ADDING UNITs TO C3C: Thorough Guide for the Newbie

Open up the PediaIcons.txt file you saved in My Mod\Text. Scroll down until you start seeing entries for units. Look for "Musketman". This isn't necessary, but I like to use units that are similar to my new one in case I don't have unique Civilopedia icons for the unit. The entry should look like this:

When I do that, there is nothing in the PediaIcons.txt file
Sooo... yeah

 

Do you mean that your PediaIcons.txt file is empty, or just that the Musketman entry is missing?

 

It's completely empty, nothing in it at all

 

Then replace it with a working PediaIcons.txt file from another folding and start experimenting.

 

It says I cannot create the file, because the path is incorrect.
Then when I chose the right path, it says it's a read only file

 

Open a valid PediaIcons.txt file, then save it over the one you're trying to edit… it's for a mod anyway. Then you can get to work as normal.
(If it insists on being a read-only file, then check the file properties. What OS are you using?)

 

Well, I finally got a working PediaIcons, but what confuses me is the whole PRTO and Anime-whats-it stuff. How does that work with a downloaded unit, and not one from another scenario?

 

Well, read the thread

 

Hi guys,

I've been trying to add my first unit for a while and I'm still struggling. I'm trying to add this unit: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=115033
which is a Mech Walker. I've followed all the instructions for the ANIMNAME and PRTO and whatnot but when I go into the debug mode it says it can't find the INI file. What the hell is an INI file? How do I find it? The only things in my unit file are FLCs. Please help me.

 

The .INI file is within the unit folder. It should be called something like mech walker. When opened, it looks like a normal .txt file. This file should be named the same as the unit folder it is in, or trouble occurs.


If their is no INI file, the unit cannot be used.

 

Highlighted in red is the .ini file. It should have the same name as the unit folder it's in.

 

Thanks guys, I finally figured it out. I just needed to download an update... silly me.

 

Problem with 'Computer Minded' people explaining computer stuff to 'Non Computer Minded' people is they, the 'Computer Minded' have little concept of their, the 'Non Computer' minded' "limits in understanding".... I'm reading through the open log,,, ,,,,, a diagram or 2 would have been a great help.

 

If you have a specific question, please ask and we'll send you some drawings of our answers

 

Yes that might help.... I never knew what to ask before as I wasn't knowing anything to get over confused, or frustrated,, now I do, now I am...

Q.1: Is it possible to Build a Map, say a particular battle from WW2 and just add the folders from another scenario/Mod ? [example: "WW2 in the Pacific"] - would it play? If not, why not?

Q.2: I understand, I think I understand how to write out Civilpedia.txt & PediaIcons.txt. ( I'm not sure how they are read, but not to worry yet ). How would I change the property of Units or Resources etc to work in a game? - Example: increase Tropical Fruit from +1 food to +2 food - or add a Shield production to 'Game' or change the settings for Units. - Will I need to change them first in the "In Game Editor", then change the txt.file to match it?

3: Art Files: - how do these work? ['... _all.pcx' - '... .pcx' - '... _T.flc']; What is in here?, can I read them?, how do I read them?

== A picture tutorial would be a great help. I'm not very computer minded, but am practical hands on type. I can learn quickly from tutorial. Unfortunately I'm in a foreign country and if I could find advice, it would probably be in Chinese,, lol.

I tried to add a file to my 'In game editor'[Conquests][ in a separate test file]. I used "QuetzalcoatlShip"as an example. But had no success.

Maybe if I could have a step by step tutorial on what to do???

4: Would everything else be of the same or similar process when adding to 'in game editor as 'QuezalcoatlShip'..... eg: like adding units, terrains or resources like Silver or Jade. I think game needs more resources. Like to have more things in the 'in game editor'?


I run file system; C\Users\Public\CIVIII\Conquests\... - Any thing special I need to do or change with this set up. I had to change from (x86) as it kept crashing the game.

That's all for now.....

 

Actually, it's simpler than that. All you really have to do is specify the scenario folder that has the files you need. For example, if you want the WWII units from the Conquests scenario, just specify the folder in the editor under the scenario properties screen: (I used the medieval Japanese units from the conquests scenario and my own folder that had the files I need known as "Increased." All I did was specify the path to each folder, and separate each by a semi colon)

Spoiler :

To change individual stats and properties for an item (such as a resource) you need to edit it in the editor, yes, which is very easy. You don't have to edit any .txt files to change the properties. However, the .txt files are what make it show up in game.

The Pediaicons.txt is the most important, because this tells the game which files it needs to display the item correctly. Notice here that there is a file name given to the item in the editor:

Spoiler :

...which looks like "GOOD_Horses". This is what the item will be called in the Pediaicons.txt. Watch what I mean here:

Spoiler :

What this does is says that the resource "Horses" that you called in the editor is referenced by the name "GOOD_Horses" in the pediaicons.txt. So, the game matches the properties of the resource in the editor with the files specified by the pediaicons.txt entry "GOOD_Horses". Thus, the game will look for 2 files to display in the civilopedia for the large picture and the small picture:

Code:

art\civilopedia\icons\resources\horselarge.pcx
art\civilopedia\icons\resources\horsesmall.pcx

There's one more thing you should probably know. The icon number (it's shown as "Icon: 0" in the pic above the last with the properties for the horses resource) tells the game what will actually be displayed in-game as a resource. This can be edited here in the "resources.pcx" file:

Spoiler :

You'll have to open it up with a picture editing program that opens .pcx files, such as GIMP like I use. (It's free, download from here.

