hkabat-forum-threads A Guide to Japanese BAT Hunting

[pnorrell 4]

This thread has been moved from the BAT - Open Discussion to here, to help bring together these two things (The HKABAT Team and The Japanese BAT Threads) that are of a similar interest.

-Jasoncw - May 19^th, 2007

---

So here's my idea... In my line of work, the platitude - "give a man a fish and you can feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and he can feed himself for a lifetime" - is central. We regularly discuss concepts like "sustainability," "building local capacity" and "creating an enabling environment." It all means the same thing - helping people help themselves.

In that spirit, I thought I would put together a tutorial to help people navigate the Japanese universe of SimCity. It seems to me that the Massively Gigantic Japanese BAT Gallery has gotten out of hand. At 57 pages and counting, it's cumbersome and as difficult to navigate as the Japanese sites themselves. Also, while at times Japanese-speaking members like Armandeus and Eddiem have been able to perform a vital service by actually interacting with the Japanese SC4 community, at present we're back to where we started - non-Japanese speakers, foraging semi-blind through the Japanese cyber-wilderness.

The vast majority of posts in the MGJBG are from people asking, "where can I find ____?" The standard response used to be to read the thread before asking, but since this is no longer practical given the size of the thread, my intention is to create a clear and convenient guide that will allow people to search for whatever they want themselves.

So, with that long-winded introduction, it seems logical to start with a comprehensive list of links. Thanks to Armandeus, who compiled the original list, to Eddiem who has hosted these links on his own site, to Odainsaker who discovered the world of Japanese BATs and originally introduced us all to it and to everyone else who has contributed links and useful info along the way.

JAPANESE SC4 LINKS

The Essentials: The following are must-know links for Japanese BAT hunting. They include SimCityForce and Ragutaro's BBS, where most new works are posted and most old releases are archived.

• Google Language Tools
• Livedoor Online Translator
• Excite Online Translator
• WinRAR

• SimCity Force (new releases) 
• SimCity Force (archive)

• SimCity 4 Best

• Ragutaro's BBS (new releases)
• Ragutaro's BBS (archive)
• Japanese Board at SC4D
• SimCity Force "Embassy" at Motherland of Simtropolis

Creator-specific sites: The following are sites operated by and dedicated to the work of a single creator. Many of these creators may post pics or announcements regarding their work on the bulletin boards above, but you have to go to their personal sites to download.

• Ragutaro
• NOB
• NOB "G-Project"
• Raika 
• Raika (old)
• APTX 8590
• Somy
• MK
• Daiku
• Dareka
• BriPizza
• Syoryu's Mansion
• Kei's BATs
• Morikawa Railway (211 naoya)
• Tokitori
• MayorOverpop's Junkyard
• SUOH
• Beach Star
• Prime Mayor
• Sim-ism
• Tabinohito (Each Time One)
• White Arrow
• Mame (may have to paste into browser)
• Acchi
• Sim Commerce (Sim Kengo)
• ks BAT Showcase

• Sim4Rush

• Fifth Star
• BAT Okiba (depository)
• Caribou's Atelier

  Other sites: These are links to sites that are either inactive, unstable or of marginal importance. Still, you never know what you might find...

  • City X
  • Biper Homes
  • Uwason's Sim City Door
  • Dukaden
  • New City
  • Sim City Regions Board and SS Gallery (may have to paste into browser)

  So, there's the first step - the links. I'm sure it's not a complete list, so as more links are brought to my attention, I will add them to the list in this post.

  Suggestions are welcome on content and format. If people find this thread useful, maybe it can be pinned and I will include a table of contents in this post with links to later "chapters."

  I'm thinking the next step should be to do a summary/review/guide for each site, to showcase what's there and explain to people how to navigate them. Perhaps after that I can do a listing of sites and BATs by category - R, C, I, etc. - so that if someone is looking for... train stations, for example, a quick link in the first post can take the reader to a list of Japanese sites with train stations.

  Happy hunting everyone and let me know your feedback on this idea...

[vester_DK 477]

Great post, pnorrell.
I will put a link to this thread in my signatur file.
Maybe we should create a new Japanense Gallery.

[ancientsociety 26]

Great idea pnorrel!

[SamFlash 0]

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, and by the way, thank you!!!!  I had given up but now I have hope again.

