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GARDENER CENTER GLASS This entry explains the reflective metal coated glass material I created for Gardener Center. This tutorial touches on some aspects of 3ds Max which might not be common knowledge in the BATing community, and explaining everything from the ground up would need a really long blog entry. So instead of thinking of this as a tutorial, think of it as a springboard for your own investigations. The "Help" feature in 3ds Max explains everything you see in the program, and there's google for what Help doesn't cover. Also, I can't guarantee that everything in this tutorial is theoretically correct, but it got me the results that I wanted. When I made the material I wasn't thinking about making it perfect for a tutorial later on. Anyway, enough disclaimer! (Note from 2017: I emphasize this disclaimer even more-so today) Onto the material! Above is the material in its entirety. It's based on the following three points about glass and that's how I'll organize the tutorial. (Note from 2017: Instead of using an RGB Multiply map, use a Composite map instead. It basically duplicate the layer system (layers, opacitys, blending modes, alpha masks) of Photoshop) Glass is reflective. Glass isn't a perfectly flat surface--it has imperfections, and these imperfections create distortions in the reflections. In order to tell that the glass is reflective, there needs to be something for it to reflect. Glass is reflective The reflectivity of the glass is the simplest part, it's created by changing some of the basic settings of the Arch & Design material. Reflectivity is .75. It could have been 1, but I preferred the result with slightly weaker reflections. Glossiness is 1, because we want perfect mirror reflections and not blurry reflections. The Index of Refractions (IOR) is 35. The metallic coating on the glass is responsible for character of the reflections, not the glass itself, which would have an IOR of 1.5. In the BRDF rollout you can see a chart showing reflectivity vs. angle. If you select By IOR the graph's curve will be determined by the IOR rather than the manual settings to the left of the graph. As you can see from the graph, this material is very reflective from all angles, except when you look perpendicularly at the glass the reflection isn't as strong. I haven't visited any of this kind of glass in real life to know if that is correct or not, but I do know that this it's very reflective from most angles and that metals have high IORs, so I was satisfied with an IOR of 35. Glass isn't a perfectly flat surface Each pane of glass typically has some bulge to it, plus some general waviness. The imperfections of the glass could be modeled, but that would be tedious. Instead, a bump map is used. The bulge and the general waviness will be done separately, but will be combined using a RGB Multiply map, which will multiply two other maps together, like setting a layer to the "Multiply" blending mode would in Photoshop. (Note from 2017: The Composite map is much better than the RGB Multiply map) In each of the slots in the RGB Multiply map, there's a Multi/Sub-Map, which is an easy way of having a variety of maps in one material. To simulate the bulges, there are 4 bitmaps which were made in Photoshop. This Multi/Sub-Map has been set to assign each map based on the Material ID of what the material is applied to, so geometry with a material ID of 1 will get the first map in that list. 4 will get the fourth map in the list. To simulate the general waviness, some simple noise maps are used. But since each individual window is a separate pane of glass, we don't want the waviness from one pane to cross into the next pane. So there are two different noises, so that adjacent panes will frequently have different noises and thus a different waviness. Here, something with a material ID of 1 will get the first map in the list. There is no fourth map in the list for something with a material ID of 4. But the "Repeat" checkbox has been checked, meaning that the first two noise maps are hypothetically repeated down the entire list. So geometry with a material ID of 4 will get the second noise map. Something with a material ID of 5 will get the first noise map. This way, your material IDs and the number of maps don't need to be exactly the same. Above is a portion of the building's glass (it's all one object for convenience), with everything else hidden. One of the polygons is selected, and you can see to the right that this polygon has a material ID of 3. It will get GlassBump-02.psd, and the first noise map. Luckily we don't have to manually change the material ID of each pane of glass on this building. If you search google for "random material ID script" you can find a lot of scripts that will do it for you automatically. The bulge bitmaps need to be fitted to the individual panes of glass. To do this, apply a UVW Map to the glass object, and choose "Face" as the mapping type. This will automatically fit the bitmaps to each individual polygon in the object. Since each bitmap represents one pane of glass, and each polygon represents one pane of glass, the UVW map will fit the bitmaps perfectly. Below is a render showing the bump map. There needs to be something for the glass to reflect The ground plane is the hardest part, since it needs to be generic enough to fit into the game without drawing too much attention, while still looking specific enough that it looks like something when it's being reflected in the glass. The design of the building is an important consideration too, since the character of the glass is best conveyed when you have an actual environment to reflect. The broad sides of the Gardener Center have a plaza and a roof to showcase the reflected environment and draw the eye away from the less flattering areas of glass. Below is a render with the ground plane visible. To make objects in your scene invisible to the camera, right click on them, go to properties, and uncheck "Visible to Camera". (Note from 2017: It's very important that the ground plane is as neutral as possible. Several screenshots from the game jumbled together in Photoshop do the best job (it might look like SC4 patterned confetti). DO NOT try to modify the color of the glass by changing the color of the ground plane. If you want to modify the color of the glass, change the Reflection Color. Doing this will tint the reflections. If I had known about these two points while making Gardener Center it would have turned out much better. Also, do not blur the ground plane. The reflections on the glass should be sharp lines that are curved by the glass bulges. If the reflections are too specific looking, try jumbling the images in the ground plane more.) ORIGINALLY POSTED OCTOBER 9, 2010

I have heard you loud and clear about the visual presentation of the STEX and I am in total agreement with you. What we're using is basically a "default" template that was part of the new platform. We are still working on the "final" STEX template which will bring it closer in line with how the previous STEX's have been, ie. larger images, detailed listings, etc... -- so please don't panic! I understand your alarm, but we wouldn't totally regress away from how the STEX was presented since ST4, 5 and 6. So, having said that, I want this discussion to focus more on how we can improve the actual STEX listings themselves. A suggestion was made to add some fields such as how buildings or lots affect certain stats in the game, e.g. pollution, jobs, money generation, etc... It's a good suggestion in that it make each item uploaded to the STEX have more detail, and it becomes easier to search for the kind of files you want. We would make these fields optional for the uploader, as not every file would be applicable. What kind of additional fields do you suggest? Another suggestion was to add a field to list Dependencies packs. We could do this as a BB code, too... for example "[stex id=138] Get this file [/stex]" which will generate a link to the stex file automatically. Or we could have a field where the uploader just puts the ID of the file in question. Both would and could work. Let me know your thoughts on how we can improve the way the STEX stores information. Some of the features of the new STEX you may not be aware of: 1. Enhanced versioning system. Authors can now upload a new version, list the details or changes in that version, and the STEX will store a version history for the file (right now it stores only the latest 10 versions) so you could post a new version and call it version 1.02 and people can still download 1.01 or 1.00 if they wish. Or the uploader can simply replace (edit) the current version to make sure the latest is always downloaded and used. 2. STEX "Like" system. When you "Like" a STEX item (or a city journal for that matter) you have the option to be notified when that item is updated, or if new comments are added, etc. 3. Larger images in STEX. I know the thumbnails are small right now, but improved over ST6, authors can now include larger images. When a thumbnail is clicked, the larger image is shown in an overlay. I think this is a pretty good enhancement.

WOW! Simtropolis has changed! I disappear for about 1yr and this site has completely changed! I cant even adjust my signature until I get 25 votes I am using a completely different system from what my sig was before...not just a different OS, but different hardware all together. Good to be back though. Ready to play SimCity 4 once again!

So, after lots of natural updates, let's continue to the major cities on the East. First one, located more to the north is the city of Presov. It is third largest city in the Slovakia, and it is also located very close to the second largest city, Kosice. Full update will be soon, now I am showing you only the Teaser. Enjoy! If you enjoyed this update, don't be afraid of commenting or +1 . There will be posting awards at the end.

For those of you who want to add extra value to your textures by making them line up with parts of your model, you can make what is called (or, at least, what I call) a 1:1 texture. Meaning, you don't have a bitmap that tiles over and over or one that you need to stretch with a UVW map top get to the right size, but rather one that is designed for one specific place on a model and fits without tiling. NOTE: To do this properly, you will need an image editor that uses layers. In this tutorial I use Photoshop, but GIMP and other like it are acceptable alternatives. ~~~~~ Lets say you have a little building with some extraordinary roof junk and a nice, but simple roof texture. I call it "The No-Door Bar, Grille, and Dental Supply Emporium LLC." Lets say this is the bitmap you want to use for your roof. Its nice, but nothing special: You put this in your BAT thread and some annoying HoTsim jerk keeps pestering you about better roof textures. You want to get back at this whiny shmuck and make a really nice roof material. So what do you do? First things first. Take a nice big screenshot of the top (orthogonal) view of your model. I'd also turn off the "Show Standard map in viewport" option off or simply use the wire frame for this. Yep, that's The No-Door Bar, Grille, and Dental Supply Emporium LLC in all it's glory. You have a screenshot and thats all well and good, but what now? Post that baby into your roof texture bitmap (you may want to lower the opacity so you can see the texture under it) Then scale it up to fit the size of the bitmap. NOTE: it is very important to hold SHIFT to constrain proportions while you scale. If you don't, then nothing will line up properly. Also, make sure no areas are cut off by the edge of the canvass after you have finish scaling. After that's all said and done, crop the whole thing to the very edges of what is the roof in your model (that is, crop out the walls). You can ignore cut-outs in your model, but they can be handy for identifying the orientation of your model on the texture. At this point you may want to save a version of this texture to check the placement. Back in your model, add a UVWmap to the roof object, but do not change the dimensions. The values generated should be the exact size of the object. If you had a 5x5x5m box and added a UVWmap, the UVW map should start out as 5x5m (5x5x5m when you select "box" within the modifier). You may have to rotate or re-orient the bitmap using the gizmo on the UVWmap, but the size and X,Y,Z location should be correct. I hid the roof junk so I could see how well things lined up. If you look close you can see the faint green lines that were present on the bitmap as well. You are one step closer to showing that BAT troll whats what, congratulations! Now comes the fun. From here, you will want to add a new layer OVER both the base/source bitmap and the screenshot you added, and only paint on that layer (see HERE to look at what order you should have). Using your screenshot as a guide, start painting along edges, around junk, and anything else you want with a good brush with low opacity and flow (so you don't go overboard). Add stains, rust marks, replaced roofing sections, or whatever else you want. You should end up with something like this: Obviously you want to turn off your guide before you save this and apply it to your model. The final bitmap you will use will be like this: Unhide your roof junk and see how it looks! Oh No-Door Bar, Grille, and Dental Supply Emporium LLC., you have never looked better! That will show that 'em! ~~~~~ Obviously my result isn't perfect and, like your attempts, should be refined further. You should, however, get the right idea and be able to try this on your own. You should try several things when trying to achieve effects on the material before calling it a day. Try different layer styles like overlay or try using multiple layers. You never know how something is going to turn out until you hit the preview button. I threw this together in a rush before work, but I hope it is helpful enough to do some good. Cheers!

