26-07-2005 17:00									#61
	Put an end to popups!

Images for both the ss and the catapult are stored in SS.dll. I imagine that Midgard games only are hardcoded to use the latter set.

SS.dll appears to contain a background image, a couple of dozen structural(s) images, two multi-paneled images each for the various components and modules, an image with buttons, and two background images — one for building and one for launching.

It looks like the launching spaceship might also be hardcoded. There's an earth background shot but nothing that looks like a launching spaceship. Or is that in an avi?

I remember looking at this when Harry was playing with the idea. When I have time, I'll try to dig up that thread.

I like the supplies/troops in transit idea, but I'll need to examine both available palettes and what ToT does at launch time before I decide.

	26-07-2005 23:03									#62
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quote: Originally posted by Boco Images for both the ss and the catapult are stored in SS.dll. I imagine that Midgard games only are hardcoded to use the latter set.

I'm not too sure of that. The only way that can be hard-coded is by having it depend on the folder and from what I just tested a spaceship doesn't simply turn into a siege engine when the savegame's put in the Midgard or Fantasy folder... So I think there must be some setting in the savegame itself... Then again, we don't know what that is... and I sure as hell don't have the time to find out.

quote: It looks like the launching spaceship might also be hardcoded. There's an earth background shot but nothing that looks like a launching spaceship. Or is that in an avi?

Yes, there's a video for that... Or at least, there was with the original Civ2. I'm not even sure if I ever even launched a spaceship in ToT.

	26-07-2005 23:16									#63
	Remove this text

quote: Originally posted by Boco I remember looking at this when Harry was playing with the idea. When I have time, I'll try to dig up that thread.

Gold Gulch Dev Thread

	27-07-2005 05:13									#64
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quote: Originally posted by Mercator I'm not too sure of that. The only way that can be hard-coded is by having it depend on the folder and from what I just tested a spaceship doesn't simply turn into a siege engine when the savegame's put in the Midgard or Fantasy folder... So I think there must be some setting in the savegame itself... Then again, we don't know what that is... and I sure as hell don't have the time to find out.

Got me! Hard-coded was an inaccurate term. I agree that it's likely that the choice between space ship and catapult is embedded in the sav file, and suspect that it's put there when the player decides what game to play. Since this setting doesn't seem to be governed by a text file setting, and since the hex address in the sav file is unknown, it is as impossible for me to fix as a hard-coded setting. It problably doesn't matter, though. ResHacker is equally adept at changing either set of pics. The palettes, however, may affect which set is a more desirable starting point.

Yeah, I figure that candy lips, debugging CivEngineer, upgrading SpriteGen, and planning the SL meet will keep you busy. Either that or you're ticked at being called a Dutch-Belgian instead of Belgian-Dutch (or something like that).

Thanks Harry, that should have been obvious to me, but it was posted before coffee.

	27-07-2005 22:55									#65
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quote: Originally posted by Boco Yeah, I figure that candy lips, debugging CivEngineer, upgrading SpriteGen, and planning the SL meet will keep you busy.

	29-07-2005 03:43									#66
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I'm just writing a quick reply to say how much I enjoyed the 1st version, so I'm really looking forward to a new one. The only gripe I had with the the first version was I couldn't get Allenby to join me! Was I a victim of my own success? How are you meant to get this advance?

Did you ever consider setting up a page for high scores in the scenario? Due to it's rather unique system, I'd be interested in seeing how I did compared to other player's.

	29-07-2005 04:57									#67
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Thanks, our_man. A hall of fame table is an excellent idea! I'm kinda curious about scores myself. We could set up an informal one in a beta test thread. Then I could 'post the winners' in @MALEFAME of Game.txt in the release version. I'm sure there'll be a Xin Yu or two who can 'beat the system'.

And yes, you were fast! That's one of the tweaks I'm adjusting for v2. Generally, you'll have the choice of going slow with few casualties or fast and bloody. The cost/benefit balance for each approach will need some testing and feedback.

Since I had to go far back to find an uncorrupted version, I decided to make a major change in the map layout. The Sudan has been moved from map1 to map3. This will allow the player to actually build Egyptian Army units rather than request them from the War Office. The ability to move from the Sudan to either Egypt or the Hejaz will depend on conquering Darfur.

	23-08-2005 06:27									#68
	Inflate your Upload Space

After a fun playtest of Allard's River , I've resumed work on EAv2. While it was on my mind, I revised the Kordufan-Gezira section of the Sudan map.

Attachment: kordufan.gif
This has been downloaded 152 time(s).

	25-08-2005 09:07									#69
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

Looking at this image, you can see debris 'above' ocean squares. If you know anything about hexing, please check this thread: CivFan — ToT Map3 Bug

	04-09-2005 18:16									#70
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Okay, Catfish and Merc solved that one.

