MODPACK OR SCENARIO: WHICH ONE IS IT?
BY
JOHN VALDEZ
(Rev. 1)
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A lot of people ask me questions about the difference between a Modpack
(Modification PACKage) and a Scenario. I think there are some players out there who
play both modpacks and scenarios and may not know for sure or even care about the
difference. Still, there is a distinction to note, and the boundaries are actually
quite clear.
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THE BEGINNING OF MODPACKS
First of all, a modpack is just that-- it modifies files, and it is a radical
approach to changing the Civilization II environment. A basic modpack generally
alters the rules.txt file and units.gif file. In short, units are added or
subtracted from the game, or the game rules are altered in some way. In a sense,
Microprose actually designed the game to be the player’s own personal modpack.
There were extra unit positions incorporated into the game and a short blurb
(hardly instructions at all) for getting risky modpack authors started. Early
modpack writers relied on the the rules.txt and units.gif files quite heavily, but
they later found that certain things didn’t make sense or were outright annoying.
For instance, if you designed a new diplomat, and say you called him an
"Ambassador," then each time you discover WRITING a little box pops up and says:
==================================================================================
You’ve discovered the art of WRITING. You may now commission DIPLOMATS and
establish embassies with other nations. You may also use these DIPLOMATS to spy on
your
neighbors.
==================================================================================
Sounds great, except if you were the modpack author and you deleted the diplomat
unit and replaced it with the ambassador placing the graphic in another slot. It’s
even worse if you designed the unit to become available when the player discovers
a newly invented TECHNOLOGY such as: FOREIGN LANGUAGES. It would be the case that
the info box for the old diplomat unit would continue to pop up every time and
annoy the player, informing him that he could build diplomat units which in fact,
he could not.[1]
As a result, modpack authors started to explore the files searching for some
solution and they found it in the game.txt. Despite warnings at the top of the
text file not to alter it, modpack authors were adventurous enough to build a
bigger, better modpack. As the story goes, the need to fix things sort of got out
of hand and some authors have simply left no text or GIF file unopened.
Essentially, modpack authors have started to strive for the perfect modpack. Quite
frankly, I’ve seen some mods so improved over the original Civ that going back to
the original game would be like playing another modpack. I would cite Steven
Strayer’s Fascist Patch as being among the early mods that has been streamlined to
such a point it is somewhat of an upgrade to use it. Its current version
significantly meets the historical challenges of WWII and effectively applies the
appropriate technologies that produce the "correct" units in Strayer’s eyes.
Scenario authors have even written WWII scenarios that are meant to be used with
the Fascist patch. Truly, Fascism should have been there to begin with and I
can’t imagine wanting to play Civ II with Fundamentalism. Honestly, I haven’t
since 1998.[2]
Graphics
But what about the graphics and sound changes? When did that begin? Certainly,
throughout this process came the need to make more radical changes. Modpacks were
simply limited to the graphics that came with the game until the first person,
whom we owe a great debt of course, drew, scanned, cut and pasted the first
non-Microprose graphic for use in a modpack. Unknowingly, they changed the world
of Civ forever. The production of new graphics caught the attention of various
artists who happened to play the game and they simply had a hay day so to speak.
The greatest single contributor to early terrain graphics is probably Frederic
Meunie whose Tour de Eiffe website has downloads for new and original terrains.
Meunie, who is best known for his "Moonland" and "Stoneheng" modpacks, opened up
a whole new world of modpack creation. His work inspired other artists and soon
there were new units, people, cities, city screens, terrains, and icons.[3]
I have to credit Harlan Thompson and St. Leo for their outstanding contributions
by providing several complete graphics collections. Harlan Thompson has
contributed his "Extreme Collection of Units" (over 2000) along with other files
that have extreme collections of icons and cities as well. St. Leo is probably
best known for his "rip-off" graphics from other games such as Age of Empires,
Transport Tycoon, etc. all reformatted to fit the Civ II environment. Of course,
there are many other collections that have been added, most can be found in the
downloads section of Civilization Fanatics Center, Civil Ziggurat, Scenario
League, and The Great Icon Library.[4]
Icons have been and continue to be an after thought for many authors. Icons are
the little pictures that come up in the city screen of the game. You could
easily build a modpack and never change an icon. You could even give the icon a
completely unrelated name to what it is and I think most people would agree that
as long as you could get the desired effect, it doesn’t matter if the Water
Storage looks like an aqueduct because it still allows your city to grow beyond
a size of 8. Lately , I have noticed a renewed interest in making the icons
accurate. Once again, I believe it is part of the goal to make the perfect
modpack.
Other graphics that have come onto the scene have been the city screen and
people graphics. Radical changes in the city screen have been done by people to
enhance their modpack. The changing of the people.gif has brought about a lot
of new ideas. What makes the challenge of the people.gif so difficult is that
you really only have a very tiny area of screen to work with. The area for a
single face is only 810 sq. pixels which is roughly an area that is about 3/8
in x 7/16 in. You could draw a bigger face on your fingernail. I put together
probably the largest collection of people graphics to date.[5]
Sounds
I would like to take a moment to say that sounds didn’t catch up with the
creation of graphics for modpacks until recently. Mostly, I have to credit
Kevin Gilbert for his outstanding presentation of his Star Trek modpack which
used a large assortment of new sounds. Although Gilbert’s graphics were not the
same quality as other Civ graphics, it was the new wav files that created the
exceptional atmosphere of the modpack. Gilbert’s contribution was a landmark
for creativity and change that began to be a part of modpack writing as a
standard. Of course, other modpack writers most certainly used sounds before
Gilbert, but none of them placed the emphasis on ‘game play’ with the support
of these sounds. Star Trek simply wouldn’t be Star Trek without the sounds.
Tools
The modpack writer eventually became armed with a variety of tools, including
the GIF extractor written by Rune Berge for modifying the .dll files. The dlls
are the files that contain other pictures in Civ II such as the intro slides,
kings, and other graphics. A veteran modpack author can completely re-work the
original version of Civ II to look entirely different ask Tim F. Smith, author
of the Hi-Res modpack. He actually obtained photos of units, terrains and
everything else you can think of. He scanned them, and integrated them into a
modpack. Now, you can have photo resolution Civ II. Hats off to Tim.
The Modpack Manager
Matt Mcleod did modpack players and writers a favor and developed the Modpack
Manager. As a result, I for one know that you can change, test and enhance
any modpack much faster using the modpack manager because you can keep track
of your work along with other mods without filling your hard drive with
redundant copies of Civ II in a hundred different folders.
THE FIRST SCENARIOS
So now that you’ve read this entire treatise on modpacks, where does the
part about scenarios come in? Well, scenarios started in much the same way
as modpacks did. Very early on simultaneously, scenarios were almost a
little better than the saved games we used to play on the original version
of Civilization. Most people just kept trying to redo the second world war
and the Roman empire as a scenario. Eventually, authors of scenarios decided
those two scenarios were about as old and played out as one could get.
Scenario authors started to try different maps and as a result they began to
design entirely new themes to play. So, new scenarios started to pop up the
Civil War, American Revolution, Vietnam, Korea, WWI, WWIII, the Gulf War,
and eventually, even these scenarios became overplayed. Something was still
missing and Civ II players were getting anxious with anticipation. Scenario
authors found modpacks useful when writing a scenario, such as the Fascism
patch. Writing a scenario for a modpack opened up new possibilities. It
showed both modpack makers and scenario authors that there were other ways
to change the attributes of the game which meant that scenarios could be
enhanced tremendously.
Paul Cauldwell put a few units and sounds from Star Wars together and built
the Star Wars scenario back in 1998. Caldwell and many others had started a
new era in the production of scenarios. Not only were people using maps to
build scenarios, but now they were using modpack building techniques to
modify the rest of the game. Scenarios had become transformed into a cross
between mods and scenarios.
THE DIFFERENCE AND THE BOUNDARIES
Earlier, I had mentioned that the boundaries between modpack and scenario
were quite clear. It seems that scenarios have started to overlap beyond
their limits and they may appear almost as if they are a modpack. Many of
the high quality scenarios modify the units, sounds, people, terrains, and
icons. They even modify the rules.txt, game.txt, advice.txt, tutorial.txt,
labels.txt, and city.txt. All this is in addition to the events.txt (if
you have Conflicts in Civilizations version or higher). There are more
modifications in some scenarios than a lot of modpacks on the net. Yet,
there is still a very significant difference between modpacks and
scenarios. Modpacks do not have a scenario file.[6]
Modpacks are meant to be played with game generated maps, premade maps or
as a base for someone else’s scenario. If you install a modpack and run
it, you just get the modified version of Civ II. In contrast, most
scenarios can only be useful in as much as the scenario played. In most
cases, you can not use it to generate new games effectively. All that a
scenario is designed to do is play out a story or history and after a
specified number of turns it ends. So, what about all those modified
files I told you about earlier in scenarios? A player might say to me,
"I don’t have a modpack manager thingy. I just copied all the files for
your Antarctica patch into my main Civ II directory and when I’m not
playing the scenario, everything in any new game I start is like a
Antarctica modpack." Well, yes. Technically, scenario writers are
actually writing a modpack, then a scenario to go with it these days.
Highly modified scenarios for Classic Civ II are actually in short
supply. Only a few truly good ones are available because newer versions
of Civ II have more scenario editing tools.
In the Civfanatics forum, I started a thread about modpacks and
scenarios.[7] Patrick Choo (Kobayashi), author of the recent hit, Star
Trek: Dominion Wars (2001), brought up some interesting points:
"With regard to mod packs, if they contain scenarios, I generally just
treat the modpack as a scenario. Its hassel free and almost as good as
the real thing. The main things you lose are:
1. the pulldown menu terms
2. the starting screens/music when you load the civ
3. City screen (but you can compensate manually for this)"
For someone who generally plays and builds scenarios with higher
versions of Civilization such as Fantastic Worlds or MGE, this is the
general approach to modpacks, and probably a good one. As I see it,
modpacks are for Classic Civ II players. It is really a Classic Civ II
dilemma: Players of Classic Civ II can't get the same scenario play
with units and graphics unless they use it as a modpack. That is why I
recommend the Modpack Manager to Classic Civ II users. It does the same
thing for them just as Fantastic Worlds or MGE would for users of
scenarios, and you get everything from the Modpack and possibly a
compatible scenario if one happens to be included!
If you have the Fantastic Worlds add-on or MGE (which integrates a
modpack manager, graphics editing tools, and events editor) then you
can play all these specialized "modpack-like" scenarios but not enjoy
the benefits of the "residual" modpack when the scenario is not in
play. Most people don’t even miss the menu, the music or city screen,
because if they have never played Classic Civ II, then there is no
way they would know about it.
Generally, these ‘new’ modified scenarios are meant to be played with
Conflicts in Civilization, Fantastic Worlds, or Civilization II
Multiplayer Gold Edition anyway. Classic Civilization II versions
1.08 - 2.42 are really best suited to modpacks and I suggest using
the modpack manager. Scenarios are alright for Classic Civilization
II versions, but you miss out on the benefits of ‘events’ that can be
programmed into the scenario. Events add substantially to a scenario,
and most
scenarios wouldn’t work well without them. You really cannot play a
modpack on anything higher than 2.42 without a little trouble. I’ve
found that most modpacks ARE written for Classic Civ II and that when
they are used with higher versions of Civ the game sometimes crashes
for whatever reason. Veteran modpack writers are often able to write
modpacks with various solutions for each game version and some will
even include a "start scenario' (a scenario that is a started game and
saved as a scenario) so that higher versions can play the modpack
without complication.
Also, here is another thing to think about. There are some scenarios
out there that simply wouldn't make sense to be modpacks. Scenarios
that mirror a specific story or graphic display might be too difficult
to use. Let’s take Eyn's "Mafia" scenario which is a good one.
Consider, if you try to load it up as a modpack, you can't generate
a sensible map. You would have to play the map from the scenario every
single time because the graphics won't work.
I have run into this problem on a couple of ideas that players have
given me for a modpack; I'd love to make a Robocop or Simcity modpack.
However, these ideas are probably best suited to a scenario because a
story line and map can be developed better.
According to another answer I received in the forum by Erehwon (oryx):
"You bring up a good point that I'd like to expand on. I think that
most scenarios would not play well as modpacks. Many scenarios don't
have settlers or diplomats
~ don't have a full complement of wonders and improvments
~ have extremely short tech trees
~ just to name a few practices scenario makers employ
~ these things [combined] would tend to make for an unplayable regular
game."
