Beta of GOTM Mod for Mac - Please test

[AlanH]

31 March 2007. THIS VERSION IS NOW OBSOLETE See this thread for the later version.

Attached is a beta of a Mac version of the HoF Mod.

We intend to provide GOTM start saves to use a mod based on this work, since the mod is now compulsory for GOTM, so I'm offering this subset of it for advance testing. For the first game this version may be all that you will get.

Please Note This version of the mod will not make it possible for you to play in the HoF competition.

This mod provides a suite of mods, in the same way as the Windows HoF Mod, with Options screens to allow you to enable, disable and configure them. It includes most of the usability features of the Windows HoF Mod, omitting those on Options Screen HOF3 which are HoF-specific and/or dependent on the Windows DLL.

Included:

• Autolog
• CIV4lerts
• Specialist Stacker
• Exotic Foreign Adviser
• Modified Special Domestic Adviser
• Clock Turn Text
• Reminders - Checkbox moved to HOF1 Options tab
• Flashing End-of-Turn Text - Checkbox moved to HOF1 Options tab

Excluded:

• HoF MapFinder (irrelevant for GOTM)
• HOF Settings options and warnings (irrrelevant for GOTM)
• Main screen options (need the DLL)

I've removed the HOF3 Options tab, as it only had two checkboxes left on it, and they looked a bit lonely. I've moved those to the bottom of the HOF1 tab.

I would appreciate your help in testing this part of the mod, as so far I've only run it on my MacPro and my old sub-spec G4 rig, and I haven't played any game extensively using it - too busy

Installation
Download the attached zip file. It will expand to create a folder called 'HOF-1.61-Mac.008'.

Drag this entire folder into the Mods folder within your Civilization IV application folder. It will NOT work if you try to put it in your ~/Documents/Civilization IV/MODS folder.

You have two options to load it:

1. Launch Civ4, click Advanced, click Load A Mod, select 'HOF-1.61-Mac.008'
Civ4 will tell you it has to restart to load the mod. Let it do so and then start a game in the usual way.

2. Set it as your default mod by editing your ~/Documents/Civilization IV/CivilizationIV.ini file in TextEdit.
Find the comment line:
; Specify a Mod folder (Mods\Mesopotamia), '0' for none

Change the line below it from:
Mod=0

to:
Mod=Mods\HOF-1.61-Mac.008

Save the edited file. Civ4 will then load the mod at startup, avoiding the need for the double start.

When the mod is loaded, you can configure it. Click Advanced at the first menu, and Options to open the Options screen before you start a game. Or select Options in the in-game menu to change its configuration. It initially has all the enhancements disabled. Use the checkboxes on the HOF1 and HOF2 tabs to try out the extra goodies. Please check out the details and the links in the Credits section on this HoF site page for details of what the various mods do.

Even if you use none of the mod's features, you will still need to load it to play future GOTMs. When you try to load a GOTM Mac start file it will look for the mod, and restart Civ4 to load it if it's not already loaded.

And if you don't play GOTMs you may still find this a useful suite of mods to improve in-game information.

Please let me know if you have any issues with this mod, as it, or something like it, will be compulsory for future GOTMs played on Macs.

UPDATE
Release Candidate now available.

It's now in an installer, and it includes a couple of small changes to make the Options screen and Special Domestic Adviser screens work a bit better. It also includes the bug fix we identified during the beta testing.

Please note that the installer relies on you to tell it where to install the mod. I haven't included any checking for that, but it MUST go into the same Mods folder where you have your existing beta version. You can install to your desktop .... or anywhere ... if you prefer, and then move it manually to the correct Mods folder.

Download the zipped installer here:

http://gotm.civfanatics.net/civ4games/HOF_Mac_1.61.009_Installer.pkg.zip

It installs as HOF-Mac-1.61.009, and so does not overwrite the existing beta. If you are using the old version then it will continue to work, but please use the new one for future new games.

(Previous beta version downloaded 28 times)

 

[ainwood]

Great stuff Alan!

 

[dojoboy]

2. Set it as your default mod by editing your ~/Documents/Civilization IV/CivilizationIV.ini file in TextEdit.
Find the comment line:
; Specify a Mod folder (Mods\Mesopotamia), '0' for none

Change the line below it from:
Mod=0

to:
Mod=Mods\HOF-1.61-Mac.008

Save the edited file. Civ4 will then load the mod at startup, avoiding the need for the double start.

I'm assuming this measure is not necessary, but only if you wish it to load automatically for all personal games - given that the HoF mod will start when a GOTM save is loaded. ???

