BAT Feedback Thread

[Lemon Merchant]

With the recent release of the patch for BAT Mod 2.1 (The link is in my sig if you don't have it yet.), I'd like to ask users if there are any comments about the patch, or just BAT in general.

What do you like about BAT? What don't you like? Is there anything that you, the player, would like to see in future releases? Is there something that you would like to see removed, or made optional?

Basically, how can we make this better for you, as a Civ addict, who stays up far too late at night? How can we make you consistently late for work?

Discuss. (Please.)

 

[ruff_hi]

Ok - I will start ... what does BAT stand for again?

 

[Lemon Merchant]

Hmmm.. that's a toughie... Bizarre Artistic Temperament? ... no... Borderline Average Technology? (My old motherboard manufacturer)... no... Boneheaded Asinine Testimonials? No... you get that on those Sunday sermon programs... Bratwurst And Tequila? ... no... not a combination that I recommend that you try... it tends to repeat on you...

Oh jeez, Nat. Come on... Think...

It's not a female medical issue... it's not a medication... Aha!

; Name of Mod
Name = BAT Mod

; Description of Mod
Description = Beyond the Sword Artistic Tweaks

When all else fails, look in the .ini file!

And I really knew already, Smartie.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

What registry key is that patcher looking for? I can see I have 2.1 installed, and I think I used the installer for that even as a "BAT mod" entry is there in my Software list, patch is still complaining I haven't installed BAT so it can't continue ..

Though I guess I can simply extract it all with 7zip

 

[Lemon Merchant]

What registry key is that patcher looking for? I can see I have 2.1 installed, and I think I used the installer for that even as a "BAT mod" entry is there in my Software list, patch is still complaining I haven't installed BAT so it can't continue ..

Though I guess I can simply extract it all with 7zip

It doesn't look for a registry entry at all. I fiddled with the registry check to disable it. I don't understand why it won't install if you have a BAT 2.1 directory in your \MODS folder. There are full instructions in the release thread, but basically, all the installer does is look for the BAT folder. If it can't find it, it aborts. You can create a dummy folder to fool it into not aborting, and then use the browse for location screen in the installer to put it where it really needs to go. But you should only need to do that if BAT isn't installed in the normal single user location.

I know it's a bit inelegant and kludgy, and I apologize for that. I'm currently in the process of writing a new installer for BAT's next release, and I'm hoping that it will cure some of the drawbacks in some of the install scripts that I've seen. I warped an existing script into one that worked. x64 OS registry checks can be a little strange, and that's why I had to do the patch installer the way that I did. It didn't always find BAT, though it found BTS every time...

 

[Fimbulvetr]

But you should only need to do that if BAT isn't installed in the normal single user location.

I guess that's it, I don't install any mods to user folders, everything goes to Beyond the Sword\Mods\

Unrelated to that, how do I disable/remove Blue Marble? I'm pretty sure it's my (lack of any) graphics card but it really looks worse than standard terrain.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Removing BM_v4.50_HI.FPK gives me back standard terrain.

I'm guessing I should remove Varietas Delectat v8.0.FPK and Cultural Citystyles v0.80.FPK too since the patch contained Varietas Delectat v7.5.FPK and Cultural Citystyles v0.55WH.FPK?

 

[Lemon Merchant]

Yup. If you didn't use the installer, then those two files need to be removed. The installer takes them out, but if you were industrious...

 

[lymond]

Hey LM -

I think this is probably already a known issue. Some of the unit pictures or icons are incorrect. For instance, the heavy footman looks like the archer. Otherwise, your updated version appears to be working great so far and no crashes.

 

[Lemon Merchant]

Hey LM -

I think this is probably already a known issue. Some of the unit pictures or icons are incorrect. For instance, the heavy footman looks like the archer. Otherwise, your updated version appears to be working great so far and no crashes.

I'm glad it's working for you.

I've noticed the unit buttons have been mixed up, and I went over the unit art pretty extensively, but perhaps I missed a few. What Civ were you playing as? Unless something got corrupted in the art FPK files... I'm pretty sure that the XML is all ok, maybe the problem is in the art files themselves. I'll double check again before the next release of BAT.

