zulu9812
The Newbie Nightmare
What is the units_32 file?
Whenever you add a new unit to Civ3, you need to add an icon to the units_32.pcx file, located in Art\Units. The icon is displayed in-game next to the unit name in the build queue and at the bottom of the city screen, where it shows which units are currently stacked in the city. If you don't add an icon for each new unit you add, then in-game all the unit icons will be thrown out of whack and none will display properly. So you need to add an icon to the units_32.pcx sheet each and every time you add a unit.
There are several of these files - which one should I edit?
That depends. If you are adding a unit the original, main game ('vanilla' civ) then you should edit the icon sheet found in ...Civilization III\Art\Units.
If you are adding a unit to a PTW scenario or mod, then you should edit the units_32 sheet that is in the scenario folder, e.g. if you wanted to add a unit to DyP you would find the units_32.pcx in ...Civilization III\CIV3PTW\Scenarios\DyP\Art\Units
If you are adding a unit to a Conquests scenario, then it's the same as the above, but swapping Conquests for CIV3PTW.
Alternatively, you could do what I do, which is to have one main scenario folder into which I put all my downloaded units (it saves on disk space) - for this I use one big unit_32.pcx file with an icon on it for every unit ever made (well, all the ones I use anyway)
What format is the units_32 file?
The icon sheet is in .pcx format, each icon is 32x32 pixels in size, and the background colour must be magenta (R:255 G:0 B:255). The colour Red is used as the civ-specific colour, so if you're playing as Greece, all the red you see on the sheet in your graphics program will appear as Green in-game.
How do I add an icon to the units_32 file?
If an individual icon is supplied with the unit you downloaded, it's very easy. Open up the individual icon and the main units_32.pcx in a suitable graphics program (I use Jasc PaintShop Pro 7). With the individual icon window highlighted, press Ctrl+C to copy it. Then, with the main units_32 window highlighted, right-click and select 'Paste as New Selection' and drag the individual icon into place.
How do I make new unit icons?
If the unit you downloaded didn't come with it's own units_32 pic, you'll need to make one. Don't worry, it's easier than it sounds.
1. Get hold of FLICSter (from http://www.apolyton.net) and PaintShop Pro 7 (from http://www.jasc.com)
2. Use FLICSter to open the default flc of the unit.
3. Go to the Export tab and export the flc as a 'Storyboard PCX w/border'. You don't need to change any of the other options. Obviously you can specifiy where you want the storyboard exported to, but whatever you do, don't change the pallette.
4. Open up this exported storyboard in Paintshop Pro (or any suitable graphics program, i.e. one that can save as .pcx) and select one square. It doesn't really matter which one.
5. Press Ctrl+C to copy it.
6. Press Ctrl+V to paste it into a new window (which is created automatically in PSP 7) and resize the icon to 32x32 pixels.
7. Open up the main units_32.pcx and Paste as New Selection in any free square that suits you.
8. Save and close. You can now select the new icon for units in the editor!
How do I make the icons civ-specific
At step 6 above, after resizing, use the colour replacer tool to change colour on the bits of the image that you want to be civ-specific, from their original colour to red. Being honest, I'm not sure which particular shade of red counts as civ-specific (it could be a range).
Naval units always need to be squeezed into that 32x32 box, how can I make the icon appear bigger?
With some units, ships in particular, it can be difficult to fit the whole unit, end-to-end, into the box. When this happens, you can rotate the image by 20 degrees to the right. This will put the image at a sharper angle and result in either end of the ship going in a corner, rather than a side. The option to rotate an image is usually located under the Image menu. Rotate the image after you've extracted the storyboard and copied one square, but before you resize to 32x32.
Whenever you add a new unit to Civ3, you need to add an icon to the units_32.pcx file, located in Art\Units. The icon is displayed in-game next to the unit name in the build queue and at the bottom of the city screen, where it shows which units are currently stacked in the city. If you don't add an icon for each new unit you add, then in-game all the unit icons will be thrown out of whack and none will display properly. So you need to add an icon to the units_32.pcx sheet each and every time you add a unit.
There are several of these files - which one should I edit?
That depends. If you are adding a unit the original, main game ('vanilla' civ) then you should edit the icon sheet found in ...Civilization III\Art\Units.
If you are adding a unit to a PTW scenario or mod, then you should edit the units_32 sheet that is in the scenario folder, e.g. if you wanted to add a unit to DyP you would find the units_32.pcx in ...Civilization III\CIV3PTW\Scenarios\DyP\Art\Units
If you are adding a unit to a Conquests scenario, then it's the same as the above, but swapping Conquests for CIV3PTW.
Alternatively, you could do what I do, which is to have one main scenario folder into which I put all my downloaded units (it saves on disk space) - for this I use one big unit_32.pcx file with an icon on it for every unit ever made (well, all the ones I use anyway)
What format is the units_32 file?
The icon sheet is in .pcx format, each icon is 32x32 pixels in size, and the background colour must be magenta (R:255 G:0 B:255). The colour Red is used as the civ-specific colour, so if you're playing as Greece, all the red you see on the sheet in your graphics program will appear as Green in-game.
How do I add an icon to the units_32 file?
If an individual icon is supplied with the unit you downloaded, it's very easy. Open up the individual icon and the main units_32.pcx in a suitable graphics program (I use Jasc PaintShop Pro 7). With the individual icon window highlighted, press Ctrl+C to copy it. Then, with the main units_32 window highlighted, right-click and select 'Paste as New Selection' and drag the individual icon into place.
How do I make new unit icons?
If the unit you downloaded didn't come with it's own units_32 pic, you'll need to make one. Don't worry, it's easier than it sounds.
1. Get hold of FLICSter (from http://www.apolyton.net) and PaintShop Pro 7 (from http://www.jasc.com)
2. Use FLICSter to open the default flc of the unit.
3. Go to the Export tab and export the flc as a 'Storyboard PCX w/border'. You don't need to change any of the other options. Obviously you can specifiy where you want the storyboard exported to, but whatever you do, don't change the pallette.
4. Open up this exported storyboard in Paintshop Pro (or any suitable graphics program, i.e. one that can save as .pcx) and select one square. It doesn't really matter which one.
5. Press Ctrl+C to copy it.
6. Press Ctrl+V to paste it into a new window (which is created automatically in PSP 7) and resize the icon to 32x32 pixels.
7. Open up the main units_32.pcx and Paste as New Selection in any free square that suits you.
8. Save and close. You can now select the new icon for units in the editor!
How do I make the icons civ-specific
At step 6 above, after resizing, use the colour replacer tool to change colour on the bits of the image that you want to be civ-specific, from their original colour to red. Being honest, I'm not sure which particular shade of red counts as civ-specific (it could be a range).
Naval units always need to be squeezed into that 32x32 box, how can I make the icon appear bigger?
With some units, ships in particular, it can be difficult to fit the whole unit, end-to-end, into the box. When this happens, you can rotate the image by 20 degrees to the right. This will put the image at a sharper angle and result in either end of the ship going in a corner, rather than a side. The option to rotate an image is usually located under the Image menu. Rotate the image after you've extracted the storyboard and copied one square, but before you resize to 32x32.
It says I'm missing something called libgimpui-1-2-0.dll 
can you help
