Cross-Platform Editor for Conquests now available! 1.51

[Quintillus]

Version 1.37

Version 1.37 is now available! Changes:

- Re-enable the "Apply Rule Changes" menu option without opening a SAV first
- You can now also change the CTZN and TERR sections of the rules, allowing more possibilities in evolving your game over time
- Update the instructions for applying rule changes

 

[Kirejara]

I know, that I repeat myself: Thanks again for your fast and good work!

 

[Ozymandias]

I know, that I repeat myself: Thanks again for your fast and good work!

What he said -

 

[Gojira54]

So I've finally downloaded this, and am experimenting with it now. I mostly did so for the Teleport feature, TBH. I am trying to find a way to use Charm, but I am just not seeing a way (gameplay-related, I mean).

Does this in any way help with other limits, such as max lux\strat resources, buildings, etc.?

Any other tips and tricks?

 

[Nathiri]

So I've finally downloaded this, and am experimenting with it now. I mostly did so for the Teleport feature, TBH. I am trying to find a way to use Charm, but I am just not seeing a way (gameplay-related, I mean).

Does this in any way help with other limits, such as max lux\strat resources, buildings, etc.?

Any other tips and tricks?

No the limits themselves remain the same for resources and 256 buildings. That's a hard-coded engine limit. However, you can reorder the resource list to better organize your 32 lux/strat resources rather than having to plan everything out for list order from the beginning. There's also a phantom resource bug tracker built in to the editor.

 

[Quintillus]

What Nathiri said is correct. There are some limits that it helps with, specifically areas such as shield cost, which you can set into the thousands if you so please, and maintenance cost, which you can set negative. Generally, these numeric fields accept a wider range of values than what the Firaxis editor allows, within reason (a negative operational range for aircraft or negative base hit points are probably bad ideas), whereas limitations on the number of things that a BIQ can handle are hard-coded in the engine.

 

[Ozymandias]

I am trying to find a way to use Charm, but I am just not seeing a way (gameplay-related, I mean).

tom2050 wrote up a detailed analysis of how Charm works. I'm planning on giving it a go for siege "mechanics" in Terra Fantasia.

 

[Gojira54]

tom2050 wrote up a detailed analysis of how Charm works. I'm planning on giving it a go for siege "mechanics" in Terra Fantasia.

I will definitely look into it more. Not sure how I could use it, but I would like to squeeze in some extra features...

Questions on Buildings:

1. I see we can apply traits usually reserved only for Wonders to regular Improvements. I assume this has been fully tested out?
2. What I am much more interested in for DR, is seeing that you can apply building/sw/wonder attributes to the Space Race components. This would be ideal for me. Has anyone tried this out with this editor?

Side note - I had an issue with the editor, where it mangled the terrain horribly, and I went in to fix it in both this and the default editor, but both kept crashing once I tried to fix the terrain, so I had to scrap about a week's worth of work and revert to a saved copy I had from before using the editor, and I haven't used it since, figuring I should do all the changes I can in the default editor, save as a backup, then go in and make the changes I can't do elsewhere on this. I am sure this and other questions have been addressed in the 61 pages before me, but That's a lot to go through, and I was hoping for some wisdom from you veterans out there...

TIA

 

[Adrain]

Opening SAVs is still in early stages; uncompressed saves (often autosaves) of relatively "vanilla" games are the most likely to be openable.

Hi Quintillus.

I'm not sure if it will be of any help but your comment indicates there may be some limitation in your handling of the SAV files which are compressed. In case it can help please see my attachment in [C3C] Adrain's Save Game Editor. SavExpnd.Exe converts a compressed .SAV to an uncompressed one just as you'd find in the Saves\Auto\ subfolder of your game. UnCompress.Cmd illustrates how it can be invoked from a Command Line.

Shout if there's anything I can help with.

PS. I should explain that most of my investigations have been focused on the SAV file format. I can't promise to know everything but I can promise to share all I have.

 

[Adrain]

Side note - I had an issue with the editor, where it mangled the terrain horribly, and I went in to fix it in both this and the default editor, but both kept crashing once I tried to fix the terrain, so I had to scrap about a week's worth of work and revert to a saved copy I had from before using the editor

It may help to know that terrain is stored in a distinct area of the SAV file, so I imagine the same is true of scenarios. Thus, if you have a lot of work saved in a SAV (or other) file which also contains corrupted terrain then you should be able to replace just the terrain part of the file with a version known to work.

I'd be happy to do that for you if that sounds complicated. I'd need both files mind you ;-)

 

[Gojira54]

It may help to know that terrain is stored in a distinct area of the SAV file, so I imagine the same is true of scenarios. Thus, if you have a lot of work saved in a SAV (or other) file which also contains corrupted terrain then you should be able to replace just the terrain part of the file with a version known to work.

