BAT - Getting Started Guide / FAQ / Resources / Help

[Jasoncw 11,840]

0. INTRODUCTION

 

Welcome to the BAT - Getting Started / FAQ / Resources / Help thread.

This new thread replaces all of the functions of the previous BAT - Mega FAQ, BAT - Troubleshooting & General Discussion, 3ds Max - Troubleshooting & General Discussion, and BAT4Max V.5 threads, and adds the Getting Started guide.

This forum's moderators are: @Jasoncw @JP Schriefer @MushyMushy @T Wrecks @Toothless Stitch @Terring

Below are links to the different sections of this thread.

1. Getting Started Guide

This guide will... guide... you through installing all of the programs needed in order to BAT.

2. FAQ (2.A. Export Problems, 2.B. Preview Render Problems, 2.C. General Problems, 2.D Installation Problems)

Answers to the most frequently asked BAT questions. If you have a question, check here first.

3. Resources

A list of links which you might find useful.

4. Help

If you need help, and you weren't able to find a solution to your problem in the FAQ, you can post about your problem in this thread and someone will try to help you. Over time, an archive of questions and answers will develop, which you will be able to browse through to see if someone else has already had the same problem as you. This thread is the right place to post questions for anything BAT related.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

1. GETTING STARTED GUIDE

This guide will... guide... you through installing all of the programs needed in order to BAT. 

If you run into problems installing the various programs, feel free to post about your problem at the end of this thread.

After you're done installing the programs you'll still have to learn how to use them. Look in the Resources section for tutorials, ask questions at the end of this thread, read your favorite BATers' development threads, and start your own development thread.

1. Install SimCity 4 Deluxe, or SimCity 4 + Rush Hour. SimCity 4 from Origin will not work, because it is an unpatched (and unpatchable) version. The BAT requires SimCity 4 to be installed, and it doesn’t recognize the Origin version. If you purchase SimCity 4 at GoG through this affiliate link, Simtropolis will receive a small amount of money from your purchase.
    
2. If you are using a disc version of SimCity 4 Deluxe, or SimCity 4 + Rush Hour, and you haven’t already patched your game, you’ll want to now. The files are available at https://community.simtropolis.com/sc4-maxis-files/.
    
3. Install Gmax by right clicking on gmax12.exe and selecting "Run as Administrator". Because Gmax is abandonware, the official download and registration process is no longer available to us. I have attached Gmax and the registration workaround to the bottom of this post. The registration workaround had been stickied to the top of the official gmax support forum for many years.
    
4. Try starting Gmax. If you get the error "GMAXLOC Environment Variable Not Found", then click on the windows menu, and search for "variables" and select "Edit Environment Variables for your Account". There should be an entry for GMAXLOC.  If there is, confirm that the path points to the folder where gmax.exe is located. If there isn't an entry for GMAXLOC, click New, and enter GMAXLOC in the first line and the path to the folder containing gmax.exe in the second line. Common locations would be:  C:\Gmax\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Gmax\  Note that they end with "\".  The paths may be case sensitive.  If the path is correct but includes single quotes (for example 'C:\Gmax\') try removing them.
    
5. Install the BAT. The BAT is available at https://community.simtropolis.com/sc4-maxis-files/. The BAT is a gamepack for Gmax which adds tools specific to SimCity 4. When you install the BAT, the Plugin Manager and Lot Editor will also be installed.
    
6. Install the BAT Texture Problem Fix. It is available at https://community.simtropolis.com/sc4-maxis-files/. To install, copy the files into your Gmax scripts folder (C:\gmax\gamepack\BAT\scripts\), overwriting the existing ones if prompted.
   
   You are now ready to start BATing using Gmax! 
   
   If you’d like to BAT with 3ds Max, continue with the next steps. 3ds Max has significantly improved rendering quality, tools which make it much easier to make buildings, and a huge amount of online learning resources. 
    
7. 3ds Max versions has many versions and some are better than others for BATing. 3ds Max 2018 and newer are not compatible with BAT4Max, and so they currently can't be used for BATing. Unfortunately, versions older than this are no longer available from Autodesks's website, but they may be found elsewhere. 2013-2017 can be used for BATing, if you make a few simple updates to BAT4Max, which are detailed below. 2010-2012 work without needing to updae BAT4Max, but 2012 must have its service packs installed, and those service packs may be hard to find. 3ds Max 7 is the oldest version that will work, with limited functionality. Some versions of 3ds Max have both a Design version and a Standard version, and either are fine. 3ds Max is available for free for students at https://www.autodesk.com/education/.
    
8. Download BAT4Max. A download link, installation instructions, and an archive of support are located at https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/40623-bat4max-v5/. BAT4Max installation instructions have been integrated with this Getting Started Guide.
    
9. Give full permissions to the 3ds Max folder in Program Files. BAT4Max needs to be able to freely create and modify files in the 3ds Max folder. Navigate to your 3ds Max folder in Program Files, right click on it, and go to Properties. Go to the Security tab, and click on the Edit button. Then, check the Allow button for Full Control.
    
10. Start 3ds Max. Go to MaxScripts>Run Script and choose BAT4Max5_Installer.mzp, and follow the on-screen instructions. You’ll likely receive a notice that says that night libraries are not compatible and have been disabled. This is normal and you can ignore it.
     
