HoF Map Finder/Generator Utility 2016-10-05

[General 666]

Not 100% sure ,but I think it is the last version.

Don`t worry for the bump. If somebody complain about it I would report him to the forum staff.

 

[Turner]

Not even two years.... I've seen longer.

Anyways, it was a relevant topical bump, so it's cool.

 

[Abaddon]

I don't know what I have done wrong.. but this isn't working for me.. It keeps reloading one of my old game saves!

Any help?

 

[darski]

I don't know what I have done wrong.. but this isn't working for me.. It keeps reloading one of my old game saves!

Any help?

did you see Harriet's How-to post here?

 

[Abaddon]

Thanks i'll look at that, see if I can get anywhere.

My current problem is that it tries to name each save file, the same.. so after the first map it gets stuck from the warning prompt "do you want to overwrite this"

 

[gmaharriet]

did you see Harriet's How-to post here?

Ok, I have to , since I wrote the "how-to" on getting the program to work. I've been away from CivIII for about 3 years and wanted to try my hand at it again. Has anyone got this to work on Windows7?

I can get it up, but it says, down at the bottom of the MapFinder screen "Loading new game", "Verifying", and there it stops. Then I hear a "clunk" noise. When I close the program, it gives me an error message about .dll's.

The directories look a bit different, but I think (hope) I installed it and set it up correctly. I have the "Maps" folder made per instructions and the pointers seem to be in the correct locations, but.... Dunno.

I'm running as Admin if that's an issue. If anyone is using it with Windows7, I'd be interested in any insights you have.

EDIT: I finally got it to run on Win7, but I think it's just a work-around. I had to move it to the same directory as Civ3 was in and tell it to run in Compatible Mode. Only problem is that it runs much slower than it did under my old XP machine...not sure why. When first starting it up, it has to be watched carefully, because it first wants to open the "Conquests mod files" rather than the Quick Start file and the mod file dialogue has to be manually closed and reset to Quick Start. After than it runs by itself, but very slowly. I'm frustrated.

 

[BlackWizard]

I get this error when trying mapfinder. I have windows 7. What should I do?


MapFinder 2005
---------------------------
Unable to write to C:\Program Files\Infogrames Interactive\Civilization III\conquests.ini.
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

 

[CommandoBob]

First thought: Windows 7, like Vista before it, is very protective of items in the Programs Files folder. So it could be a security rights issue.

Second thought: is the conquests.ini file a read-only file?

Third thought (one I really don't like): uninstall and reinstall to a folder you have created, like 'MyCiv3' or 'Civ3Rocks'; anyplace other than Program Files and its security checking. From what I understand, Win7 won't check the other places as vigorously as it does Program Files (i.e., if you installed it yourself into your own folder, Win7 doesn't care about it).

 

[bluejay]

My new laptop runs 64-bit Windows 7. Conquests and Mapfinder seem to run fine, except that after MF finishes its first group of iterations, it won't reload Conquests, but just sits there, or sometimes pops up the report screen.

Conquests is in C:\Program files (x86)\Civilization III\Conquests.exe; could that be a problem for MF to find?

 

[CommandoBob]

My new laptop runs 64-bit Windows 7. Conquests and Mapfinder seem to run fine, except that after MF finishes its first group of iterations, it won't reload Conquests, but just sits there, or sometimes pops up the report screen.

Conquests is in C:\Program files (x86)\Civilization III\Conquests.exe; could that be a problem for MF to find?

The problem will not be finding the file but that Windows security for programs in the folders Program Files or Program Files (x86) is very picky.

One solution is to uninstall Conquests and reinstall it into another folder outside of Program Files. I have WinXP, so this issue does not affect me, but I installed C3C to Drive D:\Civ3Complete. My reason was to put my fun stuff on Drive D and leave Windows, the anti-virus, the anti-spyware stuff and all the other geeky things the PC needs to run on Drive C.

In the tech subforum for CivIII is a sticky on dealing with Win7.

 

[bluejay]

One solution is to uninstall Conquests and reinstall it into another folder outside of Program Files.

Thanks for the pointers. I looked at the sticky thread, then uninstalled Civ3 and Conquests, then reinstalled both in C:\Civ3. Now Mapfinder seems to work just fine.

 

[Experiment 626]

So I have MapFinder downloaded and installed. What should the Rules Set be in order to get a Settler Factory as my starting point? I've got all the Tundras, deserts, mountains, jungles, and flood plains set to "=0". What else do I need?