Man, I put out the extracheats DLL file and I only have a 10 reputation... Sad.. Anyway, I like your ideas moose. The main reason I designed the resource system as moddable is because there is no way I could think of all the ideas (palentology!! love it) the community could come up with. The water system is very tentative at this point, but right now I have it include multiple water levels. There would be a system to define areas of ocean, lake, and river. No underground water resource layer would be visible, but you could have it, easily for like a desert region or something. Resources are depleatable and reloadable. So something like coal would be used up eventually while something like a aquifer would slowly refresh itself. This leads to the player needing to diversify their cities if they want them to survive. My SimCity design very much runs on jobs. Job's would be driven by major industry lots, which I dub "Keystone Lots" which can take the form of "Coal Mine" to "Water Park" (tourism) to "Region Capitol Building". Remember, I reserve the name of Keystone Lot. It's Mine I say!

Welcome back, everyone. Thanks for being really patient and supportive the last few days, it really helped! While it wasn't an overly difficult transition things did go pretty smoothly though I did underestimate how long the actual final data conversion would take, our early tests were a bit quicker, however, I didn't consider the added time that would be necessary to do the whole set of data including polls and attachments as well as the 300k of archived posts and threads that were overlooked. At any rate, we're mostly back. Check out the new features. There's plenty of things that are different than ST6, but hopefully that will be a good thing. The smell of new paint will be in the air for a while as we add finishings and polish and tie up loose ends. I would like to apologize in advance to those who may not be pleased with the new changes; I'm sorry, I hope you get used to it, we're always refining as we go, so I hope you give it a chance. You will also notice some glaring omissions right away. For one, we have no homepage yet! That will likely be up this weekend. Your medals, custom labels and other goodies that you've earned will also return in the next days including your points - which will be a little bit different this time around. There's lots more yet to come! Here are some fun facts that we stumbled upon. Around two million posts, topics, messages, replies, comments, entries. 19,399,190 million STEX downloads since 2008 (that's how far the logs went back anyway). Who got the last word? Blue Lightning, managed to get in the very last post of ST6. His post, consisted simply of "Good bye." was the last thing saved to the ST6 database with a timestamp of 11:59:39 PM EST. See you around the community! -Dirk

Thanks everyone!!! Vlasky & T Wrecks: I hope you were both able to get some medical attention and have recovered from your shock. Seraf: Were you referring to THIS building?! I have another preview of Carew Tower for you all! And for the first time, the tower AND the "badonkadonk" are united! Now, please keep in mind that this has a LONG way to go. I still have some modeling to do on the badonkadonk, and I haven't even started the base yet. There is also a lot of texture work to go... but it's on its way! Hope everyone is doing well. Maybe, just maybe, Santa will bring a big treat this Christmas?!

For the Eager, Yet Overwhelmed Newcomer New to SimCity, Simtropolis, or been out of touch for a few years? Wondering what the heck a NAM or a BAT is? And just what the heck is up with those brown boxes?! This article will take you through the basics of registering your game, whether from a hard copy of the disc or from Steam, the essentials of Simtropolis, and a jumpstart into the world of Custom Content, to bring your game to a level beyond what you could imagine is possible. I would like to thank A Nonny Moose for his contributions and influences on the creation of this article. Rush Hours, Deluxe Editions, SimCity Boxes, Oh my! Before starting on registration information, we should make a clarification on just what the differences in these versions are. The short answer is nothing. When Maxis released Rush Hour, the expansion pack to the original SimCity 4 game, they released two versions: one simply the expansion (SimCity 4: Rush Hour); the other, a version that included both the original game and the expansion pack (SimCity 4: Deluxe Edition). It makes absolutely no difference to the game whether you own the Deluxe Edition, or Rush Hour. Now, just what is the SimCity Box? After the release of SimCity Societies in 2008, EA released this version which contains SimCity 4, SimCity 4: Rush Hour, SimCity Societies, SimCity Societies: Destinations, and The Sims Carnival: SnapCity. The story here is the same with Rush Hour and the Deluxe Edition: it makes absolutely no difference. In the event that you happen to be a long time player who does not own Rush Hour or the Deluxe Edition, it should be noted that the expansion pack is required to make use of 99% of the custom content available on this site. I will explain that further later on. Registering and Updating the Game Before playing, you need to pick up the two (2) necessary EA-released patches to your game for it to work correctly. In recent months, it has been noted that the official EA SimCity 4 Deluxe site has been taken down. So as not to leave these players hanging, some mirrors have been set up containing the assorted official updates. Important note: If you purchased your game from an authorized download source, you may not need any further updates. Check the properties of the game's .exe file. If it indicates you have version 1.1.641.0 or if you already have version 1.1.640.0, you will not need further updates. For the standard, PC version updates, check out here: SC4Devotion Own the Mac edition and can't open .exe's? Check out this thread: Bought your copy off Steam? Steam comes pre-patched! Yay! You should apply the two updates to the game in this order: EP1 to fix bugs, and the BATupdate to allow nightlights. When you are finished, you should check to see that the version number of the .exe file for the game in Program files/Maxis/Apps has been updated to 1,1,640,0. This is proof that your updates worked. Optional Upgrades and Tools You may notice on the mirror sites, a number of other downloads available. Among these are new landmarks, new rewards, the Lot Editor, and Building Architect Tool (BAT). These are all optional, and are not necessary for the games function or the addition of but do add content, and functionality. So, just what do these BAT and Lot Editor things do? The Lot Editor allows you to construct new lots, using the buildings, textures, and assorted prop pieces included within the game. The Building Architect Tool (BAT) allows you to construct new 3D models, and is what is used to create new buildings, trees, seawalls, spaceships, and everything inbetween. Using the Lot Editor and the BAT in tandem, the world is yours to create. It should be noted that both these tools have a sizeable learning curve. We do have a number of tutorials here to get you started, the most notable of these being the BAT Essentials Tutorial in the Omnibus. Unleashing the Game At this point, your game is ready to go! The appropriate patches are in place, and the game is as optimized as Maxis and EA could make it. So where to now? Many players are happy to play the game without any custom content, relying simply on what Maxis has provided. It is indeed very possible to create beautiful cities using only what content Maxis provided. But, many would also point out that the game can be so much more. In the 8 years since the release of the game, the amount of custom content available brings the game to an entirely new level. Players can recreate their hometowns with stunning accuracy, watching roads twist and curve, with even the correct corner market in place. Players can build in the desert, in futuristic settings, or on Mars. The custom content community has taken a finite game and given it infinite possibilities. And the question I'm sure you're asking by this point is, where do I begin? There are a number of exchanges available for you to browse. Here on Simtropolis, the STEX is perhaps the largest, and one of the oldest exchanges devoted to SimCity 4. The other primary English exchanges are SC4Devotion LEX and the PLEX (now on the STEX). You could say that SC4Devotiion is the high-tech site, and that Pegasus is the theme site, and you wouldn't be far wrong. Most community exchanges both require free registration in order to download, as Simtropolis does. The SimCity community expands far beyond English speakers, however - other communities include German and Japanese sites. Growable? Ploppable? What? As you browse the exchanges, you'll notice these phrases on assorted files throughout. The answer to this could not be simpler. A growable lot means that it will grow on its own with the appropriate zoning, as if it were any building created by Maxis. Ploppable lots allow you to plop the building as if it were a landmark. Some ploppables retain their commercial/industrial nature and provide jobs as though they were grown. It should be noted that at early points in the exchange, you may run across residential ploppables. These do not work, and will abandon some time after plopping. So, I've Downloaded Some Stuff. Now what? Installation of downloads really is simple. This article by our fearless Dirktator outlines the process of installation. Some downloads now come with .exe installers, which simplifies the process even more - the installer does all the work for you. The next question you may have is where the heck do I find my ploppable items in the game? Some items will be pretty intuitive as to where they are located - Educational facilities are located in the Schools menu, policing facilities in the Police menu, etc. But what about that great skyscraper advertised as a ploppable? Those will generally be located in the Landmarks menu. Nearly everything else (parks, churches, etc.) will be located in either Parks or Rewards. And if you just can't find it anywhere, consult the ReadMe that should have been included with the download. It should state where it is located in the menu system in game. Brown Boxes, Everywhere! Uh oh! This may look tragic, but it doesn't mean your game is wrecked. You just missed downloading some dependencies. Wait, what? Dependewho? Dependencies are separate files that a lot uses to complete itself. If Download A cannot find the appropriate dependency, it reverts to the lovely boxes you can see in the picture above. It may not look like it, but each lot is actually filled with bits and pieces of other files to make the bigger picture. The trees, the benches, the garbage cans, the swimming pools you see on assorted lots are all individual pieces, that come together to create a house, a park, or a shopping complex. All downloads on the SimTropolis EXchange are required to list all dependencies needed to work properly. If you've looked everywhere and just can't find that dependency, or if the dependency package is locked, please make a post here, and one of our friendly members will help you out. You may have further questions in regards to dependencies. As with installation, I would like to refer you to another article that goes into much further detail. The Dependency Debate by north_country_dude goes into great detail about the pros and cons of dependencies, and answers a few of the common questions you may have about them. So what should I download? Building tastes vary from person to person. Personally, I prefer the drab, 1970's concrete buildings, while many prefer the sleek, glass modern skyscrapers. Because of this, I'm not going to recommend any particular buildings - but I can recommend some mods that are considered the best and the greatest. Network Addon Mod, or the NAM. This mod was first conceived with the discovery of an unfinished road network Maxis left in the game. The talented modding community has taken this and turned it into entirely new road networks, gave us roundabouts, and allows us to create true metropolitan cities with roads to match. This can be found here on the STEX, or at SC4Devotion. If you're interested, here is the "official" NAM FAQ Thread with links to the different parts used with NAM & answers to common queries. If any issues come up while using NAM, there's also a support thread here. Various NAM Team members including Tarkus frequent the thread and gladly help out. A terrain and water mod. When you first launch the game, the grass and water seems realistic enough. A bit off perhaps, but hey nothing can be perfect. Not true - modders have been able to create new textures for the terrain and the water, which makes the Maxis textures look like off-coloured drawings. Cycledogg has made a number of varying terrain mods, and there are assorted water textures on the STEX, each varying for the kind of water your city needs. SimMars. Certainly this mod is not for everyone, but this article would be deficient if it weren't mentioned. SimMars transforms SimCity to Mars, complete with textures, buildings, road networks and music to match. The work done on this is exceptional, and it sits with the NAM as the greatest projects to improve the game that SimCity has seen. Everything else listed here. Livin in Sim has created this top ten list of great mod's that should be essential. A few other members have listed their contributions as well, and I would highly recommend them all! From there you could look through the CJ section to get ideas or run through the STEX and other exchanges to see if anything "jumps" out at you. As I mentioned before, if you can't seem to find something, make a post here and someone is bound to help you out. How do I win? SimCity is different from most games, as there is no set end point. Your success is based on goals you set. For many, a balanced budget and proper governance of a successful city without "godly" intervention (ie. cheats) makes a successful game. For many, the accurate recreation of a real life city is the goal, generally with the assistance of assorted budget cheats. For others still, it's simply to create the best city they can. Set your own goals and adjust as you achieve them. For all flavours of player, however, we do have an assortment of tutorials here on Simtropolis to help you on the Omnibus. The sections that will interest you most are SimCity 4 Reference and SimCity 4 Tutorials. Check back from time to time, as we do continue to add articles! Hopefully, this article has helped you get started. If you have any further questions that this article didn't answer, the folk in the forums and the chatroom are always eager to help, and any member of the Simtropolis Help Squad would be more than happy to give you some tips to the right direction.

