Hello fellow Civvies,

Tired of Alt-Tabbing out of Civ to use the web-browser combat calculator that Thunderfall, Valant2 and the rest contributed? You can read about it and who created it in this thread (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8068) .

So was I, so I decided to make a Windows utility program that let me pop up a calculator form from inside Civ. Thunderfall has encouraged me to put it out here for you all to use ( he thinks it's that good :confused: ) So, here it is!

In the uploads 2 file area there is a zip containing an installation file for version 1.0.0 of CivLackey's Civ Assistants (http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads2/civasst_1_0_0_15.zip) . Just download, extract and run the exe file it contains. The rest is handled by the installer.


QUICK INSTRUCTIONS:
After installing Civ Assistants program, ( you just downloaded it, right? )
put in your Civ cd - (close the autorun screen if it pops up )
Start CivLackey's Civ Assistants using the [launch Civ] version of the shortcut on your desktop.
From inside Civ, press Alt+C to show/hide the Combat Calculator. Press Alt+M to show/hide the launch menu.
No need to close Civ Assistants program, it will autoclose with Civ ( unless you change that option via the settings menu ).
There are popup hints on nearly everything in the program, so if you want to know what a button does, move the mouse over it for a second or two.

For those modders among you, it is possible to create alternate unit lists. Just click the edit list button from the main Combat Calc screen. The rest should be self-explanatory if you use the pop-up hints when in doubt. NOTE: The data file is just a .csv, so you could create your new unit lists, save them and then include the .csv in your mod-pack. One of the things I'll do next is an import/export function to make it easy to save out and read in a unit list.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS:
As you will see on the launch menu bar, I plan to put in two other utilities ( they are fleshed out, but I'm still working on them ):
Historian's Assistant - will be a simple notecard-type editor for you people that like to write stories about your Civ games. This would work just like the Combat Calc - a keystroke to show/hide it without having to leave Civ. Example:

Title                 NOTE
800 BC           Those pesky Romans marched into London - Aaack!
1200 AD          After a long and bitter war, we retook London from the Romans... whew!

Snapshot Assistant - is a quick way to take / manage your screenshots. You configure where you want the files to be saved,
then with a keystroke you can save a screenshot to that folder, or
you can popup a screenshot utility that lets you select a smaller portion of the screen and then save it to your screenshots folder.

NOTE: - as I mentioned in the installation readme ( you did read it, right? ), the further completion of these two extra utilities depends upon your feedback. Let me know if you want them or not. Since no one will pay me to play Civ ( I've tried :lol: ), I have to work for a living, and I don't want to waste time making something that won't be used. So please, drop me a note of encouragement if you want to see one or both of these utilities.
They may eventually get finished anyway, but your encouragement helps make it all seem worthwhile! :)

That's it. It has been tested most heavily with 2000. Those of you with 9x or other flavors of Windows, please let me know how it's working for you. I'll do my best to fix any problems you may find.

Again, your feedback will be appreciated, so don't hesitate to contact me with a post or a PM here, or
send a message to my Hotmail account (CivLackey@hotmail.com) .


I'll let you know in this thread when there are further developments... 'Till then,
Happy Civving,
CivLackey

the assistant works great with win xp and id love to see the other sections of the program. i think they will be fine additions to the game, plus it makes it a tad bit easier to take screenshots from what ive read instead of having to use photoshop or paintshop pro

CivLackey,

(Again) Cool program!! I added it to the downloads collection 2 days ago and posted a news post about it. :)

I have changed the download link in your post to the download page at

This way you can see how many people have downloaded the program. :) I also edited the download page so it now points to the file you uploaded.

Is there any difference between the version you sent me and the one you uploaded?

I'd love to see that Historian's Assisstant! :goodjob:

Thanx for fixing the links, Thunderfall! The only difference in the file is that I added a popup on first-run in Civ that tells you what the hotkeys are. Just a little helper since it runs in the tray when Civ is launched...

I'd like to see this to be able to control Winamp without bringing it and the taskbar to top! Although it might be a job for an another mod/plugin.

can i ask when the whole pack will be released, and could you also include a map stat program in it too, Good work

I'm getting close on the other two assistants.
I had hoped to have them in final testing by this past weekend, but ran into some lengthy coding/debugging issues.

