HOF Questions and Answers Thread

[WilliamOfOrange]

Thanks for the welcome back!

I should maybe been a little more detailed with my question, I think. I have been playing and submitting HOF games since about December, but I haven't done any work on the strategy article I was in the middle of writing. I have the HOF patch installed and therefore it must be assumed that I have the official patch as well. Thanks for clearing that up, because I wasn't sure.

What I don't know is whether or not I had installed the unofficial one as well. What exactly do you mean that my assets would be messed up if I did? I very well may have installed that one to, but we are talking back in July if I did, so I don't know. Is there a way I can check? What I was getting at above was I wanted to know any particular difference between the official and unofficial patches treatments of a certain issue, say the barrage promotion on Tanks. If I could load up the game and see what is allowed or disallowed for a specific concept, then I would know which one I have when not playing the HOF (I don't know because I usually only play the HOF! )

The reason that I am asking is that for this strategy article that I am writing, I need to update all my theories and flow charts for the 3.17 patch. I want to write it up in a way so that all players can take something from it---if they are differences. If there is not, then I just need to know what I should and shouldn't know about the differences. From what I can gather from the posts and change logs is that there was nothing other than the collateral damage for armoured units issue. I am asking anyway you knows otherwise to tell me.

I hope this is a little more clearer now. Thanks to anyone if they know these things.

 

[Denniz]

By messed up assets, I meant you would get a HOF warning message and when you check the settings it would say that the assets were different.

Maybe someone remembers the details of the whole barrage thing. I believe 3.17 didn't take the promotion away but the amount of damage was very small. I know there was some tiinkering with it but when we did the Mod they hadn't figured it out so we just took the change that removed the promotion from armor.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Other 3.17 changes:

You can't bombard from boats.
Barb galleys appear more often (4x as likely I think).

 

[JWideman]

The password I got for the HOF is invalid. What gives?
Works now. Thanks.

 

[Zubbus]

The crash exception policy seems to say a maximum of 1 crash per game can be accepted?

 

[Ozbenno]

The crash exception policy seems to say a maximum of 1 crash per game can be accepted?

No, it shouldn't say that (and re-reading it here I can't see that it does). We may accept a game with more than one crash, each game is now considered on a case by case basis (we may also reject a game with one crash).

Please note, if you don't follow the rules exactly, the game will be rejected.

 

[Denniz]

Let me add that what is going on in a game, that needs to be replayed, is a big factor in the possibility of acceptance. The longer victory conditions (i.e. Time, Space, UN, etc.) with a crash late in the game are better candidates for multiple crashes being accepted than the shorter victory conditions (i.e. Conquest, Domination, AP, etc.).

In the end, it is best if you don't attempt more than your PC can handle.

 

[JWideman]

I've been pulling my hair out all day over this. I was fine playing vanilla, but I wanted to try a HoF game with Warlords and BtS. But no matter what I tried, I got the modified assets crap. So I reinstalled, BtS first, then Warlords, then vanilla. Now only BtS works, with the others telling me Assets\CvGameCoreDLL.dll doesn't match.
I'm using steam, and this problem hasn't quite been addressed in a useful way that I've been able to find.

 

[Denniz]

I've been pulling my hair out all day over this. I was fine playing vanilla, but I wanted to try a HoF game with Warlords and BtS. But no matter what I tried, I got the modified assets crap. So I reinstalled, BtS first, then Warlords, then vanilla. Now only BtS works, with the others telling me Assets\CvGameCoreDLL.dll doesn't match.
I'm using steam, and this problem hasn't quite been addressed in a useful way that I've been able to find.

You should install Vanilla first and patch it, then Warlords, then BTS. BTS changes stuff in Vanilla and warlords so they need to be there and patched first.

 

[JWideman]

You should install Vanilla first and patch it, then Warlords, then BTS. BTS changes stuff in Vanilla and warlords so they need to be there and patched first.

That's what I did the FIRST time, and only vanilla worked. And steam versions don't need patching.

 

[Denniz]

That's what I did the FIRST time, and only vanilla worked. And steam versions don't need patching.

Ah, Steam, I forgot. With Steam Vanilla, Warlord and BTS all have their own folder structures. Warlords has it's own Vanilla and BTS has it's own vanilla (and possibly warlords).

You need to make sure the HOF Mods get installed in the correct path. The best way is to start a game in that version and exit. That resets the Registry path to point to that version. The Inno Setup we use can then find the right path. Otherwise you need to override it yourself.

When you run assetchcker, it should ask you for the version or have menu option to select it so you can check each version. You may need to copy the vanilla\warlords DLLs (downloads from here). I don't think that Steam updates the Vanilla and Warlords with the changes from BTS.

 

[JWideman]

That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, since when I installed in order, vanilla HoF was valid but not warlords or bts. When I deleted all and reinstalled bts first, warlords and vanilla didn't work.
And the mods ARE installed in the right path, as the only error I'm getting is that one file.
I've reinstalled bts, and vanilla now works. BtS still does, but Warlords does not.

And that dll didn't fix warlords, though assetchecker says it did. But then assetchecker also says vanilla shouldn't work, so I don't know how trustworthy it is.

 

[Denniz]

How are you starting the HOF Mod? Try starting without it and load it via the advanced menu.

 

[JWideman]

How are you starting the HOF Mod? Try starting without it and load it via the advanced menu.

erm, I'm always loading it via the advanced menu. Steam doesn't let you do it any other way.

 

[Denniz]

Could you send me the results files for each of the versions? hof.civfanatics@gmail.com

 

[JWideman]

Could you send me the results files for each of the versions? hof.civfanatics@gmail.com

Righto. Note that while assets checker reports expecting to find vanilla installed in the warlords directory, vanilla reports as valid in game.

 

[Denniz]

Righto. Note that while assets checker reports expecting to find vanilla installed in the warlords directory, vanilla reports as valid in game.

Sent a e-mail reply with what I think needs to be changed.

 

[Zubbus]

No, it shouldn't say that (and re-reading it here I can't see that it does). We may accept a game with more than one crash, each game is now considered on a case by case basis (we may also reject a game with one crash).

Please note, if you don't follow the rules exactly, the game will be rejected.

Ok, it does NOT say that. I worded my question badly. Am I not limited to 2 optional saves when I submit a game? so how do I go about it if I crashed more than once?

(Doesn't matter as much now, I seem to have isolated the cause of frequent crashes while playing Civ4, but thanks for answering.)

 

[unclethrill]

You send an email to the HOF staff with all required saves attached, the number of the submission and an explanation of what happened to cause the crash and what moves were redone. This email has to be sent even if you can submit all required files on the submission page.

 

[Ozbenno]

Yes, correct.

Send all the imtermediate files (before and after every crash) via email to us (hof.civfanatics@gmail.com) and we'll have a look.