Units!

[Leonidas300]

Originally posted by MikeLynch
Very nice Leo! I will definitely use that Bomber and am eyeing the Nuke as well.

Be my guest

It's amazing how adding new units, terrain, etc not only makes Civ2 "new" again, but it's also kinda fun . . .

Cheers!

 

[Eivind IV]

First three rows: Afrika Korps
Fourth row: Hypothetical desert Waffen-SS and late war Das Reich Div.
Fifth row: Leibstandarte unit and and an SS soldier in heavy winter suits.

 

[Eivind IV]

Desert Storm II

US Marines and an Iraqi soldier

 

[CkDeadd]

very nice

 

[Leonidas300]

Eivind IV:

Very nice as always. You do great work

Cheers!

 

[Leonidas300]

Many people don't have the time or knowledge to customize their game. So I thought I would post the custom units I use in my default game.

New graphics can add a great deal to the enjoyment of the game.

So here is my current default game units file. I have added 11 additional units for those who wish to take advantage of the extra unit slots in Rules.txt.

I searched for the best units to add to this file. When I couldn't find units I wanted, I modified existing ones. And when this wouldn't do, I created new ones.

I have done my best to ensure the author's signature has been added to the appropriate graphic. If I have failed to add your name please let me know.

To add these graphics to your default game, simply add this gif file to the Civ2 game directory. As always please back-up your original files.

 

[Leonidas300]

Here are the default icons that I use. I found these from a wide variety of sources related to the Civ2 community.

Simply place this in your Civ2 game directory. Remember to back up your original file.

 

[Archer 007]

What are the extra units you added to your standard game?

 

[Leonidas300]

Originally posted by archer_007
What are the extra units you added to your standard game?

Hi

In Rules.txt:

At the end of Civilization Advances (and just beneath Future Technology), I added the following advances:

Sub-Orbital Flight, 6, -2, Env, nil, 3, 0 ; U1
Anti-Gravity Technology, 6, -2, Sth, nil, 3, 0 ; U2
Advanced Satellites, 6, -2, U2, nil, 3, 0 ; U3

THEN

at the end of Unit Types

I added the following unit stats (for the last 11 units you see in my Units file (posted above). These will fill in the 3 Custom slots and 8 Extra slots you see just below the word Explorer in Rules.txt. You can alter the cost of these units as you like. I prefer more expensive units:

Modern Armor, nil, 0, 4.,0, 12a,8d, 4h,1f, 15,0, 0, Rob, 000000000000000

Advanced Armor, nil, 0, 4.,0, 14a,10d, 5h,1f, 20,0, 0, Sth, 000000000000000

Mobile Artillery, nil, 0, 3.,0, 13a,5d, 3h,2f, 13,0, 0, Sth, 000000001000000

Mobile SAM, nil, 0, 3.,0, 8a,3d, 3h,2f, 10,0, 3, Cmp, 010000000010001

Jet Fighter-Bomber, nil, 1, 12.,2, 6a,4d, 2h,2f, 15,0, 3, Lab, 000000000010001

Nuclear Submarine, nil, 2, 6.,0, 14a,5d, 4h,2f, 20,1, 2, NP, 000000000001001

Attack Jeep, nil, 0, 3.,0, 7a,3d, 2h,1f, 7,0, 0, Mob, 000000000000001

AA Half-Track, nil, 0, 3.,0, 2a,3d, 2h,1f, 5,0, 3, Fli, 010000000010001

Laser Satellite, nil, 1, 18.,2, 16a,6d, 4h,2f, 38,0, 0, U2, 100000001000011

Battle Hovercraft, nil, 0, 2.,0, 16a,12d, 6h,1f, 30,0, 0, Sth, 000001000000001

Sanger III, nil, 1, 16.,2, 12a,6d, 4h,2f, 30,0, 3, Env, 000000000010001


I have arranged for all these units to be fitted into the existing tech tree. They will all appear within the existing techs and time frame except the last three - they will appear AFTER certain other weapons have been researched.

Hope this helps.

I usually prefer slower tech advances and longer games. So I have altered the Rules.txt to reflect this.

To give you some idea of the cost, the Seti Wonder costs 950,000!

Cheers!

PS: I should add that if you want to add the extra 11 units to your game, you should also create your .wav sound files for them. This is very easy to do. Most sounds can be copied from your Civ2 Sound folder. Just find an appropriate sound, make a copy of it, and then re-name it according to the position of the last 11 units:

The sounds for the new units would be re-named like this:

Custom1.wav, Custom2.wav, Custom3.wav, Extra1.wav, Extra2.wav. . ., Extra8.wav.

11 units; 11 new sounds.

For example:

Custom1.wav would be the sound for the "Modern Tank" unit.

Custom2.wav would be the sound for the "Advanced Armour" unit, and so forth for all 11 units.

Hope this is clear

 

[Archer 007]

Seems nice. Ill make an extra file folder for that when I get home. I was considering some unique formatting already

 

[MikeLynch]

Leo--
I also favor slower tech advances, but I'm probably less experienced than you in playing that way. The method I use is the Tech Paradigm scenario parameter, usually slowing it down to 20/10. How imbalancing would you say it is for me to NOT have also changed any of the Improvement/Wonder/Unit costs?

 

[Leonidas300]

Originally posted by archer_007
Seems nice. Ill make an extra file folder for that when I get home. I was considering some unique formatting already

It makes for a more interesting game. Now, 11 more units will show up in your game.

I chose the units that helped to fill in some of the gaps. For example, the attack jeep will appear with armor. The AA half-track will appear with flight (but at half the cost).