Mack The Finger: Thanks for posting that! It looks great! So, I really shouldn't tease you all like this... but I'm going to anyway! (Aaand... I'm pretty sure I just gave Vlasky a heart attack.)

Well finanly I can post the completed render for the WTC complex as seen below. Let me know your thoughts. Oh and heres a close up render of the memorial pool and museum.

Boggy1's Quick Guide to All Things Custom Content! This is a very simple quickstart guide to custom content downloading. Don't think of it as an ultimate resource; just as something that can answer your basic questions. Make sure to read the whole thing to get the most out of it! Brown Boxes? Nightlights? Dependencies? BATs? Read below to find out how to solve some of the most common problems and question for the game! Before we start; here is a checklist to follow to make custom content work. 1) Make sureyou have Sim City 4 Rush Hour or Sim City 4 Deluxe installed. This is IMPORTANT. For 99% of any downloads to work, you need one of these installed. They will not work on only the original Sim City 4 game. 2) Make sure you have downloaded the EP1 Update (the correct one for your region) and the SC4UpdateBAT, and installed them. Scroll down to the section 'Nightlights and Updates' for links. Note: If you use the Steam version of the game, you will not need the updates. They are already included. 3) Make sure you have downloaded the bldgprop_vol1.dat and bldgprop_vol2.dat files, and that they are placed into "My Documents/Sim City 4/Plugins". Scroll down to the section 'Brown Boxes and Dependencies' for links. 4) Make sure to turn off the game before downloading. When applying new content to the game, it has to be turned off; otherwise things may get corrupted or not work. 5) Make sure your pop-up blocker is disabled or has www.simtropolis.com whitelisted. This is so that when you click the link to download a file it wont be blocked. 6) Make sure to read the online description of the file and the comments so that you know exactly what you are downloading. Both the online description and the comments can give vital information; including stats, dependencies, or problems with the file. 7) Make sure to extract your downloads to the folder My Documents/Sim City 4/Plugins or any folder within that one. DO NOT extract to any other folder, unless it specifically tells you too! Make sure to read the README (if any) and download the dependencies (if any) listed there, and in the online description. Probably one of the most important parts. The README will give you important information, and you need the dependencies for the file to work. Scroll down for some more info. Table of Contents How To Install Buildings How To Install Maps Organization Nightlights and Updates Brown Boxes and Depedencies Terminology and Abbveations Creating Your Own Custom Content Questions Still Not Answered? How To Install Buildings To install custom downloads, except maps, from the Simtropolis Exchange, follow the below instructions. Firstly, you simply download what you want by clicking on the download button. You will most likely be presented with a pop-up, which asks you if you want to save the file, or open/run it. Select save, but remember the directory where you saved it to. Wait for it to download; remember, it may take several minutes to download depending on your connection and the size of the file. Once it has downloaded, browse to where ever you saved the file. I recommend creating a folder in your My Documents, specifically for downloads from simtropolis.com, so that they are all in one place. You will most likely be presented with a .zip file, which looks like a folder with a zipper running across it. We need to extract the file, which is commonly called unzipping or extracting it. To unzip the contents of this file, right click it, select "Extract All", and then unzip the files to the directory: "My Documents/SimCity4/Plugins". If what you downloaded isn't a .zip file, then it could be one of two things: An installer. This is a .exe, which you install by simply double clicking on it and following the instructions. These are more likely for modds and dependency packs. A .rar file. This is another type of compression method, like a .zip file. To extract these, I recommend downloading the free utility 7zip, which can be found here: http://www.7-zip.org/ Remember, that you should always read the README file, and the Online Description on simtropolis.com to check for information and dependancies. Dependancies are extra little downloads, like textures or props, that are required to make the file work properly, that don't come with the main file. They are linked to in the README or Online Description. Make sure you have Sim City 4 Rush Hour or Sim City 4 Deluxe, and make sure you restart the game once you have installed everything; or the file will not work. Where will your new download be located once it has been installed? That entirely depends upon the file itself. If its a police station, it will probably be in the police menu. A new water pump? The water menu. However; the two most common places where generic files will end up is in the Parks or Landmarks menus. How To Install Maps Downloading and installing maps from the Simtropolis Exchange is quite a bit different to downloading and installing a building. Follow this tutorial: http://www.simtropol...ost__p__1135725 Downloading maps can be relatively difficult and time consuming, depending on your technical skills and computer specifications. Make sure to follow the tutorial very closely. Organization It's generally best to organize your Plugins folder so that you can find each thing you download easily, such as sorting files in a directory like this: "My Documents/Sim City 4/Plugins/Name Of Author/Name Of Building/[FILES]". This is so that if anything you download doesn't work or causes a problem, you can simply delete the folder without searching for hours for the correct files. Putting downloades into sub-folders within your Plugins folder will not effect their appearance in the game. Nightlights and Updates Remember: If you use he Steam version, you will not need any of the update patches explained here. Often, you might find that the nightlights on the buildings you downloaded do not show up when you switch to Night Mode in the game. To solve this issue, you need to download the two game updates, so follow the instructions below. If you haven't already, you need to download the EP1 Update for the game. Go here: http://sc4devotion.c...dex.php?page=16 For whatever region you live in, download the specific SKU file. For instance, if you live in North America, only download the file marked "sku 1". Then, you need to download the SC4Update4BAT, which is here: http://www.sc4devoti...4Update4BAT.zip Install the EP1 Update first by double clicking it and following the instructions. Then do the same for the SC4UpdateBAT file. A box will pop-up with "This program will apply changes needed to support the Building Architect Tool. Before you install this update (build 640) please make sure that you have applied SimCity 4 EP1 Update 1 successfully.". You can safely ignore it; just press OK. Then you're done! Remember you need Sim City 4 Rush Hour or Sim City 4 Deluxe for these updates and most downloads to work. To check whether the patches have been correctly applied invloves checking the Properties of the game's executable file usually located in the C:\Program Files\Maxis\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Apps folder of your computer. This file is named SimCity 4 and should be approximately 8MB in size. If the file Version is 1.1.638.0, then the EP1 patch only has been applied. If the version is 1.1.640.0, then both the EP1 and SC4Update4BAT patches have been applied and the game is fully updated. Note: For the Steam version of the game, the version should read 1.1.641.0. Brown Boxes and Dependencies If brown boxes marked with "simcity.com" appear in your city in place of your download, then you know you are missing certain dependencies. Dependancies are extra little downloads, like textures or props, that are required to make the file work properly, that don't come with the main file. Make sure to always download them, or the custom content you downloaded may not work. Dependencies are usually linked to in the README or Online Description of the thing you downloaded. Install them as you would anything else, by unzipping to My Documents/Sim City 4/Plugins. You will also need to download the Official Maxis Props, bldgprop_vol1.dat and bldgprop_vol2.dat. These can be found here: CityBuilders (registration required) or Screwpile Developments. Look for the two bldgprop files. Save them both to "My Documents/Sim City 4/Plugins" Remember you need Sim City 4 Rush Hour or Sim City 4 Deluxe for most of the downloads to work. Terminology and Abbreviations If you successfully downloaded buildings, but they do not show up in any of the menus, then check to see if the building you downloaded is a GROW or PLOP. A GROW building will grow on it's own; it will not appear in any menus. You need to place down residential/commercial/industrial zoning, and then it will grow itself. A PLOP building is the opposite. It will appear in the menus, and you can plop it down anywhere you like, without waiting for it to grow in a zone. You may also encounter these: A PROP file is just a tiny little element, like a flagpole or pedestrian, which goes onto the lot of a custom building. You only really need to download these if they are linked as a dependency, or if you are a custom content creator. A TEXTURE is a pattern or image, like brick or glass, that is used in custom content creation You only really need to download these if they are linked as a dependency, or if you are a custom content creator. A MESH or a MODEL file is the barebones of a custom creation; before it has been properly imported into the game. You generally don't need to download these unless you are a custom content creator. These are the types of file names you'll probably see when you download custom content. A .zip is a compressed folder, containing your download. You'll need to extract (unzip) it to gain access to the files inside. A .rar is another type of compressed folder. See above. A .exe is a self-installing executable file, containing your download. Double click it to let it install the files by itself. A .txt is a text document, which contains the README or other information. Recommend to keep; but you can delete it safely. A .rtf is another type of text document. See above. A .html is a downloaded webpage, which contains the README or other information. Recommend to keep; but you can delete it safely. A .jpg file is a picture file. Creators generally put it in to show you what you are downloading. You can delete it safely. A .png is another type of picture file. See above. A .dat file is part of the download data. Don't delete it. A .SC4LOT file is part of the download data. Don't delete it. A .SC4MODEL file is part of the download data. Don't delete it. A .SC4DESC file is part of the download data. Don't delete it. The STEX is an abbreviation for the SimTropolis EXchange. The NAM stands for the Network Addon Modification, which is one of the most well known modds in the game. You can get it here: or Mac A BAT file is a custom content, like a building, that is created using the special 3D modelling software gmax or 3ds Max and the Building Architect Tool. They are generally created entirely from scratch by the creator. A LOT file is a custom content that only uses existing elements that are in the game. It uses Maxis' LOT Editor to shuffle around props, textures, and stuff to create new things. A MODD is a programme which changes the game in some way. They are different from other custom content, in that it affects the entire game. Use these carefully; often modds can conflict, and can cause your game to crash. Sometimes you will encounter abbreviations which arn't listed here. Likely these are BAT Groups; a bunch of fans who get together and collaborate to make buildings or modifications. There are literally hundreds of these; some defunct, and others not. Some of commonly seen BAT Team abbreviations are these: NDEX, BSC, BLaM, LBT, BSP, NYBT, HK, SFBT, ATR, SMP, NUTs, NHP, RTMT, SCAG, TD,and TSC. Creating Your Own Custom Content There are two options when it comes to creating custom content. Firstly, you could go the hard route, and use actual 3D modelling software. GMAX and 3ds Max are both 3D modelling software, that allow custom content creators to create buildings and other content from scratch, by individually creating the wireframe body, and applying textures. GMAX is free, and can be found here: http://www.turbosquid.com/gmax 3ds Max on the other hand, costs a lot of money, and can be bought here: http://usa.autodesk....3112&id=5659302 If you do go down this route, you will need to download the Building Architect Tool (BAT for short), which is the Maxis-created tool which allows you to import your models into the game. It can be found here: http://www.sc4devoti..._files_BAT.html Or you could go the easier route, and create custom content using the Lot Editor, which can be found here: http://www.sc4devoti...s_files_LE.html Remember, even if you use GMAX or 3ds Max, you will still need the Lot Editor, as this enables you to place props and other elements on your model. This section only covers the very basics of custom content creation. You can find out more in the Omnibus here: https://www.simtropolis.com/omnibus Questions Still Not Answered? Then you'll want to either... Visit the Chat Room, which will probably have members there ready to help you with an issue (just be nice): (Link) Take a read through the Extensive Forums for a solution: (Link ) Browse the fabled Omnibus Of Knowledge: (Link ) If, after all that, there is still no luck; make a New Topic which clearly defines your issue. Updated links and stuff - 15/07/2012