About the WinAmp thing, ZeroOne - I don't quite follow the point of your post. Could you be more specific - if you want, send it to my
hotmail account (civlackey@hotmail.com) .

so how about the mapstat thing i asked about

I have downloaded and used the Civ Assistant; eagerly awaiting the next two items.

CivLackey: I like to listen to my own mp3's as I play and I use Winamp for that. I set Winamp to "Always on top" mode and it floats there nicely on top of the game. ´However if I then give focus to Winamp (by pressing some of its buttons or adjusting volume) the taskbar shows up in the bottom of the screen, making Civ3 inactive. The plugin should integrate to Civ3 UI as your plugin now does.

But as I said, this might be a gap for some other plugin to fill.
As I said this could be done with some other plugin

Thanks for explaining, ZeroOne. Now that I understand what you're asking, I did a little research. It so happens that another developer has released freeware code that I can use to easily control Winamp from within the Civ Assistants interface. Supposedly, one of his features is the ability to hide Winamp, leaving only the Civ Assistant interface - which in theory should prevent the task switch from occuring if you manipulated WinAmp using the Civ Assistants. ( according to his propaganda - I haven't tested it yet )

Let me get the other two assistants into testing and I'll take a look at it. I assume you'd be willing to work with me on the interface, testing, etc @;-)

flash9286 - I'll put the mapstat thing on the chalkboard as well. I assume you mean "mapstat" as defined by a couple of the other utilities in this forum. I haven't played with them much, and I haven't looked into the format of the map / save files. I'm not sure I would want to roll my own. It might be better to get a mapstat guru or two to collaborate with me on integrating their stuff with mine. If you know a mapstat guru personally, you might start dropping hints...

ok ill see what i can do

chiefpaco makes mapstat maybe you can get in touch with him/her

Can't wait for the Historian's Assistant.

how is the work coming along? Im still waiting to test it :)

Sure I can test the Winamp-thingie. :) You could put the control buttons + song name in the main menu of Civ Assitant, under the Combat Odds/Historian's Assistant/Snapshot Assistant -buttons. Those buttons that Combat Calc uses should do just fine, you'd then have to create only the "shuffle" button (who uses "repeat" anyway, my playlist is around 70 hours).

Btw, the Combat Calc closes for me for some reason if I scroll the wheel when any of its drop-down boxes is down. :confused: Would be great if the menus could be browsed with it...

I use your Combat Calculator all the time and think it is great. I am preparing a strategy article for newbies and have included a link to this thread with a recommendation that everyone download it.

Thanks for developing the calculator and I hope a lot more people use it. I know it has many times solved my question about whether it is wise to attack.

Brilliant utility. Wainting patiently for the other goodies, tap..tap..tap.....

Thanks for all the support ( and patience ), guys. I've been really swamped by real-life ( Civvers should be exempt from RL, IMHO @;-)

It's coming... I plan to do the install for the next release this weekend and I'll have T'fall update the download link as soon as I get it uploaded.

It's to be considered public beta, but it shouldn't eat your machine ( or, at least, not all of it! *grin* )

Thanks again,
CivLackey

Great news. You're right, RL should be postponed indefinatley, or at least till PayDay!!

I should be ashamed of myself for asking, but if I had any shame I wouldn't post this. I see a lot of dotmaps posted. Is there a utility (other than paint) for making them? Would it be something that could be simplified for us technological illiterates?

One word: fantastic!
Five words: keep up the good work!

The TMT
:)

I love it!:goodjob:

Omg this has saved me from doing some of the stupidest tings i'm waiting for the other two patiently:)

Hail, CivLackey!

I have came into this thread quite a bit late and feel pretty stupid asking, but what the hey-

CivLackey, I just downloaded the ver. 1_0_0_15.

I am sure I will love it as much as other posters have said. Just one question-

Is the Historian's Assistant and the Snapshot Assistant included and working?? I have to say I am TOTALLY druilling over these two items; they are most desirable to me- more so even then the basic combat calculator.

I will not be able to actively play the game or use your file for about 2 weeks due to some work situations, although I can squeeze in time to hit the Forums. So PLEASE don't leave me in suspense- Will I be able to leave those historical notes?? And control my screenshots???