Edit: Never mind, I caught the qualifier on the second read.

 

[AlanH]

Tip:

Because I'm messing with several mods, and I don't like waiting for Civ4 to launch twice every time I try anything with a mod, that part of my Civilization IV.ini file actually looks like this:

; Specify a Mod folder (Mods\Mesopotamia), '0' for none
; mod = 0
Mod = MODS\HOF-1.61-Mac.008
; Mod = Mods\Rhye's and Fall of Civilization
; Mod = Mods\Total Realism
; Mod = Mods\The Ancient Mediterranean

As you can see, I add each mod I try as a commented entry (the ';' makes a line a comment). So before I launch Civ4 with a different mod I just remove the semi-colon from the line I want and put it next to the previous one.

Hmm! If the screen you get when you Command-launch Civ4 had a pop-up list of installed mods, you could select it there instead of doing a text edit ... Brad???

 

[Gyathaar]

atleast in Pc version you can also launch the mod in a 3rd way.. by adding aØ
mod=\HOF-1.61-Mac.008 to the shortcut that starts civ4

plus doubleclicking a save that was made with the mod should also automatically load it

 

[dojoboy]

Alan's work is amazing - great job Alan. I was able to flawlwssly load the mod w/ option 1. I've not altered the .ini, and probably won't until I understand the mod more. Does it in anyway alter the gameplay, or is it just a process for collecting information, etc?

 

[AlanH]

There's no impact on game play, only a substantial reduction in the work required if you want to assimilate all the data that's available in the game.

atleast in Pc version you can also launch the mod in a 3rd way.. by adding aØ
mod=\HOF-1.61-Mac.008 to the shortcut that starts civ4

plus doubleclicking a save that was made with the mod should also automatically load it

Neither of these options work on the Mac as far as I can tell. When you launch an application on the Mac by double clicking a file it receives an Apple Event from the system to define which file(s) to load. However, it appears Civ4 has no built-in support for AppleEvents, so the event goes unnoticed. I suspect the same would apply if you tried to launch it with a command line.

 

[bio_hazard]

Hi Alan,
Downloaded and installed no problem on a 15" powerbook. It loaded up fine, with BlueMarble running too. Haven' t actually played a game with it yet, but it looks pretty great so I've set it to load as default using the .ini file. Here's to hoping it fixes the GOTM issue too! Thanks a million!

 

[AlanH]

Thanks guys.

That's two G4's including mine, and two Core 2 Duo systems if I'm right about Dojo's iMac. Any G5 or Core Duo users out there care to check it out? You don't have to be GOTM players - you may find it's useful in its own right as a simple combination of powerful adviser enhancements.

 

[willpax]

Thanks for the good work, Alan. I'll probably just try to have it load automatically and give the mod a whirl.

 

[Skippy_Kangaroo]

Seems to work without errors. (MacBook Pro, Core Duo 2.0GHz, X1600, 10.4.8)

But I'm not convinced the Domestic Advisor screens look right. See the attachment for my screen shot. (Is there a way of putting the picture in line easily? Instructions welcome.)

The column for building is too narrow to say anything other than B... and the picture of the barracks looks misplaced. Are you meant to be able to resize the column widths? Rolling my cursor over the boundary didn't lead to any cursor change indicating this was possible. Is this the way it's meant to be?

I haven't played with it much, I just loaded it and started a new game for a few turns. There may be other things I notice as I actually play with it.

 

[AlanH]

What's your screen width in pixels?

Have you checked out the thread for that Domestic Adviser mod? It looks as if there were some issues with different screen resolutions and column widths. I doubt if they are being affected by the Mac. Don't know why the columns can't be resized. I'll have a play

 

[Skippy_Kangaroo]

What's your screen width in pixels?

I was playing 1440x900 (full screen).

I'll check out the thread you reference and see if there are any answers there.

 

[AlanH]

I'm doing some research myself. I notice a reference to C++ in there, and there's a text file with column widths in the mod file set. It's possible that there's something in the DLL supporting the table layout.

No, just downloaded the original version of hte mod and it has no DLL.

 

[drapes]

Attached is a beta of a Mac version of the HoF Mod.
...
Please let me know if you have any issues with this mod, as it, or something like it, will be compulsory for future GOTMs played on Macs.

Hey AlanH,

I downloaded and installed the mod and it loads correctly.

20" iMac, 2.0GHz Duo, 1GB, 10.4.8.

Now I'm still somewhat new to this, so I haven't figured entirely out what information is vanilla civ and what is new in the mod, but all the advisor screens seem to display.

