Cross-Platform Editor for Conquests now available! 1.51

Quintillus · Aug 30, 2010

Welcome to the Cross-Platform Editor thread!

This editor allows you to do nearly everything you can do with the Firaxis editor, and runs on Windows (XP+), Linux, and Intel Macs (sorry, no Apple Silicon support*). Specialty builds support PowerPC Macs, Windows 95 through ME/2000, and Haiku.

Spoiler Apple Silicon/Aspyr Civ III Note :

Broadening its appeal, the editor also provides some new options for Civ3 modders regardless of platform. These include:

Being able to place landmark terrains of any type.
Being able to have maps of more than 362 tiles in either width or height (although not both at the same time).
Being able to bypass arbitary Firaxis limits. For example, with this editor, you can give a building more than 100 culture per turn, or give buildings negative maintenance costs.
Deepwater harbour support.

For some additional specifics of improvements the editor brings, see this post. The "Tips and Tricks" on the editor's launch screen also gradually introduce many of the new features to you as you use the editor.

Over the years, the purpose of the editor is gradually shifting from providing the standard functionality on the Mac platform - most of which is now present - to exploring and expanding the limits of Civilization III. Utilities to speed up common tasks, such as map creation, are also being added.

Download from the latest version with the blue "Download Now" button in the upper-right. Note that you must have Java 8 installed to be able to run the program. See the "Java Download Links" section of this post for current instructions if you don't have Java, or have a version of Java that is too new (Java 11 or later, except as noted in that section). The editor runs on systems released as early as 1995 with its legacy builds, so it is very likely that you can run it.

The editor is also open source. You can view its code at https://hg.sr.ht/~adj/civ3_cross_platform_editor. See the source code section below for more details.

A (now dated) version of the editor on the Civ page

The editor on the Map page

System Requirements

To run the editor, you will need to have Java installed, which you can download from the links in the "Java Download Links" spoiler. Hardware requirements are as follow:

Spoiler Hardware requirements :

It is recommended to have Civilization III installed, although if you go to Options -> Settings and uncheck Map Enabled and restart, you can edit the rules without having Civ3 installed (with a few restrictions such as no entirely new scenarios).

Windows Vista or later, OS X 10.8 or later, and most recent versions of Linux work well with the editor. Windows XP is also supported as a primary supported OS with a separate build.

Spoiler Operating System Support :

There are several different builds available to support different operating systems. These are:

---------------------------

Cross-Platform Build

This remains the "main" build, and is compatible with the main version of Java recommended in the "Java Downloads" section. If you have one of these operating systems, this should be your preferred version, as it is always up-to-date:

- Windows Vista or later (and somewhat Windows XP, see "Advanced Info")
- OS X 10.8 or later (Intel x64 only)
- Linux

For other systems, see the advanced section

Spoiler Advanced Info :

Spoiler Java Download Links :

Troubleshooting

Spoiler :

Source Code

The editor is open-source. The source code is divided into two sections - BIQ support, and the editor itself. The idea being that you can use the BIQ code for separate projects as well if you wish to do so.

Spoiler Links :

Feel free to use this program for anything Civ related. You don't have to mention the use of the editor in your mod's credits (though you can if you want). However, if it does prove really useful in making your mod, I'd appreciate it if you could drop a line in the thread. It's nice to know how and where it's helping out, and I'm more likely to see that if you make a post in the thread.

General Notes / Summary of Helpful Info

Many of the restrictions of the editor have been removed over the years. The editor should be able to read all BIC/BIX/BIQ files, as of the current version, although it will only save in the BIQ format for Civ3 1.22. Compressed BIQ files are also supported, although the editor always saves them uncompressed. All combinations of custom rules/player data/maps are supported, and you can add custom rules or maps where they do not already exist.

It also is possible to extract BIQ files from Conquests SAV files with this editor, although that functionality is very lightly tested, seeing as it isn't the main goal of the editor.

Please do post any bugs you find in this thread, and they will be fixed as time permits.

For those of you who are adventurous and would like to explore the actual (rather that Firaxis-imposed) limits of the Civilization III through the editor, please post your results so that the actual boundary conditions can be added to the editor. Also make note of whether you are using the Windows or Mac version of Conquests - it is possible that the Windows and Mac versions of Civ3 may have different tolerances of BIQs that are outside the limits of the Firaxis editor.

As always, backing up your files before editing them is recommended. There is an optional feature called Auto Archive (Options --> Settings --> Autosave --> Auto Archive) that will automatically create a copy of your previous version on saving a new version so you can go back if need be; it isn't enabled by default because it can create quite a few files if you edit the BIQ frequently. There also is autosave functionality that is enabled by default (and configurable for both frequency and number of backups) that is time-based and will let you recover unsaved changes in the event of a mistake, power outage, computer crash, etc.

Download from the latest version here.

Documentation

The latest documentation is currently included with the editor. For questions not covered in the documentation (which is not yet complete), please consult the thread (feel free to ask before reading all 20+ pages).

Map editing documentation is currently in this post. Map editing can be turned on in the Settings in versions 0.7x of the editor, and is currently enabled by default. The early 0.7x versions have some problems with the map and lack features, but by version 0.78 the map is considered basically stable so long as you don't try to do anything you can't do in Firaxis's editor. Versions 0.82 and above allow Landmark Terrain editing, to a greater degree than the Firaxis editor allows.

You can view the latest progress (including ideas for future improvements) here. This thread is the main place to submit them, but lately I've been trying to add them there so they don't get lost halfway through the thread and I'm more likely to remember them when I'm deciding what to add next.

Old versions can be downloaded here for versions 0.97 and later (except 1.21, which has gone missing). This includes "special" releases such as legacy OS compatibility releases, as indicated in their names.

Links to versions older than 0.97 can be found in the "Old Version Additional Details" below.

If the editor ever becomes unavailable for downloads for any reason (site going down, etc.), feel free to go ahead and re-upload it.

Spoiler Old Version Additional Details :

Change Log: The file listing the changes in every version is available here.

Credits

This list may not be complete. Please contact me to have any omissions added.

