[IMPORTANT] For all Steam Users: Follow these instructions to play WTP without bugs

[raystuttgart]

Done.
Solution: RTFM
"install instructions.txt" after unzip

 

[HiRezAudio]

Hi guys,

today we noticed again, that some players have not yet heard about the issues in latest Steam version of Civ4Col.
(It is common knowledge in the modding scene but we understand that new players might not know that.)

To explain:

In the latest Steam version (released years ago) GameSpy was removed for Multiplayer.
They also changed something considering mods. - We have no idea why since 2K / Firaxis never answered to that.

To summarize it:

We the People Mod - especially next release version - WILL FOR SURE BE BUGGED if you use that latest Steam version.
Especially in Multiplayer - and even more so with Mods - that latest Steam version causes issues.

In previous releases those bugs with that Steam version may have been minor or rare. (Unless you played MP games.)
Due to the fundamental changes in new release those bugs will be major and certain. (Also in Single Player.)

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In other words:

If you want to play We the People Mod withoug bugs follow the instructions below.
If you want to play Civ4Col Multiplayer games without bugs follow the instructions below.
Revert your Steam installation of Civ4Col to "Original Release version" - which is easily possible.

Simple solution:

Go to your Steam client, and switch back to "Original Release Version" - even if Steam says it is "unsupported".
(Simply ignore that "unsupported", it has absolutely no implication. It is in fact the best version available on Steam.)
View attachment 617101

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If you want to help us prevent bugs, please tell everybody you know playing Civ4Col Steam version.

Best regards
WTP team

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@Birdjaguar
Can you please make this thread sticky?
This has really caused us many issues and we would like to prevent this from now on.
Thanks in advance.

Does this necessity to change the version being used on Colonization to Original version still apply?

 

[raystuttgart]

Does this necessity to change the version being used on Colonization to Original version still apply?

Yes, please do it if you have the Steam version and want to use our mod.
We would not have posted it if it would not prevent some bugs.

 

[Nightinggale]

Does this necessity to change the version being used on Colonization to Original version still apply?

The only thing, which has changed since this guide was written is that I have written code to detect which version of Colonization is being used. It should now display an error at startup if the "wrong" steam version is used.

 

[HiRezAudio]

That's now done.
Where can I find the manual for the mod, please?

 

[raystuttgart]

Where can I find the manual for the mod, please?

Colopedia (and discussions in the forum).
Otherwise there is no manual.

It is a free mod, no professional game. Also the mod is still being developed.
Nobody is motivated to write a manual that could be outdated next release.

 

[HiRezAudio]

Colopedia (and discussions in the forum).
Otherwise there is no manual.

It is a free mod, no professional game. Also the mod is still being developed.
Nobody is motivated to write a manual that could be outdated next release.

Gotcha.
Understand the latter completely.
The question still remains that 'where do I find the Colopedia, please?'

 

[Nightinggale]

Where can I find the manual for the mod, please?

Somebody mentioned writing a wiki at some point, but that idea quickly died once it became apparent how much work it would be to maintain and enter all the changes with each release. Colopedia has the benefit of reading the values from the same location as the game itself, meaning it self update with each change.

The question still remains that 'where do I find the Colopedia, please?'

There is a nice button for it on the top left. It's also in the main menu, but if you open it while you are in a game, a few values will change to adapt to your current player as it takes leader discords and similar into account.

 

[raystuttgart]

The question still remains that 'where do I find the Colopedia, please?'

Have you never started the game until now ?
(see spoiler - it is accessed the same way in WTP as in Vanilla)

Spoiler :

But as @Nightinggale said, you can also access it ingame by Button or Keyboard Shortcut.

 

[HiRezAudio]

Have you never started the game until now ?

View attachment 676593

Yes, I had - but as previously mentioned, I was using the famous 'throw yourself in at the Deep End' mode, and after activating the mod (nice touch that it stays activated too) I never even looked at the screen in question after reading 'Single Player'. If it's in-game only can it be copied to a different machine at all?
It's a heck of a faff using built-in manuals (yes, I know you don't like the word but an online game reference system is the manual to me) because you have to keep switching between screens and if I were able to open it on a different machine then that would be an ideal thing.

 

[raystuttgart]

It's a heck of a faff using built-in manuals

Well, that is how it is at the moment.

This game is 15 years old ... most people played it offline.
Maybe some day somebody will be motivated to write something else.

