Cross-Platform Editor for Conquests now available! 1.46

[Quintillus]

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.

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.

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 :

Hardware requirements are moderate; generally, any computer that can run Civ3 will be able to run this editor.

• 2 MB of hard drive space is required, plus an additional 2 MB when decompressing the download, and space for Java if it is not already installed.
• 32 MB of memory is required for rule editing (48 MB recommended); 256 MB is required if also doing map editing (384 MB recommended). This is in addition to whatever your operating system and other background programs use.
• Any CPU that is powerful enough to run Conquests will run the editor (albeit more slowly than with a more powerful CPU). It's been tested with adequate performance on a 450 MHz Pentium II, which is right around the minimum for Conquests (slightly above, exactly, or slightly below, depending on your source).
• Any graphics card should work. A 1024x768 or higher resolution is recommended, although the editor will allow scrolling to access all features at lower resolutions

In theory, and sometimes in practice, lower-specced hardware may work. The lowest-specced successful test (mainly due to lack of working older hardware) has been rule editing with the Legacy build on a laptop with a Pentium MX 166 MHz CPU, and 104 MB of total RAM.

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).

The "current" build will work out-of-the-box if you have Java 8, 9, or 10 installed (but not Java 11), and are running Windows Vista or later, OS X 10.8 or later, or most recent versions of Linux. Windows XP is also supported as a primary supported OS with a separate build. For Java 11, XP, and all other operating systems, see the spoiler below.

Spoiler Support Matrix :

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
- OS X 10.8 or later (Intel x64 only)
- Linux

For other systems, see the advanced section

Spoiler Advanced Info :

The editor also supports older operating systems, but has some specialized builds to work with these. Look for the header that corresponds to your operating system.

Windows XP Build

This build ships with a bundled version of Java 8, and will run on any version of Windows from XP onwards, regardless of which version of Java you have on your system (including if you don't have Java at all).

The Windows XP build is available in this post, along with instructions on how to run it. It has been updated to be fully feature-equal with the regular 1.24 release.

While the XP Build is not updated as frequently as the cross-platform build, you can "XP-ize" a new build by downloading the cross-platform build, and copying the settings over from your old XP build, and then restarting as described in the linked instructions.

This post is the reference for Windows XP support.

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

Legacy Build - Win 98/ME/2K, OS X 10.4 - 10.7, OS/2 Warp 4, Older Linux Variants

The latest Legacy build is Legacy 1.24, which is available from this post.

You can run it just like the regular version, by running Conquests Editor.jar. Note that it does not have all the features of the regular 1.24 version, notably missing re-orderable/filterable unit and tech lists.

The Legacy Build lacks some of the recent features, but should run out-of-the-box with Java 5 or later installed on a wide variety of operating systems, including:

- Windows 98 or later
- OS X 10.4 or later (PowerPC or Intel)
- Linux
- OS/2 Warp 4

The "Java Downloads" section has links to Java installers that support these operating systems - with the exception of older Linux versions - should you not already have Java installed.

This build should also work with any other operating system that is not listed here, but does support Java 5.

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

Windows 95/NT 4.0 Build

Although Conquests doesn't support Windows 95, Vanilla Civ3 does, and thus it seemed appropriate to have a build for it as well. There is a 1.09 Legacy build adapted to run on Windows 95 available in this post.

You should also be able to run the "regular" Legacy version with the Java version for Windows 95 listed in the "Java Download Links" section.

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

(Deprecated) OS X with Official Java 11 Build

It is recommended to use the Liberica JDK listed in the Downloads section instead of this version. However, if you prefer to use other vendors' Java versions, this build is an option.

Post 1040 has a build that will work with OS X (and macOS) with Java 11 installed. It bundles the components that were removed in Java 11, but uses the system version of Java.

If you have OS X with Java 8, 9, or 10, you should use the cross-platform version; this one may work, but that is not guaranteed.

This build cannot currently be auto-upgraded to be compatible with the latest cross-platform build like the Windows XP build can.

