Civ 2 ToT - Noob Questions - including grfx glitch

[Hemrawc]

Greetings Masters of Civ2,

I'm familiar with making scenarios in Civ2MGE. I am now getting into using Test of Time (better late than never...). I have reviewed the ToT "Tips" section on the Scenario League Wiki. However, I have run into a few issues and I am hoping someone may point me in the right direction.

1) I am getting graphical glitches for the terrain. Strangely, the terrain is fine when playing a scenario but looks like the following (see uploaded picture) when trying to start a game from scratch including using Catfish's classic terrain patch. I have tried different terrain1&2 files with similar glitching (black and purple splotches).

2) In ToT can I make a settler unit who can do everything except build cities?

3) How do barbarians differ in ToT vs. Civ2MGE? The "classic" barbarian paper says that they differ but does not go into detail. Does anyone know of more ToT specific documentation?

Any help is most appreciated. Happy gaming, gents!

 

[Hemrawc]

Okay #1 was caused by improperly checking the "Terrain Overlay" in the TOTPP Launcher. Apparently, some tile sets require this to be unchecked.

 

[Knighttime]

1) I am getting graphical glitches for the terrain. Strangely, the terrain is fine when playing a scenario but looks like the following (see uploaded picture) when trying to start a game from scratch including using Catfish's classic terrain patch. I have tried different terrain1&2 files with similar glitching (black and purple splotches).

Okay #1 was caused by improperly checking the "Terrain Overlay" in the TOTPP Launcher. Apparently, some tile sets require this to be unchecked.

It should always be OK to leave this TOTPP option checked, as long as the Rules.txt that is loaded has been properly configured to match the layout and contents of Terrain2.bmp (focusing on the simplest example of a single-map game). If unchecking it fixed your graphical issues, then my guess is that the @ OVERLAYS section was missing or out-of-sync with the layout of that second terrain file.

For example, in Catfish's "Graphics Mod Pack for the Original Game", did you notice that there are files named Rules_Extended.txt and Rules_Original.txt? But with those names, they will never load -- the appropriate file needs to be renamed to Rules.txt and then (assuming Catfish wrote it correctly) it should align with the contents of the Terrain2.bmp file he provided.

2) In ToT can I make a settler unit who can do everything except build cities?

Check out the documentation in the TOTPP launcher for the "Extra Settler Flags" patch -- this isn't possible natively in ToT, but with TOTPP you can set a flag in @ UNITS_ADVANCED which should accomplish this. However, this limitation may apply only to the human player -- I think I've seen reports in other forum threads that this doesn't prevent the AI from building cities.

3) How do barbarians differ in ToT vs. Civ2MGE? The "classic" barbarian paper says that they differ but does not go into detail. Does anyone know of more ToT specific documentation?

My experience is that in an "Original"-type ToT game, barbarian rules and behavior are identical to MGE. Perhaps the comment is meant to say that the contents of the documentation shouldn't be assumed to apply to the Sci-Fi, Fantasy, or Extended Original type games -- but that's merely a guess on my part. I'm not aware of any other/better ToT-specific documentation on barbs.

Welcome to Test of Time! Have fun experimenting and don't be afraid to post more questions if you get stumped.

 

[tootall_2012]

Hi Hemrawc,

As Knighttime explained it is possible to modify the settler abilties through TheNamelessOne's Test of Time project.

In case you are interested you can go to the Scenario Creation Excel Sheet thread here and download the latest TOTPP v018.pdf Reference Guide. In it you will find a compendium of all the project's design features including how to modify settlers (Item #77 .Extra settler flags).

I hope you find it useful.

 

[Hemrawc]

Thank you Knighttime and tootall_2012 for the information. I greatly appreciate it.

It should always be OK to leave this TOTPP option checked, as long as the Rules.txt that is loaded has been properly configured to match the layout and contents of Terrain2.bmp (focusing on the simplest example of a single-map game). If unchecking it fixed your graphical issues, then my guess is that the @ OVERLAYS section was missing or out-of-sync with the layout of that second terrain file.

