In need of SimCity4 help.... (label me "newbie")

[spiritualfire 138]

Hey there Community. I've been playing the game for a few years now, but I'm totally new to the mod and custom building thing. If somebody would be so kind, the BAT tool: I can't register the game (FAIL), so I can't download said tool for any custom buildings (EPIC FAIL), and therefore can't put to use these wonderful buildings I've spent precious time downloading as well as see them at night (EPIC CAPITAL FAIL)... How does one obtain it? And if possible, explain to me why on some buildings they appear as brown paper packages tied up with string, slowly becoming one of my least favorite things. I'll be happy to give more info if needed. PLEASE AND THANK YOU for your time.

[CaptCity 4,915]

All of your questions can be answered by reading through this post...

..If somebody would be so kind, the BAT tool: I can't register the game (FAIL), so I can't download said tool for any custom buildings (EPIC FAIL), and therefore can't put to use these wonderful buildings I've spent precious time downloading

You don't need the BAT to use custom content - only if you want to create your own. To simply use the items in the game, unzip the downloads and place them in the Documents/SC4/Plugins folder.

...as well as see them at night (EPIC CAPITAL FAIL)... How does one obtain it?

To get the buildings to light at night, you'll need the game patches. See the Nightlight and Updates section of the above linked post for info and links.

And if possible, explain to me why on some buildings they appear as brown paper packages tied up with string, slowly becoming one of my least favorite things.

This means you don't have all the additional files (known as Dependencies) installed. Check any instructions for the names of other files. For more info, see the Brown Boxes and Dependencies section of the above linked post