BITTERFROST - Test of Time Version

[Catfish]

Originally posted by curtsibling
It's a fair bet that this archer died fairly instantly on the next turn!

I'd suggest he's up a familiar creek without a paddle.

I've done some play-testing and made notes as I went along:

- Make Bitter1.txt wider. About 560.
- Need to widen the Production box (City screen) to accommodate units with long names. Haven't tested them all, but it's got to be at least 480 (default is 440).
- Is there meant to be a Describe.txt file?
- You have renamed the form of government, Monarchy as Feudalism. Its prerequisite tech is still called Monarchy, though. In fact the Monarchy tech's prereq is Feudalism.
- Could you lighten the darker of the blue civ colours for the Crusader Kingdom? I can't read the orders on the unit key - it's hard enough at the best of times. It's also a little difficult to read the city size.
- You really should take my name out of the Cities.bmp. My efforts were minimal on that file. Replace it with Favoured Flight.
- I found a few spelling (and minor grammar) mistakes in the events.txt and bitter1.txt files. If you want me to get that sorted, let me know and I'll PM you.

"the thrice cursed Lich king"

About the terrain:

I had a look at other mountain sets floating around and I can't say I'm really keen on any of them. I think the main features that these ones lack are snow caps, being an icy world and all. I had another bash at that, but I just don't like the results I'm getting.

I updated the coastlines (again). They were considerably lighter than the thawland terrain, from which they were derived. I must have darkened the thawland since (a few months ago, now). I've now darkened the coastlines to match. Ditto with the river mouths. With the way the Bitterfrost map is laid out – with all those single-tile pockets of ocean - I decided that I preferred the old style L-W-L coastline tiles (sorry Boco – just for this scenario ).

For roads, I tried something that looked more like milestones than stepping stones (I was having a bit of trouble seeing those). How do these look?



In this download, I have the milestone, darkened coastline and river mouths, old & new L-W-L coastlines for comparison (your choice) and a larger dithering pattern (which I'm currently using). I've had to change my dithering patterns, since implementing the smoother tile pattern.

BitterUpdate.zip (only 28 Kb)

[Boco]

Someone also had a moan to me about my l-w-l coastline tiles, specifically that the river mouths weren't wide enough.

I can't help myself - I blame Boco

You should be pleased to know that EA's unit keys are quite minimalist now.

Boco's bitten off more than he can chew

Sad but true at present. Gotta hold off on new projects until EA's current alpha is complete and I've figured out whether I can help on another project. If you're still desperate then, we can swap favors.

Techumseh's ultra-busy

Last I heard from him was on the 29th, and that was pretty cryptic. Is he okay?

[curtsibling]

@Catfish and Merc:
Cheers chaps!

I will take a look at spritegen, and see what gives.

Also I will DL and add that terrain update, Catfish.

[curtsibling]

At the moment, I am doing playtests, but I just had to post this screenie!

While seraching the interior of the island, What did I find?
A gang of ancient warriors and a even a terror beam...Gah!

It's a fair bet that this archer died fairly instantly on the next turn!

[Catfish]

Back again. I bothered to "Mercatorise" the coastlines, tweak a few trees and river mouths (I can't help myself - I blame Boco ) so I've updated the file again, providing uploads are working properly.

Originally posted by Mercator
Unlike Catfish, I would actually prefer much more dithering. That way the terrain transitions aren't as abrupt. And I'm not a big fan of the mountain graphics, I'm afraid. Other than that, it looks great!

I tried different amounts of dithering and wasn't keen on large amounts, especially with the dark forest juxtaposed to the light, flat types. I suppose I could experiment some more, but it's personal taste, I guess. You know how to change it.

The mountains aren't by me, only modified by me. If you've got better ones, then cough them up.

[Mercator]

I'm a lousy playtester, but I can at least give you some comment on the graphics...

Unlike Catfish, I would actually prefer much more dithering. That way the terrain transitions aren't as abrupt. And I'm not a big fan of the mountain graphics, I'm afraid. Other than that, it looks great!

Oh, and in case you'd want to get rid of the health bars over the gold, huts and other immobile units, you could use the wonder that is called SpriteGen.
They're not very obtrusive though, so it's quite OK as it is.

[curtsibling]

Thanks, Catfish!

I'll update the terrain (which looks great regardless) with your recommendations...

[Catfish]

Downloaded it. I'll only have time to do limited testing. You've released it at a bad time - a bunch of ToT-ers are out of action. Techumseh's ultra-busy, Boco's bitten off more than he can chew and William Keenan's nowhere to be seen.

I noticed you're using the older mountain set. I later cleaned up the bases so they tile better. I also changed most of my terrain to the smoother tiling style described by Mercator. I'm using his grids in the icons.bmp file as well.

Someone also had a moan to me about my l-w-l coastline tiles, specifically that the river mouths weren't wide enough. This has been addressed. In updating these on my website, I then noticed a copy-and-paste bugger up in one of the files – now fixed.

BTW, tile dithering was kept to a minimum due to the contrasting light and dark terrain types.

Oh and I was also using stepping/mile stones to mark out the roads. I had difficulty following the road signs.

Anyway, I've attached the versions of terrain1, terrain2 and icons that I'm currently using.

BitterTerrain.zip

[curtsibling]

OK, here it is!

Please give me some feedback on the scenario, you'll need ToT to enjoy!

http://cdgroup.org/forums/tbs/civ2/viewtopic.php?t=186

Let me know what is needing fixed, changed, etc!

[curtsibling]

ToT Bitterfrost is ready for a beta-playtest, but I need somewhere to host it...

I will seek out a place on CDG and post a link soon!

[curtsibling]

The new title.gif...

[curtsibling]

Work resumes!

I present the current line up of units...Some new hero units too!

Last unit of the 3rd bottom row:
Ancient Strike Cannon.

2nd bottom row:
Egraz the Sorceress, Rashkan the Horned, Irene the Maiden, Lopaz the Bright, Othmok Deepeye, Nathnael Sternsteel, Goldfist the Greedy, Bonemystic the Bleak, Slode the Slyfoot.

Bottom row:
Fine Treasure, Random Chest, Fine Gold, Wise Tome, King of Bitterfrost, Floron the Lighthand, Bhurkis the Mighty, Dromo the Fearless, Scoundrel.

Silly names, I know!
But that is the staple of fantasy genres!
You will be able to unlock these characters in a variety of ways, even forming an army with them!

If you can retain them without mishap!

More to come...

[curtsibling]

Cheers!

This won't be the last ToT work I do, I plan to do Dictator3 also...

[Zabba149]

Keep up the good work Curt! I am really looking forward to a good ToT scenario.. .......there are so few out there..

[curtsibling]

The little crowns will be used to signify a hero unit.

Right now they are for elites, but I will make a new symbol for that.