THE OTHER THINGS TO KNOW
I would also like to point out that a lot of great scenarios are far
more plentiful for higher versions of Civ II as well.[8] Still, a lot of
really good modpacks continue to become available for Classic Civ II that
players of higher civ versions may tend not to notice. Your preference,
if you have any, will most likely depend on the version of Civ II that
you have. There may even be some modpacks out there that have such
uniqueness, a separate essay would have to be written on them.
Sacrificial Blood v1.0 and v2.0 by Shay Yates Roberts is one that comes
to mind. It is in its own category and likely to be the subject of a
separate commentary. Let me just say that if you download Sacrificial
Blood, treat it entirely as an new gaming experience.
In sum, modpacks are just a theme. They change the atmosphere of
Civilization II to
be some particular environment whether it’s historical, modern, fantasy,
sci-fi or some other great idea. Scenarios are a story that you play out.
They can be a book, a movie, a historical event or even a cartoon. I
strongly encourage everyone to try both, mostly because I think that
either can be fun. There are a number of what I call "transitional"
modpacks that bundle an actual scenario as a bonus or zip packages that
may include files for all versions. The Ocean Earth Modpack by Anonymous
Author, the Modern Modpack by Jeff Head, and the Star Trek Modpack by
Kevin Gilbert are all likely to fall into this category.[9] Whatever your
choice to play, whether it is a modpack or scenario, you can be sure
that your gaming experience will be enhanced. The best part about
modpacks and scenarios is that you can download them for free.[10]
If you would like to comment on this publication or add something that
you think has been left out, please contact John Valdez via email:
JValdezToo@yahoo.com
c. 2001 John Valdez (Rev. 1)
ANNOTATIONS
1. I have never known a modpack that did not have some problem
in the advice.txt, game.txt, tutuorial.txt, or other .txt files that
provide change to the environment for the game. Players should not
necessarily judge a modpack negatively because it is incomplete in one of
these files.
2. Some players find the "Stormtrooper' unit offensive with the
Nazi flag or symbol. Less offensive graphics are available on Steve
Strayer’s website or a player might have a better graphic to use in its
place. Strayer's opinion that historical accurateness is important to
understand the potential of the Civilization gaming environment is
considered controversial to some and welcomed by others.
3. Meunie was very inspirational to me and his work was
innovative. It does not mean to say that he inspired all modpack and
scenario authors to use graphics, but his work was certainly helpful and
you see his graphics quite often in other mods/scenarios of the past.
4. Be sure to credit collection author, graphic author, and the
game of origin when any graphics are used in the creation of any
scenario or modpack.
5. The Ultimate People Collection is available at:
www.civfanatics.com in the download section under "graphics."
6. Mostly, if you download a modpack you should not expect a
scenario file. There are some modpacks that include scenarios and their
are some authors who have written scenarios for modpacks by other authors.
Always read the "readme.txt" file to find out if there are any special
tid-bits you should know.
7. Forums are a great place to get an idea of what people are
doing with modpacks and scenarios. You can even download beta versions of
scenarios or modpacks to experience and even participate in the creations
process.
8. When I say that "great" scenarios are in larger supply for
higher versions, I mean to say that in comparison to the number of users
of each version, there are many more scenarios per group or category for
higher versions. A lot of authors have published Classic Civ II scenarios
and those scenarios virtually receive little play (in my experience and
communications with other players) than those scenarios with events files.
Thus, only versions with events and graphics changes get the popular
game play and quite often the popular vote.
9. Jeff Head had a website at one time for modpacks, but it has
shut down. Kevin Gilbert still has an active website
(http://www.hfl.monroe.edu/KG/CIV/CIV.htm) that has many different
graphics and other Star Trek scenarios by other authors. Ocean Earth 2
can be found at: http://geo5.free.fr/indexmil.html
10. I have actually seen websites that have attempted to get
contributions or a membership for scenario downloads. It is my opinion
that some of the best scenarios and modpacks are available for free on
the Internet. If someone tries to sell you a scenario without letting
you play it first, chances are-- it's not much of a scenario.
(
geocities.com/jvaldeztoo/cph/Downloads) (
geocities.com/jvaldeztoo/cph) (
geocities.com/jvaldeztoo)