THANKS! and congragulations on making such a great contribution to Civ-dom!!!!

Great program! It has really added to my Civilization experience. I cant wait for the Historian's and Screenshot assistant. Thanks!

very cool!

If the history assistant shows the same quality as the combat calculator, than I'm in for a real treat!

dsr

I can't wait for the Historian's Assistant! Any news on it?

Is the PTW compatable?

It sounds like an awsome tool...... :)

so is the Historian's Assistant and that screenshot manager thing done? or is it over or what?:confused:

no way
this is so cool

Wow - this is truly superb. It will really make Civ3 more fun (I hate alt-tabbing to the html version). I eagerly await the screenshot manager as well - it will make creating timelines far quicker. :)

Sirp has also produced a great combat advisor (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=51435) that processes multiple instances for when you want to take a city, but aren't sure which unit to attack with.

Cool utility!
Can't wait until History assistant is working

I also can't wait for the History Assistant!

I quess he's dropped the project...too bad,it was nice idea though.

He had prepared a beta version of the Screenshot and Historian parts. They both work great in alll the tests that people have tried on them; I haven't read of any problems with it yet. He could release them for all to enjoy if he thought they were ready for general release.

Will this be updated for PTW (e.g. - Radar Towers)...
Excellent, program though!

Awesome :goodjob:

Get to work on the other 2!!! ;)

Originally posted by CivLackey
Thanks for all the support ( and patience ), guys. I've been really swamped by real-life ( Civvers should be exempt from RL, IMHO @;-)

It's coming... I plan to do the install for the next release this weekend and I'll have T'fall update the download link as soon as I get it uploaded.

It's to be considered public beta, but it shouldn't eat your machine ( or, at least, not all of it! *grin* )

Thanks again,
CivLackey

This was his last post... In January :eek: I take it he is not coming back... :mad: :vomit:

this remindes me of the UO Assist for the online game Ultima has anyone considered upgrading mor or less to ask at least add the historical notes would make it easer to remember to do it :) ah well live and hope

CivLackey sent me a Beta version of his Historian and Snapshot Assistant programs late in 2002. I didn't realize that he never posted the final version of his program. The update file that he sent me will upgrade version 1.0.0.15 of CivAssist to version 1.1.1.320b. Unfortunately, the zip file is 1.6 MB in size, so I may not be able to attach it to this post, but here goes.

Upload it using the upload feature at the bottom of the page.

I tried to use the upload feature, but the file doesn't want to transfer. Everything looks OK from my end, but when I look in the upload6 directory, it's not there. I've tried this twice now and also sent an email to the moderator for help.

The following link was the last beta I saw him list. It included the Historian and Snapshot Assistants.

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads2/civasst_1_1_1_350b_Patch.zip

Edit: Link should work now. It is in the uploads2 area.

Here is the link for the beta thread CivLackey started:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35948


Originally posted by CivLackey
Readme for 1.1.1.350 beta

Pending Bugs

One beta tester has gotten error messages with XP when pressing the menu hotkey( alt+m )
to bring up the launch bar. Still haven't isolated what it could be. I have
dropped in some temporary debugging code to try to help determine what section of
code the bug is in. Be on the lookout for a error dialog asking you to email CivLackey
a specific piece of text. You'll know it if you see it - I'm leaving it the standard
windows error dialog so it will stand out. It could occur on non-XP machines
as well...
( kudos to Bill and the Redmond boys, for such a consistent programming environment... @;-)

Bug fixes

Fixed a bug that prevented the clock from being added/removed correctly when
Show Clock in the Options Menu was checked/unchecked - only happened under rare
circumstances.

Fixed some errors in the dialog text formatting routine - was causing dialog
popup messages to be laid out all screwy on certain machines. Still may need
some tweaking, but it's better now.

Fixed an error that occurred when the Print button was clicked a second time
in the Historian. The first time, it created the file and showed it in wordpad.
If you closed wordpad, then clicked the print button in the historian again, it
would say it couldn't find the file ( doh! ).

Fixed a bug that caused the overwrite prompt to ask you twice when overriding the
autosnapshot filename.

