GRAPHIC: Dixon's Wonder Screens with Info Overlays

[Dixon]

New Civ 3 Wonder Files with Info Overlays
==============================

I loved the excellent work that Che Palle did to add info about the wonders to each wonder screen, but I was getting tired of seeing things like the "SS Minnow" image for Magellan's Great Voyage. So I created a new set of screens.

The zip file contains a complete set of wonder screens, but I didn't feel a need to replace every image. Many of the originals are just fine, so kept these images and just added my own info banner at the bottom. I intentionally used a look that's similar to Che Palle's, so if you don't care for some of my changes, you can choose only the ones you want and not have a very different appearance.

For a single screen sample see Magellan's Voyage:


Can you guys at Apolyton host this file? I have the zip file temporarily posted here on GeoCities:

http://www.geocities.com/dixon_civ3/DixonWonders.zip

New Images
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I used new images for these wonders:

Battlefield Medicine
Hanging Gardens
Leonardo's Workshop
Magellan's Great Voyage
Manhattan Project
Michelangelo's Chapel
Smith's Trading Company
Wall Street

I liked the original Great Wall image, so I kept it, but SilentBob had posted an alternate image that was pretty good too. I used the alternate image in "great wall 2.pcx". If you prefer that one, just replace "great wall.pcx" with this file.

I hadn't been all that pleased with the original image for Shakespeare's Theater until a little research showed that it's a pretty good rendering of the real Globe Theater, so I kept it. Uh oh, playing this game has become educational! For more info on the theater see http://www.shakespeares-globe.org.

Info Banner
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The info banner has 4 components:

1. A text description of the wonder's effects.
2. When it expires.
3. A number in the lower right showing the wonder's culture points.
4. Up to 2 letters in teh lower right, indicating which type of civ this wonder might trigger a golden age for. (I went with a a less cluttered look so if the wonder can't trigger a golden age there are no "grayed out" letters.) The letters stand for:

C - Commercial
E - Expansionist
I - Industrious
M - Militaristic
R - Religious
S - Scientific

I used the existing legend, but I updated it to reflect the civ attribute changes that were made since the first release of the game.

[Gramphos]

It seems to have been deleted.

[Mizaq]

Dixon,

Could you please post the battlefield med, magellan's, and the hanging garden pics without the overlay on them?

[Dixon]

GeoCities Link

Well this is a pain. GeoCities dislikes direct links. Until I can get the zip file moved over, you'll need to go to my placeholder web page at http://www.geocities.com/dixon_civ3/index.html (you may need to copy this URL and paste it on your address line rather than clicking it) to download the file.

[Mizaq]

bump, please dixon?

[Dixon]

I wrote to MarkG about hosting the zip file for these wonder screens on this site but I haven't heard back (poor guy probably gets swamped with emails, so that's okay). Unfortunately, as I feared my little GeoCities account has been getting too many downloads and has been pushed past its bandwidth limit, so GeoCities is periodically cutting off access.

Since there's a 500 KB limit on attachment on this site, all I can think to do is to post just the screens for which I modified the background image, and I have to do that in 2 parts. Sorry. The info overlay I used is pretty similar to Che Palle's, so if you're not picky about consistency you won't need the screens I did for the other wonders anyway. Happy civing!

Here's Part 1 (Battlefield Medicine, Circumnavigation (Magellan), Great Trading Company, and Great Wall).

[Dixon]

Here's Part 2 (Hanging Gardens, Leonardo's Workshop, Manhattan Project, Wall Street).

[Dixon]

Problem with Zip Files

Well that didn't work right. I tried downloading the zip files that I just posted and they won't open in WinZip. (I've successfully downloaded zip files posted by others on this site, and yes I know you have to give the file a .zip extension when you download it, so I must have done something else wrong.) That's certainly embarrassing.

Can any of you figure out what I did wrong? I'd like to also post the unmodified original screens (I've gotten requests from Mizaq and others about this) but there's no point if they won't download right.

[Dixon]

Solution to Zip Problem

Problem solved (sort of). If I'd been a bit more observant I'd have noticed that the tiny print at the bottom of Mizaq's post has a link to a discussion of this problem. It never answers WHY the files get corrupted, but it has a solution. Here's is Mizaq's excellent description of how to fix the zip files. I've verified that it works for me for the zip files I posted.

Download PKZIPFIX from Mizaq's web site (rename .exx to .exe):
students.washington.edu/mizaq/pkzipfix.exx

1. Open up windows explorer to the directory where you have both pkzipfix and the corrupted zip file.

2. Go to the start menu and click run. Run the command called "command"

3. You will now have a dos prompt that opens automatically to the directory that windows explorer was in.

4. Pkzipfix your file. Here are the steps:

a. Determine how many characters are in the zip name. Are there less than 8?

If the name is Longtime.zip (8 characters or less) then it is very simple to proceed. In the dos window type

pkzipfix Longtime.zip

If the name is longer than 8 characters, for example the name is LongtimNosee.zip then it is also simple to proceed. In the dos window type

pkzipfix Longti~1.zip

If the Longti~1.zip does not work it is because you have another file with a long name that is very similar, say you have a file named LongtimeNopee.zip and also a file called LongtimeNosee.zip: Nopee will be referred to as Longti~1.zip and Nosee will be referred to as Longti~2.zip. If it is too complicated to figure out, use windows explorer to rename the file to noob.zip and then in the command window type

pkzipfix noob.zip

5. Once you have run pkzipfix then it will create a file called

pkfixed.zip

6. Open pkfixed.zip and now you have access to the corrupted zip. If you want to keep the fixed version for personal storage just rename the file to whatever you want and move it to a safe location.

[Dixon]

Corrected Wonders Background

Here's the last of the updates I made, which corrects the original info sidebar to reflect the changes made in later patches to certain civ attributes.

[Dixon]

Unmodified Images Part 1

For those who requested them, here are the unmodified images I used (no info overlays) so you can modify them to your heart's content.

Here's Part 1 (Battlefield Medicine, Circumnavigation (Magellan), Great Trading Company, and Great Wall).

[Dixon]

Unmodified Images Part 2

Here's Part 2 of the unmodified images (Hanging Gardens, Leonardo's Workshop, Manhattan Project, Wall Street).

I also included in this zip the unmodified image for Sistine Chapel that I used. It's the scene from the Last Judgment, very similar to the one used by Che Palle. It took me forever to find a high quality image that looked as good as the original one.

[Mizaq]

Great, thanks!

[Gramphos]

I've uploaded the file to Settler. Let me know if you don't need it as the other files replaces this file. (They are smaller totally, so I'm not sure)

DixonWonders.zip