why do i get an error message...

[Civ2Addict]

I get an error message every time I try to edit the units.gif file for the basic game. Everything goes fine when I create a unit for the basic game until I go replace the Extra Land, Ship, Air units. I always get an error message after I edit the units and go to load the game. Can someone please tell me what I'm doing wrong?

 

[insurgent]

Basic game? You mean classic?

If you do, then yes, there are some difficulties with the file formats and palettes that the original game had. When I tried to change the units.gifs I also had such problems. But I don't really remember if I ever found a solution before I got FW... Classic wasn't made for such stuff, methinks...

 

[Mercator]

You mean things go wrong only when replacing one of the three extra units?
What image editor are you using?

 

[Mercator]

Hmmm, looking at the other two threads you made about this, you get it whenever you change the unit graphics, no?

My guess is you're using something like MS Paint to put in the images. That won't work.

There are a few things about the units.gif (and all the other GIFs for that matter) you should know:
- The GIFs use a specific color palette, if you change it (or the image editor changes it without your knowledge) changes are things will look odd.

If you have a more advanced image editor it's a good idea to save the palette. That way you can load the palette for all your civ2 graphics you create. Use the palette of the units.gif, that's the palette Civ2 itself uses for all its graphics. That also means if you change the units.gif palette, all Civ2 graphics will be affected, while if you change the palette of any of the other graphics files, they'll just end up looking like ****.

- Secondly, and most importantly. The GIF images must be in GIF 87a non-interlaced format. A lot of image editors will allow you to choose among the different formats, but MS Paint doesn't and saves them in the wrong format. That's why Civ2 crashes on you.

 

[insurgent]

Yes, but it ought to work with MS Paint when editing an existing units.gif and then saving the changes without altering the formats, right? At least it does in FW and MGE...(?)

 

[Civ2Addict]

I use Photo Shop to edit the units..I don't know if that's the right one to use, but I don't feel like spending $60 for Paint Shop Pro.

 

[Mercator]

Photo Shop will work just fine. Just make sure you save them with the correct format (GIF87a non-interlaced). You should be able to choose that when saving, either under some advanced saving options, or perhaps in the general program settings.
And, ahem... According to their websites, Adobe PhotoShop costs over $600, PSP "only" about $100.

insurgent: I don't know really, but FW and MGE can also handle bitmaps, so you don't have this problem.

 

[Civ2Addict]

hey it worked. thanks for the help guys.

 

[Civ2Addict]

ok maybe not..lol i'm starting to sound like a moron here. i have MGE and i read up here that it'll support bitmaps. so can i just replace the .gifs with bmps?

 

[Mercator]

Yep... They must be 256-color (= 8-bit) though, so they must still have the correct palette.

Hmmm, perhaps you could attach one of your attempts at a units.gif which causes the crashes. That way we can have a look at what's wrong with it.

 

[Civ2Addict]

Yeah I finally figured it out. Thanks for everyone's help (and putting up with my utter stupidity).