Better BAT AI

[Lemon Merchant]

Hello Lemon....

I generally only play CIV4 in winter. I uninstall it in spring. I upgraded to Win10... and now...

I installed CIV4 & Better Bat 2.1

I cant use it because I get a "Cant write to ini file" that repeats down the front of the screen.

Any ideas? what do I disable? I already tried uninstalling and re installing BBAI2.1

ciao bambina

You could try running the game as Administrator. Right click on the .exe file and choose "Run as Administrator" from the drop down.

See if that works and post back.

 

[s.bernbaum]

Hello Lemon....

I generally only play CIV4 in winter. I uninstall it in spring. I upgraded to Win10... and now...

I installed CIV4 & Better Bat 2.1

I cant use it because I get a "Cant write to ini file" that repeats down the front of the screen.

Any ideas? what do I disable? I already tried uninstalling and re installing BBAI2.1

ciao bambina

The problem is not with BUG nor CIV per se. The problem is with the copy protection scheme promoted by Microsoft at the time CIV was released and now blocked by Windows 10 and a recent update to both Windows 7 & 8. There are work arounds to the Windows 7 & 8 update, discussed in the Technical Support forum. However, for Windows 10 they don't work. People have said that using an online purchase instead of disc based CIV still works. It has also been suggested that there is a work around for Windows 10 but that it is complicated. You can look for that explanation but I have not seen it yet. Here is the word on the problem in Windows 10:

Windows 10 won't run games with SafeDisc or Securom DRM
BY HARISH JONNALAGADDA
⁃ Microsoft has announced that it will block games utilizing SafeDisc or Securom DRM on Windows 10, citing security concerns owing to a lack of support by the companies that made them.
⁃ In an interview with German publication Rocket Beans TV, Microsoft's Enthusiast Marketing Manager for Windows, Boris Schneider-Johne, revealed:
⁃ Everything that ran in Windows 7 should also run in Windows 10. There are just two silly exceptions: antivirus software and stuff that's deeply embedded into the system.
⁃ And then there are old games on CD-Rom that have DRM. This DRM stuff is also deeply embedded in your system, and that's where Windows 10 says 'sorry, we cannot allow that, because that would be a possible loophole for computer viruses.
⁃ That's why there are a couple of games from 2003-2008 with Securom, etc. that simply don't run without a no-CD patch or some such. We can just not support that if it's a possible danger for our users. There are a couple of patches from developers already, and there is stuff like GOG where you'll find versions of those games that work.
⁃ Microsoft, for its part, seems to be doing all it can to protect users from using older DRM, potentially leaving them open to a malicious attack. SafeDisc has mentioned that it will leave it up to Microsoft to issue a fix for the ROM to be compatible with Windows 10:
⁃ SafeDisc DRM hasn't been supported for a few years now, and the driver has consequently not been updated for some time. Microsoft should have migrated the existing software since Windows 8. We don't know if that's still possible with Windows 10 or if they simply didn't care about it.
⁃

CIV uses this blocked copy protection scheme.

 

[username804]

AH... well shucky darn

I still love you, Lemon...

 

[God-Emperor]

The problem is not with BUG nor CIV per se. The problem is with the copy protection scheme promoted by Microsoft at the time CIV was released and now blocked by Windows 10 and a recent update to both Windows 7 & 8. There are work arounds to the Windows 7 & 8 update, discussed in the Technical Support forum. However, for Windows 10 they don't work. People have said that using an online purchase instead of disc based CIV still works. It has also been suggested that there is a work around for Windows 10 but that it is complicated. You can look for that explanation but I have not seen it yet. Here is the word on the problem in Windows 10:



CIV uses this blocked copy protection scheme.

With the BtS expansion (on Windows, at least) it doesn't use the DRM if updated to version 3.19. It was removed so you can play without the disk.

So update BtS to 3.19 and it avoids that issue. Plain Civ4 and Warlords still won't work, but BtS will.

I expect the OP already did this or the game would not run to the point where you can see the messages that were mentioned.

That leaves you with the protection ("UAC", assuming it is still called that on Windows 10) related problems that apply to the default install location in versions from Vista on through 10, which Lemon's solution should still fix. It is even better to avoid this as well by installing the game in a non-default location, like into a Games folder created by the user directly at the root of the directory structure, instead of using a system created directory that has the extra protection that blocks programs from directly modifying files in them unless run as Administrator.

 

[openyourmind]

Hello apologies for digging up a thread a year old but this makes more sense than making a new thread, would like to ask if it is possible to merge better AI with Varietas Delectat with modern expansion? Current better AI has only textures, wondering if it will be possible to use the new units as well as techs. All I found is the Jan 25, 2016 post by Lemon Merchant regarding this.

Also, will there ever be Next War addition to the mod?

 

[JiM_cz]

I've just downloaded the mod and it looks really good. Just one issue. I can't hear the voice when a new technology is discovered. Is it normal?

 

[Lemon Merchant]

No, it's not normal not to hear voices. Is it Nimoy's voice that you can't hear? There might be an issue. I'll check it out when I get home tonight.

Thanks for using the mod.

 

[Lemon Merchant]

Hello apologies for digging up a thread a year old but this makes more sense than making a new thread, would like to ask if it is possible to merge better AI with Varietas Delectat with modern expansion? Current better AI has only textures, wondering if it will be possible to use the new units as well as techs. All I found is the Jan 25, 2016 post by Lemon Merchant regarding this.