Thank you for the head's up.

 

[lymond]

I'm playing as Biz. Also, Wash's still looks pretty with his pink brows.

 

[Mazzini]

I have a weird issue where BAT mod 2.1a only does civ-specific graphics for the unit currently highlighted. All others become the generic graphic for their unit. Any idea what could be causing this?

 

[Lemon Merchant]

I'm playing as Biz. Also, Wash's still looks pretty with his pink brows.

His eyebrows are fixed for the next release. I just couldn't handle the fashion faux pas any longer.

I'm trying a new game as Byz to test the newest BAT to make sure I got them all. It's the only civ I haven't ruled out an issue for yet. Stay tuned.

I have a weird issue where BAT mod 2.1a only does civ-specific graphics for the unit currently highlighted. All others become the generic graphic for their unit. Any idea what could be causing this?

I have no idea why that is happening. That sounds like a game engine problem to me. I'll leave that one for someone with coding experience to discuss. Sorry.

 

[EmperorFool]

I have a weird issue where BAT mod 2.1a only does civ-specific graphics for the unit currently highlighted. All others become the generic graphic for their unit. Any idea what could be causing this?

This sounds like a graphics card memory issue--that the game thinks you don't have enough and so it only uses non-generic graphics on the current unit. BAT is quite heavy on the graphics requirement. What card do you have? How much memory does it have?

 

[lymond]

I've just recently noticed something odd about the F1 Domestic Advisor screen. I'm only getting a few option in the drop down at the bottom left such as "Executive Summary" and "Military Overview". I don't see all the options for the different kinds of buildings. There's only 5 options vs. many more that I normally see. I checked my install of BUG 4.2 and it has the same issue, so this may be inherent to that part of the mod. I check my BUFFY 3.19.003 install and the F1 screen looks fine.

This may not be the best place, but I don't recall having this problem until I installed BAT again, so I'll start here and see where it goes. It could be just some kind of setting, but I haven't changed anything.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Did you install BAT over BUG? If yes, do it the other way

 

[lymond]

Okay, I messed around with a few things like uninstalling BAT. First, I installed BUG 4.3 to see how that look and it was fine. Regardless, once I uninstalled BAT and reinstalled it both BUG 4.2 and BAT looked fine. However, I used the "standard install" approach and now BAT crashes upon exit. (Previously, I used the "don't share settings with BUG" option)

I'm going to uninstall BAT again and reinstall using the latter option again. However, I guess my question then is what do these two options mean "Standard" and "Don't Share". The reason I used the "don't share" settings with BUG originally is...well... it seemed to make sense as I may run different versions of BUG or run it in or out of Custom Assets. Honestly, I don't know why you would want BAT to share settings with BUG since it contains BUG/BULL unless I just completely miss the boat on this one. I can say this, I want BAT to be completely stand alone.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

BAT 2.1 has such an old version of BULL included, I don't know if installing BUG 4.2/4.3 over BAT again would fix that, but that's what I'd try.

 

[lymond]

I'm not sure what you mean by installing BUG over BAT. To me, they are mutually exclusive. However, somehow BAT is effecting my BUG 4.2. I run BUG 4.2 in custom assets but switch to the vanilla version of custom assets when running BAT. I also switch the CORE DLL from BULL to Vanilla version, as necessary, which is the most annoying thing. That's why I prefer playing either BUFFY or BAT since BULL is setup fully functional, but have to run BUG 4.2 in custom assets for many forum games.

Anyway, I reinstalled with the "Don't share" option and the F1 screen is messed up again. However, the game doesn't crash. So the summary for me:

1) Standard Install: F1 fine, game crashes

2) "Don't Share" option: F1 not fine, game does not crash.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

I just tested copying all files from my Better BUG AI over my BAT 2.1 install, and it seems to work. At least I have more than 5 options in the dropdown menu on the F1 page. (I count 19)

That way you'd get latest BUG and BULL, and all of BAT (which is just old BUG, old BULL and Art)
You'd also get better AI though, which will break savegames afaik