[____----____ 37]

great idea as a collector of japanese and hard to find BATs you have put together a great

guide for people

 

alek

[pnorrell 4]

OK - there seems to be some interest, so I'll continue with the user's guide to some key Japanese sites.

I'll start with one of the largest and also most impenetrable for non-Japanese speakers - SimCityForce BBS

Because of its confusing lay-out and near total lack of any recognizable English clues, SimCityForce can seem vast. In fact, it's not that large and can be broken down into a New Releases BBSand a BAT and Lot Archive. The advantage of SimCityForce is that it includes works by a large number of different people, so it can be a sort of one-stop-shop.

Many of you may have struggled with SimCityForce in the past. It's no wonder - this is what the home page looks like:

Look at the links down the left side - what to click on? How much patience do you have? Also, SimCityForce is all the more problematic because its pages cannot be automatically translated by Google Language Tools.

Now, however, the links in the first post of this thread have been conveniently set to take you directly to the two important locations on SimCityForce - the new releases and the archive. In case you're ever wondering, these are the links to the new releases and the archive from the home page menu:

First, the new releases... You will note that the new releases are posted in an ongoing thread. At the time of this post, the new releases thread is 5 pages long, with page 5 containing the oldest new releases. You can cycle through the pages of the thread by using the arrow buttons shown in this pic...

Many of the items posted can be downloaded directly from SimCityForce. Here is an example of an item that can be downloaded directly.

You can see the name of the item and the name of the creator in the upper left corner. If it's not in English, you can paste these into Google Language Tools text translator to figure it out. Next, the date posted is in the upper right corner. Finally, the creator has attached three items to the post - two are pictures (.jpg) and the other is a .zip archive with the BAT in it. You can download simply by clicking on the zip file.

Unfortunately, not all of the DLs are that simple. Many Japanese BAT-ers point users to their own home page or their yahoo briefcase to download their creations. Here is an example...

As you can see, there's no zip file attached to the post. Many times, you will see a bit of blue-highlighted text in the description above the picture that's recognizable as a link in any language. If there's no link provided in the text description, look for the home button, in the upper right of the post. This will usually take you to the creator's own site or Yahoo briefcase, from where you can download.

Alright - now moving on to the SimCityForce Archive. Just like the new releases, I have created a separate link in the first post that takes you directly to the archive. Here is the archive index...

Unlike the new releases, the SimCityForce archive is organized into 9 thumbnail galleries, so you can easily scan the pics for something you like. The higher the number of the gallery, the newer the items in it. Frankly, most of the stuff here are lots made in LE, not BATs, but there are a lot of military and sci-fi downloads that people are often looking for. Here's what one of the thumbnail galleries looks like...

These are pretty straight forward - just click on the underlined title of the download and it takes you to a forum page where the item is posted, very much like in the new releases section. Also like the new releases, you may find that there is no zip file attached, so look for the home button or for another link in the text description. Be warned, as time has gone by, some of the creators' sites or yahoo briefcases have gone dead, so if you can't find any way to DL it, chances are

[dulcimer man 0]

This kind of thoroughness is much appreciated! Keep up the good work!

[____----____ 37]

As this thread is a great idea I just have to suggest a showcase kinda like the one above

but on NOBs site that place is a treasure chest of useful downloads.

[mntoes 270]

Thank you so much. Never could find my way around Simcityforce . Just the help I needed.

[dev 47]

Amazing guide! Thanks so much!

[pnorrell 4]

Date: 2/7/2006 10:05:41 AM
Author: aleking

As this thread is a great idea I just have to suggest a 'showcase' kinda like the one above

but on NOBs site that place is a treasure chest of useful downloads.

quote>

All in good time, aleking. I'd have to say NOB's is about my favorite/most visited Japanese site as well.

Eventually, I plan to do a showcase/guide for each one of the sites linked above. Luckily, not all of them are as complicated as SimCityForce!

Glad people are finding this useful...

[pnorrell 4]

Next, another Japanese archive site...

SimCity 4 Best

 

Also known as Nakano Green, this site is included in the essentials category mainly because it isn't other and it doesn't showcase a single creator's work (although the webmaster, Nakano, does have some of his work posted here). The selection isn't huge and nothing new seems to have been posted since 2004, but there are some gems and often asked about items there.

 

Here's a pic of the home page. As usual, a menu on the left that the automated translator can't decipher. You can, however, hover the cursor over each item and see the English equivalent for each category at the bottom of the screen (see red arrow).

