This is a new unit for Exsanqination's Alexander the Great mod, but is also suitable for Scythians, Medes, Persians, Parthians, Sassanids, Huns, Avars, Maygars, Arabs, Seljuk Turks, Saracens, Mamelukes, and all the various horse archer tribes of the Asian steppes and Mongolian plains (in the future I want to make a Mongol horseman UU as well).

This unit can also be used to give non-european nations an alternative to Knights, because in reality the only people who used west european medieval Knights were....er....the west european medieval nations! It just don't look right having the medieval Muslim nations like Egypt, Babylon and Persia (and the Zulus, Aztecs, Iroquois for that matter) building feudal Christian Knights.

Here is the first of the of the TWO zip files:-
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WHATS NEW

The two zip files have been updated and now contain Civilopeadia pictures and text (my thanks to nonnob3 for these). Plus, there is an alternative "standing-still-shooting-forwards" attack .flc as well as the original "galloping-on-the-spot-shooting-sideways" one, with very simple instructions so that people can customize the unit and use the animation that they prefer.

Don't forget that you need both the zip file above AND the zip file below in order to make this animation work. And all you have to do is the following:-

1) download both zip files to a temporary place on your PC,

2) use Windows Explorer to open the CivilizationIII/Art/units folder on your PC and right click the units_32 file so that you can rename it (otherwise it will be overwriten, and so you may want to keep a copy).

3) now just use the unzip browser to unzip both HorseArcher.zip files into CivilizationIII/Art/units. This will create a new folder called Horse Archer which contains all the FLICs and files.

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....er....I did have a picture here, but I seem to have deleted it!
Please look down this thread for an animated preview.

Here is the 2nd zip file. As I said before, you'll need both.

Once unzipped, you will find a readme.txt file which contains full details of how to add this unit to civ3 by using the Civ3Editor, as well as some suggested stats for this unit and some very simple customization instructions.

realy nice :)

I have include it to my private mod to the Egypt, Greece, Babylon, Persia, Aztecs, Zuzlands and Iroquois with 8-2-2

This animation is excellent. Great work Kryten, quality work as expected :enlighten:

very nice. Has to be one of the better animations I have seen recently :)

:beer: cheers!

Looks great!

Excelent!

Great! :goodjob:

Looks very nice.

Looks awesome, but I can't get it to work. I followed all your directions, but everytime I try to build the unit, the game gets a civilization3.exe error.

Just a thought, but might it be because there are no sound files? Or am I just a complete idiot (more likely)?

Ah, another conjecture: I am using v1.16f... are there any incompatibility issues with the old patch?

....hmmm....I'll try downloading it myself and following my own instructions (has anyone else out there got the same problem?).

I too am using v1.16f (I've not had time to download v1.17f yet).

Question: in order to keep the zip files as small as possible, I didn't include any sound files, but just used links to the exsisting civ3 Mounted Warrior and Cossack folders. If the name of these has been changed then could this be the problem?

(Again, could anyone else confirm that they got this unit to work?)

I think I've sussed it!

The zip files I've posted create a folder in CivIII/Art/units called "HorseArcher"....it should be called "Horse Archer" (with a SPACE between the words-----don't you just love computers!)

So, quick fix, rename the folder.
Long fix, I'll repost the zip files.

.........sorry............

(Please see the top of this thread for the updated zip files)

Remember that there is a new "standing-still-shooting-forwards" attack animation (unfortunately, I can't update this preview!) :-

Here is another one:-

Cool!!!!! :love:

I've been wishing on stars for a horse archer.

And this one is really good!

awesome job Kryten! I love it!!!

One question though - why does he always run when he attacks???

He dosen't run....he gallops!

The idea was to try and give the effect of horse archers shooting while on the move. In reality the Parthians were well known for shooting backwards while evading an enemy charge (this is where we today get the phrase "Parthian or Parting Shot"). After all, who would sit stationary on a horse while any enemy runs hundred's of yards/meters towards them? With a bow and a horse you can keep the enemy at a distance while still inflicting casulties; that's what made horse archers so good for so long; they can kill you but you can't even reach them.

