Cross-Platform Editor for Conquests now available! 1.51

[Quintillus]

It isn't currently possible to add custom player data if it isn't already enabled. I recommend Firaxis's editor for that.

That is a good option to add for a future release. In theory it shouldn't be much more difficult to add than enabling custom rules (which is possible).

Quintillus
I’m now fairly sure that my main problem is caused by a conflict with previously deleted dysfunctional BIQ’s with the same file name as the new one. If that’s the case I’m going to need a unique designation every time I save the mod.
Uninstalling the game has no effect. Does anyone Know how to total purge Civ3 from my computer.

It does sound like plausibly a problem with Windows Shadow Copy. I'm not an expert on that any more, but my conclusions of how to avoid issues basically were to avoid mixing Civ3 with C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files (x86). By installing to a custom folder, like C:\Civilization III, I haven't had any of the odd issues I had back in 2007 with scenario changes seeming to save in the (at-that-time-Firaxis) editor, but then disappearing later.

If you already have Civ3 steered well clear of Program Files, my guesses are far less likely to be correct.

(Also I may or may not be back on the thread this year; we're approaching the time of the year when there are lots of holiday events)

 

[Oni Ryuu]

I sent it through the Firaxis's editor without any problems.

It is in Program Files and I can’t effectively uninstall Civ or delete the files; they just become inaccessible and hang-around like landmines. I’ll remember this for when I get a new computer.

Thank you

 

[Quintillus]

Version 1.12

Thanks to a Festivus miracle, version 1.12 is now available! You can download it here. Changes include:

• Infinite loops in unit upgrade paths are now detected and you are notified of them prior to save.
• The editor will now let you know if there are new versions available.
• Autosave will now save any changes you've made to the unit/tech/etc. you are currently editing (not just ones you've already edited)
• Newly added techs will be available as prerequisites on the TECH tab immediately (vs after a restart)
• The editor will continue to behave normally if a unit's icon index is too high for your units_32.pcx file's dimensions.
• Help will now correctly detect when you are offline, and will display the offline version of Help.
• Help -> View Help will now work the first time you try it, just like F1.
• Replaced File -> Exit in the online Help window with File -> Close, which only closes that window and not the entire editor.

The infinite loop in upgrades detection is the first of the new programmatic-bug-detection items that you may have seen a post about on CFC recently.

The update check is designed to let you know if there is a new version even if you don't check CFC regularly. Since it's new in 1.12, the first version you will receive a notification about is 1.13. It works by loading this text file from my website, and seeing if the version number there is higher than what you are running.

Happy Festivus and happy civving!

 

[Oni Ryuu]

Wow, you work fast.
"Increase modding speed!"

I'll have to be quicker submitting info on auto-detectable bugs. I thought with the thread, you'd be inundated by now.

 

[Jorsalfare]

A very huge THANK YOU, Quintillus! Great improvements and additions to the (already) excellent editor of yours.

Have a peaceful christmas and a happy new year!

 

[Vuldacon]

Excellent Work Quintillus!
You deserve some rest and relaxation... Happy Holidays

 

[Quintillus]

Version 1.13

Version 1.13 is now available! This update adds filtering to the unit list, which turned out to be easier to add than I'd expected. The screenshot below illustrates the concept:

In addition to the unit's name, you can now use the following filters.

attack:search for units with attack greater to, less than, or equal (GT, LT, E) to the specified value
defence: search for units with defence GT, LT, E the specified value
movement: search for units with movement GT, LT, E the specified value
class: enter "land", "air", or "sea" to filter to only land/air/sea units
era: enter 0 for units with no prerequisite tech, 1 for units whose prereq tech is in the first era (Ancient), 2 for units whose prereq tech is in the second era, etc.
availableTo: search for units available to a certain civilization; search using the civilization's name
uniqueTo: search for units that are unique to a certain civilization; the same as available to, but they must also be available to no other civilization

In all cases except unit name, you search with the >, <, or = symbols. For example; "attack>2 availableTo=Greece" will search for all units available to Greece which have an attack above two; "attack>3 sword" will search for all units with an attack above 3 and "sword" in their name. Search terms are separated by spaces, and you may use as many as you wish. A unit must match all of them to not be filtered out.

You may note that as you are entering a term, all units are filtered out. That is okay. If you've typed "atta", then as the editor doesn't see a >, <, or = symbol, it is currently filtering for units whose name includes "atta", which is most likely none. Once you enter your query in full, it will work.

Similarly, text-based queries will only filter once the full text is entered. "availableTo=Gre" will not filter, as the editor will not find a civilization named "Gre" to filter on, but once you've typed "availableTo=Greece", the filter will apply.