For example, in Catfish's "Graphics Mod Pack for the Original Game", did you notice that there are files named Rules_Extended.txt and Rules_Original.txt? But with those names, they will never load -- the appropriate file needs to be renamed to Rules.txt and then (assuming Catfish wrote it correctly) it should align with the contents of the Terrain2.bmp file he provided.

That's interesting. In Catfish's case I used his pre-made installer. I did not see any files named Rules_Extended.txt or Rules_Original.txt. I must be missing something though, as I know in the past I have used these Terrain files whilst still having "Terrain Overlay" in the TOTPP Launcher checked. For the moment, the terrain graphics are displaying correctly.

In case you are interested you can go to the Scenario Creation Excel Sheet thread here and download the latest TOTPP v018.pdf Reference Guide. In it you will find a compendium of all the project's design features including how to modify settlers (Item #77 .Extra settler flags).

Many thanks! I have just downloaded the pdf.

 

[Hemrawc]

A couple more questions as I am running into some more issues in my practice scenario that my trouble-shooting has failed to fix.
1) My modified units show up in the civilopedia but the wrong units are showing up on the map. Animated graphics are turned off. Other scenarios in the same folder (under "original") are not experiencing this issue.
2) Some of my units are not showing up in the civilopedia or in the game at all. I have noticed that these are the units towards the bottom of the unit graphic file.
Any tips are most appreciated. Cheers!

 

[Dadais]

1) My modified units show up in the civilopedia but the wrong units are showing up on the map. Animated graphics are turned off. Other scenarios in the same folder (under "original") are not experiencing this issue.

Have you set the "no spritegraphic" in the extended unit section of the rule.txt file for these units ?

I usually lock that parameter there to avoid surprises.

2) Some of my units are not showing up in the civilopedia or in the game at all. I have noticed that these are the units towards the bottom of the unit graphic file.

Have you added entries (name&code line then its @paragraph) to the describe.txt file for these units too ?

 

[Hemrawc]

Have you set the "no spritegraphic" in the extended unit section of the rule.txt file for these units ?

I usually lock that parameter there to avoid surprises.

I'm not sure what you meant by this at first as there is no "spritegraphic" term in the rule.txt. However, after thinking about this and then examining other rule.txt files from other scenarios, I disabled the .SPR in the @UNITS_ADVANCE section of the rules for every single unit and this fixed my first problem. So thank you so much!

Have you added entries (name&code line then its @paragraph) to the describe.txt file for these units too ?

No, I have not done this yet. However, I suspect it will fix my 2nd problem as now all the sprites in the original unit graphical slots are displaying properly but the extended unit slots are not. I will need to examine other describe.txt files. But I think I just need to put a "-1" in the right spot if I just want the units to show up even though this will give them a blank description. Thank you again.

 

[Dadais]

I disabled the .SPR in the @UNITS_ADVANCE section of the rules for every single unit and this fixed my first problem.

Ho, sorry for answering without checking the names (was on my phone). that's great you managed to fix that !

I will need to examine other describe.txt files

I joined an exemple of an extended describe file for you to see if needed. Indeed, the -1 trick shall do it.

 

[Hemrawc]

I joined an exemple of an extended describe file for you to see if needed. Indeed, the -1 trick shall do it.

Thank you for providing the example. Indeed, -1 did the trick and now all unis are displayed in the civilopedia. However, the bottom two rows of units in the unit.bmp file are not displayed properly in the actual game. They are reverting back to the original units.bmp file. This is in contrast to the other units in the custom units.bmp file (which is in the scenario folder) appearing correctly. See the photo. I wonder if this has something to do with the @COSMIC2 settings in the rules... Any guidance or tips are appreciated?