11. At the end of installation, the Preferences dialog window will be opened. If it is not already opened to the “Gamma and LUT” tab, go to that tab. Different versions of 3ds Max have different settings available. Change whatever settings you have available to the ones described here. “Enable Gamma Correction/LUT” should be checked. Gamma should be set to 2.2. “Affect Material Editor” and “Affect Color Selectors” should be checked. “Input Gamma” and “Output Gamma” should be set to 2.2. The settings will likely be automatically set, so you may not have to change anything. Click OK when you’re done.
     
12. If you use 3ds Max 2014 or newer, and your exports are super bright and blown out, install the Gamma Fix, found at https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/28998-bat4maxv5-3ds-max-2014-gamma-fix/. Otherwise, do not install the Gamma Fix.
     
13. If you use 3ds Max 2016 or 2017, you need to install another fix. The fix can be found at https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/74519-potential-fix-for-bat4max-wnewer-3ds-max-releases/. Go to 3DS MAX INSTALL DIRECTORY\gamepacks\BAT\scripts and replace SF_LtbL_functions.ms with the one included in the download.
     
14. If you use 3ds Max 2013 or newer, the BAT4Max buttons do not work as intended. To fix this issue you can edit the scripts files, by following the instructions found at https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/759478-bat4max-manual-rendering-settings-fix/. If you don't edit the scripts, you'll need to change the rendering settings yourself every time you start a new BAT, and every time you switch between day, DarkNite, or MaxisNite. More detailed instructions are shown in the spoiler tag below.
     
    Spoiler

    Sampling Quality: you need to change the Sampling Mode to every single new project you start. In newer versions it's set as Unified/Raytraced by default and you need to change it to Classic/Raytraced. Now your models will look way better.
    To do it, you just need to click on Render Setup icon > Renderer tab and set the configurations as shown below:

    
    
    

     

    Skylights & Environment Lighting (IBL): at the same Render Setup window, click on the Global Illumination tab and change the Skylight Mode from Skylight Illumination from IBLto Skylight Illumination from Final Gather (FG).

    

    
    
    Great! Now you can BAT with 3ds Max! 

 

Gmax.zip

GMAX_Registration_Workaround.zip

[Jasoncw 11,840]

2. FAQ

This section contains solutions to commonly asked questions. Because of its length, it's divided across several posts.

If you're still having problems after reading this section, ask for help at the end of this thread.

 

2.A. EXPORT PROBLEMS

 

MY BAT EXPORTED AS EITHER A BLACK PIXELATED BOX, GARBLED AND DISTORTED, WITH RANDOM MAXIS BUILDINGS MIXED IN, OR AS BLOCKS OF RED GREEN AND BLUE

Texture ID conflict. Try exporting it again.

Install the ID fix created by Maxis. The name of the file is ModelNames.ms. The fix along with other Maxis files is available here.

Select all of the objects in the scene, and go to file>save selected. In a new scene go to File>Import>Merge and merge the newly saved scene into your new scene. Try exporting from that.

Also, make sure your filename doesn't contain any special characters, like characters with accent marks.

If you use 3ds Max 2012, and you're getting the colored checkered box, you might need to update 3ds Max by going to https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/3ds-max/downloads and installing the most recent service pack. 

MY BAT IS DISTORTED

Open the .SC4Model file in ilive's Reader, and select the offending .S3D file. Then select the Vert tab. The u values and/or the v values, both of which should range between 0 and 1, are off. In this example, the v values needed to be doubled. Due to some kind of export error they were only half the number they should be. For example, the first v value in the list, 0.085938, needed to be doubled to 0.171876.

Since the values apparently tend to be either doubled or halved by the bug and typically all of the values (u or v) are affected, the easiest way to narrow down the problem is to try and change either the u or the v values by doubling or halving roughly and checking in the viewport whether the S3D starts to look better. Once you have a suspicion which values are off and whether they are too small or too big, you can simply select another view without saving your modifications, go back to the affected S3D and enter the exact numbers. Do not forget to select "Apply" once you are finished and save the corrected model file!

It's easier to slightly change the LODs (to hope that the new LOD geometry does not trigger the bug), and then re-export. 

MY BAT IS OFFSET

If your building is offset for all of your zooms, it's possible that your building is not centered to the scene in gmax/3ds max.

If you're using 3ds max, double check that the LODs are named correctly after importing them into gmax. If they have weird names like "LOD3.LOD4", correct their names and everything should work fine.

THE EDGES OF MY BAT ARE CUT OFF

Your LODs are too small. Go to the Utilities Panel, and use the "Refit LODs" button in the Parameters Rollout.

You can create custom LODs by creating new objects and naming them LOD3, LOD4, and LOD5. If you do this, make sure you delete the old LODs, by right clicking in the viewport, going to "Unhide All" and then selecting and deleting the old LODs.

WHEN I PUT MY BAT/PROP NEXT TO ANOTHER BAT/PROP IN THE LOT EDITOR, IT "EATS" OR IS "EATEN BY" THE OTHER BAT/PROP

Go the the utilities tab on the right (the one with the hammer, and where you do renders), and find the button that says "refit LODs" and then, well, refit your LODs. Depending on the shape of your model you may need to create custom LODs. (Note how in the above image, the train appears to be underneath the platforms)

MY BAT IS SUPER BRIGHT (3ds Max only)

If you use 3ds Max 2013 or higher, and your exported BAT is much brighter than your preview renders, you need to install the Gamma Fix.

ERROR: CODE 6

Code 6 literally means "something went wrong somewhere". Unfortunately, because this error doesn't give any helpful information, it's not very helpful for troubleshooting.

