Follow the linky to the Civ IV in-game World Builder Manual!

Now that CivIV is on the way, I'm sure some folks are just itching to get in and start modding. So here is the first of a few (that I know of) manuals on how to mod CivIV. :)

Dale

Civ4 in-game World Builder Manual available here:
Civ IV World Builder Manual (http://www.civfanatics.net/downloads/civ4/guides/WorldBuilderManual.zip)

In depth analysis of the WBS file available here:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=135669

IMPORTANT NOTE:
To enable the full features of the World Builder it is important you follow Soren's instructions. This will hopefully resolve all the issues encountered:


Originally Posted by Soren Johnson
Some of you may have noticed 'CheatCode=0' in the ini file. If you want to enable it, the cheat code is 'chipotle'. This enables various cheat options (doesn't work in mp, though).

The reason we are posting this is that it fixes the various issues with the world-builder (like not being able to place units in areas in the fog-of-war and the minimap being wrong) if you have it set.

Awesome! :cool:
Where did you find this?
I'll put it in my mod thread if you don't mind.

Check page 2. I wrote it as a beta tester. ;)

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
It says "Volume 1", does that mean you will be covering other topics as well?

Top stuff Dale. I have already written a 3 page outline and plan for my scenario adn I'm sure this manual will help me when I'm making decisions about how I want the scenario to play out.

Watch this space.

Well not literally this one ¬_¬, but I'm sure I'll post again soon asking n00by questions about how to do stuff on a practical level. :P

Dale

As it turns out I have more questions.

I have your modding manual and you state that you must first remove all the units on the map. I am following the instructions you wrote. Unfortunately, I get to the map, remove my units...but there are no other AI units visible on the map...none. So how do I actually see these units in order to remove them? Do I need to turn something else on?

I am editing this to add another question. I went ahead and continued with the modding instructions even though I could not find the other civilization's units to remove. So I changed everything to ocean. But I can still see the outlines of the original terrain, even though its all blue. Is this supposed to happen? I scroll out using my mouse wheel and can see the continents that were created even though they are blue. Any comments on this?

Next question. You state that the 3rd row of buttons in the Map Mode box are Mountain, Hills, Flatten, and Ocean. The 3rd button is Plains, and although you can change mountains or hills to plains, you still can't get rid of the original terrain indentations. Do these original terrain indentations dissapear when you go back into the game mode?

This is my 3rd edit. I am just gonna overlook all these oddball terrain contours that were the result of the original terrain. I am placing resources on this middle island. I tried to place copper, but can't see it. Why? I went to the button that has the Reveal All Tiles mode and selected the light blue button that says Reveal all Tiles. But this didn't help any at all.

OK..I went thru everysingle resource and placed it on the island to see what happens. As it turns out, I can see all of them..including fish, clams, crabs, and whales on the land except I cannot see copper, coal, iron, uranium, oil and when I select musicals, singles, or movies I get something that looks like a wheatfield. So what's up with all this?

Ok..this is my 4th edit and it is starting to get pretty frustrating. On page 12 of your manual you describe the save procedure. I followed it to the letter and placed it in the public maps folder. But when I went to reload it, I get failure message. I just found the problem though. You must EXIT the game before you can reload the map. Once I did that it loads ok. What a pain this editor is. Definitely some nasty little bugs.

5th edit. Well I got back into where I left off, and it appears all the oddball outlines of the original terrain are now gone as I stated in the second paragraph. So I answered that question myself. But my units are appearing out in the middle of the ocean..sheesh and I still can't see any of the AI units.

6th edit. I placed my own city as you describe on page 13 without a problem But again I selected one of the other civs and tried to place their city and can't see it. So I tried the Reveal all Tiles tab again and this time I could see where the city was placed. This is not a user friendly system by far.

7th edit. Well this about did it for me. I tried to place the other 2 civs to no avail. I got one of the AI civs to appear, I even tried selecting the Reveal all Tabs button on each one but then I happened to see a boat in the ocean next to my own city and wondered how did that get there..I didn't create any ships. I left clicked the little ship and a darn Russian city appeared out in the ocean next to my own city and a road appeared connecting the 2.