 

 

 

Of particular interest may be the vintage ship BATs. All the download pages are as straightforward as it gets - pics, description and download. These pages can be translated by Google Language tools so you can understand the description. Here's the ship page...

 

 

Enjoy...

[pnorrell 4]

Alrighty then... Here's a guide to one of the most useful Japanese BAT sites out there...

Ragutaro

Ragutaro's site can be divided into three categories - New Releases, Archive and Ragutaro's own work...

New Releases

Ragutaro's BBS is always the first place I check for new releases. The new releases are organized in a separate forum. If you follow the link in the first post of this thread, it will take you right to it. The new releases forum generally contains a thread on each release and has a thumbnail pic at the left to give you a preview.

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//ragutaro%20new%20overview1.JPG align=baseline>

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//ragutaro%20new%20overview2.JPG align=baseline>

You will note that this is pretty easily navigable for English speakers. The thread with the most recent post is at the top of the forum, which may or may not be the thread with the newest BAT. Even so, this forum is pretty much all business - not a lot of extraneous chit-chat, so you can be fairly sure about what's new and what's not.

Please also note that, while most creators post new threads for each of their works, some have just one thread where their work is posted and updated. H2SO4, whose thread is the top one in the pic above, is an example. If you open his thread, you will see that the item pictured is from December 2005, while his newer works can be found by scrolling down.

As of the writing of this post, there are 5 pages of new releases - cycle through them using the numbers in the top right corner of the page.

Downloading is pretty simple - there are generally 3 possibilities...

Download directly

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//ragutaro%20new%20DL.JPG align=baseline>

Creator provides a link to DL

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//ragutaro%20h2so4%201.JPG align=baseline>

Creator refers people to his own site. Note that all of Ragutaro's site can be translated with Google Language Tools.

https://www.simtropolis.com/idealbb/files//ragutaro%20kei1.JPG align=baseline>

Unfortunately, in these cases, you simply have to know the creator/site. Most if not all have links to their sites in the first post of this thread.

Archive

The archive is 3 pages long and includes releases prior to July 2004. No thumbnail pictures but the page can (and should) be translated by Google Language Tools, to give you an idea of what's there. Cycling through the pages is done in the same way as for the new releases. Everything in the archive can be downloaded directly from the site.

Ragutaro's own

Ragutaro isn't just the webmaster, he is a BAT-er himself. His own works are displayed in a separate area, the link to which is first in the list of creator-specific sites in the first post of this thread. His BAT page starts with a list of the names of the BATs. It can be translated, but it's probably easier just to scroll down the page, where each item is shown with a pic and a download link...

In summary, Ragutaro's site is truly essential, as it contains (in my opinion) the highest-quality work from the best Japanese BAT-ers. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!  

[pnorrell 4]

So... I can only hope the 1,000+ views and complete disappearance of where can I find... questions in the Massively Gigantic Japanese BAT Gallery mean this thread is getting used.

The next Japanese site review/guide/showcase is a special one, as this creator happens to be my personal favorite...

NOB

Chances are, most of you have and use NOB's work. He's been fairly prolific over the years and has put out a variety of creative, useful and unique items. He is particularly known for his Hiroshima-related work , including the central train station, a collection of real and fictional civic buildings, the Hiroshima A-bomb Dome and numerous train and bus skins. Also popular are his transit-related BATs and mods , including alternative rail textures, ploppable NAM bridges, walls/seawalls and tram sets for both GLR and conventional rail networks.  Here are some of the highlights...

 

A superb showcase of NOB's work can be found in one of my favorite CJs - AK's Eye Candy Album, which features many of his BATs and mods.

NOB gets a lot of English-speaking traffic (at the time of this post he is celebrating 300,000 hits) and has translated much of the site into English. Here's a shot of the home page:

 

Pretty straightforward. The downloads section includes pages for train mods , bus mods , stations , landmarks , other and textures . Each item has a description in both Japanese and English. Note that many of NOB's works require his Ftexture .dat, which is periodically updated but doesn't have a version number. The file just grows as he updates it with additional textures, so the largest one is the one you need (and you only need one).

 

I have also underlined the notes section in the pic above, because here (using an online translator) you can often find useful info, including additional instructions or explanations about his work, updates on work in progress, special releases and the link to a separate page where his Gundam BATs may be downloaded.

