Terrible News Indeed!

[Boco]

Many thanks for all the B-day wishes! For a present you can give me ... playtester(s)!

El Aurens (ToT) is in beta, and I'm hoping to improve it based on your feedback.

If you like how it looks, most of the credit goes to Fairline, Catfish, Hardjoy, Kestrel, and St. Leo. Many thanks also to Techumseh, Case, and Kull for design advice; to Mercatore Uno and Gothmog for their invaluable utilities; and a special thanks to Case for all the historical advice.

For information about the scenario, see:
http://www.geocities.com/njcoyote7/ElAurens.htm

For downloads see:
Primary Files

Improvement Icons 1-40

Improvement Icons 41-67

Guide and TechTree Sheet

Customized ToT DLL's and BMP's

[Boco]

The title shot.

[Boco]

The tech tree (right panel).

Left panel gives info about each tech via mouseover event.

[fairline]

That's double congratulations D.

[our_man]

Boco, this looks incredible! It seems like you've used every trick in the book (and a few that aren't!) to produce this. I can hardly wait to try it!

Why can't there be more ToT scenarios that utilize it to it's full potential?

[Case]

Congratulations on both Dave

I'll download this when I, um, get home from work

[POTUS]

Oh, great, now I'll have to spend all $2.50 to get TOT. And, they don't even make it for Mac. I'll have to use my old 333 Mhz PC.

[fairline]

Dave: There doesn't seem to be a static.spr in the zips and I get the default ToT units on starting the scenario. Have I missed something?

BTW: I really recommend trying this scenario boys and girls. It is simply the best 'wargame' civ scenario there is.

[curtsibling]

At last!!!

As soon as I get back from uni, this baby is going on to my HD!

[Boco]

Oops! Uploaded the A zip from the wrong PC. I believe Static.spr and Readme EA.txt are in it now. There're something like 200 files in total, but hopefully I uploaded them all. Had to make some artificial divisions to get under the 5mb limit.

[Palaiologos]

Belated HB wishes man!

And congrats for your scenario!



PS mouseover event????!!!!!!!!!!!

[Eivind IV]

Congrats, Boco! Oh how I wish I had TOT...! I'm thinking of buying TOT just to play this masterpiece

[Eivind IV]

@Boco: I'm trying to PM you but I et the message that it is disabled. Do you have email?

[curtsibling]

A totally fab site to go with it, this is a masterwork!

Someone should mail the poly news men!

This has to go on the front pages!

[curtsibling]

Also, fairline's awesome units should make this scenario a download that no ToT owner should be without!

I tell thee - purchase ToT just for this scen!

[Boco]

Whoa guys! I take it you like the first impression. For that I thank you, but let's make sure it lives up to a fraction of the billing you're giving it. Remember this is a beta (my first complete scenario at that). I need your help to fix bugs and improve it, and I will be responsive. At this point, I only know it works with one style of play.

Known bugs:

Scenario does not end on turn 38 as it should. For settings, I've given it: turn increment =-1, starting year = 22793, max turns = 38, # turns elapsed = 199. In writing this, I suspect that max turns should = 199 + 38 = 237. I'll test it and change it shortly, but I gotta work tonight.

There are two interfaces between squares that don't allow movement where they actually should. Seems to be a ZOC problem. During development, I switched squares forming these borders from impassable to passable. It's not a big deal, since you can usually move a car unit into the destination, and that permits movement across the border.

Several texts in Game.txt dealing with negotiation need to be changed. I'm still learning the contexts in which they appear.

Biggest hurdles:

EA has a bit of a learning curve. Much of vanilla ToT has changed. I've tried to smooth it with a html tech tree diagram, advice.txt, the hints section of the html guide, and the pedia. Pay attention to these, and the curve is less steep.

EA scoring rewards perfectionists and treats sloppy tactics roughly. Two types of play will gain high points: slow, steady, careful (this was the historical approach); and fast but effective. Fast but careless is likely to result in a low score. You'll still trounce enemy units and gobble up cities, which ought to satsify novice warlord in you. Just won't get bragging rights on the forum.

