First BAT and help required

[gutterclub 2,729]

I'm completely new to 3D modelling but decided to give it a go, I have had a play around with a couple of tutorials for GMAX and most have been playing on my own trying to figure things out.

I am trying to create a Tower Block in my home town Northampton, UK. The New Life Centre below

http://www.emporis.com/img/6/2008/07/635682.jpg

I tried to do a quick export just to see what it is looking like but it came out weird.

This is how it looks in gmax

https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/Joey90/gmax.jpg?t=1263857464

This is what the preview looks like

https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/Joey90/DayRender.jpg?t=1263857528

But this is what appears in the LOT editor after a medium export.

https://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/Joey90/error.jpg?t=1263857574

The model obviously needs work anyway as it looks too boxy, but some help as to why it is coming out like it is would be great.

Thanks

[kodebo 48]

I'm not certain, but I'm guessing you might need to re-fit your LOD's. In the utilities tab where you export, preview, etc., click parameters, and the Re-Fit LOD's. Hope that fixes it.

[timcravey 168]

Actually, No. The problem is not LODs. You need to get a file called ModelNames.ms from the SC4 official site. You can find it here: http://simcity.ea.com/coolstuff/bat/index.php

Click on "Texture Problem Fix". You must register to download. If you have trouble getting in at that site, ask in the 'Can't Find It' thread here on Simtropolis and someone will point you to an 'unofficial' download.

BTW Nice BAT.

[psander5 195]

I would have guessed it was a LOD issue too! I know very little about these thing though, and what I do know I soon forget. If you have problems getting the file that timcravey mentioned you can get it from SC4D's EA Support pages. I think its the best place to get all the EA stuff these days - I believe they have permission from EA. From what I hear the official site is rubbish.

I think you've chosen a nice BAT to start off with. Its a reasonably simple building that will allow you to cover most of the aspects of BATing all together. There's not much to say on your model so far. I'm sure there'll be more to say as you progress with the detail. One thing It might be worth mentioning, in case you don't know yet, is that the SimCity perspective view tends to visually squash buildings. I noticed your windows look rectangular instead of square as they are in the photo of the original building. There's no need to worry about that now though. I think most people correct this problem once the model is finished, by vertically scaling the whole model by about 33% The alternative is to model everything 1/3 taller than it should be as you go along. Personally, I prefer to do the scaling afterwards, I find it easier to stick to the proper scale... although I sometimes scale it up for a preview render.

It's good to see another BATer of the British persuasion around I don't know Northampton well, but I hope to see lots more of its buildings in Sim City. It's one of the more under-represented towns in the game... surprisingly!

Oh, and its a good idea to embed your pictures directly into the thread. Photobucket should give you the {IMG} links after you've uploaded them. Its better than clicking direct links. 

[SimFox 801]

It is definitely LOD issue here. The grey box you see in LOT editor is topdown view of the LOD. It is clearly of wrong shape and size for the building presented. They may be some other issues later on - revealed when proper sized LOD will be created, but for now LOD is the first thing to fix.

Odd thing though that GMAX preview sort of indicated that LOD are of proper size as Preview window is framed around LOD...

[timcravey 168]

This is what I understood when I tried to resolve the same problem with my own exports. As you know, SC4Model is treated by games display function as a texture projected onto a box (the LOD). Problem seems to be in how BAT generates Instance IDs resulting in conflicts with existing texture IDs. Someone suggested TextureBugFix excluded certain ID ranges from consideration by BAT; I don't know enough to speculate.

An important note however is that problem is more likely to occur if the model has been exported more than once from the same .gmax file, so never export twice from the same file -- always Merge the once-exported scene into a New file (excluding all LODs and camera rigs), Save with a new name, and then proceed.

[gutterclub 2,729]

Thanks for the help guys, I've managed to sort the rendering issues and am progressing with the model and learning about texturing it.

[timcravey 168]

Let me share one more piece of Gmax arcana with you concerning texturing -- always shoot a Day Preview alone (not Day and Night) when you first open a Saved file. Otherwise the Material Editor may start 'loosing' some of your texture pictures and you will have to go through and Reload every pic. After the initial Day preview you can shoot Day and Night all you want without loosing textures.

[gutterclub 2,729]

I'm slowly learning the modelling side of things as shown below and have just learnt that a good friend of mine uses 3ds max for his joB (although he doesn't play SC40 so I am going to pester him for lots of hwlp. Once I've finished this and worked on textures and more detail in the modelling and I am hopefully going to go about releasing a fwe building from Northampton and Milton Keynes.

Anyway, he is the model so far, lots of work to do but I'm enjoying taking all this new info in.

[SimHoTToDDy 2,938]

Nice to know you have someone who can help you directly, I don't know a single person IRL who does this kinda stuff!

The model itself is coming along, obviously needs some more time, but it is a step in the right direction. Focus on the major skills in manipulating your objects then move on to making all your little details. That being said, nothing beast just practicing, goof around with the modifiers if need be

We are always here for any specific questions you might have. Best of luck,

-Todd

[Francis90b 748]

Nice model, i might write something more as the progress goes on. Could you post a pic of this building or of similar buildings?