[BtS MOD] Wolfshanze 1850-1920 Enhancement Mod v2.0

Wolfshanze · Oct 28, 2007

NOW AT v2.85 (as-of 27-Oct-2008)
For Use with BtS v3.17
New custom DLL standard with download and full support for 36-Civ earth scenario (included)...

ATTN BtS v3.13 Users

Spoiler :

Click Here to see the Wolfshanze Mod Video Introduction

See Spoiler section below for preview of flavor units included in the mod

Download Here (428MB):
BtS Wolfshanze Mod v2.85

This mod is an enhancement to the base gameplay of Civ4 BtS, and should be used as a direct replacement for basic random games... it focuses greatly on several missing unit classes between the 1850s to the 1920s (between Ironclad Monitors and WWII-style battleships), including many new naval classes and full support for WWI units, including a full WWI air war. Nuclear explosions have been enhanced. Also, Hitler, Hirohito, Ho-Chi Minh, Cleopatra, Caligula & Kim Jong-il are now available to fight for or against for their respective civs. Three all-new civs have been added in the Austrian, Polish and Vietnamese empires. New flags for most nations enhance the look of many civs. Countless new unit graphics have been added, most of which are nation/ethnic-specific... very little has been changed in game mechanics, mostly new looks or filling the gaps in the progression of units. In-short, this mod will play much like vanilla Civ4... but it will look a lot better and offer you more choices in units and civs to use. This mod is for Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword.

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Description
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Using the graphics made by Refar, Elhoim, kodzi, Danrell, Hadrean, Snafusmith, Bernie, GeneralMatt, Houman and others (I lost track... lots of folks though!). Also, special thanks to Xenomorph for his help with both some artwork, and most especially his DLL, Python and XML help, and to Arian for his video introduction to the Wolfshanze Mod! I created this mod with a blend of new units to cover the 19th and 20th century in naval warfare, WWI units, and expanded unit/national diversity, as well as putting the leaders of Hirohito and Hitler into the game.

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New Unit Classes
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Battering Ram
Capped Ram
Galleass
Ironclad Cruiser
Ironclad Battleship
Protected Cruiser
Pre-Dreadnought
Destroyer Escort
Dreadnought
Heavy Cruiser
Boomer Submarine
Early Tank
Heavy Tank
Early Fighter
Early Bomber
Light Bomber
Seaplane
Jet Bomber
UAV

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New Graphics & Diversity
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Too many changes to list seperately. Let's just say there's been a huge effort at unit diversity... Japanese will look like Japanese, Germans will look like Germans, Africans will look like Africans, etc, etc.

Sample of Land/Air units

Spoiler :

Sample of Sea/Misc units

Spoiler :

Hitler added:

Spoiler :

Hirohito added:

Spoiler :

Naval Unit Changes/Ages/New Units:

Spoiler :

New from previous versions of the Wolfshanze Mod:

Spoiler :

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Gameplay Changes
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Maceman renamed to Heavy Foot Soldier (for more varied flavor units)
Cannons now available with Chemistry
Airships now require Physics AND Combustion
Grenadiers now have city-attack bonus instead of Rifleman attack bonus
Submarines now available with Electricity and Combustion
Attack Subs now available with Fission and Rocketry and attack value raised
Stealth Bomber range increased to 16
Carrier combat value increased to 18
Rocketry Tech now requires Flight + Artillery
AT Infantry now require Rocketry
SAM Infantry now require Rocketry + Satellites
Global Warming will drop fallout on random tiles instead of turning random tiles into desert
Whaling becomes obsolete with Ecology instead of Combustion
One new tech "Air Superiority" as a tech-requirement for WWII aircraft
Paratroopers and the Pentagon now become available with "Air Superiority"
Naval vessels recategorized into six distinct ages of seapower
Two new promotions are available for the more modern ships... "Damage Control" and "Gunnery Control"
Holy Roman Empire renamed to "Austrian Empire"
Submarines and Attack Submarines now have "flanking attack" on transports.
Light Bombers and modern Jet Strike Fighters can now attack with "lethality" on ground/naval targets

Custom Gamecore DLL changes (BtS v3.17)... removal of custom Gamecore will remove these features:
Full support for 40-civs in a single scenario
Solver's 0.19 Unofficial Patch Changes
Lt.Bob's Nuclear Fallout instead of desertification in Global Warming
Aerial Recon Missions can now be intercepted

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Miscellaneous
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Officially compatible with version 3.17 of BtS (fully featured)... no support for v3.13 (you really should upgrade).
All graphics files have been PAK'd to dramatically decrease load time.
Not compatible with any previous saves, default or Wolfshanze Mod... just start a new game!

