OFT (One Free Tech) Game

[Mathemagician]

errr. alright, so in this case only the game starter need the modifications, right ?

[hatschy]

Originally posted by Mathemagician
errr. alright, so in this case only the game starter need the modifications, right ?

Sorry, but the answer is "no". Every participant needs the scenario, because the strings I mentioned obviously are not stored within the saved game file (which is the reason for all the troubles). And the strings are needed, because this is what is displayed in the messages, that allow the selection of the free tech. Those scenarios, that are required only by the first player, cannot have a user interface.

Edit:
I mean a user interface, that displays other than built-in messages.

[hatschy]

Ok, here is a simplified version. I've stripped all the custom strings, so you can use the scenario in the same way as Keygen's PBEM Mod Lite (only the first player needs it, no tweaking with the original files necessary, double-clicking the saved game files is possible). The message boxes don't look as fancy as before, especially the first one, that now shows the four buttons "Yes", "Yes", "Yes" and "Yes" (must use a built-in string, remember?). But the text above the buttons explains what to do (luckily CtP displays the name of the message box as its text, if no text is given, and the name of a message box can be a whole sentence ;-).

You can download the attached file or from "berg.heim.at/almwiesen/412250/CtP/OneFreeTechSimplScenario.zip".

[Mathemagician]

people, please vote for Power Slic
or at least tell me how to keep track of growing cities without it.

@Hatschy
so, only the game starter (moderator) needs it and you are the moderator, right ?

[hatschy]

No moderator is needed for starting the game. If it is agreed upon when to grant the tech, the first human player (who does the setup) simply has to press the right button (i.e. leftmost button for 2nd turn, 2nd button for 3rd turn etc.).

As for the combination with PowerSlic (included in the Apolyton Pack), the problem with the custom strings remains, because PowerSlic uses custom strings and I'm surely not delving into removing them from PowerSlic.

[Mathemagician]

sounds good, hatschy.
would it be much work to implement something similar as in power slic to your mod, to get a message on city growth and bombarding ?

[hatschy]

This is not a big problem, as long as no customized strings are needed to display the information. If you want to see messages of the kind "Your city [cityname] has grown to size [new_size_of_city].", this will be a problem, if the required string template is not a built-in string (i.e. part of CtP ver 1.2).

What are the messages you are thinking of?

[Mathemagician]

Whatever you like.
A Zoom to the city would be nice (this Eye-thing or something ?).

Isnt this stuff that is included in PowerSlics available for all players although only the starting player needs the mod ?

Anyway, im fine with something simple, Maestro.

[J Bytheway]

Having a messagebox saying something simple like "City grows" with an eye to zoom you to the city should be easy...

[hatschy]

Here is version 0.02 of the OFT-scenario.

Customized strings are not used, the text in the message boxes is hard-coded in the slic file. For the buttons there exist appropriate built-in texts. So only the first player needs the scenario and double-clicking on saved turn files is possible.

Especially for our great Mathemagician I've included the bombardment and the city growth messages. For all the others I've included a message box to turn them on or off during the first turn on an individual basis .
Btw, didn't anyone notice there is a BUG in the PowerSlic portion of the Apolyton Pack? Its code for the bombardment messages will always center on the same unit, even if several units have been bombarded.

I've played 30 turns or so vs. myself in a hot seat match. Everything seems to be working fine. I've also played 10 turns of an email game vs. myself and a third player (also myself, which is a pain; no I did NOT send the turns to my own email address ). I did notice, that in PBEM games the eyepoint callback messages are not triggered, so hitting the eyepoint icon in the city growth and bombardment messages will center on the city/unit, but there will be no other effect (opening the "Max" tab / showing an explosion, closing the message automatically). This works in all other types of games.

I've also included one minor other change: The first human player can now select among the first, second, third or 7th turn for the great event (granting the free tech) to happen.

[FlameFlash]

Only the first human?

Good job and many thanks, hatschy.

[FlameFlash]

So, what are going to be the settings for the game? (including the time of the free tech?)

I'm voting 7th turn, personally. A free warrior at the start would help out too.

[Mathemagician]

Originally posted by hatschy
Btw, didn't anyone notice there is a BUG in the PowerSlic portion of the Apolyton Pack? Its code for the bombardment messages will always center on the same unit, even if several units have been bombarded.

yep, i noted. but since no one ever suggested an improvement, i didnt think about it any further

Originally posted by hatschy
Here is version 0.02 of the OFT-scenario.

to speak with tina turner: "You're simply the best."

[hatschy]

Originally posted by FlameFlash
Only the first human?

Do you think it would be better to let each player decide individually, like everyone can choose one free tech during the first 10 or 20 turns?

[FlameFlash]

Yes, but I was just being sarcastic since I know a lot of hard work must have gone into making it.