Found and fixed several bugs in the inter-form / dialog mechanics - i.e. popup dialogs,
hotkey editors, etc. There were ways to leave dialogs open, or for dialogs to end up
behind Civ.


Non-bug fixes

Fixed the 4-way cursor on several of the popup editor forms( alarm settings, snapshot settings, etc )
to maintain consistency with the 3 assistant forms ( the 4-way cursor indicates that
the form can be moved, since there is no caption bar at the top ).

Changed the X to an O on the "okay only" type popup messages, as per ZeroOne's suggestion, to
maintain consistency with Civ.


New Stuff

Added the dimensions to snapshot assistant and snapshot prompts when saving auto-
snapshots.

Added a jpeg quality setting at Thunderfall's suggestion.
It can be set in the control panel of the Snapshot Assistant,
or in the Snapshot defaults editor, which can be accessed via the System Options Menu |
Snapshot Assistant menu.

Also at Thunderfall's suggestion, added a self-killing popup after a snapshot or
historian file is successfully written to disk, just so you know the process is complete.

Added a forgotten menu item to the Global Options menu - to reset the dialog prompts.
If you ever check a "Don't ask me this again" checkbox, there wouldn't be any way to
undo your decision without editing the ini file. This resets _all_ such checkboxes in the Civ Assistants system.

Added an "open in Windows Explorer" submenu for the file history menus for both the historian
and snapshot assistants, so as to get to your files quickly.




Readme for 1.1.1.320 beta

New stuff
It kills the Civ Autorun screen for you - just a convenience item.

Fixed the mouse-wheel functionality. Mouse wheels should work everywhere you would
expect them to. Let me know if they don't...

Added a "Big Hints" feature - can be turned on / off via the System Options Menu | Global menu.
I wanted to add more descriptive multiline hints, but I don't personally like reading them in such a
small hint window / font size, so the Big Hints feature uses a larger font / window to display hints. Not sure if
this works on all systems. Let me know if it doesn't work or if it annoys you...

The various Civ Assistant hotkeys are editable via the System Options Menu | Global menu. Also,
there is a print hotkey cheatsheet menu item. If you click it, it will open an .rtf file in Wordpad or the default
editor. From there you can print it. Let me know if you have any problems launching the editor.

Added a close all versus hide functionality. Also, changed the
close ( x ) icon in most places to a minimize icon since that is
more indicative of what is actually happening.
BTW: I don't like the minimize icon. I tried to make it look consistent with the circle and x icons already in use, but I'm not an artist. If any of you are and could help me out with it, I'd be most grateful.

Added history menus for snapshots and historian files accessed. The most recent will always be at the top.
(I could make them sortable by alpha or most recent, just didn't do it.) You can get to them via the
System Options Menu, Recent Snapshot / Historian file menus.

There is a play clock / alarm feature. It is described below.

The architecture is heavily reworked to facilitate the increased number of popups and minimization of resources and the ability to create small patch files in the future.
Therefore, there may be bugs yet in switching from form to form. I have weeded out several such anomalies, but there may be more. They primarily show
up when you access a support popup, such as file open dialogs, alarm editor, etc. If you see a "cannot make a modal window visible" type message, let me know. Also, if you access a form and it drops behind Civ unexpectedly, let me know.

The Historian's Assistant is implemented. See below.

The Snapshot Assistant is implemented. See below.

Clock
I don't know how useful this will be to most Civvies. I originally made it because my wife gets upset
if I play Civ late into the night for hours on end... I hadn't intended to include it in the Civ Assistants,
but then I decided why not. Let me know what you think. Anyway, about the timeclock...

This is a fully configurable time clock / alarm. You can show the clock on the launch bar if you wish.
Left click the clock or use the System Options Menu | Menu | Clock Display menu to change what
the clock is displaying. Display modes are Current time, Time civ has been running, Time until Alarm, Time
alarm is set to go off. You only get the last two if the alarm is enabled and set. You only get the second if
Civ is running ( doh! )

The alarm comes in two flavors. The first is an alarm that you have to set for it to be active. It will work in or out of Civ.
The second is an auto playtime alarm. If you have enabled it, then when Civ is launched, an alarm is automatically
set for the specified duration. The auto-alarm can also be repeatable. For example, you could have an autoalarm fire
every 2 hours while playing Civ. You can get a popup or sound ( or both ) when the alarm fires. If you want to override
the alarm sound, put a wave file named alarmsound.wav in the Civ Assistants directory. It will use that instead. The
alarm sound plays continuously for about 5 seconds or so. Can scare the "Civ" out of you if you're not expecting it when it plays...

