Hi!


I'm working on a re-design of the advisor screens. I want to change them back how they were in Colonization 1. I began with Europe screen and the Continental Congress some month ago.

New update (Europe screen 4.1):

Changelog:

- replaced the old Col1 background with a new one. Big thanks to Fankman for making this possible.

- some bugfixes

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/7909/screenshot01dv3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/8503/screenshot02pj5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Install:

1. Download and extract EuropeScreen_4.1.rar.
2. Copy "EuropeScreen4"-directory to Colonization/mods and start it via advance/load a mod.

I included a AOD2 compatible version:
Copy "AgeOfDiscoveryII"-directory (inside EuropeScreen_4.1.rar) to Colonization/Mods. Say yes if asked to overwrite existing files.

See readme.txt for more informations.


Download: http://forums.civfanatics.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=11581.

Enjoy :)

Nice idea. Though I think to much air space (screen should be moved up), and not that good looking buildings. Inbound ships should face east.
Ship inventory should be uncer the ship not over.

You should think about what to do with the patch that has a sail west/east feature.

that looks amazing. im adding it to the modcast! :goodjob:

Very nice. Looking forward to what else you put out. :band:

Great start. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for comments. I love it when people praising me :)

@Zuul
Yes you have some valid points.

I am aware of the fact that backgrounds right now have subpar quality. It was a quick task i've done first. Now that i see concept is working i'm willing to invest more time into the graphics. I will also try to reduce wasted space in the upper half. And yes, Mr. Eagle Eye, inbound ships facing wrong side. But at least they comming from north, what is historical correct if i recall correctly.
And thx for mentioning the east/west feature. I totally forgot this. But of what kind of patch are you talking? Is it an official one or some mod?

@all
I would like to turn inbound ships around, but i don't know yet how to do this. Is there a function or element in python i can use for flipping /rotating images? I only found one for shaping.

Expect a new release on weekend!

Yes a good start :).

Snoopy/Dale Unofficial Patch (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=293253)

Image of the west/east feature (http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=190320&d=1223067097)

Nice :D

Keep up the good work.

When work finishes on this, it needs to be integrated into the Origins Mod :)

Sorry for delay... new version out (first post)

Nice :). Only one thing I could complain about: the ships in the dock should be twice the size if they are so close.

New version out (first post)...

Looks very cool! I like this.

that is 10 x better looking than the plain brown screen

if anything I might suggest background bars to remove the transparency behing the stock at the bottom and the treasury / tax at the top ? assists the hard of sight!

nice work ! :)

Thx! :)

if anything I might suggest background bars to remove the transparency behing the stock at the bottom and the treasury / tax at the top ? assists the hard of sight!

It's not as simple as it seems first. If i made background of stock/cargo boxes to dark it will be hard to differ between guns, tools and trade goods. But I'll try and if i come up with a better solution i'll post it.

Btw, please report any misplacings or odd behaviour. It's not easy to keep track of all that possible resolutions.

How does it look with more than two ships in port? Curious how you've implemented a large fleet at the docks. :)

You can scroll them like in the default screen (but horizontal). This is the reason for the space under the stock.

Hello koma,

I'm using your Mod in my own MOD, but because of I'm german, I have an Error, (Error-Text German (http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=195595&stc=1&d=1227866343)) and an English text in your MOD, which I corrected (Corrected Version (http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=195594&d=1227865871)), see the screenies, hope you use it in your next Version
Corrected Error-Text German (http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=195596&stc=1&d=1227866343)
Corrected Error-Text English (http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=195597&stc=1&d=1227866343)
Popup Multilingual (example German) (http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=195598&stc=1&d=1227866343)
Unchanged Screen German (http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=195599&stc=1&d=1227866343)
Changed Screen German (http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=195600&stc=1&d=1227866343)
Changed Screen English (http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=195601&stc=1&d=1227866343)

First off, I love love love this. From the beginning I've wanted something better than that ugly brown screen. Is there any way to add sounds of Europe? Merchants doing business and maybe a bit of Old World music? I'm just nitpicking though. Again, I LOVE it.

