The Empire Earth Mod

[jarhead_leif]

Link to video.

Empire Earth Mod is made only for Civilization II Test of Time.. I created this mod purely because I loved Civ2TOT before my computer had the right specs to play Civ4BTS.. And out of curiosity,, without any idea how to mod this awesome game,, I decided to learn the basics and later on got deeper into modding.. What I did was to import most of Civ4BTS' concepts to Civ2TOT. (So you can also call it BTS2TOT)
It's been a year since I started to mod this thing..

And now, here it is.. You are all welcome to download this game and share your thoughts.. Enjoy!

(NOTE: Make sure you have .rar extractor like winrar or 7-zip.)

Moderator Action: Broken download updated - Blake00
Download:
https://forums.civfanatics.com/resources/empire-earth-mod-tot.29556/
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[jarhead_leif]

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[Valka D'Ur]

I really like the Coastal Fortress.

I'm finding it nearly impossible to read the words against the background. More contrast is needed - darker font against the light backgrounds.

What is the 3rd from the bottom? It looks like a bunch of scattered solar systems with water tiles...

 

[jarhead_leif]

I really like the Coastal Fortress.

Thanks.!!! I got it from the Freitoria, one of the UB in Civ4.
There are many others that i change, too.
One of them is Bunker in exchange of Sam Battery. I also want to introduce these units in the game.
(obsolete) SAM Infantry= has advantage of defending from Air units (fighter ability). But cannot attack them. (silly, right?)
(Advance) SAM Vehicle= has greater defence than SAMInf, has movement range of two, and the advantage to attack Air Units.And many more units and building that i want to include from civ4.

I'm finding it nearly impossible to read the words against the background. More contrast is needed - darker font against the light backgrounds.

Yeah..And the problem is I can't figure out how to change it..You know how??

What is the 3rd from the bottom? It looks like a bunch of scattered solar systems with water tiles...

haha Maybe you didn't noticed but those tiles were from BTS Final Frontier Mod. They are always random generated, its the reason why they are not fixed and looks scattered (Resources and Tiles). And that i think random'gen is good thing. See the Nebula and Asteroids..??XD
This is the second map of my mod and is available when the ss has arrive to its destination(like in extended orig game). And it introduces spaceship units gotten from the FF Mod.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Yeah..And the problem is I can't figure out how to change it..You know how??

Sorry, I have no idea. But there are lots of people around the forum who would be able to help, if you post in the threads for modders.

I just have the basic games, and know nothing about how to make different units. The most I ever accomplished that was new was to fool around with the map-making stuff in Civ 2 and ended up with a map I named "Pond World" - because the only body of water was a centrally-located pond, and the only other water came from a few rivers scattered around. It made getting everything irrigated extremely challenging.

 

[jarhead_leif]

Sorry, I have no idea. But there are lots of people around the forum who would be able to help, if you post in the threads for modders.

..uhm, okay..i'll try..(and i hope to get an answer)

I just have the basic games, and know nothing about how to make different units. The most I ever accomplished that was new was to fool around with the map-making stuff in Civ 2 and ended up with a map I named "Pond World" - because the only body of water was a centrally-located pond, and the only other water came from a few rivers scattered around. It made getting everything irrigated extremely challenging.

As this Pond World you were saying, i want to try it out..Any link where to download it?
Somehow I can't find it..

 

[Valka D'Ur]

There is nowhere to download it, since it only ever existed on my own computer. I have no idea how to upload such a thing, to make it playable by others. It's not actually a scenario, just a map that pretty much anybody could make if they have basic Civ 2 with the map editor.

In fact, I made it so long ago, I don't even remember which of my various old computers/disks has it. I do know I never deleted it. But since my current computer is running on chewing gum and prayers at this point and whatever portion of its anatomy lets me play Civ has died, I'll have to wait until my next computer to try to retrieve the map.

 

[Ali Ardavan]

You can upload a map as a map or you can start a game on that map and upload the game. If you do the latter, any player can then open the game in map editor and save its map as a map.

 

[Catfish]

Movies, Resource Animations, and Unit Animations.. They're all working..
Unit Animations: Run, Strike, Die (Idle not included to save more time)

That's a lot of work there. You're one of only a few people ever to make animated units for ToT. If you're interested, there's a thread here with more info and examples.

Yeah..And the problem is I can't figure out how to change it..You know how??

I can help with that one. Obviously you've got two options: make the backgrounds darker (like the two skins on this page) or make the fonts darker. The first option will have a greater visual impact, perhaps negatively for some styles. It doesn't need explanation. However, the second option is a little complicated. ToT's font colours are taken from the 8-bit palette in the file, Editorpt.gif, found in the main ToT folder.

