Naval Strength

[Steve Clark]

Let me ask a few dumb questions here for Tim and Sten. I know about ModPaks for custom scenarios, but can HiRes be used for regular games? Are they just updated unit graphics or do they require a revised rules.txt?

[mindseye]

Sten, Steve, Scouse Gits, et al -

Thanks for the comments on HiRes!

With a bit of modification (as little as cut-n-pasting one unit) the HiRes graphics will work with the default Microprose RULES.TXT. There is a "spare" Explorer graphic for just this purpose.

However, it should have occurred to me that altering my UNITS.GIF to create a straight replacement of the original might be a hassle. In the next release, I will include an additional version of UNITS.GIF that will be 100% compatible with the original RULES.TXT.

Excellent suggestion! It shall be so!


For the record -

As I created it, the graphics and accompanying RULES.TXT for HiRes flesh out the development of armor and flight as follows:

- "Armor" becomes available with Combustion. The unit is slower and weaker than the original, and represents early AFVs. It also gets the Pikeman bonus against mounted attackers (although someone wrote me that this doesn't work against Dragoons or Cavalry - ???)

- "Heavy Armor" (the original Armor) still becomes available with Mobile Warfare

- "Bomber" (representing early bombers) and "Zeppelin" become available with Flight (Zeppelin uses the Explorer graphic slot)

- "Jet Fighter" and "Jet Bomber" become available with Advanced Flight

- "Stealth Fighter" and "Stealth Bomber" remain unchanged (becoming available with Stealth)

- Tim aka mindseye

(Sten: I will be using binoculars to scan Twin Peaks for signs of Fortress construction. What will Willie Brown do if Aureilus uses a settler to start a CITY up there? )
[This message has been edited by mindseye (edited March 24, 2000).]

[Sten Sture]

Ooops! Of course I am using HiRes!

Uh, actually, it is in a scenario folder, with a perpetually modified rules.txt that I have been messing around with, but not playing that much. I should have known that I had seen a submerged sub... damn subconscious memory.

The teaser gif that DanQ posted on the Civ2 home page looks great!

I live in Cole Valley just a stumble from Finnegan's pub, thank goodness. Aurelius is up on Twin Peaks somewhere; I think it is dangerous for him to have the high ground - I am sure he is building a fortress up there.

[Steve Clark]

My SF brother recently answered my question about his hangouts. He lives in the Richmond area and his hangouts include Yancy's and Last Day Saloon, plus Noc Noc and Toranado on Lower Haight. He likes those better than Mad Dog, even though he thinks the pub quiz at Mad Dog is the best. His favorite area overall is North Beach with its good mix of sports bars, jazz bars and dance bars. Of course there's SF Brew Co. with its happy hour from 12 to 2am.

The kid is 15 yrs. younger than me at 25 and I think he knows way too much about the pub scene in SF.

[Sten Sture]

mindseye - thanks for the custom WebVan.com unit! - if that company survives long enough to go global, then everyone else will want to use it too! (still laughing)

And slick dressing Willie would think Aurelius is a barbarian and bribe him!

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I voted for Tom!
[This message has been edited by Sten Sture (edited March 27, 2000).]

[George Garrett]

But Klesh, the game does enable one to identify one's ships....sort of.
In the bottom right-hand corner of a screen depicting a given vessel, you'll see a description of that vessel, plus the city where it was built, viz: "Destroyer- Science
City".

Thus, for me that vessel would assume an identity...in dispatches I'd say "Albion getting all Perfidious, again?...right, send a gunboat!...what about the doughty ol' H.M.S.Science City? ...mainly 'cos she's the only vessel we HAVE so far (I did warn you about building all them spies for the ranks to frat with)"

You may argue, Klesh, that you could wind up with several vessels of the same name, built in the same "yard". True, but I get around this by having the particular city after having built its first battleship, say, make its next project, a carrier, perhaps, followed. by an Aggy, cruiser, destroyer, sub, transport, whatever...that way, you could have an identity for an entire Battle Fleet, namely the "Science City Task Force"
- the scourge of Southend-on-Sea!

Up the coast, another of your cities ("Muddymouth Delta" say is also building vessels to be named after it...I assume you spread the load amongst your cities, as I do?
(my general policy, unless in a dire war situation, is to have each city build an alternate domestic/military unit, e.g. a sequence of harbor/battleship/granary/musketeer this seems to work for me, in my games)

I agree that the names "Science City" and "Muddymouth Delta" are not very salty for fighting ships, I get round that by renaming each city after it has built its first vessel, hence such unique names of cities on my maps as "H.M.S. Trireme", "H.M.S. Rollercoaster" - this city built a destroyer - "H.M.S. Irresolute", "H.M.S.Colander", "H.M.S. BritBasher"etc.
Even if you build ships to the extent, that I do, Klesh, you need not fear a boomlet of battleships sailing around the civ world, all bearing the same name...if you FIGHT 'em like I do, soon, the surplus ceases!

[klesh]

George, Agreed

I do that exact thing regarding the home/support city. Also, you are correct with the fact that they will be replaced as they fight, leading to different ships with the same name.

I'll build a ship in one city, send it to another and then support it fron there. This allows you to have ships representing many of your costal cities.

What I want is simmilar to when you choose "Rename City" and get the pop-up window. Therefore you could use things other than city names. I use my imagination alot whilst playing (as I see you do as well),
and I tend to name things like rivers, lakes oceans, mtn ranges and sprawling plains. It's things like this(national pride, past leaders etc) that I want to use for names. A few examples:
USS Cape Cod( in massachusetts)
USS McKinnley
USS Lincoln
USS Constitution (Old Ironsides, still docked in Boston Harbor!)
USS Atlantic
HMS Thames
HMS Churchill
HMS Lady Di...LOL

Just a few (poor) examples of what I'm talking about. But alas, we must do with what we have, so the technique you spoke of is what I employ.

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I am the Ukrainian Anti-Pope!
[This message has been edited by Field Marshal Klesh (edited March 28, 2000).]

[Neon Deon]

I like the old british names for ships. Warspite, Renown, Repulse, Ajax, Achillees, Hood, Victory, Ark Royal, Royal Oak, Rodney, Nelson and King George V.

[SandMonkey]

so Klesh, what you are looking for is something like what was in the old version of Railroad Tycoon? (I don't know if it's in the newer version). When a train would set a new speed record you were given the option to name it. Perhaps when a ship would sink like 5 other ships or something it would gain this new status.

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SandMonkey

"Shut up brain or I'll stab you with a qtip"
-Homer Simpson

"Ecky ecky ecky!"
"It's just a flesh wound!"
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail

[inca911]

Sounds like you want a "View Unit" screen. A nice picture of the unit, it's name, confirmed kills (maybe tiny flags for each kill, or little itsy bitsy silhouettes painted on the hull--except for the subs, of course). Perhaps even a minor tale of what major event happened in what year:
800 AD, first ship to circumnavigate the globe (maybe get some bonus for doing so--+1 movement all ships?, that'd be a nice incentive for the first civ to achieve that goal). Even just kills and years would be nice. Of course, you will have to turn that option ON in the game and will have to buy a much bigger hard drive, but hey, a 40 GB hard drive is nothing now adays! That's a lot of civ files!!!