You can set the different alarm features via the System Options Menu | Global menu.

Snapshot Assistant
I've reworked this several times. That's partly what has taken me so long. I wanted it to be quick and simple. I think I'm
getting close. The default hotkeys are Alt+Printscreen and Ctrl+Printscreen ( leaving Printscreen to still be the system's print screen ).

Alt+Printscreen shows/hides the Snapshot Assistant. It is recognizable by the control bar across the top / bottom ( configurable ).
Use this method if you want to preview and select a specific area of the screenshot to save into the file. ( just left click and drag to
select the desired area ). This is also the screen you see if you open a recent snapshot file. You can use this feature to turn full
screen snapshots into smaller snapshots. Just open a previous snapshot, select the new area, and save it either as the same file or
as a new file.

Ctrl+Printscreen is an Autosnapshot. It uses the current snapshot directory and the current snapshot base filename to generate a unique
filename and writes the snapshot to disk. It prompts you with the filename before it saves it ( you can turn this feature off ). It will either
save the fullscreen ( 1024x768 ) snapshot, or if you have enabled the option, it will save the center 800 X 600 area only.

Oh, you can use bmp or jpg as well.

All this stuff is fully configurable via ( you guessed it ) the System Options Menu | Snapshot Assistant menu.

Historian's Assistant
Default hotkey is Alt+B. Can be changed, but you knew that...

Uses a notecard ( title on the left, free text on the right ) format. You can move titles up and down in the list if you want to arrange them
differently. Uses an autosave, autoopen the last file used mentality ( you can turn autosave off, but I wouldn't recommend it ). You can
save files as .csv or as .rtf. It will read in .rtf files created with the Historian's assistant, but it won't read general .rtf files. The buttons
along the bottom left give the new, open, save, save as, revert to saved and print functionality. The Print works the same way as
the hotkey cheatsheet outlined above ( it opens the file in .rtf format in either Wordpad or the default .rtf capable text editor ). You can
then cut ( to paste it elsewhere ) or print it as you like. Changes made in Wordpad are NOT reflected in the Historian's assistant unless
you saved it in wordpad and then opened the .rtf file with the Historian's asst. ( and depending upon what you changed, it might confuse
the H. Asst. ) This isn't meant to be a full-fledged text editor. It's a tool for keeping up with notes in an easy way from inside Civ, that will
allow you to easily get it from there into a CivFanatics post, etc. One thought I had was to convert to .html format. Wouldn't be difficult,
let me know if it would help you.


That's all I can think of right now. Keep in touch. I need feedback on errors, functionality, interface consistency, etc to know when and if
it's ready to release to the rest of the Civvies at CivFanitics. One quick thing I would like is a note on what platform you are running and how
the patch / update process went. I am using a free patch utility, but it seems to work great...

Thanks again for agreeing to help out...

CivLackey

Thank you, kring for posting all the info. I only had the beta file and had lost my notes to CivLackey's beta site.

I have always thought CivLackey’s Combat Calculator to be the best, because it "floats” in a tiny window above the game. However, as has been said above CivLackey has disappeared. As a result, units in PTW and C3C are not included in his Combat Calculator.

I have updated the units in his Combat Calculator so that all of the units through C3C are included. The file at the end of this post contains all of the latest units.

To install it you must replace the civunits.csv file that is in the game folder. The default installation is in C:\Programs\Civ Assistants. Rename the existing civnunits.csv file to something else (such as civunitsold.csv) and then unzip and copy the file I have revised into the Civ Assistants folder. When you start the Combat Calculator all of the new units will be present.

Does this work with C3C 1.22? I lost track of this thread a long time ago...

Greetz Jurimax

Yes it does work with that patch.

When attacking a citie do i also have to chose what tile the citie is on? (grass, desert)

A metro citie is when it has a pop of seven right? Thnx