Spoiler :

Gramphos, whose thread detailing the BIQ/BIX format at Apolyton was essential for the creation of this editor. By extension, all those who contributed to that thread and the decoding on the BIQ format. This includes Dianthus, AlanH, Legend, Dave_Shack, in addition to those users who Grampos credited in that thread.
Steph, who came up with the idea of an custom editor in the first place as well as helped with some of the difficulties in the file format.
chiefpaco, who wrote a BIQ decompression utility in Java a long time ago that is used here as well to decompress BIQ files.
Rhye, whose work on civ colors has been used as the basis for a utility on version 0.87 and later that makes it easier to customize civ colors.
Lee_Dailey, whose idea for a BIQ comparison utility distracted me from pursuing an editor soon after I started work on it. As the BIQ comparison utility both contributed towards the editor and was a much more achievable initial goal, this may well be responsible for this project actually making it to the stage of usefulness rather than living on my hard drive forever, nowhere near completion. This utility also proved to be helpful in figuring out how the BIQ data translated onto the on-screen display in later stages.
Those who came up with the ideas for a Mac editor, including AlanH, Blue Monkey, and timerover51. If no one had complained about the lack of one, there surely still wouldn't be one!
Those who have provided ideas for new features, including but not limited to Balthasar, Virote Considon, and The Guardian to name a few who haven't already been mentioned elsewhere. Not all features have been added yet, but the idea bank is still reviewed periodically, and unadded features may yet see the light of day.
Maël Hörz, whose HxD hex editor is free (note: Windows only) and was quite useful in both figuring out undocumented sections of the BIQ and debugging.
DANGERBOY, who provided an explanation of how terrain .pcx files work at CFC several years back.
Those who have periodically checked in on the status of this editor since I first posted about it in March or April of 2010.

Contact Info

I don't always see new posts to this thread right away. Contact me via private message or e-mail (via my profile) if you'd like me to see your questions quicker.

Looking for the download at the bottom of the thread? Here's another link!

Quintillus · Aug 30, 2010

Changelog

Spoiler :

Code:

Changelog

[URL="http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=13866362#post13866362"]v. 0.96, Jun 17, 2015[/URL]
 - You can now edit tiles with a diameter of 3, 5, and 7 tiles. There are buttons on the map tab for this, and the 1, 3, 5, and 7 keys also set the diameter when you are on the map tab.
 - A few improvements to the Import Map (from BIQ) functionality. In particular, you no longer have to restart the editor to start editing the new map, and it will now automatically align resources between the two BIQs based on their names (though it doesn't do so for units, civs, etc. - it's still recommended to stick to fairly plain maps when using it).
 - You can now run the editor on a computer that doesn't have Civ3 installed - the graphics no longer have to be present. You must turn "Map enabled" off in the Editor Settings to do this. Some operations, such as enabling custom rules, do still require Civ3 to be present.
 - You can now create a completely new BIQ file. This does require Civ3 to be installed.
Improvements to the Map menu.
 - More intelligent defaults for the custom map creation dialog.
 - A fix to updating the terrain images when painting at the edge of the map. In some previous versions (dating to about a year ago), the image chosen might not be correct at the world's end.
 - Fix an error that could prevent saving a scenario where custom maps had been enabled for the first time.
 - Pressing Enter now acts as OK on the terrain-select dialog.
 - The icon now has higher resolution, and thus looks a bit nicer.

v. 0.90, Nov 10, 2014
 - You can now add and remove fog of war.
 - Fixed a bug where the add-buildings-in-many-cities option sometimes didn't work properly if you opted to leave existing buildings.
 - Fixed new units not being available in the Upgrade To and Enslave Results In lists until you restarted the editor and reloaded the scenario.
 - Set the program name in the Dock properly on OS X.
 - Fix the program failing to start properly with a fresh download on Windows 98 (and likely ME), due to not being able to look up where Civ3 was installed.
 - Various behind-the-scenes changes, primarily related to cleaning up the BIQ import-and-export code.

v. 0.89, Feb 14, 2014
 - Relocate city functionality. Now, on the map tab, there are two new buttons 
   available when you have a city selected - "Relocate city" and "Relocate City 
   with units". These allow you to do what you'd expect - just click somewhere 
   on the map, and your city will be relocated.
 - Auto-archive functionality. When enabled (the default, at least for now), when 
   you save a BIQ, a copy of the previous version will be saved with the word 
   "archive" and the date and time in its name. That way, if you realize you messed 
   something up and still have the archive file, you can go back and more easily 
   undo the mistake.
 - Support for Chinese BIQ files, making Chinese the third language-specific
   version of BIQ supported (after English and Russian). See post 443 for more 
   information (and screenshots!) on this.
 - Added support for modifying Worker Strength. This is one of the last 
   commonly-used features from the Firaxis editor to be missing (and wasn't that 
   difficult to implement). As a bonus, odd choices for the worker strength value 
   shouldn't be so difficult to keep from changing as it is in the Firaxis editor.
 - Fix for Elite Ship and Requires Victorious Army being confused.
 - Slightly more lenient graphics support, including 1-bit PCX support and at least 
   some very-large-ruin-graphics support. These were both encountered for the 
   first time (at least for me) with one of the Chinese BIQs I was testing with.
 - Tentative steps towards making the interface scale with screen size. These are 
   very much not complete, but the changes are in the BLDG tab, most notably that 
   the building list will take as much vertical space as you give it now.

v. 0.88, Sep 14, 2013
 - Horizontal map scrolling should now work reliably, no matter what platform you 
   are using.
 - The Barbarian Activity option now works properly with custom maps, and will 
   not set them to No Barbarians.
 - The map now scrolls more quickly if you are moving the mouse wheel more quickly.
 - Fixed a display issue where after quick scrolling tiles might not align properly.
 - The Adjust Hue option, added in 0.87, now works properly. Previously, it was 
   missing a file that it needed to work properly. The Adjust Saturation and Adjust 
   Balance options are unaffected as they were working previously.

