GRAPHIC: Labels on Strategic Resources

0:) Innocence · November 11, 2001, 05:21

Hey

Maybe I'm alone here, but I've been having trouble locating those vital strategic resource icons, since they often tend to blend into their surroundings.

So after spending more than 5 minutes scanning the map for a Rubber resource I decided to edit the graphics slightly to make'm easier to find. The result looks like this:

Notice I've only added labels to the 8 Strategic resources, not the other kinds. The labels are as follows:

A = Aluminuim
C = Coal
H = Horses
I = Iron
O = Oil
R = Rubber
S = Salpeter
U = Uranium

How to "install":
1) Backup your \Civilization 3\Art\resources.pcx file (NOT resource.pcx)
2) Unizip attached file into \Civilization 3\Art\, overwriting the original file.

REQUEST: I'm no artist so if anyone can do better please don't hesitate to post your results

CBH · November 11, 2001, 05:51

Thanks - I was having a hard time seeing them too - much easier now

PGM · November 11, 2001, 06:14

Quote:

Originally posted by 0

Innocence
I'm no artist so if anyone can do better please don't hesitate to post your results

The idea is good but the letters in that screenshot seem rather crooked. Maybe someone can take your suggestion and give it a nicer look. Nice try though.

(and no, I couldn't have done it any better btw

).

Skanky Burns · November 11, 2001, 06:42

Will definately be downloading this mod when I am able to buy Civ 3.

EDIT: Capitalising a letter. Better late than never.

0:) Innocence · November 11, 2001, 10:05

Quote:

Originally posted by PGM
Maybe someone can take your suggestion and give it a nicer look.

Exactly

I figured I could either request one to to it properly or do it quick-and-dirty myself, then hope someone liked the idea enough to make a better version

I made the letters crooked on purpuse - tried with straight letters and it seemed out of place. Either way it's easy to change

arktiem · November 11, 2001, 10:43

Hey There All!!

Great Idea, my friend! My again eyes were having a wee bit o'trouble with those resources.

I diddled around with the lettering and hope I made them a little easier to read. Let me know if this is any better (I can redo it if the lettering is still hard to read.

Thanks!
Arktiem

Heed · November 11, 2001, 12:18

lol, well, they say that variety is a good thing, so here's another option. I had been thinking about doing this, but never got around to it. I have added tabs for all of the resources and colour coded them: red for strategic, green for luxuries and blue for terrain bonuses.

Screenshot:

File:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/kbyiers...sourceTabs.zip

Heed.

0:) Innocence · November 11, 2001, 13:07

Quote:

Originally posted by arktiem
Let me know if this is any better (I can redo it if the lettering is still hard to read.

Definately easier to read:

This looks like the first set I created, which I discarded since I felt they looked out of place. Maybe I was wrong - I guess it depends on the individual. I'll play with your set a while to see which one I prefer

Draco of GL · November 11, 2001, 14:27

Excellent idea! In my current game I recently discovered Coal, and trying to find some, in the jungle, with the FoW on, made it almost impossible to see any.

I'll be downloading this as soon as I get home. Thanks, big time.

Chris

Travathian · November 11, 2001, 16:41

If only there was a way to toggle these on/off. They all look great, but I don't want to see them all the time.

Oh, and I'd recommend a text file included in the zip file. Put the path where the file to be replaced is.

Heed · November 11, 2001, 18:08

I'm afraid it's an all or nothing deal. There's a short readme included in my zip with the path included. Also, Innocence has described the procedure clearly in his post above.

Heed.

Sgt Grimes · November 12, 2001, 05:59

Nice little mod, thanks!!!

Ludwig · November 12, 2001, 07:34

Thank you for this!!!!!!

Playing on a huge map, I was squinting myself into chronic eyestrain trying to find the resources in the AI's territory.

I loaded the resources file and then reloaded my saved game, and POOF! - there are resources there I hadn't detected.

The Babylonians are kidding themselves if they think building mines on everything is going to protect their oil supply now! No more security by obscurity!

mengo76 · November 12, 2001, 10:15

Innocence, Arktiem, Heed,

Great idea/job! Wish I had found this last night...

One question: Have you tried your mods out in "zoomed out" mode? Do they work/look good?

(I dunno if zoomed out mode uses a second set of graphics or if it automatically shrinks the first set)

Heed · November 12, 2001, 10:27

That's an excellent question mengo. I hadn't tested it zoomed out (I play zommed in almost exclusively). I just checked and it shrinks the graphics: it's not quite wholly readable in terms of the lettering (most can be made out, though). The colour coding is clearly visible allowing you to spot what type of resource group the resources are.