A little investigation turned up the following palette indices for the multiple fonts used by the game:

• Index 16: Civilopedia (headings shadow), Status Bar (End of Turn)
• Index 23: Status Bar.
• Index 27: Civilopedia (menus), body text from Game.txt & Events.txt screens.
• Index 31: City screen, Science Advisor (first to discover), Wonders of the World (headings), Civilopedia (Pedia text).
• Index 32: Health bar (good health - default green).
• Index 74: Classic City Screen (support).
• Index 82: Classic City Screen (production).
• Index 84: Defence Minister (production), Foreign Minister (Intelligence screen), Science Advisor (discoveries), Civilization Score (wonders).
• Index 96: Civilization Score (Cheat mode), Health bar (low health - default red).
• Index 108: Classic City Screen (trade & tax).
• Index 111: City screen (supply & demand).
• Index 112: City Status (production), Defence Minister (active units, unit flags), Trade Advisor (maintenance list), Civilization Score, Health bar (moderate damage - default yellowish).
• Index 114: City screen (headings).
• Index 176: About Test of Time (Credits.txt headings).
• Index 180: About Test of Time (Credits.txt body text).

An exception is the font found in the start/main menus that appear when you launch the game. It seems to be locked to a light grey (#B7B7B7).

You could edit the palette of this file, a time-consuming exercise in itself, but there's also a caveat. This palette is used by many of the game's background images. These images can be found in a number of DLL files, eg, Tiles.dll, Intro.dll and MK.dll. So if you change the palette you will also affect the appearance of these images in the game.

If you do the latter, any player can then open the game in map editor and save its map as a map.

ToT has built in map export options in the Map menu.

 

[Civinator]

Movies, Resource Animations, and Unit Animations.. They're all working.. Unit Animations: Run, Strike, Die (Idle not included to save more time)

This is always interesting. How did you handle the problem with the missing defense graphics in the Civ 2 Tot unit sprites? In my eyes it´s somewhat problematic, if one unit is firing or beating on the other unit like mad and the other unit stands quiet about these actions until one of the two units dies.

And many more units and building that i want to include from civ4.

How do you convert Civ 4 units to ToT graphics?

 

[jarhead_leif]

..woah.thanks again catfish..
,you really are a great modder..
,nice,i was also just waiting for your post..

,i don't know anything about creating sprites or any free software i can download that can create new .spr files but i manage to edit existing sprites..
,i'm currently using mercator's civsprite., ,great for importing 'n exporting imgs., ,the bad thing is i cant edit the # of frames 'n the frame rates of each animation..(is there anyway i can find the script or is it just possible to HEX'EDIT it?)
,the whole month of June,all i did was reading any possible article about civ2(tot) modding stuffs..(means i already read abt civinator's sprite editing tutorial)
..thats when i knew civinator, mercator, catfish(you)..and others.,
,but never tried to ask them for help though..(i wanted to)

..i'll try working w color palette next.,
,its sad that i can't do anything about civ4's leaderheads..

 

[Civinator]

So it´s a pitty, that no new solution was found for the battle-animation problem. My last solution for this problem was to set a kind of abstract battle animations (explosions, dust clouds, crossing swords or things like that) between the two batteling units.

What animated units have you still finished? May be you can post them at CFC (like I did for the interesting civers)?

 

[jarhead_leif]

This is always interesting. How did you handle the problem with the missing defense graphics in the Civ 2 Tot unit sprites? In my eyes it´s somewhat problematic, if one unit is firing or beating on the other unit like mad and the other unit stands quiet about these actions until one of the two units dies.

Hi there Civinator
,that defend thing is only one of the reasons why i almost stopped modding..
,it's like omfg, he's being beaten helpless or like winning a boxing match without hitting ur opponent..
..its a lame solution actually.,u knew Idle 'n Units.gif are almost the same..it my case, Idle is just like units.gif (but facing 5 diff. directions, N, Ne/Nw, E/W, Se/Sw 'n S)..and Units.gif is the Ne/Nw fortify of the unit...lame, right..
.guess, that's my only way..

How do you convert Civ 4 units to ToT graphics?