I'd be happy to do that for you if that sounds complicated. I'd need both files mind you ;-)

I'll keep that in mind, should it recur. At this point I've rebuilt all and beyond what was lost. THank you for the offer, and Happy Holidays!

 

[Quintillus]

Quintillus updated Cross-Platform Civ3 Editor with a new update entry:

Version 1.38

Version 1.38 contains the following improvements:

• If the Civilopedia entries cannot be read, the editor will let you know, but will still open the BIQ file, just without the icons that it loads from Civilopedia files.
• The editor is now slightly more lenient in its reading Civilopedia entries, increasing the chance it can read them.
• The "Scenario Description" field in Scenario Properties is now properly limited to the 639-character BIQ limit. This prevents creating unopenable scenarios when the description is too long.

Read the rest of this update entry...

Credit goes to @Stew Pid and @Tealdragon204 for reporting these issues and uploading BIQs to diagnose them with.

I've also linked the forum thread with the Downloads Database entry, and the Downloads Database now automatically creates a post when I make an update there. Hence the different format you see here.

You'll see a "Download Now" button in the upper right, as well as a tabbed structure at the top of this page that takes you to the Downloads Database entry for the editor. If you'd like to set up the same type of linking for your resources, see the guide I wrote on how to do that here.

 

[Vuldacon]

Quintillus... Thank You for continuing the Updates for Your Cross-Platform Civ3 Editor.

Also, Thank You for Posting about Linking the Forum Thread with the Downloads Database entry. That is "Nifty"

 

[Civinator]

Quintillus... Thank You for continuing the Updates for Your Cross-Platform Civ3 Editor.

Also, Thank You for Posting about Linking the Forum Thread with the Downloads Database entry. That is "Nifty"

I completely second this.

 

[Ozymandias]

And I'll "third" it

 

[LordBaal]

Can you change upkeep costs with this so different units consume more or less gold?

 

[Adrain]

I believe not. Buildings have a property for that but, as far as I'm aware, there is nothing similar in the Unit Prototype object.

 

[LordBaal]

Too bad, wonderful tool nevertheless.

 

[Kirejara]

Yeah! an update!

I know, that I sound like a broken record: Good Work!

May I ask for two suggestions?

Could it be possible to add line breaks (not sure if correct translation of Zeilenumbruch) into the warning message window for looped update paths? The last one broke my PC and I had to use STRL-ALT-ENTF to close your editor and make the changes again in a new session.

And I am sure this was asked several times before.

I know that Civ3 is hardwired to 31 civs in the game. But could it be possible to enable more than 31 Civs to be selected in the menue?

Thanks and please continue!

 

[Quintillus]

Thank you all. To answer the specific questions.

Can you change upkeep costs with this so different units consume more or less gold?

In general, what Adrian said is correct. However, there is one exception of sorts - if you uncheck the "Requires Support" button for a unit, it never requires any support. PinkTilapia used this effectively in the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire scenario (which predates this editor) to have standard units that had free maintenance, and more powerful but expensive units that cost 6 maintenance apiece (with a certain amount free based on government type, but typically fewer than you'd like to have).

There isn't a way to have one unit cost 1 gold, and another cost 3 gold, however.

Yeah! an update!

I know, that I sound like a broken record: Good Work!

May I ask for two suggestions?

Could it be possible to add line breaks (not sure if correct translation of Zeilenumbruch) into the warning message window for looped update paths? The last one broke my PC and I had to use STRL-ALT-ENTF to close your editor and make the changes again in a new session.

And I am sure this was asked several times before.

I know that Civ3 is hardwired to 31 civs in the game. But could it be possible to enable more than 31 Civs to be selected in the menue?

Thanks and please continue!

The first one sounds relatively easy. You mean the dialog that alerts to when you have an upgrade such as Spearman -> Pikeman -> Musketman -> Modern Armor -> Spearman? It does sound likely that I didn't anticipate the loops being too much longer than that. I'm curious roughly how long the loop was. Is it just running of the screen left-to-right, or is it covering the whole screen?

The second one, alas, it does not look feasible. The editor doesn't prevent you from adding more civs (although it would probably be a good idea to have a warning). But having added one, I don't see a way to select it in-game.

There also are BIQ-formatted limitations aside from the number of civs itself that would cause issues, such as that the "Available To" field for units (PRTO) only has 32 bytes, for the barbarians + 31 civs. There's simply nowhere to store information about whether a unit would be available for an additional civilization, even if you could select it. And as the BIQ format is the common format between the editor and the game, there's not really a good way around that.