THE EDGES OF MY BAT ARE BLOCKY/PIXELATED (Gmax only)

We don't know exactly why this happens, but we do know that the renders themselves are fine, and that the problem may not happen on everyone's computer. The problem seems to relate to some combination of your computer's graphics card, the in-game graphics settings, and the visual characteristics of your render (by that I mean that some combination of pixels on your render causes your graphics card to render it incorrectly in the game).

There is speculation that this problem is triggered by values of grey or white, particularly ones that have a blue tint. Desaturating the texture or changing its hue might help. There is also speculation that this problem is caused by transparent materials (for example, semi-transparent glass) existing in the scene. It's not known for sure what triggers the problem, and all you can do is change your model until it stops happening.

ERROR:  CODE 11:  FAILED TO EXPORT S3D

Error saving export nodes to the output file.

Possible causes:

1.  File sharing violation. Close any SC4 related programs.

2.  Output file is write-protected (read-only).

3.  Bad units. Make sure you are using metric.

MY NITELITES ARE NOT SHOWING UP IN THE GAME

If other non-Maxis buildings (BATs downloaded from the STEX, etc.) are not lighting up, you may need to update your game. BATUpdate (available here) enables nitelites on custom content.

If that's not the problem, wait longer and toggle between night and day. Sometimes it takes a long time for the nitelites to turn on.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

2.B. PREVIEW RENDER PROBLEMS

 

MY RENDERS ARE FUZZY (3ds Max only)

If you're using 3ds Max 2013 or higher, you need to manually change a few rendering settings every time you start a new BAT, and any time you switch between day, MaxisNite, or DarkNite. Look inside the spoiler tag for more information. 

Spoiler

 

Sampling Quality: you need to change the Sampling Mode to every single new project you start. In newer versions it's set as Unified/Raytraced by default and you need to change it to Classic/Raytraced. Now your models will look way better.
To do it, you just need to click on Render Setup icon > Renderer tab and set the configurations as shown below:

 

Skylights & Environment Lighting (IBL): at the same Render Setup window, click on the Global Illumination tab and change the Skylight Mode from Skylight Illumination from IBLto Skylight Illumination from Final Gather (FG).

 

 

MY SHADOWS ARE FACING THE WRONG DIRECTION

The quick and dirty way of solving this problem is to start a new scene, confirm that the lights and shadows are correct in the new scene. Then go to File>Merge, and merge in the contents of the old scene (your BAT) into the new scene. Do not merge TB2CameraHandle. If you're using 3ds Max, then do not merge IES Sky | Day, MR | Sun, or any other lighting rig files. 

PARTS OF MY BUILDING ARE GETTING CUT OFF, OR THERE'S A LARGE AMOUNT OF BLANK SPACE

Go the the utilities tab on the right (the one with the hammer, and where you do renders), and find the button that says "refit LODs" and then, well, refit your LODs.

WHY ARE DIAGONAL LINES SHOWING UP IN PLACES WHERE I HAVEN'T MODELED OR TEXTURED THEM

A moiré pattern has formed, caused by the interference between the grid of pixels that forms the image, and patterns found in your building.

Of course, you can't change that your image is made up of pixels, but you can change your building. Slightly changing the angle or spacing of the elements that make up the pattern, can minimize the problem. Using a rougher, busier texture can also help break up the moiré pattern.

In some situations a moiré pattern can't be avoided.

MY TEXTURES ARE DISAPPEARING AND BEING REPLACED WITH FLAT GREY (Gmax only)

First, make sure all of your objects have uvw maps. Go to modifiers>UV Maps>UVW Map to add one.

The following is Odainsaker's speculation:

Quote

I'm not sure about the moving curtains, but I am well familiar with the disappearing textures. It seems to be some sort of memory bug in Gmax, perhaps part of a stripped down capacity do deal with too many textures or with textures of large sizes, for it is as if the texture needs to be reloaded into memory.

The solution that works for me is done just before previewing and rendering and starts by going through each material in the Material List. I have noticed that for me, the rubik's cube blue button for each material in the Material Editor that determines whether a selected material is shown on the model in the viewport gets out of whack. When the button is correctly activated, it looks pressed down and the material is properly shown. Occassionally, the button on its own apparently pops back to the "off" position, even though the material is still displayed on the model in the viewport, suggesting a program incongruity has happened. Theoretically, having the button displaying the material shouldn't affect the render, but for some reason here it does. Go through every material, and push on this button several times until its on/off setting again correctly synchronizes with the material actually being shown on and off in the viewport.

I am not sure, but the Reload button on each material may do the same thing, but I have gotten into the habit of the rubik's cube button, as it was the button most obviously working wrong.

This should be done each time you run previews or renders, but usually immediate subsequent runs in the same session work alright. Doing any following changes to materials, their parameters, or the model may or may not make you go through the button pushing process again. No amount of saving before or after each temporary fix will save that fix. There is probably a rationale to the pattern of which materials start disappearing first, but I haven't figured it out, and temporarily fixing just one problem material alone usually just causes another random material (or even all the other unfixed materials) to disappear instead, so you should do everyone of them all at one time and straight down the list.

 

STRANGE LINES/SHADOWS/SHADING (Gmax only)

Those lines are the result of a faulty lighting rig. You'll need to download the fixed lighting rig. (find link to fixed rig).

I MIRRORED AN OBJECT AND THE TEXTURES GOT SCREWED UP (Gmax only)

The Mirror tool (Tools>Mirror) in Gmax is broken. However, the mirror modifier (Modifiers>Parametric Deformers>Mirror) is not broken. Use this method to mirror objects.

I'VE CREATED NITELITES, BUT THE LIGHT IS IGNORING THE WALLS AND "LEAKING" OUT

Select your light and check the "Cast Shadows" check box.

