HoF Map Finder/Generator Utility 2016-10-05

[dbarandiaran]

my problem with mapmaker is a doozy... the program apparently uses the crtl+alt+q hotkey to initiate a new game after evaluating the current map, however, instead of bringing up the new game menu, crtl+alt+q brings up the dialer for my ISP! (netscape) i have tried to find a deactivation for this hotkey as related to the dialer, but to no avail... any ideas, short of uninstalling netscpae (ergo, no internet...) i really would like to use this utility, it seems like it would be so useful, and i keep reading raves about it in this thread, and wish i could be raving too...

 

[Kuuba]

Moonsinger and Dianthus, I just use your Map Finder and it is REALLY wonderful! Saving me a looooooo...ooot of time. Thank you so much for your work!!! //hug

 

[Experiment 626]

Well, you can just color me confused!

I've dled MapFinder, 'unpacked' it, and followed the Instructions on page 1 of this thread to use it. (Start C3C, New Game, and all that). Once at 4000 BC, I hit my 'Windows' button to bring up the Start Menu. I go to 'Run', and Browse to the .exe file of this Utility.

The Utility starts up, but there are no instructions on how to program it. I know that 'Rules Set' means what you want the MapFinder to look for in a start, but it's all very confusing to me.

I'm sorry for being such a nOOb, but could someone please give me a detailed step-by-step guide on how to get MapFinder to generate a Settler Factory location for my first city?

Much thanks and appreciation!

 

[gmaharriet]

The Utility starts up, but there are no instructions on how to program it. I know that 'Rules Set' means what you want the MapFinder to look for in a start, but it's all very confusing to me.

I'm sorry for being such a nOOb, but could someone please give me a detailed step-by-step guide on how to get MapFinder to generate a Settler Factory location for my first city?

I don't think you can tell it to "generate an SF location", but you can tell it so "save" only maps that include the items needed for an SF, such as a food bonus, a bonus grass, river, etc. If you leave it running overnight, it may generate 500 various maps and only save 25 or 50 as meeting your needs.

Here is a screenie of my current ruleset (though I change it from time to time):

This shows that I want a river running through more than 3 tiles (not more than 3 separate rivers )
I don't want ANY jungle, marsh, floodplains, tundra or desert.
I definitely want a food bonus.
I don't want too many mountains or coastal tiles (not looking for seafaring civ).

None of the "OR" options show in this particular setup, but sometimes I'll use that to tell MapFinder that I also want EITHER bonus grass OR a lux OR a cow on grass, in addition to the other requirements. You have to experiment to see what conditions give you what you're looking for.

Hope this helps.

 

[Experiment 626]

Originally posted by gmaharriet:

Hope this helps.

I'll give it a try. (No wonder it didn't work. I didn't have anything in the Operator or Value columns.)

Thanks, gmaharriet.


Edit:

Every time that I try to run this Utility, I get this Error message:

Also, I've read on this thread that there is an 'M' icon to click to exit the Utility. I have never seen this icon. Is there something that I'm doing wrong?



I nearly forgot: The Utility will generate the first map, and then get stuck 'Verifying . . .'. I started the Utility. It generated the first map. I then took a shower (roughly 15 minutes). When I came back, it was still 'Verifying' the first map.

 

[Tukker]

ehm this may sound dumb but what is the Domination Limit for?

 

[denyd]

The higher domination limit the more land you can control before gaining a domination win. In the case where you're going for a 100K, Histographic or Spaceship win, you want as much space as possible as that means more cities and more people, science & culture, all good things in those games.

In the case where you want a domination limit, you want a small number to achieve a quicker win.

 

[gmaharriet]

Every time that I try to run this Utility, I get this Error message:

I've never seen that error message. You might have to contact Moonsinger for technical help.

Also, I've read on this thread that there is an 'M' icon to click to exit the Utility. I have never seen this icon. Is there something that I'm doing wrong?