I put in a scheme to allow the Egyptian Army (only) to transfer between Egypt, Sudan, and the Hejaz. Transporter improvements are called Thos. Cook & Son, Ltd., after the Steamer company that ran on the Nile.

The player can now build Egyptian Army units in Sudan cities.

Attachment: tcookson.gif
This has been downloaded 114 time(s).

	04-09-2005 18:43									#71
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Looking good Boco.

BTW I finally got Allenby in the first version, and I must say he makes the scenario much easier! The only annoying thing was I couldn't increase my peace score at the end - the Sanusi kept on breaking cease-fires to ruin it!

	04-09-2005 19:21									#72
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Thx, our_man.

In v2, you will be allowed to Request "The Bull" after May, 1917. I may tweak the timing so that it reflects your progress.

I'll experiment a little with Yoshi's idea over at CivFan.

quote: Originally posted by Yoshi in Dainichi Sekai Taisen version 2.0 Release, p2† Possession of a nuke. If the AI doesn't have a nuke of its own, this should cause it to hold off its attack. (No promises, as I've seen the AI attack me when I had nukes and it didn't, but try it to be sure.)

I'll see whether giving Gendarmes a 99a will make those Sanussis more respectful of truces. In v1, the Turks are just as sneaky late in the game.

† Try Kobayashi's scenario, and give him some needed feedback. He's a great designer who's put in a lot of effort into DSTv2.

	05-09-2005 00:54									#73
	Re: Uh-oh! Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

quote: Originally posted by Boco So-o-o-o...it's back to conventional cities and dialogless razing. So I have a few dozen no-city-present-cities to convert to regular cities via CivEngineer (is the date of the current version Nov 4, 2002?), but...

It took a while, but I finally had a look at what the problem with CivEngineer was... It turns out it was pretty simple. I fixed it in a minute...

A bit late for El Aurens now maybe, but here's a new version of CivEngineer anyway:

Download CivEngineer

	09-09-2005 05:53									#74
	Triggers for "The Bull" Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

quote: Originally posted by our_man BTW I finally got Allenby in the first version, ...

Any suggestions on a good trigger or two for enabling the player to request "The Bull"?

Ideally, I'd like to handicap good players by delaying his arrival, and encouraging rookies by speeding it up. The window should probably be from Feb/17 to Sep/17. Historically, this was when the Murray bumbled two attempts on Gaza, then Allenby smashed through Turk defenses. Like v1 (and history), v2 couples Allenby's arrival with major reinforcements.

@Merc. Next week, I'll be placing a few cityless labels on map1. I'll check out CivEng then. What was the bug?

	09-09-2005 17:27									#75
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quote: Ideally, I'd like to handicap good players by delaying his arrival, and encouraging rookies by speeding it up.

Does that mean in the later version you want good players to be able to acquire Allenby eventually, even if they capture Gaza quickly?

I can't really advise you on this too much, as I'm unaware of the possible triggers in Tot. From what I understand though it's quite complex with flags that can delay events etc. If you could provide me with a basic understanding as to how it works I might be able to help more.

	10-09-2005 00:27									#76
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

Actually, I'm seeking 'forest' not 'trees' advice, so your lack of intimate knowledge with ToT triggers is no problem. Triggers can be any one or more of the following usual suspects:

1. City is captured
   
2. Unit is killed
   
3. Unit is bribed
   
4. Technology is acquired (by any means)
   
5. Turn x
   
6. City builds an improvement or unit
   
7. City is destroyed
   
8. Etc. (the remaining triggers aren't really practical here)
   

	10-09-2005 03:03									#77
	Re: Triggers for "The Bull" Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

quote: Originally posted by Boco @Merc. Next week, I'll be placing a few cityless labels on map1. I'll check out CivEng then. What was the bug?

I used an Integer rather than a Long (VB data types) to store the offset of the start of the maps section, so it balked at values higher than 32767. The offset is at 29896 + the size of the variable length Transporter section before it. I hadn't tried it with transporters before yet. That pushed it over 32767 in your case.

	11-09-2005 12:22									#78
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I suppose that if the player is doing well then logically Murray should not be replaced by Allenby early if you consider that the British government is trying to run the campaign on the cheap. I'd therefore stick to the historical 'window' to reinforce the British.

I don't suppose you can make the event conditional on a couple of eventualities can you? If turn = x and British have not captured a certain Palestinian city, then award Tech = Allenby. Probably not I guess, particularly as one trigger is a negative.

	11-09-2005 17:02									#79
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Boco, it's very hard to try and figure out a way to incorporate Allenby in the way you hope, especially if you want to keep the scenario historical. The reason is that in the long run it's better for the player to hold off and wait for Allenby. If you want him to turn up at the same time as he did in reality, there's not a lot that can be done as I can see it.