If your Cast Shadows check box is already checked, then make sure that there aren't any gaps between your walls where light may leak out.

Also double check that your walls have two faces. In Gmax, surfaces only have one side to them. The other side doesn't exist and can't be seen. To demonstrate this, go to Create>Standard Primitive>Plane to create a plane, and then render it from all sides. Make sure that you have the visible part of a plane blocking the light.

MY MATERIAL HAS A BUMP MAP BUT IT ISN'T SHOWING UP IN THE RENDER (Gmax only)

Bump maps are broken in Gmax.

MY LIGHTS ARE SHOWING UP DURING THE DAY, BUT I ONLY WANT THEM TO SHOW UP AT NIGHT (Gmax only)

Add the "nitelite" prefix to the name of your object. So, for example, "omni05" would become "niteliteomni05". The name of the object is case sensitive.

ONLY MY NIGHT WINDOWS WITH AN INTENSITY OF 1.0 LIGHT UP IN THE RENDER. WINDOWS WITH OTHER INTENSITIES (0.6, .0.2, etc.) DO NOT LIGHT UP (Gmax only)

Question not resolved.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

2.C GENERAL PROBLEMS

 

HOW BIG ARE THE GRIDS IN GMAX/3ds Max?  HOW BIG ARE THE TILES IN THE GAME?

In the lower right hand corner of the screen, there's an area which tells you the current dimension of the grid in the viewport. 

As you zoom in and out, the grid resizes itself. While the grids in the examples above are roughly the same size on your screen, they are actually different sizes. Be mindful of the grid size, especially when you're starting a new BAT.

In 3ds Max, your units should be set to meters. In Gmax you technically model in Generic Units, but those Generic Units correspond to meters.  

The tiles in the game are 16x16 meters. For example, a 2x3 lot is 32x48 meters.

WHAT IS A .SC4MODEL FILE?

.SC4Model is the file type associated with BATs. These are created by the BAT when you export a scene from Gmax.

But a .SC4Model is actually a container file, meaning that it is not a file itself, but something that holds other files. The extension is just for the convenience of the user. .SC4Model, .SC4Lot, SC4Desc and .DAT are all the same container file.

A .SC4Model file holds the following typical BAT related files:

.S3D File:  These are your LODs, the 3D objects that appear in the game. There are 4 rotations and 5 zoom levels, making 20 files. Zoom 6 is just an enlarged zoom level 5.

.BMP File:  This is a normal .bmp image file. These are used by the Official Maxis SC4 Exchange, and are not needed for your buildings to function properly in the game. There are two of these, one for night, and one for day.

.JFIF File:  This is another image file used by the Official Exchange. It is not needed for your building to function properly in the game. There are two of these, one for night, and one for day.

.FSH File:  This is another image file, but this one is important. These are the rendered images of your building, which are assembled and mapped onto your .S3D files. These files also contain the transparency information which blocks out the black background behind your building.  There are a lot of these.

.DIR File:  You might be wondering how the game knows which file's are supposed to be associated with each other. Each file has its own number, called an Instance ID (IID).  The .DIR file has a directory of IIDs which describes their relationship with each other, and other content for the game. There is only one of these files for each .SC4Model file. 

.XML File:  This file contains information for the lot editor and plug-in manager. There is only one of these.

Files can be looked and, moved around, deleted, edited, and more using the Reader and other tools. Sometimes modders manipulate and repackage these files, so a .SC4Model file might not be easy to recognize, but remember that all that matters are the files contained inside of a .SC4Model, not how they are packaged. It is possible to break a .SC4Model file into smaller files, or merge it with .SC4Lot files, for example, and it will still work properly in the game.

HOW DO I OPEN A .SC4MODEL IN GMAX or 3DS MAX?

You can't. A BAT is a simplified model with pre-rendered images applied to it. A building would look something like this:

If you'd like to edit a .SC4Model, you can contact the creator, and ask for the original Gmax file. They might give it to you, which you could then modify and re-export.

HOW TALL SHOULD I MODEL MY FLOOR HEIGHTS?

Using realistic dimensions and then scaling vertically by 133% is what most BATers do.

If you model your building using realistic dimensions, your building will look too short in the game, because SimCity 4's view is a parallel projection, and will distort the appearance of your building. It's recently been found that vertically scaling your building by 136.6% will make your building appear proportional, but the previous and slightly incorrect scaling convention of 133% has already been firmly established. 133% is the best number to use if you want to maximize consistency with other people's BATs. Some people scale vertically by whatever amount they think looks "correct".

But ultimately your buildings will be used in the game, and Maxis did not scale things consistently. Another way to judge your building's scale is to do a test export, and plop your building next to similar buildings. For example, if you are making a R§ house, you might choose to under scale your building, so that it fits in with its environment of other under scaled R§ houses.

MY MOVE ARROWS ARE GONE

You may have accidentally pressed "x" on your keyboard, which toggles the Transform Gizmo. Press "x" on your keyboard to turn them back on.

HOW DO I POST MY PREVIEW RENDERS?

If you're using 3ds Max, there is a save icon at the top of the preview render which allows you to save the preview image. There is also an icon which will copy the image to your clipboard, which you can then paste into Photoshop.

Gmax does not have those buttons. However, the Print Screen (or Prnt Scrn) key on your keyboard will take a screenshot of your monitor and copy it to your clipboard. You can then go to Edit>Paste in an image editing program like Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, or Microsoft Paint to paste your screenshot into that file. 

