GUIDE: Adding new units

[Officer Reene]

i cant find art0.fpk

the 1.62/1.52 patch breaks it up to smaller files...

see post 115 for info....

 

[Splinter13]

I'm making a WW2 Pacific theatre scenerio and i'm wondering how to make a unit specialized to only one civilization using XML

for example i want to make a Japanese Infantry unit, but I don't want the Americans building them aswell.

I'm quite new to modding so please be very explained in your answers.

 

[Officer Reene]

I'm making a WW2 Pacific theatre scenerio and i'm wondering how to make a unit specialized to only one civilization using XML

for example i want to make a Japanese Infantry unit, but I don't want the Americans building them aswell.

I'm quite new to modding so please be very explained in your answers.

I dont know if this works with Warlords Expansion...


but here is an excellent Tutorial for the vanilla version:


http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=148507

hope this helps

 

[Longinus]

What I need to do if I wan't to give some unit a civ specific texture, but leave it otherwise unchanged (same name, same stats etc). For example, I have created red-coated texture for english grenadier. How I get it to work?

 

[Officer Reene]

What I need to do if I wan't to give some unit a civ specific texture, but leave it otherwise unchanged (same name, same stats etc). For example, I have created red-coated texture for english grenadier. How I get it to work?

that is pretty easy...

just go to your CIV4UnitInfos.xml file and find the redcoat art tag that should look like this:

				<UnitMeshGroup>
					<iRequired>1</iRequired>
					<EarlyArtDefineTag>[COLOR="Navy"]ART_DEF_UNIT_ENGLISH_REDCOAT[/COLOR]</EarlyArtDefineTag>
				</UnitMeshGroup>

just make sure that tag is in your english grenadier unit's info

(Of course you have to create a new unit called english Grenadier... easiest thing to do is copy the grenadier stats and rename the "type" tagline... as well as edit the other related XML files... )

and it is done!


hope that helps

 

[JammerK]

Please be patient with an old man just learning to add/modify units. I thought I understood the instructions, but fear I am incorrectly defining the directory concatenation for my modified files. My path is C:\Fraxis\Civ4\Mods\Assets\XML\Units into which I copied over the main Civ4unitinfo XML file. To start simple, I just increased Keshik's icombat strength to 8. However, upon playing the game, it still used the value of 6 from the main
Civ4unitinfo file. If I update the main file directly the change takes effect. However, I want to next get into adding new units, so I need to learn the right way to do this thru the Mods directory path/approach. Please advise. many thanks, Jk

 

[Officer Reene]

... My path is C:\Fraxis\Civ4\Mods\Assets\XML\Units into which I copied over the main Civ4unitinfo XML file...

you have to make a new folder in the MODS folder


ex. Calling your mod "MyMod" (name the folder what you want)

then your path should look like this:

C:\Fraxis\Civ4\Mods\MyMod\Assets\XML\Units folder

then copy the original files in the corresponding MyMod folder (following the correct path and making new folders to match it )

then edit the copies

and you have new values for your tags!


then you must load the mod... which can be accomplished by three different ways:


1) making a shortcut (copying the civ4 "gamestart" shortcut on your desktop) then editing the target line

ex. C:\Civ4\Civilization4.exe -mod= MyMod

if that dont work try this:


"C:\Civ4\Civilization4.exe -mod= MyMod"


2) Editing your Civ4 Config file

search for "mods" and follow the example


3) Loading up the game and then picking the "load a mod" option


any three methods will load up your mod (You only have to do one! )



Hope that helps!

 

[damionslain]

sorry if this has been asked, but i'm really having a hard time.

I'm trying to apply 2 of the new units from the warlords expansion to my mod which i created for the original civ4.

i tried following this guide, by copying the unit folder and linking where applicable. But the hole thing didn't work at all.

I assume it's due to changes in the units design.

OH! i just thought of something, using the framework of another similar unit, then just changing the art tags! (then ajusting the text name and hit points etc, manually!!!) that should work!!!

so why am i still posting this?
um....
incase someone has a better idea......
or an easier one, i should say.

 

[JammerK]

Thank You, Officer Renee. You hit on exactly what I needed to know. BTW: to launch the mod, the technique I settled on was to create a new short cut, select properties, and specify the mod I wanted the game launched with. The syntax was; c:\bla bla bla\Civilization4.exe" mod=\mymod

again, thanks to your excellent & fast response to my dilemma

 

[Officer Reene]

Thank You, Officer Renee. You hit on exactly what I needed to know. BTW: to launch the mod, the technique I settled on was to create a new short cut, select properties, and specify the mod I wanted the game launched with. The syntax was; c:\bla bla bla\Civilization4.exe" mod=\mymod

again, thanks to your excellent & fast response to my dilemma

No problem

if you have any other issues... please post and Ill try to help


please note that I have not figured how to update to the Warlords expansion yet


other than that I glad it helped

 

[Thorn]

I installed a custom unit w/graphics. Everything seems okay except the entire unit is purple! Any ideas???

 

[Officer Reene]

I installed a custom unit w/graphics. Everything seems okay except the entire unit is purple! Any ideas???

well that usually means you have not edited the XML files correctly....

(where the xml points to the new unit...)


try to use this tutorial:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=176460


if that doesnt work... please be more specific in what you did to add the custom unit

then maybe I could figure it out.....


hope that helps

 

[Thorn]

Well, I have a nif file and a dds file. The dds file looks like it contains the skins, but I'm not sure where to put the file or where to point to it from.

 

[Officer Reene]

Well, I have a nif file and a dds file. The dds file looks like it contains the skins, but I'm not sure where to put the file or where to point to it from.

are you replacing a existing unit model with a new skin?

if so which one?

are you making a new unit model?


basically if you are reskinning an existing unit you need to follow this path:

Custom Assets\Art\unit folder

and create a NEW folder with the original unit's name

then place all those files in the NEW folder


if you are creating a new unit... that's similar to the reskinning unit...
just make sure your folder is the one you designate in the CIV4ArtDefines_Unit.XML file

FYI all folder names of the original units can be for found in the CIV4ArtDefines_Unit.XML file


FYI if you are putting this in a mod... well change custom Assets foler to assets folder... and place the assets in the your new mod folder...

(Note the new mod folder should be in your MODS folder of your CIV4 Directory)


hope that helps

 

[Thorn]

Thanks so much for the help Officer Renee. It turned out to be a filename mismatch. The DDS filename in the NIF file didn't match the actual DDS file.

 

[Quetz]

Question for anyone out there with some experience.

I have gotten my unit in the game, however, I can't seem to get it to act as an air unit. I have it set almost the same as the vanilla bomber from what I can see, but I think there must be another file I have to change to get it to use the air movement system, which will hopefully make it interceptable. I've been looking through files with no luck. Anyone have an idea?

edit: Got it. Domain_air

 

[tombyo]

Am new to modding Civ IV, so I was wondering if anyone could help with my problem. I have the 1.52 patch installed. I have successfully added a new unit to my CustomAssets folder & modified all the necessary XML files. The new unit behaves properly under World Builder from what I can see, however if I start a new single player game, save and exit I get the following error message when I try and load my saved game :

"The save file you have selected is protected to ensure that the assets in your mod folder have not been changed" Click the OK button and CivIV exits.

Do I specifically have to load a custom mod for any new unit(s) that I add?

Any help would be appreciated.

tombyo

 

[sovarn]

Yes..sorta.
If you put it in custom assests then you will ahve to load a new game
But the best bet is to to create its own mod. This is relatively simple but creating a new folder in the mod directory.

Can't really remember the details but you an just follow the file structure of the other mods.

 

[tombyo]

Yes..sorta.
If you put it in custom assests then you will ahve to load a new game
But the best bet is to to create its own mod. This is relatively simple but creating a new folder in the mod directory.

Can't really remember the details but you an just follow the file structure of the other mods.

Thanks for your prompt reply. I will make the appropriate changes and try again. Tombyo

 

[strategyonly]

I got the unit in the game but i only want it to me a barbarian unit, how do i do this??