Colossus Variant HOWTO

The Variant Pack

How do I use a Variant Pack ?

Just use the Load External Variant button and open the VAR file inside the variant directory, then start a new game. That should be enough. Alternatively, some variants are now supplied in the standard distribution ; simply use the pop-up menu to select which variant to play ( Default is the Classic Titan ruleset).

What's in a Variant Pack ?

A Variant Pack should be a directory (folder) containing:

A VAR file, that describes the other files
CRE , TER and MAP files that describe the variant
A Battlelands subdirectory that contains the new and/or changed Battlelands
An images subdirectory that contains the new and/or changed pictures.
A Hint Java source file that helps the AI play your variant. This is required if you have non-standard Tower numbers. (If you don't know Java, ask for help on the colossus-developers list.)

The various files are described in details inside the file formats document .

How do I create a Variant Pack ?

There's no user-friendly way yet. The easiest way is to build the directory and copy the default files in it, then you can change them with any text editor. The contents of the files are described in the file formats document . You can also use other variants as examples. Warning: almost no sanity checks are performed, and some combinations might give strange and/or unexpected results, particurly in Battlelands (slope next to a tree, or cliff between two bogs...). Also, ensuring consistency between the files is up to the variant author. Battlelands can also be created using the graphical tool BattlelandsBuilder . There may be an easier (read: graphical) way later for CRE , TER and MAP files, but don't hold your breath, as nobody is working on it yet.

Frequently Asked Questions

My creature won't load, or my creature is displayed as a dull grey square

The creature's name (the first column of a CRE file) should not contain spaces or other non-alphabetical characters (you can't use digits yet), unless put between doublequotes ("). i.e. proper names are "KillerRabbitTwo" or "Killer Rabbit 2" . The same name must be used in the CRE and TER files. The creature's name is also used as the base name of the pictures. So a KillerRabbitTwo will use the file KillerRabbitTwo.gif in the subdirectory images . Spaces will be replaced by underscores (_), and double quotes will be ignored. So "Killer Rabbit 2" will use Killer_Rabbit_2.gif . You should be able to re-use an existing name, as the images subdirectory is accessed before the default GIF files.