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realistic starting positions for all civs 2016-10-05

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Please ask questions in this thread.

This is not a map, but people will search for it here, so i place the thread here:

Maps with realistic starting positions for all civs
We all know: We can't play a earth map with realisitc starting positions and have free civilization and leader choice, because the civs have to be set in the .wbs file.
Now, this mod changes it. All the included maps (which are NOT mine) can be played with every civilization, with every number of civilizations, with every leader, etc., and every civilization will start at the correct positions!
You can start one of the included world maps only with america and russia, you'll have the choice what leader will be in, and america will start at the east coast of america and russia will somehow around the position of moscow.
Or you can start the same map with all european civs in, and all will start at the correct positions, so that europe will be full and the rest of the world will be empty. That's your (or the computers) choice!

Below you can see 2 pictures of the same map, but with different civs:
Spoiler :

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The maps, which are in this mod, are not created by myself, they were created by the great map creators of this and the german forum, thank you all :goodjob:.

Included maps:

If you like one of these maps, then please comment in the thread of the maps, because they are not my work, and i do not deserve any comments for creating the maps.

Version: BtS 3.19. Should also work for 3.13/3.17
Mac: Works (tested by Keinpferd)
Multiplayer: Hotseat works, PBEM should, no idea about Pitboss

Installation:
The file is a .zip file, and can't directly be used. Every computer should be able to handle a .zip file. If not, download winzip and install it.
Rightclick on the startingpoints.zip, click "extract here". Cut the new folder "startingpoints", and paste it in your BtS\Mods directory.
This directory should be under C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Civilization4\BeyondTheSword (if you installed it elsewhere, you should know where to look).
In the same folder the other BtS mods, like Afterworld or Road To War, should be located, if this is the case, you're right.
The name of the folder MUST be "startingpoints".

Starting the mod:
Load BtS, go "advanced", "load a mod", "startingpoints" and load it.
To make it easier, i recommend using just another mod chooser, so that you don't have to load BtS.

Please ask questions in this thread.


Questions a player might have:
Spoiler :

Cool, can you add this map here?
Yes, i can, if you provide me a link. The map can have preplaced civs, that's no problem.
But i can't convert maps with many preplaced cities, or maps from mods with other terrain/bonuses.

This starting position is crap and unrealistic! Why did you do that?
Some positions are not perfect, i know.
I will not change the maps any further, because they are not mine, so i can just place the civs there.
On some points there can't be done anything. I can't let the byzantines and the ottomans start at the same point, so i let the ottomans just start somewhere in turkey at a good position. Same also for europe and mesopotamia, all civs must be able to found a city, and the positions are set so that they can do this.

I also did not work with a atlas, and was sometimes really free with the positions.
For example, the native americans just start somewhere in the great plains, because i have no real idea, what the historically acurate position could be.
Also on the europe map by iuvavus i've place the persians in eastern turkey and the mongols in eastern russia to include more civs.
If something here is really arguable or just wrong, then please correct my, it was not out of purpose.

If you have a better suggestion, so that all civs fit better in, please suggest it :).

Can i play this with the 40/50 civs mod?
No, the maps are not compatible, but can converted.
But i will not do this at the moment.
I can explain how to convert it, if somebody requests an explanation.

What will happen, when the aztecs appear on a europe map (or something similar)?
If a invalid civ will appear on a map, the placing algorithm will replace this civ with a valid one, you will not notice it.
If youself start with an invalid civ, this can't be done, and no civs will be replaced, you have to restart then.

Will this mod make the game slower?
Only the start will be a bit slower, but this mod will not affect the speed of the game turns.


Questions a modder might have:
Spoiler :

How do i merge this with my mod?
Python: There are 2 changes in the CvEventManager, both labeled with "starting points", both changes have to be merged.
In the second part, there's 2 times "startingpoints" mentioned. This is the name of the mod folder, so you will have to change it to your mod folder.
The second python file, the startingpointsutil.py can just be dropped into the same folder like the CvEventManager, and you don't have to change anything there (only if you removed the units settler, warrior, worker and scout, then you have to adjust the starting units, just search for these unit types).

XML: In XML\CustomXML\mapname_startingpoints.xml are the civs mentioned. If you added a civ or changed the key for one, then you have to change the entries there.

Note: In the maps i've set the mod path, you also should change it there.

How do i add a map?
For every map in the PrivateMaps folder there's also an XML file in XML\CustomXML\. The XML file is named mapname_startingpoints.xml, the mapname without the file extension.

How do i make a civ invalid for this map?
Just set the values for the starting position in the XML both (or one) to -1.