The only thing I can think of to encourage the player to try and play it fast with Murray is to use events to increase Turkish troop numbers with time elapsed. Therefore if the player risks waiting for Allenby Turkish soldiers might be sufficient in strength to bog his advance down. This might also increase the players desire to develop N Arab Army (which I never researched) etc. as a way of attacking the Turks from a vulnerable side, and cutting off their troops if they're homed to certain key cities.

I'll think some more about it.

	12-09-2005 01:41									#80
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I'll see what I can do to make the pre-Allenby phase a race against time. There is a particular unit whose defeat pretty much requires heavy artillery. Currently in v2, it forms the backbone of the Gaza line from the beginning. Historically the line wasn't held in force until after 1st Gaza (3/17). Perhaps, I can delay its creation until after then.

In such a scheme, Allenby/Reinforcements would arrive beginning 6/17 unless Gaza is captured.

What if the Allies capture Gaza pre-Allenby? The Turks, who had a knack for 'just-in-time-reinforcements', would have likely organized a line that would have stalled the EEF somewhere in Palestine. WWI offensives, even those of the EEF, were severely constrained by logistics after advancing 20 miles. Even though the Turks were shattered in 10/17, it took the EEF three months to advance to the Jaffa-Jericho-Jordan line. In the event of a pre-Allenby breakthrough in 1917, it is still likely that an Allenby-style buildup would be required to break through to Syria/Lebanon. So what should we do?

The military benefit of the North, South, and East Arab Armies was debatable. One school argues that they provided the nucleus of the force that tied down several Turk divisions in the East and South. Another argues that they were completely worthless. Perhaps I'm making irregular Bedouins too easy to acquire?

An overlooked (certainly by Wolfowitz) political benefit of organizing and supplying Arab regulars was the generation of good will. It indicated tacit support for postwar Arab self-rule. That saved the EEF from expending tremendous resources to enforce martial law on an hostile populace. If I can figure out something clever, I'll try to simulate this. Ideally, if the player (1) doesn't support the Arab revolt actively and (2) signs the Sykes-Picot and Balfour agreements, there should be happiness penalties. Any ideas on political benefits of Arab Regulars?

	12-09-2005 06:25									#81
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I'm not really up to speed on this, so if this suggestion is silly, please tell me nicely to sod off. Would it work if you eased up on the triggers so that Allenby would be researchable sooner, and then imposed a points penalty for doing so sooner vs. later? So the earlier you researched him, the greater the points penalty.

	12-09-2005 07:29									#82
	Remove this text

Not silly at all, and in fact this could solve some sticky scoring problems. AFAIK, 'sod off' is still okay by American censors in its undiluted form.

Right now I'm using the standard Civ2 scenario scoring scheme (not objective-based). You're suggesting an external tally like Case's Cruel Sea used?

Wouldn't be too tough to whip up a spreadsheet and possibly a RTF for that. I could also be fancier (and clearer) about how to score points in the diplomatic department.

Any other opinions on the scoring method?

	12-09-2005 07:44									#83
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How about something like this?
http://www.geocities.com/njcoyote7/ElAurens.htm

quote: Objective Points Bonuses Happy Citizens 8 points each Content Citizens, Entertainers, Reporters, or Colonial Administrators 4 points each Unhappy Citizens 0 points Special Objectives 100 points each Turns without Combat 150 points / turn Receiving ‘No Reinforcements’ (Future Tech) 50 points each Penalties Eliminated Units -100 points each Sabotage left in disrepair -50 per square Handicaps Saudis (Barbarians set at ‘Villages Only’) -50 points Designer’s Error (4 Units Eliminated in Nov 1915) -400 points

	12-09-2005 20:14									#84
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quote: Originally posted by techumseh How about something like this? http://www.geocities.com/njcoyote7/ElAurens.htm

But that is simply the standard scoring, customized by changing the scoring points in the rules.txt as you can do in ToT.

I suppose the problem was implementing the Allenby penalty in that set-up, right?

I haven't exactly followed this development and I'm not sure how you've implemented this Allenby character... As a technology?

If you have implemented him as a technology you could implement the penalty using events and one of the two ways players can lose score: through losing units or having pollution.

Say, you could have an event like this (working from memory, but you get the idea):

@IF
ReceivedTechnology
receiver=Allies
technology=(Allenby tech)
@AND
Turn
turn=(pick a turn that is too early)
@THEN
CreateUnit
...
@ENDIF

And repeat that for a bunch of turns before the desired turn. Either you could create some very weak bogus Allied unit that would get destroyed easily (= penalty), or perhaps create a Barbarian nuke in some inaccessible area that will attack some preplaced immobile unit (do Barbarians use nukes?) to create pollution (= penalty).

