SE4TTV : Version 1.1 available

Lemmy · #1 July 8th, 2002, 08:55 PM

get it here, (minimally) tested with SE4 Gold, v1.67
http://www.xs4all.nl/~munishm/se4stuff/se4ttv_v1.zip
screenshot

Lot's of things to tell, first, Tech Tree Viewer is waaay to long, so it's called TTV from now on, or Lemmy's TTV, in case another one is made by someon else

Next, uhm, it's faaaar from finished, to sum it up,
Current features:

Allows (not so) easy change of mod dirs by editing se4tv.ini
Shows the tech tree in a graphical way (a la civ III)

Upcoming features:

Changing mods without having to exit the program.
Tech/component/facility/intel/vehicle icons will be added to the techbutton, or techwindow
Tech research costs to be included in techwindow
Whatever else that comes to mind

Known issue(s):In Facility.txt, at the facility Space Port there is this line (line 429 IIRC):
Ability 2 Type := None
delete it, as far as i know, this *should* cause no problems with savegames, cos it says there is only 1 ability, no need to mention that ability 2 is None. (duh)
If you want to be sure, copy the data dir to another location, and delete the line in there, then make sure se4tv.ini points to that dir.
So far, that's all i found.
How to run it?double click on run.bat

You should have java installed, but that is included on the cd, in the file called PlayByWeb_RealTimeClient.zip, unzip and run j2re-1_4_0-beta3-win.exe to install the Java Runtime Environment.
Note: haven't actually tested it with that JRE Version, but it should work.

In case anyone is interested in the source code, go here:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~munishm/se4stuff/se4ttv_v1src.zip
it is poorly documented for now, so enter at your own risk

If you do enter (you brave soul), the interesting/special part (how to place the buttons) is in techviewer\TreePanel.java
Please don't copy any code without me knowing about it.

EDIT: changed title....

[ August 23, 2002, 16:02: Message edited by: Lemmy ]

Lemmy · #2 July 8th, 2002, 09:21 PM

in awe of my superb program the posting rates drop to an all time low...or maybe because of the sloooooow load time...

Lemmy · #3 July 8th, 2002, 09:22 PM

in awe of my superb program the posting rates drop to an all time low...or maybe because of the sloooooow load time...

Ed Kolis · #4 July 9th, 2002, 09:02 PM

Suggestions, eh? Well, I didn't actually download your program, but just from looking at the screenshot I can see something it could use... You know how each level of the same tech has its own box? Well, that's going to make the whole tech tree take up a LOT of space! (Imagine the Propulsion tree... shudder!) What I'm suggesting is condensing all the nodes that don't have something branching from them. So instead of this:

Prop I -> Prop II -> Prop III -> Prop IV -> Prop V

By the way, what happens when a tech has 2 or more prerequisites? Do you actually have wild lines going all over the place, or does it just branch from the first one?

Ed Kolis · #5 July 9th, 2002, 09:05 PM

Gaah, I accidentally hit send too soon.

OK, what I meant to say is, instead of this

Prop I -> Prop II -> Prop III -> Prop IV -> Prop V ...
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,|--> HEF Weapons

you have this

Prop I-IV -> Prop V -> Prop VI -> Prop VII ...
,,,,,,,,|--> HEF Weapons

Lemmy · #6 July 9th, 2002, 10:13 PM

Quote:

By the way, what happens when a tech has 2 or more prerequisites? Do you actually have wild lines going all over the place, or does it just branch from the first one?

running wild....for now, and it branches from the first one.
If there then comes a tech which also leads the a tech already "added" to the tree, a line will be drawn between those two techs also, no matter their placement.
Good point btw, i forgot about that one.

Lemmy · #7 July 9th, 2002, 10:20 PM

Quote:

OK, what I meant to say is, instead of this

Prop I -> Prop II -> Prop III -> Prop IV -> Prop V ...
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,|--> HEF Weapons

you have this

Prop I-IV -> Prop V -> Prop VI -> Prop VII ...
,,,,,,,,|--> HEF Weapons

hmm, yes, but then when you would click on the Prop I-IV button, the popup window with the listing of the component would contain too much information, about all those 4 techs.
I thought about it when i started, but it would overcomplicate things because then one button should be able to refer to multiple techlevels instead of just one.

Lemmy · #8 July 10th, 2002, 01:15 AM

one thing i forgot to mention, you should edit se4tv.ini, and change the MostRecentlyUsedDir entry to your se4 data dir, or mod data dir.

any suggestions are welcome btw

Skulky · #9 July 12th, 2002, 03:29 AM

This is so cool, i printed the tech tree that was in a txt file by somone, and now i can see it "a la civ2"

great work can't wait for more improvements

[ July 12, 2002, 02:29: Message edited by: Skulky ]

Spuzzum · #10 July 12th, 2002, 07:44 AM

This utility now forces me to actually work on my mod. I'm not sure if I should thank you, or get mad at you. ;-)

Great work! Always good to have utilities like this one. It especially helps me with my AI-writing -- I can get a tech tree and then write down the order that the AI would pursue it in, and convert that into the appropriate research format.

Thanks bunches. =)
(That's the good thanks, not the sarcastic thanks, mind you. ;-) )