After you have saved your preview render to your computer, you'll need to upload it to an image hosting site like imgur, and then copy and paste the image's URL into your post here at Simtropolis. 

CAN I USE SKETCHUP TO BAT?

You can, although it's not recommended. While some people might find modeling in sketchup to be easier, importing and exporting the files between the programs makes the workflow difficult, and you'll need to learn 3ds Max or Gmax in order to clean up the imperfectly imported Sketchup models anyway. 

It's easy to export/import between Sketchup and 3ds Max, although you need to pay special attention to how you make things in Sketchup, as well as the export/import settings, in order to successfully import the model into 3ds Max. This requires deeper knowledge of Sketchup and defeats the purpose of using Sketchup to skip 3d modeling's learning curve. 

Gmax cannot directly open .sku files. If you model something using Sketchup you'll have to export it as a file type that Gmax can import, for example, .3ds.

I TRIED OPENING MY BAT AND IT WON'T OPEN

Your file is corrupt! Once your file is corrupted, there isn't a lot you can do about it. Check C:\gmax\autoback for your file.

To help protect yourself from corrupt files, you can use the "Increment on Save" feature. Go to Customize>Preferences, and under the Files tab, check the "Increment on Save" check box.  Now, when you save, it will automatically "Save As" a new file, with a number added to the end of the file name. For example, Untitled01.gmax would be saved as Untitled02.gmax. 

This way, when one of your files is corrupted, you can go back to the most recent un-corrupted file. To save storage space, you can delete old files when you know you don't need them anymore.  This feature is also useful because when you simply make mistakes or want to use something that you changed or deleted, you can go back to an earlier version of your scene.

I APPLIED AN EXTRUDE MODIFIER TO MY SPLINE, BUT THE SHAPE IS "BROKEN" AND DOESN'T APPEAR SOLID

You need to make sure that you've made a closed shape (for example, the shape of the letter "C" is open, but the shape of the letter "O" is closed).  If you believe you've made a closed shape, double check that all of the vertexes are welded together. Your shape might look like an "O" but might actually be a "C".

If so, you'll need to weld all of your vertexes together to ensure that it is a closed shape. So, go into your spline, select all of the vertexes, and then in the right pane menu there is a button called weld, and a number next to it. If you click that button while you have vertexes selected, it will weld together any vertexes that are that number's distance from each other. By default it's .1, so if you have unwelded vertexes within .1 meters of each other, they will be automatically welded.

I CAN'T FIND ANY OF THE BAT TOOLS IN THE UTILITIES PANEL (Gmax only)

First, make sure that you've installed both Gmax, and the BAT itself. If you haven't installed the BAT yet, BAT-specific tools won't show up.

Then, make sure that you're opening the program using the SC4 BAT shortcut icon, and not the Gmax icon. If you open it using the Gmax icon it will open Gmax but not the BAT. 

HOW DO I CHANGE THE COLOR OF MY NIGHT WINDOWS? (Gmax only)

Go to the BAT Utilities Panel. In the Parameters Rollout, there's a dropdown menu box where you can change your night map. The default color is beige, but Maxis provided blue and green as well.

Additional night maps, either made by yourself or downloaded from the STEX, can be added by putting them in Gmax/gamepacks/BAT/Maps/NightWindows. If you use Windows XP read the entry titled "My Night Windows Drop Down Box is Empty".

HOW DO I HAVE MORE THAN ONE NITELITE COLOR? (Gmax only)

You can only use one night map at a time. In some situations you can use a self illuminated material. There is no way to automatically turn self illumination off during the day.

THERE ARE EXTRA DIAGONAL LINES IN THE VIEWPORT IN WIREFRAME MODE

  

Go to Customize>Preference Settings and go to the Viewports tab. Click on Configure Driver, and uncheck "Display Wireframe Objects Using Triangle Strips".

MY VIEWPORTS ARE GLITCHY

Go to Customize>Preferences and go to the Viewports tab. Select Choose Driver and try a different driver. OpenGL is generally recommended for minimizing viewport lag. As time goes on, future graphics cards and drivers have a greater risk of not working with Gmax. 

I GET A FATAL ERROR WHEN OPENING A BAT (Gmax only)

"Interactive 3D render initialization failed. Please check your device settings using the -H command line option."

Go to Customize>Preferences and go to the Viewports tab. Select Choose Driver and try a different driver.

If that doesn't work, right click on Gmax's (not the BAT's) shortcut (not the .exe itself) and go to Properties.  Add "-h" to the very end of the Target.  Click OK and double click the shortcut.  It should prompt you to select a driver before launching.

I CREATED A LIGHT AND THEN MY VIEWPORT GOT REALLY DARK (Gmax only)

Right click on the label of that viewport ("Top" "User" "Right" "Perspective" etc.), and go to Configure.  Check the check box labeled "Use Default Lighting" and select the radio button labeled "2 Lights".

HOW DO I PUT MY IMAGES INTO GMAX or 3DS MAX?

You need to create a material/texture for the image. You can then apply the material/texture to an object in your scene.

MY NIGHT WINDOWS DROP DOWN BOX IS EMPTY (Gmax only)

This problem only occurs in Windows XP and older.

Make sure that you don't have a file called "thumbs.db" in Gmax/gamepacks/BAT/Maps/NightWindows or its subfolders. Thumbs.db is a thumbnail cache used to store thumbnails images for Windows Explorer's thumbnail view. It is a hidden file. It will recreate itself every time you view a folder in thumbnail view, but it can be turned off by going to Folder Options and checking "Do not cache thumbnails" in the View tab.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

2.D. INSTALLATION PROBLEMS 

 

GMAXLOC VARIABLE NOT FOUND (Gmax only)

Right click on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop, and select properties. Then go to Advanced, and then Environmental Variables. 