However, I do admit it takes a little getting used to (have you tried two horse archer units fighting each other yet?) If you like, I can easily make a new less dynamic conventional civ3 "standing-still-shooting-forwards" FLIC instead of the "galloping-on-the-spot-shooting-sideways" one. It's no problem, and should only take a week. Let me know and I'll get started.

thats what I thought :). Its a good idea, but it just looks sorta odd cause he gallops on the spot, and always attacks in the same direction. It doesnt bother me, but I wouldn't mind having a stand-still attack anim. Don't stress yourself over it though, it is still an awesome unit!!!


One other question - does the Horse Archer work for all civs color-wise? Or is it only for the civs you mentioned? If it doesn't, thats no problem at all. I'm just curious.

Can't wait for more of your units, Kryten! Keep up the good work.

Kryten, what is your next project? Those AoE units would go great with the Alexander Mod.

Hope to see an Elephant Archer soon.

Great Job, Kryten!

Its good to see you have finally completed your first project. ;)

Can I say I am expected to see more of your excellent work around here soon? :D

To Dark Sheer,

Thanks mate. I'm nowhere as good as you, but I'm getting better.

To Kal-el,

I must be realistic, I have already got a long list (after this there is the Macedonian Phalanx, then the Hypaspist, then the Thracian Peltast, and I'd like to do a Companion Horseman, plus the Trebuchet of course....). Even if I put the Mongol horseman UU and the Spanish Harquebusier on hold, it will still be several months before I'm free. But I've not forgotten you. I WILL one day get round to some of your requests. But it may be some time. Sorry.

To Exsanquination,

Moeniir's FLICster tool always shows units in a default blue colour, but every blue bit in these previews will automatically change to the correct civ colour in the game (brown looks good for the Scythians). In the meantime, here's a preview of the alternative attack .flc, which is facing and shooting in the SW direction:-

Great looking unit. I'll add it in my next game.

I was thinking about making it available to all civs as a 50% more expensive knight with the blitz ability. Thoughts?

Originally posted by nonnob3
I would like to post them, but first I would like to ask Kryton's permission.


Ask for my permission? I should be begging YOU! YES PLEASE!
It would take me at least a fortnight to make some, probably more.

And now I have a confession. Do you know (and this is quite embarrassing) that I no idea of how to add pictures to the civ3 civilopeadia! Even when I download Dark Sheer's excellent Crossbowman and Bandit, then follow his instructions, my civilopeadia always shows an enlarged poor quality version of the default .flc. I was hoping to one day suss it out, when I get a bit more time.

And I'll give you all the help I can for your Stormtrooper. I owe you one.

To JeffNebraska,

Yes, you could allow all nations to build it, but in reality the English (and so Americans)/French/Germans/Romans/Greeks didn't use horse archers. They preferred heavily armoured Knights instead (or cataphracts in the case of the Byzantine Greeks), at least untill gunpowder weapons became available. But hey, use it as you want. Once you've downloaded it, it's yours.
One day, in the far distant future, I want to make some more mounted units so that the list will be like this:-
Horseman (2-1-2), Mounted Warrior UU (3-1-2), Horse Archer (3-2-3), Heavy Horseman (4-2-2), Knight (4-3-2), Chinese Rider UU (4-3-3), Mongol Horseman UU (5-3-3), Mounted Caracole (5-3-2), Dark Sheer's Bandit (5-3-3), Cavalry (6-3-3). It won't be for many months though.

To nonnob3,

Originally posted by nonnob3
I have just completed the images for civilpedia for Horse Archer by using Jasc Print pro 7.0 (Awsome program!)
I am waitng for Kryton to give me permission to post them.
I am also trying to create a unit myself: STORMTROOPER (Fascist era). I might ask Kryton for some tips.

Oh YES PLEASE! As I have said in your other thread, I should be begging YOU! And I'll give you all the meagre help I can with your Stormtrooper.

And my first tip in creating a new Stormtrooper animation is.....to get Dark Sheer to do it! Seriously though, if you haven't done it aleady, then you MUST download Dark Sheer's animation tutorial (it's in the Tutorials forum), and Moeniir's FLICster tool (in the Utilities forum). BTW, I'm also using Jasc Paint Shop Pro 7.0 which contains Animation Shop 3.04, but I only bought it a couple of months ago and am still learning what all the buttons do. I need you to give ME tips!

