Question on Unit Graphics

JMarks · April 23, 2002, 21:24

Hey, I was wondering...

If worker graphics can change with a given advance, is it possible to do the same with other units? Ya know, mabey change helmet styles and equipment or something for those who seriously have way too much time on their hands?

Spiffor · April 23, 2002, 21:29

Dunno. Maybe you should try the Creation forum : some creators avoid the Civ3 General.

SpencerH · April 23, 2002, 21:48

The worker change is hard coded and there is no way yet to do the same thing with other units. An alternative would be to make whole new units that could be upgraded to (ie warrior to guerilla). Unfortunately the AI doesnt upgrade its units very well, if at all, (leading to the ever popular threads about warriors killing tanks) so it wouldnt happen anyway.

XMon · April 23, 2002, 22:52

Are you sure about that SpencerH? I seem to recall a thread on one of the forums where someone said that if you created a folder called (for example) Spearman Industrial Ages and put an INI and flcs in it, the unit would change appearance. Not an upgrade per se, just a change in appearance. Have you tried this? I'll give it a shot if you haven't. I could stomach a spearman vs tank battle (no way in hell the spearman could win with my modded values) if the spearman at least looked like an armed civilian or a guerilla or an aboriginal primitive. I just can't stand modern units going up against escapees from a renaissance fair. It hurts my sensibilities.

I had been thinking about a generic "armed civilian" for middle, industrial and modern ages which could be used to change the appearance of the obsoleted units that were not upgraded.

JMarks · April 23, 2002, 23:22

XMON,

cool, please do tell if you get it working.

Even if its just silly stuff to show you can do it (warrior visually upgrading to battleship). I'd rather find out if that can be done first before I make any/all new graphics for the units.

SpencerH · April 24, 2002, 08:38

Quote:

Originally posted by XMon
Are you sure about that SpencerH? I seem to recall a thread on one of the forums where someone said that if you created a folder called (for example) Spearman Industrial Ages and put an INI and flcs in it, the unit would change appearance. Not an upgrade per se, just a change in appearance. Have you tried this? I'll give it a shot if you haven't. I could stomach a spearman vs tank battle (no way in hell the spearman could win with my modded values) if the spearman at least looked like an armed civilian or a guerilla or an aboriginal primitive. I just can't stand modern units going up against escapees from a renaissance fair. It hurts my sensibilities.

I had been thinking about a generic "armed civilian" for middle, industrial and modern ages which could be used to change the appearance of the obsoleted units that were not upgraded.

Thanks for the tip, this is the first I've heard of it! It sounds interesting and I'll try it out asap. I think it might work if there is some general coding for the game to look for such graphics rather than it being hard coded for just the workers. It would sure solve a lot of (visual) problems. I just wonder why this isnt general knowledge (if it works)?

If it works I'll sure post it.

WarpStorm · April 24, 2002, 10:41

It's not hard-coded and it works.

Willem · April 24, 2002, 11:19

Ah, interesting. It looks like some modder will finally be able to put an end to the Spearman vs Tank complaint.

Dan Magaha FIRAXIS · April 24, 2002, 16:57

I posted in the creation forums about this after 1.16 was released, as that's when it was put into the game code (IIRC).

You can definitely change unit graphics/animations on a per-era basis. Basically when the era changes the game checks the units folder to see if era-specific unit folders exist for all the units in the game. E.g., "Leader Middle Ages" If so, it reads in the new INI file and loads the appropriate animations.

I think it uses the era names as defined in the BIC file, so if you rename an Era, it probably needs to match the era-specific unit folder. Also, I don't know if it will load in new sound effects when the era changes or not.

I'll make a note to add this to the "notes and tips" section of the editor helpfile.

Dan

SpencerH · April 24, 2002, 17:07

Thanks for the input Dan. I must have missed it (and I bet others have too).

steelehc · April 24, 2002, 19:23

I never noticed this, and I wish I had. Replacing warriors, spearmen, archers, and the like with a more modern looking graphic will soften the mythical blow for those who reguarly lose tank armies to a single spearman. It will also make it mroe realistic. We won't have (as many) ancient units running around behind the tanks and bombers.

Steele

Skanky Burns · April 24, 2002, 23:47

Wow, this ability can do much to change the game. You could give the game an even more realistic feel... sounds really good!

ixnay · April 25, 2002, 01:10

This is great news! Someone should go start a thread in the creation forum to start getting people thinking about making some graphics...in fact, I'll go ahead and get it started.

Willem · April 25, 2002, 16:00

Quote:

Originally posted by Dan Magaha FIRAXIS
I posted in the creation forums about this after 1.16 was released, as that's when it was put into the game code (IIRC).

You can definitely change unit graphics/animations on a per-era basis. Basically when the era changes the game checks the units folder to see if era-specific unit folders exist for all the units in the game. E.g., "Leader Middle Ages" If so, it reads in the new INI file and loads the appropriate animations.

I think it uses the era names as defined in the BIC file, so if you rename an Era, it probably needs to match the era-specific unit folder. Also, I don't know if it will load in new sound effects when the era changes or not.

I'll make a note to add this to the "notes and tips" section of the editor helpfile.

Dan

There's been a question mulling around my brain for a few days now. When the unit graphics change, is that determined solely by the human player entering a new era, or does it affect each civ? What I mean is, if I enter a new era before the other civs, will their units have the graphics updated as well, along with mine, or will that occur only when they enter the era as well?

JMarks · April 25, 2002, 16:30

I assume that it would work just like the workers and leaders and settlers, it just dependes on what each individual civ has. So if a civ is retarded and still in the ancient era, then you'll still fight those spearmen. If they just have spearmen left over, then you can fight (once we change it) armed citizens or peasants.

m_m_x · April 25, 2002, 17:33

wow,great option!

Willem · April 25, 2002, 20:42

Well it won't really change anything, all the stats will remain the same. But at least it will look better. I often found it rather silly that my Infantry was being attacked by Archers, but at least I'll be able to make them look like something more appropriate, even though the combat results will be exactly same. It's strictly a cosmetic solution, it won't have any real impact on the game itself.

Bane Star · May 11, 2002, 03:51

This is a great piece of information for us modders, Thanks

Inverse Icarus · May 11, 2002, 12:28

There's no way to rename the units, is there? to make a Warrior actually caled a Guerilla? i know it's stupid, but it'd be cool

Willem · May 12, 2002, 23:07

Quote:

Originally posted by UberKruX
There's no way to rename the units, is there? to make a Warrior actually caled a Guerilla? i know it's stupid, but it'd be cool

Yes you can. Rename it in the editor, save your mod, then go to Art/Units in your Civ directory. Look for the folder of that unit, go inside and change the .ini file to the new name. Then change the name of the folder as well. That's all there is to it.