Civ 3 City Placement Utility

assanine · Jul 08, 2003, 02:25 PM

I have completed the code for my program I call "Civ 3 City Placement Utility". Here is a list of features:

-runs as a seperate program, in no way hooks into and civ 3 executables(alt+tab to display it over your civ game)
-allows placement, removal and relocation of a capital
-upon placement or movement of a capital the program calculates the distance from the capital of every displayed tile and displays it on the window
-allows placement and removal of cities
-capital is filled with a red color, cities with a purple color
-display's the "21" tiles use by a city in pink...any tiles being used by more than one city(overlapping) are displayed in a darker pink
-highlights (in yellow) and given distance from the capital to easily pick out all possible city locations for that distance
-allows user to increase/decrease the opacity of the overlay form

here is a screen shot: http://members.rogers.com/egrweb/3.jpg

I will make this available for download after further testing

Lenvik · Jul 08, 2003, 02:32 PM

Looks great! I'll definitely try it out once you make it available!

Sprays Diarrhea · Jul 08, 2003, 02:35 PM

Wow, that really looks cool. I can't wait to get my hands on it. Way to go assanine !! I'm curious, what program did u use to write it? And how many hours of coding was it?

assanine · Jul 08, 2003, 02:55 PM

Thanks all.
The program was coded in VB.NET(2003). I personally hate VB 6 now that I have made the switch to managed code.
Anyone running WIN XP and keeps it updated should be able to run it by just opening the executable(no registry entries).

As far as how long it took. I would say between 6-8 hours. Part of the reason for doing this was to work with the drawing namespace in .NET. I had some learning to do wich ate up a chunk of time. Also diffucult was figuring out the calculation Firaxis used. Like the isometric grid generation and distance calculation based on x,y pixel coordinates. An hour was spent on "refactoring" which is a method of optimizing code. I Always do this.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that there are no images used to make this program. Everything displayed on the screen is drawn completely with code. This makes the program one file with no installation needed.

If there is anyone out there learning VB.NET or wants the calculations I used let me know. I will send u the source files or just the source code in text format. There is nothing revolutionary here so I don't mind sharing.

Chieftess · Jul 08, 2003, 04:57 PM

I'm making a city calc (designed to show production and growth over a given time) myself, and just figured out how to do isometric grids without DirectX - also using DirectX. I have VB6.0 for Win98SE, BTW. Looks good. I know I use Paint Shop Pro and just paste layers over it.

kring · Jul 09, 2003, 05:52 PM

It looks good; I can't wait to try it out.

kbj · Jul 11, 2003, 02:38 PM

Great Idea, Looks Good but when can we expect the real thing.

tao · Jul 26, 2003, 11:52 AM

assanine: It would be a great help to have a screenshot of just your overlay without the civ map in the background. That way, we could use it as overlay for screenshots, even

while you are still working on the program
for us Macintosh players.

Thanks in advance!

Shevek · Oct 05, 2003, 09:52 AM

assanine, any news on this? When do you think it might be finished? It sounds really good and I'd love to try.

RougeKing · Nov 10, 2003, 11:16 AM

Looks cool from the screen shot. I would like to be able to see the city footprint will be when deciding where a new city goes.
What is the release date.

ArmPilot · Apr 24, 2004, 11:57 PM

This thing still coming out or is it dead?
BTW: the link to the screenshot is broken.

Jul 08, 2003, 02:25 PM	#1
assanine Chieftain Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 3	Civ 3 City Placement Utility I have completed the code for my program I call "Civ 3 City Placement Utility". Here is a list of features: -runs as a seperate program, in no way hooks into and civ 3 executables(alt+tab to display it over your civ game) -allows placement, removal and relocation of a capital -upon placement or movement of a capital the program calculates the distance from the capital of every displayed tile and displays it on the window -allows placement and removal of cities -capital is filled with a red color, cities with a purple color -display's the "21" tiles use by a city in pink...any tiles being used by more than one city(overlapping) are displayed in a darker pink -highlights (in yellow) and given distance from the capital to easily pick out all possible city locations for that distance -allows user to increase/decrease the opacity of the overlay form here is a screen shot: http://members.rogers.com/egrweb/3.jpg I will make this available for download after further testing