OK..that's it. This editor has really got to get some work on it. I have land stuff appearing out in the water, water things on land, some units and resources I can see while others I can't. Never press a delete on any item or use the erase function because you wipe out everything that is layered there..resources, units...rivers!

It was nice that you made a manual for modding. But since you did this in beta, obviously whatever tweaks they made once they went gold pretty much screwed this thing up.

Sabre21

Sorry but I don't have the retail version to be able to check all these issues.

It may just be that there were some changes done from all reports.

Dale

some of you may have noticed 'CheatCode=0' in the ini file. If you want to enable it, the cheat code is 'chipotle'. This enables various cheat options (doesn't work in mp, though).

The reason we are posting this is that it fixes the various issues with the world-builder (like not being able to place units in areas in the fog-of-war and the minimap being wrong) if you have it set.

Dale, could you mention that in your first post, since this is a sticky? (Or add it to the manual?)
edit: Soren's thread is stickied, but it would still be good to include in the manual if you can edit it.

Cheat code added to OP.

If anyone else finds issues with the World Builder please let me know. :)

Dale

When I turn the world into ocean, it seems like an imprint of where the land existed ends up on the map.

also, when I turn peaks into grassland, if the peak was shadowed, the shadow ends up on my grassland, so now I have grassland with a black spot.

Clearing to ocean gives me ocean with a black spot. any ideas why this is happening?

It's a peculiarity of the WBS. Just save it and reload it. It clears up. :)

Dale

As it turns out I have more questions.

I have your modding manual and you state that you must first remove all the units on the map. I am following the instructions you wrote. Unfortunately, I get to the map, remove my units...but there are no other AI units visible on the map...none. So how do I actually see these units in order to remove them? Do I need to turn something else on?

I am editing this to add another question. I went ahead and continued with the modding instructions even though I could not find the other civilization's units to remove. So I changed everything to ocean. But I can still see the outlines of the original terrain, even though its all blue. Is this supposed to happen? I scroll out using my mouse wheel and can see the continents that were created even though they are blue. Any comments on this?

Next question. You state that the 3rd row of buttons in the Map Mode box are Mountain, Hills, Flatten, and Ocean. The 3rd button is Plains, and although you can change mountains or hills to plains, you still can't get rid of the original terrain indentations. Do these original terrain indentations dissapear when you go back into the game mode?

This is my 3rd edit. I am just gonna overlook all these oddball terrain contours that were the result of the original terrain. I am placing resources on this middle island. I tried to place copper, but can't see it. Why? I went to the button that has the Reveal All Tiles mode and selected the light blue button that says Reveal all Tiles. But this didn't help any at all.

OK..I went thru everysingle resource and placed it on the island to see what happens. As it turns out, I can see all of them..including fish, clams, crabs, and whales on the land except I cannot see copper, coal, iron, uranium, oil and when I select musicals, singles, or movies I get something that looks like a wheatfield. So what's up with all this?

Ok..this is my 4th edit and it is starting to get pretty frustrating. On page 12 of your manual you describe the save procedure. I followed it to the letter and placed it in the public maps folder. But when I went to reload it, I get failure message. I just found the problem though. You must EXIT the game before you can reload the map. Once I did that it loads ok. What a pain this editor is. Definitely some nasty little bugs.

5th edit. Well I got back into where I left off, and it appears all the oddball outlines of the original terrain are now gone as I stated in the second paragraph. So I answered that question myself. But my units are appearing out in the middle of the ocean..sheesh and I still can't see any of the AI units.

6th edit. I placed my own city as you describe on page 13 without a problem But again I selected one of the other civs and tried to place their city and can't see it. So I tried the Reveal all Tiles tab again and this time I could see where the city was placed. This is not a user friendly system by far.

7th edit. Well this about did it for me. I tried to place the other 2 civs to no avail. I got one of the AI civs to appear, I even tried selecting the Reveal all Tabs button on each one but then I happened to see a boat in the ocean next to my own city and wondered how did that get there..I didn't create any ships. I left clicked the little ship and a darn Russian city appeared out in the ocean next to my own city and a road appeared connecting the 2.