Thank you Cornhog. Yes, adding sounds should be possible. I can't promise you it will be in next update but it's definitely on my todo list. If you're desperate for this you can fasten progress by providing me some concrete samples/sounds. :p

Hey KingMB, thx for pointing this out. It's a little bit embrassing because I'm german too :) but i have to admit I never tested Colonization in an other language than english. I'll give you an more detailed answer in your "Modvereinigung (mit NB-MOD)"-Thread @civforum later this evening.

Oh, I'm not smart enough to help you edit it. I just snipe from the peanut gallery. One more nitpick though. Is there any way to keep that trade window open all the time? The one that tells you how much you sold for how much?

Is there any way to keep that trade window open all the time?

Hmm, i don't have a quick solution for this right now but it's a justifiable idea. I'll make this optional in next release.

I like the work so far, and too would like to see that trade info segment permanantly open

I've pinched your Europe screen to put in LooF 1.3 :p hope you don't mind

This is compatible with the new AOD2 from Dale?

It'll be in the next version of AoD2. :)

Does it work in multiplay? (stated in another thread it might not).

Yes, 100% compatible with AOD2 1.03.

I've pinched your Europe screen to put in LooF 1.3 hope you don't mind
Jenks, this is no problem. :)


But i have a problem. I'm working right now on Continental Congress (CC). In the initial release of my screens i had this quick idea putting FF head graphics into paintings but i would prefer solution from Col1 where FF had full body graphics standing in the CC.
Now I don't know where to take body graphics for 52:( FF's in Col2. I tried to import them from Col1 but I think they're just looking plain ugly.
I can experiment with fancy effects to hide their age but it would be much, much work and I'm not sure it's worth the effort.

Another possibility of course would be delaying work on CC and further improving the Europe screen instead. Some bug fixing, i could add sounds, maybe animations. I could make buildings in background of Europe screen clickable and linking them to existing or new screens/features. No shortage of ideas here as you can see.

I rarely ask for direct help but this time i'm really needing some advice. So if anyone knows what to do with those FF body graphics or think i should focus on Europe screen instead, please give some feedback.

@Dale:
This means we'll see a AOD 1.04? Good news. :)

@Zuul:
I don't know. In theory Europe screen should work with multiplayer. Afterall i only replaced the background image and change geometry/coordinates. Maybe some conditions (is.human) messed it up. Care to point me to the thread you mentioned? Edit: ... Ok i found it.

Yes, and like yourself I'm bringing back a much loved element of Col1. But you'll have to wait till 1.04 to see. ;)

Koma13, I suggest that you continue to improve the Europe screen, adding some animations and sounds will be wonderful, I think that the FF in the Col2 is ok, it has the faces very well done, the problem was the Europe one that it hasn't anything just a brown background.

PD: Dale, you just entered in my list of idols :P

A mysterious new feature in AOD2 from col1 we all miss? Recently Dale's statements tend to be more cryptic than announcements from NOE (Nintendo of Europe this is). :)

Btw. the feature i miss most is the AI.

Thx millansoft for your input. :goodjob: Europe screen right now is very static so i thought sound/animations would be great to improve this. Anyone knows of a good nif-tutorial? Most ones i found here in forum only explains how to import units or leaderheads into CIV but I don't know which python command to use if it's not an unit or a leaderhead.

Try the Morrowwind forums for good nif tutes. It uses GameBryo as well and they've got much better tutorials over there. :)

As for the mysterious inclusion from Col1, it's not the AI. ;)

Does it work in multiplay? (stated in another thread it might not).
I have just played for 3 hours in team-multiplay with the OLD vanilla screen and I have encountered NO out-of-sync messages (see my postings in this thread (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=7537192#post7537192))

@koma13: Please check/test your (excellent) Europe screen under multiplayer conditions. I encounter regular out-of-sync (OOS) messages when I or my teammate switch to the europe screen. I have found no procedure of reproducing the OOS error yet...