Hey! My 400th and 401st post!

 

[Tzar Sasha]

I'm going to necro and ask...

Windows 7 64 bit
Civ3 PTW & C3C
Installed to: C:\Games\Civilization3
Mapfinder installed to: C:\apps\MapFinder_v65b
Left all settings at default for first run.

I start the game, set up the map settings, get to 4000BC, clear the text box, launch MapFinder, set the rules, start it running.

It starts new maps fine when they do not match the rules. When one does match the rules it fails to save. If I have WindowsFileBox=1 set in the conquest.ini, the dialog window to save the file remains in the background. If WindowsFileBox=0, then it just keeps running without making the save.

What am I missing?

 

[CommandoBob]

Where is MapFinder placing the saves?

 

[Tzar Sasha]

It isn't placing the saves because it is failing to save....

The directory settings are as follows:
Output directory: C:\Civ3Maps

Auto save directory:
have tried it with
-- C:\Games\Civilization3\Saves\Auto
-- C:\Games\Civilization3\Conquests\Saves\Auto

 

[Tzar Sasha]

Note: This version is bug free and it should work well with all version of CIV3/PTW/C3C with US keyboard layout. If your system default keyboard layout isn't US, you need to temporarily set your keyboard to US before running MapFinder.

Just saw this gem in the first post. I've got software to allow Chinese characters to display for use with another program. It might be possible that that is interfering. Will have to test.

EDIT: That was indeed the problem. Despite the US keyboard being the default, the mere fact that a Chinese keyboard option was available prevented MapFinder from saving the maps.

 

[gmaharriet]

Just saw this gem in the first post. I've got software to allow Chinese characters to display for use with another program. It might be possible that that is interfering. Will have to test.

EDIT: That was indeed the problem. Despite the US keyboard being the default, the mere fact that a Chinese keyboard option was available prevented MapFinder from saving the maps.

Interesting! I cannot get my maps to save either and I gave up long ago. My problem started when I bought my 64bit machine 3 years ago.

How did you eliminate the allowing of Chinese characters?

 

[timerover51]

This is one thing that has always puzzled me. Someone can spend a lot of time using Mapfinder to generate the type of map that they want, and then use if for a Hall of Fame game, but a map using the Map Editor is not allowed. I just do not understand why that is.

 

[Tzar Sasha]

Interesting! I cannot get my maps to save either and I gave up long ago. My problem started when I bought my 64bit machine 3 years ago.

How did you eliminate the allowing of Chinese characters?

I removed the Chinese keyboard that was added. I then reset my location back to US instead of China. I still have the AppLocale for the other program set up.

The Chinese keyboard option despite not being active was what was hanging up MapFinder. The location setting was still causing some in-game text to show weird. All seems to be good now for Civ3.

@timerover51
If I remember correctly, MapFinder is allowed for HoF because it only gives information viewable from the start position. The Map Editor is not allowed because you can get other information that is not otherwise obtainable from a simple view of the start position.

 

[madwheel]

Well, I don't know if anyone still watches this, but I'll give it a shot.

Has anyone gotten this to run completely successfully on Windows10? Or with an installation of Civ3Complete from GoG.com or maybe Steam?

I've tried with mine from GOG with windows10 and it seems to work some, but definitely not completely. Mine was only putting saved screen shots for the map that I had just started into the folder I designated for saved games, and some files with the extension ".set". No ".sav" files, even when it found an 'acceptable' map.

I was also having what seemed kind of like the problem bluejay had a few years ago:

Conquests and Mapfinder seem to run fine, except that after MF finishes its first group of iterations, it won't reload Conquests, but just sits there, or sometimes pops up the report screen.

Except my install is not in program files, but just C:\GOG\Civ3Complete\ ....
I'll give more details if I get a nibble =).

One question in general: If mapfinder is truly working, will it take you through the various windows as it executes them, kind of like selenium automates web browsers, if you know what that is like. Or does it do it in the background somehow? Mine is definitely not going through all the screens visibly, and from the comments I've read so far, it seems like maybe that behavior is implied... Mine is displaying messages at the bottom as if it is running through different steps like "Starting new game", "Saving game", "Verifying..." and "Waiting for Conquests to start..." This last one is where it will get stuck, even long before it reaches the max number of iterations I've set.