Cross-Platform Editor for Conquests now available! 1.51

[SayHayKid]

Will take a look at it - I'm much more active here than I was in the spring, due to some real life changes (of the positive variety) this spring.

One question, were those resources added with the 1.49 version or later, or 1.48 or earlier? 1.49 should have fixed the cause I found for that issue, although it's possible that there is a secondary way that can happen. But if it was created with 1.48 or earlier, that's also good to know as then I can repair the BIQ and re-post it but don't need to go hunting for a secondary cause of that resource problem.

I am currently using the 1.49 editor. However, my guess is they were added with the 1.48 editor. I have been working on the scenario for a while.

Another issue that I am noticing with the 1.49 editor (running on MacOS for reference with Windows version of game via WINE) is that after saving and opening in the C3C to test, C3C will often freeze when I select the BIQ. I have to force exit. Through trial and error I discovered that if I open it in Steph's editor and save without making any changes, then it will load no problem in C3C.

 

[register]

I made an attempt to summarize the advantages in the first post, but it has evolved over time. That post says:

Some additional specifics:

- It's easier to route rivers due to precision controls over their paths along tile edges
- Circular upgrade paths and the Phantom Resource bug are detected by the editor so you can catch them up front
- You can filter the tech, unit, building, and good (resource) tab lists. Want to see all buildings that have the Expansionist attribute or all units available to Persia that cost less than 60 shields? It's searchable.
- Support for guided creation of custom Civ colors (I'm not sure anyone's ever done this with the editor yet, beyond the ones I've created while developing it, but it's likely the easiest way to do so)
- The most advanced create-a-map-from-satellite-imagery option currently available.
- Pasting in city or leader lists from text files. I think it was georgestow who created city lists per civ and posted a link to them from here circa 2010, this feature makes those quick to use.
- Can assign wonder/small wonder traits to non-wonder buildings
- Can select unit icons by clicking on them rather than figuring out what their numerical index is
- Can assign constructed buildings to multiple cities at once, based on size/owner criteria, speeding up the creation of cities for prebuilt-map scenarios
- Can relocate whole cities should you decide to adjust their placement
- Can get a text diff between two BIQ files, so you can compare what has changed more easily
- Can extract a BIQ from a SAV file, should you lose the original BIQ

There are others, but those are many of the highlights from the "Tips and Tricks" widget that is used on the start screen.

I see it as more of a "victory by fifty small advantages" than "two or three killer features" situation. Which of those fifty small advantages are useful to an individual scenario creator will vary, but enough people have found that it adds up to a worthwhile advantage to reach Page 76 of the thread.


Will take a look at it - I'm much more active here than I was in the spring, due to some real life changes (of the positive variety) this spring.

One question, were those resources added with the 1.49 version or later, or 1.48 or earlier? 1.49 should have fixed the cause I found for that issue, although it's possible that there is a secondary way that can happen. But if it was created with 1.48 or earlier, that's also good to know as then I can repair the BIQ and re-post it but don't need to go hunting for a secondary cause of that resource problem.

Many thanks

 

[Lord_Hill]

I installed this editor and planning to design a scenario with it. However, I do not want to read all 76 pages of information about it, therefore I need to ask... I see see this editor is visually pleasant and more intuitive than the original editor but apart from this and maybe a small advantage for adding 2 more fractions, what are the benefits of using it over vanilla editor?

Another rather exotic feature is that you can easily place barbarian cities by switching the owner of an existing city over. Combined with the c3x mod/patch you can even make those cities fully functional.

 

[register]

Another rather exotic feature is that you can easily place barbarian cities by switching the owner of an existing city over. Combined with the c3x mod/patch you can even make those cities fully functional.

Really?! That's fantastic! Like in Civ1. If these cities can produce units then I'll be stunned. What function in c3x mod do I have turn on in order to have funcional cities?

 

[Lord_Hill]

I did a quick guide in this thread which goes further, you can play as the barbarians using an additional tool! But the c3x bit is relevant here.

Barbarian cities in Civ 3

Also, a quick reminder on how to get a game going as the barbarians. Or at least one of the ways you can do it. 1. Create a scenario in the usual way 2. Open in Quintillus' Cross Platform Editor with 'Map Safety' set to 'Exploratory' 3. Create a city (or several) then use the Civilization tab...

forums.civfanatics.com

 

[Predator145]

I've had to reinstall Java and now everything is smaller than it used to be. How do you adjust Java so that it takes up a larger portion of the screen. Using the editor setting can increase the font size but not boundaries, so you just ended with a more crowded mess. I swear the Java usually takes up more than barely over 50% of the screen.

