Is it possible to mod the 2-space distance between cities in civ4? - to one space, maybe even no spaces at all? Or is this limit hardcoded until the SDK?

To elaborate, if nobody knows what I mean : In previous civ games you could build cities in very close proximity of other cities, usually with at least 1 empty square between cities. In civ4 this number has been doubled, so that cities in the vanilla game are always spaced at least two squares.

I want to change this limit - if possible to one or zero, to reflect more accurate city placements in historical scenarios. I'd like to create maps with possibility for really dense city placements.

On a side note, perhaps alternatively, does anyone know if it is possible to name cottages/villages/towns on the map, so that these place/city names appear in the game?

The definition for that is in the XML files, I'm pretty sure it is in the global defines file, might be in the world file. But yes, it can be changed with XML alone I just can't look for it right this second :)

Do you (or anybody else) know the effects on artillery etc. on closer placements. Do they automatically pick a city, if there's more within range, or do you get to pick one? (I will test this myself when I get time to do so, just thought I would share in your wisdom, if anybody has tried this before me).

I haven't tried it, I just found it while working on other changes.

its in the global defines, under MIN_CITY_RANGE (i think, havent tested yet).

addit:
it works. this is my Japanese Empire with the range set to 0:
http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/9834/lotsofcities2sr.th.jpg (http://img507.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lotsofcities2sr.jpg)
and also, it seems that when i hit the end, instead of saying New whatever, it goes to the American and then Arabian city list.

Thanks guys! I did a small test with artillery and catapults and it seems they just take their best pick, if more cities are within range. It did seem, I can't be certain, that they went after the city with the highest defensive bonus,