DJ Bonebraker
a.k.a Laura
BTW, what happened to the cool Map Icon resource icons? I find the current ones rather hard to spot on the extremely busy map..... If you need help with them, I'll be more than glad to do them for you.
Work in Progress - Super Civ Scenario
- Thread starter KingArthur
- Start date
KingArthur
Searching for the Holy Grail
About the resource icons - the resources are now Key Locations and they appear as distinct buildings on the map (e.g. the Sports Stadium). Each Key Location has a Coloured Pin beside them to highlight their location - sometimes the pins don't show up very well so I might replace them with one of the old-style icons.
Balthasar
Wise Man
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2005
- Messages
- 3,293
As mapmaker, I feel I have to weigh in on this. The type and placement of resource icons is entirely KA's call, of course, but I had my reasons for this particular design. The idea for these resource icons (I thought of them as tall lights, rather than stick-pins, myself) was precisely to make the resources easier to spot, because the map is deliberately busy, as Gotham City should be. They're color-coded, by the way: red = strategic, green = luxury, yellow = bonus, blue = marine bonus. The building or location "produces" the resource. I went to a lot of trouble to make each of these key buildings one of a kind, which necessitated acrobatic manipulation of the graphics files. The last thing I wanted to do, then, was cover them up with resource icons, so I came up with this. In some cases, like most of the amusement park, the buildings themselves are resources, and, since you can't place an icon atop an icon, the icon light acts to alert the player to the whole set of resources in that area. Perhaps I could remake the icons so that they "glow' more brightly, and are easier to see? I could change the Amusement area and Stadium icons into regular signs, but I doubt that would make them easier to identify as resources. I've always favored hiding resources, myself - and let them be "discovered" by the player. The downside to that is that the AI knows where they all are anyway.
The blue 'marine' bonuses aren't much noticeable against the blue(-ish) water. Which isn't bad per se, the trouble is that the AI always knows where the resources are. This game could be done with more of a multi-player focus, perhaps.
DJ Bonebraker
a.k.a Laura
Well, I prefer more visible resources... when I have to use a magnifying glass and/or crank the brightness and contrast way up on the monitor to spot resources, that takes the fun right out of playing the game, especially since, as you put it, the Cheating AI already knows exactly where they are!
Finally, there is the problem of the fact that the "geniuses" who designed Civ III made it impossible to tell what kind of resources you have available when you don't have super-unique icons, only compounds this issue (they should have made it so that when you moused over the icon in your Trade Adviser screen or the City screen it told you what it was, but apparently they were too lazy)....
EDIT: As a resource maker, I can also make it so that the resources DON'T cover up too much of the building, but are still easily discernable!
Finally, there is the problem of the fact that the "geniuses" who designed Civ III made it impossible to tell what kind of resources you have available when you don't have super-unique icons, only compounds this issue (they should have made it so that when you moused over the icon in your Trade Adviser screen or the City screen it told you what it was, but apparently they were too lazy)....
EDIT: As a resource maker, I can also make it so that the resources DON'T cover up too much of the building, but are still easily discernable!
DJ Bonebraker
a.k.a Laura
Okay, I'm getting a weird error: Everytime I get to Day 1 10 AM, the Game Crashes.... This also coincides with me reaching the point where I SHOULD be finishing production on my first Removal Van...
I've tried everything I can think of, but it still keeps crashing, no matter how many times I quit and reload!
I even tried using both the normal Civ 3 Conquests.exe as well as the No Raze patch, and the only difference is that with the Normal EXE, the game just crashes to desktop, whereas with the No Raze Patch, I get Ye Olde Windows XP crash popup.
I'm currently Running Windows XP Disk Check utility to make sure that I don't have any bad sectors on my HD (which I SHOULDN'T, considering that the HD is little over 2 years old!), but that's the only thing I can think of that could be causing this problem.... Unless anyone else has any ideas.....
I've tried everything I can think of, but it still keeps crashing, no matter how many times I quit and reload!
I even tried using both the normal Civ 3 Conquests.exe as well as the No Raze patch, and the only difference is that with the Normal EXE, the game just crashes to desktop, whereas with the No Raze Patch, I get Ye Olde Windows XP crash popup.
I'm currently Running Windows XP Disk Check utility to make sure that I don't have any bad sectors on my HD (which I SHOULDN'T, considering that the HD is little over 2 years old!), but that's the only thing I can think of that could be causing this problem.... Unless anyone else has any ideas.....
Personally, I like the Buildings as Resources as well as the Colored Lights as indicators.
I increased the Over All Color Saturation 25% then increased the just the Lights 80% more Color Saturation. I removed several Magenta/Purple shades that were around the last Resource then made a new Palette. Much Brighter and the Buildings Look Good in my opinion. I set a few Lights straight in keeping with all the others and colored a frame line that was an off color.
No big deal but See if this is to your liking Balthasar and King Arthur.
I increased the Over All Color Saturation 25% then increased the just the Lights 80% more Color Saturation. I removed several Magenta/Purple shades that were around the last Resource then made a new Palette. Much Brighter and the Buildings Look Good in my opinion. I set a few Lights straight in keeping with all the others and colored a frame line that was an off color.
No big deal but See if this is to your liking Balthasar and King Arthur.
DJ Bonebraker
a.k.a Laura
Thanks (If I can get this the mod to working again)...
BTW, you might want to blank the "ResourceShadows.pcx" file.... The two sea resources have fish and whale shadows next to them!
BTW, you might want to blank the "ResourceShadows.pcx" file.... The two sea resources have fish and whale shadows next to them!
KingArthur
Searching for the Holy Grail
Vuldacon thanks for the brighter resources I'll check those out tonight.
