How to become a STEX developer

[expectingrain5 0]

First off, the STEX is absolutely amazing! You folks do some unreal stuff that has made my SimCity4 addiction very bad.

My question is - how does one start to learn to create their own buildings?  Is there a primer?  I don't have any programming knowledge aside from BASIC and HTML.  So what's the learning curve starting at close to zero? I'd love to try

to create a building- how can I get started? Also, how much time is put in on the average building? Thanks!

[Sam 163]

Hi expectingrain5, welcome to simtropolis.

Its good to hear you are interested in making custom content. Its a lot of fun, and new people are always welcome. We have a lot of information here on just about everything to do with creating things for SC4, and many of the members here have a great deal of knowledge and are willing to help.

We have separate forums for different aspects of creating things. Making buildings is usually called BATting (it uses the Building Architect Tool or BAT), so you might want to look through the BAT forums and tutorials.

BATting can be quite a steep learning curve initially as you need to learn several things like: how to use 3D software to make buildings, how to make the lots to get the buildings in the game, and modding to make the buildings work in the game the way you want them to and to make them a bit special.

You might want to try Lot making first which is using existing models (ask permission of the original creator first) and arranging them differently in the game. The learning curve is not as steep, and you need to know the stuff before you try batting anyway.  Then once you get the hang of that, BATting is probably the next step.

The best BATters put a lot of work into their buildings. While you can make a cube and slap some textures on it in five minutes, it doesn't look good in the game. Its really worth taking the extra effort to make something of quality. Some BATs are over a year in production. Many of the good BATters can put together something nice in a week or two, but at that speed may need some help with some of the other tasks needed to get it into the game. With skills you might be looking at six weeks of hobby time for a quality product.

Don't forget testing. That can take the longest time, as you need to play your creation long enough to see if there are any unexpected glitches (it helps if other people test it too). Also nice presentation of your finished product helps make it popular: nice packaging, helpful information (a readme is a must), and statistics . Have a look at some of the best items on the STEX and see how they are made and presented to get ideas.

You are also invited over to the Lot Editor and Plugin Manager forum. Once you have your BAT we can show you how to put it on a lot so that it looks nice and does different things.

[Kryptowhite 9]

Well, anybody can learn it. I started BATting when i was 12 [ yikes, i've been batting for 3-4 years, time to get a life ]

The thing is though, that learning to BAT takes a lot of tenacity and effort. You have to be willing to learn, willing to take criticism, and willing to improve yourself. You have to look at what your making with a critical eye instead of just flat out admiring your simplest creations. If you can do this, you will improve very quickly. I've seen people go from zero to being able to make a quality building in about 2-3 weeks as the fastest time, for most people it can take about a month, and for me it took about a year because i didn't really take the advice i was given until about after a year. After that point i improved exponentially.

To get started you'll need to download GMAX, The BAT, and the plugin manager. We have several threads with information on how to find those, so use the search feature. Some may even be stickied. Also, you'll find a lot of tutorials and advice in the omnibus and the bat-open discussion section.

[expectingrain5 0]

Thanks for the replies-- from what I've read it looks like there's no programming necessary, just learning the 3D design program.  I used to play around with Google SketchUp, how different is that from the BAT as far as difficulty?  I thought SketchUp was a pretty neat tool.  Also, as far as builings like Taco Bell, KFC, McDonalds, etc.  I see many of those on STEX -- do the creators need to get any permission from the companies to do those?  I love them, they add a whole new level of realism.  Too bad you can't make it so that health goes down if there's too many fast food restaurants and up if there are alot of gyms and fitness centers!  Thanks again!

[Kryptowhite 9]

1) you don't need permission from any kind of company or organization to make a building by them, as long as your not making money off of it. Of course, i wonder if Oppie is on a government watchlist for recreating the Pentagon lol

Anyways, thanks to the miracle of modern technology [exaggeration] you can make your BATs in sketchup if you are more comfortable there, then convert them into gmax, texture, and export them. personally, i'm more comfortable in gmax since i learned it first, but i've heard that overall sketchup is easier to use.