I plan to add more filters in the future, but am curious which ones you would find most useful. This is a starter set based on what I'd wished for in the past, or what seemed like would be most useful, but in theory any unit trait could be filtered on.

Finally, if you start version 1.12, you should receive an update notification once I update the latest version file in a few minutes. If that is not working, let me know.

 

[Quintillus]

Wow, you work fast.
"Increase modding speed!"

I'll have to be quicker submitting info on auto-detectable bugs. I thought with the thread, you'd be inundated by now.

I'm glad the updates feel fast! It doesn't always feel that way when writing them, although when it does tends to correlate when it's most enjoyable.

A very huge THANK YOU, Quintillus! Great improvements and additions to the (already) excellent editor of yours.

Have a peaceful christmas and a happy new year!

Thank you, and Merry Christmas!

Excellent Work Quintillus!
You deserve some rest and relaxation... Happy Holidays

Thanks! I plan to spend a good amount of time with friends and family this week. Happy New Year!

 

[Kirejara]

I had freshly installed 1.12 and was somewhat irritated, that it allready pointed to an update before reading this.

Unit adding works so far flawless on my old somewhat eratic XP-Computer.

But I will install 1.13 in the next days and test it.

Thanks again for your great work and happy holydays!

 

[Quintillus]

Version 1.14

Version 1.14 is now available! It will be the last release of the year, or perhaps the first of the year depending on your geographic location. Changes include:

• Filtering for units based on shield cost, population cost, bombard strength, rate of fire, and range, hit point bonus, air defence, operational range, and transport capacity.
• Add a less than/greater than filter for availableTo (in addition to existing equals filter).
• Filters are now case-insensitive.
• Detection of the Phantom Resource Bug
• On Java 8 Update 112 and later on Windows XP, Offline Help will now always be used.

While the entirely new filters are straightforward integer-based filters (bombardStrenght>0, for example), availableTo deserves additional comment. Previously, you could do something like:

availableTo=Germany

And it would filter it to just units that are available to Germany. Now, you can also do something like:

availableTo<6

And this would show all units that are available to at most five civilizations. Thus:

availableTo<2 availableTo>0

Is equivalent to finding all unique units, going by the traditional Civ3 concept of a unique unit being available to exactly one civ. Conversely, availableTo>30 will display all units that are available to all civs (although note that this will exclude ones that are replaced by unique units for some, such as the Knight; so if you want the "common" units, something like availableTo>25 may be preferable).

The Phantom Resource Bug occurs when you have luxury or strategic resources placed 32, 64, etc. places apart from each other on the resource list (GOOD tab). Although there wasn't enough time left in the year to make it easier to fix this, you will at least be notified of this problem upon save should it occur, so you don't have to learn about it the hard way.

The fix for Windows XP is after realizing that recent Java versions cannot display the modern built-in web browser on XP; this is because update 112 updated the web browser to a version of WebKit too new for XP. This isn't really surprising, since Chrome dropped XP support about six months prior to Java update 112, and Chrome and WebKit share a lot of similarities. However, for all intents and purposes the offline Help is almost identical to the online help currently, so it isn't much of a loss. Eventually, I'd like for the online help to have explanatory graphics and so forth, and links to relevant CFC posts, but so far that doesn't really exist.

 

[Vuldacon]

Thanks Quintillus... Great End of the Year Update!
Happy New Year ... and do Party

 

[Quintillus]

Thanks, and don't worry, I always have something going on for New Year's Eve, typically board games with friends. It went on till about 3:30 AM this time, thankfully within walking distance for me. Now I need some sleep!

 

[Quintillus]

Improving Windows XP Support

As a few of you have noticed, Windows XP support hasn't been great recently, due to bugs in recent Java 8 updates - which only unofficially support XP - breaking functionality, just as the editor was starting to use that same functionality more and more. This has been particularly noticeable since 1.10, with the reorderable lists (and since then filterable lists), but after noticing the Help problem mentioned in post #950, I realized that meant the Unit Download function also hasn't been working on XP. Ironically this broke due to a Java update in October 2016, at pretty much the same time that update 1.04 (Oct 24th, 2016) fixed that same functionality in general, which had been broken due to CFC's vBulletin -> XenForo migration.

While some might take this as a sign to read the writing on the wall, I like to remember that most buildings have more than one wall. And although I can't fix the bugs in Java itself, I recently realized how to restore XP support to its former equality with newer operating systems, from a practical standpoint. This is by including the most recent version of Java that doesn't have any known bugs along with the editor. The editor will thus use that version of Java, while all other Java programs on your system will use the system default (likely the most recent one). Thus accomplishing the best of both worlds - the editor will be able to use all the latest functionality in 1.14 and later versions, while your system default that everything else uses (most notably Java applets running in Internet Explorer or other browsers) will by fully up-to-date, including security updates.