Hikaro Takayama are you using the latest version 0.11. I doubt it's your PC; it's most likely a unit with incompatible settings or a wrongly indexed graphics file. Could you try starting a new game and see whether it happens again?
Hikaro Takayama are you using the latest version 0.11. I doubt it's your PC; it's most likely a unit with incompatible settings or a wrongly indexed graphics file. Could you try starting a new game and see whether it happens again?
LMR
Back In Green!
Noticed you're using the Enclave leader from Fallout for the EGO leader
I made some graphics for Thorgrimm a while back (happy, angry, beaten up, etc), so if you want 'em, here they are
I made some graphics for Thorgrimm a while back (happy, angry, beaten up, etc), so if you want 'em, here they are
No Problem King Arthur.
Here is a Blank resources_shadows.pcx. Since there are no shadows used, this will prevent the game from using the Normal File with Shadows in your Scenario.
Just drop it in the Art Folder.
Here is a Blank resources_shadows.pcx. Since there are no shadows used, this will prevent the game from using the Normal File with Shadows in your Scenario.
Just drop it in the Art Folder.
KingArthur
Searching for the Holy Grail
Yes thanks guys 
DJ Bonebraker
a.k.a Laura
I'm using the latest BIQ and have tried re-starting multiple times, but no dice....
I've even tried the old "Start a different Scenario, Quit, Restart and start the Scenario" trick... Still, anytime I try to build ANY unit, not just the Removal Van, the game crashes.
EDIT: I found the solution! Don't ask me HOW or WHY this works, but it just does: On the turn before the unit was built (the one before it crashed), I ended the turn without giving any orders to any unit and PRESTO! It went through!
Waste of a turn, but better than just having the game crash as soon as I build my first unit.
BTW, I like the new resources MUCH better! I can see them a mile away, now! Thanks, Vuldacon!
I've even tried the old "Start a different Scenario, Quit, Restart and start the Scenario" trick... Still, anytime I try to build ANY unit, not just the Removal Van, the game crashes.
EDIT: I found the solution! Don't ask me HOW or WHY this works, but it just does: On the turn before the unit was built (the one before it crashed), I ended the turn without giving any orders to any unit and PRESTO! It went through!
Waste of a turn, but better than just having the game crash as soon as I build my first unit.
BTW, I like the new resources MUCH better! I can see them a mile away, now! Thanks, Vuldacon!
Hikaro... That is strange how No Orders would stop the crash you were having.
Causes me to wonder what Orders the units had Must have been a Clash there. Have not had that happen. Glad you can see the Resources better.
Causes me to wonder what Orders the units had
Must have been a Clash there. Have not had that happen. Glad you can see the Resources better.
DJ Bonebraker
a.k.a Laura
Actually, it started crashing again.... Funny thing is, when I installed Civ III conquests (and the patch) onto my computer that is running Windows XP English edition, I had no problems whatsoever.... Also, I'm wondering if somehow the fact that I'm used WinRAR to unzip the files on my normal gaming computer as opposed to using Winzip on this computer might not have corrupted the BIQ file somehow...
Another possibility is the fact that I used the Hacked editor to view the scenario on the other machine... For some reason, BIQ files that were installed with the game (i.e. any of the Conquests) or that I've created myself never have this problem, no matter how many times I edit them, but for some reason, I've had issues with editing at least half the mods I've got from here.... I'm wondering if the OS language differences might not be affecting the editor somehow... Who knows.
I'm going to try copying the unzipped BIQ file directly from this computer to my other computer (I've already taken the precaution of completely deleting every last trace of any kind of Super Civ BIQ file from it) and see if THAT doesn't fix the problem!
If that doesn't do it, then I'm going to copy everything from the known good game (the copy on this computer) to my gaming/graphics editing computer until the problem goes away or I run out of options!
Anyways, In MOD related issues, I'm playing as the League of Heroes and have built a city near the "Super Stadium", have the "Super Stadium" resource IN my resource box AND in the city radius, and have researched the "Publicity" tech, but for some reason, I CANNOT build the "Stadium Luxury Boxes" wonder.... Any ideas?
Another possibility is the fact that I used the Hacked editor to view the scenario on the other machine... For some reason, BIQ files that were installed with the game (i.e. any of the Conquests) or that I've created myself never have this problem, no matter how many times I edit them, but for some reason, I've had issues with editing at least half the mods I've got from here.... I'm wondering if the OS language differences might not be affecting the editor somehow... Who knows.
I'm going to try copying the unzipped BIQ file directly from this computer to my other computer (I've already taken the precaution of completely deleting every last trace of any kind of Super Civ BIQ file from it) and see if THAT doesn't fix the problem!
If that doesn't do it, then I'm going to copy everything from the known good game (the copy on this computer) to my gaming/graphics editing computer until the problem goes away or I run out of options!
Anyways, In MOD related issues, I'm playing as the League of Heroes and have built a city near the "Super Stadium", have the "Super Stadium" resource IN my resource box AND in the city radius, and have researched the "Publicity" tech, but for some reason, I CANNOT build the "Stadium Luxury Boxes" wonder.... Any ideas?
wolf_66
Lone Civer
I had similar troubles (see post #209), just different turn
KingArthur
Searching for the Holy Grail
I suspect a unit flc animation or sound is the source of the trouble. I'll attempt to debug with all units on the map over the weekend.
One thing I would like both wolf and HT to try is to delete the music.txt file in the scenario's text folder and start a new game - just in case it's related to a dodgy mp3. I don't think it is because I've played the music all the way through on my PC but it may be there's differences between machines and I'd like to discount that. thanks KA
One thing I would like both wolf and HT to try is to delete the music.txt file in the scenario's text folder and start a new game - just in case it's related to a dodgy mp3. I don't think it is because I've played the music all the way through on my PC but it may be there's differences between machines and I'd like to discount that. thanks KA
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