Screen:

Heed.

mengo76 · November 12, 2001, 10:46

thanks for the super quick reply

it's still extremely useful, since when you have a large empire and discover an advance that gives you a new resource, you can zoom out and look for little blue letters in new places

wow, this mod scene is turning out to be much better than i expected, lots of useful stuff!

Roland Ehnström · November 14, 2001, 05:56

Here is my take. It is basicly a combination of the work by Innocence, arktiem and Heed, so all credit should go to them.

Note: I don't have civ3 yet (hopefully tomorrow - Oh Boy!!!

), so I can't test and see if this actually works, and I can't take an in-game screenshot. But please try 'em out, and see what you think (and if they work!).

Black: Strategic
Red: Luxury
Blue: Bonus

Peace!

-- Roland

Roland Ehnström · November 14, 2001, 05:57

Pic:

stend · November 14, 2001, 19:13

I liked the notion of having labels on the images, but the ones I saw just didn't have a CivIII feel to me, so here's my variation. I've used production shields as the icon for strategic resources, happy face circles for the luxury resources, and wheat for bonus resources (aside for wheat itself, and gold - I felt those were already visible enough). I run my 15" screen at 1400x1050, and I felt that the lettering was reasonably visible, but YMMV. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
(edited: new version/URL provided in subsequent message)

Wite Rabbit · November 15, 2001, 01:12

I liked stend's shield icons, they do blend nicely with the overall civ theme and even though when zoomed out the letters are less readable you can still clearly see it's a strategic resource.

I just think that only the strategic resources should be marked that way (that WAS the original idea) since these are the most important. By adding these icons to all the types of resource you're just making the whole thing too easy. So you'll miss a spice or too, your civ will not crumble because of that.

But that's just my opinion.

0:) Innocence · November 15, 2001, 05:23

Quote:

Originally posted by Wite Rabbit
I just think that only the strategic resources should be marked that way (that WAS the original idea) since these are the most important.

Yes, that's my take on it as well. While a few select labels (on the all-imortant Strategic Resources) will help locate these, labels on every other (much-less-important) resource-type will clutter the display IMO. I can't live without Iron, but missing a Dye resource isn't gonna kill me.

Luckily it's a free world (at least the parts we're in

), so people can use whatever scheme they want

I really hope an upcoming patch will add toggle labels on/off like the grid (Crtl-L?). Even better, make it optional which resource types you want labels for AND an option not to put labels on obsoleted Strategic resources. If only I knew where to send this suggestion I'd do it in a sec

SilentBob · November 15, 2001, 08:26

First let me say

for the grafx work all of you have done. Each is good in its own right. Secondly, I believe the following resources do not need to be labeled:

Horses
Wine
Incense
Ivory
Whale
Game
Fish
Cow
Wheat
Gold

By eliminating these labels the screen will be less cluttered, but still provide much needed support in locating these hard to discern resources. The downside is, that when you are exploring a new frontier, finding its resources is part of the fun and an integral part of the game.

stend · November 15, 2001, 15:25

Thanks for the feedback on my pass. As a result, I've made some modifications, which you can get from here.

With version 0.2, I've provided three variations of the icons. resources_most.pcx has icons on all resources aside from fish, whales, wheat, and gold. resources_some.pcx also omits icons on horses, wine, incense, ivory, gems, and cattle. Finally, resources_strategic.pcx has icons on only the strategic resources.

Wite Rabbit · November 16, 2001, 02:38

OK, this is my take on the labels. I've got just simple shields for strategic resources. No letters because I figured, that in most cases you'll need to zoom in to read the letter anyway, plus most of these are pretty easily identified even when zoomed out.

Anyway, I also slightly modified the look of some resources, very few actually, and only subtle changes. The two most important ones are that the grapes are a little bit brighter and colorful, that makes them be a bit more noticable and of course the... damn, it's right at the tip of my tounge (English is my 2nd lang

)... the things on top of the head for the "game" resource.

This is just a jpg pic showing how it looks the next thread is the actual zipped pcx file.

Wite Rabbit · November 16, 2001, 02:39

Here's the zipped pcx

CubsFan915 · November 20, 2001, 17:02

stend, Geocities says that the page is unavailable...

Darkknight · November 20, 2001, 22:06

I just spent the last half hour doing this and I found it'd already been done.

I only added icons for the strategic and luxury resources. I also used shadows.

And I also found out that the game is only 8bit (256) colour! What were yes thinking Firaxis? That is why the starting video has blobby colours.

Darkknight · November 20, 2001, 22:08

Zipped pcx...

If only units were this easy

Pggar · November 21, 2001, 17:43

Here's my take. I kept the shields for the strategic resources, put an smiley on luxuries, since they enhance happiness, and left bonus resourses unlabeled because they are not that important and have to be inside your city radius (you don't have to look for them).

Pggar · November 21, 2001, 17:48

Here's a screen.