[BTS] Brand new player. I'm very confused about these mods.

[Zeropoint101]

I feel like I'm swimming in a sea of acronyms with very confusing and conflicting information, or lack thereof.

I want the graphical improvements, which I assume means I need BAT.

I want the UI improvements which I assume means either BUG or BULL.

But it's all really unclear what is what and how to do it. Some comments/posts seem to imply BULL is just BUG with more features, but other comments have said BAT includes both BUG and BULL. Why would it include both if BULL already includes BUG? The sticked download post where it says "The BAT mod includes..." doesn't seem to imply that BAT has BUG or BULL in it.

Can someone explain what I actually need if I want the graphics improvements and UI improvements?

Also, is there really no detailed list of exactly what these mods do?

 

[Lemon Merchant]

I want the graphical improvements, which I assume means I need BAT.

Yes, for graphicsl improvements, BAT is what you need

I want the UI improvements which I assume means either BUG or BULL.

Yes. That is true.

But it's all really unclear what is what and how to do it. Some comments/posts seem to imply BULL is just BUG with more features, but other comments have said BAT includes both BUG and BULL. Why would it include both if BULL already includes BUG? The sticked download post where it says "The BAT mod includes..." doesn't seem to imply that BAT has BUG or BULL in it.

BUG is the base information mod. BULL is an enhancement for BUG that offers a few more things like informational hovers, and other information. The BAT Mod contains both BUG and BULL, and graphics enhancements to make the game more informative and enjoyable.

Can someone explain what I actually need if I want the graphics improvements and UI improvements?

If you want all of that in one package, you need the BAT Mod

Also, is there really no detailed list of exactly what these mods do?

There used to be, but it got destroyed in a reshuffle at SourceForge. We don't have the original files to put it back, unfortunately.

 

[Zeropoint101]

Aha. The reshuffle at SourceForge explains my biggest curiosity about all this. I play various older moddable games and I've always known modders to be meticulous about stuff like this. I couldn't figure out why it wasn't there. Thanks very much. I had gone ahead and installed BAT earlier today, but I wasn't sure if I was actually getting all the BUG/BULL stuff I wanted.

I suppose it's not that important since there don't seem to be that many new players of Civ IV, but I noticed you are a dev for some of these and I assume a moderator here. Is it possible to change/add a few things to the stickied "Download BUG and BAT here!" post? It's rather confusing. It mentions BULL, but doesn't really say what it is at all, and it doesn't explain that BAT includes BULL as well as BUG. Also, the installation process and activating the mod was rather confusing. I got it to work after just throwing caution to the wind and trying it different ways until I figured it out, but I'm still not even sure if I really did it right and I had several errors where I just hit "ignore" and I don't know what that may have done or left missing. it would be nice to have specific instructions on the whole process for new people. Actually not just new people tbh - I asked around on reddit, as well as searching older posts on here and elsewhere and more people than not seemed to vaguely know what these are but be just as confused about me about the specifics.

 

[Lemon Merchant]

Hehe. I'm anything but a moderator.

The unfortunate part is that introductory post on the mods was written by someone else, and I have no power to edit it with new information. The original poster is also long gone.

I really should get around to writing an instruction page for BAT installs. It's really pretty automated though. There isn't much to go wrong.

 

[JosEPh_II]

I suppose it's not that important since there don't seem to be that many new players of Civ IV,

But.....

BtS is where they are all at. Many BtS Mods are still followed and some are still making improvements and growing. Like the one in my Sig line.

 

[Lemon Merchant]

But.....

BtS is where they are all at. Many BtS Mods are still followed and some are still making improvements and growing. Like the one in my Sig line.

Gee. I don't publicize my mods in your section of the forum. Why is it OK for you to publicize yours in ours?