Is there anyway to open other peoples' BATs for less than $3,000?

[Wheezy 23]

Excuse the sardonic title.

My goal is to be able to take a city block I've made in SC4, recreate it in Sketchup, then retexture it myself.  

I could just do this using Sketchup's downloadable models, but since SC4's divided into a grid of 56-foot tiles, it makes an excellent layout tool.  So, whether it's Maxis's buildings or custom ones, I'm just looking for 3d models that fit the game's proportions.  I can use substitutes to fill in any gaps.

However, I have no idea if it's even possible to view the game's original 3d assets, and even more vexing, it seems all the 3d files on the exchange are .max.  I've never had an .edu email and I'm not a professional CG artist, so I'll pass on the $3,700 program.

So, in short, is there any way to find any in-game buildings as 3DS's, OBJ's, or any format readable by any non-Autodesk program?  Or is there any way to download files I could open in BAT itself, so I can at least get their proportions and rebuild them quicker?

Thanks, everyone.

[rsc204 21,857]

First off, downloaded BAT files in SC4Model format do not contain anything you can open in a 3D modelling application. Unlike full 3D games, SC4 uses a 2D Isometric viewpoint, which means when exporting them you get a very simple box called a LOD, with 2D textures applied to them. However, you can consider the rendering process almost like converting it from a 3D modelling file to SC4 format. If you want to open/edit such models you really need the original file from either 3DS Max or SC4BAT, along with the resources like textures used to create it. Some modellers do release such things for others to re-use, but it's not exactly commonplace.

The cost of 3DS max is because most users of such software make a shed-load of money by using the tool. Sadly that means hobbyists and non-professionals get the shaft, but such is the way with most professional software. There is a way around it, you can get a student licence of the application. However, that will only allow you to use the newer versions and a tool needed for rendering the final model (BAT4Max) probably won't work with them.

SC4BAT fairs a better fate, since it's the official tool Maxis released for making models, in essence it's just a bunch of scripts for another application, gMax, that correctly exports SC4 Models. This is free and can still be downloaded, as is gMax which is required to use it. Provided you don't have the Origin version of SC4, you should have no problems installing SC4BAT. It's worth noting, 3DS Max users still need SC4BAT as it handles a core part of the export process. You can open files made with SC4BAT and .3DS files using SC4BAT, but not .max files sadly.

As for finding such models, both the STEX and LEX have dedicated sections for such things:

https://community.simtropolis.com/files/category/4-3ds-models/

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_search_00.php?query=eyJsZXhfY2F0ZWdvcnkiOiI1NiIsImV4Y2x1ZGVfbG9ja2VkIjoiMSIsImV4Y2x1ZGVfbm90Y2VydCI6IjAiLCJxdWVyeSI6IiJ9
(gMax)

https://www.sc4devotion.com/csxlex/lex_search_00.php?query=eyJsZXhfY2F0ZWdvcnkiOiI1NSIsImV4Y2x1ZGVfbG9ja2VkIjoiMSIsImV4Y2x1ZGVfbm90Y2VydCI6IjAiLCJxdWVyeSI6IiJ9
(3DS Max)

[Wheezy 23]

Thank you very much, that's the best answer I could hope for.  I'd forgotten BAT and SC4BAT were two different programs, since it's been several years since I've used either.  Yeah, GMax will definitely do, as long as I can view the models from all angles.  If there's a way I could export to an OBJ or 3ds from Gmax, perfect, but if not, this is a good start.

[Wheezy 23]

On further thought, since I was just going to use the game to lay out city proportions, I might be happy if there was just a way to figure out building heights.

Width and depth in the game are easy since each tile is 56'6" by 56'6" IIRC. So if I knew how tall each building was, I could just find or make models of similar buildings and scale them to the exact same size.

I'm sure there's a simple way to calculate distances in trimetric view that I'm not aware of because I'm bad at math and have never studied 3d modelling, though. Any thoughts?

[Handyman 785]

This article by @rivit might help.

http://users.tpg.com.au/rivit/rvt-SimCity-articles2.htm

[Wheezy 23]

Thanks!  So what I'm learning is that Cities Skylines is a better choice for this project.

[Jasoncw 11,940]

Yeah I think Cities Skylines would work better for you. Good luck! 

(Although be careful with your dimensions. Both games are in meters (16 or 8 meter grids), so if you go by feet your stuff won't fit together right)

[Wheezy 23]

I thought Cities Skylines was gridless, which was one of my main objections to buying it.  (The other is that I don't know how smoothly my PC can run it.  I don't want it to play like SC4 did back when it was first released.)

But knowing it's gridded just like SC4 will really help.  To elaborate, I'll be using Sketchup to recreate small portions of the cities I've made in-game, but at life size and with more details like specific car models and signs, then use them for digital painting backgrounds.  I'll add more photo elements, filters, and lighting thingummies (to use the technical term) in Photoshop to make it more convincing.  Thanks!

[rsc204 21,857]

Well the one thing you have going for you using C:S for this is that it uses 3D models, so the assets (mods) you have can all be opened in a 3D modelling application. To get what you want with SC4 is going to take a serious amount of work.

Then again, perhaps the better quality of SC4 models/textures is a big deal when considering the final output. What about simply taking screenshots from the game and Photoshopping them? If you are good with an image editor, you'll find it much quicker to get good results this way.

[Wheezy 23]

That would be fine if this was, say, a city journal, but it's for actual illustrations: Sketchup renders everything as line drawings, which I hope will mix seamlessly with my own lineart.  Have you heard of the manga Goodnight Punpun?  Its creator uses a mixture of toon-shaded 3d renders, photo tracing, and digitally pieced-together drawings to create backgrounds that wouldn't be possible by hand.  His work is a (final boss, god-mode) example of the effect I'm trying to create.

It goes like so: