Unloading Armies..I think it can be done.

[docceh]

Hello,

I have just had a peek through the editor for the first time and have come upon an option that seems to allow the UN-loading of units from an army. I have seen a few people asking about this so decided to post.

Open the Civ3 Editor and Untick "Use Default Rules" in the Tools Menu.

Now go to Rules > Edit > Units and in the drop-down menu at the top find Army. Under "Special Actions" click Unload and then "Close".

Now you just need to save and play. And btw, I havent had time to test this yet but I can't see why it shouldn't work!

-docceh

 

[docceh]

Oh and another thing I've heard ppl complain about...

If you don't want your resources to disappear randomly (2 turns after you can see them! ) do as above, except, go to the Natural Resources tab.

In the drop down menu select either:

Iron, Saltpeter, Coal, Oil, Aluminium or Uranium and change the Disappearance Probability to a lower number or 0 if you want it to never disappear.

-docceh

 

[docceh]

And for those who hate Corruption, goto the Government Tab and for each Government type change the Corruption Amount to minimal.

-docceh

 

[Cunobelin Of Hippo]

I'd be a little skeptical about giving an 'Army' unit unload abilities. This seems like the kind of thing that a transport would use at the edge of land...would the Army need to go out to sea in order to unload? But certainly worth a shot. Have you tried it out yet?

 

[Ohwell]

It seems like a good idea, but I am worried thet the AI would react badly to this, they might just leave unloaded armies around, or they might not use them at all.. but try it! I have a whole bunch of obsolete units that need tinkering.

 

[docceh]

Unfortunatly, I don't have any Saved Games with an Army or Leader - I have just been trying to create one but to no evail...If someone could give this a try who has an army handy and post the results I would be very grateful.

The only drawback I see is that the Army would need to be in a city in order to unload. This is also the same with Ships that transport units - The unload button only becomes available when they are in a city.

The AI question, I am unsure as to what the results may be...

- docceh

 

[Psychlone]

I made an APC unit, and gave it the Unload option, it can unload it's units anywhere the APC can go and still has movement left.

 

[docceh]

Well that sounds promising...If your APC could unload units anywhere then it should definately work for Armies.

The AI could still throw a wobbler and go in a huff over this feature, however. All shall become known once I get an Army!

 

[Publius]

I was hoping...but it didn't work for me.
Here's an old saved game, after checking the Unload box in the rules.

Notice that even though it's in a city, the Load/Unload button isn't there. The hotkey didn't work either.
I also found this in the units editor.

This Unit Abilities selection must be preventing it from unloading(lower right in Units Editor). I suppose that could be changed to something else, but what other effects would that have?
Too bad. That looked like a good one. If anyone else can get it to work, let us know.

 

[Publius]

Follow-up to my last post:
I changed the Unit Abilities to "Foot Soldier", and then I COULD unload! Two side effects I found: The movement rate was reduced to one, even for an army that had all Cavalry units. Also, the icon for the units inside was no longer displayed--all you see is the guy holding the flag. So, it took on the attributes of the ability. Also, I tried my current game, where I just got a great leader, and I could STILL create an army, so I guess that isn't affected by the unit abilities. So, anyhow, you CAN do it, but at a price. Maybe one of the other abilities would work better.

But, that's enough of talking about it. I have to get back to finish off the Zulus.

 

[docceh]

Pulius heres one other thing to try...

When altering the Army's Unit Abilities hold down Ctrl + Select "Foot Soldier" - This way the Unit can have 2 abilities and both "Army" and "Foot Soldier" will be selected. Worth a shot i reckon.

And we could always up the army movement to 2 just to make it fair

 

[docceh]

Don't worry about suddenly losing the ability to build an Army as that is controlled by the "Leader" Units properties.

No matter how much you hack apart the "Army" properties, as long as that unit exsists, the Leader will have the option to create it.

 

[docceh]

TOP!

If someone couuld give this a try, it's got a shot at working!

 

[Neo Guderian]

you could set it to foot soldier and set it to all as road so that way you can move infantry around.

What I think would be cool is have a Horse Unit that you can load another unit on and make mounted troops. Or Trucks to move infantry.

 

[docceh]

The Final Word (thusfar)

I have some bad and good news on the Army Front...

BAD NEWS

Regular armies can't be unloaded in the way you'd expect, there is a way (which I will explain in a minute!)

Here's the final word on How To Unload An Army...

The Situation: You have an army of obsolete units that you would like to upgrade.