[Boco]

@Kobra: I changed my avatar but didn't realize that 'Poly didn't keep all my old settings as default. Geesh it wiped out PM's, cookie use, notifications, and viewing gfx. I think I fixed it. Try PM'ing now. I also use dwylie7THISADDRESSHASNOZEROSORCAPS000@operamail.co m, but not frequently.

@Palaiologos: sorry about the lapse into jargon. Mouseover events are triggered when you pass the mouse over an object. As you move the rodent cursor over the rectangles and ovals in the right panel, properties of that tech (buildable improvements, associated events, miscellaneous notes, and the tech category) show in the left panel. No clicking needed. Btw, pay attention to the tech category. You'll soon learn that you like R Garrison Arty units, and the pathway to getting these units is color-coded. Btw, I'm hoping for a bit of time to go back some 2200 years and kick some Romans. Looks like a lot of fun.

@Curt Sibling: I can't thank Fairline enough for his painstaking work. We sadly share the POS (pixel obsession syndrome). Still don't overlook Case's excellent ANZAC's and Ford Light Car.

@our_man

Why can't there be more ToT scenarios that utilize it to it's full potential?

Um, did you check Red October and Roman Civil War? My best 'tricks' were taken from those. This monster took 18 months and a lot of advice and help. Yes, I'm as slow as a customs agent on a slowdown strike during a high-alert period, but the potential of ToT does seem to add a magnitude more work. Hence,

At last!!!

[Catfish]

@Boco:
Erm, that dry wadi graphic in terrain2.bmp ain't mine. Because of your pedantry , about a week ago I painstakingly added signatures (where known) to all of the terrain graphics at my site. Hopefully that will clear up most of the confusion regarding their origin.

Seeing the scenario in all its glory, I'm a bit undecided about some of those terrain graphic combos. For example, the use of the parallel dunes for the unexplored terrain, I found a little incongruous (it also appears over the ocean). Instead of dunes or black, what about the clouds terrain (see attached) from the Fantasy game? Just an idea. The screenshot also contains a couple of other "experiments".

Those 4 casualties (2 x Coastal Patrol, 2 x Camel Corps) resulting in your -400 point "handicap" can be hex edited out. If you want to clear these, change bytes 19FE and 1A0A from values of 02 to 00 in the .scn file. Hell, I'll attach a hex edited .scn file with the starting casualties (including Ikhawan) removed.

ElAurens.zip

Originally posted by Boco
Whoa guys! I take it you like the first impression. For that I thank you, but let's make sure it lives up to a fraction of the billing you're giving it.

Nothing like a bit of pressure, eh?

Pixel Obsession Syndrome? What's that?

Edit: Hmm, don't uploaded graphics embedded in the post display anymore? (swaps files)

[Boco]

Thanks Catfish! Hexedit the 0.sav in the zip, and I'll dl it. I don't want to make the scn my working file. Or is the sav and scn identical, but for the extension? Otherwise, I'll dig for a hex editor.

Oops, goofed on the T2 dry wadi credit. AFAIK, I just recolored generic Civ2 rivers. My pedantry? You don't know how close I came to uploading T2 without a fish next the ocean squarelets.

I like the clouds idea , though I wonder if a sandstorm might work? Never was completely happy with the unknown marker. Have to make a compromise. Dense cloud cover is rare over the desert, but sandstorms aren't that common over the Mediterranean. Come to think of it I'm not sure how I'd visualize a sandstorm. S'pose something like the one in the trailer for that new Viggo Mortensen movie that's being hyped over here. I remember seeing a Lowell Thomas photo of something very similar in the Sudan. In the end, cloud cover may be easiest and least cheesiest.



Also like many of the ideas in your gif. From what I've read and viewed, however, escarpment in Arabia and Egypt is often steep, dark sandless stone that's full of deep shadows. On the other hand, I don't like my hills (Jhebel) .

I know you're not a fan of Kestrel's desert squares. They have some advantages that I like: the hue, the ability to see some definition to the squares (I really don't like using the grid, but can have fits counting squares without it), and the presence of rocks (dark pixels). Still, I can't deny that your desert's undulating dunes just plain look good. Let me vacillate a little on it.

Another thing I forgot to look into was an alternative dither. Where was that other one you recommended?

While I think some terrain types should match hue, I'm not in favor of all doing so. The Nile contrasts vividly with the desert. Let me mull over this a bit, too. Btw, if you have a better candidate for desert trail markers (darb) than half-buried bones, I'm open.

There is a mystery beyond my ken that decides whether embedded gfx show or not. Initially my techtree (uploaded to my Poly account) didn't show. When I referred to the same image on a Geocities server, it did (on my PC during most sessions...).

Pixel Obsession Syndrome? What's that?

[Catfish]

Originally posted by Boco
Thanks Catfish! Hexedit the 0.sav in the zip, and I'll dl it. I don't want to make the scn my working file. Or is the sav and scn identical, but for the extension? Otherwise, I'll dig for a hex editor.

Yeah, just change the extension. They're not identical, though. The saved game will have all of the events saved at the end of the file. You can work from the .scn file in the same manner as you work from your master .sav file. Of course, your scenario parameters will only be saved in the .scn file and any saved games derived from it.

Re. hex editors: I use either AXE or frhed. The former is nagware, although it may have been "upgraded" to shareware status. It has a nice, simple search function. Frhed, on the other hand, is more powerful (well, more than the ancient version of AXE I'm using) and totally free. Some of its functions aren't as streamlined as AXE, which is why I use both.

Originally posted by Boco
My pedantry?

Hey, you started all of this terrain signatures business IIRC. You take the blame as per usual.

Originally posted by Boco
I like the clouds idea , though I wonder if a sandstorm might work? Never was completely happy with the unknown marker. Have to make a compromise. Dense cloud cover is rare over the desert...

Which is why they're deserts, I guess. I once tried the clouds in a Middle-Eastern scenario of mine, but eventually reverted to the standard black. Anyway, I thought I'd throw the idea your way.

Originally posted by Boco
Also like many of the ideas in your gif. From what I've read and viewed, however, escarpment in Arabia and Egypt is often steep, dark sandless stone that's full of deep shadows. On the other hand, I don't like my hills (Jhebel) .

I'm no expert on Middle-Eastern geomorphology, so you'd be a better judge than I. I'm also crap at drawing hills, mountains and any other erosional landscapes from scratch. I can send the files your way if you like, so you can pick and choose.

Originally posted by Boco
I know you're not a fan of Kestrel's desert squares.

I like his grassland, though. I use it just about everywhere – in fact so much that I started thinking it was one of mine.

Originally posted by Boco
Another thing I forgot to look into was an alternative dither. Where was that other one you recommended?

The dither that I'm currently using is in the Original terrain download at my site. Just use and/or modify that one if you like.

Originally posted by Boco
Btw, if you have a better candidate for desert trail markers (darb) than half-buried bones, I'm open.

They're reminiscent of those Bitterfrost milestones. Camel droppings?

Originally posted by Boco
There is a mystery beyond my ken that decides whether embedded gfx show or not.

Yeah, I noticed that yours worked, but were linked to an outside server. I hadn't uploaded anything at Apolyton for ages. It seems that since I last did so, they've changed the user directory setup. Any new stuff that's uploaded doesn't display (or so it seems). That sort of rules out the types of tutorials I've done in the past – not that I have any queued up mind you.

[Boco]

Someone had the kind discretion to mention via PM that I originally had two pointers to the same improvement zip. I copied and pasted but forgot to edit. That's changed, and Improvements 41-67 should dl the correct zip now (both here and on the first post).

I can send the files your way if you like, so you can pick and choose.

