Modding Civics: A Crash Course v. 1.1

Disclaimer: Never edit the origional files. Make a mod to experiment or back up the origionals!

The following will give you a brief, crash course in editing the civics options for Civ 4. It's written by me, ArbitraryGuy. It may assume that you know a little bit about modding already. First, the main file to edit:

/GameInfo/Civ4CivicInfos.xml
This is the main file for editing civics. You may edit the existing civics, or add on your own. Just make sure you put in "inside" a <CivicInfo> ... </CivicInfo>. The following is what goes on inside of it and a description of what each value does:
---------------------------
<CivicInfo>
To "open" a new civic.

<CivicOptionType>CIVICOPTION_GOVERNMENT</CivicOptionType>
The type of civic this option is. The types are listed in Civ4CivicOptionInfos.xml.

<Type>CIVIC_DESPOTISM</Type>
How the civic is tagged throughout the XML. You can change these if you wish, or add more... but you'll have to edit more files (see bottom). For ease, I'd just keep them the same, if possible.

<Description>TXT_KEY_CIVIC_DESPOTISM</Description>
replace "TXT...DESPOTISM" with the name of your civic

<Civilopedia>TXT_KEY_CIVIC_DESPOTISM_PEDIA</Civilopedia>
replace "TXT...DESPOTISM" with the desired civilopedia text (or none)

<Strategy>TXT_KEY_CIVIC_DESPOTISM_STRATEGY</Strategy>
replace "TXT...DESPOTISM" with the tool tip text in the civics menu (or none)

<Button>,Art/Interface/Buttons/Civics/testism.dds,Art/Interface/Buttons/Civics_Civilizations_Religions_Atlas.dds,5,1</Button>
I don't know what the first file does (it doesn't show up ever in the game, AFAIK), but the second file looks up the icons for the civic in the civics_civilizations_religions_atlas.dds file. Here, it returns the icon in the 5th column, 1st row Edit the file w/ a dds editor and change these coordinates if needed to change the picture.

<TechPrereq>NONE</TechPrereq>
Replace "NONE" with the key of the required tech. e.g. TECH_MONARCHY or TECH_CONSTITUTION.

<iAnarchyLength>1</iAnarchyLength>
How long anarchy lasts when switching to this civic

<Upkeep>UPKEEP_LOW</Upkeep>
UPKEEP_LOW, UPKEEP_MEDIUM, UPKEEP_HIGH... pretty self explanitory.

<iAIWeight>0</iAIWeight>
I don't know what this does.

<iGreatPeopleRateModifier>0</iGreatPeopleRateModifier>
% bonus to great people production in each city. Put in values like 50, 23, 18, etc...

<iStateReligionGreatPeopleRateModifier>0</iStateReligionGreatPeopleRateModifier>
% bonus to great people production in a city w/ the state religion. Put in whole numbers.

<iDistanceMaintenanceModifier>0</iDistanceMaintenanceModifier>
% increase/decrease in distance maintenance costs (positive or negavite values okay)

<iNumCitiesMaintenanceModifier>0</iNumCitiesMaintenanceModifier>
% increase/decrease in # of cities part of maintenenance costs (+/- values okay)

<iExtraHealth>0</iExtraHealth>
# of extra health per city

<iFreeExperience>0</iFreeExperience>
# of free XP new units receive

<iWorkerSpeedModifier>0</iWorkerSpeedModifier>
% worker speed. Put in whole numbers. I'm guessing negative is okay.

<iImprovementUpgradeRateModifier>0</iImprovementUpgradeRateModifier>
Is the modifier for cottage, hamlet, village, etc growth rates.

<iMilitaryProductionModifier>0</iMilitaryProductionModifier>
% bonus to military production spead (+/- probably okay)

<iBaseFreeUnits>0</iBaseFreeUnits>
# of base free units

<iBaseFreeMilitaryUnits>0</iBaseFreeMilitaryUnits>
# of base free military units

<iFreeUnitsPopulationPercent>0</iFreeUnitsPopulationPercent>
Free units based on population

<iFreeMilitaryUnitsPopulationPercent>0</iFreeMilitaryUnitsPopulationPercent>
Free military units based on population

<iGoldPerUnit>0</iGoldPerUnit>
Cost in gold per unit per turn (negative doesn't work... i.e. getting paid for units)

<iGoldPerMilitaryUnit>0</iGoldPerMilitaryUnit>
Cost in gold per military unit per turn (negative doesn't work... i.e. getting paid for units)

<iHappyPerMilitaryUnit>0</iHappyPerMilitaryUnit>
# of happy faces created in a city per stationed military unit (negative has wierd effects)

<bMilitaryFoodProduction>0</bMilitaryFoodProduction>
Food produces military units (like workers, settlers?)