[URL="http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=12744008&postcount=417"]v. 0.87, Aug 29, 2013[/URL]
 - Added a utility that lets you quickly and easily customize civilization colors.
 - Added a form (under the ! button) that lets you set buildings in many cities 
   at once. You can filter cities by owner, size, and whether they are coastal 
   or not.
 - Added a whimsical utility that lets you flip maps 180º, as seen in this map.
 - Added support for working with Russian-language BIQ files. This doesn't in 
   itself let you play them in-game if you don't have the Russian version of 
   Conquests, but you can at least edit the scenarios.
 - Change so that you won't have a white box over the map forever if you put another 
   program (or one of the pop-up windows) over the top of the editor and then 
   minimize/move it.

v. 0.86, Jun 27, 2013
 - Made every tab scrollable (except the map tab, which already was) so that the 
   editor can be used at lower resolutions.
 - Added deepwater harbours
 - Improved PCX import speed for BIQs with custom maps.

[URL="http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=12471136#post12471136"]v. 0.85, May 26, 2013[/URL]
 - The editor will now remember where you last chose a .bmp from both during and 
   between sessions.
 - There are now a full 16 "basic" terrains, as well as 20 more "advanced terrains", 
   which cover (unless I've missed some) all land-based terrains in Civ3 as well 
   as the water option. All Landmark options are in Advanced Mode.
 - The editor will remember what terrains (amongst the "basic" terrains) you 
   previously selected for the "basic" mode (the default).
 - Added a new option to the Special Actions Region (aka "SAR" and the "!" menu) 
   to calculate BMP dimensions for a given Civ3 map size.
 - Added support for Windows 4 bitmaps. This means that BMPs created with GIMP 
   2.8 will now work as expected.
 - Added support for bitmaps with up to 256 colors. This has been tested with up 
   to 32 colors.
 - Moved help files and images into their own folders to de-clutter the program 
   folder. Also moved the BIQ decompressor to be completely separate from the 
   editor (though the editor is still able to use it to decompress files, and this 
   should work the same as it did previously. But now other programs could easily 
   use it as well).
 - Added support for Windows 2 and OS/2 2.x bitmaps. It's highly unlikely you'll 
   run into these, but if you do, it will work just fine.

[URL="http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=12350792#post12350792"]v. 0.84, Apr 9, 2013[/URL]
 - Added the ability to create a Civ3 map from a bitmap image (see below).
 - Bonus grassland is now displayed.
 - You can now paint the map with snow-capped mountains, pine forests, and bonus 
   grassland.
 - You can now display food and shields on the map.
 - Added a bonus grassland redistributor.
 - Added the ability to change x/y wrapping, polar ice caps (note: these don't 
   display in the editor), and the ostensible size of already-created maps (not 
   as exciting as it might sound; see below).
 - Performance improvement on map so that it now uses up to 78% less CPU power 
   when drawing the map.
 - Fix so that starting locations once again appear in civ-appropriate colors 
   (broken in 0.82).
 - Zoom is now properly enabled after creating a new custom map.
 - Fix in the zoom code so the panel on the right side of the map is the intended 
   size after program start (in 0.83, it could be wider than intended).
 - Added ability to view memory usage info within the editor.

v. 0.83, Mar 13, 2013
 - Zoom has been added. After opening a BIQ, click the "Zoom: 100%" button to change 
   the zoom, and type in the new zoom level. Note that the map tab is slower the 
   further you are zoomed out, but still works the same regardless.
 - Fixed a bug where the first spaceship part would be set to zero required when 
   loading a BIQ. It now keeps its original number required, as intended.
 - Added memory usage diagnostics to the log file.
 - Backend work on code quality, and slightly improved BIQ import capabilities. 
   (No visible end effect)

v. 0.82, Feb 2, 2013
 - Can now add landmark terrain (of any terrain type) when there is a custom map
 - City graphics of unusual size (such as the Empire State Building in the Manhattan 
   map) now display properly
 - Victory point locatioh graphics of unusual size (such as the Statue of Liberty 
   in the Manhattan map) now display properly
 - The right side panel on the map tab now reliably stays within a couple pixels 
   of its intended size. This makes more of the map visible on large (above 
   1024x768) monitors
 - The right side panel on the map tab now updates as soon as you do any change 
   to the terrain. Previously, it would not update right away when you changed 
   the terrain type.
 - Volcanoes are now displayed in the editor. Previously, they would work in the 
   game itself when added from the editor, but would not show up in the editor.
 - Fix to make river placement work properly - in some cases you could not place 
   rivers before
 - Fix for graphics display not always working when hills/mountains were placed. 
   This was caused by the base terrain being improperly set to hills/mountains,
   instead of grassland.

v. 0.81, Jul 11, 2012
 - Fix for deleting difficulties, governments, technologies, and units when you 
   have custom player data. Previously, the custom player data info was not updated 
   when you deleted these, which could cause, for example, your players' 
   governments to get thrown out of whack. Now, these auto-update.
 - Fix for deleting technologies. Previously, deleting a technology didn't 
   automatically update technologies' prerequisite technologies, which could 
   result in a ciruclar dependency, which causes Conquests to crash. Now, 
   prerequisites are automatically updated, so you can't cause a circular 
   dependency this way.
 - Fix for InputSAV functionality. It now always assumes that the SAV is a Conquests 
   version.
 - Added the ability to rename items. So far, this applies to the "main" items 
   like civilizations, espionage missions, etc., and not yet to "sub-items" like 
   city names.
 - Added in-editor help, which is still a work in progress but more complete than 
   the previous online documentation. To access it, click on the question mark 
   in the upper-right, or press F1 at any time. Scroll to the bottom of any page 
   and press "Index" to go back to the main page.
 - Added warnings when it appears that you are running Vista or higher, and have 
   Civ3 installed to a location where UAC can (and likely will) interfere with 
   modding. Also added information about this when a load fails and UAC appears 
   to be the likely cause.
 - Fix for deleting buildings when there is a custom map - needed to decrease the 
   BIQ size information.
 - Fixed an error that occured when you deleted a building on a BIQ with a custom 
   map, but had the Settings set to not display the map (different fix).
 - Visual improvement to get rid of a white box in the right pane on the map tab 
   when you have a high resolution monitor and have certain tiles selected.

