How to set options for GOTM (BTS) ?

[CharonJr]

Hi,

I have not been able to find anything about this here on the forums (but this might be due to me being new ), but how can I set the options for a saved game to conform to the HOF-rules ?

When I took alook at the victory-conditions (sadly only about 850 AD...) it said that 2 options are not meeting the HOF-criteria, but I can't remember having seen any options in the game to change those options except when I start a new game.

How can options be changed for a saved game ?

Thx,

CharonJr

PS: Since I already played to 850 AD (and learned that I have to look up how to achieve a Diplo-victory via AP I guess that I am out for the current GOTM (BTS) anyway, right?

 

[Thrallia]

Actually, the GOTM is a standard save that already is set up to only load if you meet the HOF/GOTM rules. If you were playing a self-created save, then even if you had met the HOF-rules as shown in the victory screen, it would not have been submittable for the GOTM.

The save file for the current BtS GOTMs are available in this thread and this thread.

You need to be patched to version 3.13, and you need to have the HOF mod version 3.13.001 installed on your computer. Then just download the saves, load them up, and as long as none of your assets are different from a standard install, you'll be good to go!

Welcome to the GOTM! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask, and check out this thread for an overview of what the GOTM is

 

[CharonJr]

Hi,

just took a look again to be sure, but I have 3.13 installed (Shows as civ-version 313, save-version 301, bulid 3.0.0.1) - or should it say anything else and I have install HOF-med 3.13.001, too.

I just downloaded the save again, but still get "unlock no tech trading" and "lock modified assets".

Any ideas?

CharonJr

 

[Thrallia]

ah, if you were playing the save we provided, and were able to open it then you're good.

When the save was released, we forgot to turn off those warnings. They don't mean anything for the GOTM, and usually are turned off.

Your game should be perfectly fine to continue from your latest save(850AD or after, I assume). Hopefully you saved before closing out of it to come ask us about it. If not, then load your most recent save(or autosave) and try to repeat your moves as exactly as possible. We'll take a look at it then and see if its ok to accept it or not.(if you saved before exiting, then you'll be fine anyway)

 

[CharonJr]

Hi,

I think I have saved the game before asking here, but have to check again later to be sure.

Concerning the AP (diplo) victory I should have read earlier that each of the remaining civs has to have at least one city with the AP religion in order for the elections for diplo-victory to fire (note to self: there ARE other victory conditions than domination/space-victory )...

Thank you for the help.

CharonJr

 

[joncnunn]

This seems to be the closest thread to this, but why doesn't the HOF mod simply incorporate it's own copy of the full set of rules that matter. Disk space is cheap.

This current lock check reminds me a lot about one of the screens I wrote for work. (I've a Java web developer by trade) called the District Allocations page.
In that page in the early versions, a full dropdown of allocation types was always shown, but there was then a check to see if that project already had an allocation. If so, they would get a message saying "Original Alocations can not be chosen more than once"). While if there weren't any allocation and they chose any type other than "Original Allocation" they would get a message saying "The first allocation must be original". It did not take long for a user request to come in to simply remove any possibly of the wrong allocation(s) being chosen by filtering that dropdown list.

 

[kcd_swede]

Hi,

I have not been able to find anything about this here on the forums (but this might be due to me being new ), but how can I set the options for a saved game to conform to the HOF-rules ?

Well, I was wondering about your topic, but not the same way you are. Personally, I have my options set up primarily to facilitate playing real-time multiplayer, and have gotten used to those. Minimize pop-ups, turn off animations, rapid combat offense + defense, allow stack attack, and a few others.

In MP games, turn timer at blazing means there isn't a lot of time to think about your moves and micromanage, so any option saving time is chosen. And those are the options I have grown most comfortable with. I have an intuition that a stack attack gives better combat results than attacking one unit at a time in succession -- but I cannot support that with evidence since I have never re-run a battle in both modes. Maybe I should experiment. Anyhow...

I am begining to see that playing a xOTM I really need to force myself to consider each turn much more carefully. I have made a lot of dumb moves just for keeping my pace too high. I find micromanaging to be very boring, but some measure of it is unavaoidable. I hate advisers yapping at me every turn, most of them are dummer than me, even.

What game interface options do other people prefer to play on xOTM's? (I don't mean those options determined by the game conditions, like raging barbs, etc, I mean game mechanics...)

Does anyone else feel that right-clicking units (such as settler) to a location is more likely to alert the AI to counter your plans? Same with clicking on a far branch of the tech tree? Maybe I am just paranoid...

 

[Thrallia]

This seems to be the closest thread to this, but why doesn't the HOF mod simply incorporate it's own copy of the full set of rules that matter. Disk space is cheap.