 

[Quintillus]

I've had to reinstall Java and now everything is smaller than it used to be. How do you adjust Java so that it takes up a larger portion of the screen. Using the editor setting can increase the font size but not boundaries, so you just ended with a more crowded mess. I swear the Java usually takes up more than barely over 50% of the screen.

Due to its age and my lack of expertise at the time of its creation, the editor does not actually scale to use more of the screen, except for in a few areas where I've made minor improvements over the years. The unit tab, alas, looks only slightly worse than I'd expect it to look (e.g. the checkboxes shouldn't be overlapping, that's probably due to the font size being increased).

If you have a high DPI monitor and it's not scaling, it appears the answer is to run it with Java 9 or higher rather than Java 8. That should also effectively make everything bigger.

 

[Predator145]

Java9 is indeed better and takes up a greater portion of the screen.


The only drawback is when I open BLDG this happens in full screen:



GOOD is always messed up:



It's ok the first time I open the biq. But if I full screen it once the GOOD and BLDG will get messed up. But with the bigger java window overall there is little need to go full screen.

 

[Quintillus]

That is weird! I wish I could say that was some intentional special effect, but I've never seen it before .

Which calls for diagnostic criteria so I can attempt to reproduce it:

- What is your setting for "Make everything bigger" (and I suppose "Make Text Bigger") when you search for "Make everything bigger"/go to the Display settings? My guess is it's not 100%. And that should be okay but may be relevant.

- What is your screen resolution? (Not that I'm likely to be able to duplicate it, although I suppose my TV is technically 4K, so maybe)
- Which specific version of Java are you using? As in, is that Java 9, or Java > 9 such as Java 21? And is it Liberica? It wouldn't be surprising if it were a specific combination of "make things bigger" and a specific Java version.
- By "full screen it", you mean clicking the icon to the left of the "X" icon that closes it in the upper-right, correct? Or is it a key combination like Windows+Up Arrow? Or dragging the taskbar to the top of the screen? Or something else? It may be that it only happens in one such workflow and it's one I've never used.

Other thoughts...

It couldn't hurt to try the latest 1.51 version. While I've never seen this specific issue, I have made some improvements to compatibility with more recent Java versions, with version 1.49 in particular focusing on compatibility with Java > 8. Maybe it's a combination of 1.48 + a specific newer Java version.

I'm guessing it's not something that always happens on Windows 11 or there would have been more reports by now, but a confirm/deny of others having it on Windows 11 would be good to know. Despite having a theme resembling XP's Luna, I'm on Windows 10, as a side taskbar person.

 

[Predator145]

My resolution is 1920x1080. I'm using Java 9 to get the the increased size at the expense of this glitch. By full screen I mean clicking the squares next to the X. But since the java window now is so big there is no need to do that.

Normal:



Fullscreen:



It seems playing around with the size (height and width) of the window can fix it after I exit full screen.



This is the first time I've ever had this issue after reinstalling Java.

 

[register]

Is it possible to assign a resource to a certain faction which will be available to this faction only, and randomly spread over its territory?

 

[SayHayKid]

Yes and no. You can give each Civ a custom starting tech (Zulu Traditions or whatever you want to call it) and make that tech a requirement for the resource. That resource will be limited to that Civ, but ... you can't limit it to only appearing in their territory on a random map.

 

[register]

Yes and no. You can give each Civ a custom starting tech (Zulu Traditions or whatever you want to call it) and make that tech a requirement for the resource. That resource will be limited to that Civ, but ... you can't limit it to only appearing in their territory on a random map.

Yes, I thought about this method too but resource will be visible within other faction borders. Hmm, maybe not the resource then but something else?

 

[SayHayKid]

Yes, I thought about this method too but resource will be visible within other faction borders. Hmm, maybe not the resource then but something else?

With C3X you could make a virtual resource that is produced by an improvement and have that improvement only built by that Civ, but still no way to make it random.

 

[register]

Virtual resource produced by improvement? So it would be an unit?

 

[SayHayKid]

Virtual resource produced by improvement? So it would be an unit?

No, you can have the improvement generate any resource you want (luxury, bonus, strategic). For example, I have the Great Ironworks produce Steel (requires coal and iron). Steel is required for modern ships, tank, etc.

 

[register]

Can you show on screenshots how it's set? I do not see an option how to do it in vanilla nor Quintillu's editor.

 

[tjs282]

That's because you can only do it using specific entries in the scenario_cfg.ini file, which is used by C3X.

 

[Adrain]

Can you say what C3X refers to? I don't think I've come across that one before.

 

[Quintillus]

Can you say what C3X refers to? I don't think I've come across that one before.

I can. It's the C3X mod, by Flintlock. State of the art Civ3 modding via modifications to the executable.