So where is the civlopedia image ?? :) Great work guys

Kryten:

Drop the unit_large.pcx and unit_small.pcx pictures into the Art\Civilopedia\Icons\Units folder.

Go to Text\PediaIcons and copy the format in their for units to add the new unit. So, it should say something like:

#ICON_PRTO_NEW_UNIT
art\civilopedia\icons\units\newunitlarge.pcx
art\civilopedia\icons\units\newunitsmall.pcx

This assumes you have a civilopedia entry called PRTO_NEW_UNIT.

Hope this helps you out.

Looks like I owe you one as well Ed O'War! Thanks yet again. I didn't know about the Text\PediaIcons (I must read Dark Sheer's tutorial again). Cheers:)

Originally posted by Kryten
To nonnob3,

And my first tip in creating a new Stormtrooper animation is.....to get Dark Sheer to do it!......


Heh, if everyone were to do that I will have no time to play Civ3 at all :lol:

But seriously, those new unit animations that has been created lately are all great! The Chinese Junk & your Horse Archer are unique units just to mention a few. :cooool:

Looks good :D

To nonnob3,

Thanks very much for your civilopeada pictures. May I have your permission to add them to the Horse Archer zip files, giving you full credit of course, when I update them with the alternative attack .flc this weekend?

And your Stormtrooper project is far more ambitious than anything that I have attempted (after all, all I did with the horse archer is to cut the legs off of the Babylonian Bowman and stick him on the back of a Mounted Warrior horse. Thats all I am at the moment....a cut-and-paste merchant!).
And thats why I need your help: is there a tool in Paintshop Pro that lets you add shading easily? Does the Brightness/Contrast box do the job? If so, please tell me how to use it!

But I do have some constructive suggestions for you. Wouldn't the Paratrooper be a better model for the Stormtrooper? He does have several advantages. First, he holds his SMG (as opposed to a HMG) closer to his body: second, he is not so 'stocky'; and lastly, he is a unit that doesn't get used much (thats why I used the Mounted Warrior horse and Bowman --- being UU's, you don't see them very often in a normal civ game). After all, a marine in a different uniform still looks like a marine in a different uniform.

To give an idea of what I mean, I've attached a VERY crude example that I've knocked up. Of course it needs LOTS of shading and detail, but what do you think of the silhouette, legs and boots?

(BTW, we should realy start a new thread in the Customization forum. This thread is going to be a right mess with horse archer and stormtrooper stuff all mixed together!)

Sorry if I seem a bit thick, but which units do you mean, the Horse Archer or the Stormtrooper?

If you mean the Horse Archer, then you must save your current game AND save or rename your civ3mod file, then start a new game with the Horse Archer costing zero and requiring no resources. This is because adding new units with the civ3edit to an existing game causes civ3 to throw a wobbly.

If you mean your Stormtrooper, then open Moeniir's FLICster and paste your animation frames onto, say, the WarriorRun.flc (remember to save/rename the original first!). Now when you build and move the Warrior you will see your animation. Using this method means that you won't need to save the civ3mod file, because you are not adding anything new as far as civ3 is concerned (this is all theory. I've not tried it myself, but it should work).

Kryten,

Great work.

Also nice to see a read-me and instructions as to how to insert the relevant bits into the relevant files for people.

I would also be keen to throw this Unit into my Unit-Mania modpack if it is o.k. with you.

Mabe with stats 3-2-3 and bombard 1/0/1 (gives the Archer a "free" defensive shot against attackers, without allowing it to bombard adjacent squares) and available to the Civs that you suggest.

Cheers.

it rocks... good job

To Kryten,
Hi buddy!:)

I will later on post an updated Pediaicon for Horse Archer largepcx. It needed a touch-up, there were some red spots on it. Looks much better now. I am at work right now. Thats why my name is nonnog6, I am also nonnob3.

Originally posted by Kestrel18
I would also be keen to throw this Unit into my Unit-Mania modpack if it is o.k. with you.

