Blue Marble Terrain

[Adam7Eight]

For what it's worth, as long as I install BMT before installing the v1.52 patch I don't have any problems. If I install the patch first, and then BMT, I have/had issues.

 

[ColdFever]

It is not clear for me: Is Blue Marble now compatible with 1.52?

Yes, BlueMarble still is compatible with all released patches, because the formats of the modded files did not change.

For what it's worth, as long as I install BMT before installing the v1.52 patch I don't have any problems. If I install the patch first, and then BMT, I have/had issues.

What kind of issues, please? The BlueMarble installer *always* installs the same set of custom terrain files into the custom assets folder, no matter which patch is installed or not installed. So the installation sequence should not matter at all.

 

[DrewBledsoe]

Thanks very much for this, I have been using it for three days now.

It is better than original , but I still have this strange urge sometimes to whack a golf ball up the plains , aiming for the small well protected grassland at the end

 

[Adam7Eight]

What kind of issues, please? The BlueMarble installer *always* installs the same set of custom terrain files into the custom assets folder, no matter which patch is installed or not installed. So the installation sequence should not matter at all.

If I remember correctly, I was getting black spots on already visible terrain. I had this issue both times when installing BMT after the patch. The next time I installed BMT first, and then didn't have problems. Related or not, I don't know. It could have just been a coincidence.

 

[DrewBledsoe]

Slight problem with Blue Marble :- fine normally, but if I set up a game through single player / custom and then check "no cheats box" and start a game , the game reverts to the "vanilla" brown plains and mountains" display seeming to ignore the blue marble altogether.

Anything I can do to change this?

Thanks.

Edit:- I've realised that "no cheats" means the game is bypassiing blue marble in "game assets file" and considering it a cheat therefore reverting to original screen mode..still I've no idea how to fix this.

 

[ColdFever]

Sorry Drew, as you already noticed, this is not a bug but a feature Firaxis designed exactly to work this way: if the "No Cheating" option is set OR Multiplayer is chosen, all mods are bypassed to make sure only the original files are used. The Blue Marble graphics mean no cheating, but in theory graphics could be modded for cheating, for example for making things visible that otherwise are not.

There is no fix for this official design. You could apply a "brute force" attempt to copy all Blue Marble files over the original ones in the original assets folder, and this probably could even work for default multiplayer, but once you would try loading savegames with the "No Cheating" option set, for example a GOTM, the game would exit because it realizes modded files.

It is even more delicate if you use the Scaling Tool that mods the original scaling parameters: if you want to play a GOTM (stored with the "No Cheating" option) and you used the Scaling Tool before to modify the original scaling parameters, you even will have to restore the original settings first to be able to play.

The "No Cheating" option means an ALL OR NOTHING: the original game content must be in place. Because of this I made a backup of a totally unmodded Civ4 directory. This makes it easier to start a GOTM, because now I can simply start a GOTM from this "clean" directory. My "dirty" modded Civ4 directory exists peacefully besides.

 

[DrewBledsoe]

Sorry Drew, as you already noticed, this is not a bug but a feature Firaxis designed exactly to work this way: if the "No Cheating" option is set OR Multiplayer is chosen, all mods are bypassed to make sure only the original files are used. The Blue Marble graphics mean no cheating, but in theory graphics could be modded for cheating, for example for making things visible that otherwise are not.

There is no fix for this official design. You could apply a "brute force" attempt to copy all Blue Marble files over the original ones in the original assets folder, and this probably could even work for default multiplayer, but once you would try loading savegames with the "No Cheating" option set, for example a GOTM, the game would exit because it realizes modded files.

It is even more delicate if you use the Scaling Tool that mods the original scaling parameters: if you want to play a GOTM (stored with the "No Cheating" option) and you used the Scaling Tool before to modify the original scaling parameters, you even will have to restore the original settings first to be able to play.

The "No Cheating" option means an ALL OR NOTHING: the original game content must be in place. Because of this I made a backup of a totally unmodded Civ4 directory. This makes it easier to start a GOTM, because now I can simply start a GOTM from this "clean" directory. My "dirty" modded Civ4 directory exists peacefully besides.

Thanks for reply, no worries, it defaults to original civ files with no problems.

I'll just have to resist the temptation to use world builder

(In fact I bet it can be turned off in the .ini file..I'll do this instead)

 

[Exavier]

Um I don't think the "No Cheat" option applys to all mods... it just disabled the CustomAssets parts of mods. If you make a standalone mod, that goes in the gameinstall\Mods\ folder, the ones you have to activate to use, the "No Cheat" option considers that as the base or vanilla game.

So if you converted BlueMarble to that format it would probobly work.

EDIT: I know because I designed my mod for MP games specificly.

 

[RSL]

Exavier: How exactly can I set the Blue Marble graphics as my graphics for MP? I really hate looking at the original ones now. The BM is sooooo much more beautiful. That orange/yellow/brownish plains suck in the original.

 

[Exavier]

@RSL - well it could be converted into a reqular Mod rather easily but the problem is to play it with others they would have to do the same thing. otherwise they wouldn't be able to connect.

