Questions about The BUG Mod

[alerum68]

Please post all questions pertaining to installation, setup, or other minor issues here instead of starting a new thread.

Thank you!

[Roland Johansen]

First of all, thank you for this mod.

I have some small question about installing this mod as a mod (as opposed to installing it in customassets).

I installed it as a mod in its own modfolder (...\Civilization 4\Beyond the Sword\Mods\Modname\), placing the ini file directly in the Modname folder and renaming the customassets folder to Assets and also placing it in the Modname folder. I also placed the documentation folder in the Modname folder, but I guess that wasn't important.

Question 1: Was the above a correct installation?

Question 2: I didn't name the Modname folder BUG Mod and thus the game creates a new ini-file named Modname.ini. I know that the BUG Mod.ini file contains a lot of important settings about how the mod works. Will the mod still be able to find the correct information and is the Modname.ini file just a dummy file?

Question 3: I was playing a game with my own mod with some small xml-changes (in different files than the xml files that were added by this mod) and with Solvers unofficial patch (which also affects different files than your mod). I added these xml-changes and Solvers unofficial patch to your mod and named this combined mod the same as my old mod so that I could continue my game. The game seems to work ok. Can you tell me if there are to be expected any problems with using this mod with a savegame as opposed to a new game? (edit: I'm using the flavour version of the mod)


Remark 1: The shortcut button CTRL ALT O with which one can change the settings of the mod is not well documented. I only found out about it when reading the Loading Hints & Tips suggestions thread in this forum and that thread isn't sticky. Maybe you could mention it in the Latest Version thread where all the other features of the mod are mentioned.

Remark 2: In the documentation about the Reminder mod component, the shortcut key ALT R is mentioned while it should be ALT M. The ingame customisation menu (CTRL ALT O) mentions the correct ALT M.

Thanks again for this mod and good luck with any further additions to the mod.

[alerum68]

Yes it was correct, but you will need to make sure it calls the .ini file. I don't think it matters about the the other .ini file since BUG pulls from the .ini, not the game, so it should still pull up alright. Let us know if you have any problems.

I'll take into account the options buttons not being well documents, and see what I can do to to fix it. alot of the Docs have been copied in whole, and haven't been updated yet. It's going to be a big project just doing that, and are taking our time since I'm afraid alot of people don't read the docs like you did. Will keep tabs on it though, and when we have time will update it.

[Roland Johansen]

Originally Posted by alerum68

Yes it was correct, but you will need to make sure it calls the .ini file. I don't think it matters about the the other .ini file since BUG pulls from the .ini, not the game, so it should still pull up alright. Let us know if you have any problems.

I'll take into account the options buttons not being well documents, and see what I can do to to fix it. alot of the Docs have been copied in whole, and haven't been updated yet. It's going to be a big project just doing that, and are taking our time since I'm afraid alot of people don't read the docs like you did. Will keep tabs on it though, and when we have time will update it.

Thanks for the answer. Everything seems to working ok. I made some changes to the settings with CTRL ALT O and noticed the game remembered it after restarting, so the ini file must have been updated.

I know that many will not read through the documentation. I also didn't read every detail, I read the documentation of the modcomponents that I planned to use/activate. Many people also don't read a game manual, so that's to be expected. It's mainly the CTRL ALT O button that needs to be mentioned somewhere where you can't miss it. If you don't know about the button, then you can't customise the mod. Whether it's in the newest version thread where the mod is explained or during installation of the mod.

Oh, one other thing that isn't actually a question, but more a remark. The new game clock uses (in its standard settings) a blue colour during one of the ages of the game. The contrast between this colour and the background is so small that the clock is barely visible. Maybe this standard colour could be changed.

If I notice something buggy, I'll mention it in the bug reporting thread. Good luck with the ideas for improvement. They sound interesting.

[Cammagno]

Originally Posted by Roland Johansen

Remark 1: The shortcut button CTRL ALT O with which one can change the settings of the mod is not well documented. I only found out about it when reading the Loading Hints & Tips suggestions thread in this forum and that thread isn't sticky. Maybe you could mention it in the Latest Version thread where all the other features of the mod are mentioned.

Good idea to mention it in that thread.
But I have to say that I don't agree with you when you say that it's not well documented. It's written clearly in the BUG Readme file, and it's in bold

Originally Posted by Roland Johansen

Remark 2: In the documentation about the Reminder mod component, the shortcut key ALT R is mentioned while it should be ALT M. The ingame customisation menu (CTRL ALT O) mentions the correct ALT M.

