Civ4 Realism Mod (Extended Gameplay and tweaks)

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jaynus

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Civilization's 4 - Realism Mod
by jaynus

Version 0.6-BETA (Updated November 9th)
(Changelog *and* TODO list at the bottom of this post)

Download HERE

Goal: To make an expanded and more realistic modification to civ4, allowing for longer games, longer wars, and more intense gameplay with a bit higher difficulty and learning curve to properly manage and compete in the game. Emulate issues of a large empire, supply lines, and strategic needs of different units and types.


Aknowledgements:
All the guys @ civ fanatics bouncing ideas back and forth :)
Toft @ CivFanatics for the gamespeed suggestions and discussions
CdGGabmit @ CivFanatics also for gamespeed and increment changes
dearmad @ Apolyton & CivFanatics for a nice mod that kind does the same thing but im a nutbar!
Roma Victa @ CivFanatics for saving me with a copy of a xml file AND noticing the commerce increments
Gerikes @ CivFanatics for the nifty options menu modifications
Mr. Will @ CivFanatics for the amazing idea of producing unit-building resources
Simetrical @ CivFanatics for very insightful suggestions and offer to help, im going to take you up on that!
SlayerofDeitys @ CivFanatics for schooling me on submarines ;)
Annnd JDexter, ejdacanay, Kolson, Gufnork, Youri, Kerian, Hemperor & goatmaster @ CivFanatics for all the input!


Notes:This version has had all other gamespeeds removed now that its a Mod. Im not sure how that effects saved games though, sorry guys :( We'll find out! Yay Testing!

If you had a previous version of this mod: Either follow the oldschol installation instructions, or, if you wish to install as a mod, then you must first delete *all* realism modifications in teh customAssets folder. This can be as simple as deleting the 'Xml' folder inside of CustomAssets, unless you have other mods installed as well.

Installation:
Unzip the folder to your 'Mods' folder within your game directory. As in, extract the zip file to
C:\Program Files\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Mods
After you have done this, start the game. At the main menu go to
Advanced -> Load a Mod
In this menu, Select 'Realism'. The game will require a restart, once this is complete, start a new game and your off!

If you want the mod to load by default, you need to modify your Civ4Config. This is located in your
My Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\CivilizationIV.ini
You must change this:
Mod = 0
to this:
Mod = Mods\Realism

OldSchool Installation (If you want to keep saved games I guess?):
Copy everything inside the 'Assets' folder into the CustomAssets folder
(My Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\CustomAssets)

Read the changelog to see the changes I've made so far.

If you want to help me out with this or think its interesting at least, hit me up at jaynus@gmail.com, Id really like to get a real project going with a few other people.


- jaynus
jaynus@gmail.com

P.S. Please people! Post any ideas or crticisms you have, I'd love to hear them all. No matter how small they are.

ANYONE HAVING SAVED GAME LOADING ISSUES
Heres the deal. There are some bugs with mod loading, customAssets, and saved games. Here are my recommendations:

#1. If your running another mod in customAssets besides mine, let me know what it is. If some are common, I will include them.

#2. some mods dont mix well. We all edit the same files, and my mod specifically is a major overhaul of nearly every single XML file there is. So, first things first; If your getting errors, backup your customAssets folder, and then delete it (dont worry, civ4 will re-create it empty).

#3. Next, if that doesnt work, delete your Civ4 Cache folder.

#4. NEXT, if that doesnt work, again make sure you have no other mods in customAssets :p If you are using the 'Load mod' option every single time you load the game, edit your Civ4 ini file (My Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\CivilizationIV.ini). Replace this line:
Mod = 0
with this line:
Mod = Mods\Realism

if *NONE* of the above works, post here and I we can get together and work it out here, on aim, or via email.


Major Status Notes:
- Expendable resources have been introduced, but are not yet implemented in the game.
- Producable & Tradable production resources have been introduced, and are implemented on musketman & muskets only
- Natural disasters have been introduced, but not yet completed or implemented
- More units coming!
Click to expand...