<iMaxConscript>0</iMaxConscript>
# of units you may conscript per turn

<bNoUnhealthyPopulation>0</bNoUnhealthyPopulation>
1=yes, 0=no

<bBuildingOnlyHealthy>0</bBuildingOnlyHealthy>
?Eliminates unhealthiness from buildings? 1=yes, 0-no

<iLargestCityHappiness>0</iLargestCityHappiness>
# of happy faces created in your largest cities

<iWarWearinessModifier>0</iWarWearinessModifier>
% change in war weariness unhappiness. +/- values okay, use whole numbers

<iFreeSpecialist>0</iFreeSpecialist>
# of free specialists per city

<iTradeRoutes>0</iTradeRoutes>
# of extra trade routes per city

<bNoForeignTrade>0</bNoForeignTrade>
1=yes (no foreign trade), 0=no (foreign trade allowed)

<iCivicPercentAnger>0</iCivicPercentAnger>
Causes unhappiness in civs w/o this civic. Emancipation has this value set to 400. What the exact value means, I don't know.

<bStateReligion>0</bStateReligion>
? This has a value of 1 for all the religion choices... it may enable a state religion.

<bNoNonStateReligionSpread>0</bNoNonStateReligionSpread>
With a value 1, there will be no spread of state religions.

<iStateReligionHappiness>0</iStateReligionHappiness>
Happiness caused in a city with the state religion.

<iNonStateReligionHappiness>0</iNonStateReligionHappiness>
Happiness caused in a city with religion other than state. Negative values may or may not cause unhappiness... I tried it and on the civics screen it said -1 unhappiness... needs further testing of negative values.

<iStateReligionUnitProductionModifier>0</iStateReligionUnitProductionModifier>
% unit production bonus in cities with state religion. e.g. 50, 75, 1000.

<iStateReligionBuildingProductionModifier>0</iStateReligionBuildingProductionModifier>
% building production bonus in cities with state religion. e.g. 50, 75, 1000.

<iStateReligionFreeExperience>0</iStateReligionFreeExperience>
# of free experience new units get in a city with the state religion.

<YieldModifiers/>
Changes production bonuses for food, commerce, and shields in each city. Replace this with the following to get an effect (be sure to remove my comments):
<YieldModifiers>
<iYield>0</iYield> ;food % bonus
<iYield>0</iYield> ;hammers % bonus
<iYield>0</iYield> ;commerce % bonus
</YieldModifiers>


<CapitalYieldModifiers/>
Yield modifiers for the capital city. See above but add "Capital" on the opening and closing lines. (NOT ON THE iYield lines)

<TradeYieldModifiers/>
??? Don't know yet... haven't experimented with it.

<CommerceModifiers/>
Changes science, culture, and tax level bonuses in each city. Replace with the following to get an effect (be sure to remove my comments):
<CommerceModifiers>
<iCommerce>0</iCommerce> ;% bonus to taxes
<iCommerce>0</iCommerce> ;% bonus to science
<iCommerce>0</iCommerce> ;% bonus to culture
</CommerceModifiers>

<CapitalCommerceModifiers/>
Changes science, culture, and tax level bonuses for the capital. I'm pretty sure that it's similar as above, but add in "capital" on the opening and closing lines (NOT on the icommerce lines)

<SpecialistExtraCommerces/>
Adds extra commerce for specialists, e.g. each specialist produses. Implement as follows using integers rather than % (else each priest would have, like +50 culture).

