Terribly basic design question...

klesh · May 1, 2000, 13:57

2. Where do I find a blank pallete of just the pinkish backgrounds? Since I'm using a pre-existing set of units, and some don't correspond (ie. battleship as a land unit or bomber as a ship) Should I start with a fresh set of rows and columns and then fill in individual units.

3. When in the units editor in cheat mode, there is no way to paste an existing unit in. I don't have saves of individual units, just the large row/column file from another scenario. Do I need to save each individual unit, and then place them into the blank pink set that corresponds to the rules?

Sorry, I don't know designer jargon and all your cool terms. Laymen's suggestions requested, please.

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I am the Ukrainian Anti-Pope!

BeBro · May 1, 2000, 15:07

Ok, I hope I understand You in the right way...
3. It IS possible to paste an existing unit with the units-editor. Select the unit You want to replace and click "Edit Icon" (I hope thats it in English, I own the German version). Then, in the following popup, click on the CD-icon and You can open an existing units-file. You can import all of the new units, or only a single unit.
But much better is it to use graphics software like Photoshop, PhotoPaint or PaintShopPro for cut/paste-operations.

Stefan Härtel · May 1, 2000, 15:10

2.: Here: Stefan.Haertel@t-online.de

3.: You can paste the entire units.gif file into your blank units file with the editor. You can't, however, paste units from those huge units collections. That's a reason why the fewest people use the editor.
The units editor can only use the rows from the units.gif. Therefore, you must copy and paste all the units from those unit collections into standart units.gif files. And I'm not sure if there's a sense in doing that.

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Follow the masses!
30,000 lemmings can't be wrong!

Our survival is based on continouus changing.
-Mao Tse-Tung
God might have created us as equals, but democracy and science pretty
much screwed that whole idea..
-Onepaul

Visit my Homepage at: http://members.xoom.com/SHaertel/Index.html

klesh · May 1, 2000, 16:57

Thanks guys, I didn't see the "import graphic" button in the shape of a cd-rom in the menu.
Stefan, I couldn't get the page. It was a German page, but had nothing to do with Civ

I'll post any more problems, but that should help tons..

Oh, after importing a graphic there is a new file in the scenario folder.... it's a units.bmp one. Should I get rid of the old .gif one? The units have been changed in the actual game, but do I need to convert this to a .gif?

Keep in mind that I have no idea what either one of those things are.

Paul Hanson · May 1, 2000, 17:54

You don`t need to get rid of the .gif file, and Civ2 will always choose .bmp files over .gifs anyway. Keep it if you want, but it won`t do anything.

The same applies for all other graphics files; bitmaps will work in place of .gifs, and in all cases Civ2 will choose a bitmap over a .gif if one exists.

klesh · May 1, 2000, 18:50

So I played around with all kinds of stuff. I was able to pretty much change every graphic I needed. But now I have a new problem...

4. I've changed some of the event text but kept the programming formulas the same. The game tells me there is a problem, and to check the manual for debugging instructions. The manual says to put @DEBUG immediately after the @BEGINEVENTS line. It then says there will be a window telling you where the problem is. But I get no such box. Could you guys help me with this one?

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I am the Ukrainian Anti-Pope!

WarVoid · May 1, 2000, 20:49

That debug box shows up in a seperate window that is not even a part of civ2.

Start civ and run the scenario.

You might see the game going through the events one by one if it's a big file. If it's a small file it will go so quickly you won't even see it.

When you exit civ the debug box should still be there telling you whatever went wrong. Usually the last entry in the list.

I hope that helps...

WarVoid · May 1, 2000, 20:53

I just HAD to add this...

I don't belive a Prince is asking such questions...

Only in America...

RobRoy · May 1, 2000, 22:06

Sometimes @debug doesn't seem to work.

You can also run a compare on the two Events.txt files (use a word processor), to review exactly what you changed. Syntax errors are incredibly common, yet difficult to spot. They will prevent your events file from loading. Make sure you're using the exact Civ name (e.g, Roman vs. Romans) and Unit Name (e.g., Archer vs Archers) if you've monkeyed with those.

klesh · May 2, 2000, 00:51

I have never tried to do anything of this sort before. Beware, my questions shall be utterly childlike.

I have been experimenting with some existing scenarios recently: changing event text, unit names, unit values etc. I replaced the entire Units.gif file with one from our most favorite scenarios. But because there are particular units, there are instances where soldiers are given helicopetr function and other oddities. I understand how to change that attribute with the column of 1's and 0's in the rules.txt
But what I want to do is change the unit graphic to one that better suits the role. This is to have more diverse unit abilities as the designer intended.
I've been reading some of the real basic write ups in the SLeague page, but I have a few questions.
1. How do I get the icons to be in the particular row/column on the big .gif file? They are in a particular order there which allows the attributes to be set accordingly. How do I match a graphic to a pre-existing role?

OK guys... I gotta run. Many more questions to follow shortly.

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I am the Ukrainian Anti-Pope!

klesh · May 2, 2000, 11:01

quote:

I don't belive a Prince is asking such questions.

Yeah I know that these questions are stupid. I've NEVER tried anything like this before.

