What is you scenario making-steps?

[ottok]

[Cam]

a) Clearly, deciding the theme is typically the first step - is it going to be about 'ants', 'elves', 'WW2', or 'starship academy'?

Occasionally, b) may precede a)...

b) Determine something 'new' about how the scenario is to be structured. Is the focus one of quests? Will there be a focus on trade rather than military? Is it designed to "shock and offend fascist parents" and so on...

c) Research any history, and determine the main players in the conflict if appropriate. Time period, inter-tribe relations, key cities or campaigns, leaders, technologies, etc.

d) Find a suitable map.

e) Create graphics, amend text files, sound files, tech' tree, events,...

f) Pull it all together. Consider alternate game files.

g) Playtest.

(I think that's it? Why do you ask?)

[Aeneas of Ilium]

Cam said it better than I could, but here's my list

1) Learn language you're making scenario in
2) Make scenario

[Hodad]

Please read P. Hanson's post in Ottok's "Steps for Modpack".
Reply there as from now please.
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[Paul Hanson]

I second that.

[Mercator]

I've trying to forge scenarios for tha last two years now... But I always get stuck at point (e). I really want to finnish ( ) a scenario one day, so could you (Cam, and preferably as much other scenrio makers) go a bit more into detail about the order of that step.
I have read most guides about scenario making, and I do know what I have to do. But I just don't know where to start.
What do you do first? 'Fix' the graphics or edit the rules.txt?
I'd really appreciate any help. I still have two 'projects' lying in the fridge, which should both be very interesting (The Hobbit, Genghis Khan).


P.S. Hodad and Paul Hanson, you're the ones talking the crap here, not ottok. His English may be terrible, but he has more brains than you two together (or should I say you four?)
(but if you really want to talk about this, do it in Off-Topic, if that isn't already the case)

[Hendrik the Great]

Mercator, if you are having problems with point e that is understandable.
I usually more or less do decide what kind of graphics to use, at least thats what I do for units and city graphics. The other graphics usually I develop/decide on while desiging.
If you want to make new graphics it is not really that hard but one needs to have a lot of patients, try often and develop some experience. Especially if it is the first time.
Somewhere along the way I start on the rules.txt. First I assign the units and change the general game parameters. Then other things like names, etc.
Sounds? Well, copying is easy but how to acctually make new ones I still have to figure out myselv.
The events I start on pretty late. I just include who's allowed to talk to whom first.
If you want to make a whole new tech tree you will probally get a headache. I'm working on one for weeks(yes, i'm too lazzy) but it's really complicated/confusing.
Just make a start somewhere where it can do the lessest harm possible and work yourself up. Check it often!

The above may look like I'm having somesort of a plan...Trust me, I don't have. My work normally looks like total chaos or even worst until it is finished.

To conclude: Just make sure you take one thing and start working from there. Also make sure you do go on.

It also helps when you find out as much as possible about your theme as possible.
When you know a lot, you should also have many ideas.

Hendrik the Great

[Cam]

Mercator,

Hendrik has responded pretty well along the same lines as I would.

Personally I'd try to at least get something done in every area - create a few units, develop a few Wonder icons, sketch out the structure of the tech' tree, fine-tune the plot, and so forth. This way at least you can feel as though the scenario is starting to take some shape.

From that point, perhaps you could concentrate on the aspects you enjoy doing the most, and once these are done, you should be a significant way through the creative process (and have enough momentum to see it get finnish-ed! ).


[This message has been edited by Cam (edited November 27, 1999).]

[Captain Nemo]

My approach to stay motivated is usually this:
Spend a lot of time thinking about the CivII mechanisms to find some exciting new idea or application to build the scenario around. Without this there isn't much motivation to spend all the time doing the detail foot work and usually I end up quitting after a few weeks. Spending 100's of hours on details for a scenario without "backbone" is disheartening.

I make a list of the ideas and fit them into a historical context. Try to get at least 3 or 4 new concepts fitting into one game so the game has many exciting twists.
For Red Front (For example...) I collected a whole list of new or semi-new ideas:
Drastic change of seasons
One side "designated" AI (Writing the events strategy as if I was playing the German AI side against the human player)
"Minefields" terrain
Convoys
Industry squares
Oil fields
Refugees
Promotable units through change of rules files
And made them into one scenario. This kept me very motivated for the 6 months it took to "finnish" it.

[Civfan]

When you guys decide on making the scenario of your choice, do you draw a plan for the techs?????? Somewhere in the forums there was a statement about every Tech tree needs to lead to FUTURE TECH..... Thee most complicated part of the scenario is the Tech tree.... The game keeps crashing when you change afew things......

[Cam]

Civfan,

Yes, I do scratch out something with a pen and paper. Complex technology set ups often have many unrelated technology trees within them, as well as several cross-over technologies. To add complications, you need to ensure that if you permit negotiations and/or tech' by conquest, and/or diplomats, that selected (forbidden) advances do not get into the 'wrong hands'.

Further to this, you must try to ensure game balance, if not a tech' tree that poses a challenge for advanced players...

Then, as you suggest, it can't crash either! Furthermore, aspects such as government types, ceremonial burial, monotheism, etc. each have extraordinary characteristics and these must also be accommodated. See sleague.apolyton.net/Guides/sldt_tech_tree_two.shtml for more blurb on this.

And if that's not enough, try putting your tree into alphabetical order after rewriting it (so it's simpler to find tech's when consulting the 'pedia)!

Captain Nemo - a note of congratulations on Red Front b.t.w. - tremendous job

[ZhugeLiang]

You to eh? I've been trying to make a good scenerio ever since I got civ2 (about 3 years ago). At first i'd be really hyped up about makeing a romance of the three kingdoms scenerio or something along those lines and then i'd start to run into the game's limitations. Example: i'd make a units and put them in the wrong unit slots, this would result in the computer not building the right units and sometimes not being able to build the units at all. If I knew then what i know now about all the little intricicies about this game i'd not have wasted so much time. My only advice is to find a document called "Advanced scenerio design" its by...uh, can't remember who made it but I first saw it on Allard & Andrew's civ2 site, maybe its still there. It has most of the things you need to watch out for as well as a detailed example of how a scenerio should be designed from start to finish.

[Hendrik the Great]

Truely spoken Zhuge Liang! That's how I learned how to make a good scenario but it also helped to practice a lot and just try things out and see what happens.
Of course one can also take a look at other scenarios and take them apart to discover how other people solved their problems with scenario making.

Hendrik the Great

[Cam]

Leon Marrick's "Advanced Scenario Design" is downloadable in a 'unzip to MS Word' file at; sleague.apolyton.net/Guides/advscendesign.zip

[ottok]

and that (to help from others what not doring the doringest game! ;/ yet!)

So, continue!