New HOF Mods Released!

Denniz

Denniz

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Hall of Fame Staff
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Announcing the lastest versions of the HOF Mod for Sid Meier's Civilization 4:


HOF Mod 3.17.001 for Sid Meier's Civilization 4 - Beyond the Sword Version 3.17

Release Notes

Update from V3.13.001 to V3.17.001

Changes:
  • Add startup message when configuration problems would make game invalid for HOF or GOTM
  • Additional Error handling around HOF ini
  • Fixed the Glance screen per BUG Mod.
  • Replaced Modified Special Domestic Advisor with Customizable Domestic Advisor from Bug Mod.
  • Fixed Global_Highlands warning about Balanced Assets
  • Map Finder plots in range - worldwrap fix
  • from Solver's Unoffical BTS 3.17 Patch 0.19
    • AI plane/ship retreating logic when city is in danger extended to Forts
    • Vassal's spies no longer caught in master's territory
    • AI logic on banning nukes tweaked to account for AI leader personality and the global situation
    • Civilopedia will now display "replaced by" lines for buildings that get replaced by UBs
    • AI guided missiles will lean towards destroying resource-producing tiles as opposed to improvements like Towns
    • Rivers running through deserts will result in floodplains
    • AI will change civics during Golden Ages
    • Fixed bug in the map generator with water starts
    • AI may now try to use Warlords to create super-medic units
    • Fixed bug that prevented random events that target a unit from triggering
    • Access to the Barrage line removed from armored units.
    • Fixed AI defender bug for newly captured cities.
    • Made the AI more likely to use missiles on cruisers/subs to strike against enemy improvements.
    • Civilopedia and mouseover help for units that cause collateral damage will now show the collateral damage limit (50% for Catapults, etc.)
    • Fixed unavailability of foreign civ demographics if playing with espionage disabled.

>>Download<<
Click to expand...


HOF Mod 1.74.003 for Sid Meier's Civilization 4 - Version 1.74 (Vanilla)

Release Notes

Upgrade from V1.74.002 to V1.74.002

Changes:
  • Add startup message when configuration problems would make game invalid for HOF or GOTM
  • Additional Error handling around HOF ini
  • Map Finder plots in range - worldwrap fix
  • Specialist Stacker fixed using BUG mod source (Moved to HOF3 tab)

>>Download<<
Click to expand...


HOF Mod 2.13.003 for Sid Meier's Civilization 4 - Warlords Version 2.13

Release Notes

Upgrade from V2.13.002 to V2.13.003

Changes:
  • Add startup message when configuration problems would make game invalid for HOF or GOTM
  • Additional Error handling around HOF ini
  • Map Finder plots in range - worldwrap fix
  • Re-added Specialist Stacker using BUG mod source (HOF3 Tab)

>>Download<<
Click to expand...


HOF Mod details can be found here.

Please use this thread for support and suggestions: link
 
Please Read - New HOF/GOTM Warning Popup

With this release of the HOF Mod, each version now does a check to determine if there are configuration issues that would lead to the game being ineligible for submission to the Hall of Fame or the GOTM.

If you receive the following message when you startup the HOF Mod, it will not be accepted should you submit it to the Hall of Fame. (I will leave it to the GOTM Staff to state their policy.)



You can click "Ok" to continue and play if you are not interested in submitting. Otherwise click on "Cancel" and go to Vista Fixes page for the steps to correct the issue. (Windows XP users just need to use a user profile which has admin rights.)

It would be a very good idea to complete a simple Duel Conquest on Settler to test that the issue has been corrected. There is no guarantee that the check is foolproof at this point.

_____________________________________________

Also, a new version of the AssetsChecker program has been provided for the new HOF Versions.
 
So, just so I am perfectly clear, if I want to be able to play any and all HoF games, I need to do the following 4 steps?

1) Install a patch on BtS so it is up to a version called 3.17
2) Install a new HoF mod called 3.17.001
3) Install a new HoF mod called 1.74.003
4) Install a new HoF mod called 2.13.003
 
Harbourboy said:
So, just so I am perfectly clear, if I want to be able to play any and all HoF games, I need to do the following 4 steps?

1) Install a patch on BtS so it is up to a version called 3.17
2) Install a new HoF mod called 3.17.001
3) Install a new HoF mod called 1.74.003
4) Install a new HoF mod called 2.13.003
Click to expand...
Yes, we allow a month for the transition, though.
 
To date I have been able to use a non admin user to play SGOTMs using the HOF mod. Does this new check mean that I will have to use an admin user in future or is this an option that the GOTM staff can disable/ignore?
 
Sam_Yeager said:
To date I have been able to use a non admin user to play SGOTMs using the HOF mod. Does this new check mean that I will have to use an admin user in future or is this an option that the GOTM staff can disable/ignore?
Click to expand...
You will have to speak to the GOTM Staff about that.
 
How long should the patch take to load? I'm not sure if I'm just being impatient, or whether something has actually gone wrong in the process. I don't remember any issues with previous updates.
 
Harbourboy said:
How long should the patch take to load? I'm not sure if I'm just being impatient, or whether something has actually gone wrong in the process. I don't remember any issues with previous updates.
Click to expand...