OK..that's it. This editor has really got to get some work on it. I have land stuff appearing out in the water, water things on land, some units and resources I can see while others I can't. Never press a delete on any item or use the erase function because you wipe out everything that is layered there..resources, units...rivers!

It was nice that you made a manual for modding. But since you did this in beta, obviously whatever tweaks they made once they went gold pretty much screwed this thing up.

Sabre21

bump to this
answers please!

bump to this
answers please!

Are you experiencing the same problems?

I know that's not an answer, but Dale doesn't have the retail version of the game yet, so he has no way to check what's going on himself. If you could go through the same steps that Sabre21 tried, and see if you experience the same problems, it might help us all get the answers much sooner.

Okay, I don't have the retail version but I think I can answer the questions:

1. Finding AI units/cities:
A: Add the cheat code to the ini file as mentioned in the first post.

2. Terrain outlines in new oceans:
A: A peculiarity of the WBS. If you save then reload it it clears up.

3. Plains button (flatten icon):
A: It actually IS flatten, but mountains can have a terrain type. EG: you can assign a terrain type to a flat plot, then make it a mountain, and the plot will still have the terrain type.

4. Not seeing copper resource:
A: This is due to not having the cheat code in the ini file. Basically, if you go into the WBS without the cheat code, then because you don't have "copper mining" knowledge you can't see the resource. Also, you can't see in the WBS what you can't see in-game. So the cheat code in the ini file resolves this.

5. Units in the ocean:
A: You need to assign yourself some units where you wish to begin. If you do not it will assume the original starting location from before you started editing the map. If you don't assign units on the map to yourself, then the map doesn't know where to start you.

So basically, that cheat code should fix most of your issues.

Dale

Also when I enter the WBS and change things then exit the whole map is explored. How do I get it where the map is all unexplored like a new game? I did use the cheat code and I can see all the things you were talking about (THANKS). I just want to make a map and place the units where I want then play like I started the game from scratch.

Thanks
Fenryial

I'm having a lot of trouble with the rivers in the world builder. :mad: The random maps do weird stuff with rivers and I often want to fix them so they look 'right.'

When I go into the world builder I can add rivers, but they end up all over the place and usually oriented wrong and often have four tributaries entering the intersection of the tiles.

Is there any way to make this behave better? I end up erasing a lot (of bonuses, etc.) and which part of the river is erased seems arbitrary. Guidance? :confused:

-Berserk

Can't seem to unzip the World Builder Manual file. I tried two different extractors but I keep getting an error :(

Having the same problem as Thorn, giving a crc error when I try to extract it using winzip... any ideas

Try this one then: http://members.dodo.com.au/~thesdale/Manual.zip

I'll let Thunderfall know.

Dale

I didnt have that problem at all. Im not sure what could be wrong. I have winzip 9.0 on my system and its over writing the XP default.

Fenryial

Try this one then: http://members.dodo.com.au/~thesdale/Manual.zip

I'll let Thunderfall know.

Dale


That worked! Thanks so much. I can't wait to try some of this (if I can ever stop playing long enough to do so :D )

worked for me too Dale, Thanks:)

Re-uploaded the file.. This time I downloaded it after upload to make sure it's not corrupted. :)

Anyway in the WB to move the cursor over a item (Resource) and it tells you what is there. Or a option that would do that. Sometimes when in it I see some of the hard to tell resources and I forget what they are. I thought it would be easy if it was like In Game and tell you what was in the square you were over?

Thanks in advance
Fenryial

Is there any info on that new feature they added in the 1.09 patch? The "regenerate map" button, in other words?

I tried using it but it didn't seem to do anything. Wondering if I'm doing something wrong.

A helpful trick I discovered when using WB. I noticed that if I have already saved a WB file under a certain name (say, My Game), try it out, and then I go into WB and tweak it some more, and then try saving it under the same name as before (i.e., My Game), the changes will not be saved when I load the same game. From comments in this thread it sounds like restarting the game may solve this (correct me if I'm wrong). But I also found that simply saving it under a different name (i.e., My Game 2) will cause the save to retain all changes, and you can immediately load without needing to exit and restart.