Welcome to the STEX Hall of Fame. If you've been to the STEX today, you might have noticed something a little different. There's a nice looking upload pinned right at the top of the listings, with a green featured tag stuck on it. So, what's this all about then? From today onward, the site staff will be sifting through both the front and very back pages of the STEX in an attempt to discover a wide variety of uploads we consider to be among the best of the best. Two of these uploads, one brand new, and one a little older, will be 'featured' each week. When an upload is featured, as you may have already noticed, it is pinned to the top of the listings for its allocated time (usually 3 or 4 days) and is bestowed with the green featured tag. It will also appear on the homepage. Once featured, an upload will also be given a place here in the STEX Hall of Fame for all to see. Collectively, the staff will be responsible for the selection of these featured uploads (for now). We will endeavour to feature as wide a variety of uploads as possible. You can expect that BAT's, lots, game mods, maps and even items from Cities XL, both old and new, will all eventually be featured in the coming weeks and months. Additionally, older uploads that we feel are a little under-rated or under-exposed, the forgotten gems of the STEX so to speak, may be given preference to older, yet still well known uploads. Remember though, as with most things of this nature on Simtropolis, petitioning or asking a member of the staff to feature your upload will only guarantee that it won't be. So, without further delay... I present to you...

Now with glare!

Thanks everyone for your great comments and encouragement! Francis90b & Madhatter106: The brick and limestone materials on the front actually have a bit of noise to them. I think the roof might actually have been the main reason the building looked so "clean" to you guys, so I added some more noise and grime to it. Let me know if this helped. And there is a roof access door that is indeed obscured by the little shadow in the corner. You can see it in the east view. Vlasky: The skylight is reflecting the sky some, but what you are actually seeing is the INSIDE of the building! Also, I have really exciting news! (Vlasky, this might excite you the most!) Does anyone know what this is??? If any of you guessed the desktop contents of my old laptop, you would be correct! MAJOR thanks go to PBGV103 for recommending a hard drive enclosure: I extracted the old internal hard drive from my non-functioning laptop, put it in the enclosure, and as luck would have it, it works! I now have access to my old WIPs again, including Cadillac Tower, the row houses I was working on, and 333 E. Chicago! It'll take me some time to work through them, but they are no longer lost! (And yes, Carew Tower has also been recovered!) Hope everyone is doing well!

Hey everyone. I'm still around. I put an immense amount of work into a new SimCity design document that I hope will be made eventually. Technology today has come a long way and part of my design is a region where cities exist on a organic basis and not a square grid. The main challenge of the entire design is the landscape and the technical hurdles that need to be jumped to get it to work. I will post more as I get the time and if there is interest. My original hope was to present the design to Maxis and build a team to make the game, but I'm not sure the powers that be would put money into a genre that is on a major hiatus. The one thing I would need if I pursue the design independantly are 3D modelers. I can code like a MF, but can't find my way round Max or Maya to save my life. Thanks all.

Hi everybody! Today , it is the last day of my (long) holidays! and hereafter some pics of the new update of my project just to show that I am back to "work"! As usual thanks for commenting in this thread!

A few people have even reported the NAM for Windows broken, simply because they had a bad connection and/or the site was experiencing a lot of traffic, causing their downloads to prematurely stop. One of these bogus reports occurred right before the NAM for Windows vanished off the STEX last month. The examples terring pointed out prove the point further--many of these folks do not have enough understanding of how file downloading, installation processes, or the basic game mechanics of SC4 work, and may not be qualified to properly determine whether or not a file is truly "broken". Then there's the issue of inappropriate language, as in the case of the Toyota automata. Additionally, some anti-virus programs (*cough* McAfee *cough*) give false positives on files that include .exe installers, of which there are a substantial number on the STEX. If one were inexperienced with computers and AV software, and not aware of the possibility of false positives, they'd freak the heck out. I'd propose a return to the PM-to-STEX mod approach that was previously used, or the use of the comments section. The current system gives too much credence to folks who simply do not understand the basics of the internet or proper decorum. -Alex (Tarkus)

The Manhattanville project is dedicated to re-creating buildings from Manhattanville, a NYC neighborhood that is now being redeveloped. Until recently, the neighborhood was a good example of an old inner city industrial district. It hosted a large concentration of a type of building that is quite common in reality, but not so much in SC4: Wall to wall industrial buildings. With this project we would like to provide more custom content for the game and remember a piece of old new york that is slowly disappearing. SimHoTToDDy - Vlasky - Francis90b West 131st Street block Buildings in this block: Studebaker Building. 3259 Broadway. 2301 Joe DiMaggio Highway. 2307 Joe DiMaggio Highway. 2311 Joe DiMaggio Highway 605 W 131st Street. 609 W 131st Street. 635 W 131st Street. 641 W 131st Street. 653 W 131st Street. 640 W 132nd Street.

This topic is not a complain, but something that I notice lately. In the STEX you can hit the Is this file broken? button, in case to warn the people for something really bad. Virus? Bugged building that crash the game? Just an irrelevant useless picture? I think that this button can be very useful in those situations. But what if the report button get used too much? I notice many files that has been reported as broken, not for serious bugs but for many strange reasons. Here are some examples... In the Michelford, we can read this: This file has been reported as broken because: The file is a rar file and I can't get it to work.. Of course I don't know if using .zip is the only acceptable way to upload something in STEX, but reporting this upload as broken because if this isn't a bit too much? In the No Road-Street Stop Mod 1, we can read this: This file has been reported as broken because: i installed it but nothing is diffrent. What? Reporting an upload as broken just because you didn't check the readme is not a good idea. In the Toyota Corolla 1978 Automata, we can read this: This file has been reported as broken because: Added car to game and it dosen't show up WTF waste of space! The guy who made this report could select a Sim from My Sim toolbar, add the Sim in a home, select a car and have a look in the low wealth cars for the Toyota Corrola. Just waiting to see the automata is pointless, especially if he/she already has a lot of extra cars. I'm not a moderator, just curious to learn when it's better to report an addon as broken and what about overusing of the reports.

Thanks for your comments, @Simfox, I am glad to see you posting here, The blinds panel in real life have different tints of white-grey. Before reading your post I made a multi mat (3) I applied randomly. I started to try your method, but I am not sure to be right. You did the same thing than me but instead of playing with colors you play with opacity. This result procurs small openness you're right, but the color range is not so extended to fit the real life. I will try to mix both play with colors and transparency, will see what I get. With particles array, I was impressed by your result regarding NY building for "under trees flora" and tried to reproduce the same but I am far ^^ as you can see. I have to play with settings but it really render time consuming... I didn't advance a lot, finished small details on the base and started the roof but I am fed up with this part.

These threads are silly... Companies don't release games (that is, spend money) unless they can make a buck off of it. SC5, in what form we want, would take a rather large investment given how complex it would have to be (if they even go that route). Until they think they can make a sizable profit from the project, no one will bother making it no matter how many petitions, demands, and complaints they get.

Or you could just grow up and accept that April Fools day is a single designated day where messing about is tolerated and you may also then realize that its just for a day and hardly something thats going to massively affect your life. And I'd have thought you of all members would have realized that the upgrade was a massive piece of work undertaken by the Simtropolis staff and was always obviously going to take time to fine tune as its a completely different change of software. I could understand your frustrations if this was a 'pay to use' site but as its free you should quit your whining. Regards, Richard That's OK, SimFox has been out gunning for me since the new free upgrade turns out has not pleased him. In fact, I believe he feels this "so-called upgrade" was done out of idle boredom, that the amount of time and effort a very small group of volunteers dedicated to upgrade us out of a sorely outdated platform was an act of evil purely to inflict irritation and misery. It doesn't bother me so much, I've been through it all before, but it does bother me that the people quietly working in the background to improve this system everyday should have to put up with such relentless bitterness. It is on their behalf, that I will be facilitating SimFox to deal with the shortcomings of the site by having him take a healthy vacation from Simtropolis until such time that the site's new features have lived up to his standards.

Merci les "Cousins"...! Thank you "Coach"! Details...!

Guess what's on the STEX?!!

Hey guys! Last call for 1001 Woodward! The back of the building isn't exactly shaped like that in RL, but I've changed it so that it fits on the lot. In RL that area is an alley, with the solid black chunk right up against the property line, except for a bit that angles inward to reach a loading area. I don't know what the loading area actually looks like so I made that part up.

