GOTM - do they work for you?

[AlanH]

There's no difference between saves created on a Mac and saves from Windows. If there were we'd be having trouble reading the Mac submissions, and we don't.

Loading the GOTM 11 Contender start file took about 22 seconds on my system the first time I opened it. A similar Highlands game created on my Mac took about 10 seconds. There's virtually no difference in size between the two Civ4SavedGame files.

I then quit and relaunched and loaded up the GOTM 11 start again, and this time it took about 10 seconds, and subsequent tests all take 10 seconds. So I don't know what took longer the first time, unless it's due to some caching effect.

 

[Welnic]

There is definitely some sort of caching that goes on. I was doing some comparisons of different systems (which I didn't post because the last patch came out in the middle of it) and I was looking at load times and the time that it took to do the AI part of the turn. The load times were much shorter, sometimes, after loading once. I didn't figure out the exact patterns, though.

 

[BundtCake]

Hey all,

Picked up CIV for my Macbook Pro oever the weekend and have been playing Civ for the first time since Civ I. Woah, overwhelming to say the least.

First off - I've looked around and what does:

GOTM and HOF acronyms mean?

Are there any combat mods for Mac that allow concurrent attacking with a stack of units?

Thanks...

 

[AlanH]

Hi, welcome

GOTM = Game of the Month. We publish a saved game at 4000 BC each month and players download it, play until the win or lose, and submit the final save. We collate the results to produce tables of scores and speeds.

HoF = Hall of Fame. Players try to achieve high scores or fast victories starting on their own random maps.

Both competitions are run for Civ3 and Civ4, and have their own forums in CFC - follow the links above for the Civ4 ones.

I believe stack attack is an option in the standard game, but it's just a shortcut, and individual units attack in sequence.

 

[Skippy_Kangaroo]

Are there any combat mods for Mac that allow concurrent attacking with a stack of units?

There is an option in the game that allows you to automate attacking with a stack of units. This does not alter the mechanics and is just an interface convenience - combat mechanics in Civilization is inherently one on one. It is also, IMHO, a good way to loose units unecessarily. (When attacking one at a time you can stop if a battle goes poorly for you. If you have it automated you will just keep on throwing your units at poorer and poorer odds into the battle.)

Any mod that actually changed the combat mechanics would have to be at a deep level and would fundamentally change the game. I am not aware of one and suspect that if one existed it would not be Mac compatible.

Finally, may I suggest that you turn on the option 'accelerate combat when on attack'. It cuts out the animations on attack and speeds up the whole process so you should feel less need to search out a mod to automate stack attacks.

 

[AlanH]

sorry - what I don't like is the idea that mac users might get booted from GOTM if we can't get the mod working for us.

that's why I posted here and not over there. I use bits and peices of the HOF mod when I'm not in GOTM mode and like them. I'd love to have the HOF mod for mac, but i don't want to be booted from GOTM play because we don't have it.

I did say let's be optimistic ...

I've posted a beta of a Mac version of the HoF mod here containing most of the user interface bits that are relevant outside of the HoF competition itself.

This, or something very like it, will be required for participation in the next GOTM, so I would appreciate some testing and feedback by this community to avoid any tears next month.

 

[napoleonbee]

I have a similar problem with downloading saves from the Strategy & Tips forum. When I load the save, the game automatically quits. I was wondering: will the mod for the GOTM fix this problem, also? And what are the Exotic Foreign Advisor, etc. additions? Is there anything I can download that will fix this problem that isn't bundled with other mods?

 

[AlanH]

I have a similar problem with downloading saves from the Strategy & Tips forum. When I load the save, the game automatically quits. I was wondering: will the mod for the GOTM fix this problem, also?

This sounds like a different problem from any that have been raised here recently. The Mac version of the HoF Mod for the GOTM is not intended to fix any bugs. Which saves are you trying to load? Post a link to an example and I'll investigate.

And what are the Exotic Foreign Advisor, etc. additions? Is there anything I can download that will fix this problem that isn't bundled with other mods?

The Mac HoF Mod for GOTM provides some improved information screens in the game for the Domestic and Foreign Advisers, and it provides an autologging feature that logs a lot of the events that occur during your games. If you follow the link I gave in my thread announcing the beta version of the mod, you can reach the HoF Mod information page, and from there you cn link to the various threads that describe these enhancements.

 

[napoleonbee]

Thanks for your response. The save I was trying to download is in the first post here. I put it in my Saves folder under "single," opened Civ, went to Load Game and selected that save. The load screen appeared for a few seconds before the game automatically quit.

 

[AlanH]

It loads fine here. Was there a crash message from OS X, where you can open a report?

 

[napoleonbee]

I'm afraid not, it just quits. Would the last X number of lines from Civilization IV.crash.log help? I'm not sure it was recorded there, I can't make any sense of what it says.

 

[AlanH]

I doubt if I could either I was just trying to determine whether the app is crashing or quitting. Sounds like it's time to reinstall your civ4, though. Will it load a save that you create yourself?

 

[Welnic]

Here is just a random save of mine that you can try. I haven't had any trouble opening any saved games.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=140999&stc=1&d=1161669954

 

[terp182]

Hello all, not sure if this is the right place to post this newbie question: I cannot get Civ4 BtS GOTM save games to load. The game crashes every time I try.

I'm using BtS by Steam on Mac. When I try to load a BtS GOTM save game, I get a message dialog
"The save file you have selected is protected to ensure the assets in your mod folder have not been changed."

Another message dialog simply say "Load Failed".

Then the game, everything crashes and goes away. These messages appear and disappear so quickly, I had to use screen recording to capture and see them.

I also ran MacAssetsCheck and if I didn't install MacBuFFY correctly, then I'm not sure what it may be?

Attaching MacAssetsChecker output, can someone in the know offer any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.

 

[AlanH]

The most likely reason for your problem is the file size error for CvExoticForeignAdvisor.py. This post gives details.

 

[terp182]

The most likely reason for your problem is the file size error for CvExoticForeignAdvisor.py. This post gives details.

That fixed the problem.
Much thanks for your quick response!

Best Regards

 

[Fine_Distinction]

That fixed the problem.
Much thanks for your quick response!

Best Regards

@terp182, welcome to Mac GOTM community , which recently was just me, lol. AlanH did great job and Mac utilities, once you have it set up, everything runs smoothly and playing GOTM is a lot of fun.