The tradeoff is a significantly increased download size. While the basic 1.14 version is approximately 1.6 MB, the download that includes Java is a shade under 40 MB, and decompresses to about 160 MB. Thus, why it won't be the new default distribution method.

I have also switched to 7z compression for the download, as sticking with the traditional .zip format would increase the download size from 40 MB to 60 MB. If you do not have 7zip, which is free, or another program which can decompress 7z files, you can download 7zip from its official website. I recommend it in general if you compress or decompress files semi-frequently; even on regular .zip files, it is much faster than what Windows has built in. For the 60 MB .zip version of the new XP download, 7zip can decompress it in 2 seconds; Windows 8.1 by default took 56 seconds on the better of two attempts.

One other thing to note about the new download is the new way of starting it. To start the editor with the included version of Java, double-click on XP_launcher.vbs. You can also use Editor_XP.bat (which the VBS file makes use of), although this will leave a Command Prompt window up that displays the log in real time. Double-clicking Conquests Editor.jar as done typically will use your system's build-in version of Java, and thus will behave exactly as the regular 1.14 version.

So, if you are running XP, I highly recommend downloading the 1.14 XP release so you can use the new reordering and filterable unit and technology lists that have been being worked on in 1.10 through 1.14. This download is hosted along with the editor's code on Bitbucket.org, as I didn't want to make this the new default from the Downloads Database, so don't be alarmed when the download notification doesn't say it's from CFC. An alternate link, hosted by my e-mail provider in case Bitbucket has downtime, is here.

For future updates, I plan to intermittently make XP-packaged releases available, the frequency depending on demand (the download link above will count downloads of that version). But even if I don't get around to a proper XP package for a version, or right away, you can XP-ify future releases by copying the jre1.8_111 folder, and the Editor_XP.bat and XP_launcher.vbs files, to a future release's folder. This would also save you almost 40 MB of downloads every time in the future.

@Kirejara and all others using XP, let me know how it works! I think it should, since it's working on my XP laptop where I've verified that the regular 1.14 has the known issues, but it's always good to hear that it works for someone else, too.

 

[Quintillus]

Use of Windows XP Version on Newer Versions of Windows

It also occurred to me that the Windows XP version (see post #953, above; download here) may be useful for those who may be having issues launching the editor on newer versions of Windows, particularly if you are unable to get the .jar file to start by double-clicking on it. The .vbs file will work around that problem, and by having Java included in the download and that specific version used, it would also work around any other system configuration issues that may occur. For example, if your system still had only Java 7 as the most recently installed version, the regular 1.14 release would be unable to start until you updated Java, but the 1.14 XP version would be able to start.

I still recommend using the regular 1.14 version if you are on Vista/7/8/8.1/10, as it's a smaller download, and sometimes you get feature updates with newer Java versions, too. As an example, even back when the editor ran on Java 5, the Civ Color Editor component of it had a nicer user interface if you were using newer versions of Java, all without my having written any code to make it nicer. But if you do run into issues getting the editor to start, the XP distribution of it may be worth a try.

(This post also written for future reference, as every year or two someone runs into system configuration issues, and I'm more likely to remember this if I write it down and link to it in one of the editor's Help files)

 

[Kirejara]

Hi Quinillus,

So, if you are running XP, I highly recommend downloading the 1.14 XP release so you can use the new reordering and filterable unit and technology lists that have been being worked on in 1.10 through 1.14. This download is hosted along with the editor's code on Bitbucket.org, as I didn't want to make this the new default from the Downloads Database, so don't be alarmed when the download notification doesn't say it's from CFC.

I just read these great news.

But the download link is dead ("Repository unavailable").

Thanks again for your help!

EDIT: I tried the link just again and this time the download started without error message.

 

[Quintillus]

That is odd. It looks like Bitbucket had some downtime today, which isn't completely resolved yet. That's the first time I've seen that personally, including having worked with their service professionally for a couple years. Just in case it happens again, I've added a backup link (hosted by my e-mail provider) to both post 953 and the XP link in the first post.

 

[Kirejara]

The XP-Special Edition works so far without problems. I had not entered a new unit yet, but I was able to rename and edit existing units.

The new sorting and searching makes many things much easier!

How can I use the "availableTo" order with nations those names included severals words (z. B. "Roman Empire" or "Iroquois Nations")?

So far I was only able to search units for nations with a single word as name (z. B. "Greece" or "Zululand"). .

Thanks again!