I've never noticed an "M" icon either. I just click the "x" in the upper right-hand corner to exit and it works fine.

I nearly forgot: The Utility will generate the first map, and then get stuck 'Verifying . . .'. I started the Utility. It generated the first map. I then took a shower (roughly 15 minutes). When I came back, it was still 'Verifying' the first map.

You might try increasing some of the times on the "General" tab. I believe the default times are set for a 3.4ghz machine and, if yours is slower than that, you may need more. I had an older machine when I was first using the program and had to increase times. Now I have a 2.9ghz and the default settings work for me. I honestly can't recall what settings I used to need though. It can't hurt to experiment...I think it makes the program run somewhat slower but prevents it from "hanging" completely.

 

[Experiment 626]

Originally posted by gmaharriet:

You might try increasing some of the times on the "General" tab. I believe the default times are set for a 3.4ghz machine and, if yours is slower than that, you may need more.

According to my Control Panel, my processor is an Intel Celeron 1000 MHz, 1GHz processor with 512 MB of RAM.

What should I increase the times to?

 

[vmxa]

Try three time what you have.

 

[Experiment 626]

Originally posted by vmxa:

Try three time what you have.

I tried that, but the Utility wouldn't even generate the first map. I waited for about a half hour, before I hit the 'x' to exit the Utility. That's when the error message happens.

Do I have the wrong version of the Utility?

I just dled the latest version (according to Moonsinger). Maybe I just got a bad dl or something.

 

[gmaharriet]

These are the settings I use on the General Tab for my old machine. (New machine is having the power supply replaced, so I'm using my old one. ) If these don't work, the problem must be something else.

I honestly don't know how important the "Output" subdirectory is. I put it in "My Documents", NOT with the Program Files, so I transfer only the saves I want to play to my Saves file with the program. That's what Moonsinger recommended and it could be part of your problem if it's not the program time settings.

Good luck!!!

 

[Experiment 626]

Well, the latest dl doesn't work properly either. I took everyone's advice, but still no go.

 

[Moonsinger]

Well, the latest dl doesn't work properly either. I took everyone's advice, but still no go.

Well, the latest dl doesn't work properly either. I took everyone's advice, but still no go.

What is the "latest" DLL that you are using? There is only one DLL for MapFinder and its properties is as follows:

File Name: SAVUtils.dll
Size : 608 KB (622,592 bytes)
File On disk: 608 KB (622,592 bytes)
Version: 2.7.0.0

And the file properties for MapFinder is as follows:

File Name: MapFinder.exe
Size: 2.57 MB (2,704,384 bytes)
Size on disk: 2.58 MB (2,707,456 bytes)
Version: 6.5.0.0

File Name: MapReport.exe
Size: 1.42 MB (1,498,624 bytes)
Size on disk: 1.42 MB (1,499,136 bytes)
Version: 1.1.0.0

Note: Since Dianthus may have released a different version of SAVUtils.dll (with the same name but higher version #) for the GOTM or something, it's very important that you put the correct version of "SAVUtils.dll" into the MapFinder folder and its file version should be exactly as I mentioned above (Version: 2.7.0.0 - not older and not later).

//Edit: Of course, those above files are posted on the second post of this thread. Here is the link to it: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=1531227&postcount=2

 

[Experiment 626]

Originally posted by Moonsinger:

What is the "latest" DLL that you are using?

SAVUtils.dll = version 2.7.0.0

MapFinder = version 6.5.0.0

What else can I try?


Also, after waiting for the Utility to 'Verify' a map for an hour, I click the 'x' to close the Utility when this Error Message appears:

What does it mean?

 

[Moonsinger]

SAVUtils.dll = version 2.7.0.0

MapFinder = version 6.5.0.0

What else can I try?

Then you are using the correct version! What's the problem? Are you saying that you are having problem with this version? If yes, please describe the problem.

