Civ4 Map Finder Announced!

[Big_Ben]

Ok. I ended up deleting about 25 saves that I wasn't sure if I had played yet and really liked no biggy though.

 

[dwarrior]

Ok. I ended up deleting about 25 saves that I wasn't sure if I had played yet and really liked no biggy though.

you could have given them to me to try out

 

[superslug]

you could have given them to me to try out

If there was a chance he had played them, no one could use them for the HOF.

 

[dwarrior]

If there was a chance he had played them, no one could use them for the HOF.

hehe.. was only joking..

 

[ruff_hi]

I like this feature but I keep getting this error ...

[tongue in cheek]On the 'having the map finder settle' question, can you change it to play the whole game for me. I would like to nominate the victory condition and the minimum score acceptable (or finish by year x) and have it play for me. Maybe extending it to auto submit my game to the HOF and while you are at it, what about creating a thrilling humorous report too.
[/tongue out of cheek]

 

[Bumbelbee]

Hi,

it's my first post here, so please be patient with my bad english, i'm from germany and we play better soccer than writing in a foreign language

Since I played Civ3 I loved Moonsinger for the Mapfinder-Tool.
I was very pleased as I saw the civ4 HOF-Mod with CIV4 Mapfinder included.

So I have no MS Office installed my first problem was that the Rule builder didn't start. ...but I found the link to the solution an was happy.

The Mod works fine and Mapfinder starts without any problem.
The tool displays that it generate maps and save maps, but always if I end mapfinder with Alt-X I can't find any saved map in any folder.
In HOF Mod I linked the Path to C:\Programme\Civ4_Map_finder\Saves where the mapfinder tool is located, but there is nothing in the Save-folder and the report module doesn't find any generated map.

I was a little bit frustrated, but shaking my brain I remebered that Civ3 mapfinder also had problems with german keyboard layout. So I changed my Keyboard Layout to "US" and hoped that Mapfinder could generate the right filenames.
....but nothing happens, the tool did'nt generate any map to save folder.

What can I do to make Mapfinder working ?

Is there anyone from germany outside where mapfinder is working ???
I posted the same in the german forum , but nobody answered, so I hope you have an idea to make mapfinder working for me.

Thanks a lot ...

Bee

 

[Denniz]

Hi,

it's my first post here, so please be patient with my bad english, i'm from germany and we play better soccer than writing in a foreign language

Welcome to the Hall of Fame!

The Mod works fine and Mapfinder starts without any problem.
The tool displays that it generate maps and save maps, but always if I end mapfinder with Alt-X I can't find any saved map in any folder.
In HOF Mod I linked the Path to C:\Programme\Civ4_Map_finder\Saves where the mapfinder tool is located, but there is nothing in the Save-folder and the report module doesn't find any generated map.

I was a little bit frustrated, but shaking my brain I remebered that Civ3 mapfinder also had problems with german keyboard layout. So I changed my Keyboard Layout to "US" and hoped that Mapfinder could generate the right filenames.
....but nothing happens, the tool did'nt generate any map to save folder.

What can I do to make Mapfinder working ?

Is there anyone from germany outside where mapfinder is working ???
I posted the same in the german forum , but nobody answered, so I hope you have an idea to make mapfinder working for me.

Thanks a lot ...

Bee

When you say it saves maps, do you see the saved counter increasing or just a saving map message? If you are not sure, try changing the rule to something simple to that will be sure to get a map.

Is the map finder save folder empty or are just the savegames missing?

Another quick check to try is turn on the "Create Starting Save" Option (HOF3 tab). It uses the same save routine but goes the normal civ4 save folder.

You might try changing these CivilizationIV.ini setting to see if there are any errors: (Caution: Logging enabled with some virus software slows down Civ4.)

; Set to 1 for no python exception popups
HidePythonExceptions = 0

; Enable the logging system
LoggingEnabled = 1

; Overwrite old network and message logs
OverwriteLogs = 1

; Enable message logging
MessageLog = 1

I assume you are using German languauge with Civ4. The save file name is composed of the first three characters of the names for Leader, difficulty, map size, map type, speed, age, etc. Are there any special characters in the translation that the file system would have a problem with?

That's all I can think of right now. Let us know if anything hits the mark.

 

[Denniz]

I like this feature but I keep getting this error ...

Are you getting this message on Map Finder saves, too? That is the autosave that is failing. I don't think we messed with it. Did you do something to your autosave directory?

 

[Bumbelbee]

Hi Denniz,

thx spending your time.
The screenshot by ruff_hi is the best example.

The map regenerate and the counter increases. I can see „Saving game …“, " Count " and "Saved ". After a few regenerations I can’t see new maps, but if i press Alt-X short time later, the counter says for example 35 and Saved = 14.
I searched my computer for recorded files with Explorer, but there is no file found which is recorded to my harddisk.

