Ancient TW2: Eastern Empires

[macsen rufus]

OK, I'll go to the BIF thing first:

I extracted all 12 as bmp , opened in PS7 saved colour table , added boots , 1 bif modded .
I used readbbif & imported all 12 & created the new bif .
but !! ............ when I re-open to view it , its got purple haze all over it ?

The bold bit - if that's really the order you did things - is probably the cause.

You need to create the new BIF first (256x256 x 12 frames) and THEN 'import all'. It can also help if you close BIFreader and re-open again before creating a new BIF as (I seem to recall from long ago...) data from the previous image can linger and mess things up.

The only other thought is that you have a colour table problem - when editing in PS7 are you staying in indexed mode or converting to RGB? If the latter, you need to reload the colour table when you convert back to indexed mode. On the MODE>>INDEXED menu you will be prompted for a colour table. It is safest to select 'Custom', then on the custom dialog box select LOAD and pick up the table you saved when you first opened the BMP. That way the BMP you save will be indexed correctly for loading into BIFreader.

See if any of that helps, if not holler again


And now for something completely Scythian...

I've blitzed the changes and new units today. Units added are:

• Gelonian Militia (medium spear infantry) [in Scythia only]
• Saka Scouts (cavalry, can hide in the open, a single javelin ) [in Saka only]
• Massagetae Horse Archers [in Massagetia only]
• Scythian Nobles (Royal Bodyguard unit) - smaller unit, but tougher than Scythian Cavalry [in Scythia only]

Gelonus is a pre-built, unique and indestructible building in Scythia - spearmaker2 needed with it to raise militia (was just a spearmaker but that was too easy to get...) Might need to tweak stats a bit more yet.

Reduced starting provinces as promised, and have installed historical royal names.

Gotta go, work beckons...

[dimitrios the samian]

Great news Macsen !! we have both made progress .
I managed to create the new bif , was the fault of the readbif .
I think its wise we start a new thread , so all our info is grouped .
So more great news on in that thread ...

[macsen rufus]

Good news indeed. You can now continue cobbling for the shoeless

I've just started a Scythian thread - noticed you're online at the same time as me... probably down to me working nights at present.

[dimitrios the samian]

haha .. I certainly will , thorns shall not halt them .
& with winter approaching I will also become a part time Milliner as well as Armourer

btw ...good on the Foxes also !!

[macsen rufus]

Most of what has been done this week has been posted into the various RoP faction threads, but there are a few still left to do. These will come in as and when I've had a good hard look at them and played the faction through to the 'high' era (70 turns).

I have now started on the reforms based around the 'province resource' idea using the invisible, indestructible 'buildings' in 50 of the 56 provinces (alas, 50 is all you can have without CTDs). Still, that makes a very powerful change to the basic set-up on the campaign map, and I can now do things I've always wished I could do. This innovation (thanks to Stazi's amazing discovery) will make for some really interesting features, and I'm developing that, firstly with the Greek factions.

There's also been a few naval reforms recently, but I need to find a way to stop the Babylonians spamming ships out of Phoenicia! Ships have gone the way of other units and are recruitable on a 'recruitment zone' system. Gandhara has a faction-unique ship, whilct in the west, two new ships are available in and around the Dalmatian coast: Lemboi and Liburnians. Phoenician and Egyptian ships are only available from Phoenician and Egyptian ports now. Era transitions also affect ships.

All factions apart from the Illyrians, Ionians and Thracians have historical kings now, with appropriate 'royal' names to get some chance of further familiar characters taking their respective thrones. Each Greek faction has a unique name list, and other points of differentiation are underway, with the 'province resource' really helping on that score.

Starting kings:

Macedonia: Alcetas I
Athens: Pisistratos I
Gandhara: Pukkusati
Sparta: Anaxandridas II
Persia: Kûru (Cyrus)
Egypt: Ahmose II
Argos: Timenos
Scythia: Idanthyrsus
Media: Astyages
Lydia: Croesus
Babylon: Neriglissar

For Illyiria and Thrace, there are no records of rulers in the exact period, and Ionia, being a League, is a bit complicated....

One more new unit has been added which doesn't appear in any faction thread, and that is the Parthian Infantry which are only available as a dismount for sieges (come on, guys, it's demeaning to have to get off your horse, we're not doing it just anywhere, you know....) As with the mounted Parthians, they have big axes and are rather good at using them.

I might have mentioned elsewhere, but Rhodean Slingers can now dismount to Heavy Slingers in sieges to enable them to hurl their pots of flaming oil at wooden walls and stockades.

A few new units are in the 'to do' list, but they'll get done in a splurge, along with straightening out custom battles - ok, that's for my benefit to test new units more easily, but it will also make custom battles playable in the final release.

[dimitrios the samian]

Great update Macsen .....
Im just as excited as you are with Stazi's new discovery ! & to implement it beginning with the Greeks , nice .
Good luck with those Babylonians & spamming ships .... perhaps breaking parts of that region into a few extra provinces ?
Now ! .....
About those unrecorded Illyrians & Thracians , we can use Slavic & Bulgaric names with a proto twist .
Really doesn't affect gameplay anyways .
Custom battles ........ a must have ! as Historical Battles become possible then .
keep up the brisk pace

[macsen rufus]

I have a decent supply of names for the Illyrians and Thracians, just no real leaders to place. The Illyrians use Albanian names, as the Albanians are the last descendents of the Illyrian tribes - makes the faction name list unique, anyway, even if it is bit of a fudge

I'm about to open up a Median faction thread, and you'll want to see how the province resource is working for them... I can finally implement an idea that I had long ago.

Greek province resource ideas are developing - I will have Greek homelands, and also 'colonisable' provinces, with different tech trees. This will come into its own for Alex campaign, which is now going to need a major overhaul. I think my first beta release will be JUST Rise of Persia, so we can get some beta testers to check out the radical changes in this scenario.

I have just downloaded that new BIF, so will start playing with that later - I was thinking the skin tone is more Indian than African, so intend to use it for the Isvasa and Prasika units, that will distinguish them from the more professional Gandharan troops. I might need to make some weapon and shield changes, but that's fine. I also downloaded a fresh copy of Duke John's tools and BIF package (the one where I got the Thracian Peltasts from) and there is more in there I can use for some diversity. I really will have to have a clean out of textures folders though.... It also means (I believe) that I have now fully retrieved all the tools I lost when the last PC died. I'm not thinking of any campaign map changes at present, but with LMM4 back in the toolkit, I probably won't be able to resist the temptation forever... I think I'll buy a dedicated data stick and store copies of all my tools and installers safely away from the hard drive.

I'm also thinking ahead to Diadochi, and am toying with maybe having two versions of that -- one with a massive stack of Celts in Dacia so the Celtic invasion can be implemeted - I think they'll have to have the FN_07 (Viking) slot which is so far unused in any of the Eastern Empires scenarios. BUT that is looking too far into the future for now...