UTILITY: Civ 3 Replay Viewer.

Legend · August 20, 2003, 21:02

This utility is (basically) the same tool as the replay viewer that you can see at the end of a completed civ or PTW game, with added features - the least being that you can use it stand-alone, without the need to complete / retire from a game.

Features:

Minimaps can be exported to .bmp or .jpg format, with user-defined sizes.
The replay text can be exported with some (minor) format details being configurable.
A draggable progress slider can be dragged to any position, allowing instant fast-forwarding or rewinding of the replay.
The pause between replay events is user-configurable.
Putting the mouse over an item in the replay text list shows a circle on the minimap marking the location.
Putting the mouse over a city in the minimap shows a short history of that city.

With the help of several individuals (thanks people!

) I have managed to tune the features, and eliminate most of the bugs.

However, if you have any suggestions, or have found any bugs, then please let me know: Email to Legend

Sheik · August 21, 2003, 10:29

What language did you write your program in?

GhengisFarb™ · August 21, 2003, 10:32

What format is the replay in (file-wise)?

Kuciwalker · August 21, 2003, 10:36

Cool.

Legend · August 21, 2003, 21:28

Quote:

Originally posted by Sheik
What language did you write your program in?

Why do you want to know that?

Its VB.

Legend · August 21, 2003, 21:30

Quote:

Originally posted by GhengisFarb
What format is the replay in (file-wise)?

It takes Civ3 & PTW .sav files, and shows you a replay of them - much like the replay you can see when you finish the game. However, it has a few extra features, and you don't need to actually finish the game to see the replay.

It doesn't actually have replay format per-se.

Kuciwalker · August 22, 2003, 10:09

Do you have to have it running while you're playing, or do you need all of the save files?

Wait a second... doesn't civ3 have to store the replay info in the saves anyway?

Sheik · August 22, 2003, 10:22

Quote:

Why do you want to know that?
Its VB.

Because I program in VB too and I'm always interested to see what other people are doing and trying to learn from it. This utility is great btw.

Any plans to make a version that supports Play the World? And do you have any plans to release the source

? I am interested in how it reads the .sav file and parses the data.

Legend · August 23, 2003, 20:33

Quote:

Originally posted by skywalker
Do you have to have it running while you're playing, or do you need all of the save files?

Wait a second... doesn't civ3 have to store the replay info in the saves anyway?

No, its completely stand-alone - doesn't need civ / PTW to be running.

It just reads the civ .sav files. The replay data is stored in the save file, and it just extracts it.

Legend · August 23, 2003, 20:36

Quote:

Originally posted by Sheik

Because I program in VB too and I'm always interested to see what other people are doing and trying to learn from it. This utility is great btw.

Any plans to make a version that supports Play the World? And do you have any plans to release the source

? I am interested in how it reads the .sav file and parses the data.

It already supports PTW.

I'm not keen on releasing the source code, but I can release the general details onhow I go about parsing the data.

I basically set class objects for each section of the save file, and put User-defined-types in them that mirror the structure of that section. I then read them into the class by opening the .sav for binary, and using the Get command. That seesm to be the fastest way.

mazzz · August 25, 2003, 18:42

this looks so cool! but when i try to watch on it says "run time error nine" cript out of range

GhengisFarb™ · August 25, 2003, 20:47

Can it export into common video formats, like avi or flic?

I'm asking because for some games people like to make websites and it would be cool if we could integrate a play by play video with our own dialogue alongside it.

Legend · August 25, 2003, 23:47

Quote:

Originally posted by mazzz
this looks so cool! but when i try to watch on it says "run time error nine" cript out of range

Could you please post the .sav you are trying to view? And a list of the steps you are using?

(ie - does it load the first file OK, but crash when you try to load and view a second)?

Quote:

Can it export into common video formats, like avi or flic?

I'm asking because for some games people like to make websites and it would be cool if we could integrate a play by play video with our own dialogue alongside it.

Sorry, No.

Hagbart · August 27, 2003, 13:22

Nice programme, trying it out now...

bongo · September 19, 2003, 05:44

Really nice tool but it chrash too often.

Chrashed on the second file, then chrash again when I reload the program and the same .sav file.

Legend · September 20, 2003, 19:02

Quote:

Originally posted by bongo
Really nice tool but it chrash too often.

Chrashed on the second file, then chrash again when I reload the program and the same .sav file.

By any chance was this a PTW v1.27f save?

I have found a bug in that it doesn't support these files - yet.

Gimme a day or two to sort it out.

Kloreep · September 21, 2003, 22:58

This looks really cool.

Downloading now and will try it out later.

Rasputin · September 24, 2003, 14:12

brilliant idea, why didnt firaxis think of this??

bongo · October 7, 2003, 04:52

Legend, It may have been 1.27f, I'm not sure. It was no older than 1.21f.

Chard Bradon · October 8, 2003, 08:22

I can't downlaod the file!!!

kermit_the_frog · October 18, 2003, 06:12

i get error mesaage: component 'MsComctl.Ocx' or one of its dependencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid

Legend · October 27, 2003, 00:51

Quote:

Originally posted by kermit_the_frog
i get error mesaage: component 'MsComctl.Ocx' or one of its dependencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid

What OS are you using? Program is written in VB, which (unfortunately) supports windows only. I can post a full-install for older versions of windows, but generally everything like ME/XP/2000/98 should have that file.