 

[Quintillus]

The XP-Special Edition works so far without problems. I had not entered a new unit yet, but I was able to rename and edit existing units.

The new sorting and searching makes many things much easier!

How can I use the "availableTo" order with nations those names included severals words (z. B. "Roman Empire" or "Iroquois Nations")?

So far I was only able to search units for nations with a single word as name (z. B. "Greece" or "Zululand"). .

Thanks again!

I'm glad the XP Special Edition is working! Once I thought of how to make it, it wasn't that difficult; the though part was thinking of the way to make it work in the first place. I'm also glad you are using the reordering and searching; the latter in particular is my favorite new feature in quite awhile, but you're the first person to specifically confirm having used it.

The search-parser will need an upgrade in order to handle civ names with multiple words. 1.13 and 1.14 not having names-with-spaces-support is primarily due to the added complexity and wanting to release them before Christmas and New Year's, respectively. A somewhat-clunky workaround in the meantime would be to temporarily rename the civ without a space for searching. Now that filtering is working and XP support is back, that will be close to the top of the list (so far 1.15 only has a fix to an old PLYR/PROP-tab bug completed).

Edit: I just realized that your examples use z. B., and that is German for zum Beispiel, or "for example" in English. It made so much sense in context that I didn't realize the abbreviation was in German. But what really makes it noteworthy is that, in (at least American, but as far as I know British as well) English, the abbreviation for "for example" is e.g., which is in Latin rather than English, and short for exempli gratia in Latin. The real question is why English uses Latin abbreviations for certain terms - there are others as well, such as i.e. (id est) for "that is" when explaining the implication of something - but I still find it interesting that it survived most writing transitioning to the vernacular in England, but not in Germany. It makes me curious about Romance languages, with their closer relation to Latin than either English or German; I never thought to ask whether Latin abbreviations remained applicable in French or Spanish class.

Edit/Update: I've been looking at the filters for the past couple hours, and now have the unit filter working with quotes, to handle spaces in search terms. It's late here so I'm not going to put together a release tonight, but it will be in 1.15.

 

[Quintillus]

Version 1.15

Version 1.15 is now available! Changes:

• You can now filter units based on civ availability when the civ you want to search by has a space in their name (this fix should apply generally to future filters as well).
• Safety Level preferences are saved between editor launches.
• The Select Icon window is now scrollable.
• Fix a bug that occurred when adding a playable civ on the PLYR tab and then viewing the PROP tab, caused by the new civ not being added to alliances properly. Symptoms included the map no longer rendering (white screen) and being unable to save the scenario.
• The default Safety Level will now be Safe rather than Firaxis.
• The Select Icon window will now be centered, and have a title and icon.
• If you have too old of a Java version (less than Java 8 update 60), the editor will now alert you and then quit, rather than staying open but failing to create its tabs when opening a .biq (and thus not being useful).
• Significantly expand the Help for the Unit Tab, to cover all unique functionality versus the Firaxis editor.

The filtering units change addresses the limitation that @Kirejara ran into in post #957. So far, availableTo is the only filter that this applies to, but there is no reason the fix shouldn't work for future filters as well.

The Safety Level saving between editor launches is something I've been aware of for awhile, but was recently brought up again by @Mithadan. I suspect there are others who will find this useful as well. The default changing to Safe will reduce the amount of manual changes required and should still be safe (as the name suggests); unfortunately I don't have a nice document outlining exactly which fields this affects. However, Safe is very likely still more conservative (and thus closer to Firaxis) than it needs to be. Update: It has been discovered that while safety levels will be carried over in the "Adjust Safety Level" window, the "Firaxis" limits will still be applied when the editor is started, regardless of what the saved levels were. Your saved settings can be applied by going to Options -> Adjust Safety Level, and clicking the "Update" button. A fix for this will be in the next version.

The Select Icon window being scrollable was requested by @Kirejara in post #898, and is necessary for it to work well when you have very large units_32.pcx files (as a lot of scenarios are likely to have these days).

The Unit Tab help now looks close to what I'd like for it to look like. It covers all the functionality specific to this editor, notably unit filters, re-ordering units, selecing the icon graphically, and the Download Units functionality. By comparison, the PROP and WSIZ tabs are the only ones that document every field available. I would like to eventually have essentially two help pages for each tab - one showing what's different in this editor versus the Firaxis one, and another documenting all the fields that are also available in the Firaxis editor. In practice, however, I'm only likely to get around to the former, and that has historically not been up-to-date. If you find one of the pages linked here helpful and would like to document another tab, make a post here.

 

[Kirejara]

Sounds great (again)!

I am able to simply copy the 1.15 data in the existing editor file or do I have to wait for the XP Special Edition 1.15?

Thanks!