This set of posts is not about the mechanics of making mods; those can be found in the, “Civ3 - Tutorials, Reference, & Guides” sub-forum.
These posts are a set of guidelines and suggestions, for both new and experienced modders alike, from many sources.
That being said -
Very early on, @alexman led a fantastic, collaborative effort on the old Apolyton site, to construct the, "Apolyton University Mod." Its goal: to address the imbalance between the Civ3 AI and a single human Player. Specifically: "Game-play modifications that do not improve the AI nor balance the game are not part of the philosophy of this mod."
I believe that many of the ideas remain sound, and the original thread is particularly well organized. Revisiting it, I saw it as a perfect template for new modders. Yet, as I went through it, I also saw that much of the information was outdated - so I updated it, so extensively that I added "Oz" to the thread's name, as more of a caveat, than a credit ... Then I realized that I could also make it an "encyclopedia," of sorts, putting together a great deal more information, in one place, utilizing the AU mod.
Accordingly, I've pretty much followed the original University's structure, which I've broken down into separate posts. I've also added a large amount of information, mostly in Spoilers, in the hope that this thread can be both a , "Modding 101," and something like an encyclopedia fr modding, that can be added to, over time.
I would also appreciate any suggestions for renaming the thread, as a find the current title to be inadequate.
Further note that any comments in ITALICS indicate the changes I've made; likewise anything in "Spoilers" is either from Sulla, or folks here at CFC (Mostly the latter, although sadly lacking some links, and credits.)
- There is one entry, on Unit Movement, from Elsewhere.
- I wind up citing almost all of Sulla's piece, not only because I believe it to be quite valuable, ad (I think) is little known.
- So, we have, in order:
- Changes to address some specific AI strategic deficiencies -
• AI Naval exploration
• AI Naval Bombardment
• Balancing air power
• AI research choices (superseded, with URLs to the newer threads & analyses*)
• Helping the AI's management of happiness
• Managing AI Builds (augmented by links to my and tom2050's extensive research efforts)
• AI use of Armies - Changes to Units' Values (AF; DF; etc.) capabilities, and cost
- How the AI chooses which Units to build
- Improvements and Wonders - Overview
- Improvements and Wonders - Cumulative & Noncumulative Flags
- Governments
- Technologies
- Resources
- Other, "Minor Changes"
- Miscellaneous
I also highly recommend @Civinator's "Advanced Autoproduction" method for Unit Upgrades.
Another major set of possibilities has been unlocked by @Flintlock's C3X Patch.
- z
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