Updated Editor

[roalan]

This patch must be different then 1.16 . Marlas map.bic resides in the scenario folder and civ3mod.bic is in the main directory, If I D/L the 1.17 patach and install it I think?? the only .bic file that shoud be overwritten is the civ3mod.bic file in the main dir. Marlas .bic in the scenario folder should not be touched?? This is what happened with patch 1.16. The other files in the main dir. will be updayed. When you play rthe game and you load marlas .bic from the scenario folder it should still work with the old changes. I believe the other civ3mod.bic file will be changed HOWEVER I never changed that .bic file in themain dir because I do not ike it and as mentioned before I use MarlasMap with some changes I made mysel. I also mad a copy of her file in the scenario folder and called it BobsMap just encase somethig happened to hers. So there are two .bic files in the scenario folder plus the original civ3mod.bic file in the main dir.So my question was. If I installed the 1.17 patch everything in the directory would be brought up to date and when I went to play I used Marlas .bic file in the Scenario folder I should have no changes to that file am I correct???? AND all othr files EXCEPT the unused original civ3mod.bic file will be use and updated.I realize the civ3mod.bic will also be updated BUT I DO NOT BELIEVE I USE IT WHEN USING MARLAS .BIC. Am I correct in all this?
Because I am old and do not understand about saving .bic files.I just D/L them and extract them to the directories. I do not think the patch will effect saved games because I use marlas.bic? What say you to all this?

 

[connor]

The only way I can get the editor to work is to do a brand new install each time. This is ridiculous, I am going to assume that this was tested before release , I mean this is such a glaring problem. GRRR!!!!

 

[Scipio Africanu]

[qoute]If I installed the 1.17 patch everything in the directory would be brought up to date and when I went to play I used Marlas .bic file in the Scenario folder I should have no changes to that file am I correct???? [/qoute]

That is correct, if you install 1.17 MarlaMap.bic will be unchanged.

The only way to change the map to the version 1.17 is to save it with the New Editor. Do not use the editor that comes with the patch at all. After you have installed the new patch then download and install the New
Editor over the one in your Civilization3 folder. You cna find that editor here ----------> http://www.civfanatics.com/downloads/civ3/patch/Civ3Edit.exe <---------- after you install the new patch of course . Its very improtant not to use the editor that comes with the patch.


[qoute]AND all othr files EXCEPT the unused original civ3mod.bic file will be use and updated.[/qoute]

Your Civ3mod.bic in your Civilization3 folder will be unchanged, I think, as well as all your other saved maps. Only if you open them with the new editor, and them save them, will they be updated.

If you want to play with the updated version you must download the new editor i've listed above and save them the map with it. If you save with the new editor your games will work fine and be updated.

 

[roalan]

Your first paragraph answered my question I do not care if the main directories civ3mod.bic is changed or not. I do not use it only Marlas in the scenario folder. I am still not sure what you mean buy not using the civ3mod.bic file that comes with the patch and D/L the separate one. I did D/L the 2.2MB editor but I thought that when you extracted the original patch with the wrong editor with will automatically overwrite the origninal civ3mod.bic in the main dir. I rhen assume you install the other editor (separate)D/L over theoverprinted .bic in the main dir. and it will change it to what eve the 2.2MB file has. is that what you mean by saving? I most likely will not do tis because as I mentioned I do not use the civ3mod.bic in the main dir.and perhaps patch 1.18 will eliminate the need for a separate d/l of a correct editor.

 

[roalan]

I meant to mention that the map I use and adjusted is part of Marlas .bic and in the scenario folder so I do not need to worry about it changing with the patch. I only need the other items such as the sentry and moving a stack items etc. -Correct????
Thanks for your help you are a nice person.

 

[datarush]

I had the same problem as Scipio did. I used the 1.17 version on a map that I've been working on a LONG time, and it wouldn't work with any version of Civ. What I did works to the extent that the 1.15 editor and Civ 1.17f can now load/run that same map, but I don't know if there's problems downstream. I'll have to play it a while.

I used a Hex editor to change the version numbers that right at the beginning of the .bic file. On the 2nd line there is a 0300 in the 1.17 version. You have to change that to a 0200 and then in the next group of 4 bytes (as I display them) add a 0A00, which in the 1.17 editor is 0000.


After that the scenario ran in 1.17f Civ. But I ran the 1.15 editor loaded the scenario and then saved it, thinking that it might save a slightly different way that will work completely. This also started up OK in Civ. I sure didn't know what else to do besides trash the scenario. Shame on Firaxis I bet there's a few people chugging away on a 1.17 scenario and won't know that its not going to work!