Ok, I have a look into this. But I need your help. I have zero experience in multiplay. We first need to find a way how to reproduce this OOS error. Does it only happen in team play? Does it happen in internet play or lan? What is this "simultaneous turns" option? Did you have it activated? Maybe OOS is happening when both players access europe screen at same time? I need to find a way to reproduce this error before i can do anything about it.

BlastDuke,

Ok here is another experience of mine related to the out of sync issue
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=302153

And to tell you the truth I use this Europescreen Mod too .. so it may have something to do with it.

And btw .. the clear speciality is not functioning in the Europe screen in this mod.

But great mod man ;)

Ok, I have a look into this. But I need your help. I have zero experience in multiplay. We first need to find a way how to reproduce this OOS error. Does it only happen in team play? Does it happen in internet play or lan? What is this "simultaneous turns" option? Did you have it activated? Maybe OOS is happening when both players access europe screen at same time? I need to find a way to reproduce this error before i can do anything about it.
Hi, I think I could reproduce the bug:

My/our games settings are:
LooF1.3 MOD
Direct-IP team multiplayer game
Large Map
FaireWeatherScript
2 human players as team 1
11 AI players as Europeans/Indians
Simultaneous turns

The new Europe screen has a summer and winter style. I do not know the change interval but when one human player gets the "winter"-screen (either by ship arrival or pressing F2) the game goes OOS. It does not seem to matter if the game host or if the joining player accesses the "winter"-screen, the game gets OOS both ways.
If the OOS player leaves and joins the game again you can continue play until the next "winter"-screen shows up -> next OOS

Hope this helps you eliminating the bug.

Bingo! Here's the related code to the above findings:


if (currentSpeed == 0):
if (currentTurn%6 == 0):
self.snowFactor = CyGame().getSorenRandNum(2, 'snow making!')

if (currentSpeed == 1):
if (currentTurn%4 == 0):
self.snowFactor = CyGame().getSorenRandNum(3, 'snow making!')

if (currentSpeed == 2):
if (currentTurn%6 == 0):
self.snowFactor = CyGame().getSorenRandNum(2, 'snow making!')

if (currentSpeed == 3):
if (currentTurn%6 == 0):
self.snowFactor = CyGame().getSorenRandNum(2, 'snow making!')

if (self.snowFactor >= 1):
screen.addDDSGFC("EuropeScreenBackgroundSnow", ArtFileMgr.getInterfaceArtInfo("INTERFACE_EUROPE_IN_BOUND_BOX").getPath(), 0, 0, self.XResolution, self.YResolution, WidgetTypes.WIDGET_GENERAL, -1, -1 )


BlastDuke, can you get every player in the MP game to replace their CvEuropeScreen.py file with the one attached? Location is Assets\Python\Screens\ in the related mod you're playing.

That should fix it (but stops the winter screen appearing).

Thank you very much BlastDuke! :goodjob: And Dale too :goodjob:
I would never imagine that this little snow thing could make trouble.
As far as I understand snow in general is not the problem, but this random generating. Some player has snow, other player don't.
Now I made a quick patch with fixed snow generating every 12 turns. I hope this solves the OOS bug without sacreficing snow feature completely.

If someone confirms me this fix is working I will link it to first post.

My buddy and I have just tested the new CvEuropeScreen.py files and could NOT reproduce the bug any longer, seems to work now, good work guys!

So all players need to have the exactly same Europe "season" all times, no matter if you turn off the winter feature completely (like Dale), or let it appear at fixed intervals (like koma13: each 12 turns)

Thx again for testing.

So all players need to have the exactly same Europe "season" all times, no matter if you turn off the winter feature completely (like Dale), or let it appear at fixed intervals (like koma13: each 12 turns)

Yes and no. I think the problem is the variable where I stored if winter screen happens or not. I gave it same name for all players. This caused the OOS error and should be easily fixable by giving each player it's own variable name.
I'll include this in next update, right now I think fixed seasons are ok.