I assume you mean BtS 3.17 Patch not the HoF-mod update, so my answer is, if you use the in-game update mechanism it took quite some time and seemed to hang, but after some minutes it completes. I normally use the "download the patch and install manually" method which completes in several seconds (and you can reuse the downloaded patch if you have to reinstall). If this is not what you mean, ask again :)
 
Yeah, I definately recommend not using the in-game advanced option to patch. It has been know to fail with BTS. It is probably better to download the patch from CFC. At least that way you can see the progress of the download. It is 172MB so it takes awhile if you don't have a fast connection.
 
Denniz said:
If you receive the following message when you startup the HOF Mod, it will not be accepted should you submit it to the Hall of Fame. (I will leave it to the GOTM Staff to state their policy.)
Click to expand...


Since that looks like an invite :) I will clarify that GOTM staff are adopting the same policy as for the HOF in this regard. If you get the 'Games played will NOT be valid...' dialog when playing a GOTM, WOTM or BOTM, then you need to exit and follow the instructions, otherwise your game won't be accepted in the GOTM competition.
 
Sam_Yeager said:
To date I have been able to use a non admin user to play SGOTMs using the HOF mod. Does this new check mean that I will have to use an admin user in future or is this an option that the GOTM staff can disable/ignore?
Click to expand...

The same rules will apply in SGOTMs (and GOTMs) as in the HOF. Obviously that won't apply until you start an SGOTM that uses one of the new HOF mod versions though, and you won't be affected unless you see the dialog when you start a turnset. I hope that's not awkward for you. The new HOF mods change things a bit in a way that improves security (or if you prefer: cheat detection) - hopefully you'll agree that's a good thing :), but a consequence of those changes is the need for us to enforce this restriction for games that use the new HOF mods.
 
DynamicSpirit said:
The new HOF mods change things a bit in a way that improves security (or if you prefer: cheat detection) - hopefully you'll agree that's a good thing :), but a consequence of those changes is the need for us to enforce this restriction for games that use the new HOF mods.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your clarification DynamicSpirit. I don't have a problem with improved security, quite the contrary. It is in that vein that I am not at all happy with the requirement to run under an admin user. The general drift nowadays, as demonstrated in Vista and in the Games for Windows specs, is towards running in non admin mode. This policy quite clearly goes against that trend.

I understand that it is too late to change the latest HOF mods. However I really believe that the HOF & GOTM staff should be looking to change future iterations of the HOF mods to only require non admin user rights (at least for Win XP users).

I realise (from a previous discussion with Denniz) that this is probably not the easiest of matters. However I do not believe that reason should be used as an excuse for staying with the status quo.

Please note that I have no issue with being required to install the HOF mod under an admin user. It's only being required run the game under an admin user that I am against.
 
Good work, again, as always Denniz.
I can delete my 3.13.001 copy on my harddrive now.
 
Another effect of this change is that xOTM's are not playable in linux (with WINE) anymore... For me, that might mean I'll stop playing them, since I don't want to reboot just for those games. I was just about to remove windows entirely, since I don't want to have to administer that install as well.

I was really happy when I got civ running with WINE. Civ was the last app that required me to boot windows. And it has been running without major problems for at least a year now. And I played a lot of civ, including the xOTM's. My results should convince anyone that I have not been cheating ;)

But now I cannot get the new HOF to save its settings. I tried several things that I wouldn't normally do (running wine as root, giving all users access to the entire virtual c: :eek:), but I keep getting that pop-up. There probably is a very sane security measure that prevents wine from writing wherever the new HOF wants to write.

I'll keep trying to get it to run of course (I use Linux because I like tinkering with my system), but for now I ran out of ideas. Since the security of the HOF mod is (for a large part) based on obscurity, I guess a description of the way this check is implemented will not be made available.

Does anybody have an idea of how to get this working with WINE again? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
_Lasher_ said:
Does anybody have an idea of how to get this working with WINE again? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
I am sorry that this is creating difficulties for you. We only added the warning to make people aware that their save files come up with differences if they don't have the proper accesses set. Vista in particular has been a challenge. We at the HOF, since players can generate as many new games as they want, have not been accepting these games. At least this way people know in advance that they need to do something. The GOTM folks have had a more difficult time because players only get one shot at each GOTM save. So for them it means a decrease in the number of problematic saves they have to deal with.

I don't know anything about Linux or WINE but you might want to make sure you have the most up-to-date version of WINE installed.
 
Sam_Yeager said:
Thank you for your clarification DynamicSpirit. I don't have a problem with improved security, quite the contrary. It is in that vein that I am not at all happy with the requirement to run under an admin user. The general drift nowadays, as demonstrated in Vista and in the Games for Windows specs, is towards running in non admin mode. This policy quite clearly goes against that trend.
Click to expand...

DynamicSpirit means security for the competition, not for your computer. Clearly, granting a third party fan-made mod (with deliberately untold functionality) admin rights on your computer is not something Microsoft would champion! Unfortunately, if you have the steam version of BTS things seem to get even worse, as it seems it may be necessary to grant Steam itself admin rights (BTS fails to launch if it is marked 'run as admin') which is a bridge too far for me at least.
 
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