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Installation
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1. Remove any previous version of the Wolfshanze Mod from your Program Files\Sid Meier's Civilization IV\BtS\Mods\ directory.
2. Unzip the new mod files to your Program Files\Sid Meier's Civilization IV\BtS\Mods\ directory.
3. Start up BtS.
4. Go to Advanced-Load Mod.
5. Load the "Wolfshanze" mod.
6. You can now use all that is in this mod!

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To ALWAYS load the game with the Wolfshanze mod
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Spoiler :

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Download Here (428MB):
BtS Wolfshanze Mod v2.85

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New Wolfshanze Mod Gamecore for BtS v3.17 only:
This is a link to the Wolfshanze Mod custom DLL that includes Solver's v0.19 patch changes and other enhancements (see below). Note this is a courtesy download only. You do NOT need this patch if you have downloaded the current full version of the Wolfshanze Mod, as it is already included in the download. This patch is also offered to folks interested in getting this custom Gamecore.DLL patch without downloading the full Wolfshanze Mod.

Wolfshanze Custom Gamecore DLL changes (BtS v3.17)... removal of the custom Gamecore will remove these features:
Full support for 40-civs in a single scenario
Solver's 0.19 Unofficial Patch Changes
Lt.Bob's Nuclear Fallout instead of desertification in Global Warming
Better AI 0.35 changes
Aerial Recon Missions can now be intercepted
Fixes for previously broken AI bomber missions and fighter intercept animations

This Download is 1.41MB

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OPTIONAL ADD-ON PACKS:

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Attitude Icon Companion Mod v2.0 (for BtS v3.17)
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Here's a little "companion mod" for anyone who may be interested... it is a stand-alone mod that neither requires the Wolfshanze Mod, nor replaces it (or any other mod). You can use this little mod with the default game, the Wolfshanze Mod or pretty much any other mod.

v2.0 adds the age-era (ancient, medieval, etc) to the top-left main screen financial menu

The reason for this as a seperate file is because I actually became aware of these little icons from I believe the BUG mod project that many people use... however the BUG Mod does more then just the icons, so for anyone who JUST wanted the attitude icons and nothing else, I whipped this little thing up... use it if you want to, or ignore it if you don't care or already use another mod that does the same thing... either way, this is a small mod... less then 200kb. It is fully tested and compatible with Civ4 BtS v3.17 (and of course works with the Wolfshanze Mod as well).

This is what it does/looks-like:

v2.0 updated pic, with age-era displayed in top-left corner:

Spoiler :

Attitude Icons Mod Download (updated 6 Aug 2008 for BtS v3.17)

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German Flags
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The Third Reich flag used in previous versions is no longer the default, but it and other German flags can still be accessed... click here for more info:

Spoiler :

Alternate German Flag XML (for convienence, updated for current Wolfshanze Mod):

strategyonly · Oct 29, 2007

taken care of thx, i hope!!!!

Wolfshanze · Oct 29, 2007

strategyonly said:
I like the UNUSED Waffen SS better, looks more realistic, again , just my opinion.

Well, personal opinions are always just that... can't tell you what you do or don't like better, and I'll admit, the black trench coats are snazzy... however...

You said "looks more realistic"... well... maybe if the Waffen SS were ceremonial guards standing around the Chancellory... but the Waffen SS (not to be confused with the normal SS) were out in the field shooting and getting shot at... the Waffen SS actually wore spotted camouflage in the field, not black trench coats.... so technically, the spotted camouflage is more realistic, not the black trenchcoats when it comes to Waffen SS in combat.

But yeah... the black trench coats are snazzier... just not realistic for combat.

As for your other suggestions, there will be more changes down the line... probably do some national flag updates and more later... but truth-be-told, I've been doing 80-zillion changes for almost two months now and I'm burned-out on modding... so I wrapped-up what I had, released v2.0 and started playing again...

I'll wait a little while, let more flavor units come out, then do another update.

Thanks for the feedback... it's welcome.

