TETurkhan Test of Time (Map & Mod)

Lots of key files found, many of them in places I had archived for safe keeping but had since forgotten about.

Main problem now is working with the Conquests editor. There is a limit of 999 shields for unit costs, and unfortunately a number of units in Test of Time cost much more, some over 4000 shields (aircraft carriers etc). Does anyone have suggestions or know of a workaround for this problem?

Update - Using a new editor that doesn't place such limits. Just a matter of importing some files to it.

Just note to anyone interested, I am not aiming to add more units etc to the game. What I will focus on is ensuring balance is maintained with existing units (cost, movement etc).
 
In that thread you mentioned making a new map with height/width ratio of 1/2. Could you explain that a little more? That's counter-intuitive to me. C3 tiles are twice as wide as they are high visually, but from the point of view of the game engine each tile is a single point. When I've made maps in the past with bmp2bic or more recently with Quintillus' editor I input an image that is 2/1 so that when converted to a biq the visual distortion is minimized - purely for aesthetics. The trade-off is that the movement ratio (N-S vs. E-W) is distorted. To make the abstract geometry of tiles in the game engine match movement to map would mean starting with a 1/1 image. This results in the typical minimap looks right result.

But you've worked with Civ maps a lot more than I have so I must be missing something.
 
Blue Monkey said:
In that thread you mentioned making a new map with height/width ratio of 1/2. Could you explain that a little more? That's counter-intuitive to me. C3 tiles are twice as wide as they are high visually, but from the point of view of the game engine each tile is a single point. When I've made maps in the past with bmp2bic or more recently with Quintillus' editor I input an image that is 2/1 so that when converted to a biq the visual distortion is minimized - purely for aesthetics. The trade-off is that the movement ratio (N-S vs. E-W) is distorted. To make the abstract geometry of tiles in the game engine match movement to map would mean starting with a 1/1 image. This results in the typical minimap looks right result.

But you've worked with Civ maps a lot more than I have so I must be missing something.
Click to expand...

Visually maps with a 1:1 ratio look fine, but movement wise (counting tiles) I think a 2:1 ratio would be more accurate. Are you suggesting that movement is more accurate with a 1:1 ratio?

Truth be told, all maps are distorted to some degree, but for the new one I am going with the Gall-Peters projection.
 
If going directly N/S or E/W it's 1/1 even though visually it looks different. It helps to think of 1 tile = 1 pixel. The C3 tile numbering is weird. The rows are alternately shifted due to the diamond-shaped tiling. So the math to visuals relationship gets strange when moving on the diagonals. That's the root of the hex vs. squares argument on mapping in games.

The grid numbers of the C3 editor make it hard to do the math on converting bmp to maps.Take a bmp of 100 x 100 pixels. Turned into a C3 map it will be 50 tiles high (alternate rows are shifted/compressed) but still 100 tiles wide. The minimap will look more like the bmp in this case. So it just depends on whether you want the minimap or the game map to look "accurate".

All of which is a bit esoteric. I was just surprised because you mentioned using a 1/2 ratio. Based on your post here it looks like you meant a 2/1 ratio. Assuming you were talking about pixels and not tiles. :crazyeye:
 
It is kind of confusing. My primary focus is unit movement accuracy. Ignoring diagonal movement, if a map is 10 tiles from north to south, then I need it to be 20 tiles from west to east. The Gall-Peters projection combined with stretching the map to get the 2:1 ratio will likely result a very distorted looking map (probably ugly too :)) - and that is the trade off.
 
TETurkhan said:
My primary focus is unit movement accuracy.
Click to expand...
That's what I meant when I referred to mathematics - the movement rates & so on.

Your maps are highly regarded by many people, so keep on with what works for you.
 
The 2:1 ratio is only accurate around the equator. As one moves north or south, that ratio distorts everything. Bottom line here is that a square map will always have some level of distortion. Since time is a factor here, I may opt to continue with the 362x362 map I am currently using. It has been over 10 years since I worked on these mods, and I like to get them done while I have some free time.
 
This is an amazing mod very well done for making it, i have 1 small problem though. The download link doesn't seem to work, every time i click on them i get a new tab that just times out, can anyone help me id love to get the updated version of this mod
 
TETurkhan, you have my condolence.
 
If not for my father, it is very likely I would had never been interested in Civilization.

My father loved history and the depth of his knowledge was incredible. Some of our most interesting conversations were 'what if' scenarios - where we would discuss small seemingly insignificant events in history and how had they been a bit different the enormous impact it could have made. History to him was not just about dates and times, but about people, struggles, and the lessons we living today could learn from it. What a great history teacher he would have made...

He lost his battle with Cancer on Father's Day.

Thanks everyone for the kind words.
Enjoy your parents because when they are gone (which is something we tend to sometimes forget) you are going to miss them.
 
It's been a few months since the last reply to this thread, but I figured what the heck.

I just got a computer running Windows 8.1 and installed Civ 3 Complete after buying it on Steam.

Anyway, everything works great, and I'm playing the world map with starting positions that was included on the PTW disc.

The only problem is that while I know this is version 1.5, I tried to download the executable files for version 1.66 full and the 1.93 update. I cannot run these in Windows 8.1! I tried using Compatibility Mode, both using Windows 98 mode, and XP Service Pack 3 mode, no dice.

Does anyone have a link to a zipped download of the mod for both? I would greatly appreciate it.

EDIT: After playing around with an old USB stick that I happened to put a copy of the files from 2007 on, I got it to work. At first, it wouldn't, because I think I only tried doing the 1.93 update. Doing both, it works. I'll leave this here in case someone else has this problem.
 
Update - very busy these days. When I do have free time I will plug away at the mods. This may be the longest mod project in history - think it is coming on 10 years? lol To be honest, not really sure who would be interested in playing them when completed.

I will provide an update in about a month. It would be nice to have it ready to upload before the year is over.
 
Well I know I would be. I just got a new computer and found this thread to reinstall your mod. What a surprise that you've restarted work and posted in it so recently.
 
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