Come on modders, include docs!

[Paasky]

Or copy-paste your warlords shortcut & add mod =*modname* into the end, after the last ".


Guess how long those 3 posts would've takn if your 1st post was named "How do I install mods?"
Actually, they'd pointed you to the thread, which I believe is stickied, in the tutorials section.

 

[jesperben]

As a Civ-gamer in 15 years, I am very impressed with the fantastic work being done by the Civ4-modders. The amount of very different games is astonishing.

But as a non-programmer I must agree to some of Willems points, though I wouldn't have put it in the same way:

It IS difficult for "ordinary" gamers to use mods - especially the first times. You wouldn't believe how little a lot of people know about finding their way in a pc.

Do you modders have to care about them? No, absolutely not. You are doing a hard work in your own time, and if people don't bother to learn basic computerskills, it's their problem.

But wouldn't it be fun to have a big audience using your work and telling their friends about it?

Don't write a manual, but please write 20 lines with the essentials:
What is the setting for the game - How to install - Where to find more info and the newest download - and of course: Who has made the mod.

And maybe think about our level of experience, when you write the text in the download-forum.

Thanks for the help on behalf of all clumsy but civ-loving pc-gamers.

Jesper

 

[Penitent]

I agree with Willem to an extent. I've just come back to the game from a few months hiatus and downloaded a few mods, then I've realised I've forgotten how to install them. Some installation instructions should really be the last thing you tick off your list before you upload your mod. And just a paragraph explaining basically what your mod *is* will be appreciated, especially in a folder of 15-20 recently downloaded mods (sometimes with obscure names).

Willem could have been more polite in making his point, but I think many of you guys need to stop trying to make an enemy of him and appreciate that he is having difficulty installing mods due to a lack of documentation. I'm having the same problem and I've been browsing through several threads at the moment to no avail. This is from someone who was installing dozens of various mods a while back with no problem. I'd prefer it if people took a few minutes to explain generally how *their* mods should be installed. It is not too much to ask in my opinion.

 

[Yakk]

To install a in warlords mod, the directory:
.....\Sid Meir's Civilization 4\Warlords\Mods\MOD_NAME\Assets
should exist. Your .zip file for a mod should contain such an Asset directory somewhere -- if it doesn't, the mod is not easy to install.

A non-warlords mod is the same, but with \Warlords\ part of the path removed.

Usually a mod extracts to a simple directory that you just place in the Mods directory if your civ4 folder.

...

That's it. All of it. Tout. To load the mod, just select Advanced in the game menu, then load a mod, then pick the mod.

Individual files that don't come with a directory structure are hard to install. You have to find out where they go in the 'normal' version of the game and build an equivilent structure in a mod directory tree. But such mods are usually intended as a component, not a complete mod.

Now, the thing is, EVERY MOD IN CIV4 WORKS THIS WAY. Mods don't have custom install instructions, because they all should install exactly the same way.

Note that scenarios, map generators, and maps are not "mods".

 

[ClassicThunder]

I agree with Willem to an extent. I've just come back to the game from a few months hiatus and downloaded a few mods, then I've realised I've forgotten how to install them. Some installation instructions should really be the last thing you tick off your list before you upload your mod. And just a paragraph explaining basically what your mod *is* will be appreciated, especially in a folder of 15-20 recently downloaded mods (sometimes with obscure names).

Willem could have been more polite in making his point, but I think many of you guys need to stop trying to make an enemy of him and appreciate that he is having difficulty installing mods due to a lack of documentation. I'm having the same problem and I've been browsing through several threads at the moment to no avail. This is from someone who was installing dozens of various mods a while back with no problem. I'd prefer it if people took a few minutes to explain generally how *their* mods should be installed. It is not too much to ask in my opinion.

Please contact the mod creator if you have problems with his mod. Complaining to the whole community doesn't help anything. Willem came up and said the whole community is lazy and not worthy of his attention, thats why he received a poor greeting. So contact the creator of the mod in question or post asking for help instead of starting another fight.

 

[TAfirehawk]

Actually the entire problem is solved when a modpack uses an installer, like the ViSa Expansion Pack 3 does....sets registry keys, installs files and even places shortcuts so no messy edits in the Civ INI or reloading of Civ to get the mod running

Oh and another thing, using pakbuild's FPK's are critical to getting load times down....not a document issue but something an individual player can do if the mod creator doesn't....just an FYI

 

[ClassicThunder]

Actually the entire problem is solved when a modpack uses an installer, like the ViSa Expansion Pack 3 does....sets registry keys, installs files and even places shortcuts so no messy edits in the Civ INI or reloading of Civ to get the mod running

Oh and another thing, using pakbuild's FPK's are critical to getting load times down....not a document issue but something an individual player can do if the mod creator doesn't....just an FYI

What installer do you use?? Could you link to it.

 

[TAfirehawk]

It is an Installer from MS....we will have to get with mrgenie for the link as he set it up and configured it.

You can even program it to run scripts which clean the custom assets and cache folders on install

 

[ClassicThunder]

Awesome the next release of my mod will have to have use that!

 

[TAfirehawk]

Awesome the next release of my mod will have to have use that!

Every modpack (not modcomp) should use a self-extracting installer that also uses an icon to launch....no documentation needed

 

[Yakk]

Can the self extracting installer deal with non-standard install locations?
Multiple installs of civ4?
Existing installs of the mod?

 

[TAfirehawk]

Can the self extracting installer deal with non-standard install locations?
Multiple installs of civ4?
Existing installs of the mod?

The installer pulls the registry settings to find Civ, if that has been messed with then it won't work right setup like we did for ViSa....but you could just install and go, without registry stuff.

And for those with multiple Civs installed and multiple versions of the same mod, well they know how to handle it anyway, so why worry about those experts?

 

[TAfirehawk]

And here is the link to Creating Windows Installer Packages so you can make your own installers.

But we suggest you find some other tools and programs to make the process quicker than creating it from scratch....we had another guy make our installer and don't know exactly what he used, but it only took days

 

[Mexico]

also you can use NSIS compiler (null soft installer script) - same as i set for TR -it can do same, it is just what is easier to you

 

[ww2commander]

These last couple of posts are very useful...maybe they deserve to be in their own thread for easier reference.

 

[TAfirehawk]

These last couple of posts are very useful...maybe they deserve to be in their own thread for easier reference.

Go for it

Having a nice installer separates the men from the boys as they say....