Once open, just tag your new resource image onto the end, save, open up the editor, and change the "Icon: #" until you see it (up or down by the arrows). If you don't see it, it's because you opened the editor before saving the resources.pcx file:

Spoiler :

I just told you about .pcx files, but here's some more.

For most things in the game, there are 3 .pcx files associated with them:

1. 
   something_LG.pcx

- the large civilopedia icon that you will see when opening the information on that item. Type out the path in the Pediaicons.txt.

• 
  something_SM.pcx

- the small civilopedia icon that is shown in the tech tree and throughout the civilopedia. Type out path in the Pediaicons.txt.

• 
  The Icon

- always grouped with other icons in a large .pcx file (such as the resources.pcx for resources or the units32.pcx for units). Edit the big .pcx files like these to add more on the end.

Unfortunately, I don't know Chinese. so hopefully my English makes sense to you.

Also unfortunately, adding units is a bit more involved, because they move while the resources do not. Fortunately, the whole point of this thread is to give a step-by-step instruction on how to do this. I urge you to check out the first post again, because that's how I learned.

There is one more thing you should know: how the pediaicons.txt file tells the game where to find the .flc files. These little b****** are annoying as all hell because you need a special program to open them. Don't worry about that unless you're unit making, however. You just need to edit the pediaicons.txt.

First find the region in the .txt file where it starts saying "ANIMNAME":

Spoiler :

Remember in the unit properties page where it had a civilopedia entry?

Spoiler :

This is what the game references in the pediaicons.txt to find the .flc files, the animation files, for the unit.

It'll look like this: "ANIMNAME_PRTO_Unit_Name" or something of the sort. The "PRTO_Unit_Name" must match the "PRTO_Unit_Name" specified in the editor, just with an extra "ANIMNAME_" tacked on the beginning.

The final entry should look like this:

Code:

#ANIMNAME_PRTO_Scout
Scout

The "Scout" below the "ANIMNAME_PRTO_Scout" names the folder within the Conquests\Scenarios\Art\Units folder that contains the correct files. This must match the folder name exactly. If not, the game matched the editor unit with the entry in the pediaicons.txt, but cannot find the .flc necessary to animate the unit. SO it gives an error message such as

Code:

file not found: ANIMNAME_PRTO_Scout
Scout

and then crashes. Make sure that the unit folder in Conquests\Scenarios\Art\Units has the same name as is specified in the pediaicons.txt.

Another thing, the icon for the unit is edited the exact same way as the resources, just add the new icon onto the end of the big .pcx file, in this case called the "units32.pcx" in Conquests\Scenarios\Art\Units.



---


I hope you understand this, if you need help or or stuck, or if I left some holes out, don't be afraid to ask.

 

Thanks for the help. Visual help is great. It is hard to learn from reading when you don't understand the rules.

I've got the writing up of Civilopedia and PediaIcons ok I think. I've downloaded from the Librarys approx 270 items and done the txt files on the military units as I went...(I thought it was good practice).
I still have others to do like Buildings etc....

I now see i never added in the 'GOOD_Unit*' to the 'Civilopedia Entry' in the Editor.

I'm a bit confused on the 'Scenario Search Folder'. Its the computer talk layout [ ##\##\##\... ]
( Increased:..\..\civ3ptw\extras\Medieval Japan\ ) - I'm assuming "Increased is the name of your folder, and Medieval Japan is the folder you wish to get... what is the other two have in relationship to this. Maybe I need to see it as been more relevant to my needs.

How would I write up if I wanted to get items from the Mesoamerican folder in Conquests; My test file is called 'TEST-1' .
1; Maize.
2; Netzahualcoyoatl's Court - (am I able to correct the incorrect spelling?).
3: Fresh Water Lake - (terrain).

How do I get units that I've already downloaded from unit download library into my test folder.... can I do it the same way or do I need to do this differently. They are in a folder called 'CIVIII Mod Downloads' on my desktop.

1: (resource); Date Palm Bonus Resource - [Ares de Borg]
2: (Ancient Unit); Aztec Horseman - [Shirokobbure]

I do have GIMP. I have GIMP 2.8.....

I think I made a major #&@%&@%$ up with this..... somehow all the pcx files changed to Adobe.
I click on the "resources" in the Art folder and I get an Adobe Box saying "Adobe Reader could not open 'resources.pcx' because it is not a supported file type or because the file has been damaged(for example it was sent as an e-mail attachment and wasn't correctly decoded)
{I never sent an e-mail}-
If I right click 'resources' / click READ, I get the same thing.
If I click 'Open With' I get 'Choose the programme you want to use to open this file..... Adobe is highlighted.......GIMP is not in the "Other Programmes" listed...

There is a browse button that takes me to the GIMP 2 Folder in programme files.... When opened it has a list of folders [32/bin/etc/lib/libexec/Phython/share/uninst]
[ along the top reads - Computer > Local Disk (C) > Program Files > GIMP 2 ]

then I'm lost,,,,,,,, now it needs a file name..[??] I was thinking C:\Users\Public\CIVIII\Conquests\ Scenarios\??? [etc ???]

When I put cursor over the 'resources' in Art folder it reads; Type:GIMP / Size 15.6 KB / Date modified; ######### -

I've checked all the other Conquest folders and all the files are similar to this, changed to Adobe....

How do I fix this ?????

 

Let me help you with the GIMP thing first. I finish the whole write-up tomorrow.

You were right when browsing for gimp. The gimp application file is in "Program Files\GIMP 2\bin" path and is called "gimp-2.8".

I'll help you with the rest tomorrow.

 

Yahoo...I got the GIMP v Adobe fixed....

so easy when you get a push in the right direction.

 

I found a good post on adding units,,, from Starryager, "How to add Units".

Simple,,,