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#84 PET PEEVES OF MULTIPLAY War4Ever speaks out against some aspects of multiplayer gaming. #85 SCENARIO MAKING: WHY CIV2 SUCCEEDED WHILE MORE MODERN GAMES MAY FAIL Blackclove puts C:CTP on the hotspot for what he sees as a lack of customizability. #86 GAME BASHING, SCENARIO MAKING AND GRAPHICS Skorpion59 comes to the defense of C:CTP after last week's "attack" from Blackclove. #87 CALL TO MOD-MAKERS Wes Whitaker agrees that while MODs for CTP will be fewer than CivII's, they can be more powerful. #88 APOLYTON VERSION 2 MarkG details the plans for Apolyton "Version 2". COLUMN ARCHIVE

I am not what you would call a real scenario maker like Wes and Nordicus, but I can still put my 2 cents in. I think one of the things that CTP got right above and beyond even Civ II was the fact that almost everything, including AI behaviors, can be modified from text files. I think the thing that Activision did wrong in this area is that they did not standardize those text files and did not tighten them up as well as they could. They also did not provide any documentation about the files, something they really should have done.

When I say standardize and tighten up I am referring to several things. One of those this is the fact that many times code is included in the different files that is not useable. Worse, when someone tries to use it, it crashes the game. This has happened several times to Nordicus when he tried to incomment so code that Activision had outcommented. If the code was not usable, Activision should not have included it in the text files. If this code had been removed, the text files would have been much less confusing and much tighter. Lack of standardization is related to this. Along with including unusable code, Activision also defined several varibles that it then did make usable. An example would be related to the diplomat/spy unit where the variable to "Hear Gossip" was created but was not implemented. Again, if it was not implemented, it should not have been left in the text files. There are several other examples like this which I am sure Nordicus and Wes could point out very easily.

Some of the documentation that could have been included about the text files is a list of all the files and what they do. Along with this, Activision could have included better description about what each part of a given file did. There is some documentation in the files themselves, but it is often cryptic and does not give enough details about what is really being done in any given block of code.

Another thing that Activision got right in CTP was the slic programming language that allows users to customize the interface and create new functionality in the game. Again, the thing that they got wrong about this is that they did not provide good documentation for it. One of the things I have seen asked for in the forums repeatedly is a list of all the variables available in Slic and all the hooks especially in the case of the most resent patches. To my knowledge, Activision still has not released this information.

Something else that Activision needs to do is fix their Scenario implementation. Right now it only works partially. If they could fix it to work the way they initially indicated it would, people would be much more willing to use the scenarios that Mod Makers make. As it is, when you have to replace default files to make a scenario function properly, most people are reluctant to try them.

One of the problems with the Scenario Implementation is that all types of files cannot be placed in the scenarios directory and be expected to work. For example, it is still necessary to place GL file, AIP files, and FLI files in the default root directories. In the case of the GL files, people have found a work around to be renaming the files and then saving them under the default directory without having to over-write the existing files. While this works, it is really not fair to the Mod makers because they then have to edit even more files so that the new GL files are called instead of the original. With AIP and FLI files even renaming does not work. The only way to get these files to work is to replace the default files with the new files. Something that is really not very acceptable or professional.

As far as the graphics issue goes, I think that if Activision had either used a standardized animation format or provided a windows base graphics creation tool with a good, easy to understand GUI, we would have had graphics for CTP coming out of our ears. If Activision had done that, I would have even tried my hand at graphics. If Activision was concerned about guarding their intellectual rights to the graphics, they could also have started a program of releasing a new unit and good or something like that from their website every month. That would have required minimal time on their part and we would have 9 new Activision based units and 9 new Activision based goods by now as well as the phenomenal graphics that Tom Davies puts out. Activision could have also release a Graphics Pak that included 10 or 20 units and an equal number of goods without too much problem as well.

Not doing any of these things is where I fault Activision. They have not provided good documentation for the text files and slic and they have not provided either a graphics pack or a more user friendly Sprite tool. At least we have a sprite tool but, Activision could have done much better in this regard. I think the fact that Activision did not, is a major PR problem for them. If Civ III gets this right and includes the nice new features that were included in CTP, Activision my find their CTP line of games going down the drain. Conversely, if Activision goes back and provides good documentation for their text files and slic, starts releasing graphics or creates a nice GUI Sprite tool, and fixes their Scenario implementation, Civ III and others will find themselves out in the cold with a rather difficult competitor in CTP.

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