Baah, searching for starting positions is horrible, i can only guess!
You don't have to guess. In the CvEventManager.py, there's the line AddPositionsToMap = False. Change this value to True, and every tile will be labeled with X and Y coordinates, so that you can see, what values you should put into the XML file. Tje labeling will make the start very slow, but you'll only turn this on 1 or 2 times ;).
Note: The XML for this map must already exist! There's a Dummy_startingpoints.xml included. Just copy this file, rename it, and you'll start at the position 1,1 on the map.


Edit: Re-uploaded on march, 16th, 11:05 AM forum time.
Spoiler :


Added 4 maps:

- Replaced vikings to norway, if it was possible
- Replaced celts to southern france, if it was possible
- Fixed the positions on Huge Mediterranean Map my wcis
- Added a textfile with a list, which civs are playable on which map
Spoiler :

Earth 100X56(Standard-Clean)-by-strategyonly : every civ
Europe90X90-by-iuvavus:
- England
- Germany
- France
- Holy Roman Empire
- Spain
- Portugal
- Vikings
- Netherlands
- Celts
- Russia
- Mongoli
- Persia
- Byzantines
- Greece
- Ottomans
- Carthage
- Rome
Earth-Neutral-by-sr: Every civ
EnlargedEuropeMap-by-lonewolf: Every civ
EurasiaPlus-by-jabarto:
- NOT Zulu
- NOT Aztec
- NOT Maya
Gallia25X30-by-iuvavus:
- France
- Germany
- England
- Celts
- Holy Roman
- Spain
- Netherlands
- Rome
- Vikings
medSeaNorthAfriaArabia-by-good-sauce:
- Arabia
- Babylon
- Byzantines
- Carthage
- Celts
- Egypt
- Ethiopia
- France
- Greece
- Holy Roman
- Mali
- Ottomans
- Persia
- Portugal
- Rome
- Spain
- Sumeria
Old World (17) 68x34-by-aokces:
- NOT America
- NOT native america
- NOT Inca
- NOT Maya
- NOT Aztec
- NOT Zulu
old-world-by-MrWurf:
- NOT America
- NOT native america
- NOT Inca
- NOT Maya
- NOT Aztec
- NOT China
- NOT India
- NOT Japan
- NOT Khmer
- NOT Korea
- NOT Zulu
SmallEurope-by-el-hidalgo:
- England
- France
- Germany
- Holy Romans
- Netherlands
- Celts
- Spain
- Portugal
- Rome
- Greece
- Carthago
- Egypt
- Vikings
- Byzantines
- Ottomans
- Persia
- Babylonia
- Sumeria
- Russia
- Mongolia
SouthEastAsia55X55-by-iuvavus:
- China
- Japan
- Mongolia
- India
- Korea
- Khmer
- Persia
- Russia
Tiny Europe-by-Rhye-And-Fierabras:
- England
- France
- Germany
- Holy Romans
- Netherlands
- Celts
- Spain
- Portugal
- Rome
- Greece
- Carthago
- Egypt
- Vikings
- Byzantines
- Ottomans
- Persia
- Babylonia
- Sumeria
- Russia
- Mongolia
- Ethiopia
- Arabia
WesternEurope38X48-by-iuvavus:
- England
- France
- Germany
- Netherlands
- Holy Romans
- Celts
- Vikings
- Rome
- Spain
- Portugal
- Carthago
Mediterranean_Bonuses-by-wcis:
- Arabia
- Babylon
- Byzantines
- Carthage
- Celts
- Egypt
- Ethiopia
- France
- Greece
- Holy Roman
- Mali
- Ottomans
- Persia
- Portugal
- Rome
- Spain
- Sumeria
MiddleEast 1.01-by-sr:
- Arabia
- Babylonia
- Sumeria
- Persia
- India
- Greece
- Byzantines
- Ottomans
- Egypt
- Ethiopia
- Mali
- Mongolia


Edit: Re-uploaded on March, 20th, 6:53 PM forum time.
- Fixed a bug, where the mod tried to load starting points for map scripts

Edit: Re-uploaded on April, 17th, 5:18 PM forum time.
- Added Earth map by carter.

Edit: Re-uploaded on Juli, 3rd, 5:02 PM forum time
- Added mediterranean map by veBear
- Fixed indian starting position on Jabartos eurasia map

Edit: Re-uploaded on April, 4th, 2012, 04:16 forum time.
- Fixed a bug, which lead to the custom script running out of civs if multiple maps were tried in one session. Thanks to Xyth for reporthing this bug :).
Author
The_J
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