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Resources for modmakers
Resources for modmakers
Welcome,
This thread is intended to provide you a quick way to access all the important threads, websites, guides, files, tools, etc for making mods and scenarios or other modifications for CtP2. There are an awful lot of resources out there but until now it was sometimes a challenge to find the info/files/tools you needed as there was no one place where all these resources could be found. This thread will hopefully change that. Links to all resources that can be useful in modding CtP2 are collected here, so that you can hopefully access everything you need with a single mouse click.
However, there is so much info out there that it is impossible that this thread is complete, if only because new resources are being made available all the time. (Another important reason is that I don't have as much time to hunt for resources as I would like to have, so particularly in the early going this thread will be grossly incomplete.) Therefore, you are very much encouraged to post your own links to forum threads (on or off Apolyton), websites, files (in or out the Apolyton Directory), guides, or other resources in this thread. I will then add them to the summary in the first (few) post(s) of this thread ASAP.
Scenario Making
This section provides resources for making scenarios: info on the scenario file structure, the scenario editor and other scenario-specific info such as turnlength.txt. This covers only scenario-specific subjects: things like text file editing, modding the AI, programming SLIC and other tools that are essential for designing more than the most basic scenarios are covered in other sections, as they can be used for other activities as well, such as modmaking or other modifications.
Apolyton CtP2 Modificiation Section (by Activision & Apolyton): http://apolyton.net/ctp2/modificatio...scenedit.shtml
Official Activision documentation on the scenario editor. Lists all buttons and options and briefly explains what they do and how they work.
Modder's Guide to CtP2 (by hexagonian et al): http://www.mydocsonline.com/pub/hexagonia/modguide.ZIP
A guide compiled by hexagonian from posts on Apolyton made in the first months after CtP2's release. It contains a ton of info on how to do text file editing (editing/adding units/wonders/civs/etc, getting the AI to use new these new things, changing game settings to make the game and AI more challenging, etc) and on how to create scenarios and use the scenario editor. Although advanced topics such as advanced AI modding, SLIC, UI modding, etc are not covered by this guide, it's still the first resource every new modmaker should turn to when learning to mod CtP2.
CtP2 Map Editor Manual (by Immortal Wombat): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=64677
There's no clear documentation on how the Scenario Editor of CtP2 works but for beginning scenario makers this can be a confusing tool. That's why Immortal Wombat wrote a brief guide on (the buttons in) the Map Editor, the largest and most complicated part of the Scenario Editor.
BMP to CtP2 (by harlan & Activision): http://apolyton.net/dir/index.php?id...ts=3763&cat=54 (Program); http://apolyton.net/dir/index.php?id...ts=3763&cat=39 (Map by OmniGod)
Tool that can convert BMP maps to CtP2 format so you can use your own maps in CtP2 scenarios without having to manually lay out every single tile in the Ctp2 built-in map editor. This program can be used in combination with the enormous Earth map OmniGod created to auto-generate maps of any part of the world of almost any size.
turnlength.txt Generator (by DDowell): http://apolyton.net/forums/attachmen...&postid=860078
This is a tool that lets you automatically generate turnlength.txt files for your scenarios, which saves a lot of repetitive type work. Of course, this does require that there is at least some degree of regularity in your date system.
Setting Trust & Regard (by Immortal Wombat): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=49178
This thread contains an explanation on how one can easily set the diplomatic trust and regard levels between civs at the start of a scenario.
Text File Editing
Most of the game-elements in CtP2 can be changed or added quite easily, as they are stored in simple text files: things like units, wonders, tile improvements, advances, governments, civilizations, etc. By editing the relevant text files, you can change the properties of these things or add new ones (or delete old ones). Info on how to do this, what effect various settings have and tools to aid with this are listed in this section. Note that diplomacy, AI and SLIC are also parts of the game that are stored in text files, but those are listed seperately, as (editing) those concepts work(s) fundamentally different from (editing) units or governments and their text files are organized in a very different way.
Apolyton CtP2 Modificiation Section (by Activision & Apolyton): http://apolyton.net/ctp2/modification/
Official Activision documentation on (among other things) text file editing. Contains detailed info on a lot (but not all) of the text files in the gamedata folder, with all the flags, settings, etc that are available. Also provides some info on the directory structure.