Hello peeps! Well I guess I should start with customary praises and compliments. And indeed this is a beautiful model to behold! But that had been said countless times before and since I'm not terribly good at sugar and honey I'd turn to the problems right away. I hope esteemed author and rest of the invested public around this parts would excuse my rudeness. OK first of all the dreaded shadows. Well these are inevitable part of the decision to make it slopped. Although it is already done I still think I should say couple of words on this decision. First of all what is the point of making it like that? Accuracy? Well it is an admirable thing, yet, I strongly believe one should keep an eye on appropriateness and content. And imho in this case both would really be against it. To put is simple - no slop - no issues! Period. Yes it would demand some creative approach to the base. And that I'm afraid is the real reason. I mean reason to go for slop, not abstract accurateness. That basically flies out of very high floor window once PBGV103 states "unless this is surrounded by farms or tiny buildings the shadow issues is small enough that you won't notice it". The funny bit is that exactly same applies to the whole slope thing! The truth is that the game doesn't really handle slopes well, not in the "in block" slopes. In a countryside when you do picturesque farms slope away... in a cities and especially within the block no sure... But that is taste related ranting... If to think about problem at hand... well, there are some potential solutions. First of all if you make the building as a prop (somewhat bizarre choice, I'd come back to later) why not to disable shadows altogether? Think of it, especially withing the context of your "small buildings and farms" what exactly will you loose? Shadows don't really fall onto other buildings. And shaded ground and "sunny" buildings sticking straight out of it ... don't they look silly? Another approach is to make custom foundation. Of course you would need to convert your model back to building. Just chop off a part of your model with slice plane and there you have it! You would need to raise it above ground though and when exporting LODs for it just select Foundations. To keep all shadows, etc in place you can actually keep your building above it just make that part invisible to camera. You should get all the shows, AO, color bleeds but not the actual building. One more way would be simply to cut away all the bits "under the ground" I see no reason whey that would be a problem with GMAX. Of course4 it would make impossible to use the model on a flat ground, but I'm sorry you are already neck deep in that. There is one more way - simply create very tight "glass" penal for your model. And make the whole thing invisible to camera, but visible to reflections/refractions. And make the bottom edge of that penal appropriately cut. Here you would need to make sure that all your AO is are "real" one. It may lengthen render time somewhat but will overall improve the result. Well that's the slop issue... Apart form that there are few points worth mentioning. One being bright fringe showing around shaded trees - and here Aaron is right - just adjust you BG color appropriately. Another, is general black and white (well gray-scale actually) feel of the model. I does severely lucks colors. Nothing is so pale in real world. It make is look both fake and alien in game. And that goes for all bits and pieces walls, glass, shades roofs. All apart from Plaza... and look what a difference it makes - it's alive, real... the rest is not... Again I hope you wouldn't think I'm here to trash your work... If fact I only write comments when I really care about some project. And I normally do only when it good enough for me to be envious!

Thanks everyone! And yes, more work for the skylight... And Simfox can see what I did with the back. Next up: night lights! Hope everyone is doing well!

Heblem: Hi my friend and thanks a lot for commenting, walls are not done for the time being and I think I'll finish (including columns) by them. I am getting inspiration from Debussyman thread (breathtaking thread) De Ja Vu: I make the renders in less than 4 mn... compare to penininsula (50 mn) it's Okay (in another hand, I am not sure of the direct incidence of the quantity of polygons and time rendering). Anyway thanks a lot for your comment! Delecto: BTW, when will you post a new update in your thread??? Girafe: Un champ d'tulipes...!!! Tu devrais essayer un champ de saules pleureurs, une idée comme ça, juste pour voir... qu'en penses-tu???? "Petite annonce": Echange saule pleureur contre statue...! I 'll maybe work again on the statue's texture and I have to dress them too but I am still learning how to do it...!

At least it is an interesting post First of all, thank you! For point 2, you are right in that it looks silly in the side view. I don't know how I messed removing it before! Personally I think it looks alright in the front, it offers just enough contrast between the two sides. Which brings us to point 1. In reality, there is no difference between either "building" as far as facade material goes. When they built the addition they must have re-faced the whole thing. If we couldn't see otherwise in aerial views we might have thought it was one building. Any difference represented in the render is an exaggeration, but I'm happy with how it is. As for point 3, yep, need to work on that. Concrete block is a minor element in two of these models (I think 3 of any of my models ever, lol). Subtle hue shift, lower contrast, and a little sharper should put it in it's place. Might also need a larger bitmap, since it is only brick texture with a larger UVW map (Yeah, I was lazy with this one). If those are the only complaints you have, I think we managed well! Thanks for stopping by

Thanks for you kind comments, I finally decided to finish my summer pack with larches for an hypothetic upload. The rendering phases are so complex and makes the advancment slowly (1 stage export is around 10hours). Hope to find the motivation for autumn in the next weeks A small update concerning the Lenin's Mausoleum

Great regions everyone! I've recently been re-working some of the earliest developments in my region. Here is a before/after look at the Fortune City metro area. Before: After:

The Member of the Month is .......... Benedict! For battling past the red tape wielding bunnies to compile lists the census bureau would be proud of. The Employee of the Month is .......... Livin In Sim! For fighting through rampaging bunnies, navigating the broccoli fields, and battling through coffee withdrawals to polish trixie medals, and hang them in their new places. Congratulations to the winners! Thank you to nathanthemayor for submitting the winning MOTM nomination! Please be sure to nominate someone for the April award! Remember, the awards depend on your nominations.

NIGHT WINDOWS WITH SELF ILLUMINATION This tutorial explains how to make nitelites using the self illumination feature of the Arch & Design material in 3ds Max 9 and newer. First, create the day version of your BAT. The BAT above is a simple office building. In this case the glass is a reflective but opaque material with a glass texture, and a textured ground plane to reflect. But this method can be used for any glass making method. At the moment all of the glass is one object named "Glass". From here, the glass is selected, and a bunch of window panes are selected and detached as "Glass (Night)". So now we have two objects, Glass, and Glass (Night) which we can very simply apply two materials to. However you create your glass, it's important to do it in such a way that you can apply two different materials to it. Next, in the material editor, drag and drop the sphere for the day's glass material (called "Glass Day" here) into an empty sample slot. This will make a copy of it. Rename the material to "Glass Night" and apply it to the object called "Glass (Night)". In the material called "Glass Night" scroll down and find the "Self Illumination (Glow)" rollout. Open it up and check the "Self Illumination (Glow)" check box. There are three sections. The color can be controlled either by defining the color temperature in Kelvin degrees, or by selecting from predefined list of standard light types. Google Kelvin temperature to find out what colors correspond with what degrees. To the right of that is a slot for a Filter map. This is where your night texture goes. Click on the empty box, and put your Bitmap in it. The next section covers luminance, which can either be specified as a real life unit, or as a unitless multiplier. Finally, there's a section for other glow options. "Illuminates the Scene (When using FG)" is for when you want this material to, well, illuminate the scene around it. (Note from 2017: Sometimes really fine vertical parts of your facade will have lighting problems with this setting on, so if you're having problems try turning this off to see if it fixes it) Go to Help>Autodesk 3ds Max Help to learn more about the settings. Making the night glass texture itself is the hardest part and will take some practice. Making it is a lot like making a day glass texture, and once you get the hang of it they're not hard to make. Go to a site like flickr or cgtextures to find photos of buildings at night, and edit them together in Photoshop. (Note from 2017: There are different ways of managing your materials. Sometimes I don't detach the separate panes, and I put both the day and night glass in a Multi/Sub-Object material. Sometimes I still detach the glass into two separate objects if the Material IDs are too complicated. But either way, I copy the day glass's UVW Map to the night glass, and then I give the night glass texture and the night glass texture's UVW Map a Map Channel of 2 (look up Map Channels to see what they do). This way I can switch between day and night by just turning the self illumination on and off) ORIGINALLY POSTED SEPTEMBER 28, 2010

BASIC POLY MODELING (BRUTALIST FACADE PART 2) In Gmax, extruding splines is the most commonly used method to create walls and other objects, but many forms can't be made by extruding splines. This tutorial explains how to create the basic shape of brutalist facade shown above, using the Extrude and Outline tools. In this tutorial, simple numbers will be given to help focus on the creation of general forms. After understanding the contents of this tutorial, you can use what you learned from Part 1 to model an accurate window unit. Create a box that is 2 meters wide, 3.33 meters tall, and .4 meters thick. Select your box, and in the upper right hand corner of the screen, rename it from Box01 to "Concrete". You can rename your objects at any time. Do a Zoom 5 preview render of your box. The viewport you were active in has changed to "Camera Z5" which is the view the zoom 5 camera has. Right click on where it says Camera Z5, and go to Views:>User (the hotkey for this is "u"). Right click on it again, and check "Edged Faces". This makes it easier to model. Pressing "w" will maximize the active viewport, or if it's already maximized it will restore all 4 viewports. Right click on Concrete, and go to Convert To>Convert To Editable Poly. In the menu to the right, there is a rollout called "Selection" and in it there are icons showing vertexes, edges, borders, polygons (also called faces), and elements. Experiment with the different selection types. Undo your changes when you're done. Select the Polygons icon, and select the front polygon of Concrete. In the menu to the right, find "Extrusion:" and "Outline:". With the polygon selected, type 1 into Extrusion, and type -.5 into Outline. Afterwards, using knowledge from this tutorial, move the face back exactly 1 meter, so that it is flush with the rest of the front of Concrete. The result is labeled "1" in the image below. Now put in -.2 for Extrusion, and .2 for Outline. After that, type in -.2 in Extrusion. Now Delete the selected polygon. Select the back face of Concrete. Type in 1 for Extrusion and -.7 for Outline. Move the polygon back 1 meter so that it is flush with the rest of the back. Then press the Delete key on your keyboard to delete the selected polygon. You now have what's labeled as "2" in the image above, a donut-esque shape which vaguely resembles the wall unit. Select the vertex icon, and then select what appear to be the 4 vertexes that form the opening in the back of the unit. While it looks like there are 4 vertexes there, there are actually 8! With all 8 selected, scroll down and find the "Weld" button and click it to weld the overlapping vertexes together, as shown in the section labeled "3" in the image above. The basic form of the concrete is complete! The first image in this blog post shows an accurately modeled window unit, and beneath it are several of them next to each other and rendered in 3ds Max. The white window frame inside the concrete would be easy to make by extruding a spline, but try modeling it using what you've learned in this tutorial. 3ds max Users: In 3ds Max this is a much simpler process, using the Inset and Bridge tools, which don't exist in gmax. Go to Help>Autodesk 3ds Max Help and search for those tools to learn more. This tutorial is oriented to Gmax users because polygon modeling is much harder in Gmax. Notes: The model in the first image of this post has been scaled vertically by 133%, which is what I recommend. The corner and bottom pieces of the facade were also modeled in the render in the first image. Also, each piece of concrete was given slightly different grey colors to help differentiate the pieces. ORIGINALLY POSTED JUNE 6, 2010

Well, that did take a bit longer than expected, but I wanted to focus on some of the other site-wide issues while cobbling together the home page. I think you'll find it mostly familiar, it is a bit sparse now, but things will get added and things will improve. I look forward to seeing your city-building gaming news. You'll notice a featured content box at the top, you will be able to submit your own featured "stories" which will appear in this box. This will necessarily be moderated, and instructions on how to submit a featured story will be up soon! I know there's still lots of things to do here and there, but we're going to get to them. Don't get too cranky on me, we'll get there, I promise! Have a good one!