Yes, I think fixed seasons are fine. Plus, you can match them to game speed.

Fast - every second turn
Normal - every second turn
Epic - every fourth turn
Marathon - for three turns every twelve turns

And btw .. the clear speciality is not functioning in the Europe screen in this mod.

I'm not sure, clear speciality is to delete the profession, right? Should it be possible in Europe screen?

Yes, I think fixed seasons are fine. Plus, you can match them to game speed.

Fast - every second turn
Normal - every second turn
Epic - every fourth turn
Marathon - for three turns every twelve turns

Yes, I'll go with fixed seasons. But your suggestion would lead to snow in May, September. And I don't want have winter screen that often. It should be more a kind of easter egg, only happens once in a while.
But snow isn't important right now, I'm working on something more interesting. I'm trying to replace the ship icons with the 3d model counterparts.
I already got them in. It's really cool, they're moving in the wind and you have player colors on flags and sails. But they're facing all in same direction. And I don't know how to rotate them. :king: I can rotate/turn/zoom them with the keyboard but not in python. And I tried a lot. I learned how to move the camera in one step from florida to alaska and I understand now that it's possible to have a camera zoom from beneath the sea up to the a certain ship unit (It looks like in Jaws). But I didn't get those ships turned an inch into another direction. :mad:

I used this command for adding ship models to europe screen:
VOID addUnitGraphicGFC (STRING szName, INT iUnit, INT iX, INT iY, INT iWidth, INT iHeight, WidgetType eWidgetType, INT iData1, INT iData2, FLOAT fxRotation, FLOAT fzRotation, FLOAT fScale, BOOL bShowBackground)

I thought fxRotation and fzRotation is the way to go but it doesn't changes anything. :confused:
Maybe someone with more experience in python (I started python 2 month ago) has some idea.
If I don't find a solution for this I'd have to go back to 2d ship icons. :(

Have a look through the Unit Pedia code and see how they do the model rotations there. That might give you the clue you need. :)

This is where I've got the idea originally from. :) But they don't rotate the ships themselves in Civpedia. They have this auto rotation for camera. I can enable this for europe screen too but it only affects the selected ship.

I'm not sure, clear speciality is to delete the profession, right? Should it be possible in Europe screen?


Well .. double click any unit on the docks and you will find (amongst other options like convert to soldier, dragoon etc.) a clear specialty item. However when you click on it nothing happens.

Not that it is very important but it just looks like broken behavior that's all.

:confused:
If I click on units on dock i get a menu but there is no clear speciality option.

(Don't mind background of europe screen. It looks a little strange right now)

I released a new version. Check out the first post for download and changelog.

Thanks koma, I'm implementing this version and integrating it with my Pirates Tortuga screen too, so if you play AoD2 it will be in by default. :)

Ok, I discovered some bugs in the new release. I will make a fixed update in next few days. Sorry for that.

Yes Dale, good to hear. If you have questions about the new release feel free to ask.

EDIT:

Here is a new screenshot:

I released (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=7325068&postcount=1) a new update.
Thanks to Fankman for making a new background. :)

I wonder if it's possible for another civ to have another europe screen? let's say an asian civ to have a asian screen?

I wonder if it's possible for another civ to have another europe screen? let's say an asian civ to have a asian screen?

Yes it is. I do that with the Pirates in AoD2. :)

Nice koma13 :). Could Frankman come here and post something about his gorgeous pic?

I'm gessing that you, koma13, did the winderscreen. Looks like you missed snow on half of the trees (those behind the ship).

I just now got this mod running. WOW! That's very cool! I like how the water is moving - it's not just a static picture.

I think this mod could be improved very easily just by compressing it in a more standard format (i.e. just let windows compress it into native zip). I didn't want to install the winrar tool, so instead I downloaded that tool into a virtual PC (that way it's easy to re-install when the free time runs out).

Anyways - I like it. Thanks very much!

