WHAT YOU WILL NEED
For this tutorial, you will need a PCX graphics editor.
You will also need the Hacked Civ Editor
MAKING THE BUILDING
Although there is a graphics file for "Additional Buildings" I have found that adding images to it does not automatically cause them to show up in the game.
The workaround I propose is to take an existing wonder or improvement and rename it as your new improvement or wonder. Then you can edit the file that contains that improvement's graphics.
For the tutorial we will replace Shakespeare's Theater with the World Trade Center wonder.
USING THE CIV EDITOR
Use the Civ Editor to create a new scenario.
From the tools menu, uncheck "Use Default Rules" and click OK.
Then go to the Edit menu and click on "Edit Rules"
Switch to the Improvements/Wonders tab.
Find Shakespeare's Theater
Hit Rename and type "World Trade Center"
Then set the stats for the new wonder:
cost: 150
requirement: corporation
req. improvement: bank
(add whatever stats you think are appropriate)
click Close and save your scenario.
exit CivEdit
FINDING THE GRAPHICS
Now that you have changed Shakespeare's Theater to World Trade Center in the bic file. It's time to change the graphics. This is done outside the editor. The editor is only for changing stats and names.
All of the building graphics are located in this subfolder:
\art\City View\Buildings
Wonders start with "WON -"
Small Wonders start with "SWON - "
Improvements start with "IMP - "
Files that end with "_sh" are the shadows of the graphics with the same name (but without _sh )
Each image has a suffix that tells what kind of terrain the building is on in the graphic
"-G" (Grassland)
"-P (Plains)
"-D" (Desert)
"-T" (Tundra)
The Palace improvement is one exception:
The suffix corresponds to the building style:
"-A" (American)
"-C" (Cave - no palace upgrades)
"-E" (European)
"-FE" (Far East)
"-MEA" (Mediterranean)
"-R" (Greco-Roman)
Some files hold the graphics for several buildings.
Find the file that corresponds to the improvement that you renamed.
MAKING THE GRAPHICS
The Shakespeare's Theater Wonder is located in the file:
WON-Culture4.pcx
I have attached my version of this file below.
(You may want to make a backup of this file before making changes to it)
Use a PCX editor, such as Paint Shop Pro, to open the image.
Erase the old wonder by selecting it with the Selection tool and pressing the Delete key.
Now draw your wonder. In the case of the example I drew the World Trade Center.
For images that have "cultures" in their name:
There are five slots. Each corresponds to a certain culture.
1st - American
2nd - European
3rd - Roman
4th - Mediterranean
5th - Far Eastern
The other images (except for palace) have four image slots. These image slots correspond to the different ages of time.
The first image is how the building looks in Ancient Times
The second image is how the building looks in Middle Ages
The third image is how the building looks in Industrial Age
The fourth image is how the building looks in Modern Times
When you have drawn your image. Save the file over the previous version.
EDIT THE BUILDING ICONS
There are two pcx files located in the \art\City Screen folder called buildings-large.pcx and buildings-small.pcx. These files include the icons for the build queue. Buildings-small.pcx contains the icons that appear in the Build menu and Buildings-large.pcx contains the icons that appear in the build selection button.
These files contain a grid. Buildings that change by era have four slots in the following order: ancient, middle ages, industrial. and modern. Buildings that differ by culture have five slots in the following order: American, European, Roman, Mediterranean, and Far Eastern.
Load these two files and find the icon that corresponds to the improvement you are editing. Erase the current icon(s), draw new icon(s), and save.
Close your image editor
PLAY THE GAME
Now when you are playing the game and build your new wonder or improvement, you will see your new artwork in the city aerial view. Enjoy!
SUMMARY
- Use the editor to rename an existing improvement
- Set new stats
- Find the image file that corresponds to that improvement
- Draw the new improvement and save
- Edit the large and small build queue icons and save
[/list=1]
I will be investigating the "Additional_Buildings" file to see if I can get it figured out. It seems that there are slots for ten new buildings. For now we'll just have to replace existing ones.
In my next post I will include a chart showing what improvements are in what file so you can find the file you need to change easier.
