A Project: Creating Cpt. Nemo's Red Front for CtP2

[CapTVK]

Good progress on the units so far. How are you going to handle the events. Does CtP2 use scripts similar to Civ2?

[Maquiladora]

I cant write SLIC (CtP2 scripting language) with any kind of speed so ill be in a purely advisory position, hopefully documenting everything, finding locations etc and anything else that needs to be done beforehand. Peter (or anyone else, its a big job) will hopefully have some time to help me with the SLIC when the time comes.

Check this thread for a little comparison between SLIC and civ2 events:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=55971

Also contains a nice quote by IW i forgot about:

The one real pain translating Civ2 code to SLIC is the locations, which are bound to be different in the two games. God help whoever does Red Front.

[Immortal Wombat]

Haha, yes. IIRC Peter had mentioned the possibility of a RF conversion some time prior to that, and the conclusion was that yes it was possible, but a lot of fairly tedious work.

[child of Thor]

looking very good Maq - a worthy project
One of my longtime fav wargames was EasternFront(Atari).
Needless to say the work you've done on those sprites looks way better

[Ekmek]

Maq

I know you are pretty astute at finding this stuff, but just in case:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=69446&page=1&pp=20

[Maquiladora]

Thanks E, already put three of those to use. Didnt see a couple of them before, though I do have sprites for those already.

Theres 9 infantry sprites left to make, ive got all the basic graphics for those so theyll be done soon, which means I can start working towards a workable save in the next couple of days, if i dont get bored and play Xbox.

[Maquiladora]

A question: what would be the best way to go about swapping the files for the summer/winter changes?

The civ2 version uses a .bat file to swap files for summer and winter when you reach those months you save, exit, use the bat file to swap files then reload the game.

I thought about using multiple folders like scen0000 for summer 1941, scen0001 for winter 1941-1942, scen0002 for summer 1942 etc etc folders in the scenario folder, but this means you have to save and exit, which means you cant load a different scenario folder with the saved game (AFAIK).

I also considered changing the texts that need changing (unit stats, terrain values etc) while still in the game, but im not sure if this is possible, or even practical, for game stability at least. For a start it would be tricky to change all the terrain and unit sprites in one turn, not to mention a headache to set up the texts and tiles.

The last and perhaps best option is making it just like a mod and using the civ2 method of a bat file to switch files (or manually) after each season OR using modswapper with options for each period and you choose the next season then load your saved game. A few doubts i have with this way is, can you use just the same scripted events as you would in a scenario folder? I assume so. Also can you use turnlength.txt in the regular gamedata folder? I would test these but im only brainstorming right now while i carry on with the tedious work.

Anyway heres the map so far:

[The Big Mc]

I could convert the map in to a winter map by using slic.

I would then use slic to change all units to there winter version the next time the move.

[J Bytheway]

Originally posted by Maquiladora
I thought about using multiple folders like scen0000 for summer 1941, scen0001 for winter 1941-1942, scen0002 for summer 1942 etc etc folders in the scenario folder, but this means you have to save and exit, which means you cant load a different scenario folder with the saved game (AFAIK).

Indeed, I think that it wouldn't be easy to migrate savegames from one scenario to the next. It would require, at the least, hacking the savegame files.

I also considered changing the texts that need changing (unit stats, terrain values etc) while still in the game, but im not sure if this is possible, or even practical, for game stability at least. For a start it would be tricky to change all the terrain and unit sprites in one turn, not to mention a headache to set up the texts and tiles.

Well, replacing all the units should be possible - after all, the unitupdater already does something similar. You might have to do something more to preserve the number of HP, and to ensure that armies remain appropriately grouped, but it should be doable.

Changing the tiles is a little more tricky. Actually terraforming the whole map would be a tough method - you'd have to replace all tile imps accurately afterwards, which would be non-trivial. Alternatively, you could use invisible tile imps to change the terrain values appropriately, or perhaps vibible ones that add a light dusting of snow...

The last and perhaps best option is making it just like a mod and using the civ2 method of a bat file to switch files (or manually) after each season OR using modswapper with options for each period and you choose the next season then load your saved game. A few doubts i have with this way is, can you use just the same scripted events as you would in a scenario folder? I assume so. Also can you use turnlength.txt in the regular gamedata folder?

Scripted events are fine, turnlength.txt won't work for mods. However, there's no reason not to have a scenario in which you switch the files around. If you're careful, you can even do this with Modswapper, and it should be easier with Modmanager.

[The Big Mc]

Or use the big mc weather mod program. The only thing you would have to do is preserve the tile imps which would not be to bigger a modifaction.

[Maquiladora]

Thanks guys.

Scripted events are fine, turnlength.txt won't work for mods. However, there's no reason not to have a scenario in which you switch the files around. If you're careful, you can even do this with Modswapper, and it should be easier with Modmanager.

How would this work? Or more specifically how would I load the scenario with the swapped files after exiting the game? When you reload a scenario savegame does it go looking back in the scenario folder where it was made? In this case finding the swapped files and using those?

EDIT: Just tried it and that is how it works, seems an odd way though, have the save seperated from the scenario, doesnt even tell you internally what scenario the save is associated with.

This seems like the best way then and as I said before i edited my post, this will be more manageable, to change things and not least to keep units.txt below 1mb.

[The Big Mc]

maq i have a slic function that will turn a map into a winter wonder land . Which could be reprogram to turn the scenario back to summer again.

As for units you can use slic to alter them to the winter version the next time the move.

[Maquiladora]

But does it keep the tile imps? Besides every terrain type theres alternative winter graphics for all the tile imps and some goods too, will it be able to change those too? Doing it this way will also mean ill have to add all the new tile graphics into same tile file and create new ones i gather.

As for the units you mention "next time they move" does this mean they wont change to the new unit (sprite and values) until they move? Or do they change dead-on the turn regardless if they move or not? And also keep their same hitpoints.

[The Big Mc]

theirs an event called ( BeginTurnUnit(unit_t)) which could be used to turn the unit's "dead - on ". we the do a line of code like

oldunithp = unit[0].hp;
killunit(unit[0]);
CreateUnit(unit[0].owner, unit[0].type), unit[0].location, 0,tmpunit);
tmpunit.hp = oldunithp;





As for goods there the

PlantGood(location)

we can also use

event:CreateImprovement(0,tmplocb ,7,0);
FinishImprovements(tmplocb);
for terrain imps

Oh and here is my firestorm map modification tool

[Maquiladora]

What about city sprites changing from summer to winter, is that possible?