The Solution:

1. Backup your civ3mod.bic

2. Go into the editor and Open Civ3mod.bic. Go to Rules > Edit > Units. Scroll down in the drop-down menu until you find the Army unit. Change its Unit Abilities to "Foot Soldier" and tick the Unload option under "Special Abilities"

3. Click Close then File > Save. Close the editor and Play Civ3.

4. You can now unload units from your armies. Once unloaded, you can now move the units into a city for upgrade. Move the units back over the army and load.

ATTENTION: At this stage your Army is useless and will act as a single unit with the stats 0.0.1. It is basically a non-combat Personel Carrier.

To 're-enable' your army...

5. Save your game. Close Civ3 and go back into the editor to the Unit Rules screen. Edit the army Unit Abilities so that it is back to "Army". You don't need to untick "unload" because the unit's abilities will cancel this out.

Reload game and enjoy a spiffing new state-of-the-art army!


It's a bit long winded but it's really not 2 hard if you really want an upgraded army.

-docceh

 

[Publius]

You're right, doccah, that does work. It kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth, though, to change rules mid-game and then change them back. Sort of like if in football, I score a touchdown, and then declare that it is now worth 9 points....sorry, my Scottish friend...say, I kick a goal, and declare that they are now worth 2 points; but after you get the ball, I say that now a goal is only one point again.

I tried a few experiments with it tonight. Here's my data:
1) Foot soldier ability only=can load/unload, movement rate is always one.
2) Foot Soldier+movement rate 3=can load/unload, movement rate is always 3, even if the army is composed entirely of infantry.
In both of the above, the Pentagon ceased to function. After I unloaded 4 units, I could only re-load 3 of them!
3) Foot Soldier+Army+movement rate 1=cannot unload, movement rate determined by internal units.
4) Radar+Army+movement rate 1=cannot unload, movement rate determined by internal units, can see 2 spaces.

My conclusions:
Army ability: movement rate set by internal units (slowest one, if mixed). Pre-set movement rate only applies to an empty army. Without this ability, it always moves at pre-set rate. Allows Pentagon to function (+1 added to Trans. Capacity). Shows icon for internal unit. Disables the Unload checkbox.
Foot Soldier ability: I could not determine its specific effect. Maybe just a default setting.
Radar ability: see two spaces. No effect on set movement rate.

Also, I made some observations about the Load and Unload checkboxes:
Load allows a unit to load into another unit. Ground units, airplanes, cruise missles and tactical nukes have it. Ships and ICBMs do not.
Unload refers to units with a Transport Capacity greater than zero (but is disabled if it is an army). By default, only helicopters and transport-capable ships have Unload checked. I didn't try checking Unload on a Trans Cap=0 unit, or vice versa. Not sure what that would do.

 

[docceh]

Originally posted by Publius
In both of the above, the Pentagon ceased to function.After I unloaded 4 units, I could only re-load 3 of them!

If you had the pentagon in your game...while your army is set to Foot Soldier - you would need to up the capacity to 4. When you change it back to "Army" you would need to lower it to 3 again, otherwise the pentagon would give it a capacity of 5!

And cheers for the cultural-specific metaphor :E How many points do you get for a touchdown anyway, 6 or something?

I occasionally watch (American) Football but it gets sooo boring!! Why do you stop the game so often and swap the whole team off! Theres more stopped time than playing time! heheheh

-docceh

 

[cephyn]

Originally posted by docceh



And cheers for the cultural-specific metaphor :E How many points do you get for a touchdown anyway, 6 or something?

I occasionally watch (American) Football but it gets sooo boring!! Why do you stop the game so often and swap the whole team off! Theres more stopped time than playing time! heheheh

-docceh

at least our clock counts DOWN not UP, and we actually use the stopwatch function for injuries and penalties, so we know exactly how much time is left on the game.

Ice Hockey = Soccer improved. Less time, better scoring, smaller field of play more logic. And less hooligans.

 

[Publius]

Originally posted by docceh
I occasionally watch (American) Football but it gets sooo boring!! Why do you stop the game so often and swap the whole team off!

Well, we're a wee bit off-subject...but, I'll bite...
As a Civ fan, you should understand the swapping of the teams, particularly the exchange of offensive and defensive teams (ie, swordsmen and pikemen)

It is interesting that American football is much like a form of stylised warfare. The line of scrimmage represents the line of battle and determines who controls which part of the field. The ultimate object of scoring a touchdown (btw-6 points ) is acheived by reaching the opponent's goal line, at which time you have symbolically driven off your enemy and now stand in control of the entire battlefield. You stop your opponent's ball-carrier by tackling him, knocking him to the ground, symbolic of death. Even much of the terminology is borrowed from war: bomb, sack, blitz, shotgun...