Changelog:
Code: 
v0.6

- Thanks dearmad for some more changes
	- Universal Suffrage now gives +25% War Weariness
	- pacifism now gives +125% great person rate
	- organized realigion now gives +20% culture
	- Theocracy now gives +10% Unit speed build.
	- Caste system now gives +1 free specialist
	- Cannon now requires gunpowder (not steel)
	- Dry Docks with engineering (not steel)
- Maceman (and samauri) now avialable with fuedilism + metal casting (not machinery)
- Knights (and camelarcher and consquistidor) now avialable with civil service (not guilds)
- Pikeman now at civil service
- Removed riflemans (and redcoats) +25% vs. cavalry bonus (a bonus against a moving target, wtf?!)
- Rifleman now has 16 combat strength
- Redcoat now has 17 combat strength
- Redcoat got +1 moves (they were extremely discaplined, and better marching skills seems appropriate)

- All gun units below rifleman got +50% vs melee
- All Gun units rifleman and higher got +150% vs melee
- All tank units got +250% vs. melee & + 250% vs mounted

- Musketman (and musketeer) got +30% defense vs. knights (knights killing musketman every first try is just stupid)

- Castle cost reduced to 80 ( was 100)
- Forge cost reduced to 100 (was 120)

- No City Razing defaulted to true. I dont like this option. You should be forced to deal with a capture.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


v0.5

- ICBM now *PROPERLY* requires Oil as well as uranium
- Nuclear Carrier now has a more presentable pedia entry
- 'Musket Factory' renamed 'Gunsmith'

- Lag issue fixed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


v0.4

- Got game working in the 'Mod' directory, as a loadable mod
- Because this is a working mod instead of a gamewide change, removed all other gamespeeds for the mod


- Framework for natural disasters has begun to be implemented. This will not effect gameplay right now.
	- Next version will contain a way to turn this on and off at your leisure
- Framework for expendable resources has begun to be implemented on the Musketman only, though it is not operational yet and should not effect gameplay

- Musketman now uses 'Muskets' built at a 'Musket Factory'
	- NOTE: The above is being tested still before it is implemented in all other units. Welcome to the world of betas!

- All Technologies in ren, ind, modern, and future era increased by 25% cost across the board
- Future Tech removed to make way for *real* future techs
- 'Nuclear Reactor' should show up in its own place on the tech tree now
- 'Nuclear Reactor' Pre-reqs were broken. THey are now fixed. Yipee.

- Navy Seals can now board Submarines and Nuclear Submarines

- 'Nuclear Carrier' Added
	- Requires 'Nuclear Reactor' Tech now in addition to Flight
	- Requires Uranium
	- Costs 200
	- Has Carriers standard of 5 moves
	- Has 17 Combat instead of 16
	- Has a Cargo Space of 8

- Axemen now have an innate +25% in woods & jungles as well as +25% vs. swordsmans
- Swordsman melee bonus is being reduced to +25% as well as +15% defense bonus vs. Archers
- Tanks, Panzers receive +1 Movement (3 instead of 2)
- Modern Armor, Mechanized Infantry gained +2 Movement (4 instead of 2)
- 'Nuclear Submarine' now *reallY* requires 'Nuclear Reactor' tech
	- Nuclear Submarines now have 28 combat strength instead of 26
- Carrier now has a cargo capacity of 5 (instead of 3)
- Carrier can now upgrade to 'Nuclear Carrier'

- Nuclear Reactor tech, Musket bonus, and Musket Factory should have relivent pedia text now, only in english

- Free Speech now gives 25% War Weariness


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


v0.3

- Settler cost Lowered again by 45% (now only a 25% raise from vanilla)
- Lowered research to 225%
- Lowered Construction to 125%
- Fixed 'Realistic' speed culture thresholds

- Changed Research/Gold/Lux percantage increments to 5, Thanks Roma Victa
- Hill defense modifier upped to 30% (was 25%)
- Heal rate of units in enemy territory dropped to 5 (was 10)
- Building destruction from Nuclear weapons raised to 70% chance (was 30%)
- Global Warming probability from nuclear weapons dropped to 0% for now until massive testing of this effect (Nuke away!!!)
- Base plunder for cities raised to 100 gold, and +50 gold per population. Plundering is now more lucrative

- You can now build scotland Yard with nationalism, not communism
- Spys can now be built from scotland yard with nationalism, not communism

- Submarines can now upgrade to 'Nuclear Submarine'

- ICBM Triple requirement didnt work, removed it

- 'Nuclear Submarine' Added
	- Same tech requirements as Submarine
	- Requires Uranium *only*
	- Costs 190 (Instead of 150 of a regular sub)
	- Requires 'Nuclear Reactor' Tech now in addition (now requiring fission, combustion, and radio)
	- Receives 9 power (INstead of 8 of Submarine)
	- Now has a Capacity of 3 Cargo (Instead of 1)
	- Now has a 70% chance of withdrawl (Instead of 50%)
	- Now has 9 Moves (Instead of 7), is a +2 bonus from submarines