Xenomorph · Oct 29, 2007

How compatible would this mod be with the Diversica mod?

Wolfshanze · Oct 29, 2007

Xenomorph said:
How compatible would this mod be with the Diversica mod?

Haven't a clue... the Wolfshanze mod is it's own mod, not a module. I have my own "Diversification" included in here, though I don't claim it to be the most extensive one out there. You can see in the original post which nations I have changed/updated with flavor graphics. As much as I could stomach, I have updated each of those nations from ancient times through the jet age with unique flavor units.

The pictures provided are only a sampling of my diversification and are not all-inclusive of the changes made... It wasn't realistic to take snap shots of every unit and every nation that I graphically changed, but what you see is only a small sampling of the graphic changes.

My main purpose of the mod was to add missing units from 1850-1920 and to diversify the ethnic graphics (as well as add Hitler and Hirohito). I created it as a stand-alone mod, so I'm not sure how well it does (or doesn't) get along with other mods or modules... it's been tested by itself on v3.02 and v3.13 of BtS, but not with any other mods.

GeoModder · Oct 29, 2007

A question: does the galleas animate in your mod?

Wolfshanze · Oct 29, 2007

GeoModder said:
A question: does the galleas animate in your mod?

Depends on your defintion of "animate".

It sways in the civilopedia and in the "up-close" (bottom-left) screen in-game... it also fires it's cannons with smoke in combat... the oars don't move during movement... so I'm not sure if you'd consider it animated or not... it's not lifeless as it does sway and fire cannons... but the oars don't move, so call it animated or not animated... doesn't bother me at all in-game.

GeneralMatt · Oct 30, 2007

I think why he was wondering was because previously we were having problems with the it not animating as it should.

Anyways, looks great, was just wondering if it would be out soon.

Looks real fun though I may not get a chance to play for a while, you know, all the creating I am supposed to do.

vidimce · Oct 30, 2007

Nice mod. Is anybody making a Europe scenario for this or something.

Uhlan · Oct 30, 2007

Hey, nice mod!!

MUCH needed filler for the era you describe. Man, I love the ship diversity!

Couple things I noted.

When playing Ragnar, his early fighter has Italian Fascist markings.

His Heavy foot are Varangian Guards. These would be more appropriate for the Byzantine Civ as an elite unit. As this is where they were used under that name. The artist who made them (you?) even put small crosses on the shields mixed with the Raven (not eagle) symbols. A frequent motif for these particular Norsemen who came from as far away as Iceland. They were also famed for their axe (normal, long shafted small axe head types... not the warhammer gigantic two-bladed type. lol) wielding skills. The big mace portrayed just doesn't fit them historically to my eye anyway. They were after a time, mainly used for ceremonial purposes. Much like the earlier Praetorian guards (A Western Empire phenomena destroyed at the Milvian bridge). We often forget that the "Byzantines" called themselves the "Roman" empire.

Huscarls (Housemen), not the drugged Berserks, were the elites of the Norse. Noted for not "outliving" their commander in battle. This term was later adopted by the Anglo-Saxons.

In fact, I think a ravenesque shield/banner design is more appropriate for the Norse as a whole anyway. A coiled "dragon" was far less used beyond the prow of the long-ships. The Norse were an independent bunch, however, and didn't adopt any kind of uniformity until after being Christianized.

No offense meant, just observations. Since you put so much thought in the period you enhanced, I thought you might appreciate some additional tid-bits. Though by no means do I consider them absolutes.

Thanks for the time you put into your mod. Much appreciated on this end!

Wolfshanze · Oct 31, 2007

Thanks for the constructive feedback... I'll try and answer here...

Uhlan said:
Hey, nice mod!!

MUCH needed filler for the era you describe. Man, I love the ship diversity!

Thanks... I try!

When playing Ragnar, his early fighter has Italian Fascist markings.

Can't be helped. Here's the thing... When I made this mod, I went ahead and assigned WWII-era aircraft (and tanks for that matter) to any nation that I could accordingly with what they used during WWII. Much like the Soviets and Americans of the cold-war era, before and during WWII, the major European powers exported a large number of tanks and aircraft to other nations, including minor European powers. Sweden purchased a large number of Italian aircraft prior to and during WWII... including the CR42 Falco. Rather then do the generic "everybody has spitfires" thing, I actually gave the correct aircraft to the correct nations (or at least geographic area... Sweden = Vikings).