 

[Dadais]

Thank you for providing the example. Indeed, -1 did the trick and now all unis are displayed in the civilopedia. However, the bottom two rows of units in the unit.bmp file are not displayed properly in the actual game. They are reverting back to the original units.bmp file. This is in contrast to the other units in the custom units.bmp file (which is in the scenario folder) appearing correctly. See the photo. I wonder if this has something to do with the @COSMIC2 settings in the rules... Any guidance or tips are appreciated?

Are your number of lines (thus units) the same in the @UNITS_ADVANCE section and the @UNITS section ?

This also apply to the @SOUNDS section where one should add a line too for units he added.

 

[tootall_2012]

Hi Hemrawc,

I can be difficult to determine what may be the cause of a particular problem when you don't have access to the scenario in question but in your case it could be related to whether you have turned the animated units off or not.

If you haven't already done so try setting the 'Unit animation lockout' and '.SPR file override?' to 1 in the Scenario Parameters - Edit Special Rules section of the Cheat Menu.

The sprites can still sometimes be temperamental so if the above didn't work as a default I typically always set the the 'override .SPR file for this unit' found in the @UNITS_ADVANCED section of the rules.txt of all my units to 1 (G column).

10000000 override .SPR file for this unit: 1 - don't use .SPR

; Advanced unit fields

; A) 'tribe may build' mask:        0 - can't; 1 - can
; B) 'not allowed on map' mask:        1 - not allowed on map
; C) minimum bribe amount:        n - minimum bribe; 0 - don't care; -1 - can't bribe
; D) 'build transport site' mask:    1: can; 0: can't for each site type
; E) 'use transport site' mask:        1: can; 0: can't for each site type
; F) native transport ability:        1: can; 0: can't for each map relationship type
; G) General flags
;   00000001    invisible until attack:            1 - invisible
;   00000010    non-disbandable (human players only):    1 - cannot disband
;   00000100    0-range-air-unit damage override:    1 - override damage
;   00001000    barbarian units can't be bought off:    1 - can't buy off
;   00010000    impassable terrain override:        1 - override impassable terrain
;   00100000    unit acquires engineering abilities    1 - engineer
;   01000000    barbarian unit will not expire:         1 - no expire
;   10000000    override .SPR file for this unit:    1 - don't use .SPR

;   A         B     C          D                 E               F             G

@UNITS_ADVANCED
00000000, 00000000,-1, 0000000000000000,0000000000000000,0000000000000000, 10000000 ;    Settler
01000000, 00000000,-1, 0000000000000000,0000000000000000,0000000000000000, 10000000 ;    Engineer
01000000, 00000000,-1, 0000000000000000,0000000000000000,0000000000000000, 10000000 ;    Warrior

I hope this was helpful.

 

[Knighttime]

However, after thinking about this and then examining other rule.txt files from other scenarios, I disabled the .SPR in the @UNITS_ADVANCE section of the rules for every single unit and this fixed my first problem.

However, the bottom two rows of units in the unit.bmp file are not displayed properly in the actual game. They are reverting back to the original units.bmp file. This is in contrast to the other units in the custom units.bmp file (which is in the scenario folder) appearing correctly. See the photo. I wonder if this has something to do with the @COSMIC2 settings in the rules... Any guidance or tips are appreciated?

Are your number of lines (thus units) the same in the @UNITS_ADVANCE section and the @UNITS section ?

This also apply to the @SOUNDS section where one should add a line too for units he added.

If you haven't already done so try setting the 'Unit animation lockout' and '.SPR file override?' to 1 in the Scenario Parameters - Edit Special Rules section of the Cheat Menu.

In the TOTPP launcher, the documentation for the "Extra Unit Types" patch also mentions the @COSMIC2 keys "NumberOfStaticUnitSprites" and "NumberOfAnimatedUnitSprites". If you just want to use images straight out of Units.bmp for your additional units, I don't think you need to add those, but without knowing the details of your setup it's a little hard to know what to suggest. I think Dadais and tootall_2012 have covered everything else that could be an issue.

 

[Hemrawc]

Are your number of lines (thus units) the same in the @UNITS_ADVANCE section and the @UNITS section ?