But sure, if somebody from community wants to do something online it would be great.
As it is a community project, only the stuff exists that people from community contributed ...

But there is always the possibility to discuss with people e.g. over at discord as well.
Or just take the time and play a few games and find out by experimenting.

Those are your choices:
- Read Colopedia
- Ask community
- Play yourself and experiment
- Wait for something else in the future
- Try to contribute to create something
...

If it's in-game only can it be copied to a different machine at all?

Well, it is all XML files that can be read by an editor ... but it would not be very comfortable honestly ...
So yeah, you can copy it around ... but just opening ingame colopedia will always be easier.

P.S.:
This discussion has nothing to do with Steam anymore.
For small questions, we have this thread here.

 

[Will The Viking]

Team, I'm a long time WTP fan, and have just downloaded it onto my new laptop. Used the Steam version, includiing the 'original unsupported' beta version in Steam. Sadly, whenever I open it up it crashes before the game even opens.

It gets this far (see image) before crashing.

I'm not sure this is a WTP issue, per se, but seeing as the gurus of CivCol live here, I wondered if anyone has any ideas about what I can do? I have tried reloading it, reinstalling it, flicking between versions and using it with, and without, WTP. Help please!

 

[Nightinggale]

Team, I'm a long time WTP fan, and have just downloaded it onto my new laptop. Used the Steam version, includiing the 'original unsupported' beta version in Steam. Sadly, whenever I open it up it crashes before the game even opens.

It gets this far (see image) before crashing.

I'm not sure this is a WTP issue, per se, but seeing as the gurus of CivCol live here, I wondered if anyone has any ideas about what I can do? I have tried reloading it, reinstalling it, flicking between versions and using it with, and without, WTP. Help please!

You mean crash as in it just closes? That's a new one and I can't really say what could cause that. If there is any error message, then it would help.

Also the newest version is 4.1, not 4.0.2. However either version should work just fine.

 

[Will The Viking]

Thanks for the quick response Nightingale. I can't keep up with the speed you've been updating the Mod

I'll keep trying new things.

 

[HiRezAudio]

Team, I'm a long time WTP fan, and have just downloaded it onto my new laptop. Used the Steam version, includiing the 'original unsupported' beta version in Steam. Sadly, whenever I open it up it crashes before the game even opens.

It gets this far (see image) before crashing.

I'm not sure this is a WTP issue, per se, but seeing as the gurus of CivCol live here, I wondered if anyone has any ideas about what I can do? I have tried reloading it, reinstalling it, flicking between versions and using it with, and without, WTP. Help please!

The first thing I would definitely do is get up to version 4.1.
The way mine is working (this is on a PC, Windows 10 via Steam) is as follows:
1 - Installed normal version of C-IV Col (in normal mode, working just fine)
2 - Discover WTP mod.
3 - Install WTP mod.
4 - Discover that there are issues unless I switch to 'unsupported version' in Steam (although what the bugs are, who knows - certainly not me although I can say the mod seemed to be working)
5 - Switch to unsupported build in Steam.
All is good for me, and every time I load the game the WTP mod initializes and if I want to play without WTP, I have to turn it off in the Col options. That said, if I do this the next time I launch, I get WTP automatically loading, which is really cool.

 

[Nightinggale]

4 - Discover that there are issues unless I switch to 'unsupported version' in Steam (although what the bugs are, who knows - certainly not me although I can say the mod seemed to be working)

It's an annoying issue because it seems to work and then suddenly people report super weird issues. One issue is some people experience multiplayer insists on being vanilla only, but there are other issues were it's a mystery why those weird issues are fixed by switching the steam version.

That said, if I do this the next time I launch, I get WTP automatically loading, which is really cool.

I decided to hijack the ini file and let the mod write itself to the default mod. This would be awful in a setup with many mods (unless they all do it), but realistically speaking, most WTP players only use one mod.

 

[HiRezAudio]

It's an annoying issue because it seems to work and then suddenly people report super weird issues. One issue is some people experience multiplayer insists on being vanilla only, but there are other issues were it's a mystery why those weird issues are fixed by switching the steam version.


I decided to hijack the ini file and let the mod write itself to the default mod. This would be awful in a setup with many mods (unless they all do it), but realistically speaking, most WTP players only use one mod.

It's still really cool - I much prefer the challenge of WTP compared to the vanilla version, so leaving it loaded work so well for me.