You left out 'abuse', or was that intentional? Yes, please do send them over.

@Curt
If Case doesn't take you up on your sound generation offer, can I? My own PC is currently making such a racket, that I play with sound off and earphones on. I think it's the power supply fan.

[curtsibling]

Yep!

ToT is a delight to make sounds for, as you can just give each unit it's own wav!



I would be honoured to help, just give me a list of units to give sounds to, a place to send zips - and I will get moving on it!

Just email me with any info -

PS
There is an 'end scenario' event in ToT macro:

example
@IF
RECEIVEDTECHNOLOGY
receiver=anybody
technology=0
@THEN
TEXT
blah blah
ENDTEXT
ENDGAME
endscreens=yes
@ENDIF

[our_man]

Boco, I've played techumseh's Red October, I never bothered with the Roman Civil War as it was meant to be multiplayer only. So, in the past year I've only played one ToT scenario completely through (although I've yet to try Curt's Bitterfrost ToT).

I guess I should ask an even more appropriate question; why can't there be more ToT scenarios out there period?

Wasn't techumseh nearing completion of a 'Warlords of China' scenario for ToT? I haven't seen him post in while however.

[SCDARS]

Seems like a really nice scn

Originally posted by our_man
I guess I should ask an even more appropriate question; why can't there be more ToT scenarios out there period?

Wasn't techumseh nearing completion of a 'Warlords of China' scenario for ToT? I haven't seen him post in while however.

I guess there are some more ToT scns out, but since Cradle of Civ isn't updated anymore, ToT lacks a platform where ToT scenarios are promoted. I expect you ToT-fans could bring more people to reinstall ToT if you posted a list of all recomendable scenarios in a sticky thread in the ToT forums. What do you think about that?

[Palaiologos]

Okay i've never played a ToT scenario before but i suppose the procedure is the same as in normal civ.
I simply copied the files in the C:\Program Files\Microprose\Test of Time\Scenario\El aurens and then i launched the Setup.bat.

I get the "failed to load game:file is in obsolete format" message.

Keeping in mind the incompatability problem of MGE and FW i suppose the solution must follow the same basis.

I have ToT v1.0. Any newer versions around?A link to a patch perhaps?Thanks

BTW that web page is really good. Puts you in the WW1 desert fighting mood.

[Catfish]

Originally posted by Boco
You left out 'abuse', or was that intentional? Yes, please do send them over.

That sort of jibe would be totally out of character.

Originally posted by our_man
So, in the past year I've only played one ToT scenario completely through (although I've yet to try Curt's Bitterfrost ToT).

Speaking of which (and to threadjack the thread of the King of All Threadjackers ), what's the status of Bitterfrost, Curt?

Originally posted by SCDARS
I guess there are some more ToT scns out, but since Cradle of Civ isn't updated anymore, ToT lacks a platform where ToT scenarios are promoted. I expect you ToT-fans could bring more people to reinstall ToT if you posted a list of all recomendable scenarios in a sticky thread in the ToT forums. What do you think about that?

I wanted to try something like that in the links section at my site, but wasn't particularly successful. I couldn't even find Curt's Dictator 2 scenario.

Originally posted by Palaiologos
I have ToT v1.0. Any newer versions around?A link to a patch perhaps?Thanks

You need 1.1: http://www.civfanatics.com/civ2downloads.shtml

This scenario's certainly caused a (sand) storm, Boco, with people scrambling like madmen for their buried ToT CDs.

[Boco]

Okay, I fixed the end-of-scenario bug.

Found a hex-editor and deleted the Allied casualties. Then, someone had to mention that the lost Ikhawan could be erased, too. But would that soul mention the offset? No. Does he dangle candy just out of reach of toddlers? Let the reader draw his own conclusions. I thought it might be 1A14 for the 3 Turks, but no prize. How do you find these offsets?

Found another goof in Events. @DEBUG is not commented out. That won't stop the scenario from running, but it takes a while to load.

