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Here is the list of Frequently Asked Questions for Global Contention (last updated Dec 2, 2002):
TECHNICAL HELP AND MISC QUESTIONS
---------------------------------
Q: What is Global Contention?
A: Global Contention is an Alternative Civilization game, mostly based on Civ2. This game used to go by the temporary name "Civiliza". The basic goal of the project is to create a fun and simple, yet engaging game that better recreates some of the hardships of national politics and conflict.
Q: Is this project open source?
A: Sorry, no.
Q: What resolutions can I run this in?
A: 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x960, 1600x1200. You can also run the game at 320x240, but it is not supported and I don't see why anyone would want to run it at that res anyways
Q: How do I change the resolution?
A: Open the gc.ini file in your favorite text editor, read the directions, and edit away. Note that this applies to fullscreen mode only.
Q: What, you can run this in windowed mode or fullscreen?
A: Yes, the program defaults to windowed mode, but once you are in the game (the game setup screen and on) you can switch between windowed and fullscreen with Alt-Enter.
Q: What are the minimum requirements for this game?
A: Windows 98,ME,2000,XP
DirectX7 or above
TCP/IP, IPX, Modem, or Serial protocol for single player or multiplayer.
16 bit color depth capable video card.
Minimum/Recommended for speed and memory still unknown.
Q: Is this game in Beta? When will it be finished?
A: Although Alpha testing is usually internal, I'm releasing this as an early public Alpha so that I can better track down bugs and add needed/wanted features to the game. The game will go Beta when all planned features are finally included.
Q: You have a lot of planned features, don't you? When will it finally be done?
A: Yes, and it is currently scheduled for a late Q1 2003 completion.
Q: I don't have any network protocols installed on this computer, can I still play this game in single player?
A: Probably not. Just use the computer you used to download the game.
Q: I see large colored boxes behind my units, making the game look really ugly.
A: This game supports ONLY 16 bit color, so when you are in windowed mode, make sure your desktop color depth is set to 16 bit.
Q: All the units and city colors are a purplish-pinkish color instead of the civ's color that controls them.
A: This is due to an unsolved bug which seems to only occur on some versions Windows '98. You can use the "OldWin" option in the game setup room to force color flags by the cities and units so that you can tell them apart, but they will still appear pinkish (i may change the color key color at a later time, so it doesn't look so wierd).
Q: I pressed 'b' to build a city and nothing happened.
A: There are two reasons for this. Either you are already at the max city limit, or your new city's territory borders would be overlapping another city's. In this game you cannot build overlapping borders!
Q: I found a bug! What do I do?
A: Report the bug by posting a message in the Alternative Civilizations forum at Apolyton: http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=69558
Q: Why can't I attack other units?
A: You can only attack civs that you are either at war with, have no contact with, or have no treaty with. You can review the status of all your treaties by pressing F4. Once you have contact with a civ, you can use this menu for diplomatic actions. Asside from being able to ask for new treaties, you will always be able to declare war.
GAMEPLAY RELATED QUESTIONS:
---------------------------
Q: Are there veteran units in this game? What does a barracks do?
A: Veteran units are not in the game yet. A barracks heals a percentage of a unit's health that is in the same city tile that the barracks is in. The barracks will heal the unit with the least amount of hitpoints first, and will heal a unit every few seconds. You can set the unit heal percentage in the game setup room. A barracks does NOT produce veteran units, it ONLY heals LAND units (Airports heal air units).
Q: How does the road movement system work?
A: Simply put, roads halve the cost of moving to that tile. You need not be on a road to get the bonus for moving into a tile with roads. When you discover automobiles, you will be able to build highways, which reduces the cost to 1/4th of the normal cost. In the future era comes the technology to make circuit links, a futuristic mode of transportation that reduces the cost to 1/8th of the normal cost. Also, all roads in territory you own will automatically upgrade when you research the appropriate tech (and any more roads built in your territory will upgrade instantly), although this option can be turned off in the game setup room.
Q: How does the aircraft movement work?
A: Aircraft move similar to how land units move, except they can move in any tile except tiles occupied by enemy units they cannot attack (bombers cannot attack air targets). Aircraft can bombard empty enemy cities to take away population points and eventually destroy the city. Aircraft do not have fuel, although there will be an option in the future to enable this.
Q: In what ways does the AI cheat?
A: Currently the AI cheats only by completely ignoring shroud. They always know where all your units and cities are, and will travel great distances to reach them. The only other advantage the AI has over the player is its ability to do things quickly (such as moving units and finding the shortest path to a location), but that isn't cheating.
SCENARIO/MOD MAKING RELATED QUESTIONS:
--------------------------------------
Q: I'm making a scenario/mod for the game, how do I change the graphics?
A: You simply load the bmp files included into your favorite image editor and begin editing! For those images that have transparency (such as the units and cities), use black (rgb 0,0,0).
Q: How do I edit the data for the units?
A: This feature is not yet in the game, but will be in one of the next updates.
Q: Where are the beach tiles in the scenario editor?