The ReadMe files for the mods included in the BUG mod are the original ones. They have been written by the original authors and have not been modified by the BUG Team (with only small exceptions in particular cases), so there are lots of things that are not up-to-date there.
In the final release of the BUG Mod (and hopefully already in the 1.0 release, but we are not sure we'll have enough time for it) there will be a Changes.rtf file that will list all the changes made by the BUG Team to the original mods, and a Feature.rtf file listing all the features of the BUG mod.

So... you only have to wait

[Roland Johansen]

Originally Posted by Cammagno

Good idea to mention it in that thread.
But I have to say that I don't agree with you when you say that it's not well documented. It's written clearly in the BUG Readme file, and it's in bold

Uhm, sorry. I thought, I had really read the documentation pretty well. So, yeah, it's there and I missed it.

I also know why I missed it. The text in that file resembles the text on your SourceForge page with a few changes. The addition of that line is one of them. When reading the text, I thought that I had already read it.

Good luck with updating the documentation. It's pretty boring work, I guess. Not as much fun as creating a nice mod. On the other hand, making an easily accessible mod where people are never wondering how something works is probably one of the best ways to make a mod successful. It's not the thing that attracts the first users, but it will cause the first users to advertise it as a nice mod.

The problem with making a mod easily accessible is that you already know how everything works and it seems very logical to you as you created it in a way that seems logical to you. A first time user might think otherwise.

By the way, I don't want to say that your mod is not easily accessible. Besides not finding the shortcut key for the customisation menu, I haven't had any problems whatsoever. The menu was easy to use and the new options are already integrated in my playing style. That only took a few minutes. So good job.

[Cammagno]

Originally Posted by Roland Johansen

I also know why I missed it. The text in that file resembles the text on your SourceForge page with a few changes. The addition of that line is one of them. When reading the text, I thought that I had already read it.

You are right, the documentation on SF really ned to be updated, and also expanded. It will be done for sure... soon or later

Originally Posted by Roland Johansen

Good luck with updating the documentation. It's pretty boring work, I guess. Not as much fun as creating a nice mod. On the other hand, making an easily accessible mod where people are never wondering how something works is probably one of the best ways to make a mod successful. It's not the thing that attracts the first users, but it will cause the first users to advertise it as a nice mod.
The problem with making a mod easily accessible is that you already know how everything works and it seems very logical to you as you created it in a way that seems logical to you. A first time user might think otherwise.

I fully agree with you, documentation IS important, no doubt about this.
And we'll try to put good docs in the first release and improve them for subsequent releases.

For now, we are still releasing beta versions, so we are focusing on making changes, trying to add features and killing bugs. Even because, as you can figure, if writing lots of docs is a bit boring, having to frequently rewrite them because the mod has changed is much more boring

Originally Posted by Roland Johansen

By the way, I don't want to say that your mod is not easily accessible. Besides not finding the shortcut key for the customisation menu, I haven't had any problems whatsoever. The menu was easy to use and the new options are already integrated in my playing style. That only took a few minutes. So good job.

Thanks
And we'll try to explain things clearly also in the main thread here on CF, as you suggested.

[Ezeki3l]

Hey folks.

First of all. I want to say thanks. I love this mod. It is the only mod I use and I love it, So thanks for all the work.

Second. I just have a few questions. I am sorry if they are a rehash. I tried searching the forum but didn't find what I needed.

Setup: I just downloaded BUG 1.0b and BAT .06 from source forge. I downloaded the Zip files and placed them in my My documents\My Games\Beyond the Sword. I used the custom assets from the zip files to overwrite the custom assets in the MY games\BTS folder. I unzipped BUG 1.00.b first and then the BAT .06 second and in each case, I overwrote the custom assets folder with the custom assets from the Zip. So that is how I installed it. (if this is wrong then I may have to redo it or something).

Problem 1: I am having a problem when I hit the CTRL - ALT - O . When I do it, it will pop up and I can make changes. But I cannot exit. It just hangs up and I have to kill the game.

Problem 2: As I understand it, the BAT mod contains the Great person mod that will pop up a GP scroll with a quote or something. Is that mod included in the BAT mod? I could not get it to work and it is one of my most favorite mods. I know there was some discussion about waiting to get it in python. But I thought I saw it in the BAT documentation that the mod was added. Is this not the case or is my install just wrong and thats why it is not working?

Thanks tons for the work and the help. It has made the game very enjoyable.

[Cammagno]

Originally Posted by Ezeki3l

Setup: I just downloaded BUG 1.0b and BAT .06 from source forge. I downloaded the Zip files and placed them in my My documents\My Games\Beyond the Sword. I used the custom assets from the zip files to overwrite the custom assets in the MY games\BTS folder. I unzipped BUG 1.00.b first and then the BAT .06 second and in each case, I overwrote the custom assets folder with the custom assets from the Zip. So that is how I installed it. (if this is wrong then I may have to redo it or something).

