Civilization III BIC file format

[Gramphos]

in BIC 3.08 the DIFF section is extended with two longs:
4 long AI to AI trade rate
4 long Corruption (%)

the EXPR section is extended with one long:
4 long Retreat bonus

the PRTO section has two new longs (one from 3.00)
4 long unknown (-1)
4 long HP bonus

the TILEs have been extended by one byte
1 byte unknown

Then the File has been extended with a GAME and a LEAD section

[Antex]

2 questions

Hi,
I have two questions:
1) BLDG section -> 4 bytes of "rendered obsolete by": how tech advances are coded into this value? I looked into data of some wonders which become obsolete but couldn't find how proper advances are represented here Does this flag work in case of 'normal' city improvements too?

2) Is this format still valid after applying patch 1.21 ?

Thanx in advance,
Antex

[Gramphos]

The GAME-section - Scenario rules

4 char 	GAME - Section indicatior

4 long	numner of GAMEs(1)

4 long	length of GAME (varies)

4 long	default game rules (1=use, 0=don't use)

4 long 	default victory consitions (1=use, 0=don't use)

4 long	Number of playable civs (0=all playable)

for each playable civ

 4 long	id of playable civ

4 long	Victory Conditions and rules set (binarry)

	00000000

	00000001 Domination

	00000010 Space Race

	00000100 Diplomatic

	00001000 Conquest

	00010000 Cultural

	00100000 CivSpecivicAbilities

	01000000 culturaly linked start

	10000000 Restart Players



	00000000

	00000001 Preserve Random Seed

[Gramphos]

Re: 2 questions

Originally posted by Antex
Hi,
I have two questions:
1) BLDG section -> 4 bytes of "rendered obsolete by": how tech advances are coded into this value? I looked into data of some wonders which become obsolete but couldn't find how proper advances are represented here Does this flag work in case of 'normal' city improvements too?

2) Is this format still valid after applying patch 1.21 ?

Thanx in advance,
Antex

1) it is then ID of the tech (the first tech in the file/dropdownlist in editor has 0, the second 1 and so on)

2) Mostly, some fields have been added, and asome sections has been made longer, but all parts before are unchanged.

[Gramphos]

The LEAD section - Playerdata

4 char		LEAD - Section indicator

4 long		Number of players

for each player

 4 long		remaining Length (variable)

 4 long		Use custom Civ data (1=yes, 0=no)

 4 long		Human player (1=yes)

 32 string	Leader name

 4 long		unknown

 4 long		unknown

 4 long		Number of Start unit types 

for each start unit type

  4 long	Number of Start units of the type 

  4 long	UnitID



 4 long		Gender

 4 long		Number of Start techs

for each start tech

  4 long	TechID



 4 long		Difficulty

 4 long		Initial Era

 4 long		Start cash

 4 long		Government

 4 long		Civ (-2=Random, -3=Any)

 4 long		Color

[Mercator]

Ahem... Would you by any chance want to take over the "management" of this thread, Gramphos? Because of my lack of involvement in Civ3, I think it would be better if you could edit my top posts instead.
Do you have the "power" to transfer my initial posts to your name?

[Gramphos]

Originally posted by Mercator
Ahem... Would you by any chance want to take over the "management" of this thread, Gramphos? Because of my lack of involvement in Civ3, I think it would be better if you could edit my top posts instead.
Do you have the "power" to transfer my initial posts to your name?

I can't transfer the post, but I can edit your post (I think), but I didn't want to do it as you hadn't given me permission to do so, and you had done nothing that would make it a reason to edit as a moderator.

But if you say that I can edit your post I'll do that in the future. Another possibility is that I repost the thread next time there is a patch and closes this one, I think that is better, as your name otherwise would be left, and people could start wonering why I edited your posts, so next time I'll close this and post a new thread, where I control the first post.

If you have any objections, just tell me.

[Gramphos]

... or maybe you wnt me to do it now, as you haven't updated the thread yet.

[Nero Would]

I believe I know what the "unknown" long is in the PRTO section. It is usually -1, but there are 11 entries at the end of the section where the value is not -1. It appears that if two "AI Strategies" are set for a given unit, the PRTO section contains two items for that unit. One item has one of the AI strategies set, and the "unknown" field set to -1. The other item is identical to the first except that the AI strategy field contains the second value, and the "unknown" field contains the item number of the first item.

