What kind of demand would there be for this?

[Xerol]

I was thinking, since there's so many files that need to be swapped for GOTM play and regular civ play(for vanilla civ players) that i might write a utility to swap these files automatically, or to allow you to choose which game you'll be playing and then automatically start up civ afterwards, or whatever. It wouldn't take me too long now that i've got vb6, so, here's the big questions:
1) What kinds of features do you want? Just a simple "Swap files & launch civ" or something else?
2) Expandability: Should i make it be able to figure out which modpacks you've got installed and present them in a list, or would you rather put the files in the list yourself just in case the program screws up? I've written directory-parsing routines before but they weren't 100% accurate.
3) Help. If anyone wants to help with this, email me qwertysoftware@yahoo.com I'll reply within a week.

I don't plan on rushing this project unless there's a significant enough demand, I'd rather spend time playing civ but i can usually slip in an hour or 2 of programming per day now that school's out.

 

[cracker]

This would be kinda nice to have because it would simplify the overall process a bit.

The only problem will be that I have learned over time that the people who do not really need this tool will be able to operate it flawless while the user who cannot survive without it will find a way to hammer the square peg into the round hole no matter what the defense mechanisms you may have installed.

One of the hidden background objectives here is to help people feel a little more comfortable about swapping graphics files in and out within the framework and files organization that Firaxis has given us to work with.

 

[Xerol]

well i started on it last night anyway...for 2 reasons: 1) i had nothing better to do and 2) i wanna at least make it for my personal use, this was the original plan but i figured i might try to share it with the rest of the community

 

[Ambiorix]

Personally, I know someone who's interested in playing the gotm but doesn't get started because a) there are too many file manipulations and b) there's too much reading up to do. Looks like your tool could at least solve the first obstacle.

 

[alamo]

Is the problem just the mod graphics?

Special units would not conflict with ordinary games, would they?

Another solution is to simply do a second install in another location for GOTM purposes. That one could take all the mods w/o interferring with the first install. I assume there aren't many annoying registry settings.

 

[Ambiorix]

The problem (but I'm really speaking on someone else's account here) is that it takes some time to read what you need, download it, and then make sure you copy all files to the right location. It's not difficult, but the first time you do this, when you never before bothered about what's in those directories, it can be kind of... unsettling.
Main issue is also that it breaks the momentum : you go to the Gotm page, itching to start, and then you have to slow down and make sure you get everything set up right.

I'm playing the devil's advocate here. Personally I don't think it's all that much trouble, and the effort is nothing compared with what you get back, but you don't know that until you've played it once.

Just my 0.02 €

 

[Xerol]

Ok, it's well underway, at least the code is, haven't made the GUI yet so no screenshots yet. I've decided to make it only work with new modpacks so in order to use the program you'll have to have the file structure set up as it is when you installed the program otherwise you might end up with some wierd crossovers. Basically the program will have 2 modes: Install and Swap. Install lets you 'register' a new modpack with the program, and it keeps these files in a safe location with an (optional) name that you give it. If you don't give it a name, it just numbers it. Within the special folder created for each modpack, there will be subfolders: Units, Resource Graphics, Terrain, etc. Existing units/resources can be 'tagged' upon installation, so that the program knows to 'keep' the existing graphics. 'New' units/graphics/etc. will also be tagged as well, but with a different tag reserved for non-native units/graphics/etc. I might end up creating a wizard of some kind to make the installation a bit easier, and create failsafes that allow the user to designate the type of mod a folder is in case the program can't figure it out(i.e. if there's a resource graphics mod that the program doesnt recognise as a resource graphics mod, then it'll ask the user what the mod is.) After install is finished, the program asks the user to double-check all of the 'mod types' to see if it installed them correctly. The user can manually change them here if the program wrongly identifies a mod.

Ok, now for the 'Swap' phase of the program...this is gonna be a lot easier to implement than the install phase, but anyway....The program will come up with a nice looking GUI with 2 boxes: Installed Mods and Existing Mods. Installed mods are ones installed by the 'install' function of the program, while Existing mods are the ones already in place in the civ3 folder. Basically, you select which mods you want to use and it swaps things out accordingly, but checks first to doublecheck for conflicts(i.e. 2 versions of the same unit or something like that) so it's pretty safe, but early versions of the program you should check things over yourself before launching the program(i'll probably roll out a beta-test program before i release to the community)

So, that's the general plan...give me a couple weeks to get a working version of the program working. If you're interested in the beta-test phase just PM me, i'll take anyone who wants to test it, but be warned: I don't guarantee in any way that this won't totally f*** up your civ3 install. Even I expect to need to reinstall civ at least half a dozen times due to screw-ups.

 

[Sirp]

Sorry to chime in when you've already started, but how about just making a setup.exe like most software uses to install itself?

InnoSetup is a free program that is great for making setup.exe's that present a wizard to the user, allowing all sorts of sophisticated options, but is also easy to use.

You can find it at http://www.jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php

-Sirp.

 

[Xerol]

vb6 has a 'wizard wizard' that lets you make wizards easily...but i can't stand the damn things, windows has a wizard for everything, i found a wizard to change the wallpaper that someone made! let's just say...
I
Don't
Like
WIZARDS!
(The windows kind...magicians, however, are always welcome at my house)

 

[Sirp]

Oh I don't particularly like wizards either, but they are the standard way to install software on Windows, and thus most people are familiar with them, so it'd probably be the easiest way to do it for the target audience.

-Sirp.

 

[CdB]

Originally posted by Ambiorix
it takes some time to read what you need, download it, and then make sure you copy all files to the right location

Frankly , i do not like this kind of remarks ... It is like "I am too lazy to bother with this, please install it for me and I might consider playing with your game". It is down to every-one to make a little effort and understand the set-up.

GOTM staff is doing an excellent job and putting much effort into setting up scenarios / maps so that we need to study different approaches and learn more features of the game. I think more effort on the setup of the game will lead to more queries and more effort to maintain this install tool and disturb some energy from the gaming.

I acknowledge that the first time you need to put some effort but after it is not that complicated
- download files
- read instructions
- do dome copy & renaming

I would rather keep this that way : Sweet and Simple