[MOD] Colonization: 2071

[clanky4]

clanky4, the mod is being totally redeveloped separately from the old (still downloadable) version to enable all-new graphics, new unit/building/tech content, and an improved DLL codebase that avoids previous bugs and slow turntimes. It is in a pre-alpha stage available here; Nightingale made a tutorial on how to download this new version from sourceforge if you are interested. The new version currently uses generic placeholder graphics; I've collected a wide assortment of scifi NIF graphics and buttons at the links in my last post, in addition to your updated graphics above; so the next stage would be to start selecting graphics to use for the units/buildings etc and getting these into the game.

I have downloaded the mod:
https://sourceforge.net/p/colonizationmodcollection/Colonization2071/ci/Master/tree/

and the downloaded compilled DLL:
https://sourceforge.net/p/colonizationmodcollection/precompiledDLL/ci/master/tree/

Unfortunately I got this popup when trying to start the mod:

That'll teach me for not wanting to compile the DLL manually

 

[Nightinggale]

Do you think it's feasible to also show the Yield names next to the gamefont icons in most of the python tooltips and pedia screens (at least in places where this would fit)? Otherwise I'm thinking that new players will have a hard time recognizing all the new icons.

It sounds like a good idea and it would likely be beneficial to all mods. I will look into it... eventually.

clanky4 wrote:

clanky4, the mod is being totally redeveloped separately from the old (still downloadable) version to enable all-new graphics, new unit/building/tech content, and an improved DLL codebase that avoids previous bugs and slow turntimes. It is in a pre-alpha stage available here; Nightingale made a tutorial on how to download this new version from sourceforge if you are interested. The new version currently uses generic placeholder graphics; I've collected a wide assortment of scifi NIF graphics and buttons at the links in my last post, in addition to your updated graphics above; so the next stage would be to start selecting graphics to use for the units/buildings etc and getting these into the game.[/QUOTE]

I'm quite sure that feature shouldn't be present in col2071 yet. It is something I added to M:C develop. Looks like I messed up when I compiled, but I have no idea how I did that as the source on my computer looks ok
Try to ignore it and see what happens.

 

[clanky4]

Just in case this makes any difference here is how I downloaded the file:

I went to this link:
https://sourceforge.net/p/colonizati...i/Master/tree/

and copied the read only access code

Spoiler :

Then I opened smartgit and asked it to make a clone

Spoiler :

From there I pasted in the read only access code, making sure to remove the first and last few bits

Spoiler :

Then I went through the next few steps

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After git had finished downloading the mod I went ahead an copied the read only access code for the compiled DLL

Spoiler :

And asked git to make me another clone

Spoiler :

Once again getting rid of the useless parts of the access code

Spoiler :

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg250/clanky4/step09_zps5ecafbfb.png

and setting its path to downloads for 7zipping

Spoiler :

After it the DLL was downloaded and ready I moved it over to colonization2071's asset folder

Spoiler :

Next I tried to start up the game. I got the same popup and ignored it.

Spoiler :

After a a couple more popups the game started loading and after few more popups it crashed.

 

[Nightinggale]

This time the asserts looks more like I would expect them to look if something went wrong. I added some XML values to M:C at some point and it looks like col2071 isn't updated to those new requirements. I guess I would have to do that now (with orlanth being too busy). It shouldn't be that difficult. I added asserts telling everything, which goes wrong, which mean it is just a matter of fixing the issues mentioned in those windows one by one and it should end up working.

 

[clanky4]

This time the asserts looks more like I would expect them to look if something went wrong. I added some XML values to M:C at some point and it looks like col2071 isn't updated to those new requirements. I guess I would have to do that now (with orlanth being too busy). It shouldn't be that difficult. I added asserts telling everything, which goes wrong, which mean it is just a matter of fixing the issues mentioned in those windows one by one and it should end up working.