This current lock check reminds me a lot about one of the screens I wrote for work. (I've a Java web developer by trade) called the District Allocations page.
In that page in the early versions, a full dropdown of allocation types was always shown, but there was then a check to see if that project already had an allocation. If so, they would get a message saying "Original Alocations can not be chosen more than once"). While if there weren't any allocation and they chose any type other than "Original Allocation" they would get a message saying "The first allocation must be original". It did not take long for a user request to come in to simply remove any possibly of the wrong allocation(s) being chosen by filtering that dropdown list.

we do have a way to turn off the warnings that the HOF mod gives for GOTM games, but sometimes the mapmaker forgets to check that they are disabled...as for including all files needed to make sure you have a 'valid install'(as required by the HOF) would not only violate copyright laws, but it would be infeasible, since essentially we would have to provide you with the entire Civ4/Warlords/BtS xml files in order to be assured you had the right files.

It is far easier(and legal) to simply tell you what files are wrong with your installation and have you fix them with your own copy of Civ4.

 

[da_Vinci]

On the subject of options, save on exit works intermittently for me in XOTM. It worked fine for BOTM 03, and now gives me error messages for BOTM 04. It also did not work for my GOTM 22 disaster, and I neglected to manual save that time which meant no submission (which mattered not at all )

So could there be something about how the starting save is generated that may be affecting this? Does not seem to be a pattern that suggests the problem is at my end ...

Maybe its a Vista thing ... ?

dV

 

[Thrallia]

it is a Vista thing...try the fixes here. We've had some reports of save on exit and save on victory not working correctly in Vista.

 

[joncnunn]

That sounds like in one regard Civ IV actually went a step backwards than Civ III. In Civ III the game settings were included in the save file itself starting with one of the early vanilla patches. There are though a whole lot more settings files in Civ IV compared to Civ III.

Hum, having it actually list which file(s) were wrong would be an improvement from just saying check failed.

Oh and why should BTS care about what the Warlords and Vanilla files are? There seems to be a complete XML structure and .exe for each of these branches.

we do have a way to turn off the warnings that the HOF mod gives for GOTM games, but sometimes the mapmaker forgets to check that they are disabled...as for including all files needed to make sure you have a 'valid install'(as required by the HOF) would not only violate copyright laws, but it would be infeasible, since essentially we would have to provide you with the entire Civ4/Warlords/BtS xml files in order to be assured you had the right files.

It is far easier(and legal) to simply tell you what files are wrong with your installation and have you fix them with your own copy of Civ4.

 

[Niklas]

it is a Vista thing...try the fixes here. We've had some reports of save on exit and save on victory not working correctly in Vista.

I've had problems with this too, and I'm running XP. I don't get error messages, but no save file is created on exit even though I have the option checked. It worked for BOTM03, but now for BOTM04 it doesn't.

 

[Thrallia]

That sounds like in one regard Civ IV actually went a step backwards than Civ III. In Civ III the game settings were included in the save file itself starting with one of the early vanilla patches. There are though a whole lot more settings files in Civ IV compared to Civ III.

Hum, having it actually list which file(s) were wrong would be an improvement from just saying check failed.

Oh and why should BTS care about what the Warlords and Vanilla files are? There seems to be a complete XML structure and .exe for each of these branches.

there is a program that will check all your assets to find out which ones are different, I'll see if I can't figure out a link to it(other another staff member might beat me to it)

As for why BtS cares, BtS cares because it is simply an expansion pack. It requires the vanilla files for its core gameplay, overriding only the ones that it installs itself to change something about the core game. It requires the warlords files because it uses warlords assets as well, building on them the same way it does for vanilla. If you don't have Warlords, it installs the files it needs and labels them Warlords to set them apart from the actual BtS changes.

 

[Denniz]

That sounds like in one regard Civ IV actually went a step backwards than Civ III. In Civ III the game settings were included in the save file itself starting with one of the early vanilla patches. There are though a whole lot more settings files in Civ IV compared to Civ III.

I think they consider it a step forward. By including all the data in XML files and providing the SDK, they have made Civ4 extremely modable. All the different scenarios and mod packs out there are the result of that.

Hum, having it actually list which file(s) were wrong would be an improvement from just saying check failed.

The HOF mod is doing just a simple checksum comparison using the CRCs provided by Civ4 (i.e. built-in) when the LMA option is checked. I can't remember if the code is in the SDK or not but it is not worth messing with.

The Assetchecker program is on it's own tab on the HOF Mod page: http://hof.civfanatics.net/civ4/mod.php?show=assetschecker.

I've had problems with this too, and I'm running XP. I don't get error messages, but no save file is created on exit even though I have the option checked. It worked for BOTM03, but now for BOTM04 it doesn't.

You have to turn on logging to see any oython errors.

Spoiler :

You have to change you CivilizationIV.ini file. There is one for each version (i.e. in your "My Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4", "My Documents\My Games\Warlords" and "My Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4/Beyond the Sword" folders.

; Set to 1 for no python exception popups
HidePythonExceptions = 0

; Enable the logging system
LoggingEnabled = 1

; Overwrite old network and message logs
OverwriteLogs = 1

; Enable message logging
MessageLog = 1