Is there a generalized unit.gif that is better

[Cassius Critzer]

While I am modding the game, it occurs to me that I am likely reinventing the wheel. In the units.gif there are a fixed number of slots but most of them are essential to the basic game. Here are the basic deficits that immediately come to mind.

Ancient Period
1. A basis spearman or similar that has a attack of 2 and a defense of two to fill in the gaps when you need an all around multiuse fighter,defender.
Middle Ages
2. A dark ages viking raider with a higher attack but lesser defense but 2 hp.
3. A samurai which actually has a graphic slot but is unused.
4. An English longbow and or composite archers from the middle and far east
Late Middle Ages
5. Mongol horse archers
6. A far more armored cavalry unit to reflect higher levels like plate mail or gothic armor.
Industrial Age
7. Activate the recon balloon slot
8. Grenadiers
Modern Age
9. RPG or TOW Missile to combat tanks and mech infantry
10. True nuclear subs putting tomahawk missiles and nuclear missiles off the coasts of nations
11. A spy satellite.

It's my understanding that the nuclear sub is doable by allowing a long range sub to carry air units but have its own devastating attack. However just as the AI is not smart about loading marines into a transport, the sub as it is created is likely to be filled with helicopters or stealth bombers that might end up in the hold of the sub ie whatever was created during the late modern age might get get dragged along upon creation and so only be useful to the player.

I tried making a long range ICBM such that it can go quite a distance but that is hardly the same issue as nuclear subs and the mutually assured destruction scenario, right? One can be shot down while the other can sneak up on an unsuspecting foe and offering a withering barrage.

The spy satellite is very useful but has a limited amount of movement in a turn but can last many turns in the air, but can then work in tandem with a carrier to refuel (as such). Maybe a SR71 Blackbird would be better? The Aurora project replaced the SR71 but armed Predator drones are so commonly utilized today for recon and airstrikes that maybe this should fill that slot?

Looking at the available slots, that leaves one slot left, which probably should be a mobile sam unit, don't you think?

The alpine troops really make no sense, and arguably a spec ops unit like the Seals or Spetznaz could fill that slot instead as an superior infantry to Marines.

Then all the slots would be complete.

Does anyone know if such a unit.gif already exists and where it might be found? It might be in a mod or another scenario.

Edit
It looks like on site the only mod or scenario that has a similar idea is HotCiv's Detailed Test of Time mod.
https://www.civfanatics.com/civ2/downloads/modpacks/

The Scenario League has an ancient to 1600 scenario so that won't work, and nothing there comes close although there are exceptional scenarios there.

 

[Cassius Critzer]

The alternative for the nuclear sub is to allow it to have an attack like an ICBM but is not used up in the process, however this would be extremely overpowered versus having to load the nuclear missile into the hold and then deploy them from the sub as a mobile and undetectable (by most) platform. The sub as configured has a tomahawk missile attack(in effect) which is quite powerful.

For these kinds of units, I made the price so high that even with extreme wealth you cannot buy them outright. It also only shows up when the tech is maxed out so it affects the end game.

Since that is about the limit of the system, then you don't have the third option of torpedoes. In a modern age scenario you could have a class of subs using torpedoes and load cruise missiles into them.

I'd really like to have amphibious assault vehicles to load either helicopters ( as was done in history) as well as protected marine craft for establishing a beachhead. You could have two flavors, one loaded air units and the other infantry.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphibious_assault_ship

The AI would probably be confused and send them everywhere as the ultimate all terrain vehicle. You would find them on mountaintops.

 

[Cassius Critzer]

There was a kind soul who spent weeks compiling the best unit graphics into one UNITS.gif. It resulted in what we used to call a "crisp and clean" graphic that is not pixilated probably from acquiring and converting ToT unit graphics. I am working on one that uses up the free slots, and then later in various flavors based upon the time period covered.

 

[tootall_2012]

Hi Cassius,

Have you checked out Catfish's website, in particular this section here or the unit section of the Scenario League Website here.

 

[Cassius Critzer]

I did. Both sites came up while doing extensive internet searches using different keywords. There is someone named mercator doing maps. There is an archived version of an old website. There is a guy who copied many apolyton postings, etc.

I have a working fully populated UNIT.gif for 4000 bc to present day. It has RPG, predator drone, nuclear sub, TOW artillery, SpecOps, etc

I have many scenarios saved to a google drive and I am planning on releasing several compilations basd on eras so that if someone wanted really great ones, they could play the Medieval period, or the WW1 period, present day, etc.

They could play starting at the medieval period, or they could play from 4,000 bc to the medieval period. But the plan is with pre-existing cities that are accurate so all of the meticulous minutia is removed and instead people can fight battles as infrastructure has been generated and some preexisting standing armies. No more wasting hours putting in roads and irrigation. But I probably will establish railroads in later historical periods, then turn off the ability, so you will have to plan how to get units from point A to B and not unrealistically zip along. You would not be able to build rails but use some hubs then have to rely on roads and cross country travel to replicate realistic deployment.

It takes so LONG to play Civ 2. I think most people want to fight and they have limited time. So what might happen is a series of saved games such that you could just fight some epic battle if limited to an hour of play.

I am thrilled because I found many great converted ToT graphics of terrain and units. My plan is to release a scenario for present day except nations have largely imploded and instead 7 main ideologies resulted in totally changing borders. The world is on a huge map with 255 cities and all vying to keep what they have and gain territory.

Likewise I am compiling a master city.txt so that the game automatically posts correct cities. This will be for MGE and ToT. For ToTPP the city limit has been surpassed so there will be something like 1700 city names in it as the civs could be random and pull from different ones.

Since the terrain I found is so superior, when applied to a popular global map, it looks spectacular versus standard terrain graphics.

So ultimately, maybe in three to six months, many many resources could be added to the generic game or be baseline materials for new modders.

I can release it piecemeal or when completed. I am thinking that it should be in stages where a scenario is complete so the player will not be confused how to install it. You know, make it turnkey.

The reason I can do this is 90% of the work was already done by other modders. I am just compiling it and placing cities on maps and doing the boring aspects of infrastructure. Lots of people did individual work. I am just putting their work in piles by era and trying to make generic era scenarios. Then a brilliant event.txt coder could do just about anything with them.

What I most need is a real people.gif file with diverse ethnic people, not caricatures. Then CIV 2 MGE would have a total facelift or update.

I have a wide selection of noncopyrighted music files, so if they want, they can listen to that instead of standard music as well.