..you don't wanna know.. ..just kiddin..
,it's like processing a canned soda..(from making the can and processing the cola to putting it into the vending machine.its the first reason i refused to start modding)

,because civ4, being adv than civ3, doesn't use frames anymore..it hurts my brain alot..
,.after i learned how to use Civsprite..
..i downloaded free softwares which 1.records the screen and 2.easily scale and edit pictures.,
..i do have photoshop cs6.,but it gives the background part a mess.
..Making the STRIKE animation..
..i capture the screen while the civ4 warrior is performing the given order..
..then play it w media player,get the important frames based on how many frames are given from the extracted civ2 warrior..
..scale then clean the saved imgs..
..edit then crop..
..make some masks..
..then import them using civsprite...
..and then do the same for RUN 'n DIE animations..

.,any of you working with some Mods atm,?

 

[jarhead_leif]

So it´s a pitty, that no new solution was found for the battle-animation problem. My last solution for this problem was to set a kind of abstract battle animations (explosions, dust clouds, crossing swords or things like that) between the two batteling units.

.,I already downloaded those units u made.,"mass production" is it,?

,it's impressive of u to deal w those units' problems.,.making units in a short period of time..i spend two days or more just to finish one sprite..

..i remember those kind of animations you made in some games like 'freeciv' 'n 'it's hard to be a God'.

What animated units have you still finished?

.,now i finished some out of 100 .spr's only..
,warrior, settler, engineer, archer, spearman, swordsman, pikeman, musketman, merchant(caravan), corporate executive(freight)., others unfinish..
,and some UU like, caravan(replaces merchant), ballista(rep cats), samurai(rep maceman)..others unfinish..
.,and some added units., crossbowman, bazooka(anti'vehicle), scout(recon), SAM vehicle(anti'aircraft)..others unfinish..

May be you can post them at CFC (like I did for the interesting civers)?

..Sorry but i can't,. .though,i can send the files to those interested modders., ,yeah I maybe selfish but imagine when they download incomplete sets of sprites..what do u think they say to me??
,.i won't mind sending them to you..

.uhm ,do you, and also maybe w/ mc, catfish, merc, and others want to team up to make a great mod(make a mod great)..?.or r u already working w a mod right now..?
.,i'm still new to civ2 stuffs.,a shame i didn't even finish a civ2 game and started to mod already..

 

[Catfish]

i'm currently using mercator's civsprite., ,great for importing 'n exporting imgs., ,the bad thing is i cant edit the # of frames 'n the frame rates of each animation..(is there anyway i can find the script or is it just possible to HEX'EDIT it?)

Having hex edited sprites myself, I wouldn't recommend it; especially if you plan on finishing this before the end of the decade. Mercator planned to update CivSprite, but I haven't heard from him since that thread (above) was active. In the meantime, you're stuck with the existing sprites and those templates I released.

..thats when i knew civinator, mercator, catfish(you)..and others.,
,but never tried to ask them for help though..(i wanted to)

Just ask. You may have to be patient. These forums aren't as active as they were.

any of you working with some Mods atm,?

I'm pretty much retired from Civ2 modding. I haven't played Civ2 or Civ4 in over 2 years. FreeCiv looks interesting. It's got great potential, but attempts to attract scenario designers have been hampered by its incomplete documentation and the lack of a single showcase scenario.

Sorry but i can't,. .though,i can send the files to those interested modders., ,yeah I maybe selfish but imagine when they download incomplete sets of sprites..what do u think they say to me??

Consider releasing the mod as separate modules, ie, skin, videos, terrain/icons, unit sprites, etc. Otherwise you may end up biting off more than you can chew, especially WRT animated units, and, for all the hard work, never end up releasing anything. You can always update the packs as you work.

 

[jarhead_leif]

Having hex edited sprites myself, I wouldn't recommend it; especially if you plan on finishing this before the end of the decade. Mercator planned to update CivSprite, but I haven't heard from him since that thread (above) was active. In the meantime, you're stuck with the existing sprites and those templates I released.

..i guess i just keep up being resourceful..
..how unfortunate of me..

I'm pretty much retired from Civ2 modding. I haven't played Civ2 or Civ4 in over 2 years. FreeCiv looks interesting. It's got great potential, but attempts to attract scenario designers have been hampered by its incomplete documentation and the lack of a single showcase scenario.

..why don't you just work w a new scenerio??
..good to know that freeciv is still under developement..unlike civ2, it has the potential to break its limits..

Consider releasing the mod as separate modules, ie, skin, videos, terrain/icons, unit sprites, etc. Otherwise you may end up biting off more than you can chew, especially WRT animated units, and, for all the hard work, never end up releasing anything. You can always update the packs as you work.

..i'm gonna follow what you suggested..thanks for the tip..

(Its really hard to keep up w civ2 and school at the same time..I was having the thought of working w my mod this semester break..But here I am, dealing w some stupid school projects..)