Modder's Guide to CtP2 (by hexagonian et al): http://www.mydocsonline.com/pub/hexagonia/modguide.ZIP
A guide compiled by hexagonian from posts on Apolyton made in the first months after CtP2's release. It contains a ton of info on how to do text file editing (editing/adding units/wonders/civs/etc, getting the AI to use new these new things, changing game settings to make the game and AI more challenging, etc) and on how to create scenarios and use the scenario editor. Although advanced topics such as advanced AI modding, SLIC, UI modding, etc are not covered by this guide, it's still the first resource every new modmaker should turn to when learning to mod CtP2.
CTPEd (by J Bytheway): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=50102
An extremely powerful text file editing program created by J Bytheway. It allows modmakers to edit many of the various CTP2 data files (advance.txt, etc) through a graphical interface to speed mod development, decrease the chance of errors and help in other ways. The two most noteworthy extra features it offers are (1) a Great Library tool which allows use of templates to quickly generate many GL entries and (2) the ability to quickly make mass changes to entries in a data file. But there are many other features that this program adds that most other text editors don't offer. It's a program that according to John will most likely never leave the Beta stage, but that can in spite of this be an very useful tool for all modmakers.
Flaglist (by Martin Gühmann): http://apolyton.net/dir/index.php?id...s=3776&cat=240
Lists all most of the flags that are available in the game, taken from from the ctp2.exe file. The lists in this file are grouped by the text file for which they are/could/should/might be used or, when that's not applicable, by subject (SLIC function, String, etc). This list may not be complete and for many flags it's not known what they do or if they work, but it's still an extremely useful resource to have when working with the text files.
Limits (by Locutus et al): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=60065
This thread briefly discusses the hard-coded limits of the game (before going off-topic). Useful to know for the beginning modmaker (but probably 'read once, remember forever').
Powerpoints (by Mr Ogre et al): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=17957
This thread explains the Powerpoints attribute from units.txt.
Graphics, Sprite & Sound Creation
Creating and editing graphics and sounds in CtP2 is basically like creating and editing graphics or sounds for any other purpose: it can be done with any graphics or sound program that supports the required file formats (Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop are decent all-round programs for static graphics). However, there are a few CtP2 specific file formats and tools that need to be taken into account and knowledge of certain procedures and techniques can save a lot of time. These are listed in this section.
Unit Creation Tools and Documentation (by harlan & Activision): http://apolyton.net/dir/index.php?id...ts=3763&cat=54
Contains official Activision tools and info for the creation of sprites (graphics files for units, cities, trade goods and special effects), as well as a guide and some tools by Harlan to facilitate this process. Originally written for CtP1, but most of it still applies to CtP2 as well.
ReadZFSFile (by Martin the Dane): http://apolyton.net/dir/index.php?id...ts=3763&cat=54
A tool which can be used to view and extract graphics and sound files from the ZFS archives. Useful for editing the graphics and sounds in the game.
CtP TGA Picture Sizes (by Caranorn): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=61438
Explains what the picture sizes of various graphics should be and where and how they are used.
CtP1 Sprites List (by Activision & Apolyton): http://apolyton.net/ctp2/modificatio...iteslist.shtml
Official Activision list of CtP1 Sprites. This is a list of the units sprites that existed in CtP1 and are not in CtP2. To be more specific, the units are not in the game, but Activision left the sprites for use in mods. Note that the naming convention is different: CtP1 sprites are named GUxx.SPR while CtP2 sprites are named GUxxx.SPR. So the CtP1 sprites in the graphics\sprites folder can be used by renaming them.
Civ3 Unit FLC conversion (by E et al): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=38841
Provides FLC files and explanations on how to convert those to CtP2 format (including the necessary Makespr script files), so Civ3 units can be converted to CtP2 format and used in CtP2 mods and scenarios. Also includes a few already converted and ready-to-use units (Bowman, Swordsman, Archer, Mounted Warrior, Infantry, Cavalry).
Sounds (by Martin Gühmann): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=56467
Some general information on editing/adding sounds.
Sprite Extractor (by Sir Ralph et al): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=48955
This thread is a discussion about the conversion of sprite files to readable graphics files. Sir Ralph made an attempt to use the bits of source code Activision provided to create a tool that can do this but didn't succeed. If anyone plans to try this again in the future, information in this thread might turn out to be useful.
