pillage and plunder

[Shay]

Originally posted by Grothgar
Right hmm i have downloaded the whole thing. And i did as the readme said but it didnt make a age of piracy folder so which sound goes with which scen etc because theres three of each!

Hi Grothgar,

I saw this problem twice during playtesting. In one case, the player was using an old version of winzip. In another case, the player had inadventantly unchecked the winzip option to use the folder names, so the whole thing unzipped into one giant folder. I just checked to make sure the zip file hadn't become corrupted on the server, and it unzips correctly.
-Shay-

[Shay]

Originally posted by BeBro
Shay, please reconsider that Password thing. I can understand your reasons, but in my eyes this is not a good way to distribute a scenario. I registered, but no download area came up, so now I have the pw, but no zip file...

Hi BeBro. My records indicate that you did indeed successfully reach the download area, but did not initiate the download. The download doesn't happen automatically, you have to initiate it. After you enter your name and email, click on the "submit" button. A new screen will come up that says "Thanks for registering, BeBro. Check your email for the password". On this screen there is a text hyperlink that you need to click on to initiate the download.
-Shay-

[Shay]

Thanks Marquis

Originally posted by Marquis de Sodaq
I look forward to playing it - AoP is one of my favorite scenarios! If the new version is better, woo hoo!

Sacrificial Blood is a good game, I suggest others try it. As with AoP, the goals are different than the normal CivII game. I always find innovative scenarios refreshing to play. Also, I happen to know much about the Maya, so maybe the familiarity with the game's topic plays a role...

Thanks for your support. After working on AOP2 for over a year, it's nice to hear at least one person say something nice!
-Shay-

[Henrik]

I really like this scenario
I have one problem though; since I am a mac user, I cannot use the dll files, would it be possible for you to tell me what you've changed in those so that I can see if I can create a mac equivilent of the files?

[Shaka Naldur]

shay,

could you at least put the sounds in a different file??
I tried ot download sacrificial blood but the file was too large for my internet conection

[Shay]

Mac conversion

Originally posted by Henrik
I really like this scenario
I have one problem though; since I am a mac user, I cannot use the dll files, would it be possible for you to tell me what you've changed in those so that I can see if I can create a mac equivilent of the files?

I was working with someone for several months to create a Mac version of AOP2, but he was unable to complete the project due to life issues that arose. I do have all the pict files. We discovered that the conversion is a big job, so I would need someone who has free time, and experience in scenario making. I also really need someone who can play AOP2 on a PC first. One of the things we discovered while working on the aborted Mac version is the importance of being able to see it on a PC. The guy who was helping me before only had a Mac, so he had no idea when certain features weren't working properly because he hadn't seen the PC version. If there is anyone out there who is driven, detail oriented, has "follow through", a Mac as well as access to a PC, I would be happy to work with them on a Mac version. Half the work is already done. It would make me happy to have a Mac version of the game because I do support the Mac community.
-Shay-

[Shay]

splitting off the sound files

Originally posted by Shaka Naldur
shay,

could you at least put the sounds in a different file??
I tried ot download sacrificial blood but the file was too large for my internet conection

Hi Shaka,

I believe your approach is correct and logical. At one time I did have all 3 of the scenarios in the AOP2 modpack split into separate files, and each of the scenarios split into sound and games files. But I was shocked and surprised by the resulting chaos. A stunning number of people were not able to put all the peices back together. A lot of people probably don't have your computer knowledge and got confused when the game was split into peices. I got a lot of heat about the installation being too complicated and I got a lot of technical support questions that I didn't have time to answer. So I opted to make the install simpler at the cost of making the download bigger. If I had more space on my server, I would offer two options, downloading as one big file or downloading in pieces, but as it is, I'm maxed out on server space.
-Shay-

[Jay Bee]

Hi Shay,

Long time no hear Remember when you were working on Sacrificial that I warned you about people's headaches with your setup Anyway, if you have problems of space I could help you host some files (or all). Apolyton provides me with tons of space for this kind of things.

[Shay]

server space

Originally posted by Jay Bee
Hi Shay,

Long time no hear Remember when you were working on Sacrificial that I warned you about people's headaches with your setup Anyway, if you have problems of space I could help you host some files (or all). Apolyton provides me with tons of space for this kind of things.