The STEX Hall of Fame 1. Canadian Broadcasting Centre by @spa An STEX Gem... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uploaded: 05th of September, 2008 Inducted: 21st of March, 2011 Why this upload was chosen: A fine example of what can be achieved with absolute attention to detail. 2. Paeng's Monument Park by @paeng A Brand New Upload... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uploaded: 14th of March, 2011 Inducted: 24th of March, 2011 Why this upload was chosen: Lotting at its absolute best. 3. Victorian Style El Rail Station by @morifari Note: Updated versions of these stations are now included with the NAM. An STEX Gem... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uploaded: 14th of March, 2005 Inducted: 28th of March, 2011 Why this upload was chosen: Perfect combination of excellent BAT and Fantastic LOT. 4. Uniform Street Lighting Mod by @Kodlovag A Brand New Upload... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uploaded: 1st of March, 2011 Inducted: 1st of April, 2011 Why this upload was chosen: Significantly improving a feature that has hardly been modded before. 5. God Terraforming in Mayor Mode by @warrior An STEX Gem... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uploaded: 19th of July, 2008 Inducted: 4th of April, 2011 Why this upload was chosen: This is Gem is an essential item for anyone's terraforming tool box. All the important God Mode terraforming tools conveniently located 24/7 in your Mayor Mode menu... no more three fingered salutes! Yay! 6. Roundabout Underground Parking by @murimk A Brand New Upload... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uploaded: 15th of March, 2011 Inducted: 7th of April, 2011 Why this upload was chosen: This lot is an excellent example of one that enhances the illusion of 3D by showing below ground infrastructure. 7. American Four Square v2 by @homefryes An STEX Gem... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uploaded: 8th of May, 2006 Inducted: 13th of April, 2011 Why this upload was chosen: They are very authentic and varied, and fill out your neighborhoods nicely. 8. SimPeg Agricultural Mod (SPAM) by @Pegprod A Brand New Upload... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uploaded: 13th of April, 2011 Inducted: 14th April, 2011 Why this upload was chosen: Green Acres is the place to be, Farm livin' is the life for me, Land spreadin' out so far and wide, Keep Manhattan, just gimme...SimPeg Agricultural Modd!! 9. Marrast's Embankment Set by @salut221 on behalf of Marrast An STEX Gem... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uploaded: 18th of August, 2006 Inducted: 18th of April, 2011 Why this upload was chosen: One of the earliest embankment sets and still one of the best. 10. 425 Lexington Avenue by @PBGV103 A Brand New Upload... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uploaded: 7th of April, 2011 Inducted: 21st of April, 2011 Why this upload was chosen: There aren't very many Postmodern BATs on the STEX and even fewer of this quality. 11. HK Arch 1 by @bixel An STEX Gem... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uploaded: 28th of March, 2006 Inducted: 26th of April, 2011 Why this upload was chosen: A truly fantastic recreation of an unusual piece of architecture. 12. Farngaten 18 Orthogonal and Diagonal W2W by @Glenni A Brand New Upload... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uploaded: 27th of April, 2011 Inducted: 29th of April, 2011 Why this upload was chosen: A great little BAT with some beautiful detailing. 13. SMP Yellow Pause Thingy Remover by @TheQuiltedLlama An STEX Gem... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uploaded: 20th of September, 2007 Inducted: 3rd of May, 2011 Why this upload was chosen: This mod is awesome because it makes making awesome CJ images awesomer! Oh yeah, and it is also Hotdogs certified.. so yeah like I said... it is awesome! 14. Landfill Plop by @FANTA1990 Note: No longer available on the STEX A Brand New Upload... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uploaded: 16th of April, 2011 Inducted: 7th of May, 2011 Why this upload was chosen: Sometimes the simple ideas are good ideas. This file is one of those files, that could be easily overlooked... or considered too simple, however on closer inspection the download comes with a number of cleverly made different lots to make landfills of various shapes and sizes. With a little imagination, these landfills can actually bring a whole new meaning to the term 'eye-candy'. 15. Meandering Bike Paths by @6459978. An STEX Gem... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uploaded: 19th of July, 2005 Inducted: 11th of May, 2011 Why this upload was chosen: They are well textured, so generic and random looking, and sufficiently worn as to look realistic. 16. Kamienica Bydgoszcz Gdanska 101 by @abstynent A Brand New Upload... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uploaded: 30th of April, 2011 Inducted: 19th of May, 2011 Why this upload was chosen: Nicely detailed W2W buildings, that brings character to the model with unique features and excellent texturing. 17. MAPP Modular Amusement Park Pack by @aldara6166 An STEX Gem... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uploaded: 1st of January, 2007 Inducted: 24th of May, 2011 Why this upload was chosen: A vast collection of modular amusement park rides, stalls, rollercoasters and more. Make sure you download the full set though, from here, here and here. 18. Bridges of Shoreline County by @d_j_p1 A Brand New Upload... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uploaded: 7th of May, 2007 Inducted: 29th of May, 2011 Why this upload was chosen: Plugins that add variety to pedestrian overpasses are rare, and these ones look perfect. 19. Blam Blank by @onlyplace4 An STEX Gem... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uploaded: 13th of April, 2007 Inducted: 1st of June, 2011 Why this upload was chosen: This is one of the gems of the STEX because, it allows those of us who have not yet aspired to the dizzying heights of batting, yet still want to create a unique lot in lot editor, without the constraints of needing a visible building model, the ability to do so. More than one custom content creator, will have started out using this simple yet helpful little file. 20. SHK Tropical Fire Station by @shokthrpy A Brand New Upload... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uploaded: 26th of May, 2011 Inducted: 6th of June, 2011 Why this upload was chosen: Making an entry to the world of SimCity custom content, is not always easy, however this creator has shown that he is willing to learn, seek and ask for advice and apply that advice, before rushing to the upload button. This BAT, just his third, continues to demonstrate a very high standard of work and innovation, which includes advanced modding skill, such as timed props to add life to an otherwise static lot. When he couldn't find a suitable fire truck... to suit his needs, he 'simply' set forth and made his own. The SC community is ready and waiting for more! 21. New World Trade Center by @nycc06 A Brand New Upload... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uploaded: 11th of September, 2011 Inducted: 11th of September, 2011 Why this upload was chosen: It is a truly beautiful, carefully crafted recreation of the new World Trade Center complex. A project that has spanned over 2 years, Nycc06 is a very dedicated and hard working BATer, and the hard work has paid off with such an extraordinary outcome. An extremely fitting tribute to the victims of 9/11.

Early modders scared EA off? ??? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? I've read some ridiculous things said about the game, EA and the community over the years, but this takes the cake. I suppose if folks like Toroca, the7trumpets, Gizmo28, GrampaAl, Ralphaelninja, Tropod, Vlakhaas, Ilive and all those other pioneers too numerous to mention had just sat back and waited a few years our friends at Electronic Arts would right now be frantically working nonstop on expansion packs for SC6. Yeah, right. More like SC4 and this community would be deader than the proverbial doornail, and we'd all be playing Travian or Farmville. Wide radius road and rail curves are because the NAM was. Fractional angle roads are because the NAM was. Single track rail is because the NAM was. The use of these mods, all developed in the last five years, is now ubiquitous across the CJ/MDing part of the community. Huge strides in realism like these came without any assistance from EA whatsoever- that said, there is no support to be found based on the way that they were developed for the notion that EA has somehow been intimidated off the stage by our having done things that it didn't. We in the modding community have no secrets- while the SC4 .exe remains proprietary and the exclusive realm of the now dormant EA developers, those who mod SC4 do so completely in the open with the tools EA gave us and which we have created for ourselves. There's absolutely nothing that stops EA from fixing the relatively short list of things that are truly broke in the .exe and then taking pretty much any mod that's ever been created by the community and mushing it all together and releasing SC5 (oops, forgot about SC:S) SCNext. Nothing except, that is, a business decision that the company is perfectly happy with an eight year old game that still sells "as is" (i.e., without requiring a dime of additional investment) relatively briskly, is addictive to play over the long term, attracts a steady stream of new players every year, and has proved out to have a community of fans that are by and large loyal to a fault- witness the respective fates of SC:S and the execrable twins City Life and Cities XL, all of which the vast majority of folks correctly identified as stinkers long before release. So, did we modders screw things up by scaring EA off, or are you playing SC4 today because of us? My belief is... well, you know what it is. David

This pic stretching from one side of Witanceaster to the other is a little outdated and rough around the edges since I only put it together for my own reference when doing maps, but here it is anyway... Unfortunately it had to be shrunk, since the 19000x1400 original weighed in at 40MB for a jpg, and looked hideous when compressed any further!