King of All Threadjackers

Moi? The image of NJ real estate provides absolutely vital ambience to Appeasement and Aggression.

Give me 24h and I'll upload a corrected Primary Zip.

@Curt: thanks , I'll send a list. Got any camel noises? Armoured Cars? Black Adder Goes Forth?

@Palaiologos
INSTALLATION (after patching)

1.*******OPTIONAL: Test of Time Directory -- back up Intro.DLL, Tiles.DLL, and Mk.DLL to another directory.
2.*******OPTIONAL: Test of Time \ Original Directory -- back up City.BMP, Civwin_bak.BMP, and Dialog.BMP to another directory.
3.*******Extract All EA*.Zips into \Test*of*Time\Original\Scenarios\El*Aurens.
4.*******Run EASetup.vbs from \Test*of*Time\Original\Scenarios\El*Aurens.
5.*******Start ToT and begin the scenario.
6.*******Under Game | Game Options [Ctrl-O] turn on 'Instant Advice'.
7.*******Under Game | Graphic Options [Ctrl-P] turn on 'Civilopedia for Advances'.
8.*******For reference, load EATechs.htm in MS Explorer (it crashes Opera v7.02).
9. Enjoy!
*. To restore ToT DLL and BMP files run EARestore.vbs.

The vbs's simply replace choice.com in the bat files. They actually still use the rest of Gothmog's batch files.

[Catfish]

Originally posted by Boco
Found a hex-editor and deleted the Allied casualties. Then, someone had to mention that the lost Ikhawan could be erased, too. But would that soul mention the offset? No. Does he dangle candy just out of reach of toddlers? Let the reader draw his own conclusions. I thought it might be 1A14 for the 3 Turks, but no prize. How do you find these offsets?

You know you could've saved yourself a lot of trouble if you'd just renamed that .scn file. Anyway, you're in the wrong civ block. Each civ, from 0 to 7, has its own data block which immediately follows the initial settings (map size and relationships, civ names and leaders, etc). Civ 0 (block 1) is barbarian, so you want block 2 for the Allies, 3 for Ottomans and 4 for the Sanusi. The data blocks are well-defined, separated by a heap of zeros, so finding the right ones shouldn't be a problem. To remove the Ikhawan values, change bytes 2706 and 341A to 00.

Originally posted by Boco
Moi? The image of NJ real estate provides absolutely vital ambience to Appeasement and Aggression.

One of about fifty examples. Not that anyone cares mind you.

Originally posted by Boco
@Curt: thanks , I'll send a list. Got any camel noises? Armoured Cars? Black Adder Goes Forth?

I could rip some camel noises from Age of Kings if you're interested.

BTW, what's with all these references to Black Adder? Before Catfish, my handle was Bullbuggerer. Nothing to do with my personal habits, of course, but a reference to an early Black Adder episode: "No. I'm talking of unspeakably violent Jack, the bull-buggering beast-killer of no-fixed-abode." Showing our maturity, a mate and I used to use that name as a greeting, usually with some expletive thrown in. Eventually I dropped the name after some people, for reasons known only to themselves, found it offensive.

[curtsibling]

You know, I think the ToT and regular civ2 sections here should be combined.

I would be a move that would bring the ToT scenarios into the spotlight.

[Palaiologos]

Found some wrong civilopaedia entries: Tayyare Bolugu
and Depo Alay. Actually i am not sure they are wrong but the Bolugu has a monoplane as its gfx while the texts mentions its an armored car. And the alay texts mentions its a camel corps stiffened by Egyptian conscripts but as its name says it is a Turk engineer.

I found the scenario EXTREMELY INTRIGUING AND CHALLENGING. It took me some time to realize you had to iriggate in order to advance deep in the desert and then i had to ship in egyptians to protect the engineers from Arab raids.

And the Gendarme/caravan idea truly rocks.It adds a lot of colour in the scenario.

Great work Boco.

P.S who the hell is Baldrick?