Thanks Jay, I might take you up on that offer. Especially if I end up releasing a Mac version.
-Shay-

[Henrik]

Re: Mac conversion

Originally posted by Shay


I was working with someone for several months to create a Mac version of AOP2, but he was unable to complete the project due to life issues that arose. I do have all the pict files. We discovered that the conversion is a big job, so I would need someone who has free time, and experience in scenario making. I also really need someone who can play AOP2 on a PC first. One of the things we discovered while working on the aborted Mac version is the importance of being able to see it on a PC. The guy who was helping me before only had a Mac, so he had no idea when certain features weren't working properly because he hadn't seen the PC version. If there is anyone out there who is driven, detail oriented, has "follow through", a Mac as well as access to a PC, I would be happy to work with them on a Mac version. Half the work is already done. It would make me happy to have a Mac version of the game because I do support the Mac community.
-Shay-

Hmm, I know I can convert all images (but it appears that is what you have allready done), what else have you changed in the files?
I can probably do more than the images but, it depends a lot on what has been changed.
I do have loads of time (well, if you dont count school ) and I am a scenario designer, what I dont have is acces to a PC with civ 2, to compare

[Shay]

Re: Re: Mac conversion

Originally posted by Henrik


Hmm, I know I can convert all images (but it appears that is what you have allready done), what else have you changed in the files?
I can probably do more than the images but, it depends a lot on what has been changed.
I do have loads of time (well, if you dont count school ) and I am a scenario designer, what I dont have is acces to a PC with civ 2, to compare

Hi Henrik,
Thanks for your offer. I will definitely take you up on it when you can get access to a PC. I wish it was just a simple task of converting files but it goes deeper than that. What we discovered is that there are some big differences between the Mac and PC versions of the game. And the fact that I changed not only the game files, but some of the system files and dll's only complicates the picture. Without the ability to play it on a PC you would have no idea of the original intended features. What I discovered after working on this for a while is that it's a lot harder than it should be. Microprose did a poor job job of making the Mac version compatible with the PC version. I want to do this translation and I believe it can be done, it's just going to be a difficult task.
-Shay-

[Shay]

resume download feature

Originally posted by Shaka Naldur
shay,

could you at least put the sounds in a different file??
I tried ot download sacrificial blood but the file was too large for my internet conection

Great news. I've moved the Age of Piracy modpack to a server that supports the "resume download" feature for http access. Now if you get disconnected during the download, you can reconnect and resume the download where you left off. The only way you might have any problems with it is if you have an old browser or are connecting through a proxy server (like a corporate firewall). I've tested it out and it works great. I was able to download the entire 11.5 M file in a little under 2 hours over a 56K connection, even though I broke the connection three times and reconnected under a different ip each time. As always, the Age of Piracy modpack can be downloaded from http://www.shayworld.com/games/aop
-Shay-

[Goingonit]

Re: pillage and plunder

I just played some of the game, and I for one love it! Only one thing: no Dutch? Certainly they had Curacao, a very important pirate base. As well, Trinidad was also almost totally lawless during the period. Should it go to the bucaneers? Otherwise, very fun! Have you played Sid Meier's Pirates? Your scen is reminiscent of it, sort of, and both are quite entertaining.

[Shay]

Re: Re: pillage and plunder

Originally posted by Goingonit
I just played some of the game, and I for one love it! Only one thing: no Dutch? Certainly they had Curacao, a very important pirate base. As well, Trinidad was also almost totally lawless during the period. Should it go to the bucaneers? Otherwise, very fun! Have you played Sid Meier's Pirates? Your scen is reminiscent of it, sort of, and both are quite entertaining.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad you are enjoying the game. I haven't tried Sid Meir's Pirates yet, I should check it out.

Ah, the Dutch. I did have the Dutch in the first version of the game. It killed me to sacrifice them but I felt I had no choice. I needed to have two pirate civs in order to support multiplayer games. I also think it adds another interesting dimension to the game because the two pirate civs are very different. But in order to add another pirate civ, I had to get rid of one of the "civilized" nations. As much as I love the Dutch (I'm Dutch on my mother's side), they had the least strategic role during this time period. This is not to underscore their acheivements, it's just that their impact on events during this paritcular time period was less than that of the other "civilized" nations.
-Shay-

[Marquis de Sodaq]

The downloads for both Sacrificial Blood and AoP2 work fine - I have both on my PC, both work as designed.

AoP2 does an excellent job of duplicating the game of AoP, even with the swap of the Dutch for the Privateers. Even without the northern cities, I managed a very good game. It played evenly, and even a bit more strategy was required than in version one.

The only problem I saw was that the Privateers units in Bermuda (from events, judging from the timing with popups) kept attacking the coral reef to the southwest of the island. (That's suicide, for those not familiar with the game.)

A tip of the hat, Shay! I'm impressed! Now I'm off to try the other two scenarios...