Different Files

[Sorengaard]

Hello all,  What is the difference between the different kinds of files?  There are DAT, SC4Lot, SC4Model, and SC4Desc.  I have noticed that the same "item" can have all or any other combination of these kinds of files.  Does a "item" not work without more than one file if that is what is present?  Also can you tell if a building is growable or ploppable by what kind of file it is?  And if you have both do you need to remove one because they will cancel each other out or will the game just use both growable and ploppable at the same time? 

Thanks for any infor ... Steve

[wouanagaine]

For the game there is no difference

SC4Lot contains the lot examplar, if it is a plopable it also contains building examplar, icon and LTEXTs ( hence it is unuseful to ship a SC4Desc with a plopable )
SC4Model contains the model of the building or prop
SC4Desc contains either prop or building examplar

SC4Dat is useally a compilation of the above

anyway you can have any extension to your files, the game will try to open it and validate it

[xxdita]

Heh, Wou beat me to it 
But I'll repeat it anyway.

*.sc4model - this is the actual 3d building model required for the lot to show correctly.
*.sc4desc - this is the file that tells the game exactly how that model should fit, and the properties it should have. Often, this is tidied up into the actual *.sc4lot file, to make things simpler.
*.sc4lot - this file tells the game which model to show, on how big of a lot, with which props where, and other assorted information. Ideally, the desc exemplar is included in the lot file, to help the end users keep their plugins folder more organized.
*.dat - any combination of the above files. If the file is a Mega Prop Pack, then most probably, it only contains model files and maybe the desc files for props.

Growables and Plopables can coexist, but aren't codependant. Ideally, there is a way to tell the difference just by looking at the filename, though not always.

For the game to show a building properly, the sc4model, sc4desc, and sc4lot must all be in your plugins in some form, along with whatever dependencies are required by the lot.
Hope this helps.