Adding City names & other basic questions

[AthenaMaria]

newbie question:

Is it straightforward to add city names to the XML?

I tried to add a few to the CIV4CivilizationInfos.xml file as an experiment but it didn't seem to work so I had to revert it back to the original file. I know you can just edit the names in the game, but I thought it would be nice to change some of the pre edited names around but it didn't seem to like that.

Other questions: how does Civ4 determine which folder it is reading from ie does the program files\civ4\assets folder take precedence over the mydocs\custom assets\ folder.

if an xml file is in both folders which one will it read?

more questions: is there a tutorial on the absolute basics of xml on the forums ie not the complicated stuff but just a primer for the user?

thanks in advance. Hope this is in the right place.

 

[woodelf]

This is definitely the right place, no zulu for you.

I never intentionally use Custom Assets, but always make a Mod when making changes. To do this simply create a new folder in your C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Mods folder. Next create an Assets folder in there and then an XMl folder in that. Go to C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Assets and find the XML file you want to edit and make a copy of that to put into your "mod" XML folder. If it's out of the Civilizations folder you'll need to make one of those folders in your mod's XML folder as well. You could also simply copy the entire Civilization folder from XML (for example) and paste it into your mod folder.

Now you can edit your Civ4CivilizationInfos xml file from your mod folder and make any changes you want without touching the core game files. To see your changes load up Civ4, go Advanced, Load a Mod, and select the folder name you just created.

There are some good tutorials here that I think are basic. I learned it all here so it must be basic.

Hope this helps.


edit - when you have loaded a mod the game will use those files first and then core files to answer another of your questions.

 

[EL_OSO]

Check out this thread. This utility saved me at least 5 hours of work.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=144366

 

[AthenaMaria]

thanks for the help, both of you. very useful indeed.