 

Here you will also find an announcement dated 2/16/06, in which NOB explains he's got a case of RLS and expects to be out of action until about May. He says he intends to keep the site running, however - so check it out...

[USMC 0]

pnorrel needs a raise!!

Excellent idea and an even better implementation. Thank you for organizing this for us all.

[BubbaGump 0]

wow this thread is really informative! i think the screenshots really help! except...can we have some links? the screenshots tell me how everything looks like, but without the links, their completely useless to me.

[eedoon 0]

The link works before we had forum software upgrade. This also happen on image links and tags. Since the forum software is new, this is completely understandable. I hope dirk will address this soon.

[pnorrell 4]

Alright folks, bear with me. Yes, the links did not survive the upgrade to 5.0. I have gone back and fixed the first post so all the links should now be working. Unfortunately, as I went back to edit the post about SimCityForce, it seems to have wiped out that guide entirely. EDIT: Done... again.

Needless to say, I am not very enthusiastic about the upgrade. Thanks to whoever rated this thread so highly, btw. I'll try to keep it organized, clear and useful no matter what the forum software wants to do to it!

[BubbaGump 0]

Wow! thanks a lot!!111exclamation.

[eedoon 0]

So you managed to update the link. Excellent work!

Also, it would be great if you add information which site needs registration and which one doesn't.

[pnorrell 4]

Interesting question, eedoon. As far as I'm aware, none of the Japanese sites require registration to download. You only need to register if you want to post on the forums.

Next is Raika.

I've hesitated doing this one because it's a little buggy and difficult to follow. For one thing, you need Internet Explorer to view it properly. Also, Raika hasn't been active in over a year, so the site shows some signs of neglect.

That said, Raika is the author of some of the best-known Japanese BATs, like these:

Here's a shot of the home page...

Note the language option at the top left. Most of the key information is available in English. The center scrolling panel includes pics, downloads and details for each category and loads as "NGT-Pure Top" by default. This includes the latest updates to Raika's work, which seems to have trailed off in early 2005.

You will also note that a number of the Japanese residential and commercial buildings shown there are part of a tileset replacement mod, that I will cover in greater detail when I get to Kei's site.

To download, simply click on the name of the item...

Raika also has an old site. Not sure why there was a change-over. The old site is still up, although the pictures have been removed, leaving only download links.

There is some overlap between the old and the new site, but you can tell by the names of the files in the left side-bar which ones are duplicated and which are only on the old site.

So - that's Raika... Enjoy!

BTW - If anyone has any questions about how to use a given site, please feel free to post your question here...

[BubbaGump 0]

AHH! In Sim City 4 Best, how do you download the SimTanic and the other ships? It says it's an LZH and I have no idea what that is!

[eedoon 0]

It's a compressed file format like ZIP files. I think WinRAR can open it.

[SHADD0W09 2]

The LZH is an Ultimate Zip file WinRAR zip has problems with lzh files when opening some LZH files

[pnorrell 4]

Hi BubbaGump - Yes, WinRAR opens .lzh files. Link to download WinRAR is in the first post of this thread, above Google Language Tools.

[BubbaGump 0]

I downloaded WinRAR yesterday, but it totally messess up the way I download. *sigh* Is there any other way I can get the SimTanic in .zip format?

[scififan68 23]

You could try Filzip. Which would extract .lzh files. Filzip website:  Http://www.filzip.com/en/index.html 

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Originally posted by: BubbaGump I downloaded WinRAR yesterday, but it totally messess up the way I download. quote>

How does a ZIP application interfere with internet downloads? Does it add a browser plugin or what does it do? Are you sure you haven't just set some preferences the wrong way? What happens when you download a file, and how do you download? If you can tell the exact download link you are following and what exactly you are doing with which browser, and what exactly happens then, and why it is that you don't like what happens, it will be easy to help you. If you just say "It doesn't work", nobody will be able to help you.

I'm just wondering because I've been using WinRAR for a long time, and it has never done anything it wasn't supposed to do.

[2ch.net simplayer 180]

Can anybody do "A Guide to German BAT hunting?"
I know that there are lots of good ones out there! Yeah SFBT ones are cool, but I occasionally find some more...

[vester_DK 477]

Well I have found two major sites from germany:

SimsZone.de were you find the SFBT. (They have there forum at: SimCity - SimForum.de)

Then there are InSims.de (This is were the ISAT team are from.)

The first has the newest downloads.