Some things I noticed:

1) The foreign advisor came up maximized. On one page (don't remember - Trades perhaps) it didn't have any of the links to the other pages, only Exit. The only way I could get it to work again is to turn off that bit of the MOD on the options page.

2) At one point, Montezuma approached me and proclaimed: "Your weakness is contemptible, #CT_NAME! Give us what we want or perish!"

3) With work boats over crab resources, I was never given that disgusting crossed dead fish icon to build nets. I just worked the tile long enough however and nets showed up. This was a captured city, don't know if that matters. Maybe this is another known unrelated bug? I should look it up...

4) Unrelated. But has anyone noticed the typo in the Sid's Tips for the Versailles wonder? It says Great Artist in the Sid's Tips but Great Merchant everywhere else. Again, I guess I should look it up myself to see if it has been reported...

Thanks AlanH,

I'm pleased that I'll be able to play the next GOTM.

 

[dojoboy]

3) With work boats over crab resources, I was never given that disgusting crossed dead fish icon to build nets. I just worked the tile long enough however and nets showed up. This was a captured city, don't know if that matters. Maybe this is another known unrelated bug? I should look it up...

This may have been because newly caputred cities are in unrest and borders are constricted to just the city-proper. Tiles cannot be improved outside of your territory borders, except for roadwork. When you captured city came out of unrest, the borders expanded to include the crabs. Then, you could work the tile.

This is my guess.

 

[AlanH]

Hey AlanH,

I downloaded and installed the mod and it loads correctly.

20" iMac, 2.0GHz Duo, 1GB, 10.4.8.

Good stuff.

Some things I noticed:

1) The foreign advisor came up maximized.

That's as the mod is designed. I've checked the Python code and it scales the window to full screen.

On one page (don't remember - Trades perhaps) it didn't have any of the links to the other pages, only Exit. The only way I could get it to work again is to turn off that bit of the MOD on the options page.

I can't make that happen here. There are two options relating to trade in teh Foreign Adviser - Resources and Technologies. Both display all the other options on my system. Anyone else?

2) At one point, Montezuma approached me and proclaimed: "Your weakness is contemptible, #CT_NAME! Give us what we want or perish!"

I occasionally see situations like this. It looks as if a piece of text is missing in an XML file, or the software ahs mislaid it. I don't think it's mod-specific, as the mod doesn't affect those display screens.

3) With work boats over crab resources, I was never given that disgusting crossed dead fish icon to build nets. I just worked the tile long enough however and nets showed up. This was a captured city, don't know if that matters. Maybe this is another known unrelated bug? I should look it up...

4) Unrelated. But has anyone noticed the typo in the Sid's Tips for the Versailles wonder? It says Great Artist in the Sid's Tips but Great Merchant everywhere else. Again, I guess I should look it up myself to see if it has been reported...

Again, not mod-related for sure.

Thanks AlanH,

I'm pleased that I'll be able to play the next GOTM.

I look forward to your entry

Please note that ther will undoubtedly be a new version required to play the actual game, but it should not look significantly different from this one unless someone reports a show stopper.

 

[drapes]

This may have been because newly caputred cities are in unrest and borders are constricted to just the city-proper. Tiles cannot be improved outside of your territory borders, except for roadwork. When you captured city came out of unrest, the borders expanded to include the crabs. Then, you could work the tile.

This is my guess.

Nah... Just me being an idiot. I got confused by the graphics representing all the combinations of unworked/worked and unimproved/improved water tiles. The tiles were already improved, which is why I couldn't use the work-boats. The nets magically appeared when I worked the tile.

Thanks

 

[Skippy_Kangaroo]

But I'm not convinced the Domestic Advisor screens look right. See the attachment for my screen shot.

Looks like the building pictures are not as originally designed. From the special domestic advisor thread they have the following screenshot:

Column widths seem to be as designed but the top margin to fit the picture seems off.

The only other problems I've noted with the mod seem to be aesthetic (and as designed) rather than functional.

 

[AlanH]

@Skippy: The difference is that, for the HOF mod they added the top banner with the Domestic Adviser text, in case you didn't know where you were, I guess . This seems to drop the main panel down, so the building buttons along the top stick up above the top edge. Either the screen layout differs slightly on the Mac version (unlikely) or the HoF Mod guys were not too fussy about making it look neat.

I've had a play with the screen position numbers and I can make it look like this the shot below, so I'll probably make this the setup for the Mac first release version.

BTW: You asked about putting images inline. Upload them using the Upload Files link at the bottom of the page. Add a link to the image file in your post. You get the link text you need after you upload the file. Open this post as a Quote to see how it looks.