<SpecialistExtraCommerces>
<iCommerce>0</iCommerce> ;# bonus to tax per specialist
<iCommerce>0</iCommerce> ;# bonus to science per specialist
<iCommerce>0</iCommerce> ;# bonus to culture per specialist
</SpecialistExtraCommerces>


<Hurrys/>
For hurrying.
For gold:

<Hurry>
<HurryType>HURRY_GOLD</HurryType>
<bHurry>1</bHurry>
</Hurry>
For pop rushing:
<Hurry>
<HurryType>HURRY_POPULATION</HurryType>
<bHurry>1</bHurry>
</Hurry>

<SpecialBuildingNotRequireds/>
Makes monestaries not required for missionaries. Haven't experimented with others. Here's what that looks like:
<SpecialBuildingNotRequireds>
<SpecialBuildingNotRequired> <SpecialBuildingType>SPECIALBUILDING_MONASTERY</SpecialBuildingType>
<bNotRequired>1</bNotRequired>
</SpecialBuildingNotRequired>
</SpecialBuildingNotRequireds>


<SpecialistValids/>
Enables unlimeted specialists of various types in cities (like Caste System). Put in as may as you'd like. Example:
<SpecialistValids>
<SpecialistValid>
<SpecialistType>SPECIALIST_ARTIST</SpecialistType>
<bValid>1</bValid>
</SpecialistValid>
</SpecialistValids>

Try it with ARTIST, MERCHANT, SCIENTIST, PRIEST, ENGINEER. I think those should all work.

<BuildingHappinessChanges/>
Buildings make more happiness. I haven't experimented with unhappiness, but I'm interested to know if it'd work.
Example (make the palace give 400 happiness):
<BuildingHappinessChanges>
<BuildingHappinessChange>
<BuildingType>BUILDING_PALACE</BuildingType>
<iHappinessChange>400</iHappinessChange>
</BuildingHappinessChange>
</BuildingHappinessChanges>
Just put in a valid building name and you're all set.

<FeatureHappinessChanges/>
Happiness from terrian. Yea! Example:
<FeatureHappinessChange>
<FeatureType>FEATURE_JUNGLE</FeatureType>
<iHappinessChange>1</iHappinessChange>
</FeatureHappinessChange>
Haven't experimented with other terrains (other than the ones for environmental economic civic) yet, but it should work.

<ImprovementYieldChanges/>
Makes worker improvements produce more stuff. Don't use comments, though.

<ImprovementYieldChanges>
<ImprovementYieldChange>
<ImprovementType>IMPROVEMENT_WORKSHOP</ImprovementType>
<ImprovementYields>
<iYield>1</iYield> ;# of extra food
<iYield>0</iYield> ; # of extra shields
<iYield>0</iYield> ; # of extra commerce??
</ImprovementYields>
</ImprovementYieldChange>
</ImprovementYieldChanges>


<WeLoveTheKing>TXT_KEY_CIVIC_WE_LOVE_DESPOT</WeLoveTheKing>
Replace "TXT...DESPOT" with new text the "We love the XXXXXX" day.

</CivicInfo>
To close the civic.

-----------------------------------
Important, other files you MAY HAVE TO EDIT the following

/GameInfo/Civ4CivicOptionInfos.xml
Changing the name of civics catagories. Just change the descriptions with normal text. I wouldn't mess around with the option types.

Note: If you change any <Type>'s or add new ones, make sure you do the proper adjustments to the following files. Or you may need to adjust them for your scenario anyway:

/GameInfo/Civ4VoteInfo.xml
To change civics appearing in UN resolutions.

/Civilizations/Civ4LeaderHeadInfos.xml
To change perfered (favorite) civics.

/Civilizations/Civ4CivilizationInfos.xml
To change default (beginning game) civics.

Well, that's it. Let me know if I left out anything, or if I'm totally wrong about something. If you know what one of the things does that I don't... please inform me. Thanks, and happy modding!

I haven't played with the civic's really but I think these explanations are correct according to the other civics in the file.

<iImprovementUpgradeRateModifier>0</iImprovementUpgradeRateModifier>
I believe, this is the percentage that it adds to the speed of Building city improvements. ie Forge or Broadcast Tower

<iFreeUnitsPopulationPercent>0</iFreeUnitsPopulationPercent>
This allows you to keep a number of units without upkeep on them relative to your (I think total) population.

<iFreeMilitaryUnitsPopulationPercent>0</iFreeMilitaryUnitsPopulationPercent>
Same as above but with military units.

Thanks BrentRitchie! I'm going to test them later to make sure they're correct.

<iAIWeight>0</iAIWeight>
My guess is this is basicly a "how much does the AI want this civic". Changing it would probably be a very bad idea for now, as there's not much info on how the AI functions.