 

[Ed Cogburn]

Originally posted by roalan
Thats all Greek to me, I do not know what you are talking about. Lets keep it simple.

Folks, its like this. The editor in the 1.17f patch uses the v3.0 version of the .bic file format. The game, the updated editor, and the editor from the 1.16f patch use the v2.1 version of the .bic file format.

So, do NOT use the editor that comes in the patch. You can install the patch without problems, just don't use the Civ3Edit.exe that comes in it. Install the patch then delete the Civ3Edit.exe and download the updated editor from this thread or the other link, and everything is fine.

If you did use the editor from the patch, the .bic file it created is unuseable because its the v3.0 version of the .bic file format, while the game only uses the v2.1 version of the .bic file format. We're talking about any file with the .bic extension, not just the civ3mod.bic file. Save that modified .bic file for when they release the version of the game that uses the v3.0 version of the .bic file format, or throw the modified .bic file away and start over with the updated editor from this thread, or if you know how to use a hex editor, do what datarush did, see his post just before mine. Be warned though that we don't know if datarush's solution will always work with all .bic files. You do keep backups don't you?

 

[Zouave]

Originally posted by datarush
I had the same problem as Scipio did. . .

After that the scenario ran in 1.17f Civ. But I ran the 1.15 editor loaded the scenario and then saved it, thinking that it might save a slightly different way that will work completely. This also started up OK in Civ. I sure didn't know what else to do besides trash the scenario. Shame on Firaxis I bet there's a few people chugging away on a 1.17 scenario and won't know that its not going to work!

Precisely. But does Firaxis HAVE any shame??

I have already wasted more time tweaking and trying to make playable and historical this non-playtested game than any other game I have ever had.

Firaxis, here's to you:

 

[datarush]

:crazyeyes

I've been playing the hex-edited scenario a bit and so far no problem. Except I did try to use Powerbar on a game (ahem, just for testing) and while it did work it didn't seem to like something and the game didn't work right while Powerbar was running. Powerbar said it was 'for the 1.17f version only' so something isn't quite right with the scenario. If it crashes and burns I'll post again.

 

[JeffNebraska]

I installed the 1.17 patch AFTER it had been changed to include the correct editor. I make all my mods directly to the civ3.bic file, not scenarios, so that was overwritten by the patch, as was my modded civilopedia text file. Since I had backed up before patching, however, in about half an hour I had remade all my old changes and added back the three units I had added before patching (crossbowman, gunship, Perry frigate). Now, everything is working suprisingly well, including old save games!

By redoing the mod, rather than using my old .bic, which was probably still compatible, I got the advantage of incorporating all the latest Firaxis changes (e.g., bombardment defense, tech costs, etc.).

I don't know, but you may lose certain important patch alterations by using an old .bic from your scenarios. For example, I'd be curious to know from someone using an old .bic whether their mobile units don't always flee, whether the "y" command works and whether the "j" stacked movement works. Probably these features don't require the patched .bic, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

[Exsanguination]

ok... I had some odd things going on with the INITIAL editor (cities went past size 6 w/o aqueduct not on rivers, irrigate anywhere, etc). I remembered then that I never downloaded the NEW editor. Currently, here are my civ3 versions:

civ3 v1.17f
civ3edit v1.15
BIC file format v2.10

am i good to go?

 

[Zouave]

Originally posted by jednj
Ditto - It seems the Jeff Morris Editor download does NOT SOLVE the problem . . right?

This is starting to sound like "DO NOT POST THE PATCH : WAIT FOR THE PATCH TO BE PATCHED BEFORE LOADING!"

Is that the recommendation? Or should we load the patch and not use the editor . . . what - What - WHAT??

You are SO right. No doubt this will all get worse with the 1.18 patch. And whatever Editor works with that one.

Firaxis strikes again.

 

[fred24]

I had the same problem you all described:
I've made a nice scenario with the editor, that comes with Patch1.17 (e.g. the one, that produces the .bic Version 3.0). Result: Not playable with Civ3 V.1.17. I always got the error message "Version 3.0 not playable" while attempting to load the self-made scenario.

After being rather frustrated (I've spent half the night to produce the scenario), I found the solution posted by datarush (thx for your advice).

Your solution is suitable, but in my case with a slighthly different hexcode.

My scenario became running, with changing only the Byte in the 2nd line from 0300 to 0200. The change of the following Byte (as described by datarush) doesn't help in my case.

Don't know, if this a a solution in general, but it works!!!

Here's a screenshot with my changes.

 

[datarush]

I just duplicated the differences onto the map file, not trying each one individually. Evidently the 2nd byte doesn't have critical information.