- Joined
- Mar 17, 2007
- Messages
- 9,304
Version 0.1 (currently)
Recently an idea struck me - why not be able to automatically load mods in Civ3 rather than manually applying them? Well, it turns out I wasn't the first one with this idea. But I didn't discover that until I was already a bit far into creating this program. So rather than abandon it, I decided to complete it at least to the point that it was useful and didn't create bugs out the wazoo. So here is my interface mod (download from attachment):
At this point it really isn't anywhere near as good as kingjoshi's Mod Loader. It has much more limited functionality and lacks most of the handy features. However, it does have two advantages: that it's slightly faster when applying a mod because it backs up everything at first (though that part is very slow), and that I've logged onto CFC this year.
Like kingjoshi's mod, it requires the format of the mod to match the format of the CFC directory. Most mods do not. I've modified two mods so that they do (all credit goes to the creators - all I did was rearrange files). You can download Bebro's Greco-Roman Mod or the Steampunk Interface Mod in compatible formats from these links (please note if I should put them on the CFC download database instead. There may be other compatible interface mods as well, but I don't know which those would be.
Note that this is an initial version of the mod. Some of its current features:
*Should work with any mod that modifies only the Art folders (and has the correct format). Limited testing thus far but.
*Works with mods that modify PTW and Conquests graphics
*Works regardless of your Civ install path.
*Can backup files.
*Allows quick-and-dirty mixing and mashing of mods.
And the much longer list of things I'd like to add:
*Ability to specify backing up only the Vanilla/PTW/Conquest files. Currently the backup feature requires that you have PTW/Conquests to not crash - obviously it shouldn't.
*Windows-style folder views when selecting paths. It's type-it-in right now because that's easier to program initially, not because it's going to stay that way.
*Restore/uninstall feature. Shouldn't be too difficult *crosses fingers*. But to test it out I'll have to Civ first, because I made a mistake when testing and borked up both my regular and backup files
.
*Title screen changing section with previews. Previews for other mods as well would be ideal, but may or may not be plausible.
*Perhaps expansion into mods other than just interface mods.
*What I envisioned most of all was a compiled distribution that ships with several interface mods included, and allows switching of mods with the pushes of a few buttons. The idea being taken mod-application down a level in complexity. Getting that along with previews would be ideal.
But what I need most is to know if this works as well on other people's Civ installations as mine. So if you've been hankering to try out an interface mod I'd appreciate it if you could try this out and feed back on if it's working on properly, what's not if it isn't, and what features you'd like to see next.
Vital stats:
Platform: Windows only (sorry, not very good at GUI yet for non-Windows).
Files required: Visual Basic 5 runtime files Hence Windows-only.
Updates: As time permits.
If you'd like a Mac version, it may be possible. I think I could do a command-prompt driven Unix one much easier than this Windows one, and OSX is supposedly based on Unix. So if someone running Civ3 Mac wants me to try to make one, send me a few screenshots of the Civ3 directory structure and I'll send out a candidate for testing if I can get it compiled on Mac. But it'll be consumer testing, as I don't know anyone with Civ3Mac.
edit: Forgot to attach the file
Recently an idea struck me - why not be able to automatically load mods in Civ3 rather than manually applying them? Well, it turns out I wasn't the first one with this idea. But I didn't discover that until I was already a bit far into creating this program. So rather than abandon it, I decided to complete it at least to the point that it was useful and didn't create bugs out the wazoo. So here is my interface mod (download from attachment):
At this point it really isn't anywhere near as good as kingjoshi's Mod Loader. It has much more limited functionality and lacks most of the handy features. However, it does have two advantages: that it's slightly faster when applying a mod because it backs up everything at first (though that part is very slow), and that I've logged onto CFC this year.
Like kingjoshi's mod, it requires the format of the mod to match the format of the CFC directory. Most mods do not. I've modified two mods so that they do (all credit goes to the creators - all I did was rearrange files). You can download Bebro's Greco-Roman Mod or the Steampunk Interface Mod in compatible formats from these links (please note if I should put them on the CFC download database instead. There may be other compatible interface mods as well, but I don't know which those would be.
Note that this is an initial version of the mod. Some of its current features:
*Should work with any mod that modifies only the Art folders (and has the correct format). Limited testing thus far but.
*Works with mods that modify PTW and Conquests graphics
*Works regardless of your Civ install path.
*Can backup files.
*Allows quick-and-dirty mixing and mashing of mods.
And the much longer list of things I'd like to add:
*Ability to specify backing up only the Vanilla/PTW/Conquest files. Currently the backup feature requires that you have PTW/Conquests to not crash - obviously it shouldn't.
*Windows-style folder views when selecting paths. It's type-it-in right now because that's easier to program initially, not because it's going to stay that way.
*Restore/uninstall feature. Shouldn't be too difficult *crosses fingers*. But to test it out I'll have to Civ first, because I made a mistake when testing and borked up both my regular and backup files
.*Title screen changing section with previews. Previews for other mods as well would be ideal, but may or may not be plausible.
*Perhaps expansion into mods other than just interface mods.
*What I envisioned most of all was a compiled distribution that ships with several interface mods included, and allows switching of mods with the pushes of a few buttons. The idea being taken mod-application down a level in complexity. Getting that along with previews would be ideal.
But what I need most is to know if this works as well on other people's Civ installations as mine. So if you've been hankering to try out an interface mod I'd appreciate it if you could try this out and feed back on if it's working on properly, what's not if it isn't, and what features you'd like to see next.
Vital stats:
Platform: Windows only (sorry, not very good at GUI yet for non-Windows).
Files required: Visual Basic 5 runtime files Hence Windows-only.
Updates: As time permits.
If you'd like a Mac version, it may be possible. I think I could do a command-prompt driven Unix one much easier than this Windows one, and OSX is supposedly based on Unix. So if someone running Civ3 Mac wants me to try to make one, send me a few screenshots of the Civ3 directory structure and I'll send out a candidate for testing if I can get it compiled on Mac. But it'll be consumer testing, as I don't know anyone with Civ3Mac.
edit: Forgot to attach the file