v. 0.80, Jun 2, 2012
 - A grid has been added to the map.  It is off by default, as in Civ.  To turn
   it on, go to Settings, the Map tab, and check the grid box (it's one of the 
   few that isn't checked by default).
 - You can now add maps to BIQs that do not have maps to start with.  To do so, 
   click the unchecked "Custom Map" check box in the upper-right corner after 
   loading the map-less BIQ.  If you already have a map, this box will be checked, 
   but you won't be able to uncheck it.
 - It's now much harder to trip up the editor by putting plaintext where numbers 
   are expected.  Now, if you try to put the number of hitpoints for an experience 
   level as "bob", the editor will call your bluff and revert it to the previous 
   value.
 - You can now disable the display of city names (introduced in 0.79).
 - Fixed the bug that crashed the map editor if you cancelled adding a city.


v.0.79, Feb 22, 2012	
 - Added city names to the map editor
 - Made the map scrolling better, as it no longer has white bars.
 - Added scientific leader support.
 - Fixed a bug that happened if you went to create a city, but then decided to
   not to after all.
 - Slightly better spaceship support. Still kind of a work in progress.
 - The building tab's Add/Remove options (on right-click) are no longer in the 
   opposite order of all the other tabs.
 - Enables the map by default

v. 0.78, Dec 21, 2011
 - A redone flavor tab. You can now add, delete, and rename flavors, 
   including going over the traditional limit of 7. Whether the AI 
   takes advantage of more than 7 is uncertain.
 - The map now supports resolutions of up to infinity by 1200. Very
   large resolutions may cause it to redraw more slowly.
 - A minor fix for a crash when you open certain corrupt BIQs has 
   been added.

v. 0.77, Dec 05, 2011
 - Fixed player selection bug on PLYR tab if the playable 
   civilizations were not contiguous.
 - Added the ability to scroll horizontally with the mouse wheel on 
   the map. This is disabled by default
 - Added a file-finding method for Unix that works on case-sensitive 
   filesystems.

v. 0.76.1, Nov 07, 2011
 - Re-allows saving BIQs that do not contain custom player data
   (broken in 0.76).

v. 0.76, Nov 04, 2011
 - You can now increase the number of players.
 - Fixed a bug where you couldn't reliably add new, different types 
   of starting units to players (or remove types of starting units 
   that they already had).
 - Added some tooltips to the building tab with additional 
   explanation of what items do. I hope to expand this across the 
   program gradually.
 - The buttons now properly appear at the top of the screen like they
   should.
 - Very modest start time decrease that probably isn't noticeable.

v. 0.75, Jul 21, 2011
 - The bug where the city icon does not appear is fixed.
 - The bug where adding or removing city names or 
   (military/scientific) leader names to a civ will cause the game to
   not load is fixed.
 - Shortcuts for the Select, Terrain, and City icons have been added 
   to the map tab. While you do not have a text box or drop-down box 
   selected, press S, T, or C (respectively, for Select, Terrain, and
   City) to enter that mode. Then proceed as if you had pressed the 
   button.
 - You can now resize or maximize the editor. This is useful on the 
   map tab.

v. 0.74, Jul 19, 2011
 - You can now add new cities to the map.
 - You can now drag the mouse across the map to change the terrain,
   without clicking every individual tile. Just click once, drag, and
   all tiles you drag over will be changed, unless changing the tile 
   in question to the requested terrain is not possible
 - The border-calculation feature has been tweaked as I discovered my
   formula did not match Firaxis's at the highest cultural levels -
   such as cities with 10,000 culture.
 - Cities now lose their culture properly when you decrease their 
   culture. This sometimes did not happen properly in the editor 
   (though it would work fine in-game).
 - Cities also now lose their culture properly when they are deleted 
   (this also was purely a cosmetic in-editor problem).
 - It now takes less time to reassign a city to a different owner. 
   Culture-recalculation is now faster than in Firaxis's editor 
   across the board.

v. 0.73, Jul 05, 2011
 - The disappearing unit bug has been fixed. This was caused by 
   giving new units invalid strategies, and was seen for non-
   offensive land units or air/sea units.
 - Support is now present for BIQs that have both units with more 
   than one strategy, and multiple units with the same name.
 - With the above, multiple strategies are now handled correctly.
 - You can now change the ownership of units without deleting them 
   and readding them.
 - Starting locations on the same tile as a city/colony now change 
   ownership when the city/colony changes ownership.
 - You can now switch units/cities/colonies/SLOCs from being owned by
   a Civ to being owned by a specific Player (or vice versa). Any of
   those other than cities can be owned by barbarians, as well.
 - Fix to how I store tile ownership. Previously, scenarios with city
   ownership stored by Player (not Civilization) could appear to have
   the wrong owner for a city on the map tab.
 - Fixed a bug where if you type in a new value for a city's culture
   or population, and then immediately click on a different tile, 
   your new value is lost.
 - You can now add units of any ownership (including player/barbarian
   ownership).
 - Efficiency improvement in that when changing a city's cultural 
   value with the sliders, new borders are only calculated on a 
   power-of-10 change (ex. 99 to 100 culture). In the relatively 
   uncommon event that an intermediate change affect borders, you 
   will see this change when you select a different tile.
 - Drastic improvement to the algorithm used to calculate tile 
   ownership, used for example after a city's cultural value or 
   ownership change. This calculation takes 99% to 99.9% less time 
   now (depending on map size). There should no longer be a lag when 
   a new tile is selected on a gigantic map.
 - Fix for a UI issue where the "Add units" panel could sometimes 
   cause the panel on the right side of the map tab to go off the 
   edge of the screen. This was noticeable mostly with scenarios that
   had units with long names. This also allowed me to make the box 
   for the type of unit present on a tile slightly larger.
 - Added a show/hide feature for the panel on the right side of the 
   map tab. Click the ">" button on that panel to hide it, and you'll
   be able to bring back with a "<" button that then appears. In 
   exchange, you can see more of the map.
 - The extra black border to the right of the tile view on the panel
   on the right side of the map tab is no longer there.
 - The only options when asked to confirm city deletion are now 
   "Yes" and "No" (no more "Cancel").