Good to hear it not being too hard to fix

 

[clanky4]

(ie reskin of _Alien/birdman in this set to look more natural/convincing; and maybe somehow reskin _Alien/bearman or another base to look like a good Wookiee or Sasquatch leader) With this set plus the ones in the current 2071 download, I think there are actually enough LH models collected to use as a decent base for scifi modding in general, so making new leaderheads isn't a high priority, but a few more or improved skinning for existing ones would be icing on the cake.

Chewbacca

http://forums.civfanatics.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=23094

 

[orlanth]

thanks clanky4, that is such an awesome LH it made me go "ggghhhurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrooourururuurrrrhhhh!"

chewbaccatorial

 

[clanky4]

Proper tongue rolling is vital.

 

[Nightinggale]

I tried fixing the XML issues and it is a whole lot better now. It's still not working though as there is an issue with civics. When I try to correct this, the exe crash. I have asked Kailric to take a look since he is the one who changed the civic system.

 

[Lib.Spi't]

chances are it is that there are things refered to in civics that are not in 2071, like the civic units for food, etc.

 

[Nightinggale]

chances are it is that there are things refered to in civics that are not in 2071, like the civic units for food, etc.

Using non-existing references like YIELD_FOOD would cause an assert. What I end up with is a crash without an assert. I wonder if it is a malformated XML, which gives incorrect array lengths or something.

 

[clanky4]

Another alien you might be able to use at some point

http://forums.civfanatics.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=23118

 

[orlanth]

aah nice!! it would be perfect for any Insectoid race as well as the Star Wars Geonosians.

my probe droids detect that you've made an awesome Yoda too

 

[clanky4]

my probe droids detect that you've made an awesome Yoda too

I wasn't sure whether you guys would need him or not

 

[Eclipse4449]

I'm hoping to get the creator(s) opinion on the stability of the downloadable version of this Mod, I'm a huge fan of PBEM games and I love variety and plan on launching a large scale pbem game using this MOD.

As you know these games are long, several years under optimal conditions and often fail mainly due to player participation and their reason are many. I'm asking here because this thread and project is active, I have a few questions;

1. If a MP=pbem game begins using the current version, can the new version or patches be applies this existing game? So far everywhere else that answer is no. And that is mostly due to "assets" for example have changed, that is totally understandable, but has anyone ever considered open the players' savegame and EDIT what assets it's looking for to what the new version contains?
or
The Administrator(pbem game creator) opens the first turn of any given year and opens a menu/control panel that allows him to check boxes (to use these sets of folder and ignore the currently in use folders). So when he completes his turn, player 2 would require the new version to continue. once the turn year is complete the players can optionally delete the original folders.

2. Games lose players as mentioned earlier, when this happens the game is stalled and the remaining players begin to lose interest. In the future I'd like to see this player's Civilization become "Retired" in which the AI would assume control until an interested player is found to replace the AI. Currently I've seen no option like this. secondly an option to select/change the AI's difficulty level. With this the game can go on and even if a particular Civilization is controlled by an AI and that Civilization would not fall behind or become to advanced during this period depending on the game's difficulty level

A way to update games already in progress would be a huge Boom for everybody. Are the savegames uneditable?

 

[Nightinggale]

1. If a MP=pbem game begins using the current version, can the new version or patches be applies this existing game? So far everywhere else that answer is no. And that is mostly due to "assets" for example have changed, that is totally understandable, but has anyone ever considered open the players' savegame and EDIT what assets it's looking for to what the new version contains?

The code for the DLL in the downloadable version is discarded because it was horrible. Instead a new version is rising using the code from Medieval Conquest. This mean way faster code, less bugs and fewer game limitations (such as unrestricted number of yields).

The good news is that the new DLL has a redesigned savegame system where savegames are way more likely to survive changes in XML files (aka the asset folder). The bad news is that the "remake" it isn't playable anytime soon.

