DLL Features

[phungus420]

There is a discussion and vote going on in the BetterAI thread regarding BULL. EF you should definatly check it out, as should anyone interested in BetterAI as well:
Merge BULL and BetterAI? thread

 

[EmperorFool]

Thanks, I added my thoughts on the subject. Hopefully we can do a merge. I really need to get a packaged release out the door ASAP. I have too many plates in the air!

 

[Balderstrom]

If BULL is going to merge with BTS BAI, you might consider including Culturally Linked Starts v 1.1.3, which would also enable up to 40 nation/civilization maps.

 

[AlpsStranger]

If BULL is going to merge with BTS BAI, you might consider including Culturally Linked Starts v 1.1.3, which would also enable up to 40 nation/civilization maps.

I am assuming we'd have the option of playing non-linked starts without uninstalling the mod, correct? If the linked starts are implemented as an option I think it would be a splendid addition.

If it isn't optional then it would have *absolutely* no place in BUG.

 

[EmperorFool]

I believe the mod works by adding a game option (like No Tech Brokering) that you can turn on/off for each game you play. I would certainly not add it to BULL if it wasn't optional.

 

[JujuLautre]

Problem is, really, if you start adding options here and there, why not add them all ?

 

[Balderstrom]

Most "options" that modders put out there, modify the game from the designers original intent. BUG has always maintained unmodified gameplay. And to my knowledge BUG and crew have been adding the better features of other modders since its very inception - it has been a compilation of many peoples work.

The Culturally Linked Starts, is a map script option (custom games) - as well it has enabled 40 (34+Vassals) CIV games. Prior to 3.19 (3.17) the Culturally Linked Starts also had a merged w/ BBAI DLL.

I merely mention this as a possibility for those involved to come to a consensus of a common DLL. The features BULL is adding are quite interesting - yet it will prevent those that would like playing a game w/ more than 18 civs or having the BBAI actual AI fixes and not just the squashed bugs.

 

[EmperorFool]

Problem is, really, if you start adding options here and there, why not add them all ?

If they have a nil or very low performance cost and are optional, I don't mind adding them. Why not?

If they have a high cost when disabled, I am not keen on including them in BULL.

In this case, the cost will be checking a single boolean value every time a map is generated. This cost isn't even big enough to be considered trivial, so I'm all for it.

The other things I'm hesitant to include are mods that are still going through fast revisions as it means more work for me to keep up.

If you have other suggestions for inclusion, please post links to them and I'll take a look.

Edit: One thing I need to double-check is whether or not adding game options to the Custom Game screen alters the save file format. If it does, CLS is a non-starter. It would break SGs. I'm happy of course for someone else to provide a merge of BULL + CLS for people to use--it just can't be part of BULL proper.

What I could do is make it a BUG option that would apply every time you started a new game. To turn it off, you'd have to start or load a game, turn it off, and then start your real game. A PITA to be sure, but it would allow the inclusion of CLS into BULL directly.

 

[JujuLautre]

Just to say, I'm not specifically against this one; I have no problem myself, especially since BUG also includes some map scripts, seems in the spirit of the mod. But as you said about performances or other stuffs, you will have to draw some lines, otherwise you will be flooded by requests for adding stuffs

 

[phungus420]

Here is one Thomas SG has done for CCV, it has been incorporated in RevDCM:

Positions of Scores Modcomp

It makes the scoreboard have a scrolling option, where you set the max number of players visible in the window so it doesn't grow off the screen. Only effects mods that increase the # of players, but since BULL finds itself in alot of mods you might want to add it by default, works great in RevDCM at least.

 

[NikNaks]

If it's not too much work, could I suggest this? It'd be useful for BAT, I'm sure.

 

[phungus420]

The problem there is that you'd have to totally set up the EthnicUnitArt, or at least add in all the relevant tags and set the art. That's tedious to do (otherwise it would already be included in LoR).

 

[NikNaks]

Really? I thought it just added 3 more tags, and left the original ones as they are (which would be more compatible). Just a thought anyway.

P.S. Make your next post a good one, phungus

 

[Balderstrom]

@ NikNaks, it is just a few tags. It would enable things like an expanded Cultural Citystyles by Geomodder to function properly - which looks like he is interested in that - which means VD might pick up on it as well.... which means BBAI and the BULL should prolly incorporate the minor change so that the more popular graphic mods can move forward as they so wish.

Good Find! Very cool when people can work together and have things not clash so much.

 

[ash88]

<sniff sniff> Vaporware?!??!?! <sniff sniff> j/k there EF...

Seriously... if you release this in the next week or so I will buy you a beer and cut your lawn for the rest of the summer.

In the meantime, I hear rumors of people running some version of it by using the SVN install... so I'm off to go configure that business. If that is an exercise in futility someone stop me

 

[PieceOfMind]

Maybe someone can help me. I've downloaded the latest BULL from the SVN. I'm having trouble compiling it. I'm using codeblocks to attempt the compile, but it's getting held up by all sorts of errors. I'm baffled at what all the new files in Cximage are. I suppose they're something to do with map chooser (or whatever it's called). There's a heap of C files as well, as opposed to C++ files. Just how crazy are the SDK changes in this mod?

Are there instructions somewhere on how to compile the DLL? If I can manage to compile a working DLL after I make modifications then I'll be more than happy to start submitting code changes, including merging ACO v2 and the unofficial patch. But for the moment I don't want to submit code that I can't test to see if it works.

 

[JujuLautre]

From all the discussion seen in the RevDcm thread, I'd say that you cannot use anymore code::blocks for the latest bull. I was sad to read that too

 

[EmperorFool]

I went straight to VisualStudio when I started doing SDK work. I tried helping Alerum get Code::Blocks to work before I added all the CxImage stuff, and he had lots of trouble just getting the SDK to work by itself without any BULL stuff.

However, I would think that once you add all the libraries (look in the makefile for XXX_LIBS) you should be okay. C++ compilers will happily consume C code, so just add those CxImage files to your project and add their folders to the include path if necessary.

I recommend you switch, but I'm used to switching tools. I know it can be a huge PITA to do. If you want to give it a shot, I can walk you through it this weekend over IM. That would also give me the opportunity to write up some docs on the process from scratch. Unfortunately I just kinda blasted through it without taking notes on which libraries I had to download.

 

[PieceOfMind]

Getting codeblocks to work before trying anything with BULL isn't actually that hard. Following Kael's guide and then just importing the right files into the project was all it took.

Regarding BULL, I tried adding all the libraries, and I can even see image.h in the left-hand pane but it still says it can't find the file at compile time.

I'll make the switch to VS probably, but I'll just need to wait for my offpeak time to download it.

 

[EmperorFool]

You probably need to add the two folders in CxImage (general and jpeg) to the include path in the project properties. This allows a c(pp) file to #include it without the path and have the compiler find it.