v. 0.72, May 13, 2011
 - Added support for multiple items of the same type with the same
   name across the editor, both on the map and elsewhere.
 - Previous versions swapped the # of bonus AI offence and defence 
   units in the DIFF tab upon a save.  This swapping no longer 
   occurs.
 - Added map support for scenarios that use smaller-than-average city
   graphics, one such scenario being The Human Body.
 - Fix to allow changing the owner of starting locations
 - Fix to allow the setting of unit upgrades
 - Fixes to allow the user to safely delete buildings and goods on 
   BIQs with custom maps. It is not yet safe to delete civilizations
   of unit types (PRTOs) from such maps, so this ability has been 
   temporarily disabled in BIQs with custom maps (note that this is 
   regardless of whether map editing is enabled).
 - Added notification for out of memory errors when opening the map.
   As long as you use the launcher program when editing the map, you 
   should not see this error.

v. 0.71, Apr 14, 2011
 - Version 12.06 BIQs are now properly saved as version 12.08 BIQs 
  (previously they could exhibit odd behaviors).
 - Fixed the importation of non-standard-sized unit palettes. This 
   will allow more scenarios to be opened for map editing.
 - Fix to allow changing the number of buildings present in a city.
 - Fix to allow multiple resources of the same type on the map.
 - The list of existing units on a tile now automatically updates 
   when you add more of the same type/experience level of unit using 
   the "Add" button.
 - The typo of 'Existing Units' instead of 'Add Units' has been
   fixed.
 - Improved support for changing tiles on the edge of the map in
   non-wrapped worlds.
 - Fix of a situation that could result in odd graphics on changed 
   tiles and those tiles S, SW, and SE of such a tile. This is the 
   not-yet-infamous "Error XKCD".
 - You may now compare TILEs in the BIQ Compare section. It is 
   recommended that you only do this on similar maps, or you'll get a
   lot of output.
 - Section headers have been added to most BIQ Compare output.
 - All icons that are supposed to be included with the editor are 
   now included.

v. 0.70, Apr 10, 2011
 - Fixed the bug where scenarios with duplicate unit names could not 
   be opened.
 - Should fix the inability to exit via menu on OSX
 - Some map editing has been made available.

v. 0.69, Apr 05, 2011
 - The fix of a bug for units wherein changing a unit's stats would 
   flip its unit attributes (in binary). This affected foot units 
   most unfortunately, making them kings and thus unbuildable.
 - By default, new buildings now have a spaceship part value of -1 
   (not a spaceship part), rather than zero (the first spaceship 
    part).
 - Now, if you add an item, that item will become the selected item
   (rather than requiring you to manually select it).
 - Two keyboard shortcuts have been added. Ctrl+O brings up the Open 
   dialog, and Ctrl+S brings up the save dialog.
 - You will now be asked if you really wish to quit on OSX.
 - There's now an option in the settings to disable the 'do you 
   really want to quit?' query. By default this question is asked.
 - There's now an 'About' dialog, which doesn't really tell you all 
   that much.
 - If you click on Input From SAV but later cancel, the tabs no 
   longer appear until you subsequently actually open a BIQ or SAV.
 - Support for (at least unit) teleportation added, and Stealth 
   fixed. Don't forget to give your telepads a telepad range!

v. 0.68, Apr 02, 2011
 - Fix all bugs preventing adding or deleting elements. Exception: 
   deleting of 'core' citizens has been temporarily disabled. You can 
   still delete citizens you've added.

v. 0.67, Mar 30, 2011
 - The program now starts in approximately 33% of the time it took 
   previously.

v. 0.66, Mar 24, 2011
 - You may now change the font the editor uses. In addition to 
   Tahoma, the previous default, you may now choose Arial, Lucida 
   Sans, and Trebuchet MS.
 - The log will now be automatically cleared after reaching 1 MB in 
   size.
 - Fix so that the oldest auto-save will always be the one 
   overwritten, even after a restart
 - Auto-detect fixed on Vista and Windows 7 (thanks MeteorPunch)
 - ".biq" will be automatically added to the save-file name if you 
   don't add it
 - The titlebar will be updated to reflect the new name of a BIQ if 
   you save it with a new name

v. 0.65, Mar 16, 2011
 - Settings now saving correctly [partially broken since version 
   0.63]
 - If the program cannot determine where Civ3 is installed from the 
   registry query, it will ask you instead, even if it can tell Civ3
   is installed [Windows only]

v. 0.64, Mar 09, 2011
 - Tabs default to having the first item selected when a file is 
   opened.
 - You may now change all the safety levels at once

v. 0.63, Feb. 27, 2011
 - Autosave has been added. Your files will now be automatically 
   saved at a certain interval, so if the power goes out or your 
   computer freezes, you won't lose your changes.
 - The Input From SAV ability has been revamped, both adding the 
   ability to open compressed SAV files, and fixing a few logical 
   errors that could cause it to fail even on uncompressed fails. It 
   should now be able to recover the rules part (not the map part) of
   a BIQ from most any SAV that has custom rules.

v. 0.62, Feb. 09, 2011
 - The editor will attempt to automatically detect the Civ3 install
   editor on both Mac and Windows (XP and earlier only).
 - Buttons that should not logically be enabled before a scenario is 
   opened are no longer opened until a scenario is opened. For 
   example, you can't save a scenario or export data from it without 
   having one open.
 - Fixed swapped city/colony positions in TILE section of BIQ. This 
   affects the BIQ Compare part of the editor.

v. 0.61, Jan. 05, 2011
 - Can now change the settings from within the program (no editing 
   text files). Error messages have been updated to indicate this as 
   well.

v. 0.60, Dec. 31, 2010
 - The ability to export data to a spreadsheet (.csv) file for units,
   buildings, technologies, and resources has been added.
 - Minor efficiency enhacements.

v. 0.57, Oct. 14, 2010
 - Support for non-standard-width units_32.pcx files has been added. 
   Some scenarios use these.
 - The editor now will create a configuration file on its own if one 
   is not present. As a result, the editor no longer ships with a 
   blank config file.
 - More accurate measurements of the time to open a file. This will
   help in figuring out where bottlenecks are to improve performance.
 - Support for Civ3-style PCX transparency. This is visible on the 
   unit tab, where the unit icons no longer have a magenta 
   background, but appear smoothly over the gray background.

