ToT Graphics Mod V0.1 Alpha

[Rusty Nail]

ST. LEO: Please clarify what you mean by "zip up the *.spr files". Is it not enough just to back them up somewhere else? Is this just a space saving suggestion or a necessity for your program to work?

[St Leo]

Version 1.0.

I have worked on it some more, but I'll have to release a V1.1 to fix a minor bug.

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St. Leo
www.sidgames.com/imperialism/
www.sidgames.com/sidportal/
www.sidgames.com/forums/
Member of the AUP!

[Miner]

Rusty Nail

You can delete them, move them or rename them. As long as Civ can't see them it will use the static bmp. St Leo has said zip them because that means they are stored safely taking up less space in the same directory.

Am I right?

[St Leo]

I also found that the warez preview version I used initially had an uncanny ability to find moved files.:-)

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St. Leo
www.sidgames.com/imperialism/
www.sidgames.com/sidportal/
www.sidgames.com/forums/
Member of the AUP!

[Carolus Rex]

Just wondering, how does your modpack change the graphics?

I'm no good at computer stuff (understatement of the year...), so I try not to mess around too much with games.

But it is difficult to distinguish the terrain and units and I would like to change it somehow. Does the modpack affect the whole game?

Sorry if these stupid questions have been asked before.

Carolus

[St Leo]

It replaces the units and terrains in the Original(and ExtendedOriginal because of some files being shared) with non-animated sprites.:-)

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St. Leo
www.sidgames.com/imperialism/
www.sidgames.com/sidportal/
www.sidgames.com/forums/
Member of the AUP!

[St Leo]

*BUMP*

[My Wife Hates CIV]

This all looks real good guys! I'll try the new graphics later. I kinda dont like the graphics that came with ToT. I think it's great programming and all, they work nice. It's just that all the CIV games (SMAC, Tot, CTP) each went somewhere else with graphics. I'm not sure why the programmers/designers decided to go so overboard on this part of the game. CIV II/MP graphics are clear and it's easy to see whats what. Fancy graphics didnt make CIV great and they never will. I would still tell someone new to CIV to buy CIV II MP/gold first (which is why I'm still a little pissed that Microprose will not fix some of the bugs).

I know it's taking big resources to handle the 'new' civ graphics. I'd very much like to see extra gameplay first.

MICROPROSE!!! I'm getting tired of $50 CIV 'lets try these graphics' games. Graphics DONT MAKE CIV! If I want graphics I'll go buy a race game or flight sim. This IS the last one I buy until I see it first. Microprose WAS the only game company I'd buy a game from without first seeing it run first (thats about the best thing you can say about a game company I think). Thats not to say I think MP games are bad, it's just... you know.

Take CIV II, just the way it is, and add on to that. Man... I'd pay a lot for that.
[This message has been edited by My Wife Hates CIV (edited September 13, 1999).]

[Kestrel]

Folks,

I have knocked up a web-site which also has some alternate Terrain graphics (as well as backgrounds that make the Civilopedia easier to read).

They can be found here (with a bit of luck) ...
http://www.users.bigpond.com/kestrel18/

Regards,

kestrel18@bigpond.com
[This message has been edited by Kestrel (edited August 10, 2000).]

[Carolus Rex]

OK, I have decided to do something about the graphics.

What have I got to remove and in which folders if I want to use this modpack? Is it .spr files, terrain.gifs and unit.gifs? In both the original and extended folders?

Is it OK to save the original files in another folder on the hard drive or will there be sharing violations?

Thanks!

King Charlie

[gambler]

Carouls, this is how I applied the modpack:

Step 0
Be sure TOT is NOT running.

Step 1
In the Original directory, just rename all the file with extension .spr to .spr2, just use a Dos prompt to rename them
(I hope you don't belong to the people that have forgotten the use of shell command).

Step 2
In the Original directory, Rename terrain1.bmp to terrain1_ori.bmp, terrain2.bmp to terrian2_ori.bmp, units.bmp to units_ori.bmp.
(Of course ori stands for "Original")

Step 3
Copy the file terrian1.bmp, terrain2.bmp e units.bmp in the Original directory.

Step 4
The previous changes applied both to Original game and extended game, but they don't affect
Alpha Centaury Terriain.
If you want to change them, you must change
terrian3.bmp e terrain4.bmp in the Extended Game directory.

Step 5
Now Start TOT and check if it works.


I hope I have included all the required steps.

[Carolus Rex]

DOS prompt? Shell command?

I wish I could blame it on my bad english, but I haven't got a clue...

Really, I don't.

Thanks for the detailed description, I'll try it this weekend.

Carolus

[St Leo]

1) If you are able to unzip my mod, you should also be able to zip up the files that came with ToT. With the *.spr files you can just select the "Move" option from the dialog box(or just zip and delete) but if you want to backup the *.bmps(Bitmap Images) you'll have to use the default WinZip settings because the mod doesn't replace everything.

2) Ignore the DOS Prompt stuff if you have no idea what DOS Prompt is.

3) You only have to do this in the Original directory, as the Extended Original is just a fancy scenario for Original(Kinda like Midgard and Fantasy). That is also the reason you can't save Extended Original games in subfolders unlike all the others.

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St. Leo
www.sidgames.com/imperialism/
www.sidgames.com/sidportal/
www.sidgames.com/forums/
Member of the AUP!

[Carolus Rex]

gambler,

Got some (probably) stupid questions.

In step 2, should I also rename terrain3.bmp and terrain4.bmp in the Original folder?

In step 3, do you mean copy the terrain1.bmp, terrain2.bmp and units.bmp that comes with the modpack into the Original folder?

Could you please elaborate on step 4?

I guess renaming the original files inactivates them, i.e. there is no reason to move them to another folder. By copying St Leo's equivalents (with the same names) into the original directory, the program accesses them instead. Is that right?

Thanks,

Carolus

[Carolus Rex]

Another question.

Does the modpack work with the patch too? I haven't downloaded the patch yet, will that mess things up?

Carolus