 

[jarhead_leif]

..october??my last post??wew.. ,,well, its good to be back.

..first, I would like to say thanks to Magic_gorter.
..also my BTS2TOT Mod is done.

 

[Blake00]

WOAH!! A Civ4 like mod for ToT with custom unit animations??? This is amazing! My scenario search and cataloging project includes a 'Crossover' mods section where I catalog mods for Civ games that convert them to look like other Civ games so this is perfect for that. Only problem is I can't download it.. @jarhead_leif 's links go to mega dodgy sites that try to force stuff on me even if I skip adverts like he says to. Looks like he hasn't been on CFC for a few years either.

@Civinator my old friend I don't suppose you took a copy when you were participating in this thread? Or @Knighttime is this one in your big collection? Or anyone else? Cause if someone can get them to me I'll upload them to CFC and other mirrors!

..also my BTS2TOT Mod is done.

Shame you're gone as I'm wondering what this refers to.. a second Civ4 mod for ToT? Or was he just talking about the one this thread is about.. hmm..

.

 

[Knighttime]

@Blake00 Yes, I downloaded this in 2014 and still have it, at least the main .zip file. But I can't seem to attach it to this post, even though it's within the size limit (it's 31.5 Mb, supposedly the limit is 146.5 Mb). Maybe that's because it includes Civ2.exe embedded within it?

The download instructions provided in the first post still work for me, although you're absolutely right that there are some nasty popups along the way. Try going directly to this link:
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/ut4brcrh3o04t/Civ2ToT_Empire_Earth_Mod

If that works, maybe these will work for the movie files (they did for me):
http://www.mediafire.com/file/7u7h53u92ck9ktd/EEM_movies1.zip/file
http://www.mediafire.com/file/b5nr47qckc1cr6m/EEM_movies2.zip/file
http://www.mediafire.com/file/za8v2dr7xsqib25/EEM_movies3.zip/file

TOTPP 0.16 added full support for mods, and hopefully this could be repackaged so that it doesn't need to include the .exe or write files into the game's default directories. Mods should be able to run directly from their own directory without any installation. Let me know if you have any issues with this and I can probably help you out.

 

[Blake00]

@Knighttime Love your work brother! Thanks mate, those links bypassed all the evil stuff.

Cause yeah even after hitting skip ads like he tells us to do I ended up on more dodgy spam pages that were opening extra windows (despite me having an advert/popup blocker) and trying to install chrome extensions and I couldn't see another skip link. I had an idea in the middle of the night to try the links on an old copy of IE in a VM to see if that bypassed all the forced browser extension stuff but you've saved me the trouble!

Blast! The main mod zip extracted fine however 7zip is telling me all 3 movies zip files are corrupt. Switched to WinRAR as the author suggests that in his readme and I get the same errors. Movies1 says its damaged at the end on scene6, Movies2 won't open at all, and Movies3 only extracts half it's video files and gives errors for the rest. Have tried redownloading and have also used mediafires 'repair download' option and the results are still the same.

Did you have the same troubles @Knighttime ? Man if we can just get a working copy of the entire thing I can put it on SAFE reliable sites and no one will have to worry about this again. Would be such a shame if his custom videos are partially lost forever.

EDIT: Just tried with an old version of WinZip and no luck there either. I wonder if it's a multi part zip file but he's renamed them breaking the link between the 3 of them.
EDIT2: It's definitely multi part zip. I renamed their extensions to the usual zip, z01, z02 which didn't work however when I renamed to z01, z02, z03 I was able to open the entire combined archive without errors. However the moment I tried to extract it didn't work again although strangely one of the wonder files I couldn't get before extracted this time. Also tried renaming to the winrar multi part file system part01.rar, part02.rar, part03.rar fully not expecting it to work and sure enough it didn't with 7zip, winrar or winzip.
EDIT3: Tried renaming to 7zip multi part file system 7z.001, 7z.002, 7z.003 AND IT WORKED!!!!!! Omg it actually worked haha. I got an error message in 7zip saying 'this is actually a zip file not 7zip' (so why didn't it like the multi win zip file names grrr) but my 7zip extractor just did it anyway and I got ALL the files out! What a crazy saga!!!! The sooner I put all this together in a nice easy to use single modern 7zip file for everyone to use from a safe host the better hey lol!

That's great news about ToTPP as obviously once I'm done with my MGE preservation work I'll be testing lots of ToT mods, recompressing them and setting up mirror hosts etc so if I can run them from their own folder without having to override files that's friggin amazing! Will save me a lot of time and trouble if all the dlls and movie files etc can just sit under it's mod folder!

.