Also, will there ever be Next War addition to the mod?

There is a Modern Era expansion pack for Better BAT AI. I just have to release it as I was tweaking it. I'll try to push it out in the next few days.

I haven't had any requests for Next War in BBATAI, but I could look at it if there's enough demand.

 

[openyourmind]

Thank you very much for your response! If you release anything, be it the Modern Era or Next War, it would be super nice of you, thanks again!

 

[JiM_cz]

No, it's not normal not to hear voices. Is it Nimoy's voice that you can't hear? There might be an issue. I'll check it out when I get home tonight.

Thanks for using the mod.

Thanks for your quick response. Yes, that's the voice I mean. And just now, when I'm writing this, I've realized that even the voices in the game (when you click on a worker for example) are gone. I haven't mixed your mod with anything. I have a clean install of civ4 (steam version) plus the zip file of your mod.

 

[Drakarska]

Did you check your in game audio settings? Sometimes Steam gets a little happy with those things when it doesn't need to.

 

[JiM_cz]

That's weird. The problem I was talking about happened in my fist game as Carthage. And not only that. The default technologies were somehow messed up as well. I had 4 technologies discovered from the start instead of 2. Now I've started a new game and it seems to be ok. Both the voices and the technologies.

 

[Lemon Merchant]

It might have just been a Steam glitch. My copy checks out fine, though I don't have Steam and I use the installer.

Let me know if it happens again. It's really weird about the techs doubling like that. That shouldn't happen.

 

[Furloughed]

Lemon Merchant - first and foremost you have done tremendous work here and I very much appreciate your effort. I recently began playing civ4 again and was hoping you could point me in the right direction.

I have spent hours (i'm not the smartest) trying to find a Large/Huge earth map that I can load with this mod and add ~30 civilizations to play. It seems most large earth maps with that many civilizations require a special mod. I really enjoy the interface of your mod and the fact that no gameplay elements are modified. Most maps I try crash or wont allow me to customize and add more civs.

I have found only 1 map that sort of fits my description but its not entirely satisfactory. It's sort of niche in its treatment shrinking Europe and expanding Africa. Anyway, because it allows me to "Customize Scenario" and add the ~30 civs I want to play with, I know the concept is possible.

Do you have any suggestions?

 

[Lemon Merchant]

I'm afraid that I don't know a lot about maps. I never use the ones other than what is included with BUG/BAT, and the base Civ game, so I'm no help there.

Are you playing with the 50 Civ DLL that comes with BBATAI? That will allow you to have lots of civs, but I don't know about loading huge map scripts with it. Some of these map scripts are heavily modded in their own right. Maybe that's why they crash on you when loaded with another mod.

I wish I had something more intelligent to say here, but I don't, unfortunately.

 

[Furloughed]

I'm afraid that I don't know a lot about maps. I never use the ones other than what is included with BUG/BAT, and the base Civ game, so I'm no help there.

Are you playing with the 50 Civ DLL that comes with BBATAI? That will allow you to have lots of civs, but I don't know about loading huge map scripts with it. Some of these map scripts are heavily modded in their own right. Maybe that's why they crash on you when loaded with another mod.

I wish I had something more intelligent to say here, but I don't, unfortunately.

Thanks for the reply. I do indeed have the 50 Civ DLL installed and I was able to use the world map I described in the last post to play a game with ~30 civs. Now that I know its possible to use your mod in conjunction with a map like that I found it curious that I could only get that one to work.

I know it was a shot in the dark that you would have relevant insight into the millions of maps out there so just want to use this post to reiterate the appreciation for the work you have done. I tried to enjoy Civ V and I just couldn't do it; my journey back to Civ IV was made appreciably better by your mod so thank you.

 

[Lemon Merchant]

Thank you so much for the kind words.

 

[Makonnen91]

I have a problem. I install the BetterBATAI mod and the game loads up perfect. I see the "Blue Marble" on my main screen and my "About This Build" screen says the mod is loaded.

However I dont have any of the information im used to the mod displaying in game. I immediately noticed that the iconic GREEN BUG ICON was missing from the top left.

Cant seem to figure the issue, any help?

 

[Lemon Merchant]

When you load BBATAI and start a new game, you should see the following:

1. A big ugly bat, with the words "Better BAT AI" fading in on the bottom of the screen.
2. Then the "Dawn of man" screen showing your leader.
3. The BBATAI splash screen which says "Better BAT AI 2.1 [Build 36-27-36]"
4. Then the game starts and you see the regular play screen.

If you don't see those things in that order, BBATAI isn't loaded. Do you see those things?

 

[Makonnen91]

When you load BBATAI and start a new game, you should see the following:

1. A big ugly bat, with the words "Better BAT AI" fading in on the bottom of the screen.
2. Then the "Dawn of man" screen showing your leader.
3. The BBATAI splash screen which says "Better BAT AI 2.1 [Build 36-27-36]"
4. Then the game starts and you see the regular play screen.

If you don't see those things in that order, BBATAI isn't loaded. Do you see those things?

Thanks for the swift reply LM. I did not see those things with 2.1, but I just re-installed 2.0 and all is well. I get the big handsome bat, the green bug icon, and all the on screen info a Civer could ever want for haha