.bat help

[Razor Sharp 0]

Ok, so I want to download a couple of buildings for my game, but I can't seem to figure out the buildings. Is .bat a building where I need to make a commercial zone, or is it a landmark that I manually place.

Also, where do I put the custom buildings after downloading?

Thanks in advance.

[Chuck The Mayor 28]

I can answer your second question, once you download the sTEX file put it in Libraries\Documents\SimCity4\Plugins make sure you download all dependencies and read instructions!

I didn't quite fully understand your first question.

--

Happy Sim - Chuck!

[Magneto 316]

If I understand your 1st question correctly ...It can be one of the two, or both. Actually those you place manually are called ploppables and those that grows (RCI buildings) are named growables. Usually you'll find out by reading the description or the readme enclosed. with the file. When you have both options, check the file name: if it contains "LM" then it is a landmark, thus ploppable. If you want to get rid of it just erase it, just like you can erase growable files if you have a ploppable version (you can recognize them if there's "grow" in the name or the size of the lot, like 1x2 3x3 5x4 etc.)

ALso don't remove the SC4Desc and SC4Model files, your building needs them

[Lloyd0728 11]

The guy must be new....hehehehehe

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Ok, so I want to download a couple of buildings for my game, but I can't seem to figure out the buildings. Is .bat a building where I need to make a commercial zone, or is it a landmark that I manually place.

Also, where do I put the custom buildings after downloading?

Thanks in advance.

Welcome to Simtropolis.

A BAT (Building Architect Tool) lot can be anything. You need to read the description carefully and make sure you also get any dependencies listed for the building.

Placement is in the user data set C:\<user>...\Documents\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Plugins

However, only useful files should be placed there and they are files with the following extensions

.sc4lot

.sc4desc

.sc4model

.dat

.dll

The rest is noise and should be kept in the folder to which you download things (e.g. ...\Documents\Downloads). Here is a look at my Downloads folder:

Downloads

├── Blender

├── BoomtownDesign

├── CNet

├── C++ReferenceCard

├── debian

├── Dynex

├── GamersGate

├── Microsoft

├── muse score

├── Olympus Camera

├── OpenGL

├── Oracle

├── SC4RelatedDownloads

└── SunMicrosystems

You can see from this that there are more places to download from that the STEX.

Be careful with plugins. They are not all compatible with each other. Test each new plugin with your existing ones in a sandbox region city.

[nukeu123 307]

Also, where do I put the custom buildings after downloading?

By default, C:\Users\(Your username)\My Documents\Simcity 4\Plugins

[Razor Sharp 0]

Sorry, I messed up my question.

If I download a custom apartment and place it in the plugins folder, will it appear when I make a High-density residential zone like this?

If it doesn't, tell me which type of building do I download for it to appear.

[Magneto 316]

Then you'll need RCI growable buildings (in this case Residential). For the lot to appear, you must zone with the appropriate zone tool, preferably hi density and make your zone the appropriate size of the building you downloaded.

Example, if you want a 3x3 (lot size) residential to appear, choose hi density residential and zone while holding Ctrl key so the size can match with your building. On your picture, all the lots inside the road square are 1x3 (first figure tells width of the building, second figure its depth), which means you'll favor the appearance of 1x3 buildings. Be aware that sometimes the buildings can merge into a biggerbuilding, and other times a big lot size will split in several tinier lots. This is due to the desibirality of the surroundings.

Another parameter is wealthness. Usually it is referenced in the file name of growable buildings by § symbols. § for low wealth, §§ mid wealth and §§§ hi wealth. Wealthness can be tricky sometimes, especially for §§§ buildings. Decreasing wealthness shouldn't be difficult. Raising wealthness can be done by adding park, civics, transport amenities and such.

If you can make all those parameters fit to the building you wish to grow, then you have a chance for the building to appear. If it doesn't, bulldoze it and let it grow again.

Just read carefully the descriptions and readme files of custom content and you'll be able to spot all the parameters you need to build what you want.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Custom content comes in two broad categories: Growable, selected by the randomizer depending on conditions and zoning; and Ploppable which can be dropped into the city at will by the player from one of the menus. Ploppables fall into several categories found under the mayor mode menus. The most common are Landmarks and Parks.

Newer players should probably avoid ploppable RCI buildings until they have a full understanding of the implications.