Advanced armor will appear with stealth; the Nuclear Sub appears with Nuclear Power.

Cheers!

 

[Leonidas300]

Originally posted by MikeLynch
Leo--
I also favor slower tech advances, but I'm probably less experienced than you in playing that way. The method I use is the Tech Paradigm scenario parameter, usually slowing it down to 20/10. How imbalancing would you say it is for me to NOT have also changed any of the Improvement/Wonder/Unit costs?

I have experimented with a variety of tech paradigms and game years, as well as costs in Civ2.

One of my most enjoyable games was played with the following setup:

Tech rate: 50/10 or 60/10

Years per turn: 10

I then increased the cost of everything. After all, building and launching a space craft should be VERY expensive. Same as researching and building nukes.

Most of the higher wonders are in the 9,500 shield cost range. Building a nuke is 800 shields.

Most of the higher military units such as stealth fighters and bombers are in the 200-300 shield range.

I find this makes for a nice long game. You can actually spend years, and fight many wars, while still using legions and archers.

This makes you feel like time is really passing, but you get a chance to use all your military hardware through the years.

Cheers!

 

[MikeLynch]

900,000?!
How is that possible? I thought the values in the Cost fields had certain limits.

I gotta have a look at your Rules.txt, man. I just gotta. Will you post it?

 

[Leonidas300]

Originally posted by MikeLynch
900,000?!
How is that possible? I thought the values in the Cost fields had certain limits.

I gotta have a look at your Rules.txt, man. I just gotta. Will you post it?

MikeLynch:

There may be some misunderstanding (caused by me - heh). I was thinking in terms of dollars and not shields in my above posts. That's what happens when you write fast - heh.

I have set the higher Wonders to 9,500 SHIELDS (or 950 x10).

In the original game, the Seti Program is listed as costing 600 SHIELDS to build. I have set the cost in my Rules.txt for it to cost 9,500 SHIELDS to build.

I am not sure if you can move into 4 digit numbers or not. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

I found the original game parameters to be unbalanced - many things are way too cheap, such as SDI, space craft parts, etc, etc.

The only real unbalanced part of the game is the caravan and freight. Still far too easy to exploit. The AI just dosen't use them to build Wonders like humans do.

I have doubled the cost of the caravan and freight, so they can't be built as fast, but they can still be disbanded to build Wonders.

Short of actually removing them from the game, I'm trying to find a way to not allow the player to build wonders with them. Or at the very least, allow only HALF of their shield production to be used.

Here is my Rules.txt. Besides the higher costs and adding those extra 11 units, I have made the caravan appear earlier in the game. This is needed since, if you play a long game, you will need something to build while waiting for advances to appear.

Also some food items and resources have been re-named (to coincide with my custom terrain1 and 2). Please check these with your default Rules.txt and change them if need be.

If their size is not too big, I will attempt to upload my terrain1 and 2.

 

[Leonidas300]

In the next three posts I will upload my custom Terrain1 and Terrain2 files, plus my Labels.txt file.

These, added with the Rules.txt that I just posted will all assist you in playing a long game (one where the tech is set to 50/10; and years per turn are set to 10).

First, Terrain1

 

[Leonidas300]

Second, Terrain2:

 

[Leonidas300]

Third, Labels.txt.

Remember to back-up your original files. Then add all the files you see posted here to your Civ2 game directory.

To play a long game, generate a random map, then enable the cheat menu, and set the tech rate to 60/10; years per turn to 10; start game year to -4000; and number of turns to 700. Then save it (using the cheat menu) as a scenario. Quit the game, then load your custom scenario as you would ordinarily, and you're ready to go

This game will play for 700 turns from 4,000 BC to 2996 AD. Plenty of time to wreck havoc.

There are also a number of other ways to have a long game. Set the tech rate to 70/10 or 80/10 and the number of years per turn between 5 and 8. You will be playing the game forever

So, here is the Labels.txt:

 

[MikeLynch]

One more quick question for you, Leo:
What version of Civ are you using? I have found (in MGE, anyway) that having a cost value higher than 20 for any given unit has caused anomalies.

IIRC, the specific anomaly I ran into was that a unit with a cost of like 25 could be purchased for negative Gold. And I'm positive I've read about similar problems somewhere in the online Civ community.

Does this not happen for you? Are you running with the NoLimits patch or some other modification?

I have doubled the cost of the caravan and freight, so they can't be built as fast, but they can still be disbanded to build Wonders. Short of actually removing them from the game, I'm trying to find a way to not allow the player to build wonders with them. Or at the very least, allow only HALF of their shield production to be used.

Huh, sounds ambitious. Wouldn't doubling their cost mean they have double the original effect on furthering Wonder production? Meaning that, though their Trade function is more balanced, their Wonder function is actually more imbalanced?

Have you considered maybe reDUCing the cost of Caravans and Freight to the extent that their impact on Wonders is so negligible as to be barely worth the hassle? It might also inspire the AI to use them more... but it could be even more unbalancing for the humans......... hmmmm.

 

[Archer 007]

Originally posted by MikeLynch

Huh, sounds ambitious. Wouldn't doubling their cost mean they have double the original effect on furthering Wonder production? Meaning that, though their Trade function is more balanced, their Wonder function is actually more imbalanced?

Have you considered maybe reDUCing the cost of Caravans and Freight to the extent that their impact on Wonders is so negligible as to be barely worth the hassle? It might also inspire the AI to use them more... but it could be even more unbalancing for the humans......... hmmmm.

The amount of shields you get is depentent on the cost of the unit?