Spoiler Java Download Links :

Java Download Links

If you don't have Java, the only supported version as of November, 2020 is the Liberica version of Java 8, which is available here. When downloading, choose your operating system, and make sure to choose the "Full JRE" package (or Full JDK if you are a Java developer yourself).



For 90%+ of users, this is the option you should use. If you have specialized needs (more recent version of Java, or operating system older than Windows Vista/OS X 10.8), read the advanced info.

Newer versions of Liberica are likely to also work, as long as the "Full JRE" is used, and partial support for them may be provided. The old Oracle versions of Java 8 will also work. Other alternatives, most notably OpenJDK/Adoptium, are not supported.

Spoiler Advanced Info :

If you need to run more recent Java software, the Liberica Java 11 version should also work (other versions of Java 11, such as Oracle's, will not work). It has been lightly verified with the editor, and the reason the older version is recommended is only because it has been much more heavily tested.

The most recent version (as of November 2020, Java 15) should also work, as long as it is the Liberica Full JRE. So far, however, I've only tested through Java 13.

I've also archived versions of Oracle's Java 8 that have been battle-tested with the editor, and are available via these direct links. These were the current versions as of July, 2019, and will work with Windows Vista and later, OS X 10.8 "Mavericks" and later, and recent versions of Linux.

64-bit Windows (.exe)
32-bit Windows (.exe)
64-bit Mac (.dmg)
64-bit Linux (.rpm)
32-bit Linux (.rpm)

Oracle's recent Java versions dropped some features the editor requires, and as such are not supported.

If you are on an older operating system, use the following links for a version of the editor you can use the Legacy versions of the editor with (or the current version version for Windows XP).

• Windows XP - Java 8** (direct link to my archive, 54 MB)
• OSX 10.7 "Lion" - Java 6 Archive (49 MB)
• OSX 10.6 "Snow Leopard" - Java 6 Archive (69 MB)
• OSX 10.5 "Leopard" - Java 5 (PPC/Intel), or Java 6 for 64-bit Intel Macs Archive (120 MB; includes all variants listed)
• OSX 10.4 "Tiger" - Java 5 (PPC/Intel) Archive (80 MB)
• Windows 2000 - Java 6 Archive (70 MB)
• Windows 98/ME - Java 5 Archive (53 MB)
• Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0* - Java 5 (direct link to my archive, 57 MB)
• OS/2 Warp 4 - Java 6 (untested due to lack of test system, but should work) Archive (92 MB)

* - Have not tested on Windows NT 4.0 due to lack of an available system. Have tested successfully on Windows 95.

** - More recent updates to Java 8 exhibit bugs on Windows XP. After extensive testing, this is the most recent version of Java 8 that doesn't have any editor-impacting bugs on XP, and is also the version included in the Windows XP versions if you download those directly.

Troubleshooting

Spoiler :

Program Will Not Start

The most likely cause is not having Java installed, or having too old of a version of Java installed and needing to upgrade Java to a newer version. As of spring 2017, the link to the latest version (Windows XP or later, and OS X 10.9 or later) is here. You can also see the "Java Downloads Section" of this post for links for other operating systems and older versions of OS X/Windows.

You can also try the Windows XP version[/URL], which includes Java with the editor.

Java Auto Start Difficulties

Although most Windows and OSX machines will let you start the editor by double-clicking on launcher.jar, some won't. If double-clicking launcher.jar doesn't bring up the editor, you're probably in that unfortunate group. There are two ways to proceed. The easy route, if you are on Windows, is to download start.bat (22 bytes), and place start.bat in the same folder as the editor. Then just double-click start.bat, and the editor will start.

The second route, that actually fixes this, is to tell your Java how to behave. While uninstalling and reinstalling Java probably will fix the problem (this theory remains untested), the see this post to fix the heart of the problem (Windows instructions currently). I'd include it here, but am out of characters for this post .
You can also try the Windows XP version, which includes Java with the editor.