- Added Technology 'Nuclear Reactor'
	- Requires Computers, Fission, and Refrigeration
	- Required by NUclear units, and Nuclear reactor
	- Costs 3500 points
	- NOTE: Needs a quote, civolopedia icon & description, positioning, and translations.
	- GRID LOCATIONS NOT SET
	- Uses Fission Presets
	- NOTE: Does not show up in civolopedia


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

v0.2

- Settler cost Raised another 25% (Total raise of 75% from vanilla)

- Lowered Inflation to 10% and offset to -220 to compensate for no money in ancient era and expansion
- Raised research to 275% to slow down things just a little bit more with the new year increments
- Raised barbarian encounters to 210%, they were too plentiful
- Lowered BuildPercent to 80%
- Raised growthPercent to 200% to slow down city growth a little more

- Removed Uranium requirement from the following units to add realism of oil requirements
	- Transport
	- Destroyer
	- Battleship
- ICBM now requires Uranium, Aluminum, *AND* Oil

- Galley, Caravel, Galleon, Frigate +2 movement each
- Battleship +1 Movement
- Submarine -1 Movement (subs dont travel at 30knots submerged)
- Chariot, Egyptian War Chariot, Persian Immortal, Knight, Spanish Conquistador,
  Russian Cossak got +1 Movement
- Horse Archer, Mongolian Keshik, Arabian Camel Archer got +2 movement


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

v0.1

- Added GameSpeed 'Realistic', copy of 'Epic' GameSpeed
- Doubled the amount of turns in a game
- Changed Turn increments to increments posted by Toft
- Raised reasearch to 250
- Lowered Building & Training to 100

- Fission now reveals Uranium
- Wineries can now be built at Pottery (Was Monarchy)
- Cottages not avialable until Monarchy (Was Pottery)
- Railroads buildtime increased by 300%

- Raised Settler cost by 50%
- Raised Worker cost by 50%
- Thanks to CdGGambit for these changes I liked and didnt think of
	- Swordsmen and Praetorian gain +50% vs. melee and cost 10 more hammers (50)
	- Axemen cost 5 hammers less (30)
	- Macemen cost 20 hammers less (50)
	- Frigate enabled at gunpowder
	- Machine Gunner enabled at Assembly Line
	- Crossbowman reduced by 10 hammers (50)

- Added CultureInfo entires for gamespeed 'Realistic', copying Epic's values for culture increments (To avoid culture bomb)
- Added text for 'Realistic' Gamespeed select ::NOTE:: English Only changed
- Added text for 'Realistic' gamespeed slect ::NOTE:: English Only changed
 
Swear to god it does!! Hehe. Sorry. Its a distributed server, it may need a minute or two to distribute. Its working from my home machine and work right now, so it *should* be working if you retry.

Let me know if its not and I will yell at the hoster.

-jaynus
 
Sorry!! Hehe. Glad it works now :goodjob:

Im going to yell at him anyways, its usual instant. The price of using a friend instead of paying eh? :crazyeye:
 
Transport/Battleship/Destroyer requirement for Uranium was only an alternate for Oil. By removing Uranium you REQUIRE Oil to produce those ships.
 
That was the idea :)

Sorry, I suppose I wasn't clear enough on the changelog. I was just stating 'requirements' because they are all in the prereq section. My bad, I'll change it to make it clearer :blush:

EDIT: Oh and as a side note, im thinking about adding a 'Nuclear Reactor' tech that would enable uranium as an alternate, as well as moving the "Nuclear powerplant' to this tech, and creating a new sub and carrier units, 'Carrier' and 'Nuclear Carrier', as well as 'Submarine', and 'Nuclear Submarine', both having significant movement bonuses, while the 'nuclear carrier' would have a size bonus, based on the fact nuclear power enabled ships to get..well...bigger.
 
Im glad you guys are paying attention and giving input :)

Its moving into the idea that when you get the ability to build submarines, you may/may not know nuclear power yet (the idea of a 'Nuclear Reactor' tech), so instantly being able to produce a nuclear powered submarine (a *better*, more versatile and highly advanced type of submarine) just because you have that resource instead seems unrealistic.

Ex: WW2, the war would have gone much differently if there were major oil shortages, and the military would have to decide on how to distribute its oil properly. The idea being, oil was *THE* commidity, and they were just beginning to understand nuclear power, so the idea that they could use a nuclear powered submarine in the event of an oil shortage at that moment seems incorrect.

