I'll look into the .pak file extraction issue - can anyone who knows the games very well comment on if there are more files that need extraction?
For all games:
Caesar 3
Pharaoh/Cleopatra
Zeus/Posiedon
Emperor
Children of the Nile/Alexandria
Caesar 4
Hinterland
I was going to post a separate thread (but maybe here is ok) about asking which of those games on the list is the closest to being somewhat/fully moddable?
Which game either already has or may have the potential for most modding?
Will extracting the pak and any other files help to mod the games?
Or were these games not published with the option for fuller modding such as rts games (Age of Empires series) and as such, only using the featured scenario editor is the most that can be done?
A member posted elsewhere "Modding of the games has never been very popular for the old games, and since editing the game files can easily bring you into conflict with the Code of Conduct" - can anyone explain this in more detail?
And does this still apply as the games have been re-released on Gog.com? I've seen other games become freeware, abandonware or programmers independently and legally develop tools to mod games.
The problem with some game developers and these older 2d city builders is they seem to haven't thought of adding modding capability to the games. While there is still interest and scenarios are downloaded here at HG, I think if they had added modding then the games would have been expanded much more and still going with more activity.
Relevant modding threads:
Modding files?
Modding graphics??
Alternate Graphics
change the .pak files
Modding wishlist
Modding the Caesar III look and feel
Caesar 3 mod squad
Open Caesar 3 / Caesaria[This message has been edited by alincarpetman (edited 02-18-2015 @ 08:29 PM).]