BAT or BUG?

Hi!
Im considering getting any of these mods everyone is using. My questions:
1. Does any of the mods change any gamemechanics? I heard somewhere that BAT improves AI but I dont want it to make game harder.
2. Does BAT graphics (blue marble?) demand more of computer? Can it lead to longer turnloadtimes or lag? In modern era my game is already slow and laggy for example when entering cityscreen or giving unitorders but this goes away for a while if I exit to desktop and restart game so I think its some kind of overheat, is there any mod to fix it?

1) BUG makes no changes in game mechanics. (BUG stands for "BTS Unchanged Gameplay".) BAT includes both BULL and BUG. BULL makes changes in the game mechanics. BAT adds loads of graphics images: special flags, Blue Marble, ethnic unit appearance, etc. I think that the latest version may also enhance the AI by including the Better AI mod.

2) BAT will demand more graphics support from the computer, both due to Blue Marble and all of the other graphics additions. If your computer is already slow, this will probably slow it further. Game slowing that is cured by exit and restart is not due to the computer, it is due to a problem with memory management by the CIV engine. The Memory Allocation Failures (MAF) build up and slow it down. When you exit and restart you wipe that all away and start fresh. As the game progresses and there are more things to keep track of, this gets worse. The one thing that seems to help is adding more memory up to 4 MB. Above 4 MB, CIV does not use any of the more than 4 MB.

Personally, I do not like the graphics of Blue Marble. I also find the multiple flags (which do not match empire colors) and the many ethnic units confusing. Some of the BULL changes, I like, some I do not like. Since the "do not like" exceeds the "like" for me in BULL, and I am not a fan of the added eye candy in BAT, I stick with BUG. I think the improved user interface in BUG is wonderful and should have been the default for the game.


You would do better asking in the General Discussion forum, since neither of these is an "official mod" and General Discussion gets a lot more traffic than here.