Rather, *new* units should be made for these power types, and given the appropriate advantages of using this power type. Examples:

Nuclear-Powered Submarine - This type of ship is much quieter than its grandfather submarine (thus stealthier), allowed to stay 'at sea' for longer periods of time, and allowed to be larger and travel at deeper depths because of the power supplies avialable with nuclear power vs. oil power

Nuclear-Powered Carrier - This variant of carrier (although both are large), enabled carriers to get even larger, carry more aircraft, and travel at higher consistant speeds.

It seemed appropriate to make these differences between these 2 types of ships apparent, #1. for the lack of variaty in the Modern and future unit trees, as well as making the game fairly more resource based.

Did that all make sense? Im just vocalizing my thoughts here...let me know what you think :)


EDIT: Sorry for the edits haha. Heres what I was thinking, input please?

Code: 
- All Submarines now have a +30% attack bonus against transports and lower-tech ships
- 'Nuclear-Powered Submarine' Added
	- Same tech requirements as Submarine
	- Requires Uranium *only*
	- Costs 190 (Instead of 150 of a regular sub)
	- Requires 'Fission' Tech now in addtion (now requiring fission, combustion, and radio)
	- Receives 9 power (INstead of 8 of Submarine)
	- Now has a Capacity of 3 Cargo (Instead of 1)
	- Now has a 70% chance of withdrawl (Instead of 50%)
	- Now has 9 Moves (Instead of 7), is a +2 bonus from submarines
 
hmm, koo koo, maybe u could work on religon stuff (lol foreal) also for the game speed, can you code it to make a new game speed?
 
Regarding the "need oil or uranium for ships" issue:
Consider that even without a certain resource (like oil or bronce) a civ can invent OTHER things (like fission engines or iron working) in reality. You do not need to know what oil is to build a fission engine! Sure, it's a more advanced technique, but a nation that never had oil but was full of uranium would at some point have constructed powerplants and engines using their powerfull resource. The example with bronce and iron are just another example - stuff like this did happen in the earth's history! Not every region/continent has all resources and only through globalization it is possible for everyone to get everything (in theory at least).

I really don't see why you shouldn't be able to build nuclear submarines (with Fission as a tech prereq. of course) without oil.
 
jaynus said:
Mod Installaion (Untested): Just so you all know, I don't know if this works by adding it to a mod folder. Pasting it into custom assets will work fine, but I have not quite been able to get the Mod folder working. If you want to try a mod folder, just create one in your Civ4\Mods directory named 'Realism' and paste all this in there.
Click to expand...

Mods need to be loaded using the options.

From the main menu --> advanced --> load a mod.

This will require you to restart a game. You can load save games using mods, but if you start the unmodded game you'll also have to restart the game (the save game loads automatically after restart).

I'm pretty sure there's an option to load mods by default, but using the custom assets seems to be the easiest way.
 
As far as adding realism regarding different resources, maybe trying to make it so that you can only build so many units at a time with 1 resource. So if you want to have 4 cities building submarines maybe you need 2 different oil resources. Adds the realism that there could be oil shortages, but not necessarily have all of your oil cut off.
 
You realize of course that you made Axemen completly pointless and you might as well remove them from the game? Most likely caused romans to win every game they play as well.

Horsie speed might make them a bit too powerful when it comes to pillaging. You can't expect one to patrol every single square of your territory. But if you decide to keep the changes, you might want to up the speed of vehicles as well, they shouldn't be outrun by horses.

I've personally changed tech costs so that the first techs a cheaper, then the cost increases by 25% units each era (so modern tech costs 125% more than ancient tech). This is the only thing so far that has made research speeds seem balanced for me.
 
I am curious as to why you decided to increase the cost of settlers by 75%, I personally find the most tedious part of the game is waiting to build settlers early on.. seems to take forever!

I was thinking it would be cool to have the cost of settlers affected by the culture of the city producing them (if this was posible) If a city has high culture, it is less likely people would want to leave, thereby increasing the cost of settlers to emulate 'convincing' them to go. On the other hand, if a city is boring and is lacking in culture, its far more likely that people would want to find somewhere else to live.
 
Hey guys! :)

Thanks a ton for *all* the feedback, I appriciate it all *ALOT*. I really want to get this off the ground into a cool playable mod, and I would still love any help people can offer.

Im going to go through these posts with quotes one by one :)

Originally Posted by JDexter
Regarding the "need oil or uranium for ships" issue:
Consider that even without a certain resource (like oil or bronce) a civ can invent OTHER things (like fission engines or iron working) in reality. You do not need to know what oil is to build a fission engine! Sure, it's a more advanced technique, but a nation that never had oil but was full of uranium would at some point have constructed powerplants and engines using their powerfull resource. The example with bronce and iron are just another example - stuff like this did happen in the earth's history! Not every region/continent has all resources and only through globalization it is possible for everyone to get everything (in theory at least).

