ATTENTION PROGRAMMERS! patch needed for mge

[Curumbor Elendil]

OK, so everyone has been playing simultaneous-turns Civ2 Multiplayer now. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work very well once war breaks out. Many people have been saying, rightly I think, that it would be perfect if you could turn on the simultaneous-turns option for part of the game and then turn it off once things get hairy. Unfortunately, you can't do that. I tried re-editing the civ.ini so that the relevant line said "Simultaneous=0" and deleting the line altogether, but both times games saved in simultaneous mode stayed in that mode when you loaded them. It would be nice to have a little program that could change a savegame from simul to non-simul mode. Alternatively, even cooler would be a patch that made a check-box for simultaneous moves under "Multiplayer Options" under the Game menu, like there is for double production and moves. Then you could switch back and forth instantaneously without saving and quitting.

It's probably an extremely difficult challenge, but I thought I would suggest it in any case.

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Curumbor Elendil
http://pantheon.yale.edu/~jps35/
ICQ 56126989

[DarthVeda]

Uh... it's kind of the nature of the beast...

you want simultaneous moves... but only some of the time... kind of rediculous I'd say. Especially in a TBS game.

[Curumbor Elendil]

quote: Originally posted by DarthVeda on 12-20-2000 03:24 PM Uh... it's kind of the nature of the beast... you want simultaneous moves... but only some of the time... kind of rediculous I'd say. Especially in a TBS game.

Not at all. It makes the game go by MUCH faster. That's the reason it's quickly becoming the standard in Civ multiplay, despite the bug potential.

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Curumbor Elendil
http://pantheon.yale.edu/~jps35/
ICQ 56126989

[zyxpsilon]

quote: Originally posted by Curumbor Elendil on 12-20-2000 11:17 AM Alternatively, even cooler would be a patch that made a check-box for simultaneous moves under "Multiplayer Options" under the Game menu, like there is for double production and moves. It's probably an extremely difficult challenge, but I thought I would suggest it in any case.

Unless i'm mistaking this has already been tried "indirectly" by a few -compatible- squeeks to the >GAME.TXT< file options.
Since the "INI" slugs itself on the EXE boot sequencing, there's a conflict into making if one attempts to switch such a flag within a -session-.
Without source (and all proc's), the game menu cannot "create" a new option like you described.

[SCDARS]

quote: Many people have been saying, rightly I think, that it would be perfect if you could turn on the simultaneous-turns option for part of the game and then turn it off once things get hairy.

Yes, changing it is possible via Hex-editing! I did it in a MGE test file with minimum map.
In one of the very last sections of the save file (I've not yet found time to find a fromula for it, because it is stored in a variable place AFTER the map, city info and so on) you can find this simple flag, one bit long, 0 meaning round based, 1 meaning simultaneous.

If you're urgent to change it in your game, you can send your savegame (zipped please) over to me and I'll try to change it as well...

I'm no programmer at all, but perhaps Gothmog or Angelo Scotto can implement this in a simple tool with checkboxes...

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SCDARS
scenario_feedback@hotmail.com
[This message has been edited by SCDARS (edited December 23, 2000).]

[Curumbor Elendil]

quote: Originally posted by SCDARS on 12-23-2000 07:50 AM Yes, changing it is possible via Hex-editing! I did it in a MGE test file with minimum map. In one of the very last sections of the save file (I've not yet found time to find a fromula for it, because it is stored in a variable place AFTER the map, city info and so on) you can find this simple flag, one bit long, 0 meaning round based, 1 meaning simultaneous. If you're urgent to change it in your game, you can send your savegame (zipped please) over to me and I'll try to change it as well... I'm no programmer at all, but perhaps Gothmog or Angelo Scotto can implement this in a simple tool with checkboxes...

I don't have a savegame (yet) that I'm interested in doing it for, but I think it'd be great if you would share your knowledge with someone who might be capable of writing a program that finds the appropriate pattern in the savegame and then changes the flag. Anyone fitting this description reading this?



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Curumbor Elendil
http://pantheon.yale.edu/~jps35/
ICQ 56126989