You could also try "Perminantly" overwriting the game files but it could cause OOS issues and probobly problems with the next patch. Basicly I think with v1.52 Game Patch Fraxis kinda murdered this mod for MP use.

However I like it myself and am trying to work on a way to Convert it as an addon mod for my Composite Mod. I want to incorporate it directly but 30mb is alot to add so I am trying something new... will have the results and hopefully MP Compatability test results after this weekend.

 

[RSL]

If you'd be as kind to direct me to a particularly good [read: reliable] thread about modding things like this, I'd be pleased as punch.

 

[ColdFever]

If you'd be as kind to direct me to a particularly good [read: reliable] thread about modding things like this, I'd be pleased as punch.

To make a 'Regular Mod' from BM would be simple: just create a new folder under Civ4 "Mods" directory and put the BM files there. The problem is, that this won't help you, as for MP other players would need the same mod. And what if the other MP player does not want to play with Blue Marble? Finally such an installation method won't allow using BM for other mods, e.g. the Tutorial. Because of this I decided against the installation as a 'Regular Mod' and implemented an installation in the "Custom Assets" folder. No, IMHO only Firaxis could make Blue Marble and similar mods possible for general MP - if enough people would ask for such an "Allow custom Assets" option.

 

[Exavier]

To make a 'Regular Mod' from BM would be simple: just create a new folder under Civ4 "Mods" directory and put the BM files there. The problem is, that this won't help you, as for MP other players would need the same mod. And what if the other MP player does not want to play with Blue Marble? Finally such an installation method won't allow using BM for other mods, e.g. the Tutorial. Because of this I decided against the installation as a 'Regular Mod' and implemented an installation in the "Custom Assets" folder. No, IMHO only Firaxis could make Blue Marble and similar mods possible for general MP - if enough people would ask for such an "Allow custom Assets" option.

you do have a point. But I think I am still going to do it anyway. The only thing that worries me is the size

 

[syndicatedragon]

The "No Cheating" option means an ALL OR NOTHING: the original game content must be in place. Because of this I made a backup of a totally unmodded Civ4 directory. This makes it easier to start a GOTM, because now I can simply start a GOTM from this "clean" directory. My "dirty" modded Civ4 directory exists peacefully besides.

Did you simply copy the entire Civ4 directory structure and create a new "clean" shortcut to launch the game from there to accomplish this?

 

[White Elk]

[...] No, IMHO only Firaxis could make Blue Marble and similar mods possible for general MP - if enough people would ask for such an "Allow custom Assets" option.

I wish they would, because it is hard to play vanilla after experiancing Blue Marble. I'm not looking forward to playing this months GOTM with the vanilla terrain. My PBEM game is bad enough. I hate to say it but the original terrain graphics are

in my humble opinion. Thanks again ColdFever for improving the scenery.

 

[ColdFever]

Did you simply copy the entire Civ4 directory structure and create a new "clean" shortcut to launch the game from there to accomplish this?

Correct. Firaxis prepared Civ4 nicely so that directories with different versions can coexist. Each CIV version in its own directory on startup automatically creates its own CustomAssets folder under MyGames. The only thing to keep in mind is that only the original version can be automatically updated with an official patch, because its installation path is officially stored in the registry.

As a modder I have this strategy: after each installation and each official patch I copy the "Civ4 Vanilla" folder to another folder, like CIV.100, CIV.109, CIV.152. This way I get a directory history of versions to compare against each other. This also allows to play a game in another version in case of need or to test a mod among different versions. And if I somehow may screw the original directory with a mod manipulation, I always have a vanilla directory to restore from.

 

[HitAnyKey]

I've read through nearly this entire thread and havn't seen anyone else have this problem, and I don't know what to do.
I installed BMT just the other day and things have been running just fine in my single player game. Today my brother finally emailed me back the turn in our PBEM game. When I tried to load the game, I got a message about the save being protected because of custom assets (or something like that). I'll write down the full error message if need bit.
It just gives me an 'OK' box to click on, and when I do the game exits and I can't start my turn.
I even ran the Uninstall within BM and tried again and got the same error. What's going on and how do I fix it?

 

[Exavier]

I've read through nearly this entire thread and havn't seen anyone else have this problem, and I don't know what to do.
I installed BMT just the other day and things have been running just fine in my single player game. Today my brother finally emailed me back the turn in our PBEM game. When I tried to load the game, I got a message about the save being protected because of custom assets (or something like that). I'll write down the full error message if need bit.
It just gives me an 'OK' box to click on, and when I do the game exits and I can't start my turn.
I even ran the Uninstall within BM and tried again and got the same error. What's going on and how do I fix it?

thats the Anti-Cheat system that came out with patch v1.52... it basicly kills any CustomAssets mods

 

[HitAnyKey]

I know the BMT isn't supposed to work for a multiplayer game, but from what I've read in this thread people have installed it and been able to play a multiplayer game without any problems. That the game just uses the default mapping. But when I installed it, I get this error. Why?

 

[HitAnyKey]

Oh and I've just totally uninstalled Civ4 and then re-installed it. That's the only way I could find to get my PBEM game to work again.
So at the current time, looks like I won't be able to use the BMT until someone explains to me what I need to do in order to have BMT work for my single player game and for my PBEM games to work with the game default.