The day is finally here. Fans of EA/Maxis' SimCity 3000 can now download the highly anticipated Building Architect Tool promised on every box of the game. In case you haven't been waiting, the tool lets users replace buildings in SimCity 3000 with their own creations. Whether you're a real architect or just aspiring to be one, the new tool is easy to use, and gamers without a copy of SimCity 3000 can use it as well.

　　The folks at Maxis have supplied us with a quick user guide by former architectural and urban designer Joseph Knight, who joined the SimCity team last year as a Computer Graphics Artist.

　　SimCity 3000 Building Architect Tool guide by Joseph Knight

　　So, you want to get the most out of the Building Architect Tool (BAT)? You're in luck. Despite the simple set of blocks in BAT, it is an extremely flexible building tool. Once you get familiar with some of the principles behind it, you'll be making some incredible custom buildings for use in SimCity 3000. In this article, I'll introduce you to a few techniques to get you creative and productive in no time.

　　Custom paint textures and decals:

　　One of the great things about BAT is that you can use your own paint textures and detail decals. Any image you can paint or capture, and save in Targa (.TGA) format, can be added to a face of your building. Put these image files in the \Paints or \Details subdirectories of BAT and they will appear in the "Custom" sections of the Paint or Detail palettes of BAT the next time you start the program.

　　Your custom art will work best if you follow a few guidelines. BAT is designed to work with images sized in some multiple of 16 pixels on each side - such as 16x16 pixels, or 32x32 pixels, or even 16x48 pixels - up to 128 pixels maximum. Again, make sure they are in Targa format. For paints, they work best if you make sure they tile properly; that is, when you align copies of the image side-by-side, no seam shows. For decals, you can make parts of them transparent (showing the paint texture underneath) by using special "Alpha channels" supported by the Targa format.

　　But for easy and reliable custom textures and decals, try copying the Targa files provided with BAT (in the \Res\Paints or \Res\Details subdirectories) to the custom directories (\Paints or \Details) - then modify them to your liking. Don't see the color brick you like? Copy a brick texture to \Paints, open the file, adjust the color settings, and save. It's that easy!

　　Using Decals:

　　Most of the decals provided in the first version of BAT are arranged in sets. These sets will help you visualize how they can be used to create realistic buildings. (As a general rule, two blocks = one story) But don't feel limited by the layout you see! Feel free to use decals in any combination you can imagine!

　　For example, this set represents a basic 4-story building . Why not make it a 10 story building? Why not make the ground floor extra tall? Another example: This church window shown selected in Figure 3 is about 13 feet tall (2 meters). You can add a pointed arch directly on top of it or lower as you like, to make it any height you wish. Apply the basic window decal repeatedly (dragging from top to bottom) and you could make a window hundreds of feet tall!

　　Your imagination is the limit when using decals. This is the beauty of BAT.

　　Construction techniques:

　　Feeling bold enough to construct a new building yet? The idea behind Construct mode is a little different, but with just a little practice almost anyone can be productive with it. Bear in mind that there is no right or wrong way to use it. Just about everyone I've watched use it here at Maxis approaches Construct mode differently. I encourage each of you to explore and find the method that works best for you.

　　That said, I shall now share with you the method I prefer. (I think this method reflects my former career as an architect.) First, I like to draw the shape of the building on the ground - the building "footprint" - using the line tool in the horizontal edit plane . When I have a shape I like, I start using the plane tool in the vertical edit planes to make my walls . With a bit of practice and a little foresight, this process can very quickly produce some very convincing building shapes!

　　I'll share with you one other quick tip for Construct mode. Rather than use the slider widgets to select my edit plane, I will frequently click on one of the other two planes at the level I want to edit- left-click if a block is already there, or right click if there is no block already there. This will automatically align the plane to that position. Don't forget that you can also step a plane up or down or side to side using hot keys; see the manual for a full description.

　　Quickly multiplying the number of unique buildings for a set:Finally, let's look at some ways to quickly create complete custom building sets. The Building Manager will let you replace up to 260 different buildings in SimCity 3000. That's a lot of work if you want to make a totally different looking city! But if you've managed to create or collect only a dozen or so buildings, you can easily multiply this number to make a complete set.

　　Repainting a finished building is the quickest and most satisfying way to get custom results from BAT. Load a finished building into the Architect Toolkit and then go to Paint mode. Now, with the paintbucket tool, resurface entire faces of the building with a single click. In just a few seconds, you can have a completely different looking building! Try any texture or color you like - go crazy! (And don't forget to use the "Save As" option when done, rather than "Save," or you will lose the original paint-job.)

　　Another way to get more variety of buildings in your set is to save your buildings in different rotations. BAT can render a building for SimCity in any of four different orientations, depending on the orientation that the building was saved in. Try opening a finished building, rotating it just once, and saving as a different name. Now, in the Building Manager, you will see that it is rendered in a different direction than the original. These two buildings will appear in SimCity in these different orientations, too.

　　I've only scratched the surface here on some of the ways to use BAT. I'm sure once all of you have your chance to thrash about on it, even we at Maxis will learn a thing or two! So get busy, good luck, and happy building!