I once made a scenario for Civ2 where you could play a normal game, but there simply were no more technologies up to a certain point. I'd like to make such a scenario here as well, but Civ4 is simply too complicated to mod something like that. :rolleyes: I hope someone would like to help me out with this.

I already figured out the list of techs is in:
Assets\XML\Technologies\CIV4TechInfos.xml
So such a file should be in:
Mods\TechLimit\Assets\XML\Technologies\

I removed Stealth, Fusion and Genetics (the only three future era techs) and changed the prerequisites for Future Tech into Superconductor and Advanced Flight. Then I made a scenario with only this in it:
Version=11
BeginGame
ModPath=Mods\TechLimit
EndGame
After receiving an error (probably for the lack of an .ini file) I can set up a new game (pick a civ, etc). But then during the launching the game crashes.

Can anyone tell me what else needs to be done? :dunno:

I don't play the unmodded game much anymore, but there are probably instances in other XML files that need those techs you removed. Odd that you don't get errors when loading the mod though.

Attaching what you've done will help someone diagnose it.

Here it is. It's Composites instead of Advanced Flight, but that shouldn't matter.

I'd appreciate any help you can give me! If only I know what the error messages and the crash cause I'm happy.

Edit: What I've figured out so far is that the error messages is caused by other references in XML files to the deleted techs. So I thought it could be a good idea to make the future techs (except Future Tech itself) all have Fusion as prerequisite and Fusion needs Genetics, making it circular. But I wonder what will happen when you click on Fusion in the Science Advisor screen. http://www.straland.com/images/smilies/frightened.gif Edit2: It crashes, of course. :rolleyes:

I think the crash is caused by the fact that it's expecting a map, but the idea is to play on a random map. I'll just make a random map myself, save it as scenario and add "ModPath=Mods\TechLimit" in it. See if it helps. Edit2: It does, but how then do I make it a scenario with a random map?

I think I found the problem. But I had to alter a lot of XML files.

Please allow me to say again that Civ4 is too 'modable'. If things were just a little bit easier I, and thus I suspect a lot more people, would've made a lot more scenario's. :rolleyes:

Case closed. Scenario's will follow later.

Secret Project files always got me. And religions.

Hehe...

I just noticed this funny little tag in CIV4TechInfos.XML:
"<bDisable>0</bDisable>"
:wallbash:

That was your 15,000th post, by the way. :band:

There are problems with limiting techs.

One is that part of the dynamic of Civ involves a technology race. You have to balance economy, war, and research. Take that out and its like taking rock out of paper scissors rock.

Second is that the AI doesn't stop researching. After a particularly bad defeat one of my favorite things to do used to be start a custom game in the future with no victory conditions. The AI blithely keeps up its research spending, pursuing FutureTech10, while I have the sense to stop research spending and use the money to support my huge conquest Army. OK for an occasional thrill, but not really a good game, any more than playing on a reduiced difficulty level.

I don't know what would happen if you just disabled all techs and there could be no further research. Would the game crash? Would the AI still spend on research? So you build every building, all your real estate is developed and there's nothing left but war, ever larger stacks of the same old units.

However, if you had technology loss events, some mechanism for causing techs to randomly be forgotten, and a slider or XML tag
<iForgetChancePerTurn>1</iForgetChancePerTurn>
so you could increase or decrease the rate of tech loss, you could essentially force civs to constantly work to just keep from sliding into barbarism, re-researcing techs that disappear, then, why then you'de have a game.


Edit: come to think of it you could probably mod out the health and happy bonus for each future tech and the AI might stop researching it.