I really don't see why you shouldn't be able to build nuclear submarines (with Fission as a tech prereq. of course) without oil.
Click to expand...
I totally understand where you are coming from now. In this latest version I added my nuclear submarines. This was more to play around with adding units but I liked the idea alot; however, I concede to your points :p I hadn't looked at it from that perspective. Heres how I am thinking of it now: I will leave the new nuclear-powered units with their requirements (no oil needed for them), and leave them slightly more powerful; Thus, a civ without oil can still produce them just fine, but has to wait a little longer for them (because the technology *is* much more complicated and requiring than combustion). What do you think?


Originally Posted by ejdacanay
hmm, koo koo, maybe u could work on religon stuff (lol foreal) also for the game speed, can you code it to make a new game speed?
Click to expand...
Im working on it :)


Youri - I couldnt get that to work :( It didn't seem to be loading my settings, and I have heard of bugs with saved games with the mod folder. I am just not going to approach it yet until someone figures it out :(


Originally Posted by Kolson
As far as adding realism regarding different resources, maybe trying to make it so that you can only build so many units at a time with 1 resource. So if you want to have 4 cities building submarines maybe you need 2 different oil resources. Adds the realism that there could be oil shortages, but not necessarily have all of your oil cut off.
Click to expand...
You read my mind!!! I have been looking into the scripting a bit for this, and have not quite figured out how to do it yet; But it is *definitely* a major goal of mine. I will definitely need help in this respect though, because the map generators would need to be modified as well. But its definitely a goal! I want to get this aspect done asap, just a matter of learning it really; And of course, if people are going to actually play this thing enough to invest the time in it!

Originally Posted by Gufnork
You realize of course that you made Axemen completly pointless and you might as well remove them from the game? Most likely caused romans to win every game they play as well.

Horsie speed might make them a bit too powerful when it comes to pillaging. You can't expect one to patrol every single square of your territory. But if you decide to keep the changes, you might want to up the speed of vehicles as well, they shouldn't be outrun by horses.

I've personally changed tech costs so that the first techs a cheaper, then the cost increases by 25% units each era (so modern tech costs 125% more than ancient tech). This is the only thing so far that has made research speeds seem balanced for me.
Click to expand...
#1. Axemen - Yah, I do realize I made them rather mediocre in comparision now. As far as the roman issue, I was attempting to give them a bit more of an advantage with their preatorians than they already had; Yah, giving them a bit of a leg up. But in my testing I havn't ran into issues with it yet...As far as the axemen; I didnt realize that until I played hehe. I think im going to give them a innate terrian bonuses in woods and jungles. It seems appropriate to the unit type, they are a shock infantry.
#2. Horsie speeds - Yah I didnt get around to upping vehicle speeds yet; That was my bad. But after this weekends testing, you are correct. Pillaging gets a bit more irritating. It seems managable though, I am debating on keeping this or not (Movement penalties in enemy terrorities mitigates this issue mostly; It makes them a fast-response force for a defender instead of a fast-strike force. I liked that..)
#3 I am going to be implementing that this afternoon, now that i've seen how it progresses a few times :)


Originally Posted by Kerian
I am curious as to why you decided to increase the cost of settlers by 75%, I personally find the most tedious part of the game is waiting to build settlers early on.. seems to take forever!

I was thinking it would be cool to have the cost of settlers affected by the culture of the city producing them (if this was posible) If a city has high culture, it is less likely people would want to leave, thereby increasing the cost of settlers to emulate 'convincing' them to go. On the other hand, if a city is boring and is lacking in culture, its far more likely that people would want to find somewhere else to live.
Click to expand...
The cost for settlers is really mitigated with how many more turns their are now (which I may increase a bit more). It seems longer, but I ran into serious expansion and AI issues with having settlers produce normal speeds; The AI seemed to be able to expand better than a human player, and I wanted to make that more fair.

Anyways, I got through all that guys :) Im working on posting another update in a few hours; This is what I tested with this weekend. Thanks again for all the feedback :)
 
Any chance you could add random events to your mod? Like natural disasters?

As well as more resources?
 
Yup! Im working on it, thats all part of my 'expendable resources' research im doing. Once I get the hang of it, I hope to add all this. Let me make a TODO list on the thread and add that to it :)
 
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