Terrain Modding
Modding the terrain and tile improvements (as in changing the graphics or adding new ones) is harder to do than most other kinds of modding, as the terrain and tile imps are stored in a special format, namely in the so called Tile File. Fortunately, Martin the Dane has been able to crack this format and thanks to the work of him, Pedrunn and Immortal Wombat we now have the means and knowledge to mod terrain and tile imps as well. There's even a standard in doing so, to avoid unnecessary downloading of large files. Resources related to this are collected in this section.
TileEdit (by Martin the Dane): http://apolyton.net/dir/index.php?id...ts=3763&cat=54
Program that lets you view, edit and add the graphics contained within the Tile File. Without this, you can't edit the graphics of terrain or tile imps.
Apolyton Tile File (by Pedrunn & Immortal Wombat): http://apolyton.net/dir/index.php?id...ts=3776&cat=39
This file is the standard terrain file for modded CtP2. Since the file is rather large and not modswapper-compatible, it's difficult to synchronize the tile files of different mods. This file was created to serve as standard: all modmakers are recommended to keep their mods compatible with this file, and if they want to add their own terrains, they are recommend it to request an update for this standard file with their own terrain included.
Adding Road-like Tile Improvements (by Immortal Wombat): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=62915
In this thread Immortal Wombat discussed his findings on the possibilities of adding road-like tile improvements (in this case Highways) to the game.
AI and Diplomacy Modding
The settings for changing the behaviour of the AI opponents in the game and the options available in and AI behaviour of the Diplomacy system are largely stored in text files in the aidata folder. Modding these settings is harder than modding regular text file modding as understanding what exactly is going on and how in-game mechanisms use the text files is much more complicated than when you simply wish to add a unit. Contrary to the latter case, there are generally no simple step-by-step instructions that can be followed to make the game better, it requires case study of the files and experimentation. This section provides links existing info on these subjects.
Apolyton CtP2 Modificiation Section (by Activision & Apolyton): http://apolyton.net/ctp2/modification/
Official Activision documentation on (among other things) AI and Diplomacy modding. Contains detailed info on most of the text files in the aidata folder and the relevant files in the gamedata folder. Where applicable it lists all the flags, settings, etc that are available and briefly explains them. It also goes into the subject of using SLIC to modify AI behaviour, a crucial part of AI modding. Although all this info is invaluable to all AI/Diplo modders, due to the complexity of the subject it probably raises more questions than it answers.
Conversations with Richard Myers (by WesW & Azmel2 et al): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=18597
In this thread Activisioner Richard Myers, aka Azmel2, answers many important questions about AI and Diplomacy modding. This is pretty advanced stuff so don't be discouraged if you don't get all of it at first read. However, it's a must-read for everyone into AI and/or Diplomacy modding.
How does the AI task it's units? (by Peter Triggs): http://apolyton.net/forums/attachmen...postid=1446543
A document Peter Triggs has been working on which, as the title implies, explains how the AI handles the process of assigning tasks to units. Although not finished, it's an extremely useful document for anyone working on the AI. It's based on the Conversations with Richard Myers thread but also incorporates some information from DarkReign and CtP1 (the AI systems of all three games are based on each other and very similar).
Notes on Diplomacy (by Peter Triggs): http://apolyton.net/forums/attachmen...&postid=543507
A document by Peter Triggs in which he wrote down some notes on the diplomacy functions and events of SLIC and how they can be used. It's a preliminary document but invaluable for people working on the diplomacy aspect of the game.
AI Terraforming (by sun_tzu_159 et al): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=40160
Art of War (aka sun_tzu_159) explains how the AI terraforming logic works and why the AI never does it in the original game.
Decay (by Peter Triggs et al): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=51263
A brief but potentially useful discussion about the decay of regard in the diplomacy files.
GUI Editing
The Graphical User Interface (or GUI) of CtP2 can officially be edited as well, but in practice this has turned out to be a tough challenge. Although large parts of the UI are stored in text files (with the extension *.ldl), some of it is hard-coded as well. Also, virtually no info on how to do it is available. Still, small successes have been achieved and the 'field' offers great potential, so every tidbit of info on this subject can be extremely valuable. These tidbits are collected in this section.
GUI Modification (by ahenobarb): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=63684
With a combination of hex-editing (i.e. the hacking of the ctp2.exe file) and ldl file editing, ahenobarb managed to do things with GUI modding that have never been done before. There's a lot of misc info on GUI editing in here this thread, so if you're into GUI modding, this is a must-read.
