It's getting late here (It's 4 AM already

) and I have ended my programming session for today. I'm happy to give you a small taste of what the new editor looks like:
Please ignore the temporary icons that I am using in the menus, they will be replaced. Here's a taste of the new features:
- The Tech Grid has basically the same interface as before, with the blue tech boxes. I added a new mode that allows you to see all the technologies color coded by era (as seen in the first screenshot). Techs can still be moved around and edited when viewed in this mode.
- You will be able to import your custom tech buttons in BMP, JPEG, TGA and DDS format (maybe even PNG) and the editor will automatically convert the image to DDS. The button will be displayed in the grid as seen in the screenshot.
- All the era, unit class and advisor values (screenshot 2) are collected from the default Civilization XML files on your PC, so the data will be up-to-date with any future patch.
- Moving techs around requires you to hold down SHIFT and then dragging the tech to the desired location. If you drop a tech above an existing tech, their positions will swap as before. Assigning prereqs will be handled using the CTRL and ALT keys and dragging. A new mode will automatically "kick in" and display the tech grid with prereq color codes just like in the previous version.
- The techs' civilopedia and strategy entries will be editable (is that a word?) through the editor.
- All the mod data (currently mod settings and the tech data) are stored in one project binary file. This means that the editor is lightning fast (well, if you keep the tech count under 1000
). You have the option to export your mod to ANY installed Civilization version (Civ, War, BtS) and the editor will automatically create the appropiate mod folders and XML files. Of course, referring to BtS units in a Civ mod will still cause crashes but at least the XML will be correctly formatted
.
- You will be able to import existing mods to the editor. If the imported mod's XML is correct, the tech editor will correctly use the mod's era, unit class and advisor values instead of Civ's. Any (XML) file that the editor can't edit will be stored along the previously mentioned project binary file. If I have the time, I will add XML and Python editors but I don't guarantee anything.
I also have some bad and some good news. The bad news is that the new version of CivSmith will only have the Tech Editor available. That's because I have focused on it 100%. So the good news is that the Tech Editor will be
fully functional when released. This means that it will allow you to edit every available tech property and accurately produce a working CIV4TechInfos.xml file (and mod).
Any feedback is welcome.