i absolutely love Civ3, but im frustrated with myself. first of all everytime i play with a new unit i cant do something, like ill click on change production and itll say cant Allocate buffer, or ill click on zoom to a city then click on and icon and itll shut me down right away. second problem, I HAVE NO CLUE HOW TO MAKE MY OWN UNITS!! i have so many ideas, but with no way to make them come true. i wanna be able to make great units like dark sheer, neomega, smoking mirror, jimmyh,kitten of chaos,TVA22, and so many other great people like them(please note, there are so many people that make great units but i cant name them all but i appreciate all that everyone of you do to make my Civ3 gaming more fun), but i have no idea how to. what programs do i use to make them?(i already have flicster but i have no clue how many other programs i should use) would someone be so kind as to help me. i really need it, thanks much,
John(AirForce Ace)

If you already have Flicster then you just need a program that can edit PCX file (Such as the Paint program that comes with Windows). :)

When you add a new unit, just make sure that you use the same name in everywhere including Civ3mod.bic, folder, ini. And welcome to the forum. :D

Paint can't edit PCXs in some versions of windows, I would sugest geting a program like Paint Shop Pro from Jasc (you can get a free trial).

Before you get PSP you should download a 3d program, (there are lots of them, I am currently using Rhinoceros 2.0, since it's trial runs by number of saves and not by days), play with the 3d program for a week or two, and then download PSP 7.04, cuz after that you only got 60 days till you have to buy it, or find another trial paint program.

Wrong forum. Also jimmyh doesn't make units, he converts them from age of empires (there was a game called something of the dragon, an AOE but about medieval japan. Somebody should start converting those units).

Anyway if your ideas leap from paper to my computer I know all of us will be very happy. Very few good unit creators for this game.

(BTW happy 300th post to me![party] )

thanks Dark Sheer for the welcome and thank you guys for the info. i dunno if its the best program to use but im using photoimpact 2.0 for the fxm files and it seems to work OK. the first unit im gonna try making is probably an F/A-18 hornet, cuz the other planes to go on a carrier just dont seem right. i mean the only planes that i kno of that fly off a carrier are the tomcat, hornet, invader, and recon planes(not including WW1 and WW2 planes that is) also with the ini files, how do i edit them. im still new at this so please pardon my stupidity. :crazyeye: any other tips you guys can give me would be GREATLY appreciated. thanks guys,
John(AirForce Ace)
(also anyone with pics of hornets and tomcats please feel free to email them to me at SOLIDROCK4415@netscape.net

Editing the INI file is quite easy, its just a Text file; Its quite difficult to do anything wrong (Although a single spelling mistake can cause an animation to not show up in the game, or a sound not to play.
Default- this entry is for the standard view of the unit, as long as this is correct and you have named the file the same as the folder it slocated in, (and added a unit of exactly the same name to the game), the unit will always be usable, though the aniamtion will be limited unless you fill in the other entries;-
RUN- Here at civfanatics, we're not sure if you can do anything with the walk entry, I certainly hav't made anything work, so if you wnt your units to move, you will need the run aniamation- this entry is also used in planes for the bombing aniamation.
Attack this is used for combat animations, attack a is also land bombard animation. If you have an attack a and attack b, a will play once and then b will cycle, if you have an attack A,B,and C they will cycle endlessly (or untill the combat is resolved). Attack is also used for the Air intercept animation.

Others You will probably want to use a death aniamtion, fidet is played every so often randomly and it is also played befor the attack animation when you pillage an improvement. Victory is played when the unit is promoted to veteran or elite (or regular if it was conscript before).

Whatever 3d program you use its best to try to stick with one rather than using one then swaping to another cos they usauly have different interface styles and it can be difficult learning to use them. I also recomend making some practice units, just defaults or one other animation, before you start your first serious project, post a thread in the creationand customization forum so you can get some feedback and help on your creations, most of the problems you will face at first are easy to overcome with a little help.

Originally posted by Smoking mirror
Victory is played when the unit is promoted to veteran or elite (or regular if it was conscript before).


It's also played when you destroy a barbarian camp.

I wonder why there is a Walk entry in the INI file, not to mention Dead, ForitfyHold and Blank...

Good Queston Zulu...anyone ever try assigning an flc or a wav to one?...hmmmm

OH and btw, I had the exact same question as our thread starter here. ;)

Originally posted by zulu9812
I wonder why there is a Walk entry in the INI file, not to mention Dead, ForitfyHold and Blank...

Either it works and nobody has tested it or it's for an expansion (like that play the world text file included with civ3).


And that game I was talking about earlier was fate of the dragon.

While we are at it guys...

I have the 3D program, I have the Paint Program, I have Flicster...
How do you make a new unit from scratch with them?

I've read the Tutorials, but they don't explain how to make unit's from scratch, they just show how to edit existing ones with flicster.

*sigh* I have much to learn, Obi Wan :p