A helpful trick I discovered when using WB. I noticed that if I have already saved a WB file under a certain name (say, My Game), try it out, and then I go into WB and tweak it some more, and then try saving it under the same name as before (i.e., My Game), the changes will not be saved when I load the same game. From comments in this thread it sounds like restarting the game may solve this (correct me if I'm wrong). But I also found that simply saving it under a different name (i.e., My Game 2) will cause the save to retain all changes, and you can immediately load without needing to exit and restart.

I noticed that too. I'm guessing the cached data is interfering. Or at least the problem vanished when I shutdown the game, emptied the cache and started it back up. All the changes stayed put after that.

Ok - Im very keen to try creating some cool new units for Civ 4. I can use 3d Studio and other 3d modelling software such as autocad, maya and rhino. Looking at the graphics in the game, they dont look too complicated - simple polygon 3d models, probably solids with mapped textures.

Problem: There does not seem to be currently a way to modify or create new units, however, other than apply skins (different colours) to the existing models.

My summary of the notes on modding unit graphics in Stickys "modders Guide to Civ 4" (which you may wish to check out) is this:

the graphics used in the game were created on a piece of software called "milkshake 3d" and are NIF files, which are not currently exportable.

Does anyone know how to import the NIF files into 3D studio, or export them back?
is this "milkshake 3d" software (whatever that is!:)) available?

the models cant be too complex... surely if they can be opened and saved in more common modelling software they could be accessible. it would be very easy to manipulate the existing 3d models to create new units, and with some more effort create new ones. then scenarios on Civ 4 will really fly.
anybody any ideas?

...and with the latest patch, the "regenerate map" function works! Yay! ;)

It may be my browser, but neither Thunderfall's link nor Dale's link could be accessed. I get "host not found" in the error report. I'm behind a government firewall, so maybe that has something to do with it.

Very respectfully,

Cowabunga

It may be my browser, but neither Thunderfall's link nor Dale's link could be accessed. I get "host not found" in the error report. I'm behind a government firewall, so maybe that has something to do with it.

Very respectfully,

Cowabunga

I think it's being behind a government firewall :p.

I was able to download it fine.

Req

Should this not be in Tutorials Referances & Guides?

(Along with maybe a few other of these stickies...)

Dale
I am editing this to add another question. I went ahead and continued with the modding instructions even though I could not find the other civilization's units to remove. So I changed everything to ocean. But I can still see the outlines of the original terrain, even though its all blue. Is this supposed to happen? I scroll out using my mouse wheel and can see the continents that were created even though they are blue. Any comments on this?


I've got exactly the same problem, but saving and reloading it doesn't seem to do the job. I can still see the outlines of the continents that were there, which looks awfull :( Are there any other known solutions to this problem?

The link on your post appears to have some issues ... the server will not respond (as if they are blocking zip downloads).

Can you put this on a server where it could be downloaded?

The civfanatics.net server seems to be having problems at the moment. That link should work once it's back up again.

When I try to enter the world builder on my custom game, it's simply not on the menu, but if i load a scenario the world builder is there. what am I doing wrong? Plz help:confused:

Have you got the "No cheating" option checked? With that check the World builder isn't available.

That was the prblem i had checked "No Cheating" as standard in the config file. so problem solved

for some reason my 'CheatCode=0' line is missing from my .ini file. I've only went in once to turn on copying every other scanline and now it's gone. Is there any way to replace it without messing things up?

hi
how do i accesse that feactures, my config.ini have not that line too

sorry, that question is for another threard

I couldn't find a way to access the WorldBuilder without starting a game so I opened an ongoing game and started editing the map, resources...etc.

Does anyone here know how to do the following:

1- I want to save the map, resources as a scenario, or at a minimum, export the map for use in a different game so I don't lose hours of work in World Builder - How do I do this? When I save my work it just takes me back to the current game in progress. (in short, I want to import my map into a different game)

2- I am not thrilled with the selection of civs in the game I opened and edited in WorldBuilder and would like to change them and use different civs. I can't seem to figure out how to do that. The dropdown only shows the civs that were selected at the beginning of the game. I would also like to play a new custom game on my map and define different the victory conditions for the scenario. I don't see where to find these functions in WorldBuilder.

Have a look in the tutorial forum for the thread explaining how to read a world builder save file. It explains what you need to change to change the civs in the scenario.