2. Games lose players as mentioned earlier, when this happens the game is stalled and the remaining players begin to lose interest. In the future I'd like to see this player's Civilization become "Retired" in which the AI would assume control until an interested player is found to replace the AI. Currently I've seen no option like this. secondly an option to select/change the AI's difficulty level. With this the game can go on and even if a particular Civilization is controlled by an AI and that Civilization would not fall behind or become to advanced during this period depending on the game's difficulty level

I would start by fixing the network code first. I have announced that intention a while ago because I know it will desync and I know how to fix it. It just takes some time.

I like the idea that AIs can take over human players and humans can take over AI players. I haven't tried doing anything like that and don't know how the game would react to it right now. However from a game core point of view, turning the AI on and off for a player is quite easy. The potentially tricky part would be to locate the player join/leave code. WIth no interest in it so far, I never looked for it and don't know where it is or what it looks like.

A way to update games already in progress would be a huge Boom for everybody. Are the savegames uneditable?

Savegames can't really be edited, but to some extend they can be edited on load. Say we add a counter to units telling how many units they have killed. The DLL can then be made to set this to 0 unless it is set to something else in the savegame. We have a design goal to preserve savegames like this unless the change is so major that it can't really be done.

 

[Sandworm]

Okay, I give up. I've been reading this thread trying to follow along with the guides on how to install the new version of the mod, but I really don't know what I'm doing. Now I've buggered something up. I keep getting this at the beginning of the build "EXEC : FATAL error : Failed to locate boost and python". It also keeps trying to open a file it can't find. "Cannot open precompiled header file: '..\temp_files\Assert\CvGameCoreDLL.pch': No such file or directory". Could someone tell me what I'm doing wrong to get these errors?

 

[Nightinggale]

"Cannot open precompiled header file: '..\temp_files\Assert\CvGameCoreDLL.pch': No such file or directory". Could someone tell me what I'm doing wrong to get these errors?

That file is created while compiling. If you do not get it, then my guess would be a problem with your write permissions to the source location. I have always used the MODS folder in My Documents rather than program files for this very reason.

Do note that there is something wrong with the XML files at the moment. Even if you do compile, the game crash at startup. The precise cause is unknown, hence the reason why it isn't fixed yet.

 

[orlanth]

So I finally got around to trying Firaxis' "Beyond Earth" remake of Civ5 (being free to try this weekend on Steam), and imagine my surprise when I come across this:

"traces of an advanced alien race named the Progenitors".. who left behind the above Progenitor Ruins and other sites, for archaeologists to launch Expeditions to and recover valuable Artifacts, just like in good old 2071!

I wonder if this is sheer coincidence or if some Firaxians were actually playing this mod at some point? Or of course, Progenitor nanobots could have infected both me and the Beyond Earth designers with a subliminal mind virus..

Anyway, this may be heresy to say around here but so far Beyond Earth doesn't seem as bad as some reviews led me to expect - it's certainly not a huge step beyond vanilla Civ5 and doesn't have the unique economy of Colonization, but overall it plays like a fairly well constructed scifi total conversion mod of Civ5, of which there are currently precious few. I'm not sure yet whether I'll actually buy it (haven't played long enough to see if the Progenitors have any more role than the above ) but if you like Civ and scifi conversions like Planetfall it is worth giving it a try this weekend.

As an update on future expansions of this mod, I have continued to collect art and sound assets and ideas, but in order to ensure stable compatibility with the M:C DLL, implementation will hold off until M:C code base reaches a more final/stable version. This will hopefully enable lots of cool new features, but I was unable to figure out what makes the current version not work with the new DLL, so it's best to wait for a final/stable code base before developing modmods using that.

 

[Lib.Spi't]

"but overall it plays like a fairly well constructed scifi total conversion mod of Civ5"

I think this is the part that has made the negative comments more negative.

That you pay for a 'Full Game Release' but what you get is something that feels more like a Total Conversion mod for Civ5.

I haven't been able to play it as it crashes my computer, and by the time I have worked through the something like 7 "Try this steps" the free weekend will be well and truly over!

I can play civ5 fine, so not sure what it is about BE that makes it go 'squelch'

That is funny about the progenitors though!

I wanna go back in time and play alpha centauri that game had a proper eerie scare factor to it!