Welcome,
This thread is intended to provide you a quick way to access all the important threads, websites, guides, files, tools, etc for making mods and scenarios or other modifications for CtP2. There are an awful lot of resources out there but until now it was sometimes a challenge to find the info/files/tools you needed as there was no one place where all these resources could be found. This thread will hopefully change that. Links to all resources that can be useful in modding CtP2 are collected here, so that you can hopefully access everything you need with a single mouse click.
However, there is so much info out there that it is impossible that this thread is complete, if only because new resources are being made available all the time. (Another important reason is that I don't have as much time to hunt for resources as I would like to have, so particularly in the early going this thread will be grossly incomplete.) Therefore, you are very much encouraged to post your own links to forum threads (on or off Apolyton), websites, files (in or out the Apolyton Directory), guides, or other resources in this thread. I will then add them to the summary in the first (few) post(s) of this thread ASAP.
Scenario Making
This section provides resources for making scenarios: info on the scenario file structure, the scenario editor and other scenario-specific info such as turnlength.txt. This covers only scenario-specific subjects: things like text file editing, modding the AI, programming SLIC and other tools that are essential for designing more than the most basic scenarios are covered in other sections, as they can be used for other activities as well, such as modmaking or other modifications.
Apolyton CtP2 Modificiation Section (by Activision & Apolyton): http://apolyton.net/ctp2/modificatio...scenedit.shtml
Official Activision documentation on the scenario editor. Lists all buttons and options and briefly explains what they do and how they work.
Modder's Guide to CtP2 (by hexagonian et al): http://www.mydocsonline.com/pub/hexagonia/modguide.ZIP
A guide compiled by hexagonian from posts on Apolyton made in the first months after CtP2's release. It contains a ton of info on how to do text file editing (editing/adding units/wonders/civs/etc, getting the AI to use new these new things, changing game settings to make the game and AI more challenging, etc) and on how to create scenarios and use the scenario editor. Although advanced topics such as advanced AI modding, SLIC, UI modding, etc are not covered by this guide, it's still the first resource every new modmaker should turn to when learning to mod CtP2.
CtP2 Map Editor Manual (by Immortal Wombat): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=64677
There's no clear documentation on how the Scenario Editor of CtP2 works but for beginning scenario makers this can be a confusing tool. That's why Immortal Wombat wrote a brief guide on (the buttons in) the Map Editor, the largest and most complicated part of the Scenario Editor.
BMP to CtP2 (by harlan & Activision): http://apolyton.net/dir/index.php?id...ts=3763&cat=54 (Program); http://apolyton.net/dir/index.php?id...ts=3763&cat=39 (Map by OmniGod)
Tool that can convert BMP maps to CtP2 format so you can use your own maps in CtP2 scenarios without having to manually lay out every single tile in the Ctp2 built-in map editor. This program can be used in combination with the enormous Earth map OmniGod created to auto-generate maps of any part of the world of almost any size.
turnlength.txt Generator (by DDowell): http://apolyton.net/forums/attachmen...&postid=860078
This is a tool that lets you automatically generate turnlength.txt files for your scenarios, which saves a lot of repetitive type work. Of course, this does require that there is at least some degree of regularity in your date system.
Setting Trust & Regard (by Immortal Wombat): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=49178
This thread contains an explanation on how one can easily set the diplomatic trust and regard levels between civs at the start of a scenario.
Text File Editing
Most of the game-elements in CtP2 can be changed or added quite easily, as they are stored in simple text files: things like units, wonders, tile improvements, advances, governments, civilizations, etc. By editing the relevant text files, you can change the properties of these things or add new ones (or delete old ones). Info on how to do this, what effect various settings have and tools to aid with this are listed in this section. Note that diplomacy, AI and SLIC are also parts of the game that are stored in text files, but those are listed seperately, as (editing) those concepts work(s) fundamentally different from (editing) units or governments and their text files are organized in a very different way.
Apolyton CtP2 Modificiation Section (by Activision & Apolyton): http://apolyton.net/ctp2/modification/
Official Activision documentation on (among other things) text file editing. Contains detailed info on a lot (but not all) of the text files in the gamedata folder, with all the flags, settings, etc that are available. Also provides some info on the directory structure.