This thread is now read-only. If you have a question, please check this post, and also check the FAQ here. If your question isn't answered in either place, feel free to ask it here. -Jasoncw Advice: BAT4Max might not be 100% compatible with 3ds max 2013 or higher. The most common problems to new versions are incorrect Gamma value (buildings are too bright) and low quality of the building's look (you can notice that on previews). If you're using one of these versions, please make sure to check the settings on the bottom of this post to set the right configurations. If you're using 2012 version and your exports look like red/blue/green/black boxes, also check the fix to this problem on the bottom of this post. BAT4MAX v5 can be downloaded here: What's New in Version 5 Glare Turns on Glare Camera output shader. Allows for the creation of much more “alive” looking night views. Ground and Sky Creates and sets necessary properties for ground plane (used to apply reflection source) and sky. Darker Brighter Nigght switcher Allows to change brightess of the night (between Maxis Nite and Dark Nite) without changing any of the other settings apart from level of illumination. Clearing output Files Essentially does what old Deltree.exe used to do – removes old project files that could clog your BAT folder. However it does so in an entirely different and Windows version independent way. Additionally the process had been split in two “versions” one deletes only current project related files and another clears entire BAT folder. New FSH generation and insertion algorithm Now Bat4Mx is finally fully compatible with 3ds Max default installation folder e.g. one containing empty spaces in the path. New Interface Changing interface is often a risky proposition. People get accustomed to certain things and the effort needed to update old habits has to be justified. I was keeping in mind these points when I was re-designing the Bat4Max interface and I believe, well at least hope, that I managed to strike the balance. Old users will not be totally lost in the new interface, while new users are likely to find it more intuitive and flowing, like in “work flow”. This is particularly applicable to the export procedures that are not 1, 2, 3 easy… New Installation procedure While I have always tried to give explicit and exhaustive installation/set-up instructions the whole thing was repeatedly been proven to be too much of a challenge to many, particularly those not too keen on the whole “computer thing”. So it was clear that something has to be done to clear this rather pointless burden away. In this version of Bat4Max installation is no more that selecting one file and following on screen instructions. No more need to move around files and some such! Installation will also add/update necessary files to your GMAX+SC4bat provided you’ve installed those into default location e.g. C:\GMAX If, on the other hand you’ve used some custom installation you would need to do that manually. You’ll find necessary files and relevant folder structure in C:\GMAX after installation of Bat4Max v5. New interface overview Roll-outs have been rearranged in more logical (imho – suggestions are welcomed) flowing order. LetThereBeLight Sky new Pressing Sky button sets Mental Ray Physical Sky procedural Map as a background for your scene. After pressing Sky it is recommended to press desired rig button in order to set Physical Sky to the desired output. Set Rig For Buttons in this frame are pretty self explanatory I think Each creates Lighting rig and tunes all the necessary settings for each of 3 lighting conditions. Change Nite new Buttons in this frame alter brightness of the Sky Light in Night Lighting rig independently from all other settings (FG, AA, Glare etc). This allows you to keep all your custom setting when switching between two Night versions when you do night export. Darken and Brighten buttons only work with Night Rig. Glare sets “good for most” glare camera output shader for night scene. You can still manually change those to your liking/needs by instance dragging it from Render Setup->Renderer->Camera Shaders->Output to any slot in Material Editor. Troubleshooting group Delete Rig Lights Does exactly what is says. Reset Lights & Cameras Re-establishes link to CameraLigtRig x-Ref file located in folder specified in BAT4MAX.ini LODs There are some changes in this roll-out. Custom LODs new Buttons in this frame are to help you create custom LODs for your model. The key word here is “help” not create custom LODs for you. The later is impossible by definition. Here is how it works: LOD3 button creates basic LOD – scene bounding box that encompasses EVERY geometry object in your scene (that includes ground plane as well as any other hidden/frozen etc geometry you may have there), names it LOD3 and converts it into editable poly. Now you can dive in and make it whatever you want it to be! Once done simply click on LODs 4&5 and copies of your modified LOD will be created and named accordingly. LODs are now kept on their own separate Layer. Automatic LODs This button simply creates 3 identical basic Scene bounding boxes places them on LODs layer and names them accordingly. Ground new Pressing Ground creates a plane (1x1 km by default) places it at XYZ =0 on a new Layer and freezes it in order to prevent accidental movement and sets it to be invisible to camera. It will also checks for your version of 3ds max and in case you have a compatible version it will supply you with instructions and open dialog window where you would set it to be invisible to FG (Final Gather) rays. This step insures ideal lighting conditions, but only possible in 3ds Max Versions 2009 and newer. Setting has, for now, to be made manually as these properties are not yet exposed to MaxScript. Show / Hide Shows or hides LOD3 (so you could edit it) or your model (Hi Res Geo) Preview Roll-out The layout of the roll-out had been re-arranged to save some space and to provide some logic (shows proper export sequence eg South-East-North-West otherwise the functionality is same. Rotations / Zoom allows you to select desired view for preview, while “select for Zoom5” SDoutput – basically normal Zoom5 view, or HDoutput – Zoom6 is substituted for Zoom5. Clear Output Files This roll-out makes come back to Bat4Max after a long absence caused by incompatibility of Deltree.exe used in old functions with newer OS. All scripts here have been completely re-writen and perform their functions without any external help. Clear Current new Deletes all files related to the current project (Sc4Model has to be selected in Export Sequence – SC4Model Name). Clear all Deletes ALL output and other technical files generated by BAT4Max. Basically clicking on this button will return your BAT folder to the pristine – just installed state. Export Sequence Former Export roll-out Here we have the biggest changes to both workflow and interface reflecting it. Buttons/operations behind them are arrange in a sequence of actual export. Export LODs this is a first step of any export. Pressing this button will export LODs from your scene as “yourMaxFileName.3ds” to your GMAX root folder so that you can export them in GMAX BAT to generate SC4Model file. The button is un-numbered since this is once-only step per any model (well, unless you change you LODs) (1) Select Target Model new Opens dialog window to your Plugin folder you’ve specified during installation of Bat4Max. Here you can select desired SC4Model file generated in GMAX BAT. (2) Day Export new this button runs normal export. After model is fully rendered FSHs are automatically* created and inserted into SC4Model file you have selected in previous step. This button could also be used for old style/original day/night combo export. (3) NiteExport new this button runs commands for specific truNite night export. First of all it checks if current scene is a night one. In it is not it will inform you and offer you choice to either abort export or proceed. If the scene is in fact a truNite one export will start automatically and after it is finished night FSHs will be created and inserted automatically* Current Material Libraries these refer to the old/original day-nite combo export method description of which could be found in the readme for Bat4Max v2. * Dialog/info windows will pop-up during the procedure informing you about completion of various stages of export, process will continue after your reply/acknowledge of info. Compatibility and pre-requisites OS: Winodws XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7. 32 and 64 bit version of all these system are supported. For Windows 7 (and perhaps Windows Vista) UAC – User Account Control must be disabled prior to installation of Bat4Max v5. After installation/setup had finished if you want to turn it on again you would need to enable write rights (or full control rights) for your account/user name for gamepacks folder. Alternatively you can keep UAC off… 3ds Max could be uinstalled into any folder including one with empty spaces in path, like the default one, eg. C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3 ds max ####\ 3ds Max Core functionality of this version of Bat4Max is compatible with 3ds Max 7 -2011. Some of the features require newer versions of 3ds Max. Recommended version of 3ds max 2010 and newer. Both Mental Ray and Scanline (for basic functionality) are supported. 3rd party renderer support (V-ray, FinalRender etc) is untested... GMAX + BAT GMAX + SC4Bat installed into default folder (eg C:\GMAX) is must! First of all without GMAX + SC4Bat you wouldn’t be able to export anything. Default installation path is required because during setup of Bat4Max v5 some files will be updated in your GMAX SC4Bat as well. Installing BAT4Max 5 Special note on UAC (User Account Control) in Windows 7 and, perhaps, Windows Vista (not confirmed). UAC in Windows7 blocks any write operations into “Program Files” folder. As a result neither setting not operation of BAT4Max is possible while UAC is turned on. So if you are running these versions of Windows please disable UAC prior to the installation of BAT4Max v5. After installation had been finished you would have 2 options – either keep UAC turned off, or turn UAC back on but allow to yourself (your user name) full control of \BAT folder Alternatively you may install 3ds Max outside of “Program Files” folder. Download LINK Unpack to the location you’ll be aware of – for instance on your desktop Start up you 3ds max In the menu select MaxScript -> Run Script and navigate to the location you have unzipped downloaded archive (see #2) and select BAT4Max5_Installer.mzp and follow on-screen instructions. Attention! During installation run Bat4Max v5 checks for previous installations of Bat4Max and removes it. This is necessary in order to avoid conflicts and to stray, none working elements in the interface. So if you have something there so important that you need to save please do so prior to running installation. Since Gamma setting in older version of 3ds Max (prior to max2009) hasn’t been fully exposed to Max scrip and in Max 2010 has troubles accepting setting made by MaxScript at the end of installation Scripts would automatically open the Preferences Dialog window. At the moment there is no way to open it in a precise tab, so you may have to click on Gamma and LUT TAB. Then depending on your version of Max either simply click on OK without doing a thing (in Max 2010 and 2011) or alter some settings like show on following pictures 3dsMax 7: 3ds Max 8 - 9: 3ds Max 2008 and 2009 (2009Design): in 3ds Max 2010-2011 (also Design versions) there is no need to manually alter any settings, just press OK! How to Use LetThereBeLight-truNite Workflow Exporting Day Set your scene Easiest and quickest way to do so is by running LetTherBeLight (click on Day button). This will set units, render, anti-alias, and final gather, gamma and color correction to the values optimal for your particular version of 3dsMax needed for both export and preview. I would also recommend clicking on Sky button (for 3ds Max 2008 and newer users). Strictly speaking this is "required" only when your model has some reflective elements pointing at sky. Create your model. Do NOT create any night time lights or texturing, this is gonna be you day scene. Read following section for instruction of doing truNite export. note that in order to use preview you would need to create LODs for you model. Create/Edit LODS. You can do this by either pressing Automatic LODs button in LODs roll-out, or LOD3 button if you need custom LOD. Once you have finished editing the LOD3 click on LOD4&5 to finish LOD setup. One word of caution: go lightly on LODs remember that they should be as simple and low poly as possible so to not overburden the game’s ancient 3d engine Export LODs to gmax. This could be accomplished by pressing Export LODs button in Export Sequence roll-out. Script assumes that you have installed your GMAX and GMAX BAT into default locations. If this is not the case you would need to do it old fashioned manual way by selecting LODs and then choosing Export Selected from File menu. Export LODs in GMAX BAT. Open BAT (GMAX) and import LODs. If you have been following all instructions precisely you’ll find them (as a .3ds file) in the list that will open when you select Import command in File Menu of GMAXBat. Make sure that “convert units” option is NOT selected. SD or HD. Decide if this models should be exported as SD (standard definition – pixel perfect Zoom5 and 2x stretched Zoom6) or HD (pixel perfect Zoom6 and 2x reduced zoom5). Typically HD export is only sutable for smallest models - trash cans, benches and like. or traffic signs at which you wish texts to be redable.Things that would be typically looked at at biggest zoom - Zoom6. Anything else should be exported as SD, since this way you would get better qualtity Zoom5 views. If you choose to export an HD model, the HD option must be checked in Gmax, before exporting the .SC4Model file, and in 3ds Max, before exporting from 3ds Max. Make a selection. Done that, press Export button. You’ll be asked to save the GMAX file. Do that and give it appropriate name so you could easily identify your coming SC4Model file later in 3ds Max. Once export is finished you can return to Max and Exporting from 3ds Max. In Export Sequence Roll-out: Press (1) Select Target Model button. It shall open the window showing you your SC4 Plugin folder. Select desired SC4Model and make sure you’ve selected same settings for SD/HD export as in GMAX BAT, when exporting the LODs. Press (2) DayExport Acknowledge on-screen dialogs that will inform you about completion of the various stages of export process. You're Done! Nite Export TruNite is a special technique for generating night time views. It builds on two main principles: Total Mask covering entire model. This is done to prevent ugly blending artifacts that are bugging many traditional night views and to allow for a full range of night effects such as specific night reflections, alternative models and textures/materials etc. Special night general lighting. This could deal away with strong shadowing that is so unrealistic for night views. With truNite instead of one single day/night export (providing your model has any kind of night lighting) you would do two separate exports – one for a day view and another for a night one. This solution has several significant benefits. It cuts on errors during export in a major way as vast majority of those occur during day/night switch by the export scripts. Since for the BAT export script truNite is just as another day render none of that ever takes place. Also for a larger models such separate exports may be beneficial because the wouldn’t occupy your computer for exceedingly long time at once Another advantage is a big reduction in overall, combined export time (by as much as 30%) since truNite deals away with night mask render pass. The only “drawback” of this method is that you model will “jump” from day to night view rather than go through the whole dusk routine. Another point that has to be taken into consideration is that both day and truNite models should occupy exactly same space (location) in both files and that their outline must be the same. TruNite night comes in two flavors selectable in LetTherBeLight roll-out Maxis nite This will create night view that blends with default lighting and coloring scheme used by Maxis for SimCity4 Darker Nite This generate much darker and less blue view which is broadly compatible with existing Darker Night mods. Special truNite DarkerNight mod will be release at around Xmas day. Nature of truNite makes these two flavor mutually exclusive. So if you want to provide community with both version you should do two night exports. If you decide to do only one I strongly suggest to chose Maxis one for it. If you decided to go with two version BAT make a copy of your just exported day scene (prior running night export), name these accordingly, but remember that you can alter only first part of the model name and not the alpha-numerical end of it. Create your Night Scene Open your previously saved day scene and make to it any adjustments you see fit. This may be lights, special textures or even alternations to the model (as long as they fall into same outline as a day one. Important note!!! Do NOT use any of the traditional naming conventions like nitelite- or night- prefixes for your geometry or lights Type of night - Maxis or Dark selection Cress one of the Nite buttons in LetThereBeLight roll-out. This will create appropriate Lighting rig and settings for gamma and color correction, etc. If you use 3ds Max 2010 and newer you may click on Glare button. Select Model file for export Click on (1) Select Target Model button and select the same model you have previously exported as a day view. If you have two versions (Maxis and Dark ones) choose appropriate Export Press (3) NiteExport button Acknowledge on-screen dialogs that will inform you about completion of the various stages of export process. You're Done! That’s all! Your model now has both day and night views! in case you need to do another night export repeat same procedure, but choose appropriate lighting and target file. BAT4MAX v5 can be downloaded here: PS Use of SimFox Day´n´Nite mode is strongly recommended with DarkNite models produced with this version of Bat4MAX as Lighting levels and hues used in truNite DarkNite export as realized in this version were calibrated to fit with this modd. SimFox Day´n´Nite modd can be found on STEX. ---------------------------------------------------------- Manual Settings to 3ds Max 2013 or Higher Users Since 3ds Max 2013, BAT4Max has some natural incompatibilities that can be fixed with some simple manual settings: Gamma Fix: if your renders are too bright (gamma is incorrectly set) try the following fix, 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 IBL to Skylight Illumination from Final Gather (FG). ---------------------------------------------------------- Fix to 3ds Max 2012 Important: Are you using 3dsMax 2012 or 3dsMax Design 2012? Do your exports look like this? (Red/ blue/ green/ black boxes?) https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/537179_10152763779940691_2095097160_n.jpg You need to update Max (apply Hotfix 1) before your updates will work! Download the appropriate version here: Hotfix1 for 3ds Max Design 2012 32 bit Hotfix1 for 3ds Max Design 2012 64 bit Hotfix1 for 3ds Max 2012 32 bit Hotfix1 for 3ds Max 2012 64 bit

