendered the same model twice already without touching the computer or anything, it's a Lord and Taylor department store (about 1.89 MB, it's a large model so that sounds about right). I didn't do anything to the render, and reset the LODs and cameras/lights before I rendred--which I always do, to prevent problems. Thing is, when it's done and I start up the Plugin Manager, the gosh forsaken file won't show up! I used the file name "Lord & Taylor" and thought the "&" was the problem, so I renamed the file to "Lord AND Taylor", but it still doesn't show up...

I'm vexed as to what to do, and I hope someone can help. Thanks!

-Yoshiisland

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Yes, the & is definitely the problem.  However, the & doesn't just appear in the filename, it also appears in other places within the file.  What you can try doing, is open the .SC4Model in iLive Reader, and find anything that has the & in it, and replace it. 

[WeekendCityPlanner 19]

I just did that but the nitelites are still only in beige and I want purple.  I downloaded XD night textures and it works perfectly for the nitetexured geometry, but not for nitelites. Then I tried the standard ones and they still did not work as they are still biege.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Nitelites and Nitemaps are totally different things.

Nitemaps are what you get when you have geometry (a window plane).  They are not actually lights, they're just colored images which are composited into your render afterwards.  If you made a cube, and named it "nitelitebox01", it would be this flat cloudy yellow diamond shape at night in the game.  That is, nitemaps are not actually lights.  For these you can download more nitemap textures, to give yourself more options.

Nitelites are actually lights.  For example, "niteliteomni01" is an actual light, that will emit light at night.  This light can be any color and intensity you want.  If you want it to be beige, you change the color to beige.  If you want it to be dim, you lower the intensity.  For more information about light's settings, read the BAT Essentials tutorial in the omnibus.

[Jazzmaster 716]

Actually, I just went ahead and re-rendered the model, I didn't know there was "&" in more than just the file name. Thanks for telling me though!

-Yoshiisland

[Duvad 26]

Okay I exported a station I was working on and while taking some night pictures I noticed some sort of bug. The automata kept appearing cropped around the station. I can't explain it too well so here are some shots:

Appears fine looking one way.

From the opposite angle the whole top of the train isn't visible.

Any way to fix this cropping issue?

[Jasoncw 11,840]

You need to make custom LODs.

.SC4Models are not really what you modeled in Gmax, they are the rendered images of what you made, layed over your LODs.  The default/automatic LODs are boxes, which means that the trains are actually driving through a box.  They don't mind, but the top of the box covers up the top of the trains, so any of your pre-rendered image that is not transparent will cover it up. 

Your LODs should probably be two boxes for each side of the tracks.  That way there is a gap inbetween where the train can go without getting covered up by the top of the LOD.

It will probably take a few draft exports until you get the LODs right.  LODs can be edited like any other object, and new ones can be made.  There are 3 LODs, named LOD3, LOD4, and LOD5.

If parts of your building get cut off, then that is because the LOD is smaller than your rendered image, so there is nowhere for that image to be displayed on.

[Royal 5]

I`ve a problem with the target_directs. In the BAT-renderer they show up correctly, but when I start the game and I want to watch how it works, everything is dark, without lights.

I`ve installed the SC4BAT-Update for nightlights, and the Props of the model are the function "lights" enabled. Can anyone help me ? With the target_spots it works, but I can't use them.

[patriots_1228 51]

im having the error:"GMAXLOC enviroment not found"

what do I do?

[CDI_spy 5]

After exporting my model in high quality:

I'm getting craggly night windows on some parts of my building, like so:

I'm also getting some little discrepancies and off-sets... they are most obvious in the vertical pillars in this picture.

Any possibilities?  I always reset my cameras and LODs before exporting.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Yeah, that's what I was talking about before with making the window frames thicker.  The nitemaps do not anti-alias, so if the frame is thin it is very possible for the nitemap to cover it.

The offsets are natural in the game, look around your city and you'll find most buildings have them.

Both of these problems have to do with how Gmax or the game deals with things that are smaller than one pixel.  For the nitemaps, the frames are smaller than one pixel, but it can't be blended with the nitemap, so it is overtaken.  For the offset problem, the building is maybe sitting, in the game/your monitor, half way between one pixel and another.  When rendering your building in the game, one .FSH group chose to move closer to the pixel on the left and the other to the pixel on the right.  Or at least that's my understanding of it.

[Odainsaker 2,134]

I always wondered what caused those little offsets and faultlines zig-zagging a BAT in the game. Crooked flagpoles are my favorite. Unfortunately, now given the explanation, I can't really see any simple and convenient means of predicting and preventing them that doesn't involve overhauling or bypassing the game's entire graphic setup.

If you look carefully, every custom BAT and even the original Maxis buildings get them, with shifted offsets across strong verticals and patterns of verticals being the most noticeable. If you move the BAT around on the LOT in the Lot Editor, it will change the pattern and extent of the offsets. Given some patience coordinating and compromising the results among the four main viewing angles, you can shift the BAT minutely in different directions to somewhat minimize the offsets.

[CDI_spy 5]

Alright so I guess the only solution is to make the window frames thicker (I'm just repeating what you just said)... no problem!

[WeekendCityPlanner 19]

I am having a wierd problem. I have recently been working on a BAT, but no when I'm in perspective view, the display keeps on switching between wireframe and smooth+highlights completely at random, every 10-30 seconds. Is this a sign of file corrpution or what?

[Jasoncw 11,840]

No, it's a setting. It has to do with your mouse movement, and the idea is that you're supposed to be able to quickly switch between those two views that way. I'd like to turn that setting off too, or at least understand exactly what causes it, so that I can use it.

[Jazzmaster 716]

Originally posted by: patriots_1228 im having the error:"GMAXLOC enviroment not found"

what do I do?quote>

 

I've seen this problem before when I tried to move my gmax/BAT stuff after making a new user account for windows.  If you have gmax installed, but the BAT doesn't work, try backing up any models, textures, nightmaps, etc. to another place so they don't get erased, then re-download and re-install the BAT gamepack.  From that point you should be able to move your files back and proceed to working on them as if nothing happened.  That's the only advice I can give.

-Yoshiisland

PS: Before I forget, if you have something like Maxis's texture fix, then you'll have to re-download that after re-installing the BAT.

[Andronicus22 1]

umm, i'm trying to install g max but it says its no longer a stand alone product...how do i install it? thanks

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Go to the BAT Mega FAQ at the top of this forum, and follow the link in the entry about getting gmax. It's been discontinued (since a few years ago) but turbosquid still has the upload up.

[Duvad 26]

Okay, I've got another issue. (The split LODs fixed the old issue, so thanks for that.)

Here is how my control tower looks in a preview render.

And here it is in the game. I think the lighting problem (only talking about the red lights on top, the room lights are just variants I am comparing to see which is better) is to do with using Gizmo's mod. Any way that I can get the red light not to make that weird almost contour-like spreading?

[SimFox 802]

No there isn't if you do it in GMAX.

This is due to the nature of Masking used to superimpose Night View over darkened day one in game, namely it's very low bit value. This is one of the reason I tried to get on Gizmo's mod project but was totally rebuffed by him sying that he can not allow "the knowledge" to spread out - a bit silly and odd approach...

In 3ds Max however this can be remedied by creating total mask for the entire night view - that is underlying principle of truNite scheme.