v. 0.56, Oct. 01, 2010
 - Added support for displaying unit icons (the 32x32 ones) on the 
   unit/PRTO tab.
 - Back-end fixes to PCX file support to enable proper display of 
   unit icons.

v. 0.55, Sep. 25, 2010
 - Added initial support for merging the rules from one BIQ with the 
   map from another.
 - Added a small number of tooltips for the primary interface 
   buttons.

v. 0.54, Sep. 21, 2010
 - Correction of failure to output BIQ file bug introduced in version
   0.53
 - Correction of inability to add buildings due to unmodifiable 
   Building Description field, and addition of code to help prevent 
   similar occurences from appearing on other tabs.

v. 0.53, Sep. 20, 2010
 - Fix to the bug where the OS X file-finding functionality wasn't 
   being properly invoked.
 - Made the setup query more precise about which folder it needs on OSX
 - Added more detail on error messages should the editor fail to find 
   a file it needs
 - Added configuration options for the amount of logging performed 
   and the number of processors used when inputting file
 - Proper deletion of temporary files created when uncompressing a BIQ.
 - Added notification to the user if a file fails to open due to 
   inadequate memory. This shouldn't be an issue even with 362x362 maps,
   but in case it is, you'll now know about it.
 - Expanded dualthreaded input of TILE objects to infinite threading. 
   This should improve file opening performance on triple-core or higher
   PCs, most notably with large maps.
 - Extended multithreading to a few map sections beyond TILE.

v. 0.52, Sep. 12, 2010
 - Added support for compressed files.
 - Added support for BIQ version 12.06.  The editor will always save 
   a file as a version 12.08 BIQ.
 - Added correct path searching support on OSX. The program should now 
   be able to correctly find all your Civ3 files on OSX if you point it
   to your Civ3Complete install directory 
   (by default, /Applications/Civ III Complete).

v. 0.51, Sep. 05, 2010
 - Fix of the bug wherein it fails to open BIQ files with telepads.
 - Slight changes in the unit tab layout to allow support for changing 
   telepad/teleportation options for units.
 - Increased error-checking on file input to more thoroughly check for 
   issues, particularly .pcx files not existing.

v. 0.50, Aug. 30, 2010
 - Initial release.  Prior to this, Civ3 BIQ Compare had been released,
   and the editor uses the same code, plus much more.

Due to reaching the 30K character limit in this post as well, the updated changelog is now located here.

Tested Systems

This list is for those who are curious; I recommend using the latest version of Java available on your operating system.

The editor is primarily tested with the Sun version of Java 1.5 on Windows XP x64. Other configurations tested, in approximate order of amount of testing, with those easiest to test in italics:

Windows XP x86 with Java 1.5 (Sun)
Windows XP x64 with Sun/Oracle Java 1.6 (32-bit) and Java 1.7 (32 and 64-bit) and Java 1.8 (64-bit)
Windows 8.1 with Java 1.8
Windows XP x64 with Open JDK 1.7 64-bit
Linux Mint 17 with Java 1.8
Linux 2.6 with KDE 3.5 and Sun JDK 1.5
OSX 10.4 on PowerPC with Java 1.5
OSX 10.5 on Intel x64 with Java 1.5
Open Solaris on Intel x86 with Java 1.5
Windows 8.1 x64 with Java 1.7
Windows Vista x86 with Java 1.5 (Sun)

tom2050 · Aug 31, 2010

In reference to Quintillus' Cross-Platform Civ3 Editor.

Very cool indeed, I'll be playing around with it; we can report findings and what-not to you, but need a thread to do it in! I think I already have something to report, so hope you check back in soon.

Cross-platform meaning on different OS'? PC, Mac, Linux, etc...? Could be very useful to Mac gamers (since Mac didn't come with editor IIRC).

The Safety levels are very cool, we can push to find new things (what fun!).

Great job! :clap:

Thread is available here to post information/results/findings/bugs/etc.

EDIT: For those that may not know how to run a .jar file, if double-clicking doesn't work (like it doesn't on my comp), then:
1. Open the CMD prompt (usually by Start -> Run; enter cmd.exe)
2. Change directory in the DOS window to the folder with the Conquests Editor 0.50.jar file.
-something like: cd c:\PathFolder\PathFolder\Conquests Editor 0.50
3. Type "java -jar Conquests Editor 0.50.jar
4. And that should be it.

Sometimes you may need to surround names with spaces in them with parenthesis (") if DOS complains.

So e.g. cd c:\PathFolder\PathFolder\"Conquests Editor 0.50"

timerover51 · Aug 31, 2010

I downloaded it and will see how it looks. Am I correct that it does NOT have a map editor? If so, I will still have to generate maps in the Windows editor, and then transfer to Mac, but it will mean that if I can open the downloaded map file from the forum, I can work on it on my Macs. I will play with it a bit and report back here.

Edited Note: First, I need to get some uncompressed .biq files to work on.

Blue Monkey · Aug 31, 2010

Thanks for posting this. I think it would be entirely appropriate to make an announcement in the Creation & Customization forum. Put it in the main forum for now. After some testing it can be moved to the utilities sub-forum.

Quintillus · Aug 31, 2010

timerover51 said:
I downloaded it and will see how it looks. Am I correct that it does NOT have a map editor? If so, I will still have to generate maps in the Windows editor, and then transfer to Mac, but it will mean that if I can open the downloaded map file from the forum, I can work on it on my Macs. I will play with it a bit and report back here.

Edited Note: First, I need to get some uncompressed .biq files to work on.

That's correct - there is no map editor at this time. Map editing will still have to be done on Windows with Firaxis's editor. This editor will handle BIQs that include maps, however, so once you get the map, you can edit everything else on a Mac.