It's ok, but IMHO is better to delete (or rename) the CustomAssets folder before installing BUG.

Originally Posted by Ezeki3l

Problem 1: I am having a problem when I hit the CTRL - ALT - O . When I do it, it will pop up and I can make changes. But I cannot exit. It just hangs up and I have to kill the game.

This normally happens when the game is not able to write on BUG Mod.ini. And this n ormally happens when this file is not in the right place (BUG is able to find it in differente places when reading, but only write on it in one place).
Is it in the main My Games/BtS folder, outside the CustomAssets folder?

[Ezeki3l]

Thank you for the quick reply.

Originally Posted by Cammagno

It's ok, but IMHO is better to delete (or rename) the CustomAssets folder before installing BUG.

Actually. I renamed my original custom assets folder and copied the BUG folders in. When I did the BAT custom assets though, I just overwrote everything. Is the BUG custom assets a stand alone? perhaps I should redo that

Originally Posted by Cammagno

This normally happens when the game is not able to write on BUG Mod.ini. And this n ormally happens when this file is not in the right place (BUG is able to find it in differente places when reading, but only write on it in one place).
Is it in the main My Games/BtS folder, outside the CustomAssets folder?

It is outside the CustomAssets folder inthe my docs \ my games \bts folder. I do happen to have my docs pointed ad a different drive, but I don't suppose that would be the problem.

If I cant get it to work that is fine. I will still enjoy the game and I should be able to modify the ini file in text pad or something. My biggest thing is the Great person mod which gives the pop ups. I love that mod. . . Is there any chance that it is contained with the BAT mod? Its the same one that pops up the scroll with the quote of the great person right?

thanks tons for the help.

[NikNaks]

Originally Posted by Ezeki3l

Problem 2: As I understand it, the BAT mod contains the Great person mod that will pop up a GP scroll with a quote or something. Is that mod included in the BAT mod? I could not get it to work and it is one of my most favorite mods. I know there was some discussion about waiting to get it in python. But I thought I saw it in the BAT documentation that the mod was added. Is this not the case or is my install just wrong and thats why it is not working?

Well, the art files are included, but no-one has helped with the Python code as of yet

[Ezeki3l]

Originally Posted by NikNaks93

Well, the art files are included, but no-one has helped with the Python code as of yet

Ok thanks. That is the answer I was looking for. That is a shame since i love it so much.

[Cammagno]

Originally Posted by NikNaks93

Well, the art files are included, but no-one has helped with the Python code as of yet

I think that everybody forgot about this.
I suggest to include it in the to-do list...

[pawelo]

Hey guys (or ladies, who knows ),

First of all, congrats for the awesome jobs you are doing for the community

I have a noob question:
It is my first mod I use, and it seems to overwrite pretty well the vanilla BtS.
As there are some nice RB events open, I'm required to leave your mod aside for these games.
Is there a nice elegant config-like way to do it, or do I have to re-overwrite the bug assets dll to disable it ?

Thanks again for this spectacular mod making micro-management a fun part of the game

[·Imhotep·]

@pawelo:

Easiest way: Rename your CustomAssets folder in Documents/MyGames/... to CustomAssets_BUG (or whatever you like) and then start BtS. The game will create a fresh CustomAssets folder without any mods in it. If you want to switch back to BUG, just delete the new folder and rename the CustomAssets_BUG folder back to CustomAssets...

[pawelo]

Thanks for your answer -Imhotep-!

<removed question>

[alerum68]

Originally Posted by pawelo

Hey guys (or ladies, who knows ),

First of all, congrats for the awesome jobs you are doing for the community

I have a noob question:
It is my first mod I use, and it seems to overwrite pretty well the vanilla BtS.
As there are some nice RB events open, I'm required to leave your mod aside for these games.
Is there a nice elegant config-like way to do it, or do I have to re-overwrite the bug assets dll to disable it ?

Thanks again for this spectacular mod making micro-management a fun part of the game

I suppose we could build an uninstaller into the .exe file, but this will remove the config file as well. I'd suggest just renaming the CustomAssets folder to something like CustomAssetsBUG and when you restart it will be standard BTS, then just delete the other one.... ORRRRRR... you can get Ruff_hi's CustomAssets switcher. I don't have the link handy, but it's in his sig line.

[pawelo]

Originally Posted by alerum68

ORRRRRR... you can get Ruff_hi's CustomAssets switcher. I don't have the link handy, but it's in his sig line.

He has a CustomAssets switcher implemented
Thanks for advice alerum68!

[ruff_hi]

yes I do ... any feedback on easy of use would be good. See sig for details.

[pawelo]

I'll give definitely give it a try