Editor Not Opening any BIQ files (or saved files not being visible)

There can be permission problems on Windows 7 (and likely Vista as well) that can result in the editor not being allowed to open any files. The current recommended remedy is to install Civ3 to somewhere other than C:\Program Files (for example, C:\Civilization III). Alternately, you can move your BIQs somewhere outside of C:\Program Files to edit them, and then copy them back to test and play them. Running Civ3 and the editor on Windows 98, ME, 2000, or XP is also a possibility (that's the route I took, before I even started making this editor).

Disabling User Account Control should also solve these problems, and is likely going to be a quicker and more convenient fix than either moving Civ3 or switching operating systems. I personally recommend disabling it as soon as you start using Vista/7, no matter what, though others may argue that its security benefits are worth its inconvenience.

As the editor is inherently dependent on how Civ3 stores its files, this is an inherent hazard when running Vista or 7, and cannot likely be avoided through changes or updates to the editor.

Preferences not saved

If you are running Windows Vista or Windows 7 (or later), please make sure you are not running the editor from somewhere within C:\Program Files (or C:\Program Files (x86)\, or C:\Windows). If you are running a different operating system, this is strange. There should be a civ3editor.ini file created in the editor's folder after you run it for the first time; if not, this could be an issue to post about.

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 :

The BIQ support code is here, and is Mozilla Public Licensed, meaning you can use it in open or closed source programs, but have to make any changes to the shared components themselves (but not the program that uses them) available as open source. The goal is that everyone who uses it contributes back so we wind up with an even better BIQ-reading library.

The editor code itself is here, and uses the BIQ support code. It has the MIT license, which means you can use it pretty much however you want, in either open or closed source programs. You are encouraged, but not required, to share changes you make back to improve the editor.

If you've come up with some scheme to use the editor/code commercially, I'd appreciate it if you contact me first. I might be interested in helping you take over the world, and it's preferable to have some friends when doing so.

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 :

Spoiler Windows XP Version :

Recent versions of Java have caused issues with the editor on XP, so there is an XP release that works around this by including Java with the editor. See also this post[/URL], which explains the details, including how to XP-ify any future releases that don't have an XP-specific download available yet.

These versions perform identically to the regular downloads for the equivalent versions.
[/URL]
1.14 XP (backup link)

Spoiler Versions for Windows 98/ME/2000 and OS X 10.4 - 10.7 :

These are the "Legacy" releases. Note that not all versions have a Legacy release; there was a jump from 0.99 to 1.04, and again to 1.09. These are still updated once or twice a year, so these systems should be considered in secondary support rather than being unsupported.

Some features do not work on on these systems, so while these updates include some of the updates since previous legacy versions (and 0.98 prior to that), they are not entirely feature-equivalent to the corresponding non-legacy versions.
[/URL]
1.09 Legacy
1.04 Legacy
0.99 Legacy

Versions 0.98 and below also work on these systems.

[/URL]
1.03
1.02
1.01
1.00
0.992
0.991
0.99
0.98 <-- this version and below also support older systems (98/ME/2K/OSX 10.4 - 10.7)
0.97
0.96
0.95
0.94
0.93
0.92
0.91
0.90
0.89
0.88
0.87
0.86
0.85
0.84
0.83
0.82
0.81
0.80
0.79
0.78
0.77
0.76.1
0.76
0.75
0.74
0.73
0.72
0.71
0.70
0.69
0.68
0.67
0.66
0.65
0.64
0.63
0.62
0.61
0.60
0.57
0.56
0.55
0.54
0.53
0.52
0.51
0.50 (initial release)

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!

 

[tom2050]

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!

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]

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]

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]

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.

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

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]

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]

Excellent work Quintillus! 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]

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]

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.

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.

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

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.

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.

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.

 

[Steph]

Normally, my editor should have all the cracked editor options activated.

So if you need some info regarding where it is stored in the biq, I could help