Most of the aircraft models available for the game have the original nations markings on them (Italy, Germany, etc), including the CR42. I'm not a 3D modeler, unfortunately, some small issues like that occur. Consider it a history lesson on what nations flew what (and from where) during the war.

Oh by the way... I originally was going to skip doing any Viking units... then I found a nice Pikeman and Warrior and decided to start filling-in the reast of the untis with new Vikings.

His Heavy foot are Varangian Guards. These would be more appropriate for the Byzantine Civ as an elite unit.

I'm well aware of the Varangian Guards and their heritage. I didn't want to use Berserkers, and Huscarls were known mostly for their axe-use... I didn't want two "Axe" units for the Vikings, so I found another unit to use instead... yes, the Varangians historically fought for the Byzantines (I know), but they WERE VIKINGS, not Byzantines... since every game of Civ4 is altering history, what's wrong with having Vikings fight for a Viking nation? Nothing wrong with that in my book... any way you dice it, Varangians were Vikings, not Byzantines. My two cents.

Huscarls (Housemen), not the drugged Berserks, were the elites of the Norse. Noted for not "outliving" their commander in battle. This term was later adopted by the Anglo-Saxons.

See above... just nothing really requiring yet another special unit... at least not at this time, and I didn't want two axemen units.

No offense meant, just observations. Since you put so much thought in the period you enhanced, I thought you might appreciate some additional tid-bits. Though by no means do I consider them absolutes.

No offense taken. I appreciate feedback.

Thanks for the time you put into your mod. Much appreciated on this end!

No problem... I really made this mod FOR ME!... I just decided to share my work with others for free... if they like it, that's great... if they don't, there's a zillion other mods out there for them.

Uhlan · Oct 31, 2007

Yep, I see your point.

I'd rather have an historically correct aircraft than the generic "Spitfire" despite the markings. Did anyone use the Spit besides the Commonwealth nations during WWII?

As to your Varangian point of view, perfectly acceptable as well. Especially if you aren't the modeler to begin with. We take what we can get and two axe units for "vikings" is a bit much. Though I think Long Ships and Huscarls would be enough UU's for the "vikings".

As to the comment I made about the "Varangian Guard", that particular unit was exclusively Byzantine. Though the Varangian (Varyag, norse who went east, Viking=west. Very generalized I know...) peoples were as you say of Norse extraction. First selected from the so-called "Kievan Rus" then from further afield. Even Anglo-Saxons joined their ranks. That was my only point.

It's generally accepted that the term "viking" became an occupational one used by the Norse themselves, then by their victims regarding the Norse as a whole. Relating to the Norse penchant for exploration, raiding and trade (somewhat in that order.) with various ideas about its exact origin. Regardless, the somewhat proper name of the folks we love so much (at least I do) is the Norse.

I have a degree in History and can get a bit pedantic at times. Not intentional mind you, but certain things (even minor) just find a way to get under my skin a bit.

Even my co-workers think I'm a little nuts... lol.

I guess I need to remember that these are mods made to make the MAKER happy for the most part. I'm just glad that there are folks with the ability to do this kind of thing, and then allow the rest of us to have fun with it.

Thanks again for the mod. And whoever made the beautiful VG unit to begin with... outstanding.

Wolfshanze · Oct 31, 2007

Uhlan said:
I'd rather have an historically correct aircraft than the generic "Spitfire" despite the markings. Did anyone use the Spit besides the Commonwealth nations during WWII?

Not really... the Spitfire was pretty much kept for British and Commonwealth use... it wasn't exported much at all... which is annoying in un-modded Civ4 when every nation flys Spitfires. Heck... the Germans exported Me-109s to more nations then the British did with the Spitfire outside the Commonwealth.

As for British foreign sales... most of the fighters they sold to nations outside the Commonwealth were older planes like the Gladiator biplane and Hawker Hurricane... those were exported quite a bit.

Italy sold to pretty much anyone with a pulse and a checkbook... Italian aircraft (and ship designs too for that matter) were exported to many nations.

In my mod you'll find most nations with correct aircraft for the time... like the Ottomons/Turks who flew a variety of aircraft from France, Germany and the US (of course I am limited to only one fighter and one bomber), so I chose the MS406 (French) and He-111F (German) for the Turks... as they did fly both.

