Scenarios

[Destroyer]

Will you need to buy the XP to play scenarios made with the editor in the XP, or will the rule set match the current set in Civ3??

(Basically am I going to have to pay money for the scenarios that other people are going to make)

[spy14]

I heard that the editor will be a lot more flexible and have more options than the current one, but firaxis wont produce scenarios that anyone else cant with out a bit of work..

[zulu9812]

Re: Scenarios

Originally posted by Destroyer
Will you need to buy the XP to play scenarios made with the editor in the XP, or will the rule set match the current set in Civ3??

(Basically am I going to have to pay money for the scenarios that other people are going to make)

Well, if the scenario editor allows us to place things such as cities on the map, then yes you will need the XP to play these scenarios. One example would be radar towers and airfields, only available with the XP. It's a good question, I'm not sure anyone really know sthe answer. I imagine we'll get more info closer to release. Still, hold onto that question and if you get a chance to ask a staff of Firaxis, ask 'em.

[Panag]

Re: Scenarios

Originally posted by Destroyer
Will you need to buy the XP to play scenarios made with the editor in the XP, or will the rule set match the current set in Civ3??

(Basically am I going to have to pay money for the scenarios that other people are going to make)

hi ,

with the current editor its almost posible to make scenario's , maybe they shall release a patch or its in PTW , the current editor has a lot more , but it's off limits for the players as for now , ....

have a nice day

[Steve Clark]

Re: Re: Scenarios

Originally posted by panag


hi ,

with the current editor its almost posible to make scenario's , maybe they shall release a patch or its in PTW , the current editor has a lot more , but it's off limits for the players as for now , ....

have a nice day

Almost possible? You cannot begin to develop a scenario with the current editor. All true scenarios require an events.txt file (in the least). Just take a look at any of the good Civ2 scenarios with their totally customized events.txt (if..then scripting), rules.txt (with a total customized tech tree), game.txt, units.gif (all customized units), and cities.gif files. Why should we expect Civ3 to be anything less?

Did they make Civ3 so closed (which I had been "complaining" about for a year now) that even a true SP scenario must be restricted to the confines of the engine, unlike Civ2 with its near total customization of everything?

[Spiffor]

I suppose Panag meant "the programmers have almost made it, to bring a scenario editor". Apparently, as Mike Breitkreuz said, the true problem was to implement the concept of a civilisation in the map editor, which was done in the latest patch. That's why we'll have a scenario editor only 2 months after this breakthrough.

Still, I don't think we'll see scripting anytime soon, and I'm almost sure we'll never see a scripting language for Civ3, since Mike is reaaaaly against it.

BTW, the current rules editor for Civ3 is pretty robust, and you can deeply mod the game without entering a rules.txt. See WW2-Main Kamp mod (in the files forum), and you'll see that an overhauled tech tree is possible. A rules.bic is as good as a rules.txt.

[WarpStorm]

C'mon, MikeB, give us a scripting language. (I know you'll read this eventually). If you don't want to write your own (a royal PITA, I know), you could embed Python into Civ3 and have a full robust scripting language going in an hour. You still have to do the Civ3 specific extensions, but at least the worst part would be done.

[Flandrien]

Actually, the Civ3 specific extensions are by far the worst part of the deal.
Knowing how to use these extensions comes next.
After that, you could use any OO programming language.
I would use Java, which is much more widespread than Python.

(I think civ3 itself is written with c++ ?)

[WarpStorm]

But I could embed a Python interpreter into C++ in an hour, embedding Java would be a PITA (not counting the legalities). Python is free, open source, and designed to work with C/C++.

IMHO, Python is much easier to teach a non-programmer than Java is. A scripting language that takes a long time to learn the syntax of is useless.

[Flandrien]

What I mean is, making civ3 run Python code would indeed not be a problem.
Making this Python code do something useful IS a problem.

I have recently taken a quick Java course.
You can fit the entire syntax of Java onto a single sheet of paper.

[WarpStorm]

I agree, making the scripting extensions do something useful is the hard part.

[Spiffor]

MikeB refuses a scripting language not because it will be difficult to do, but because it will be difficult to use, for the users.
"The only power a scripting language gives to the fans is the power to create bugs".
I think we'll eventually have an event editor ala Civ2, but no scripting language ala CTP2 (éeventually" means in 6-12 months, not in the next patch)

[Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS]

Re: Scenarios

Originally posted by Destroyer
Will you need to buy the XP to play scenarios made with the editor in the XP, or will the rule set match the current set in Civ3??

The editor that we'll be releasing around June (and that is a very tenative date BTW) will not include features exclusive to PTW (like the short game modes or new map features). In order to play scenarios with those features, not surprisingly, you'll need PTW. The ability to customize the map with cities and units, create new ones, etc will be possible in the patch editor however, and PTW owners will be able to play these without problems. Scenarios with features specific to PTW included (aka created with the PTW editor) will not be able to be played in vanilla civ3.

Jeff

[tomcat ha]

whats XP

[Spiffor]

XP = eXpansion Pack
Thanks Jeff