And yeah, the uncompressed BIQ is a bit of an issue since most of the BIQs posted here are compressed. I'm only aware of the SAVExpnd.exe utility specifically for decompressing Civ3 saves, and it is Windows-only (and what Steph uses). PKWare's site offers free software that "Decrypts and decompresses SecureZIP® and PKZIP® files created on any supported hardware platform", but those platforms only include "Windows®, UNIX®, Linux®, i5/OS®, [and] z/OS." When I signed up for the trial, I got a link only to the Windows version (apparently they detect which OS you are using when you request it). However, I did find a posting on the Internet by an individual who says he reverse-engineering the format of the PKWare compression. Thus, it may be possible to write an program that decompresses the saves.

Blue Monkey said:
Thanks for posting this. I think it would be entirely appropriate to make an announcement in the Creation & Customization forum. Put it in the main forum for now. After some testing it can be moved to the utilities sub-forum.

Cool, I'll put a link in C&C soon. I was debating where to put, and decided on here first.

AlanH · Aug 31, 2010

I have a working prototype of a version of FileValet that can expand (or compress) BIC, BIX, BIQ files on MacOSX - version 10.5 or 10.6. I'll do some more testing and put it up here shortly for people to kick the tyres.

timerover51 · Aug 31, 2010

Quintillus said:
These allow the user to bypass Firaxis's limits on the values any field may have, thus making it possible to, for example, have buildings that produce in excess of 100 culture per turn, or experiment with buildings that cost negative maintenance. While this doubtless will allow many new ways to create invalid BIQs, it should also break down many of these long-unchallenged barriers.

I have been using negative values for pollution in most of the mods that I make, with no apparent problems running them on either the Windows or the Mac version of Civ3 Conquests. The negative pollution values work as near as I can tell, since I have reduced pollution to a minor nuisance. Based on that, I would expect negative maintenance values to work without a problem. The buildings that I would shift to negative maintenance are the temple and cathedral as they would generate income from contributions of the worshippers, and the courthouse, as that would generate revenue from fees and fines.

I guess the big question is what the AI would do with negative maintenance buildings. How would it handle them, and would it build them? Again, it appears that the AI builds the buildings set for negative pollution, but since I do not play in Debug mode a lot, it is hard for me to be absolutely sure.

As for the compressed .biq file issue. I do have a Windows laptop, courtesy of my son graduating from high school and getting a new laptop at college, that I use for game editing. Therefore, my getting uncompressed .biq files is not a problem, since I already uncompress them to use with Steph's editor. Just that I like to be able to play with the map at the same time I am editing things. However, as I use Steph's editor, I will have to see how the new Mac one goes.

Quintillus, thank you so much for all of your efforts, by the way.

BadKharma · Aug 31, 2010

OK.......hmmmm win rar can extract the jar, however I do not find any executable's. I guess I will have to try using the run command.

AlanH · Aug 31, 2010

The new version of FileValet is up to allow you to expand scenarios for this editor.

Version 1.1b1 This is just a zipped folder containing the app plus script and help files. It now expands or compresses BIQ, BIX, BIC files. Leopard and Snow Leopard only. Probably a bit rough around the edges, so please let me know if you have problems with it.

[PS] I haven't been able to get the editor to display the contents of a BIQ file yet. Probably just me

timerover51 · Sep 1, 2010

tom2050 said:
In reference to Quintillus' Cross-Platform Civ3 Editor.

Cross-platform meaning on different OS'? PC, Mac, Linux, etc...? Could be very useful to Mac gamers (since Mac didn't come with editor IIRC).

I would hate to think of the number of times that I have posted comments regarding the lack of an editor for the Mac version of Civ3 Complete.

Quintillus said:
To run the editor, you must be running one of the following operating systems:

OSX 10.4, 10.5, or 10.6 (Intel or Power should work)

Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista/7 (including 64-bit where applicable)

Linux, most recent versions (exact requirement unknown)

You must also have Java, version 5 or later (the most recent is 6). You must also have Civilization III installed (this is possible on Linux through Wine; technically having Conquests installed isn't required, only Vanilla). Finally, you must have a 1024x768 or higher screen resolution (also the minimum for Civ3). There are no plans to port the editor to older operating systems due to the significant amount of work involved.

There are a few things to keep in mind about the BIQs you attempt to use with the editor. They must:

Be uncompressed

Be version 12.08 (from Conquests 1.22)

Have custom rules (this limitation may be removed in a later version)

It also is possible to extract BIQ files from SAV files with this editor, although that functionality is very lightly tested, seeing as it isn't the main goal of the editor. The same general restrictions apply, meaning that generally only autosaves will work.

Quintillus clearly states in his port on the Macintosh sub-forum the system requirements for his editor. They are MacOS 10.4 and up, to include Intel Macs, the various Windows systems, and some Linux capacity. I have determined that it will open under Mac OS 10.4.11 on my Mac iBook laptop using a 1.33 Ghz G4 chip.

I have not yet tested in on any autosaves, since I normally delete them as I find them, and I still need to try an uncompressed .biq files. The program that AlanH located to open compressed files when using a Macintosh apparently only works with Mac OS 10.5 and up. I will still need to use my Windows laptop to generate maps and uncompressed .biq files.

tom2050 · Sep 1, 2010

Thanks Timerover! So any information for Windows or Mac version should be posted in the Mac forum in the thread created over there.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=377188

tom2050 · Sep 1, 2010

Excellent work Quintillus! :clap:

Runs like a charm.

Only 1 thing I noticed so far... On the Unit tab, in order to activate units to be able to teleport, I do not see a checkbox for this, only the telepad range box (where a value can be entered).

Of course I don't know if you plan on putting that in, because then a box would have to be added to pick what telepad objects the unit can use/ and telepad buildings.

Blue Monkey · Sep 1, 2010

He has said he will start a thread in this subforum. I'll just rename this one. Easier to find & more likely to be seen by the creative.

Quintillus · Sep 1, 2010

AlanH - I got your messages about the problems you've encountered. One of the lines mentioned in the error for Alexander's Conquests 1.50 is in the section of code that inputs legal unit telepads, and it appears I forgot to initialize that variable when I create units. Thus, when you load a BIQ that has at least one unit telepad, you encounter that error. The fix should be pretty easy.

