Quicker way of creating props

[Broonie 15]

I'm looking for a quick way of turning lots of .sc4models into props quickly. It's really painful having to drag and drop in both the Maxis PIM and PIM-X, and the option of changing the IDs and name in ilive's reader isn't too simple either.

Does anyone know of a way of applying the same prop settings to a whole batch of models?

If not, then the next best thing would be a way of getting the Maxis PIM defaulting to the settings I want (all zoom levels, light etc). I've played around with the defaults XML in the app folder, but there is still a lot of clicking. I'm finding even PIM-X is click-heavy, having to select just the plugin folder, then hide buildings, then scroll to prop, then drag, then hit ok, then close...

Please help me save my poor fingers and mouse button!

[rsc204 21,808]

The quickest method I know of is to make one Prop Exemplar and then use it as a template for all subsequent ones. You want to get all the properties that you will use for all models setup first, then make as many copies of that Exemplar as you need. Highlight all the copied Exemplars, Right Click and select Generate New Group & Instance, this gives each Prop a randomised unique ID. It's best to keep everything in a single DAT, because it makes working with multiple Props much, much quicker. But, your best friend is organisation, I recommend creating a Spreadsheet which will record all the Properties that need to be unique for each model, such as the ID (RKT Type 1) and Occupant Size. Of course, depending on your template, you may have other properties to list. I prefer to render everything first, then fill in the Spreadsheet, which can be a handy modding reference later. Then if you can work with Reader and a Spreadsheet side by side (dual monitors help), it should be pretty quick and error free to paste the unique values into all the Exemplars in one go.

When you export an SC4Model file, the default filename looks something like this:

TennisFencingBlack-0x5ad0e817_0xc120b85b_0x30000.SC4Model

That part in red is the TGI or ID of the model, meaning you can easily copy/paste the ID. However, the Type ID and Instance ID should always be the same, only the Group ID (Bold) is kept unique for each model. So if you just copy that, you only need to replace the corresponding part in your Template. Sadly no such luck for the occupant size, if you need them to be accurate, you'll have to check the XML file inside the SC4Model. But, it's often beneficial to use a small Occupant Size to prevent props from reserving space and preventing MMPs from being placed. So why bother, just set the template to something like 1,1,1 and it's not an issue. Note this isn't advisable for Buildings Exemplars, because the PIM calculates building properties based on the size of the model.

Obviously this method isn't the complete automation I suspect you'd prefer, but once you get familiar you can churn through them pretty quickly.

Note too, if you are getting unique Instance IDs for each model you export, you probably have not correctly installed the BAT Texture Fix (found here), which alters the ID schemes the applications uses.