Question how do you get buildings to be props?

[danielcote]

I've seen on some tutorials that people can have morethan one building. And I can't find those buildings in props like the cam NY or the CAM philidelphia townhomes and stuff.

[Diggis]

You need to use the PIM to create a prop exemplar for them.  A lot can only have one building on it and additional ones must be props.

[danielcote]

Sorry This is the first time I've been involved in computer graphics, editing, and 3D models So whats a PIM?

[Diggis]

No worries, PIM is the plugin Manager from Maxis.  It's the tool that creates a file that tells the game whether a model is a building or a prop.  I'm not sure how it all works but I know thats the one you need. 

[joelyboy911]

Hey, danielcote. If you have downloaded something that has a building in it that you want as a prop (I'm presuming you have the updated LE) then you need to follow these steps:

A) Make sure the file that has the BAT (building model - it is either in the format .sc4model or .dat depending on how it was released - I'm sure someone can link you to a tutorial on file types) is located in My Documents/SimCity 4/Plugins, not a sub-folder.

B) Open the Plugin Manager (PIM - you must download the BAT program to install this).

C) The opening screen of the PIM shows a list of all the available models in the Plugins folder, find the one you want and click-drag it to the spot on the menu bar to the left of the window where it says "Prop" this is near to the bottom and *helpful hint* you can't scroll while dragging so make sure "Prop" is already visible.

D) You will be presented with a window which has options for all the basic settings in a prop. I would suggest that you need to set "Is Ground model" and "Light" under the "Common" and "Advanced" tabs, respectively, to 'true' since it is a building you are producing. The hover-over query tells you exactly what they do. You can also change the prop's name and other options such as "orient to slope" (not recommended for buildings!) et cetera.

E) The PIM generates a file in the format .sc4desc. Now the prop will show up in LE, and you can add it to any lot you like! (but remember the prop won't appear unless the lot is big enough). You can now move the files back to the sub-folder if you like.