Modder's Guide to CtP2 (by hexagonian et al): http://www.mydocsonline.com/pub/hexagonia/modguide.ZIP
A guide compiled by hexagonian from posts on Apolyton made in the first months after CtP2's release. It contains a ton of info on how to do text file editing (editing/adding units/wonders/civs/etc, getting the AI to use new these new things, changing game settings to make the game and AI more challenging, etc) and on how to create scenarios and use the scenario editor. Although advanced topics such as advanced AI modding, SLIC, UI modding, etc are not covered by this guide, it's still the first resource every new modmaker should turn to when learning to mod CtP2.
CTPEd (by J Bytheway): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=50102
An extremely powerful text file editing program created by J Bytheway. It allows modmakers to edit many of the various CTP2 data files (advance.txt, etc) through a graphical interface to speed mod development, decrease the chance of errors and help in other ways. The two most noteworthy extra features it offers are (1) a Great Library tool which allows use of templates to quickly generate many GL entries and (2) the ability to quickly make mass changes to entries in a data file. But there are many other features that this program adds that most other text editors don't offer. It's a program that according to John will most likely never leave the Beta stage, but that can in spite of this be an very useful tool for all modmakers.
Flaglist (by Martin Gühmann): http://apolyton.net/dir/index.php?id...s=3776&cat=240
Lists all most of the flags that are available in the game, taken from from the ctp2.exe file. The lists in this file are grouped by the text file for which they are/could/should/might be used or, when that's not applicable, by subject (SLIC function, String, etc). This list may not be complete and for many flags it's not known what they do or if they work, but it's still an extremely useful resource to have when working with the text files.
Limits (by Locutus et al): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=60065
This thread briefly discusses the hard-coded limits of the game (before going off-topic). Useful to know for the beginning modmaker (but probably 'read once, remember forever').
Powerpoints (by Mr Ogre et al): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=17957
This thread explains the Powerpoints attribute from units.txt.
Graphics, Sprite & Sound Creation
Creating and editing graphics and sounds in CtP2 is basically like creating and editing graphics or sounds for any other purpose: it can be done with any graphics or sound program that supports the required file formats (Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop are decent all-round programs for static graphics). However, there are a few CtP2 specific file formats and tools that need to be taken into account and knowledge of certain procedures and techniques can save a lot of time. These are listed in this section.
Unit Creation Tools and Documentation (by harlan & Activision): http://apolyton.net/dir/index.php?id...ts=3763&cat=54
Contains official Activision tools and info for the creation of sprites (graphics files for units, cities, trade goods and special effects), as well as a guide and some tools by Harlan to facilitate this process. Originally written for CtP1, but most of it still applies to CtP2 as well.
ReadZFSFile (by Martin the Dane): http://apolyton.net/dir/index.php?id...ts=3763&cat=54
A tool which can be used to view and extract graphics and sound files from the ZFS archives. Useful for editing the graphics and sounds in the game.
CtP TGA Picture Sizes (by Caranorn): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=61438
Explains what the picture sizes of various graphics should be and where and how they are used.
CtP1 Sprites List (by Activision & Apolyton): http://apolyton.net/ctp2/modificatio...iteslist.shtml
Official Activision list of CtP1 Sprites. This is a list of the units sprites that existed in CtP1 and are not in CtP2. To be more specific, the units are not in the game, but Activision left the sprites for use in mods. Note that the naming convention is different: CtP1 sprites are named GUxx.SPR while CtP2 sprites are named GUxxx.SPR. So the CtP1 sprites in the graphics\sprites folder can be used by renaming them.
Civ3 Unit FLC conversion (by E et al): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=38841
Provides FLC files and explanations on how to convert those to CtP2 format (including the necessary Makespr script files), so Civ3 units can be converted to CtP2 format and used in CtP2 mods and scenarios. Also includes a few already converted and ready-to-use units (Bowman, Swordsman, Archer, Mounted Warrior, Infantry, Cavalry).
Sounds (by Martin Gühmann): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=56467
Some general information on editing/adding sounds.
Sprite Extractor (by Sir Ralph et al): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=48955
This thread is a discussion about the conversion of sprite files to readable graphics files. Sir Ralph made an attempt to use the bits of source code Activision provided to create a tool that can do this but didn't succeed. If anyone plans to try this again in the future, information in this thread might turn out to be useful.
