Eldorado

[general-jcl]

Starting to work on terrain graphics for my mod Eldorado.
New hills and mountains there:

 

[register]

Out of curiosity I throw your image into chatgpt Here is the result.

 

[general-jcl]

Out of curiosity I throw your image into chatgpt Here is the result.

It's astonishing!
How do you generate one image from another?
The hills are different and I haven't put in any streams yet. The mountains are fairly close, but not exactly the same.

 

[general-jcl]

Eldorado is a mod developed with the French version of civ3 (I'm now on version 4).
Please note that this mod won't run on an English-language version without a few tweaks, and that all the civilopedics are in French.

The game is all about exploration.
As an European nation, you need to bring “treasures” (rum, furs, gold, silver, etc.) back to your capital in order to
increase your score and hopefully win out over your competitors.

Of course, the worlds containing these resources are hostile and full of various traps.
What's more, there are also pirates who will do anything to intercept your ships, and an Amerindian civilization in pursuit of cultural victory.

Version 4 of the mod has not yet been completely finalized, but it includes over 150 maps.
All these maps are new and “hand-made” (not generated by civ3). They are large enough to encourage exploration.
The old world (Europe) is sometimes realistic, sometimes pure fantasy. The new world may remind you of parts of our planet, or be completely fanciful, depending on the map.

The game's graphics and interface have been extensively reworked. Some units are new. Each nation has its own research tree, and not all technologies
can be traded.

If several people express interest by posting here, I could run the mod under C3X (from Flintlock) and translate it.

 

[register]

How do you generate one image from another?

I uploaded you image to chat window and asked "rework terrain, make civilization 3 terrain style" then chatgpt asking me more questions as below about details and then I said go and that's it

"Got it — you want to rework this terrain so it matches the classic Civilization III terrain style more closely.

In Civ3 style, the terrain usually looks:

• Softer and less detailed (less "craggy" mountain shapes)
• Brighter and a bit more colorful (especially greener grasslands, more defined hills)
• More stylized forests (less photorealistic, more "clumpy")
• Cleaner plains and deserts (clearer transitions between types)
  

I can start adjusting it for you!
Would you like me to:

• Just make it Civ3-style, or
• Also adapt it to specific Civ3 terrain sets (like Vanilla, Conquests, or a custom one like Snoopy's or Warpstorm's)?
  

Which would you prefer? "

 

[general-jcl]

I wanted to make the terrain more realistic and closer to what you'd find in today's games. Alas, it's not possible to modify the game engine and the way civ3 arranges the different terrain tiles. So there will always be things that look a little strange or unnatural on the map. I hope to find an acceptable compromise. This reworking of the terrain is not yet complete, and I'm not yet satisfied with the plains tiles, for example.

 

[register]

That's why I showed you this. You can also use certain terrain .pcx file and chatgpt can make you an image with preserved grid, pink background or make it transparent, will also preserve grid coordination but this need more time to find the right way how to explain to chatgpt what you aiming for.

 

[Civinator]

general-jcl, great that you are posting here again.

Is Eldorado 4 a game that should only be played by human players or is it created for a good play of a single human player against the AI, too ?

Btw.: May be it is a good idea to delete the link of your great scenario BARBAROSSA II to the former SOC site, as this site is not existing any longer and to reflect about using a link to the CCM3 mod for using the more than 1.000 WW2 units in that mod so you only have to add some small folders with the other graphics, units and text files and the biq for a download at CFC ? With a link to CCM3 I hope to restore SOE this year to a version that can be downloaded at CFC with only some very small additional folders of some MBs. This way I have reduced the download of RARR at CFC (a mostly graphical update of RAR) from more than 1 GB to around 16 MB, what can be done by a small attachment to a post at CFC.

 

[general-jcl]

general-jcl, great that you are posting here again.

Is Eldorado 4 a game that should only be played by human players or is it created for a good play of a single human player against the AI, too ?

Btw.: May be it is a good idea to delete the link of your great scenario BARBAROSSA II to the former SOC site, as this site is not existing any longer and to reflect about using a link to the CCM3 mod for using the more than 1.000 WW2 units in that mod so you only have to add some small folders with the other graphics, units and text files and the biq for a download at CFC ? With a link to CCM3 I hope to restore SOE this year to a version that can be downloaded at CFC with only some very small additional folders of some MBs. This way I have reduced the download of RARR at CFC (a mostly graphical update of RAR) from more than 1 GB to around 16 MB, what can be done by a small attachment to a post at CFC.