I have rood.biq, so I'll take a look at that and see if I receive the same symptoms. I primarily used the Conquests scenarios when testing, so try WWII uncompressed or Rise of Rome uncompressed, and you shouldn't have any problems. Those are definitely working for me and, along with a copy of the base BIQ with custom rules enabled, were my go-to test BIQs (obviously none with legal unit telepads were).

You have the honor of having reported the first bug!

Many thanks also for updating FileValet to work on with BIQs. That's certainly an important addition to this editor's usefulness. It occurs to me that perhaps my editor could call FileValet automatically if it detected a file that was not uncompressed (using Java invocation of the command line, and knowledge of the location of FileValet, either ~/Library/Scripts/Folder Action Scripts/ by default or a user-supplied value if different). However, taking a look at the Help file included with FileValet, as well as the ._FileValet Script.app file, I'm not sure how I would invoke it purely on the command line. If I remember, I may fiddle around with it on Friday before class in the Mac lab and see if I can get it working.

BadKharma said:
OK.......hmmmm win rar can extract the jar, however I do not find any executable's. I guess I will have to try using the run command.

BadKharma, you shouldn't need to extract the JAR. Ideally is will start when double-clicked (or single, depending on your OS), but some OS'es default the JAR action to viewing the contents of the JAR (I've seen some Linux distros do this, for instance). The process tom2050 posted should work if the latter case applies to you, and is what I would do.

timerover51 said:
Quintillus clearly states in his port on the Macintosh sub-forum the system requirements for his editor. They are MacOS 10.4 and up, to include Intel Macs, the various Windows systems, and some Linux capacity. I have determined that it will open under Mac OS 10.4.11 on my Mac iBook laptop using a 1.33 Ghz G4 chip.

Cool, I recall that last year there were some difficulties getting my BIQ Compare utility to run on OSX 10.4, I'm glad this one worked out of the gate, especially since I didn't have an OSX 10.4 system (or a PowerPC system) to test on. As for uncompressed BIQs and 10.4, it's still possible that I'll still try to implement the PKWARE decompression algorithm at some time if I'm bored and want a programming challenge (although judging by my classes so far this year, those won't be in short supply), but the likelihood of that has gone down thanks to AlanH's work - it would be reinventing the wheel for 70% of OSX users who replied to the poll I posted and have 10.4 or higher (i.e., can run the editor in its current form).

tom2050, you're right, the telepad/teleportable units are missing from the unit tab, as are the lists for legal unit and building telepads present in the hacked editor. Those are to be in there eventually, but as my goal was feature parity with the Firaxis editor (minus maps), I didn't consider those critical for the initial release. Thanks for opening up the C&C thread, too - I've been running around like a headless chicken the past couple days and haven't been on CFC a whole lot.

Thanks for all the responses, I'm glad this will be useful after all the work putting it together. I'm also glad I'm not the only one who thinks the Safety Levels concept is cool!

timerover51 · Sep 1, 2010

Yes, Quintillus, I was glad that it opened as well. I have not tried to work with it yet, but may experiment with it under both Windows and Mac OS, as I have both. If it works with an AutoSave, you may have made a major contribution to the forum, as that would allow for some editing ingame. One of the areas that I will be looking at most closely is adding additional resources, and modifying unit combat values. It would be nice to exceed 10 hitpoints plus experience.

Steph · Sep 2, 2010

If you find new stuff, or an "extended" limit which is confirmed to work well, it would be worth editing the OP to list all of them in it.

I could also add it in my own editor.

Blue Monkey · Sep 2, 2010

The telepad/teleport flags are important for several scenarios I have in mind. They would be great additions when you get around to an updated version. It might be helpful to take a look at the "cracked" editor. I believe there are several other elements unlocked as well.

Steph · Sep 2, 2010

Good job!

Please edit the OP to clearly list new findings (including extend range) once they have
been confirmed to work, so I could also include it in my editor.

Quintillus · Sep 3, 2010

AlanH - I opened the Rood.biq file after expanding it with Firaxis's editor, and everything seems to be working normally, including adding buildings. Might it be possible that we have different versions of the Rood scenario? I downloaded the Rood scenario some time ago (probably less than a year though), so it's possible a new version has come out. When uncompressed, the version I have comes to 783,892 bytes.

timerover51 said:
Yes, Quintillus, I was glad that it opened as well. I have not tried to work with it yet, but may experiment with it under both Windows and Mac OS, as I have both. If it works with an AutoSave, you may have made a major contribution to the forum, as that would allow for some editing ingame. One of the areas that I will be looking at most closely is adding additional resources, and modifying unit combat values. It would be nice to exceed 10 hitpoints plus experience.

I should note that at this point, the editor does not have the ability to save to a .SAV file, only extract the BIQ information from it, modify that if the user wishes, and then save is as a .BIQ. It may be easy to add the ability to save .SAV with the modified data instead (in theory it is), although to make it a bit "safer", the editor would have to step carefully around such issues as removing units (and possibly renaming them). Changes such as changing the hitpoint bonus of a unit will work safely, however. Some of those items can even be changed in memory while Civ3 is running, with no adverse effects.

Steph said:
If you find new stuff, or an "extended" limit which is confirmed to work well, it would be worth editing the OP to list all of them in it.

I could also add it in my own editor.

I agree, my hope is to compile a list of all the extended limits that work well and make that public knowledge. I may be able to discover some of this on my own, but there's far more than one person can test, so this will have to be a community process.

I also hope to be able to keep track of "how confirmed" something is - does the AI also seem to factor it in properly, or is it only really beneficial to the human, and the AI is oblivious to it (as is the case with on-land transports). For instance, I can confirm that any size world works (and the world-generator in Conquests will generate such a world), even if the size is greater than 362 in either width or height, so long as the total number of tiles is less than 2^16, but I haven't actually verified that the AI will settle out 800 tiles horizontal if that many tiles exist.

Blue Monkey said:
The telepad/teleport flags are important for several scenarios I have in mind. They would be great additions when you get around to an updated version. It might be helpful to take a look at the "cracked" editor. I believe there are several other elements unlocked as well.

They'll be added in - probably for a "0.60" version. I do have the "cracked" editor on my computer, and have been taking a look at it occasionally.

Cross-Platform Editor for Conquests now available! 1.51

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