There should be an entry for GMAXLOC. If there is, confirm that the path points to the folder where gmax.exe is located. 

If there isn't an entry for GMAXLOC, click New, and enter GMAXLOC in the first line and the path to the folder containing gmax.exe in the second line.

Common locations would be: C:\Gmax\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Gmax\  Note that they end with "\". The paths may be case sensitive. If the path is correct but includes single quotes (for example 'C:\Gmax\') try removing them.

I'M PROMPTED TO INSTALL ACTIVESYNC 4.2 DURING INSTALLATION (Gmax only)

Uninstall ActiveSync, install Gmax, and then reinstall ActiveSync. ActiveSync 4.2 is a program used by Windows Mobile PDAs/Smartphones to synchronize data with the computer. 

The Gmax installer uses files called .cab files, and those are the common files used in PDA phones operating onWindows Mobile OS. Because ActiveSync recognized this type of file, you are prompted to install an updated version of ActiveSync (from 4.0 to 4.2) before continuing with your Gmax installation.

WHEN TRYING TO OPEN THE BAT INSTALLER, IT STATES "UNABLE TO COPY PLUGIN TO PLUGIN DIRECTORY" (Gmax only)

The BAT installer may be corrupted. Delete the installer, redownload it, and try again.

WHEN TRYING TO INSTALL GMAX, IT STATES "SETUP.EXE DOESN'T EXIST" (Gmax only)

Restart your computer and try again.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

3. RESOURCES

 

Omnibus by Community

The Omnibus is the official tutorials area of Simtropolis. There are a lot of tutorials here!

BAT Essentials by Phillippbo

A good starting point for new BATers using Gmax. No prior knowledge required!

Jason's BATs & Tutorials by Jasoncw

A variety of tutorials, most for 3ds max and some for Gmax.

Reddonquixote's Q1 Project by Reddonquixote

An in-depth walkthrough, start to finish, of the creation of a large skyscraper.

Vertical Scaling, a New Approach? by JP Schriefer

The precise vertical scaling was actually 136.6% all along.

To Stretch or Not to Stretch  Scaling, Maxis, BAT and You by SimFox/Gn_leugim/Community

Discussions about compensating visual squashing with vertical scaling.

BATing with Google Sketchup by Bipin

A collection of tutorials about BATing with Sketchup.

Gmax Download by Discreet

Download Gmax here.

Maxis Files by Maxis

The Maxis modding tools, patches, plugins, and other files.

BAT4Max V.5 by SimFox

User guide, installation instructions, and over 500 posts of troubleshooting and solutions. 

BAT4Max 2017 Fix by Reddonquixote 

This fix allows BAT4Max to work with 3ds Max 2017.

BAT4Max 3ds Max 2014 Gamma Fix by Droric 

This fix corrects the gamma settings in 3ds Max 2014 and above. 

BAT - Troubleshooting & General Discussion by Community

An archive of people's Gmax troubleshooting problems and the solutions to those problems, from 2007 to 2018. 

3ds Max - Troubleshooting & General Discussion by Community

An archive of people's 3ds Max troubleshooting problems and the solutions to those problems, from 2007 to 2018.

Maxis References by Community

The real life buildings Maxis modeled their own after.

ILives Reader 1.4 LUA Scripts by Nique

A script which automatically sets in-game transparency/antialiasing on .SC4Model files.

 

BROKEN OR OUT OF DATE

Unfortunately most of the tutorials suffer from missing images and broken links. There are also some which, after many years, have become out of date. 

Spoiler

Gmax to 3ds Max by toxicpiano

How to get your Gmax models into 3ds Max.

Quick and Dirty 1:1 [Roof] Texture Tutorial by SimHoTToDDy

The most common way of texturing roofs.

Night Window Textures by Community

People can share their night window textures here.

Anti-Aliasing in the Game by AutoVino

By default, BATs are not anti-aliased, but that can be changed.

How to Make Semitransparent Glass by Xyloxadoria

Making glass transparent in the game.

Forces of Light and the Geometry of Shadows by SimFox

A collection of tutorials related to 3ds Max.

Using Vertex Painting to Enhance Procedural Textures by AutoVino

Control your materials by painting directly onto the model.

Unwrap UVW by Jarrett

Fitting textures onto objects.

Converting Microsoft Flight Simulator Aircraft into Props by Ardecila

How to get flight sim models into Gmax.

BAT Lot Development 101: A Compendium of Information by deadwoods

Guidelines, considerations, and tips

Building an Adobe Cantina by onlyplace4

Making a BAT in Gmax, start to finish.

 

[Jasoncw 11,840]

4. HELP

 

Feel free to post any BAT questions in this thread. Someone will try to help you. 

You can post here no matter which program you're using. If you need help with something BATing related, post here. This thread supersedes the troubleshooting functions of BAT4Max V.5, BAT - Troubleshooting & General Discussion, and 3ds Max - Troubleshooting & General Discussion, which have all been locked, but still serve as a valuable archive of questions and answers. 

[jakis 287]

I have a model, that is 31,9m width (to be close to 32m, or 2 tiles). On GMax and Bat4Max it were rendered as SD quality both. Model fits to 2 tiles perfectly. Everything is alright, except the one side: Zoom - 2, View - north, a model looks like this:

But had to be like this (it's zoom 1 and 3, and the same view - north):

I just don't know why. Notice that every other zooms and views are ok

Just in case, I present this screenshots of outputs in their folders, zooms 1, 2 and 3.