For example, if you look in the editor, you will see that F-15 has AI strategies of Air Bombard and Air Defense set. In the PRTO section, item 64 is the F-15 with AI strategy=Air Bombard and "unknown"= -1. Item 76 is F-15 with Ai strategy=Air Defense and "unknown"= 64 (the item number of the other F-15).

This seems a strange way to set up the file as the AI strategy is a bit mask that could have accommodated multiple strategies in one item. I haven't checked what happens if the other fields of the two items are not identical. I assume that the players units would always use the values from one of the items (perhaps the one with "unknown"= -1, but it is just possible that when the AI picks a unit based on a particular strategy, the unit has whatever stats are found in the PRTO item with that particular strategy set. Of course, the editor does not allow you to set different values to go with each strategy.

[Gramphos]

I'm not sure I get it... Is the size of the PRTO section changed for those units, or does it stay the same?

[Nero Would]

Originally posted by Gramphos
I'm not sure I get it... Is the size of the PRTO section changed for those units, or does it stay the same?

The size of each PRTO item is the same, but there are 11 additional PRTO items. The 11 items are at the end of the section and each is an exact duplicate of one of the earlier items except that it has a different AI Strategy and the next-to-last Long field contains the item number of the earlier item (instead of -1). For example, there are now two separate and complete items for the F-15, item 64 and item 76. Item 64 has "-1" in the next-to-last field, and item 76 has "64" in the next-to-last field. When you look in the editor, you don't see the extra 11 items, but you do see the AI strategy from the extra item included in its companion item. For example, there is only one F-15 in the editor, but it has AI strategy of Air Defense (from item 76) and Air Bombardment (from item 64).

There seem to be some other changes in the PRTO item layout. Some additional bits are now set in the Air Missions field of some items, but they appear to have the same meaning as some of the bits in other fields. For example, if in the editor you turn off "Clear Jungle" for Workers, the editor turns off two bits, one is in the Orders field (the bit we have already identified as allowing the Clear Jungle order) and the other is in the Air Missions field. I assume Firaxis is in the process of moving the bits that control terraforming from the Orders field to the Air Missions field so as to free up space in the Orders field.

[Gramphos]

Sounds as if I have to do another update to the CopyTool then.

[Nero Would]

Here is a description of the bits in the Air Missions field in the PRTO Section. The new bits are all duplcates of bits that exist in other fields (or, in the case of Precision bombing, in the same field!). I have indicated which field contains the other copy of each bit. In these cases, I have not determined which copy of the bit is actually used by the game. In most cases, the editor appears to maintain both copies of the bit. The only exception I have found so far is Terraform. When I use the editor to update the Workers terraforming orders, the editor clears the old Terraform bit in AI Strategy.

One more confusing aspect to this is that the BIC file I got when I applied the 1.21f patch was version 3.07, but as soon as I edit it, the version becomes 3.08.

4    long    Air Missions (binary):

             Meaning            Duped from   00000000

             Bomb                            .......1

             Reconnaissance                  ......1.

             Intercept                       .....1..

             Re-base                         ....1...

             Precision bombing               ...1....

             (unused)                        ..1.....

             Bombard            Orders       .1......

             Build road         Orders       1.......



             Build railroad     Orders       .......1

             Build fort         Orders       ......1.

             Build mine         Orders       .....1..

             Irrigate           Orders       ....1...

             Clear forest       Orders       ...1....

             Clear jungle       Orders       ..1.....

             Plant forest       Orders       .1......

             Clear pollution    Orders       1.......



             Terraform          AI Strategy  .......1

             Immobile           Abilities    ......1.

             Precision bombing  Air Missions .....1..

[Gramphos]

Threr are som e differences between 3.07 and 3.08, but I've not had time to check on what they are. I believe Corruption on difficultylevels, but I'm not sure.

[Mercator]

But if you say that I can edit your post I'll do that in the future. Another possibility is that I repost the thread next time there is a patch and closes this one, I think that is better, as your name otherwise would be left, and people could start wonering why I edited your posts, so next time I'll close this and post a new thread, where I control the first post.

If you have any objections, just tell me.

... or maybe you wnt me to do it now, as you haven't updated the thread yet.

Do whatever you think is best, editing my initial posts is fine by me too.
Sorry for leaving you all alone. Thanks for taking over, Gramphos, and good luck in the future with "decoding" all of you.

And if you post a new thread, you'd better make it the first 3 or 4 posts, especially if you want to make it look a bit prettier.