The map finder save folder isn’t empty at all, there is a little file called „save file location“ It’s 1 kb. which is also there after new installing mapfinder.

"Create Starting Save" Option is always on in HOF3 tab.

After changing the ini settings I got some phyton exheptions. The save game folder still is empty.

 

[Bumbelbee]

Hi Denniz,

all Python errors have the same bottom line:

Unicode Encoder Error "ascii"codec can't encode charakter u'xf6' in position 40: ordinal not in range (128)

 

[Denniz]

Hi Denniz,

all Python errors have the same bottom line:

Unicode Encoder Error "ascii"codec can't encode charakter u'xf6' in position 40: ordinal not in range (128)

You didn't say, are using German language? If so, try changing to english, and see if that works. The message makes me think the file name generated has special charachers. You might have to use english for map finder until I can figure out a fix and put it into our next Mod version release. Sorry.

 

[Bumbelbee]

I used German Language and also US Keyboard Language, but i got the massage in both cases.

 

[ruff_hi]

Are you getting this message on Map Finder saves, too? That is the autosave that is failing. I don't think we messed with it. Did you do something to your autosave directory?

It worked for the default rule set (I will try that again) but not for my rule set. I changed the autosave in the ini file to =0 (ie no autosave). I bet that is the issue. Let me change that back and try again (tonight).

Everything else is vanilla CIV 4 in English (or what passes for English in the US ).

 

[Bumbelbee]

It works

the language was the right tip.
I always changed the keyboard language, but i had to change the in game language to english !


Thus it's necessary for all players with other ingame languages as english, to switch to english for generating maps. If you have some fine maps you can load the map and switch the ingame language back to your favorite language.


Thank you very much for your help

Bee

 

[ruff_hi]

Question: Does mapfinder involve new SDK functions or is it purely python / xml?

I'm asking because I would love to use this on a non-HOF game. Is there a way of doing that without extracting the mapfinder mod from the HOF mod? What about creating a game with the HOF mod, then saving the map and starting a new game from the map - would that work?

 

[Denniz]

Question: Does mapfinder involve new SDK functions or is it purely python / xml?

The ability to save, regen maps and take screenshots in python comes from mods to the SDK.

I'm asking because I would love to use this on a non-HOF game. Is there a way of doing that without extracting the mapfinder mod from the HOF mod? What about creating a game with the HOF mod, then saving the map and starting a new game from the map - would that work?

I am not sure I understand the question. There are no restrictions on games settings whatsoever. You might get a HOF warning but you can still create and play any game you could with vanilla Civ4.

 

[ruff_hi]

I am not sure I understand the question. There are no restrictions on games settings whatsoever. You might get a HOF warning but you can still create and play any game you could with vanilla Civ4.

If I start a game with the HOF mod to generate some maps to select from, I have to play that game with the HOF mod (game settings not withstanding). That means if I start an SG with this, everyone who plays the SG has to play it under the HOF mod.

Or can I load the HOF mod under customassets and use it from there?

 

[Denniz]

If I start a game with the HOF mod to generate some maps to select from, I have to play that game with the HOF mod (game settings not withstanding). That means if I start an SG with this, everyone who plays the SG has to play it under the HOF mod.

Or can I load the HOF mod under customassets and use it from there?

I think any game start under a mod always asks for that mod. I guess you could try using the map seed to reproduce the map in Vanilla. (Don't ask me how as it is just something I've heard about.)

 

[BSPollux]

i got a strange problem:

if i start the mapfinder it says 'mapfinder active' then autosave and save, and then regenerates a map.

and then nothing happeneds.

if i pres alt+m again, it doesnt work. i have to use alt+x to stop the mapfinder. i get a msg saying it has checked 1 file and saved 0.

but in fact i saw the savemsg.

i dont realy understand whats not working there

 

[Denniz]

This is a BETA version of the new VB 2005 .NET Map Finder application.

Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 is required for this version. You can download it through your Windows Update or directly from here.

NOTE: There are NO changes to the HOF Mod with this version. The old VB6.0 version works as before.

This version incorporates a lot of feedback received. (Thanks to all. ) There is only one executable with this version. The Rule Builder feature is now a menu pick to access. It will now read/update the HOF ini file. The setup defaults the install to the My Games folder. The different versions are independent. Just copy your rules and saves to the new version. Note: the Office dependence is probably still there as I was unable to find a suitable replacement for one control.

Note: My time this week for support will be VERY LIMITED. Please post any suggestion or issue here, but don't expect quick response.

You can download the BETA version from >>here<<.

Enjoy!