How do you modify the pictures in the dll files?

Jimmy Liu · December 21, 1999, 19:24

I talking about the ones that has the pictures of city improvements, wonders, and other things you won't find in the gifs. And if someone has already done it, where can I download it? Thanks.

Cam · December 21, 1999, 20:30

Jimmy,

Not exactly what you're after, but; apolyton.net/forums/Forum4/HTML/000500.html may be a start. Perhaps getting in touch with Rune/Runeberge directly may also yield results beyond whatever posts you may receive in this thread.

There used to be a 'hackers' forum here on Apolyton, but it was merged with another and I'm not too sure where you may find these old threads for checking out. Markos? Dan?

ZhugeLiang · December 22, 1999, 03:09

I'm not sure what you mean? Not in the gifs? The city improvments and wonders are in the icons.gif aren't they?

Cam · December 22, 1999, 05:02

I assume he's referring to the default game's Civilopedia details and/or the city view screen that does the 'visual view' of your city (possibly other aspects such as the Throne Room, etc, that kind of thing).

Jimmy Liu · December 22, 1999, 05:10

Thanks for that Cam. I've sent an email to Rune.

ZhugeLiang - In the civ2 directory, there are several .dll files. In some of them, there are, as cam said, pictures for civilopedia and view city screens. I think cv.dll had the wonders and city improvements. You can view these files using gifxtracter which you can download from apolyton or Visual Studio.

ZhugeLiang · December 22, 1999, 16:55

Ohhhhh, yeah, i've almost forgotten about those (I always have those turned off). I dunno anything about changing those...

Zulu Elephant · February 11, 2000, 10:14

Go and download GIFX from http://www.ifi.ntnu.no/~runeberg/gifx/
It lets you load up .dll files as .gif files so you can covert them and then save them back in
[This message has been edited by Zulu Elephant (edited February 11, 2000).]

Alinestra Covelia · February 12, 2000, 15:21

How about kings' faces?

The Fantastic Worlds manual said it was an "endemic problem" that the faces of kings, etc, could never be changed (and presumably when Microprose say that, they're not just saying it because they were too lazy to draw any more!).

But I'm working on yet another Star Wars scenario, and I don't think that having Eleanor Roosevelt pop up claiming to be Carrie Fisher is going to do much for my credibility!

If any of you Civ2 brainiacs have any input on this, I'd be happy to hear about it.

Zulu Elephant · February 14, 2000, 12:46

Use the link i posted above.
ALL the pictures in the game (the king's faces, the throne room etc.) that aren't gif files are in the dll files.
I changed the kings faces for my Civ 2:Civ 1 Modpack

(you cant just put the dll files in scenerio folders though and have them work like the txt files when you put them in folders - they have to be copied into the civ2 directory)

techumseh · February 15, 2000, 00:15

I changed the leader portraits for my sci-fi scenario Millenium 0004. You can download it here: members.xoom.com/Kull1/future/

Mercator · February 15, 2000, 09:12

Alinestra: In the original civ2 manual they said it was possible to change the king's portrait as an option within the game. But for some reason they kicked that option out, before civ2 was released. That's why they say it isn't possible.

By the way, not all civ2 graphics are in the .dll's. The Civilopedia graphics (the photos you get with the advances etc.) are embedded inside the get_info.exe file. But, well, who would want to change these?

Zulu Elephant · February 15, 2000, 11:33

ok all except them

C Chulainn · February 17, 2000, 22:04

You can change the kings' faces using a hex editor... it was a very long time ago, about March '99 I think, but someone did post instructions on this forum about how exactly you do it.

Alinestra Covelia · February 18, 2000, 15:21

I downloaded the gif extractor program, but was unable to actually locate any .dlls in my Civ2 file. Do I need the CD ROM for this, or am I just being a bit thick?

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"In all creation, there can be no task more onerous or tedious than that of playing God." - Stephen Fry, 'The Liar'.

Mercator · February 18, 2000, 16:15

The dll's should be in the main Civ2 directory. If you can't find them, this is what they are called:
civ2art.dll
cv.dll
intro.dll
mk.dll
pv.dll
ss.dll
tiles.dll
wonder.dll

All other (civ2) dll files do not contain graphics.
You can go to http://civ2.sidgames.com, there you can find a guide about hacking the dll's. This guide is outdated due to Rune's application, but it does contain a full list with a description of every image in all dll's.
[This message has been edited by Mercator (edited February 18, 2000).]

February 18, 2000, 18:40

Yes at first i had the same problem in locating the Dll's. Because they are hidden files. To locate them, in any folder click on the option View/Folder Options/View(again) and near the bottom there are options for hidden files click on show all hidden files. And you will have 11 new files (i think) now open your GifX and it should work.

Alinestra Covelia · February 19, 2000, 17:08

Right... hopefully this will be the final question, because I'm sure you're all getting sick of me not being able to do it right!

I have found the .dlls. I have been able to load them up and look at the pictures. Pretty pictures. I have saved them as gifs in a new file. But I can't open the new gifs in PSPro. Any tips?

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"In all creation, there can be no task more onerous or tedious than that of playing God." - Stephen Fry, 'The Liar'.

C Chulainn · February 19, 2000, 23:00

How exactly did you view the pics in the first place?

Alinestra Covelia · February 20, 2000, 04:51

The .dlls are hidden files, so you have to go to view options in your windows taskbar, click on View, then Folder Options, then tab button View, and finally Show All Files.

The .dlls are in the root Civ2 directory...

BUT HOW DO YOU SAVE THEM AS GIFS is what I need to know!

I have been able to save them as a gif, but then PSPro won't open them! What's going on???

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"In all creation, there can be no task more onerous or tedious than that of playing God." - Stephen Fry, 'The Liar'.

Rune · February 24, 2000, 07:31

That's strange. I've never had any trouble using the gifs saved from GIFX with PSP.

What error message do you get from PSP?

Which versions of GIFX and PSP are you using?