14-01-2005 12:49									#211
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I agree, Erika. The sky's the limit if we can master animation! BTW, Mercator has a sprite editor on his website. Maybe try playing around with that.

	16-01-2005 06:57									#212
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Say, I need a good touch-up artist. Could some please convert the background colors of this cities file to proper ToT standards? Right now I've got a big purple thing rising up behind all my cities on screen (because, to be honest, I made the mistake of directly copying and pasting from my MGE version of this scen). I'd appreciate any help. Thanks!

Attachment: cities.gif
This has been downloaded 199 time(s).

	16-01-2005 07:29									#213
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Holy god.

Unless you post the file before you ****ed it up like this, I'm afraid there's nothing anyone can do.

	16-01-2005 09:01									#214
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I think that damage came from converting it from a bitmap to a .gif file. However, the bitmap in my scen folder is to big to post. What should I do?

	16-01-2005 09:08									#215
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Try zipping it.

	16-01-2005 10:11									#216
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Duh! How could I forget about that. I'll get right on it.

	16-01-2005 10:14									#217
	Put an end to popups!

Okay. Here it is, undamaged by transferral to .gif.

Attachment: cities_bmp.zip
This has been downloaded 5 time(s).

	16-01-2005 15:11									#218
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quote: Originally posted by Patine Could some please convert the background colors of this cities file to proper ToT standards?

The only recognised transparent background colour in cities.bmp is magenta - plus whatever you choose as your secondary colour/s. Once again you're looking at the pixel in the top-left corner of each icon box. This goes for the city, flag, fortified, fortress, airbase and transporter icons.

Since you have no signatures to worry about, you could set the entire background area to magenta. If you want to keep the purple background colour, mark the corner pixels. Couldn't be simpler.

quote: Originally posted by Patine I think that damage came from converting it from a bitmap to a .gif file.

Saving the file as a gif automatically reduces your colour depth from 24-bit to 8-bit. What's worse is that MS Paint introduces some kind of fixed Web-Safe palette. It also applies a highly regular pattern of dithering when it resamples the colours, hence the "****ed up" appearance.

	16-01-2005 22:25									#219
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save as png, or open up an already existing gif file and copy the bmps stuff to it

	16-01-2005 22:28									#220
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here, converted to gif

Attachment: risingsuncities.gif
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	17-01-2005 12:42									#221
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Thanks Erika and Catfish for the help!

Now, I do need some help with an event decision. I have a tech called, "Tide Turning," which is a prequisite for "Desperate Tactics" (which grants Bansai Troops), which itself is a prerequisite for "Divine Wind," (which grants the Okha suicide plane). What I need is an idea for a battle won by the US (essentially, a city captured by the Americans), that would give the Japanese the Tide Turning advance. Does anyone have any ideas on what that city should be?

	17-01-2005 14:20									#222
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Will the the techs for Banzai troops and Okha a/c have to be researched or will they be given by events?

If researched, the question cannot be answered without knowing what the approximate Japanese research rate will be at that stage of the game?

If the techs are given by events, events could also give the Japanese a few of the units. Historically, suicide attacks became common in early '44. Pick an event such as as the loss of a city in the Philippines or Marianas to give the Japanese time to build the units.

	17-01-2005 18:17									#223
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Ultimately, I had initially planned the two latter techs to be researched, stemming from the first tech, but I do now see that in that case, I'd need to choose a battle that historically happened as early as '43 or even late '42 (such as Guadalcanal) for the techs to be effective. I could do 'Desperate Tactics' and 'Divine Wind' both as event-generated techs directly (thus making 'Tide Turning' somewhat pointless), and use the capture of a Philipino or Mariana city (one for each), granting, as you say, a few free ones of each unit type. Both could work, and have selling points. Any suggestions as to which alternative I should use?

	17-01-2005 18:24									#224
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Maybe this is of any help as well?

Attachment: cities.gif
This has been downloaded 154 time(s).

	17-01-2005 19:22									#225
	Remove this text

Thanks a lot! That should help about half of the styles I'm using!

	17-01-2005 23:26									#226
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quote: I could do 'Desperate Tactics' and 'Divine Wind' both as event-generated techs directly (thus making 'Tide Turning' somewhat pointless), and use the capture of a Philipino or Mariana city (one for each), granting, as you say, a few free ones of each unit type.

This approach would let you control the timing much more precisely and make sure that players actually get the techs at a historically appropriate time.

Try looking at it from a player's point of view. How many important techs does he need to research to be able to build significantly better units? How long will it take to research them? Which ones is he likely to research first? Considering cost and performance will he research a new bomber which can be used many times rather than the one-shot Baka?

Also, watch out that some smart-*** player doesn't make it his first priority to attack the continental US. I've played a couple of WWII global scens as Japan. The designers had done such a good job of duplicating US unpreparedness that taking over the US was not much of a challenge. Banzai!

	18-01-2005 06:25									#227
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Ultimately, I see the wisdom in your suggestion, AGRICOLA. As for Japan invading the US West Coast, I've already dealt with that issue, at least initially; I'm considering using a unit called 'US Home Forces,' which has a great defense, moderate attack, and no move, but which can't be built during the game, which begin in all continental US cities. Thus, Japan would have to get battleships and heavy bombers in position to invade the US, and couldn't just make a sneak attack with their initial forces. Any thoughts?

