Stack Trace Error w/ File Editing

I am a hardened Civilization 2 player who will always try to preserve this classic game.

I have noticed that despite patching the game so as to be compatible with 64 bit Windows, editing Cities.gif results in a:

"Stack trace not yet available in Win32" error.

I'm guessing this has something to do with modern GFX programs like Paint rendering the files in a different format after saving edits?

Any advice welcome and appreciated. Not being able to edit Civ2 significantly hampers the gameplay.

Now there is another problem I'm experiencing: upon installing Civilization 2: Multiplayer Gold Edition, the "Editor" tab in my game bar next to "Cheats" does not appear. My scenario editing ability is pretty crippled since I can't edit graphics files or use the game interface that is apparently missing.

Would anyone mind helping? I know there is a substantive knowledge base here. I would greatly appreciate assistance.

Use GIMP to edit graphic files. It's a free and powerful tool.
It preserves the original color palette, while newer versions of paint do not (vista, 7 and on as far as I know).

As for the second issue - there are two most popular versions of the game - FW and MGE.
FW (fantastic worlds) has a built-in editor that you are looking for but doesn't have multiplayer and some other features.
MGE (multiplayer gold edition) has all the nice things except for the built-in editor (though apparently some variations have it).

If I'm not mistaken, the save files and scenario files are not compatible between the two versions.

However, there are custom modifications by civ2 players that combine the two versions' most useful features, you would have to look around the forum to find those.
I also strongly suggest to use Civ2Unlimited launcher for some extra options.
There's a plethora of other patches that change various minor issues but good luck getting them all to install and work properly.

Anyone know the process / combination to get the scenario editor and the Multiplayer functionality in one edition of the game? I've tried patching the editor into my gold version to no avail.