Map Finder Help

[AgedOne]

I'm pretty sure that Misotu has found a bug in MapFinder that is caused by the comma (after July) in the file name.
In the save file, the file name is listed, followed by all of the values to go in the grid. It's a comma-separated list, and the comma in the middle of the file name is throwing it all out.


I just ran a test on my (working) copy of MapFinder and got the same result!
See:

 

[Misotu]

My hero

So ... er ... how do I fix it?

 

[Denniz]

Sounds like a bug in .002. We are planning to release .003 in a couple days. I will get the fix in there. Thanks.

 

[Misotu]

Well, given what AgedOne has tried, I just did a couple of things:
a) Generated an ancient-start mapfinder save
b) Edited the game, txt & jpg file names of a modern-start game to remove the comma
c) Edited the game, txt & jpg file names of a modern-start game so the date read simply "1918-AD" with the underscores in the correct places
d) Generated a modern-start game using the default rule file rather than the oil rule file (wild, I know, but I'm getting a bit desperate)

The result was: a) Displayed the correct values in the grid

BUT b, c and d are still broken

What does this mean??? And why did the modern starts work fine up until the very moment that I asked mapfinder to display an oil column???

 

[Denniz]

The file name is the issue. I am not sure about the timing of the display. If you had Map Finder open while generating new maps then your column change probably cause the list to update bringing the modern starts to the top.

 

[AgedOne]

Aha!
As I just pm'ed to Misotu, I can't tell from this description whether the contents of the txt file have been edited to match the new filenames. They must match for it to work.

The big, big mystery is why this appeared exactly as the column change was made! I can see that it would go wrong with these filenames whether the columns had been changed or not.
I can see that you uninstalled / reinstalled / upgraded MapFinder during the whole problem, Mis. Maybe the answer is in this sequence somewhere...

 

[Denniz]

Doesn't really matter why the bug manifest when it did. Fixing the cause makes it moot.

 

[Misotu]

@Agey: Oh, no. I didn't edit the content of the files, only the names. So that's presumably why it doesn't work.

@Denniz: I wasn't generating maps while in MapFinder and the only maps in the save directory were all modern era, all with the same settings, and all displaying absolutely fine until I changed the column setting.

As you say, fixing the cause is the key thing. But what I'm really saying is if it's the file name (and the evidence suggests that it is a problem) then why wasn't it always a problem? Why did MapFinder cope with modern maps just fine and then suddenly not cope with them if the problem is as fundamental as the filename?

Of course, if this is the fundamental problem then it would explain why reinstalling didn't fix it. But it's still a bit perplexing ...

Edited to add: Sorry Denniz, I missed your earlier post saying you'd get a fix into .003. Thanks ever so much for that

 

[Denniz]

I did a quick fix to the MapFinder VB program. There is a 1.9 version out there that won't be bothered by the extra comma in the text file.

Still looking into the comma in the file name itself.

 

[AgedOne]

Wow. Really fast work, Denniz!
That works fine.

I haven't got any old modern era Mapfinder saves for comparison purposes. Was that the problem, then - that older versions of BUFFY running MapFinder did not put the comma in the filename?

 

[Denniz]

There really wasn't much to it once I looked. I changed a "<>" to a "<" in one test related the number of columns in the text file row.

I don't really know when the commas started. I have a fix for BUFFY.003 from ruff_hi so we are covered on both ends, now.

 

[ChrisH]

Ozbenno, you are absolutely correct on all points you made above.

When using MapFinder inside BtS using fullscreen mode, it generates JPGs of your desktop rather than the BtS custom screen as it should. As a work-around, just ensure that the game is being displayed on your desktop by using windowed mode. This works best when the BtS window is maximized to cover your entire desktop screen.

Just as Ozbenno described above, I modified the CivilizationIV.ini in
"C:\Users\<username>\Documents\My Games\Beyond the Sword" as follows:

; Specify whether to play in fullscreen mode 0/1/ask
FullScreen = ask

When I'm starting to BtS to run MapFinder, I select Windowed mode in the requester that pops up. When I start up BtS to play a Game, I simply select Fullscreen mode instead.

Note that MapFinder and either Vanilla or Warlords will work fine on Vista in fullscreen mode. It is only MapFinder in fullscreen BtS that has this issue with Vista.

Sorry, I don't know what causes this bug. However, the above work-around has worked very reliably for me for over a year of using MapFinder on BtS on Vista. I have heard that it also works well for other BtS players using Vista.

Sun Tzu Wu

I've tried setting this

; Specify whether to play in fullscreen mode 0/1/ask
FullScreen = ask

so as to run it windowed, but i never get the requester - just throws me straight into the game full screen. I'm running Windows 7 btw.

Anybody any suggestions?

 

[Ozbenno]

Did you check that the changes were actually made (I find with Vista, unless you change the file name some changes are not made when saving). If they are, maybe you'll have to manually change the setting to 0 or 1.

 

[ChrisH]

Well, I've closed and reopened the file to find that they stay as i've changed them, however, they seem to overwritten when i start the game. and if i change the file name, surely the game will struggle to recognise it?

 

[Sun Tzu Wu]

I've tried setting this

; Specify whether to play in fullscreen mode 0/1/ask
FullScreen = ask

so as to run it windowed, but i never get the requester - just throws me straight into the game full screen. I'm running Windows 7 btw.

Anybody any suggestions?

Check the Civ4 executable properties. On the Compatibility Tab, be sure that "Run this program as an administrator" is checked. (I also run from an account with Administrator privilege and it wasn't the account the system creates on first boot.)

I got the Civ4 Complete Edition running on laptop now with MS Windows 7 64-bit. I've had no issues running BtS on it. I simply followed just Step "2. Execution Permissions" of:

http://hof.civfanatics.net/civ4/mod.php?show=vista

The Game does write to the CivilizationIV.ini file when it runs, but it should not over-write your settings with something other than what you select in the Custom Game GUI. You need to diagnose how your ini file is being overwritten and fix that issue.

Please inform us of your progress or lack of ...

Best of luck to you!

Sun Tzu Wu

 

[Misotu]

I did a quick fix to the MapFinder VB program. There is a 1.9 version out there that won't be bothered by the extra comma in the text file.

Hi Denniz, thanks so much for this. Have installed it, and it works perfectly. Thanks for taking the trouble to give a link to 1.9.

 

[Elkad]

I'm getting the "cannot find civ4 path error" as well. Likely because the registry entries don't exist. Rather than reinstalling civ4 every time windows blows up and I format my C: drive, I just keep civ4 on a different drive.

Is there a way to point it to the civ4 directory by hand? Or can you tell me what key it's looking for and I'll edit it into my registry?

 

[EGJ]

It would be great if the MapFinder doc was updated to reflect that Ctrl-Alt-G is the new way to initiate map generation (with Buffy). Maybe I missed something, but I had a surprisingly hard time to find that information.

http://hof.civfanatics.net/civ4/mod.php?show=mapfinder

 

[Denniz]

It is still valid for Vanilla and Warlords. All the hot keys are available in the hover text within the options screens.

 

[shulec]

I am trying to set up mapfinder for a Warlords HoF game. It will not accept my save file path. It states that it is invalid. It accepts my Mapfinder path and rule file. This is the file location. It is the same for my Buffy mod.

C:\Users\Shulec\Documents\My Games\Civ4_Map_Finder\Saves

Any suggestions?