A: The game engine draws the beach tiles for you, you just need to make the land mass.
TECHNICAL HELP AND MISC QUESTIONS
---------------------------------
Q: What is Global Contention?
A: Global Contention is an Alternative Civilization game, mostly based on Civ2. This game used to go by the temporary name "Civiliza". The basic goal of the project is to create a fun and simple, yet engaging game that better recreates some of the hardships of national politics and conflict.
Q: Is this project open source?
A: Sorry, no.
Q: What resolutions can I run this in?
A: 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x960, 1600x1200. You can also run the game at 320x240, but it is not supported and I don't see why anyone would want to run it at that res anyways
Q: How do I change the resolution?
A: Open the gc.ini file in your favorite text editor, read the directions, and edit away. Note that this applies to fullscreen mode only.
Q: What, you can run this in windowed mode or fullscreen?
A: Yes, the program defaults to windowed mode, but once you are in the game (the game setup screen and on) you can switch between windowed and fullscreen with Alt-Enter.
Q: What are the minimum requirements for this game?
A: Windows 98,ME,2000,XP
DirectX7 or above
TCP/IP, IPX, Modem, or Serial protocol for single player or multiplayer.
16 bit color depth capable video card.
Minimum/Recommended for speed and memory still unknown.
Q: Is this game in Beta? When will it be finished?
A: Although Alpha testing is usually internal, I'm releasing this as an early public Alpha so that I can better track down bugs and add needed/wanted features to the game. The game will go Beta when all planned features are finally included.
Q: You have a lot of planned features, don't you? When will it finally be done?
A: Yes, and it is currently scheduled for a late Q1 2003 completion.
Q: I don't have any network protocols installed on this computer, can I still play this game in single player?
A: Probably not. Just use the computer you used to download the game.
Q: I see large colored boxes behind my units, making the game look really ugly.
A: This game supports ONLY 16 bit color, so when you are in windowed mode, make sure your desktop color depth is set to 16 bit.
Q: All the units and city colors are a purplish-pinkish color instead of the civ's color that controls them.
A: This is due to an unsolved bug which seems to only occur on some versions Windows '98. You can use the "OldWin" option in the game setup room to force color flags by the cities and units so that you can tell them apart, but they will still appear pinkish (i may change the color key color at a later time, so it doesn't look so wierd).
Q: I pressed 'b' to build a city and nothing happened.
A: There are two reasons for this. Either you are already at the max city limit, or your new city's territory borders would be overlapping another city's. In this game you cannot build overlapping borders!
Q: I found a bug! What do I do?
A: Report the bug by posting a message in the Alternative Civilizations forum at Apolyton: http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=69558
Q: Why can't I attack other units?
A: You can only attack civs that you are either at war with, have no contact with, or have no treaty with. You can review the status of all your treaties by pressing F4. Once you have contact with a civ, you can use this menu for diplomatic actions. Asside from being able to ask for new treaties, you will always be able to declare war.
GAMEPLAY RELATED QUESTIONS:
---------------------------
Q: Are there veteran units in this game? What does a barracks do?
A: Veteran units are not in the game yet. A barracks heals a percentage of a unit's health that is in the same city tile that the barracks is in. The barracks will heal the unit with the least amount of hitpoints first, and will heal a unit every few seconds. You can set the unit heal percentage in the game setup room. A barracks does NOT produce veteran units, it ONLY heals LAND units (Airports heal air units).
Q: How does the road movement system work?
A: Simply put, roads halve the cost of moving to that tile. You need not be on a road to get the bonus for moving into a tile with roads. When you discover automobiles, you will be able to build highways, which reduces the cost to 1/4th of the normal cost. In the future era comes the technology to make circuit links, a futuristic mode of transportation that reduces the cost to 1/8th of the normal cost. Also, all roads in territory you own will automatically upgrade when you research the appropriate tech (and any more roads built in your territory will upgrade instantly), although this option can be turned off in the game setup room.
Q: How does the aircraft movement work?
A: Aircraft move similar to how land units move, except they can move in any tile except tiles occupied by enemy units they cannot attack (bombers cannot attack air targets). Aircraft can bombard empty enemy cities to take away population points and eventually destroy the city. Aircraft do not have fuel, although there will be an option in the future to enable this.
Q: In what ways does the AI cheat?
A: Currently the AI cheats only by completely ignoring shroud. They always know where all your units and cities are, and will travel great distances to reach them. The only other advantage the AI has over the player is its ability to do things quickly (such as moving units and finding the shortest path to a location), but that isn't cheating.
SCENARIO/MOD MAKING RELATED QUESTIONS:
--------------------------------------
Q: I'm making a scenario/mod for the game, how do I change the graphics?
A: You simply load the bmp files included into your favorite image editor and begin editing! For those images that have transparency (such as the units and cities), use black (rgb 0,0,0).
Q: How do I edit the data for the units?
A: This feature is not yet in the game, but will be in one of the next updates.
Q: Where are the beach tiles in the scenario editor?
A: The game engine draws the beach tiles for you, you just need to make the land mass.