 

 

P.S. I wondered, why 1'st zoom have another spacing on the right from any other...

I have Windows 7, 3dsMax 2012 (hotfix instaled, and Bat4Max were instaled perfectly, without any error), GMax (model fix instaled).

 

[Jasoncw 11,840]

@jakis If you look in the FAQ post there is an entry for "My BAT is Distorted" and it sort of shows how you can fix it in the Reader. To be honest I don't know exactly how to do it anymore. Somewhere in the process of converting the LODs to the .S3D files that are the 3d geometry in the game (and also the texture mapping that is on these 3d models), there is a math mistake which causes some of the mapping coordinates to get messed up. You can go in the reader and manually fix the numbers so that the math is correct.

Or you can just slightly modify your LOD, and reexport, and hope that the condition that triggers the problem (we don't know what it is), is no longer present.

[Joe_Winko_From_YouTube 18]

I'm having trouble rendering this one building in BAT. 

here's some pictures of what's doing:

first, it's rendering space really far from the actual object, as seen here:

 

Then it crashes and says "Error Code 6"

 

Does anyone know what is causing this? and is there anyway I can get it to work?

 

Also, is there a limit to how many Polygons the building can have? this one has 1,649.. is that what's causing it? is there anyway i can reduce the poly count to get it to work without having the texture look to weird? 

 

Please help ♥ 

if you need to know more information just ask. 

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

Hiya.

I have no clue for an answer, but I do believe this will get seen by the right peeps over in the SC4 BAT & Lot Workshop forum. I'll move it there. Good luck.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

@Joe_Winko_From_YouTube

When you do a render, it renders the area of the LOD. The LOD is the actual 3d object in the game, while the renders themselves are just 2d pre-rendered images of your BAT. So naturally, when you render your BAT it needs to render the entire area around the LOD. Even if it's empty space, it still needs to render that area.

I'm guessing what happened, is your LOD is much bigger than your building, so the dimensions of your renders are really big. The raw size might be crashing the render, or it might be beyond the maximum size for a BAT.

So my advice would be to right click one of the viewports and choose "unhide all" which should also unhide your LODs (objects named LOD3, LOD4, LOD5). If they are indeed gigantic, you can go to the BAT menu to the right, find the "refit LODs" button, and it will automatically make new LODs. You can also choose to manually model new LODs, by modeling an object as usual, and then renaming it to LOD5 etc.

[Joe_Winko_From_YouTube 18]

19 hours ago, Jasoncw said:

@Joe_Winko_From_YouTube

When you do a render, it renders the area of the LOD. The LOD is the actual 3d object in the game, while the renders themselves are just 2d pre-rendered images of your BAT. So naturally, when you render your BAT it needs to render the entire area around the LOD. Even if it's empty space, it still needs to render that area.

I'm guessing what happened, is your LOD is much bigger than your building, so the dimensions of your renders are really big. The raw size might be crashing the render, or it might be beyond the maximum size for a BAT.

So my advice would be to right click one of the viewports and choose "unhide all" which should also unhide your LODs (objects named LOD3, LOD4, LOD5). If they are indeed gigantic, you can go to the BAT menu to the right, find the "refit LODs" button, and it will automatically make new LODs. You can also choose to manually model new LODs, by modeling an object as usual, and then renaming it to LOD5 etc.

 

thank you so much! ♥ 

[madhatter106 3,903]

I do find in gmax, however, that sometimes (depending on the size and height of a BAT), the window that opens while the rendering happens is strangely "off."  It might seem too tall or too narrow or too wide, or what have you.  I find that it's with BATs that are wider than one tile, and BATs which are more than three or four storeys high; not always, mind you, but just every once in a while, with seemingly no rhyme or reason.

It's not something that happens in the preview renders, but once you have pressed the "render" button, every now and then it will seem like it doesn't fit.  Since I know to check the LODs before I render, I know it's not that as an issue; and I must say that 99.99% of the time, the BAT is fine and needs to be rendered just that one time, and not on a second try.  But every so often, gmax gets a little confuzzled when it comes to the window size while it renders.

[RRetail 7,906]

Is it possible to convert a file made on Sketchup to gmax to add the final touches? I've played around with Sketchup and I understand it a whole lot better then gmax.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

@RRetail

It's possible but it requires more knowledge and experience, not less. Most people trying to use sketchup are like yourself and trying to avoid learning gmax. And then gmax still seems confusing and difficult because they haven't really gotten into it to discover that it's not, but then they're constantly running into all of these export and workflow difficulties which makes them think that BATing as a whole is really tedious and frustrating, and their BATs aren't turning out super great anyway, and so they quit.

The main problem is you'd be modeling everything blind, because you can't do preview renders in sketchup. SC4 is a low resolution game, and we're essentially using 3d programs to generate pixel art. How the lighting and shadows defines forms, the contrast between different colored materials, and the dimensions of objects plays a big role in how things look in the final render. Especially for small details, and especially for gmax (3ds max can render things more clearly so this is a little less of an issue there, but still an issue), you need to be able to do tweaking and work iteratively, which requires frequent preview renders.

Texturing is similar. If you texture it in sketchup, then you have to do constant exporting in order to tweak the textures after doing preview renders in gmax. If you texture in gmax, you can avoid that, but then you need to know gmax well enough to know how to properly prepare your model for texturing.

