Multiple Units and Buildings

[timerover51]

I am presently working on a couple of mods, one being an update of my Naval Mod, the other being a mod based on TETurkhan's Test of Time mod. My idea is to have the mod consist of a single .biq or .bix file, that anyone can download, put into the appropriate folder, and begin play immediately, without having to download a large amount of data.

What I would like to do is add a few units, maybe only one or two, and a few buildings, using existing buildings and units for them. What I would like to do is set up dedicated Barbarian units, probably the Gallic Swordsman and the Cossack, along with the Privateer, and another type of Leader. What I would like to know with respect to units is, if I add a Barbarian Swordsman based on the Gallic Swordsman, is it possible to use all of the Gallic Swordsman data, without adding text to the Civilopedia and PediaIcon files, along with unit animation? The only change would be in the name, and it would not replace an existing unit, but be an additional one.

The same question holds for buildings. If I wish to add a custom station at a port, using the coastal fortress data, without replacing the coastal fortress, is that possible to do? The same would be for a Marine Barracks, that would produce Marines, using the existing Barracks data. From some of the mods, it looks like that is possible, but I would like to get some idea in advance before devoting time to trying it and discovering that it does not work. As I get older, time becomes a bit more precious to me, and I would like to be able to do this while at the same time get several other things done.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Theov]

Barbarian is easy.
At the general tab just select amy unit instead of the warrior horseman and galley as barb units.

To be honest, the coastal fortress does virtually nothing in the game, just change the settings. You will lose the cf settings but that doesnt matter then.

 

[Nathiri]

I think I understand what you want. You can add more buildings and units without putting any extra unit or building files into a mod folder. All that matters is you choose the right pedia entry. In the Units Tab, Hit add and name your unit, then use the same pedia entry line as the Gallic Swordsman (PRTO_Gallic_Swordsman), and then you can assign any differant values you want for that unit. Also attack and defense values that are shown in the civilopedia page are set by the editor. So you can use the same unit icons and description and the attack and defense values would show differently in the civilopedia page. For buildings just use the same pedia entry as the Barracks, this time though it is in the form of a drop-down menu. Most of the effects here are not shown by the editor in the civilopedia page, except maintenance cost and culture per turn, as you have to tell the player by actual text descriptions the other stuff.

You can accomplish the same thing and still be able to write your own civilopedia description, but this would require a civilopedia.txt and pediaicons.txt for your mod. You just have to make your own pedia entry, but assign the same directory lines as the Gallic Swordsman or Barracks building in the pediaicons.txt.

Also if you personally want some custom units or graphics, you can apply that over default stuff by the mod folder, and not have to make any changes in the txt files as long as the files you are putting in actually exist in the default civ3 root. You can even play MP with someone when you have different unit animations and graphics when using this method, even if that person does not have the mod folder. The only thing is the host has to have a custom mod folder too in order for a mod folder to be called by the game, though you can have different files or none at all. If the host doesnt have a mod folder that he uses, then others will not be able to use their personal mod folder. Of course the mod folders have to have the same exact name and correspond with the name of the BIQ. I've used this method to fix minor tech tree alterations, civilopedia descriptions, and changed the default musketman to the napoleonic musketman, and played with some MP players which some had the fix, and some didnt. And for those that didnt, it looked like how it normally would since their game took the default civ3 files.

 

[Kirejara]

As Voldacon has written before: you can simple reuse an existing pediaicon entry for another identical looking unit or building.

The Great Iron Works doubles also as several small and great industrial wonders:

My first attemp to reuse an existing wonder was the Naval Academy using entry and pictures of the Great Libary, because that looks similar to the former Kaiserliche Marineakademie in Kiel (today the parlament of Schleswig-Holstein).

Also I used existing units as special barbarian/bandit units.

The original wonders and units are not affected by this.

As main disadvantage the new buildings/units do not have a description of their own in the civilopedia. If you look them up, the description of its parent entry shows up.