	18-01-2005 07:18									#228
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Thanks, but I don't consider that I have all that much wisdom . . . at best, maybe a bit of non-linear thinking.

With the "'US Home Forces", you have obviously closed the door on one possible Japanese strategy. Without seeing the finished scen it's impossible to suggest much more than that you look for some other unexpected moves that a player might make. Expect that a cornered rat will try almost anything.

Not much help in that, is there? I would love to playtest when the time comes. Playing the underdog against the AI is much more interesting than playing a strong civ.

	18-01-2005 12:20									#229
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I think I can think of a few other unsuspected moves myself (like a quick lunge for Australia, bypassing the Dutch), though I'll have to consider whether I'd like to actually make these possible or not. They might add some color. Anyway, I'd love to have you playtest the scen when it's done; it'll either be posted on this thread or one with an obvious title. Thanks!

	18-01-2005 12:57									#230
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you could bypass the dutch in most scenarios, exept that it would be easier to take the dutch cities so that you could use them as airbases,during the attack on australia.

	19-01-2005 01:02									#231
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I certainly agree with that observation, Erika. It could prove a decisive choice in the game.

I've now come across a bit of a problem. How do those flags where there's all the advances' codes listed, each with a '0' to the left, then all the civs, each with several '0's' to the left, work? I know they're supposed to determine who can research and trade which techs, but how do you use them?

	20-01-2005 14:29									#232
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quote: Originally posted by Patine Thanks Erika and Catfish for the help! Now, I do need some help with an event decision. I have a tech called, "Tide Turning," which is a prequisite for "Desperate Tactics" (which grants Bansai Troops), which itself is a prerequisite for "Divine Wind," (which grants the Okha suicide plane). What I need is an idea for a battle won by the US (essentially, a city captured by the Americans), that would give the Japanese the Tide Turning advance. Does anyone have any ideas on what that city should be?

The Japanese resorted to deliberate suicde tactics after the loss of the Marianas (ie, Guam and Saipan) in mid 1944, and the tactics were first put into action during the battle of Lyete Gulf in October 1944.

The Marianas formed Japan's inner defence ring, and it was recognised that once the islands were lost, Japan's only hope for a good outcome was by using desperate tactics.

BTW, don't use the Okha - almost all of the Kamakazis were conventional aircraft. The Okha wasn't at all significant and achieved little. By using it, you will be mis-representing the Kamakazis tactics and abilities.

	20-01-2005 18:17									#233
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I do understand what you're trying to say. Perhaps, instead, I'll use a unit with a variant of the Zero graphics (I've got several) and just call it the 'Kamikaze,' lowering its attack and move from the Okha somewhat, but still have it destroyed by attacking.

BTW, don't worry, I figured out the allowed tech section of the ToT rules.txt by examining the scifi and fantasy game rules.txt's.

	21-01-2005 22:46									#234
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Say, can anyone help me. I've completed the unique research and ownership parameters of the civilization advances - but it still says anyone can research anything. I do know from previous ToT experience that there is an event that will 'kick in' that function, but the thread that I learned it from has dropped off. Can someone please tell me what that event is?

	22-01-2005 21:40									#235
	Inflate your Upload Space

quote: I had had problems in the bug concerning making civilization advances unique to certain civs. I found a thread after digging a bit that told me to make a new .scn file to get this feature to work, and then test it with the .scn file, not the working .sav file. First, I saved my current .sav file as a new .scn file (from the cheat menu), but when I loaded it, it went through the process of choosing a player, difficulty, and name, then gave a brief glimpse of the beginning map and shut down, with no error message (the music was even still playing). Then I began a new game, saved it as an .scn file in the scen folder, and loaded it, and the same thing happened. However, the .sav file works just fine, but still registers all techs as researchable by all players. What could be wrong, and what do I do about it?

Here's a post I made in the 'Test of Time' forum, but I don't think very many people frequent it anymore, so I'm repeating this problem I'm having with ToT here, in case someone on this thread can help me. I'd appreciate any aid in this endeavor. Thanks!

	23-01-2005 01:08									#236
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quote: Originally posted by Patine I do understand what you're trying to say. Perhaps, instead, I'll use a unit with a variant of the Zero graphics (I've got several) and just call it the 'Kamikaze,' lowering its attack and move from the Okha somewhat, but still have it destroyed by attacking.

You could also lower the production cost somewhat to represent the fact that most of the pilots were new recruits or volunteers with little training. After all you only need the rudimentary skills for a one way trip.

	23-01-2005 11:56									#237
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i did a touch-up to the japanese type-1 tank, here it is

Attachment: type 1.gif
This has been downloaded 99 time(s).

	23-01-2005 15:45									#238
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I like that one.

	23-01-2005 21:34									#239
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Thanks a lot, Erika! It looks good!

	23-01-2005 23:43									#240
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Say, could someone please make me either a Kittyhawk or a Spitfire, but with RAAF (that is, Royal Australian Air Force) markings and flag (as in the blue and white circle)? I've got someone working on the Model 94 and the USS Enterprise (which reminds me; if you're reading this Chris, how are they coming?). I'd greatly appreciate the help. Thanks!