This is computer programming 101 for me. I'm not even pc savy. I've just play enough Civ that I want to learn to customize.

Prince in postcount- subsettler in building experience

klesh · May 2, 2000, 11:06

How should it go?

quote:

@BEGINEVENTS@DEBUG

quote:

@BEGINEVENTS @DEBUG

quote:

@BEGINEVENTS
@DEBUG

quote:

@BEGINEVENTS
- space
@DEBUG

The window doesn't even pop up!!! I tried all 4. Remember the title of this thread.

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I am the Ukrainian Anti-Pope!
[This message has been edited by Field Marshal Klesh (edited May 02, 2000).]

St Leo · May 2, 2000, 17:20

1. How do I get the icons to be in the particular row/column on the big .gif file? They are in a particular order there which allows the attributes to be set accordingly. How do I match a graphic to a pre-existing role?

i. Download a Windows-based editor for *.gifs - The MGE one is evil - and use Notepad for *.txts. http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/

ii. For scenarios don't mess with Fanatics\Nukes and remember that Engineers\Spies only work fully in their slots. For modpacks leave barbarian units (and especially the ships they arrive in) in their preset roles.

2. Where do I find a blank pallete of just the pinkish backgrounds? Since I'm using a pre-existing set of units, and some don't correspond (ie. battleship as a land unit or bomber as a ship) Should I start with a fresh set of rows and columns and then fill in individual units.

See the first point above.

3. When in the units editor in cheat mode, there is no way to paste an existing unit in. I don't have saves of individual units, just the large row/column file from another scenario. Do I need to save each individual unit, and then place them into the blank pink set that corresponds to the rules?

See the first point above.

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St. Leo
http://ziggurat.sidgames.com/
http://www.sidgames.com/forums/

Stefan Härtel · May 3, 2000, 00:34

quote:

Thanks guys, I didn't see the "import graphic" button in the shape of a
cd-rom in the menu.
Stefan, I couldn't get the page. It was a German page, but had nothing
to do with Civ

Uh... that was my eMail adress.

------------------
Follow the masses!
30,000 lemmings can't be wrong!

Our survival is based on continouus changing.
-Mao Tse-Tung
God might have created us as equals, but democracy and science pretty
much screwed that whole idea..
-Onepaul

Visit my Homepage at: http://members.xoom.com/SHaertel/Index.html

klesh · May 3, 2000, 00:40

:embarrased: =

[This message has been edited by Field Marshal Klesh (edited May 02, 2000).]

klesh · May 3, 2000, 11:17

OK guys,
Thanks for all this help. As it stands now, I've been able to do all the graphic work needed. I still want the gameplay integrity of the original scenario, but I just needed to make the new unit graphics fit the predetermined roles that the designer intended.
But Now my problem is with the events. I still haven't been able to get the @DEBUG thing to work. Would having a unit with different name (in the rules vs. in the game itself) cause the debug not to work. I've toyed with the names whilst in the units-editor. Most (if not all) were automatically changed in the rules.txt
I could painstakingly go through with both the game, and the rules open to verify that all names correspond.
I just want to know why the debug thing won't work!
I will say that the very first events don't even seem to pop up. It's sort of an introductory one that explains the scenario a bit... but because of it's dissapearence, I guess there is a problem even before that?

If I just grab the original rules.txt from the author, it won't work either because I've changed unit names. But in this case it still gives me an "events.txt error" rather than a "rules.txt error". Hmmmm

I'm not trying to play like I'm some kinda scenario builder. I'm just a player who is interested in this side of the game. I'm just trying to learn more. If I had any kind of computer training, I would certainly not have all these lame questions for you guys.

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I am the Ukrainian Anti-Pope!
[This message has been edited by Field Marshal Klesh (edited May 03, 2000).]

WarVoid · May 3, 2000, 18:36

@BEGINEVENTS
@DEBUG

Thats how it goes.
And you DO NOT have to capitalize.
This is basic programming.

BeBro · May 4, 2000, 00:19

I can´t solve Your problems, but this may be helpful: When You create new events, they only work if You START the scenario again. They do not work with other savegames, because these use the events which are saved with the game.
You can use the DELEVENT.EXE to remove events from older savegames (usage: delevent "name of the saved game" ).
After that, the savegames use the events from the EVENTS.TXT

RobRoy · May 5, 2000, 09:48

Like I said, @DEBUG does not always work, even when people understand basic programming.

Which is the better use of your time? Trying to figure out why debug won't work for you? Or painstakingly comparing the names in your files?

I don't really know. I'd love to hear that you've solved your @debug problem. But I suspect you will be wasting your time. Personally, I've given up on the debug feature. It might be a version issue (it works fine in my ToT, but not with my MGE; however, I'm pretty sure it worked with MGE before, though I could be recollecting my, now-lost, FW version).

But do let me know if you figure out why it doesn't/didn't work for you.

From what you've described, the most likely problem is that you've used a unit name or a civ name slightly incorrectly in your events file - one misplaced or forgotten "s" is all it takes. The next area to look at is the event structure - if you've kept the previous structures and only changed the values, this shouldn't be a problem (unless you accidently added or deleted something).