Important Information about the new Microprose Scenario CD
----------------------------------------------------------
I just received the new Civ II Scenario CD by Micropprose.  I purchased it through their
general store over the Internet and got it back in about three days.  They have done some
really good things that I will summarize below :

a) They have included a number of very good scenarios, each of which is a virtual Mod
     Pack of its own.  They have made switching between the scenarios, and all of the
     respective mods for each, very easy.  They did this by establishing a SCENARIO sub-
     directory under the main Civ II directory which contains each scenario as another
     sub-directory.  Within the sub-directory for each scenario are all of the .GIF and .TXT
     files for the mod, and a SOUND sub-directory whcih includes any new .WAV files.  
     The Civ II program uses the mods in the sub-directory under SCENARIO when you
     start up a scenario or saved game from that sub-directory.

b) The Civ II program now returns to the main, start-up menu whenever you quit, win or
     resign from a game.  No more restaring the program each time you stop playing.

c) They have created a nice macro language for creating conditional events within your
     scenarios.  The conditional (IF, THEN) statements are included in an "event.txt" file
     for each scenario sub-directory and are then executed during the game according to
     the conditional statements in the "event.txt" file.  For example, one could cuase any
     civilization to have its treasury increaded by X amount according to conditional
     happenings in the game; or, you can create new units for any civilization according to
     conditions you establish; or, you could have certain units move to various places on the
     map based on conditional statements at some point in the game; or, you could play a
     special .WAV file based on conditions, etc., etc..

The net effect of this has been to force players to make one of two decisions :

1) You can take your existing Mods under MODPACK created by the Mod Pack manager
     and move each sub-directory under SCENARIO.  A sub-directory called SOUND will 
     have to be created for each for any .WAV files.  For example, for a Mod Pack
     called "MoreReal", you would end up with :

     c:\civ2\scenario\morereal\sound
                         :        :
                         :        :......  .WAV files go in here
                         :...............  .TXT and .GIF Mods go in here

     IMPORTANT
     ---------
     Specific changes to GAME.TXT and LABELS.TXT files for each Mod Pack are rendered 
     obsolete by the new civ2.exe.  This is because these files have changed to accomodate the
     new functionality in Civ II, and the program does not use any GAME.TXT or LABELS.TXT
     files in the SCENARIO sub-directories.  So, you'll have to change it once for your own
     general environment, then risk having to update that one with any new releases.

2) You can load the new scenarios into a temporary place on disk, and then move the scenario
     sub-directories that come with the CD under your Mod Pack directory, doing away with the
     SOUND sub-directory for each and loading the .WAV files into the respective Mod Pack
     directory.  This will allow you to use your current operation with Mod Pack manager, and
     the GAME.TXT and LABELS.TXT modifications for each Mod Pack.

I opted for the first option.  Changing between Mod Packs is much faster, and I've got the best
of both worlds.  All of the Mod Packs I've accumulated work, and I have the new stuff.  Hope this
helps.  Post this ASAP if you think it might be useful.     

Have fun,

The Patriot
jhead@nebonet.com
 