This also apply to the @SOUNDS section where one should add a line too for units he added.

Thank you ALL for your quick replies and advice. However, I think Dadais solved the problem. There were more @UNITS lines then @UNITS_ADVANCE and @SOUNDS in the rules.txt file. Once I gave them all the same number of lines plus added @COSMIC2 keys "NumberOfStaticUnitSprites" and "NumberOfAnimatedUnitSprites" to 80 (for good measure), the units began to display correctly! Thank you! Thank you!

 

[Blake00]

Hi Hemrawc,

I can be difficult to determine what may be the cause of a particular problem when you don't have access to the scenario in question but in your case it could be related to whether you have turned the animated units off or not.

If you haven't already done so try setting the 'Unit animation lockout' and '.SPR file override?' to 1 in the Scenario Parameters - Edit Special Rules section of the Cheat Menu.

View attachment 630612

The sprites can still sometimes be temperamental so if the above didn't work as a default I typically always set the the 'override .SPR file for this unit' found in the @UNITS_ADVANCED section of the rules.txt of all my units to 1 (G column).

10000000 override .SPR file for this unit: 1 - don't use .SPR

; Advanced unit fields

; A) 'tribe may build' mask:        0 - can't; 1 - can
; B) 'not allowed on map' mask:        1 - not allowed on map
; C) minimum bribe amount:        n - minimum bribe; 0 - don't care; -1 - can't bribe
; D) 'build transport site' mask:    1: can; 0: can't for each site type
; E) 'use transport site' mask:        1: can; 0: can't for each site type
; F) native transport ability:        1: can; 0: can't for each map relationship type
; G) General flags
;   00000001    invisible until attack:            1 - invisible
;   00000010    non-disbandable (human players only):    1 - cannot disband
;   00000100    0-range-air-unit damage override:    1 - override damage
;   00001000    barbarian units can't be bought off:    1 - can't buy off
;   00010000    impassable terrain override:        1 - override impassable terrain
;   00100000    unit acquires engineering abilities    1 - engineer
;   01000000    barbarian unit will not expire:         1 - no expire
;   10000000    override .SPR file for this unit:    1 - don't use .SPR

;   A         B     C          D                 E               F             G

@UNITS_ADVANCED
00000000, 00000000,-1, 0000000000000000,0000000000000000,0000000000000000, 10000000 ;    Settler
01000000, 00000000,-1, 0000000000000000,0000000000000000,0000000000000000, 10000000 ;    Engineer
01000000, 00000000,-1, 0000000000000000,0000000000000000,0000000000000000, 10000000 ;    Warrior

I hope this was helpful.

Helps me! Had this problem in a few scenarios (eg Kestrel's stuff). Cheers for this.

 

[Pablostuka]

Hi, I'm going to reuse this existing thread as my question is also about a TOT graphic glitch.

I am preparing some custom improvement photos. However, a few of them in-game appear broken. All my images are 242x195 pixels, I am actually working on top of the original game XXimp.bmp images, so I'm not sure why some of them work and some don't, as all are pretty much the same size B&W photos.

A bad one:

But the image is OK:

A good one:

Any ideas why this might happen?

Thanks!

 

[tootall_2012]

Hi Pablostuka,

I may be mistaken but I vaguely remember a post, maybe by Knighttime, were the issue you are reporting sounds similar. The problem was related to the white in the image and if I recall correctly the proposed solution was to insert a single 'pink' pixel in the top left corner of the image.

I hope this is helpful.

 

[Blake00]

Ahh yes I remember @Knighttime talking about that too. I think that might be it!

 

[Civinator]

Yes, it was in this thread: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/images-question.671059/
The answer by Knighttime in this thread was:

The single pixel at the extreme top left of a .bmp image is generally interpreted as defining another transparent color. Change this one pixel to a unique color (not used elsewhere in the image) and hopefully that will fix the issue.

 

[Pablostuka]

You guys rock, thank you so much @tootall_2012 @Blake00 and @Civinator ! Works perfectly fine now