Jul 08, 2003, 04:57 PM	#5
Chieftess Moderator Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Baltimore Posts: 22,361	I'm making a city calc (designed to show production and growth over a given time) myself, and just figured out how to do isometric grids without DirectX - also using DirectX. I have VB6.0 for Win98SE, BTW. Looks good. I know I use Paint Shop Pro and just paste layers over it. __________________ "Never trust an Aztec with nukes!" (Civ1 - unknown) \| 2nd user of the Ancient Style. South America (based on El Mencey's Map) \| N & S America (based on El Mencey's Map) \| C3C Scenario: 7,000 Turns Civ2 Earth for C3C \| Old Style Civ3 for C3C \| "Future is Wild" map How to upload multiple files to a post \| File Upload \| Paint Shop Pro 3.11 shareware (screenshot util - doesn't expire) \| Chieftess' Culture Flip Calc \| Don't wind up like this AI! \| resource icons file To download a patch: Select "Advanced" from the main menu, and go to "Check for Updates". \|\| My Web Journal (yes, it's a "blog")

Jul 09, 2003, 05:52 PM	#6
kring Asst Cook & Bottle Washer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Wichita,KS,USA Posts: 1,210	It looks good; I can't wait to try it out. __________________ Looking for cIV and Civ3 terrain and resource mods. 1.52 1.29f 1.27f 1.22

Jul 26, 2003, 11:52 AM	#8
tao Deity Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Germany Posts: 2,820	assanine: It would be a great help to have a screenshot of just your overlay without the civ map in the background. That way, we could use it as overlay for screenshots, even while you are still working on the program for us Macintosh players. Thanks in advance! __________________ resistance is futile

Oct 05, 2003, 09:52 AM	#9
Shevek Prince Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: London Posts: 454	assanine, any news on this? When do you think it might be finished? It sounds really good and I'd love to try. __________________ Becoming without being is meaningless. Being without becoming is a big bore... (Le Guin - The Dispossessed)

Jul 08, 2003, 02:32 PM	#2
Lenvik Pathological lurker Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Trondheim, Norway Posts: 72	Looks great! I'll definitely try it out once you make it available!

Jul 08, 2003, 02:35 PM	#3
Sprays Diarrhea Chieftain Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 13	Wow, that really looks cool. I can't wait to get my hands on it. Way to go assanine !! I'm curious, what program did u use to write it? And how many hours of coding was it?

Jul 08, 2003, 02:55 PM	#4
assanine Chieftain Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 3	Thanks all. The program was coded in VB.NET(2003). I personally hate VB 6 now that I have made the switch to managed code. Anyone running WIN XP and keeps it updated should be able to run it by just opening the executable(no registry entries). As far as how long it took. I would say between 6-8 hours. Part of the reason for doing this was to work with the drawing namespace in .NET. I had some learning to do wich ate up a chunk of time. Also diffucult was figuring out the calculation Firaxis used. Like the isometric grid generation and distance calculation based on x,y pixel coordinates. An hour was spent on "refactoring" which is a method of optimizing code. I Always do this. Another thing I forgot to mention is that there are no images used to make this program. Everything displayed on the screen is drawn completely with code. This makes the program one file with no installation needed. If there is anyone out there learning VB.NET or wants the calculations I used let me know. I will send u the source files or just the source code in text format. There is nothing revolutionary here so I don't mind sharing.

Jul 11, 2003, 02:38 PM	#7
kbj Chieftain Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Leicester - England Posts: 11	Great Idea, Looks Good but when can we expect the real thing.

Nov 10, 2003, 11:16 AM	#10
RougeKing Chieftain Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 22	Looks cool from the screen shot. I would like to be able to see the city footprint will be when deciding where a new city goes. What is the release date. __________________ If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers. - Gravity's Rainbow Thomas Pynchon

Apr 24, 2004, 11:57 PM	#11
ArmPilot Warlord Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Western PA; Eastern USA Posts: 148	This thing still coming out or is it dead? BTW: the link to the screenshot is broken.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
CIty Placement Help (Please move to CIV IV/BTS forum.)	so18apm	CivRev - Strategy & Tips	0	Mar 08, 2009 09:38 PM
City Placement, City Naming and the Evolution of Languages	Lokolus	Civ4 - Rhye's and Fall of Civilization	8	Apr 17, 2008 10:35 AM
City Simulation Utility	malekithe	Civ4 - Strategy & Tips	1	Apr 20, 2006 05:43 PM
Help with city placement, names, and civ leaders?	silver 2039	Civ3 - Creation & Customization	9	Mar 07, 2004 07:14 PM
Determining whether City Placement will Anger another Civ	Greebley	Civ3 - Strategy & Tips	8	Aug 25, 2003 11:59 AM

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. This site is copyright © 2000 - 2009, Civilization Fanatics' Center.
Support CFC: Amazon.com \| EB Games \| Amazon UK \| Amazon DE \| Amazon CA \| Amazon FR