<iAIWeight>0</iAIWeight>
My guess is this is basicly a "how much does the AI want this civic". Changing it would probably be a very bad idea for now, as there's not much info on how the AI functions.

Yeah, by default in the game they're all zero... so it may or may not have any functionality in the current build.

<iImprovementUpgradeRateModifier>0</iImprovementUpgradeRateModifier>
Is the modifier for cottage, hamlet, village, etc growth rates.

Updated to 1.1

Hell, seems this got lost. It should be in the how to forum. Please move it someone!

<iMilitaryProductionModifier>0</iMilitaryProductionModifier>
% bonus to military production spead (+/- probably okay)

Negative values are OK, but you never get less than the base production for the city even though the total hammers can display negative.

<iHappyPerMilitaryUnit>0</iHappyPerMilitaryUnit>
# of happy faces created in a city per stationed military unit (negative has wierd effects)

The negative value gives you -unhappiness, so if you used -1 and put a unit in a city with 1 unhappy citizen, he becomes happy.


<TradeYieldModifiers/>
??? Don't know yet... haven't experimented with it.

I had a quick play with this, using the same syntax as the other yield modifiers let me give trade routes extra gold (as a percent), I haven't tried anything else yet though.



<SpecialBuildingNotRequireds/>
Makes monestaries not required for missionaries. Haven't experimented with others.

I played with this to try and allow police state to let you build spys. I put scotland yard in here, but it only let me build scotland yard, not the spies. This requires some more experimenting. I suspect it's related to how the special_building is defined in the buildinginfos.xml.


If I manage to figure anything else out I'lll post it here

Does anyone know how to make a specific religion needed for a civic change, let's say for example christianity is needed to change to the civic universal suffrage or so.

Thanks in advance for some help, I need this option urgently for my mod

Is there a way to make a city produce extra gold based on what buildings are in it?

I was messing with the the yield modifiers to recieve a 50% commerce boost

<YieldModifiers>
<iYield>0</iYield>
<iYield>0</iYield>
<iYield>50</iYield>
</YieldModifiers>

but I keep getting alot of errors when i load the game. This is the only change I've made. Any ideas anyone?

good god man! thats not a percentage thats number of coins. my guess is thats its way too high, the game can't handle it.
edit sorry i mess up you should have it right , just make sure its between <CivicInfo> and </CivicInfo>

that's so weird. Now that I bought Beyond the sword and edit those files, it works fine

Hah i spoke too soon. So as soon as I added those 5 lines to the civics .xml, i get the error again.

failed loading xml

hmmm the only other thing i can think of is indentation, that probably needs to be perfect too.

I think i indented it right too, i just copy and pasted one from another line in the .xml I've noticed whenever I add new lines, I get that error message.

I am currently making a mod for bts and I need to know exactly how the taxes in Civilization work.

<CommerceModifiers/>
Changes science, culture, and tax level bonuses in each city. Replace with the following to get an effect (be sure to remove my comments):
<CommerceModifiers>
<iCommerce>25</iCommerce> ;% bonus to taxes
<iCommerce>0</iCommerce> ;% bonus to science
<iCommerce>0</iCommerce> ;% bonus to culture
</CommerceModifiers>

For an example if I put 25 in the taxes row dose this mean the city loses gold or what?

It would up gold production in every city by 25%, just like a market.

I noticed you were wondering how
<AiWeight>0</AiWeight>
functioned.

I decided to experiment with this myself. Small changes had no effect, but setting the value to -100 caused all AI civs to avoid that civic altogether.

For those like me who are graphically-challenged, you can also get new icons for your civics by replacing the <Button> entry on your civic by one directly copied and pasted from a tech tree entry in CIV4TechInfos.xml.

An example:
<Button>,Art/Interface/Buttons/TechTree/Mysticism.dds,Art/Interface/Buttons/TechTree_Atlas.dds,4,11</Button>

Maybe other things would work also, I'm not sure.

@ ArbitraryGuy
"<BuildingHappinessChanges/>
Buildings make more happiness. I haven't experimented with unhappiness, but I'm interested to know if it'd work."

Negative happiness for buildings works fine, I use it extensively.

Anyone have any luck with negative hapiness for foreign religions?
A negative value there seems to result in a gigantic positive one instead ingame.

I also seem to have a problem with the game using other buildings than the one specified in the xml for giving extra happiness :( (for instance when I've entered a happiness boost for the Security Bureau it shows up ingame as the forbidden palace...