Also, after waiting for the Utility to 'Verify' a map for an hour, I click the 'x' to close the Utility when this Error Message appears:

What does it mean?

Seems to me it was working just fine (according to you, it was running for an hour until you click on the 'x' thing to kill it on purpose)! If clicking on an 'x' is the problem, try clicking on the "Stop" button to stop the application gracefully first. Since I rarely click 'x' on any Window applications, I probably forgot to program the 'x' feature; therefore, the 'x' may not exit/end the program gracefully.

Moreover, usually people would click "stop" to see the result at the end of their runs. No one would spend all the time running/looking for maps and don't want to see the end result. Therefore, it wasn't un-reasonable that I forget to handle unexpected termination (i.e the 'x' button).

Btw, if you are running for hours and didn't find any maps, then may be your search criteria was too strict or unachievable. For example, if you are looking for tiny map with domination limit of 5000 or more, you won't find any (because there is no such map; as a reasonable programmer, I could have given some kind of warning message, but I didn't think anyone would search for something like that; the bottom line, I assume everyone who use MapFinder should at least know about the "domination limit").

PS: If you know you didn't find any map, you may click on the 'x', therefore, your action was very reasonable. If I have time, I will program the 'x' button. In the mean time, just click "stop" (then wait for a few second) before click 'x'.

 

[Experiment 626]

I'll give it a try.

Does the RuleSet HAVE to have a Dom Limit?

Much thanks, Moonsinger. May I call you 'Goddess'?

 

[gmaharriet]

Does the RuleSet HAVE to have a Dom Limit?

Nope! I've been using this wonderful utility for over a year and I've never set a Dom Limit.

I was running MapFinder last night and thinking about your problem. For me, it shows "verifying" at two different points...first in the settings menu, just before it says something like, "waiting for Civ to launch"...then again after generating a map and before either saving or discarding it.

I'm not sure at which point you had "verifying" for a half hour, but for me in both cases it lasts less than a full second....a very huge difference from your experience. I'm hoping this info will help Moonsinger in determining what's happening to you.

Seems like something may be pointing to the wrong directory or maybe you don't have "quick start" checked. I really dunno, but I've installed it twice...the second time after getting a new computer...and I've never had any problems with it. It's a fantastic utility and I know you'll love it once you get it to work for you. Good luck!

 

[Moonsinger]

Nope! I've been using this wonderful utility for over a year and I've never set a Dom Limit.

Thanks for helping out! You are absolutely correct! Unless anyone wants to milk the game for the highest possible score, there is no need for the domination limit.

I'm not sure at which point you had "verifying" for a half hour, but for me in both cases it lasts less than a full second....a very huge difference from your experience. I'm hoping this info will help Moonsinger in determining what's happening to you.

Seems like something may be pointing to the wrong directory or maybe you don't have "quick start" checked. I really dunno, but I've installed it twice...the second time after getting a new computer...and I've never had any problems with it. It's a fantastic utility and I know you'll love it once you get it to work for you. Good luck!

Exactly what I think! It's very imporant to point MapFinder to the correct program directory. Since there are 3 standard version of Civ3 (vanilla, PTW, and C3C) and many mods, MapFinder can't possibly read everyone minds on which version they are going to play. If it keeps saying "verifying" and not moving forward, it usually is that people pointing MapFinder to the wrong civ3 program folder.

 

[Experiment 626]

Originally posted by Moonsinger:

If it keeps saying "verifying" and not moving forward, it usually is that people pointing MapFinder to the wrong civ3 program folder.

O.K. I play . The game is installed to the default directories. Where should I point MapFinder to?


You know something? Let's take a step back with my problem.

Here's what I do:

1. I launch
2. I 'Start a New Game'.
3. After going through the Game Options, the world generates.
4. When the Settler appears, I don't do anything.
5. I hit the 'Windows' button on my keyboard to bring up the Start Menu.
6. I launch MapFinder.

Is this the correct order?