ah what a waste

[liegnitz1241 0]

I just spent over 3 hours trying to go through BAT tutorials and troubleshooting installing custom content and buildings - TO NO AVAIL..... am I stupid or is this ridiculously complicated? I had more fun just playing the regular game before I tried dowloading stuff; all this just made me angry and frustrated because nothing seems to work..... I can't get past drawing a 2-D front wall in BAT; I can't use custom content from others that doesn't appear as 'brown boxes'..... screw it

[The Avatar 1,088]

Hello, I can understand your frustration, and I'm sorry you're having trouble. I'm not familiar with BATting, but I think that I can provide some help with your "brown box" problem. It would help if you were a little more specific about what problems you're experiencing, but I think I can help anyway. Most downloads have things called "dependencies" that you need to download along with the original download. The download need these dependencies to function properly, or for details on the download, in the case of Lots. When a brown box appears in the game, this means that you're missing a dependency, or several dependencies for a Lot or building. Make sure that when you download something, you check to see if the download has any dependencies, and be sure to download them, as well. Here's a link to an article on the Omnibus that should help answer your questions on dependencies and downloads. Hope this helps.

~ Charles

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Now, about BATting. There are several skill sets involved and steep learning curves in all of them. I suggest this approach:

First, learn how to use the Lot Editor (make sure you use the one for the BAT). There is a tutorial on the Omnibus, and I believe there is a good help file with the editor. This basic skill of creating a new lot from existing pieces is essential.

Next, download and run the tutorial for gmax that makes an animated mace. It is a download from Turbo Squid. If you did not get them when you downloaded gmax, also download the help files and the library.

Take the time to meticulously create and animate that mace. This will make you more comfortable with gmax, which is a cut down version of 3DS Max.

You might try just making something else of your own in gmax just to confirm your skill set.

Now you should slowly and carefully run the BAT ESSENTIALS tutorial from the Omnibus. Be sure you understand each step and what you did before you go on to the next part.

You are looking at a spare time effort of three to six months. There is no quick way to learn this stuff, especially if you are not a computer programmers or analyst. This is all new ground for many people.

Next, find yourself some writing on the principles of Object Oriented Design. This will put you in the picture with regard to dependencies and why they are used.

If all this seems like a lot of work, it is. And as Archimedes said to Phillip of Macedon over 2,000 years ago, "There is no royal road to learning".

[Halen Of Dania 350]

I agree tottaly. I started using the lot editor when I started making custom fillers for sim city 4 back when I knew I couldn't jump into bat right away . Just take it easy and calm down a bit before you take to some more tutorials hense you will be extremely more relaxed than you would if you kept going with out taking a break.Im sure everyone would agree that ""Brain Power Comes Before will power!!!!""

hope that helps

[liegnitz1241 0]

hmmm, I'll try the Lot Editor instead of going right for BAT..... hopefully when the semester is over I'll have enough free time during the holidays