I also lumped the post-war/cold-war era nations into US or Soviet camps of equipment... for example, most Mid-East and Asian nations use Soviet equipment, while most European and native/meso-american nations use US equipment. So the Arabians will use T-55 tanks, Mig-21s and IL-28s in the modern age, while the Turks (US allies) will use M-60 tanks, F4 Phantoms and Canberras.

That's one of the goals with this mod... given the limited number of units (one fighter and one bomber per nation per time period) and the limited number of available 3D models for Civ4, I tried to keep equipment as realistic or at least "in-spirit" as I could... it was really annoying to see everyone flying Spitfires and F-16s or driving Shermans and M1-Abrahms.

Oh... and of course, adding a lot of missing naval units and WWI units to the game as well!

Xenomorph · Nov 1, 2007

Wolfshanze said:
Can't be helped. Here's the thing... When I made this mod, I went ahead and assigned WWII-era aircraft (and tanks for that matter) to any nation that I could accordingly with what they used during WWII.

You know, I edited a lot of those WWII aircraft to remove the nation-specific markings and replaced them with generic "team color" circles or bars. If you'd like, I can send them to you. I even fixed the bug on the He-111H where you could see through the entire plane when looking through the propellers (a problem with the alpha mesh on the model).

There are a few other issues I think need addressing. The first is the use of the swastika. It's not that I'm against on moral grounds, I just don't think that it's as representative of the German nation as the Maltese Cross is, which has been in use for a long time (few hundred years?). The swastika was only used for a couple of decades, and hardly reflects Germany through the extended time period that most Civ games go through. Besides, who says Germany has to go through a period of fascism? Isn't Civilization all about "what ifs" in history?

A few nations also have more than one UU. Some are just flavor units with no actual difference except in name and description, but a few actually do have special abilities beyond what the base unit would have. The notables that I can list off the top of my head are Persia, Vikings, USA and Russia. Although slight, it does give them an unfair advantage.

Oh, and as a side note, Russia bought quite a few FT17s and licence-produced them as well. They even saw use during the civil war (mainly by White Russia troops).

mice · Nov 1, 2007

Wolfshanze I'm playing this mod on epic speed just to enjoy the units for longer.

Next game marathon i think. One sad thing is that the naval units disappear on the map until I select them. Is this usual? I see it a lot with mods. Just thought I'd mention it.

Very nice, thanks.

Wolfshanze · Nov 1, 2007

Xenomorph... thanks for the feedback... maybe I'll offer two versions for Germany (would only require an XML swap). As for "alternate history", who's to say the 3rd Reich won't last for 1,000 years, making their emblem more used? Actually, it's a left-over from my original import of the Hitler leader head (it changed the nation flag without me paying much attention). My take was that most folks seem to think of WWII Germany anyways, and the special units were from WWII as well. Not wanting to get into a big debate... I'll probably just offer two versions to make everyone happy.

As for custom units that are generic without national markings, that would be great... feel free to send them to me or offer a link... PM sent with my e-mail.

Mice... glad you like the mod. I haven't noticed any disapearing units... please explain and/or show screen shots... also, system specs might help too. I've not had that happen in any of my games with the mod.

bmarnz · Nov 1, 2007

mice said:
Wolfshanze I'm playing this mod on epic speed just to enjoy the units for longer.

Next game marathon i think. One sad thing is that the naval units disappear on the map until I select them. Is this usual? I see it a lot with mods. Just thought I'd mention it.

Very nice, thanks.

It might have something to do with your video settings. Most custom unit makers don't include the freeze frame for units that are used for low settings.

Wolfshanze · Nov 1, 2007

bmarnz said:
It might have something to do with your video settings. Most custom unit makers don't include the freeze frame for units that are used for low settings.

That's gotta be it... I have all settings for the game set to max...

mice · Nov 2, 2007

Wolfshanze said:
That's gotta be it... I have all settings for the game set to max...

Yep, that got it. My boats are back.

DWOLF · Nov 13, 2007

A thanks for using DWOLF's Nazi Flag Button & Nazi Flag would have been nice...

I was playing this mod on my laptop and the same thing happened to me...some boats would disappear but then I went home and played on my desktop and everything ran fine...

[BtS MOD] Wolfshanze 1850-1920 Enhancement Mod v2.0

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