Combining Better BUG AI and BAT

[Colonel Kraken]

Hello,

I'm sure most of you know of Fuyu's Better BUG AI in which he combined the Better AI dll with the BUG dll.

My question to Fuyu was how to combine Better BUG AI with BAT, since BAT includes some graphics (and other) extras not found in BUG. My guess was that I could successfully drag, drop, and overwrite Better BUG AI files onto/into the BAT mod folder.

Fuyu confirmed that assumption, but he was not sure of the details. Specifically, Fuyu stated,

I do have BAT in a Mod folder though, so overwriting was a matter of one single drag&drop and click. Not sure if CustomAssets installs needs some special treatments, like finding out where to put the gamesetupcheck folder but I'm sure the BUG team could help you with that.

My question is the following:

BAT automatically writes to the My Games folder instead of the Program Files\Firaxis folder. That's easy enough for me, but the thing that confuses me is their install program also created a seperate BUG Mod folder which has the Info, UserSettings, and GameSetUp Check folders. For your mod, it's all in the same folder.

Could someone from the BUG team please illuminate how to accomplish combining the two mods without royally screwing up the process (i.e. To which folders do I paste the respective files from Better BUG AI to BAT?).

Also, can I simply move the BAT mod to the Mods folder in the Program Files\Firaxis\BtS\Mods folder instead of the My Games folder? I simply do not like working in the My Games folder.

Thanks!

 

[Fimbulvetr]

You can find up to date merging instructions in the first post of the Better BUG AI mod thread
---------------------------
I guess I was too slow?

If you already have a UserSettings folder and a GameSetUp Check folder, all you need to do is copy my Better BUG AI's Assets over your Mod folder in MyGames and overwrite. I didn't know it was that simple

edit: Overwriting alone might not be enough, you need to delete BAT's Assets folder first, or at least the Python subfolder, otherwise Diplomacy could break (not sure though, might actually work with BAT 2.2)
For Better BUG AI versions with installer, you get the Assets either by just installing it and then going to its mod folder, or by using 7zip to extract the Assets folder directly from the installer.
PLE buttons should be showing up by default now.

 

[Colonel Kraken]

That's totally funny. Obviously, I did not know you were going to respond anymore to that thread, especially only minutes later!

Thanks a million.

 

[Colonel Kraken]

Also, can I simply move the BAT mod to the Mods folder in the Program Files\Firaxis\BtS\Mods folder instead of the My Games folder? I simply do not like working in the My Games folder.

Thanks!

I still wouldn't mind an answer to this question, however.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Oh I must have overlooked that one, but I also don't know the answer.
If you are running Windows 6.x then probably no, BUG needs write access, you can't run it from ProgramFiles. For XP at least I think BAT should have given you the option to install there, once it is already in MyGames I'm in doubt you can simply move the files though, that special path is definitely stored somewhere and might need to be edited. If it's working where it is, leave it. Or reinstall BAT, this time to the location you want.

 

[Colonel Kraken]

Hi Fuyu,

Thanks for your response.

When I tried what you suggested to merge the mods, the same thing happens that happened when I tried to merge the mods on my own:

The row of icons at the bottom of the main map screen (Switch View Mode, etc.) disappear, and in diplomacy with another civ, all the text (to choose how you wish to respond) is missing!



Do you know what could be causing this?

Thanks,

CK

 

[Fimbulvetr]

No clue, sorry. If they are there for both my mod and BAT, they should appear after merging, I'm not sure I know what buttons you talk about though.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

If you have logging enabled, PythonErr.log would be where to look for the cause.

Sorry for the inconvenience, if that doesn't work that way you might have to merge some xml files of the Art section, or some part of BUG or BULL changed so much it's no longer compatible. I honestly only know it worked for me once but that was an older build of my mod.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

damn, and I had already a name for that merge: BAIT

 

[Colonel Kraken]

EDIT: attachment removed.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

No, that's PythonErr2.log, I need PythonErr.log

see BUG Troubleshooting page

I still don't know if I even know what buttons you mean, I assume the ones in the lower left corner on top of the minimap? If not, tell me if the buttons show up in the screenshot I provided.


edit: It worked for at least one more guy: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=8885703#post8885703

 

[Colonel Kraken]

No, that's PythonErr2.log, I need PythonErr.log

Oops. Sorry. I'll see if I can get one.

I still don't know if I even know what buttons you mean, I assume the ones in the lower left corner on top of the minimap? If not, tell me if the buttons show up in the screenshot I provided.

It looks like you do not have this option turned on in your game. They would be the small tank, anchor, and plane symbol (amongst several others) that would be displayed above your Disband, Fortify, etc. buttons. The buttons I'm talking about allow you to do stuff like sort your stack of units by only wounded units or by only units that have promotions, etc. Go to "Plot Lists" and check "Show Mode/Filter Buttons" in the BUG control panel.

edit: It worked for at least one more guy: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=8885703#post8885703

Ok, I'll have to check that out. Maybe I'm just doing something wrong. This last time I simply took your entire Assets folder and pasted it on top of the BAT Assets folder. It warned me that folders of the same name containing the same named files would overwrite those files. I clicked "Yes to all" and proceeded.

Was that the correct procedure?

Again, thank you for continuing to help me in this. I've done a lot of modding in my time (Civ 2/Civ 3), but I'm afraid I do not have the time or inclination to learn all the new stuff that Civ 4 brought to the table (Python/Dll modification). I really appreciate you helping me.

Thanks,

CK

 

[Colonel Kraken]

EDIT: attachments removed.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

I think it was the correct procedure.
The PLE icons I don't know, they might not be around in current BUG 4.3 because ruffi_hi branched them off. (That functionality will be back eventually, assuming that it's normal it's not there now) in general, there is little I can tell you about PLE other than this part is under heavy development. If you really want to know, install BUG 4.3 and tell me if the icons show up for you. If they do, something is broken on my end. If not, the current version of BUG just doesn't have it.
I'm not sure why getModPath fails but maybe moving Full_of_Resources_3_10.py and PerfectWorld2f.py to some other mod folder fixes this.
That Diplomacy thing is a real error though, and I have no clue why that happens. What exactly did you do to cause it, did you start talking to an AI on your own or did the AI want to talk to you?. or doe it happen in both cases?

 

[Finarfin]

Any one planning on making an installer that will put the Better BUG AI with BAT into an easily manageable routine for those of us that hate moving folders and files around?

 

[ruff_hi]

The PLE icons I don't know, they might not be around in current BUG 4.3 because ruffi_hi branched them off. (That functionality will be back eventually, assuming that it's normal it's not there now) in general, there is little I can tell you about PLE other than this part is under heavy development. If you really want to know, install BUG 4.3 and tell me if the icons show up for you. If they do, something is broken on my end. If not, the current version of BUG just doesn't have it.

I've created a branch for the BUG unit plot coding. There is a very slight stub that was in the 4.3. However, we aren't modding or planning to remove PLE ... just adding another (better?) option.

There is an option to show / hide those PLE buttons - check that you haven't unchecked that.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Ok, I got it: there is the option to hide/show the button, but that is obvious. Most importantly there is a "Drawing Method" dropdown menu in the line below it. It defaults to "Vanilla", "BUG" is completely broken without the branch, and "PLE" is what you need for those buttons to show.

 

[Finarfin]

Is there a way for the buttons to be not displayed, but still have your choice of how units are grouped? I like my units grouped horizontally by movement groups, but don't use any of those PLE buttons. However, when I hide the buttons it seems that the units go back to some kind of vertical grouping.

 

[Colonel Kraken]

Is there a way for the buttons to be not displayed, but still have your choice of how units are grouped? I like my units grouped horizontally by movement groups, but don't use any of those PLE buttons. However, when I hide the buttons it seems that the units go back to some kind of vertical grouping.

Not to be rude, Finarfin, but please ask this question in a new thread in order not to draw this one off-topic.

 

[Colonel Kraken]

I probably should be more clear on exactly what is happening.

If I run Better BUG AI mod by itself, it works perfectly. If I run BAT mod by itself, it runs perfectly. By running perfectly, I mean I do not get the errors presented in the OP, AND I am able to use the PLE widgets just fine (or turn them off at my pleasure).

However, when I combine the two mods, I get the errors stated in the OP. I do know about turning the widgets on and off. I checked to make sure I had them turned on. They are. Frankly, I don't care about the PLE icons. I don't like them anyway. However . . .

The error with diplomacy is obviously not good (and is unplayable).

That Diplomacy thing is a real error though, and I have no clue why that happens. What exactly did you do to cause it, did you start talking to an AI on your own or did the AI want to talk to you?. or doe it happen in both cases?

I first noticed the error when the AI initiated contact (upon first contact). I also tested it by initiating contact myself. The same thing happens.

I'm not sure why getModPath fails but maybe moving Full_of_Resources_3_10.py and PerfectWorld2f.py to some other mod folder fixes this.

I will try this.

I was puzzled that you told me to only copy and move your assets folder to the BAT mod. You also have the following folders in your mod: Info, UserSettings, GameSetUpCheck, and PublicMaps. Have you not changed any of these from BUG mod, and, thus, do not need them transfered?

Also, I notice that the BAT mod install sets up a BAT folder in the MODS folder of My Games\BTS and also sets up a BUG mod folder in the main BTS directory of My Games. The BUG mod folder contains the following folders: Info, UserSettings, and Autolog. Could there be some conflict here?

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

--CK