Terrain Modding
Modding the terrain and tile improvements (as in changing the graphics or adding new ones) is harder to do than most other kinds of modding, as the terrain and tile imps are stored in a special format, namely in the so called Tile File. Fortunately, Martin the Dane has been able to crack this format and thanks to the work of him, Pedrunn and Immortal Wombat we now have the means and knowledge to mod terrain and tile imps as well. There's even a standard in doing so, to avoid unnecessary downloading of large files. Resources related to this are collected in this section.
TileEdit (by Martin the Dane): http://apolyton.net/dir/index.php?id...ts=3763&cat=54
Program that lets you view, edit and add the graphics contained within the Tile File. Without this, you can't edit the graphics of terrain or tile imps.
Apolyton Tile File (by Pedrunn & Immortal Wombat): http://apolyton.net/dir/index.php?id...ts=3776&cat=39
This file is the standard terrain file for modded CtP2. Since the file is rather large and not modswapper-compatible, it's difficult to synchronize the tile files of different mods. This file was created to serve as standard: all modmakers are recommended to keep their mods compatible with this file, and if they want to add their own terrains, they are recommend it to request an update for this standard file with their own terrain included.
Adding Road-like Tile Improvements (by Immortal Wombat): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=62915
In this thread Immortal Wombat discussed his findings on the possibilities of adding road-like tile improvements (in this case Highways) to the game.
AI and Diplomacy Modding
The settings for changing the behaviour of the AI opponents in the game and the options available in and AI behaviour of the Diplomacy system are largely stored in text files in the aidata folder. Modding these settings is harder than modding regular text file modding as understanding what exactly is going on and how in-game mechanisms use the text files is much more complicated than when you simply wish to add a unit. Contrary to the latter case, there are generally no simple step-by-step instructions that can be followed to make the game better, it requires case study of the files and experimentation. This section provides links existing info on these subjects.
Apolyton CtP2 Modificiation Section (by Activision & Apolyton): http://apolyton.net/ctp2/modification/
Official Activision documentation on (among other things) AI and Diplomacy modding. Contains detailed info on most of the text files in the aidata folder and the relevant files in the gamedata folder. Where applicable it lists all the flags, settings, etc that are available and briefly explains them. It also goes into the subject of using SLIC to modify AI behaviour, a crucial part of AI modding. Although all this info is invaluable to all AI/Diplo modders, due to the complexity of the subject it probably raises more questions than it answers.
Conversations with Richard Myers (by WesW & Azmel2 et al): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=18597
In this thread Activisioner Richard Myers, aka Azmel2, answers many important questions about AI and Diplomacy modding. This is pretty advanced stuff so don't be discouraged if you don't get all of it at first read. However, it's a must-read for everyone into AI and/or Diplomacy modding.
How does the AI task it's units? (by Peter Triggs): http://apolyton.net/forums/attachmen...postid=1446543
A document Peter Triggs has been working on which, as the title implies, explains how the AI handles the process of assigning tasks to units. Although not finished, it's an extremely useful document for anyone working on the AI. It's based on the Conversations with Richard Myers thread but also incorporates some information from DarkReign and CtP1 (the AI systems of all three games are based on each other and very similar).
Notes on Diplomacy (by Peter Triggs): http://apolyton.net/forums/attachmen...&postid=543507
A document by Peter Triggs in which he wrote down some notes on the diplomacy functions and events of SLIC and how they can be used. It's a preliminary document but invaluable for people working on the diplomacy aspect of the game.
AI Terraforming (by sun_tzu_159 et al): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=40160
Art of War (aka sun_tzu_159) explains how the AI terraforming logic works and why the AI never does it in the original game.
Decay (by Peter Triggs et al): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=51263
A brief but potentially useful discussion about the decay of regard in the diplomacy files.
GUI Editing
The Graphical User Interface (or GUI) of CtP2 can officially be edited as well, but in practice this has turned out to be a tough challenge. Although large parts of the UI are stored in text files (with the extension *.ldl), some of it is hard-coded as well. Also, virtually no info on how to do it is available. Still, small successes have been achieved and the 'field' offers great potential, so every tidbit of info on this subject can be extremely valuable. These tidbits are collected in this section.
GUI Modification (by ahenobarb): http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=63684
With a combination of hex-editing (i.e. the hacking of the ctp2.exe file) and ldl file editing, ahenobarb managed to do things with GUI modding that have never been done before. There's a lot of misc info on GUI editing in here this thread, so if you're into GUI modding, this is a must-read.
)
So, 3 down, 43 to go... 
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