Or you could use flags instead of repeating such an event for multiple turns. Turn flag A on when Allenby is discovered, turn flag B on when the desired arrival turn starts. Now on every turn that A is on and B is off, do something to create a penalty.

	12-09-2005 20:50									#85
	Inflate your Upload Space

Well, I came up with great idea, but like most of my great ideas, it won't work. That's because you've used every goddam wonder in the game, Boco!

Here is my idea anyway. If you had some obsolete wonders you could use as point generators, you could give one every so many turns by using the BestowImprovement event. Once Allenby is researched, a simple flag could be used to prevent the awarding of any more of these point wonders. Therefore, the longer you wait to get Allenby, the more wonders are given and the more points you get.

	13-09-2005 04:40									#86
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

quote: Originally posted by Mercator I suppose the problem was implementing the Allenby penalty in that set-up, right? I haven't exactly followed this development and I'm not sure how you've implemented this Allenby character... As a technology?

That's a fair summary. Allenby is a Tech ("the Bull"), which is the prerequisite for both Darwin and a tech that is a preq for the essential heavy artillery. Merc, your idea would work well, but I've used "every goddam unit slot in the game" for non-nukes, and I'm too lazy to rethink them. Besides, the artist will hang me if I make any more slot changes (once he descends from cricket heaven, that is). I think I can still use the essential part of your idea.

quote: Originally posted by techumseh Well, I came up with great idea, but like most of my great ideas, it won't work. That's because you've used every goddam wonder in the game, Boco!

Tech, this is a gem! I might even have to sacrifice a wonder or two.

Maybe I could rename a wonder as "Wipers IV" (4th Ypres for non-Limeys), and following Merc's idea, leave it in an undefended size 1 city ("Western Front") on a corner of map3. Then I could use a simple ReceivedTech @AND Turn trigger to create German Howies adjacent to "Western Front" sometime in the last half of 1917, if and only if The Bull has already arrived. So yes, the 'wonder' represents further carnage on the Western Front.

I forgot that I've "used every goddam city slot in the game!" I think I can change that.

So, our_man would a chance to get another wonder encourage you to try without the Bull until 1918?

Maybe I could link other techs to the "Western Front". The city starts under Allied control. Then Germans appear whenever the player doesn't divert enough resources from the Near East: e.g. late 1917, Spring 1918, etc. If the Allies play their cards right, they'll control the city, and its wonders, at the end of the game. Poorer strategies would give the city to the Germans or cause its destruction.

	13-09-2005 17:21									#87
	Browse Apolyton AD-FREE

quote: So, our_man would a chance to get another wonder encourage you to try without the Bull until 1918?

Unfortunately I don't have a copy of ToT here with me at the moment so I can't check specifics... but my gut feeling is no, it wouldn't. If I remember correctly two of the advances Allenby entitles you to are IMHO key. These would be the Heavy Artillery and RAF Palestine.

You have to remember as well that researching Allenby allows you to research another tech that leads to a wonder (Darwin's Voyage)?

Correct me if I'm wrong about any of this stuff as I can't look at it at the moment, but from what I remember this is the way it should play out.

	13-09-2005 21:22									#88
	Remove this text

Agree with O_M; there's not a lot you can do to take Palestine without heavy artillery.

@Boco: I like the Wipers idea, I think. Having said that, I haven't fully sussed your reinforcement map yet; do you mean that the player should choose between protecting the Ypres city and it's wonders or moving units therough the map gate to Egypt?

	14-09-2005 05:29									#89
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

After the consultation with MercTech Associates, I've thought about it a little more. It still needs to be fleshed out, but here's the kernel.

There's a completely isolated city called Western Front that's controlled by the Germans contains a WoW called Heersgruppen West (not sure what to call it). It's defended by some 39 Trench Line units. Every turn an Allied Siege Arty is created next to it. By 11/18, these SA's would have eliminated 35 TL units, but 4 will remain. The Allies get one SA each for (1) the Sykes-Picot Agreement (a WoW), (2) the Balfour Declaration (another WoW), getting the WF Withdrawals tech (a massive transfer of units from the EEF to France in response to Kaiserschlacht in 1918), and landing on alpha centauri (represents the cumulative effect of making withdrawals throughout the scenario). By getting all four, the West Front with its WoW can be captured.

Delaying Allenby will also generate an 'extra' SA. That would allow the Allies to capture the West Front a turn earlier.

The scheme would give the player a global context for Sinai-Palestine campaign. It'd also give incentive for building those WoW's and requesting those techs.

On the other hand, the scheme adds another layer of complexity to the scenario, which already has some depth. There are other strong incentives for these WoW's and techs. So I'm undecided whether it's worth the extra effort on the part of the player (and me) to include it. Perhaps for this release, I should keep the timing of Allenby pretty fixed.