OMG, this looks gorgeous!
I was wishing some artist could help me to make a Chinese-style or Asian-Style background? And maybe a Slave-Market background?
Fankman should be a very nice artist to make this:)
I just need beautiful backgrounds images like in this one:) I can write the python script quickly!

rar it pretty standard nowadays.

yes -- tar is also pretty standard... What I am trying to say is that I can unzip a zip file in windows without downloading anything. It's built into the OS (and you'll find it in Linux too, I don't know about Mac). But if I want to uncompress rar or tar I have to go looking for utility somewhere, download it, blah blah blah.

If you want to make a mod as simple as possible you won't burden people with that extra step of finding an uncompression utility when there already have compression formats readily available on the OS they are playing on.

thanks for the compliments. i've only draw the buildings and had the idea for the design. koma13 did the water with the nice reflections and the heaven, and he draw the original harbour. this harbour was the template for my work. and thanks for koma13's support and ideas. i've seen the problem about the missing snow on the trees, i'll fix it today or tomorrow :crazyeye:

Ok, thanks for your comments :).

About that rar vs. zip issue. It's pretty easy: Europe screen archived with rar is 7.7mb, zip is 10.2mb and civfanatics has a file limit of 10mb.

I'm gessing that you, koma13, did the winderscreen. Looks like you missed snow on half of the trees (those behind the ship).

No Zuul, I didn't do the winter screen. Fankman did. And he already pointed out the missing snow but I thought no one will notice. :)

I wonder if it's possible for another civ to have another europe screen? let's say an asian civ to have a asian screen?

Yes, it's possible (like Dale said). You can have as many backgrounds as you want. You "only" have to adjust the positions for ships/units. If you choose a background with similar layout to the existing one, you can skip most of that work.

koma13 -- thanks. That's a pretty good reason! :)

So I think it's extraordinary to make the adviser screens more beautiful. It takes some of the pain out of having to go check them for something. The new Europe screen is an excellent start since that's what has to be checked so often.

But...

If you want to make an "absolute must have" mod...

Hmmm? :)

Then all the progress bars should somehow be presented in the main screen. There's the immigrant bar. I hate it when I miss this and the petty criminal jumps ahead of the statesman in line -- he's so rude!

And there's the revolution bar, the great general bar, exploration points, etc.

All of these don't have to be presented as bars, they could be percentage icons -- but if there was a way to cram all of that onto the main screen... You could compress that any way you wanted too and I'd download anything just to run that!!!

Just an idea. Thanks for such good work!!!

:)

but if there was a way to cram all of that onto the main screen...
Displaying most important informations from advisor menus on the main screen without clumping the interface? An interesting quest. :) Problem is that you have to edit the CvMainInterface.py, a file often used by other mods too. And people having problems with extracting rar archives, I don't know how they think about merging python files.... :)

you have to edit the CvMainInterface.py, a file often used by other mods too

Now you're tempting me to look at that file and get a little familiar with this.

I think the user interface really is missing another button in the lower left (where the other UI display change buttons are), and that missing button would add these bars/icons, preferable below the upper right buttons which lead to the advisor menus, so you can quickly clutter the screen with percentage icons, all near their associated buttons which currently give the details.

Anyways - there are always obstacles. All of them can find a way to be overcome if enough people want it to happen.

Displaying most important informations from advisor menus on the main screen without clumping the interface? An interesting quest. :) Problem is that you have to edit the CvMainInterface.py, a file often used by other mods too. And people having problems with extracting rar archives, I don't know how they think about merging python files.... :)

It's ok, AOD is the best mod out there, and im sure will incorporate the best features from other mods, ala LooF and JTrade etc.

I uploaded a small patch for the Europe Screen 4.1 Release:

- fixed a problem with the "sail to new word"-buttons (after discovering the pacific) in AOD2 (Thx Dale).

- added missing snow to trees in the background

Install:
Extract files and copy them to colonization/mods. You'll have to start a new game to get the AOD2 fix working.