EDIT:

Found out about the strange building matches :)


<BuildingHappinessChanges>
<BuildingHappinessChange>
<BuildingType>BUILDING_PALACE</BuildingType>
<iHappinessChange>400</iHappinessChange>
</BuildingHappinessChange>
</BuildingHappinessChanges>


Should read "BUILDINGCLASS_" and not "BUILDING_" :)

Anyone have any luck with negative hapiness for foreign religions?
A negative value there seems to result in a gigantic positive one instead ingame.

This is a problem with the SDK. I think it's just a display error and doesn't actually affect the happiness of the city.

where are these located so they can be edited, or how do I create new "txt_key_civics" ?
TXT_KEY_CIVIC_DESPOTISM
TXT_KEY_CIVIC_DESPOTISM_PEDIA
TXT_KEY_CIVIC_DESPOTISM_STRATEGY
nvm I found them

If I make a change (just a small one, I gave 'simple economy' in final fronteir +1 trade route), will it automatically the text given on the civics menu?

And lo, it does :)

HEEEELPP
my xml files are okay, art section is okay too
but i'm having a big problem when its about the civics screen.
i want my civics screen to have 7 columns:
Head of State
Legal
Labor
Economy
Religion
Tendences
National

but when i load my mod only the 5 columns appear, and the additional civics are there(in the game), but they dont appear in the civics screen.

how to change the civics screen?????

<TradeYieldModifiers/>
I have played with this item a bit.
it works similarly to the regular yield modifier except on your trade routes
if you use 5 (5%) one any of the 3 catigorys then it will give you 1 more of that one for every 20 commerce gained by that citys trade networks.

If i set the hammer and food catigorys to 100 (100%) then i will get food and hammers at a 1 to 1 ratio with Commerce.

I hope i have explained this in a way that is understood.

I want that information too!

A civic can change the <iHappiness> of one building.
Is it possible do the same whit <iMaintenanceModifier>?

I try:
<BuildingMaintenanceModifierChanges>
<BuildingMaintenanceModifierChange>
<BuildingType>BUILDINGCLASS_ELDERS_COUNSIL</BuildingType>
<iMaintenanceModifierChange>-25</iMaintenanceModifierChange>
</BuildingMaintenanceModifierChange>
</BuildingMaintenanceModifierChanges>

it doesn't work...

Why does the <iNonStateReligionHappiness>-1</iNonStateReligionHappiness> works in legal section but not in religion section ?

In all legal civics I input the -1 modifier, there be show "+1 unhappy :( per none state religion in city.
But in all religion civis there is show "+1239344....:) (happy) per religion in a city

???????????
So it seems the <iNonStateReligionHappiness> works only fpr legal civics, but why ?
hardcoded ?

HEEEELPP
my xml files are okay, art section is okay too
but i'm having a big problem when its about the civics screen.
i want my civics screen to have 7 columns:
Head of State
Legal
Labor
Economy
Religion
Tendences
National

but when i load my mod only the 5 columns appear, and the additional civics are there(in the game), but they dont appear in the civics screen.

how to change the civics screen?????
I would realy like to know this too.
Can anyone post a answer?

I would realy like to know this too.
Can anyone post a answer?

Same here, I want to know how to modify the civic screen so it can hold 6x6 civics and show the graphics properly.

Same here, I want to know how to modify the civic screen so it can hold 6x6 civics and show the graphics properly.Check my Rise of Mankind mod: it has currently 7 civic categories with 9 choices in each category all shown in one page. The file you need to check is CvCivicScreen.py (I think) located in the assets\python\screens -folder.

Why does the <iNonStateReligionHappiness>-1</iNonStateReligionHappiness> works in legal section but not in religion section ?

In all legal civics I input the -1 modifier, there be show "+1 unhappy :( per none state religion in city.
But in all religion civis there is show "+1239344....:) (happy) per religion in a city

???????????
So it seems the <iNonStateReligionHappiness> works only fpr legal civics, but why ?
hardcoded ?

I've experimented with this a bit, and though in the civics advisor screen it will show some crazy number if you put non state religion happiness to a negative number, it does work in the game. You will get an extra unhappy citizen in whatever city has a nonstate religion, and if you hover your mouse over the unhappiness face in the city screen, you'll see +1 :mad: with a text explaining he's unhappy because of "religious persecution" (or intolerance or something like that).

