I don't know of a way to pull them from the pak file. Is there a specific campaign you want the maps from? If its maps from the core game, you should check the cities folder on your computer, because many maps were put there when you installed the game (even maps that were not used in any core campaign).

If it's a map from one of my campaigns, let me know and I can send it to you. I tried to include all my custom maps in the campaign download zip file, but I might have missed some.

Also, you can find many maps for download here: http://emperor.heavengames.com/downloads/lister.php?category=maps

[This message has been edited by Gweilo (edited 12-18-2014 @ 08:50 AM).]

Thanks for the answer
I didn't notice that some maps have different names in the campaign and in the cities folder(e.g. Yin is called Anyang in the cities folder). Btw i discovered that if you copy a .pak file, change the extension from .pak to .set, and put that .set file in a folder with the exact name of the campaign, you can open the official campaigns with the editor and see the events, goals, buildings allowed, etc. The downside is that the empire map is nowhere to be found.

[This message has been edited by Calicrates (edited 01-08-2015 @ 10:19 PM).]

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).]

As far as I have been told, the CoC still applies.

Did anyone see this post here about pak extractor? It seems to have been overlooked. The download link doesn't work, maybe someone has a copy of this file?


UPDATE: A user Sandro has emailed me with a question about modding he PAK files, here is my reply for any modders and interested players:


1 Pecunia has some tools to download here and some info here.

2 A programmer has developed Quick BMS which extracts game archives for modding. You can download the program here.
You will need bms scripts, which can be downloaded here. Search for "Pharaoh", "Emperor" and after clicking on the link, in your internet browser select File -> Save Page As : pharaoh.bms, emperor.bms, etc.

After you install the program, load it, select the bms script you want, then select the file to extract.
I have successfully extracted some but not all files. In general these 4 games are not very moddable, so ultimately only a few changes can be made. I will post more info on that soon.

3 You can also read the programmer's (Luigi) comments on the extraction in his forum here. If you'd like to know more from him you can register there and post or email him.

Lastly you may have heard of the open source remake of Caesar 3 - Caesaria, which is what we need as for whatever reasons these older 2D city building games were made without full modding options which is too bad. Maybe newer games will include better modding in the future.

Are you planning on modding the games? If you have any ideas and questions post a new thread on these forums.

[This message has been edited by alincarpetman (edited 05-21-2016 @ 04:14 PM).]