Just start nitelites:

Day is finished and exported!! Unfortunately I forgot that I modeled it to its real life dimensions, the front being about 18 meters wide. So I had to scale it to fit on the 16 meter wide lot. Night is going to be really simple, so I probably won't update about night.

SimFox- Thank you, I have fix it the best way I can, i hope you like it. Frex_Ceafus- Thank you!!! Zulu2065- Thank you!!! Skyscraper241- Thank you, I made this building back in 2009. Here's a link to my early pictures of the Graham Apartments. Click Francis90b- I have fix the top of the chimney, I hope there dark enough. Graham Apartments I have fix the concrete cornice and I have darken the chimney part darker. North South East West

Aaron Graham and marsh - thanks! jack_wilds - the first eleven of the office buildings will hit the STEX sometime soon. They've been tested, lotted, modded, queried, grown, and screenshot. I just need to get off my duff and zip them in a single file and come up with some clever description. Sgt Pepper - yeah, the textures for the roof on that one have bothered me. I rather hate some of the models, but I don't want to abandon them outright, as I utterly detest seeing Simpson Inc. grow in my cities. So anything to dilute the waves of Simpson works for me. Thanks for popping by! Utvaw - I toyed with the idea of signage, and it's always something that could be tweaked later in the lot editor...I'll have to play around with the idea. His Divine Hand - yeah, I rather like 5 and 6. 2 doesn't bother me too much, as it has echoes of another similar Maxis building. Though they aren't similar to a lot of everyday buildings, they're aimed at fitting in next to the Maxis shoeboxes, so I guess they're serving their purpose. They're like Simpson Inc.'s ugly cousins that have come for a visit, haha! Okay, took a break from thinking about the shoeboxes, and worked up some different low/midrise offices based on some buildings I've seen around town or found on the interwebs... Top left - Meldrum Consulting Top right - Cooper Aviation Corp. Bottom left - Crater & Ritz, Inc. Bottom right - Roanoke Investments I haven't dumped these into a Maxis in-game screenshot yet, but if any textures look glaring, lemme know...

So I opened up Max today to BAT something, and I looked through my folders and found a BAT that I started and worked on for a few hours one day and had instantly forgot about. I had finished the front facade and now I just did the body of the building. All that's left for the modeling are some chimneys and other details.

Studebaker Building The Studebaker Building, which was originally built as a dealership warehouse in the roaring '20s, served many interesting roles in its life. Sold to Borden's Milk Company in the '30s due to the obvious drop off in luxury car sales, it is now used by Columbia University and even the factory for internationally famous Madame Alexander Dolls. 3259 Broadway. 2301 Joe DiMaggio Highway. The building that currently stand at this address is actually composed by two different buildings, a small workshop and an old diner, that had been united and heavily modified. This is an old pic of the two buildings: I've modeled the workshop as it looked in this pic. I didn't model the diner - i was never too interested in it, and I've decided to leave it out for now. -Francis 2307 Joe DiMaggio Highway. 2307 Joe DiMaggio highway is an interesting building with a facade clad with glazing bricks.It looks to be built around the 1940's. From the first time I've seen it, many of it's details had caught my curiosity, like the octagonal window on the second floor, or the two story row of glass in the far left...i hope i did a good job in re-creating them all. -Francis 2311 Joe DiMaggio Highway. 605 W 131st Street. 605 west 131st street is a small, one story warehouse building. Despite it's drab appearance, it features an unusual cut stone facade, which had been sadly painted over. We have decided to make it a little less destitute, and to leave the facade unpainted. 609 W 131st Street. 609 west 131st is a long and narrow building, that spans from road to road, just next the old Studebaker building. Someone said that SC4 is a game of rooftops, and all this long, narrow building has to offer is a roof filled with various junk...maybe it could be a, ehm, "nice" touch for your industrial districts. 635 W 131st Street. 641 W 131st Street. 653 W 131st Street. 640 W 132nd Street.

The Member of the Month is .......... Cleaner475 For being super neat and tidy, while contributing almost everywhere on Simtropolis. The Employee of the Month is .......... Meg Our hoMEGrown hoMEGirl is a MEGahit! Now here MEG, we got you a poMEGranate. Congratulations to the winners! Please be sure to nominate someone for the June award! Remember, the awards depend on your nominations.

DERIVING DIMENSIONS (BRUTALIST FACADE PART 1) How to use Google Earth and Adobe Photoshop to figure out the dimensions of the Central Scotland Police Headquarters' Brutalist facade will be explained. This method is applicable to all facades. Part 2 covers how to model it. Google Earth has a handy measuring tool which allows you to measure things found in aerial view, however, the satellite imagery can be blurry, and you can only measure the horizontal (x and y) dimensions of the building. You can't directly measure the facade using it. The Street View found in Google Earth and Google Maps, or photos found on the internet or taken yourself, are very useful in figuring out the proportions of various elements of the building, but they would be more helpful if you could link the proportions with measurements, and have actual dimensions to work from while you model. In this tutorial, the photos will be linked to measurements from Google Earth. First you'll need to locate your building in Google Earth. This building is a police station located in Stirling, Scotland, and can be found here in Google Maps. In the image above you can see a part of the building being measured. It turns out to be about 63.72 meters long. Looking at photos, that part of the building has 31 uniformly-sized concrete window units, plus a little corner piece. 63.72/31=2.05. It would be reasonable to assume that each window unit is 2 meters wide, and that the extra length (1.72 meters) can be attributed to the corner piece, and measurement error. (Note from 2017: Remember that in photographs, things that are closer to you are bigger and things that are farther away from you are smaller. This means that the less flat the facade is, the less accurate the grids will be.) Now take a head-on screenshot of the facade, to limit distortion due to perspective as much as possible. All of the horizontal and vertical parts should line up with the horizontal and vertical edges of your browser (although if the street view imagery was taken on sloped ground then that might affect this). Paste this screenshot in Photoshop. A good and simple way to get started is to overlay grids of various sizes onto the facade. Find a grid by searching google for one, copy and paste it into photoshop, and use the scale tool to scale the grid until the window unit edges fit nicely along the grid. The result is something like the left grid in the first image in this blog post. It's three boxes wide and 5 boxes tall. This doesn't tell us much, but since we know the window unit is 2 meters wide, we can establish that each of those boxes is 2/3 meters. Since the window unit is 5 boxes tall, we know that the unit is 3.33 meters tall, since 5x0.66=3.33. In the image, the grid to the right is a 1/2 meter grid. Between the two grids you can start to figure out the dimensions of things. For example, the window itself is about 1 meter wide, and that the distance between the bottom of the unit and the bottom of the window is also about 1 meter. Grids tend to be very helpful, but square grids won't expose golden rectangles, Fibonacci Numbers, and other proportions, which are also commonly used in architecture, so try overlaying these as well. And sometimes the design of a building isn't based on commonly used proportions, so you'll just have to estimate, for example, if you have a 1 meter grid overlayed on a facade maybe you could eyeball that a certain element is .4 meters. It's also worth noting that American buildings are designed in feet and not meters. Also, depending on how many internal relationships you can find, and how accurate you were, you may find that after you model something your numbers were wrong. If this happens, try to figure out what went wrong, and adjust your model. All in all this is a useful method, and a big step beyond eyeballing and guessing numbers, and you can avoid a lot of time consuming guess work. Part 2 of this tutorial will cover how to model the window unit. (Note from 2017: While overlaying grids over individual parts of a building may be helpful, in general it's better to overlay a grid over the entire facade. For example, if in Google Earth you measured that a building facade was 10 meters wide, you would overlay a grid with 10 boxes, and you would know that each box was 1 meter. Then you could scale the boxes down to 10% to have a 0.1 meter grid, or down to 25% to have a 0.25 meter grid. This is going to be more accurate than trying to use grids on individual elements, because there are less places where you need to estimate or make assumptions. It's also worth noting that it's more important for your model to be internally consistent than it is for it to be perfectly accurate. If it's internally consistent you can just scale the entire model to the correct horizontal (measured from Google Earth) or vertical (official building heights from Wikipedia or elsewhere) dimensions at the end.) ORIGINALLY POSTED JUNE 6 2010