About the aiweight... I have added 2 new civics and greatly improved serfdom (2 new civics: Provincialities and Provincial Law. Both Code of Laws. Government and Legal respectively. -75 and -20% city maintenance cost respectively. A couple more features) and they often don't adopt universal suffrage or free speech - even if it's their favourite civic - and instead they stick with mine. Ai weight is 0. I think it's part of the AI itself - if it has maintenance costs, it adopts my 2 awesome civics, if it's unhappy and using my second civic, it builds courthouses, and if it needs commerce it used my improved serfdom. And, does anyone know if it's possible to add a tag under a legal civic option and make it require a Government civic? (For my civics described above, of course. You can't have a provincial court of law if you don't have provinces.)

Can't be done with XML, needs minimum python (better SDK).
Look at the profile of this guy (http://forums.civfanatics.com/member.php?u=91501), he has done a modcomp for this (needs another modcomp from him additionally and is not easy to install, but works then without many problems).

I have added a new civic option in the Civ4CivicOptions.xml file but the default is not being set for civs on starting a new game.

I populated it in the Civ4CivicInfos.xml file and all new civics appears fine in the Civopedia. I have also updated the CvCivicsScreen.py file and all the new civics show up nicely in that under the correct option heading.

I have updated the Civ4CivilizationInfos.xml file to add a new row to the <InitialCivics> node and ensured that there is no typo in there.
<InitialCivics>
<CivicType>CIVIC_DESPOTISM</CivicType>
<CivicType>CIVIC_BARBARISM</CivicType>
<CivicType>CIVIC_TRIBALISM</CivicType>
<CivicType>CIVIC_DECENTRALIZATION</CivicType>
<CivicType>CIVIC_PAGANISM</CivicType>
<CivicType>CIVIC_MILITIA</CivicType>
</InitialCivics>
When I start a new game however the new option is set by default to the Despotic civic.

I had a look in the SDK in enums.h in case there was a count in there, but there wasn't. I wouldn't have expected one given the presence of the Civ4CivicOptions.xml file, but thought it worth a look.

Any ideas how to resolve this?

Uh...what :confused:?
Screenshot please.

Uh...what :confused:?
Screenshot please.

Not sure if adding the screenshots as an attachments is the easiest way of showing you, but here is what I mean...

The CivicNotSet is what I get on starting a new game.
If you look at the final option set (Military) the current civic icon shows it as Despotism (Fist), which is not even an available civic in the Military option set. The header of the dialog does show the the Citizen Army icon but does not have a Yellow border.

If I then select what is defined as the default civic in the Civ4CivilizationInfos.xml file I get the second screenshot CivicSelected, which shows that I need to undergo a revolution first.

I am wondering how to get the Citizen Army civic as the current military civic at the start of the game rather than the Despotism that appears to be being set now.

Hope that is a bit clearer

Just wanted to see, if i really understand what you mean, because it didn't make any sense...and still doesn't.

What does happen, when you one time hit the end turn button? Is it then changed?

Do you use a premade map? Because the civics are also defined in there.

If I advance a couple of turns I get the dialog asking me if I want to change my civic options and I use the Single Player->Custom Game->Launch route to get to my game so it is generating the map fresh each time.

I have just noticed another odd thing that can be seen from the screenshots. It appears that the Government & Military civic options are being linked together somehow. In the first screenshot both have Despotism as the current civic, but there is no 'selected' Military civic in the header bar. When I select Citizen Army in the Military civic option it deselects the Despotism header bar icon in the Government option, but still shows Despotism as the current civic.

I would put this down to a broken CvCivicsScreen.pl if it were not for the dialog asking me if I want to select my civics as that is displayed even if I haven't opened the civics screen dialog.

It could be a problem with the modified screen, but i doubt it atm.

Could you try it with the standard civics screen?
Just to make sure, that we're not trying to fix this here at the wrong place.

Thanks for your continued help with this.

I'll create a bare mod with just the civics changes to eliminate as much as possible...but my job is intruding at the minute so it may be a day or so before I can find the time :-(

I believe that the issue was down to user ignorance...mea culpa :blush:

I was using BAT, which contains Varietas Delectat in modular form. This contains its own Civ4CivilizationInfos.xml under the Assets/Modules folder so I will need to update the <InitialCivic> element here as well.