In general, to use sketchup effectively, you need to be able to work in sketchup in certain ways in anticipation of working with it in gmax, which requires knowledge of gmax, which defeats the purpose of using sketchup in the first place.

So my advice would be to either:

A. Forget about sketchup entirely. This is the simpler and easier option.

B. Learn how to use Gmax, and then at that point, reevaluate the abilities of each program and use sketchup when it is genuinely beneficial.

If you could get 3ds max, that would mostly nullify the issue because once you learn max, there's no advantage to using sketchup.

[fritzfarlig 31]

I think this questions have been go around many times

but I ask 

it is possible to export a autocad 3d file to the BAT tools ? 

and how 

[RRetail 7,906]

Thanks for the advice. I'm glad I didn't get to much into Sketchup as that would of been a lot of time wasted. I will say that it helped understand 3D modeling a lot better so at least it had that going for it.

Where can the version of 3DSMax needed be found? (so I can at least look into it) I believe I read it somewhere it can't be a certain version to make things for SimCity 4. 

[Jasoncw 11,840]

@fritzfarligAutocad can export as a variety of file types, and gmax and 3ds max can import a variety of file types. If the file types match up, then you can import. 3ds Max can open .dwg files natively (don't need to do any exporting). I'm not sure if gmax can import any of the file types that autocad can export as. Gmax can import .dxf files, which are an old type of autocad file, but I don't know if the .dxf format can handle 3D autocad drawings, or how well things convert.

Even if you can, my answer to the sketchup question above also applies to other programs. Using other programs to BAT causes workflow problems, and you have to look at each program to see if it's practical to use.

@RRetailYeah, imo knowing any kind of 3d modeling is a major help. I think a lot of the learning curve for 3d programs isn't the specific program, it's the learning curve for 3d modeling more generally.

The Getting Started Guide at the beginning of this thread explains the different versions. Only the handful of newest versions are available on the autodesk website, but other versions are "available" elsewhere online.

[RRetail 7,906]

I'm only finding options for the 2015 and 2017 programs but both require a 64-bit system, is there an option for 32-bit? Because that is what I have.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

The most recent version for 32 bit is 2013. The older versions are harder to find because most people would naturally want more recent ones, but if you dig deep enough eventually you'll find them.

[rsc204 21,808]

5 hours ago, RRetail said:

I'm only finding options for the 2015 and 2017 programs but both require a 64-bit system, is there an option for 32-bit? Because that is what I have.

In which case how old or maybe more precisely, what specification is your system? The CPU, RAM, Videocard and Windows version is probably sufficient to know. I ask because running 3DS Max is going to require a decent spec system, it's not a lightweight piece of software. That you are using a 32-bit O/S, suggests you don't have much RAM or would be better off installing a 64-bit O/S.

In terms of legitimately finding a copy of 3DS Max for 32-bit systems without paying for it, I'd say that's pretty much going to be impossible. Most people use a student licence to avoid the fee, which has switched from a one-off payment to a on-going perpetual licence. That fee is not cheap either, $1,470.00 from Autodesk directly for a 1yr licence. As part of this or the student licence, you can only have access to the latest versions of the software. So if your PC isn't up to running those versions, you are really stuck with using SC4BAT/gMax for modelling.

[RRetail 7,906]

@rsc204 I've pretty much come to that conclusion myself. 

[benvoliothefirst 36]

Jason, thanks so much for all this info. As someone who has started and stopped BATting on multiple occasions, I recognize all the time and effort that must've gone into this.

[RRetail 7,906]

So this might be a stupid question, but how does one take a screenshot of what has been done on gmax? 

[Jasoncw 11,840]

@benvoliothefirstThanks!! Luckily most of the information I either already knew or it was easily found, so it wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be to put together. Honestly next time I reinstall the programs I'll be using this guide as well, lol.

@RRetailUnfortunately gmax doesn't have a way of doing this. You need to press the Print Screen/PrntScrn key on your keyboard, and then paste the screenshot into an image editing program, and then crop the image down.

[Broonie 15]

Hi Simtropolis,

I've searched far and wide for some help regarding the nightlighting of 3ds models built in sketchup in GMAX. I've got sketchup nailed (which is the reason I'm not using 3DSMax) but the whole lighting and material selection thing is causing me issues once I get the model into GMAX. Ideally, I'm looking for an existing tutorial I've missed, or some tips and pointers on whether A) it's possible to nightlight non-gmax models and B) the best way to do it!

Thanks in advance

[Jasoncw 11,840]

11 hours ago, Broonie said:

Hi Simtropolis,

I've searched far and wide for some help regarding the nightlighting of 3ds models built in sketchup in GMAX. I've got sketchup nailed (which is the reason I'm not using 3DSMax) but the whole lighting and material selection thing is causing me issues once I get the model into GMAX. Ideally, I'm looking for an existing tutorial I've missed, or some tips and pointers on whether A) it's possible to nightlight non-gmax models and B) the best way to do it!

Thanks in advance

You need to model things in sketchup, and then import and export in such a way that the windows you want lit up are separate objects. Then in gmax, select the object(s) that you want lit up at night and add "nitelite" to the beginning of their object name. Then do a night preview render, and they should be lit up.

For material selection, you also need to make things in sketchup a certain way and export them a certain way. Depending on how you model and how you export/import, everything will be one object with one multi-sub object material with a bunch of materials inside of that. I don't have sketchup installed so I can't look at the settings, but they are there. (someone else might be able to give more specific advice)

[Broonie 15]

Thanks very much, I've never thought of exporting as separate objects, and think I understand the concept of this idea enough to get it working!