Dale,

Thanks for the great guide, but I have a question. On the City Edit Mode dialog box (and I think on one other) it has a button for Add Script. This generates a popup asking for a Script Name, but I don't know what it does, and your manual doesn't describe it. What is this for?

I honestly have no idea whatsoever. No information has ever come from Firaxis about those options.

OK, thanks. At least I wasn't missing something obvious, then!

When I go into the world builder I can add rivers, but they end up all over the place and usually oriented wrong and often have four tributaries entering the intersection of the tiles.
Is there any way to make this behave better? I end up erasing a lot (of bonuses, etc.) and which part of the river is erased seems arbitrary. Guidance? :confused:
-Berserk

I have the same problems and results. Plots are always "isNOfRiver" (with RiverWEDirection=0 or 1) and/or "isNOfRiver" (with RiverNSDirection=0 or 1) but the editor defies that accuracy if it's just "klick start and klick end of river".
Am I missing hotkeys for detailed "place river on the right that is flowing down" commands?

I am working on my first scenario and should b edone by Sunday. However I do have one problem which is; I do not know how to change the calender. What I mean is that my start day is in 1790 and it goes by defualt calender and skips to 1830. Is there any way to fix this on notepad so it increases by week?

is it ok to enter the worlbuilder in the middle of the game to put some resources like stone and ivory near your cities? is that cheating? how will it affect the game?

is it ok to enter the worlbuilder in the middle of the game to put some resources like stone and ivory near your cities? is that cheating? how will it affect the game?
To answer your first question, yes it is okay.
To answer your second question, yes it is cheating...but I won't tell if you don't...have fun...
To answer your last question, "how will it affect the game?" Well, that depends on what you change...if you add stone near a city of yours and your goal is to build a wonder built quicker with stone, then you will have effectively sped up production of that wonder. If you are adding oil near one of your cities, then the game is changed in that you now have access to oil...other than that, there shouldn't be any catastrophic consequences or anything...

i made a map that was 70w by 79h . i was wondering what would be the easiest way to edit the map to be this size. i figured id have to do it first by python than edit that with world builder . Not sure though please respond back if you can give any help or advice on how to do this .

Question, I looked through this tread and noticed it not being mentioned anywhere but how I change the other civ's civics? and religion for that matter? I'm working on a scenario and changing civics is only available with the first one I started out on. Is there a trick to it?

Try this one then: http://members.dodo.com.au/~thesdale/Manual.zip

I'll let Thunderfall know.

Dale

Also can't open the PDF. Tried this, but I "don't have permission to access". Any suggestion?:confused:

So How much can youactullay do in the wb

Does anyone know the key combinations that all work within the Worldbuilder, and their effects? Eg Ctrl-G, Ctrl-D...(?)

Problem I have with the world builder is if I try and change an area from land to water it turns a really dark shade of blue, almost like a black-blue color (I might be off, I can't see the differance between color shades very well). The best way to describe it is that it's almost like someone poured oil into the water, if that makes more sense.

Kyle

How do you even begin to create scenarios? Or even access Python for that matter... I have some pretty cool ideas but so far the Worldbuilder is nothing like Civ 3.

I wish I'd known of this sooner. I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out how to alter diplomacy.:(

Wondering if anyone else has had this problem, when i go into the WB and then try to Exit to Main Menu it crashes to desktop. I have written Dale before and he suggested that it might be a button for the terrain that caused this. But i think i checked all the buttons for the terrain, and it still happens, ANYBODY?????

This manual was really helpful! Thanks for posting it Dale!

Follow the linky to the Civ IV in-game World Builder Manual!

Now that CivIV is on the way, I'm sure some folks are just itching to get in and start modding. So here is the first of a few (that I know of) manuals on how to mod CivIV. :)

Dale

Civ4 in-game World Builder Manual available here:
Civ IV World Builder Manual (http://www.civfanatics.net/downloads/civ4/guides/WorldBuilderManual.zip)

In depth analysis of the WBS file available here:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=135669

IMPORTANT NOTE:
To enable the full features of the World Builder it is important you follow Soren's instructions. This will hopefully resolve all the issues encountered:

Very very good idea. Thank you for bring this up. I have always wanted one.