INTRODUCTION
There are so many questions and
problems out there about editing gif
files in Civ II, I finally decided I’d try and write a basic “How To”
Tip. I’ll go over some basic
principles, then end up with a step by step example. This tip will not
make you a good artist.
UNITS.GIF
There are several gif files in Civ
II, all of which can be edited.
UNITS.GIF gets the most attention. It is the file that stores the
images (pictures) for all of the units
displayed in Civ II. It is directly related to the description of each
unit and its characteristics found in
RULES.TXT. The units also use specific sound files (.WAV files) found
in the SOUND directory of Civ II (or one of
the scenario directories if you have the Scenario CD). Changing the
units in Civ II’s UNITS.GIF
without understanding these relationships will not produce the desired
results.
The UNITS.GIF file provided by
Microprose gives some important hints on
editing the file at the bottom of the file itself. These include the
following:
TRANSPARANCY
A gif formatted file allows certain
colors in the color pallett to be
defined as transparent. This means, those colors do not appear when the
“picture” represented by the gif is
placed in a file and used. Instead, whatever is already in the
background appears where those colors would
have been. In Civ II, the last three colors of the color pallett are
the colors defined as
transparent. This is hard coded. You can change the pallett when
editing a unit, but you must insure that the last
three colors are the ones used in the “transparent” areas of the unit.
Civ II is hard coded to find the
units in the particular locations that are represented in the file,
UNITS.GIF, where they are surrounded by the
“green” boxes.
LOCATION
Microprose uses two of the
transparent colors to surround each unit in
such a way as to show a “diamond” for the units position. You can not
violate the lower part of
this diamond. (The darker, purplish color at the bottom of the units in
the stock UNITS.GIF). It does not
matter if only one of the “transparent” colors are used to surround the
unit (you will see this in some UNITS.GIF
files from the net. It is just easier to make out the diamond if two of
the transparent colors are used. Again, you can not create a unit that
extends below the diamond, if you do, strange things happen.
PSP USAGE
Paint shop pro is an excellent,
shareware tool for editing gifs. IN working with Civ II, it has one
major limitation. That is that it places a control block in the gif
file if you do a “Save As”. Civ II vomits when it hits this control
block. You will get an error message. If you ingnore it about 12-15
times (or so), you will ultimately get into the game, but you will not
see any
units. You can avoid this by simply copying the original (or good)
UNITS.GIF (or other gif file) to the location you
want it BEFORE editing using File Manager. Then, when you are done
editing, use the “Save”
command. Then PSP saves it as it was.
There are many tools in PSP for editing. Basically, you pick the foreground color you want to edit in (from the strip menu) and then use the pencil, the line, the fill, the spray, etc. to work in that color. We find the “fence” and the “lasso” extremely useful for copying and moving portions of one picture to another area for editing. You fence around, or lasso around, an area, then copy (from the “Edit” menu).
Then you can experiment with the various paste options (New Selection, Inot Selection, etc.).
There are many tools in PSP for editing. Basically, you pick the foreground color you want to edit in (from the strip menu) and then use the pencil, the line, the fill, the spray, etc. to work in that color. We find the “fence” and the “lasso” extremely useful for copying and moving portions of one picture to another area for editing. You fence around, or lasso around, an area, then copy (from the “Edit” menu).
Then you can experiment with the various paste options (New Selection, Inot Selection, etc.).
EXAMPLE
Here’s a simple example of editing
UNITS.GIF for any scenario for the
scenario CD. If you do not have the scenario CD, then you’ll have to
end up moving your original
UNITS.GIF file to a safe place and editing in the UNITS.GIF in the main
level Civ II directory. You
can use the same directions, although it will be different units you
edit.
- Using file manager, make a copy of the UNITS.GIF file in the ALIEN directory under the SCENARIO directory. Call the new copy OLDUNITS.GIF.
- Go into PSP and open the UNITS.GIF file in the ALIEN directory under the SCENARIO directory.
- Under the “View” command, zoom in to 6:1.
- Pan to the lower right corner of th file, where you will see a heavy truck with a beam weapon mounted on the back. Using the fence tool, make a fence around this truck, fencing in the entire area all the way to just on the outside of the green border.
- Under the edit command, execute the “Copy” command.
- Now, pan up in the file to the FRAAG (I believe) vehicle which is also on the far right, but the scond row from the top.
- Use the “Edit” command and pick the “Paste” option, and “Paste as new selection”. The image you copied will come up in a fenced view. Move this image until it overlays the FRAAG vehicle perfectly (with the green lines lining up) and then click. (If you make a mistake and are off, then hit the undo option under edit and attempt the paste again.
- Go to the “File” menu and “Save” the file
- Exit the file.
- Play the ALIEN scenario. When a FRAAG vehicle is developed (or for any already in the game), you will now see the new picture you put in its place.
These steps can be experimented with
until you get good at it. For example, you could edit the truck before
copying by using one of the other tools and some different
colors. Then copy it. If you mess up, then rename the OLDUNITS.GIF back
to UNITS.GIF and you lost nothing.
Hope this helps.
Jeff Head
The Rocky Mountian Civ II Site
http://www.nebonet.com/headhome/jeffciv2/index.html
jeffh at nebonet.com
Jeff Head
The Rocky Mountian Civ II Site
http://www.nebonet.com/headhome/jeffciv2/index.html
jeffh at nebonet.com