Of course you can. As I said earlier is this thread to JeffNebraska, if anybody wishes to use this unit in their own scenario/mod/website, then please feel free. Once you've downloaded it, it's yours!

To nonnob3,

Thanks yet again matey for the new civilopedia picts. Thats TWO I owe you!
As for your trouble with Dark Sheer's Scudlauncher, lets go through the usual checklist:-
*does the unit have EXACTLY the same name as the units/folder?
*has the .ini file also have EXACTLY the same name?
*in the Civ3Editor, has it got the same Civilopedia name? (i.e. PRTO_Scud_Launcher).
*have you changed any other units names, so that the sound files can't be found?
*and remember, civ3 don't like adding new units half way through a game.

If the answer is 'yes' to all these, then I'm stumped.
Try sending a post in Dark Sheer's Scudlauncher thread. That will 'bump' it to the top of the Units Forum where it is sure to get his attention. Sorry, but I can't think of anything else.
:(

At last I've finished the alternative attack .flc.

I've updated the two zip files at the top of this thread to include nonnob3's Civilopeadia pictures (thanks mate) and also included some very simple customization instructions so that everybody can choose the attack animation that they prefer.

Sorry that it's taken so long (a week to do the attack .flc then another to make a new death .flc so that they match each other).
But at last I can say goodbye to the Horse Archer and move on to the next project; the Macedonian Pike Phalanx.....

:)

Here's a view of it....

thanks, kryten. Awesome job, cant wait for the phalanx!

is it just me? or is the standing still attack not in any of the zip files... just wondering where is that graphix..

cool unit..

nevermind..im just blind

I decided to replace the Civilopedia icons with ones that match the originals. Thought I'd share them with everyone.

And the small one...

Thanks very much Eclipse:goodjob:

Kryten,

Nice unit! I have been using it, with identical stats as the horseman, with availability to all civs. But I think, because of it's similarity to the Babylonian Bowman, that I will make it a Babylonian "flavour unit" to replace the Horseman.

Very nice work.

u dumb ****s the iroquois mounted warrior uses a ****en bow u morons

Originally posted by {virus}
u dumb ****s the iroquois mounted warrior uses a ****en bow u morons

duh... me {virus} me no very bright... ;)

Originally posted by {virus}
u dumb ****s the iroquois mounted warrior uses a ****en bow u morons

what is your problem? You're so insecure you need to slag off other ppl's achievements to feel proud in your self?

I think we need to ignore {virus} and other people like him

Well, he's banned now anyway. For life. I guess there will always be an Idiotic Warrior...

It won't work for me! I unzipped all the files into a new folder in the art/units section, and the civilopedia entry works fine. However, when I go to make the unit, I go to icon 66 and there is nothing but the picture of the leader. I followed the instructions exactly, help please! :(


Erm, never mind, I forgot to copy the units_32 file over, oops :o

Originally posted by {virus}
u dumb ****s the iroquois mounted warrior uses a ****en bow u morons

:lol: classic

This should really be used for the keshik.

Arrrr! I was happy and thought Sandris made a new unit - and now this. A world record bump.

This is really annoying.

Arrrr! I was happy and thought Sandris made a new unit - and now this. A world record bump.

This is really annoying.

... Not to mention that I very politely gave him the lowdown on "necro-threading" only yesterday! :trouble:

-Oz

... which should tell us something about the intentional nature of the bump. :hmm:

Arrrr! I was happy and thought Sandris made a new unit - and now this. A world record bump.

This is really annoying.
And I thought Kryten was back into business :ar15: kill the bumpers !!! Anyway there was some funny stuff in this thread :rolleyes:

I was getting pretty excited about a new horse archer unit too! ...oh well, I still like Kryten's unit. The first custom unit for CivIII that I remember seeing in my life. Nostalgia... :)

Sorry folks, I never noticed the dates (and I just read Oz's first informative post on bumping). I'll make sure not to bump anything old anymore.

Wow, I was still a private with less than a year in the Army when this unit thread came out. Better yet, I had just turned 19 when this thread was created. I really feel old now.......dammit:old: