Hand-Written Mod Not Displaying In List

[Creestab]

Hi Guys!

So I'm new to the whole modding seen more or less, but I'v studied college level computer science, am a budding game designer, and have played video games my whole life (various Civ games for about a decade.)

I'm currently on a Mac for the next couple weeks and thus do not have access to the SDK. I'v been writing my files in text editors, using already made .modfile and .xml as templates and replacing/repurposing certain rows and values. I'v gotten the hang of it for the most part, except for one thing... the bloody mod wont pop up on the mod selection screen.

I can't find any notable difference in my .modfile than ones of working mods, and I doubt any errors in my XML would keep it from showing on selection out right. Does anyone know what could be causing this? Are mods not subscribed through workshop or created through the SDK just not usable? I'v scoured the internet and various forums for anything related to handwritten mods (specifically for Mac) and have come up empty. Any help or points in the right direction are appreciated

<My mod file system is attached>

-Creestab

 

[dninemfive]

Try adding MD5s for each file to the .modinfo file. You can generate them with websites like http://onlinemd5.com/.

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

Moderator Action: The Civ 5 Project and Mod development is for specific mods with their own sub-forums. All queries/requests for help go in the main Civ 5 Creation and Customisation forum.

 

[LeeS]

Your modinfo file has syntax errors.

1. You have smartquotes here:

     <Files>
       <File import=“1”>Art/CreestabScene.xml</File>
       <File import=“1”>XMLs/LeaderScenes/CreestabScene.xml</File>
       <File import=“0”>XMLs/CustomBuildings.xml</File>
       <File import=“0”>XMLs/CustomCivilizations.xml</File>
       <File import=“0”>XMLs/CustomColors.xml</File>
       <File import=“0”>XMLs/CustomLeaders.xml</File>
       <File import=“0”>XMLs/CustomUnits.xml</File>
       <File import=“0”>XMLs/Text/CustomDiplomacyDialogue.xml</File>
       <File import=“0”>XMLs/Text/CustomDiplomacyResponses.xml</File>
       <File import=“0”>XMLs/Text/CustomText.xml</File>
     </Files>

   Civ5 generally does not like smartquotes. These may nnot be affecting the ability of the game to read the file, but you should go ahead and change them all to plain text " commands as insurance.
   
   Also your program is saving in a format that is giving an extra linebreak between lines in this section, which I eliminated for posting to the forum. See the bit about extra hidden and special characters being added to the file.
2. Your fatal syntax error is here

     </EntryPoints>

   This causes the game to not be able to parse the modinfo file's code, and thus so far as the game is concerned there is no such mod. You aren't using any EntryPoints anyway, so just eliminate the line.
3. You do not need this

   <UpdateDatabase>XMLs/LeaderScenes/CreestabScene.xml</UpdateDatabase>

   This is not a fatal error to the modinfo file and is not causing the issue, but leaderscene xml fils are never <UpdateDatabase>.
4. Also there is no file anywhere that I saw to match up with

   Art/CreestabScene.xml

   So you are telling the game there is a non-existant file attached to the mod.

Since the smartquotes are probably being inserted by whatever Mac program you are using as a text editor, you need to ensure that no such special-formatting is being applied and that true text-only is being used to save all your files. You should check through all your files to ensure your text-editor has not inserted smartquote characters elsewhere in your mod's files.

MD5's are not actually required.