Europe Screen 5 Beta

Changelog:

1) New "sail to the new world" buttons.
The left button just send your ship back to where it started to Europe. The right (goto) button opens a menu where you can select the destination/arrival point of your ship:

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/318/civ4screenshot0021.jpg

Move your cursor over the old america map to travel to the east or west side of the new world. Select a city to send your ship to that city. Click outside the menu to leave it without making a choice.

2) recall outgoing ships back to Europe

3) sell your ships

4) lift boycotts

5) improved Tortuga screen (AOD2 only)

6) Fankman contributed his latest piece of art, I am sure you can spot it (ingame). :)

This version is intended as a stand alone mod but also works with AOD2: just make a copy of EuropeScreen5 folder, rename it to AgeOfDiscoveryII and move it to Colonization/Mods.

Download (~7,5mb):

http://www.mediafire.com/file/mjydmmmjw1j/EuropeScreen_5_Beta.rar


Keep in mind this is still a beta!

- I didn't make any multiplayer tests, please post oos errors (if they happen).

- Europe screen contains now some dialogs. I only made a rough translation into english. :crazyeye:

- Prices for ship selling and boycotts are not much balanced, AI don't use it.

suh.weet. :)

Wow, that is very cool. :goodjob:

:) Thank you. If you get tired of the sea gulls you can disable them by checking "no movies" option in the graphic settings. And special thanks to Jeckel, your screen tutorials were pretty useful (especially input handling).

EuropeScreen 5 will be the final version of my Europe screen. Enough CvEuropeScreen.py. :p

Looks great. Thanks for the hard work. Can't wait to see your next project!

New screen works really well. Love the little colony previews you get. Haven't tried out the ship selling, tortuga, or boycott lifting yet. Shame you cant use it with saved games from latest aod. Ah well, better just finish that game off quick then!! :)

Haven't tried out the ship selling, tortuga, or boycott lifting yet.
For ship selling you need at least two ships. Ship price right now is 2/3 of initial europe purchase price minus tax rate. Pirates gets an additional bonus of 15%/Level.

Shame you cant use it with saved games from latest aod. Ah well, better just finish that game off quick then!!

I fixed that behaviour in the beta version, you won't have to start a new game when upgrading to the final release. ;)

Thanks for the hard work. Can't wait to see your next project!

Right now I want to help ekmek and the Mare Nostrum mod.

And special thanks to Jeckel, your screen tutorials were pretty useful (especially input handling).

Thanx man, I'm glad those tutorials helped ya. :band:

I used it in my own mod for the east indies (hope it's ok, you'll get all the credits of course :) )

I used it in my own mod for the east indies (hope it's ok, you'll get all the credits of course )


No problem. Credits are already included ingame although nobody knows that. :lol: Which version did you use. 5 beta isn't multiplayer compatible but I plan to make an update.

I modded the screen to remove that one leaning building. It was a bad eye sore to me. The link to the files is in the thread link below.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=8333698#post8333698


Before: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=223529&d=1249441547

After:http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=223533&d=1249442010

Hehe... thx! :)

I will use it in the next (and final) update.

Hehe... thx! :)

I will use it in the next (and final) update.

Hey, nice to hear about another update. When I got Colonization home and started up my first game I was sore dissapointed when my first ship arrived in Europe! I was like what? This is Europe? This isn't Europe, this is a FN window!

This mod kicks the Devs arce!

Hey, nice to hear about another update. When I got Colonization home and started up my first game I was sore dissapointed when my first ship arrived in Europe! I was like what? This is Europe? This isn't Europe, this is a FN window!

This mod kicks the Devs arce!

Yes, an update for vanilla c4c. It will be based on latest AOD2 Europe screen but will have 2 small improvements:

1. Trade routes (and related cities) are visible in Europe screen city selection dialog.
2. Rework of the trade log. It has now a table form making it easier to read.

Hi, somebody has the latest beta of this MODCOMP? I tried to download it, and the link is broken, could someone post it please?

Thanks!