It was the new possibilities introduced by C3X, the Flintlock mod, that made me want to dive back into civ3 ;-)
I haven't yet explored all the new possibilities on offer, but the ones I've been able to test have largely convinced me. I also need to remember all the aspects that can be modified in the basic game and which tools or editors are the most suitable (I'll probably be contacting you a lot about this!).

Otherwise, Eldorado can be played in multiplayer or solo with C3X (before, you could only play in multiplayer, because some units weren't managed correctly by the AI).

And yes, you're right, I need to update my signature and I'm looking forward to the new versions of CCM and SOE!

 

[Civinator]

And yes, you're right, I need to update my signature and I'm looking forward to the new versions of CCM and SOE!

The new version of CCM (CCM 3, containing also the tons of WW2 units for SOE ) is available since a longer time at CFC:
https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/ccm3-epic-mod.690497/#post-16624625
https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/ccm3-epic-mod.690497/#post-16624626

The comeback of SOE only needs a link in the SOE scenario properties to CCM 3 for using all the units, leaderheads, civilopedia files and so on in CCM 3 and the adjustments to the CCM 3 unit names in the unit animations part of the pediaIcons file of the SOE scenario (while the original names for those units in the biq of the scenario can stay). This all works very well and SOE could be uploaded with a very slim additional folder, containing the techtrees of that scenario, some graphics and the reworked text files, and the separated biq just now, but I want to improve some features of that scenario with the new possibilities of C3X and also want to improve the civilopedia entries of that scenario, too. The same could be done with Barbarossa II, too.

 

[Vuldacon]

general-jcl... Great start on the Eldorado Terrain

 

[general-jcl]

The new version of CCM (CCM 3, containing also the tons of WW2 units for SOE ) is available since a longer time at CFC:
https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/ccm3-epic-mod.690497/#post-16624625
https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/ccm3-epic-mod.690497/#post-16624626

The comeback of SOE only needs a link in the SOE scenario properties to CCM 3 for using all the units, leaderheads, civilopedia files and so on in CCM 3 and the adjustments to the CCM 3 unit names in the unit animations part of the pediaIcons file of the SOE scenario (while the original names for those units in the biq of the scenario can stay). This all works very well and SOE could be uploaded with a very slim additional folder, containing the techtrees of that scenario, some graphics and the reworked text files, and the separated biq just now, but I want to improve some features of that scenario with the new possibilities of C3X and also want to improve the civilopedia entries of that scenario, too. The same could be done with Barbarossa II, too.

CCM had escaped me. I didn't think you'd already complied this mod, which is huge with C3X. Anyway, bravo, I'm going to try it out!

 

[Civinator]

CCM had escaped me. I didn't think you'd already complied this mod, which is huge with C3X. Anyway, bravo, I'm going to try it out!

CCM3 especially is a very good base for many modders to keep their historical scenarios and mods hosted directly at CFC without loosing anything of the special character of their mods and scenarios (see RARR per example), as the units and leaderheads, which are taking the most place of a download, are mostly the same (and if a modder wants to add a different sound or animation to a unit, this can be done with a small file of only some KB).

 

[general-jcl]

A view taken from map 97. I'll add some LM_Terrain to add diversity:

 

[Civinator]

A view taken from map 97.

Map 97: Are these alternative fixed maps for the game or are these maps connected to a campaign ?

 

[general-jcl]

Map 97: Are these alternative fixed maps for the game or are these maps connected to a campaign ?

There are nearly 160 worlds in Eldorado. The vast majority of these maps are new (and not generated by the game engine).
They are generally vast enough to encourage exploration. There are no links between the maps.
To put it simply:
- you choose a European nation, then a random map and go: welcome to hell ;-)
The old world (Europe) can be quite realistic or completely fanciful.

 

[general-jcl]

Somewhere in World 27:

 

[Civinator]

When seeing all these round hills, I am getting hungry.

 

[general-jcl]

'Europa' (old-world) from map 155:

 

[general-jcl]

The roadmap :
- Step 1 modify terrain + add LM terrain
- Step 2 add rivers / terrain bonuses to the 160 maps
- Step 3 addition of a few new units
- Step 4 some corrections/improvements to mod rules (adding buildings/wonders?)
- Step 5 tests on a few maps
- Step 6 possible corrections
- Step 7 English translation (if enough players are interested)
- Step 8 Packaging and launch