Map generator script modding?

[xzu]

Hi, I'm new. One of the first things I noticed when playing is that the even the largest world felt bit too small for my taste.

I looked at the map scripts and saw that basically all of them have WORLDSIZE_HUGE commented out. Did the devs run into problems with larger maps, or what's with that? And does anyone have any experience with modding the map scripts? They look relatively understandable, so I guess I can try tweaking stuff and see what happens, but if I try that, is there an easy way to reveal the whole map to see how it actually works?

 

[bmaupin]

I looked at the map scripts and saw that basically all of them have WORLDSIZE_HUGE commented out. Did the devs run into problems with larger maps, or what's with that?

My impression is that when they made Beyond Earth, they used the Civ 5 code as a starting point. I've found multiple references to things that exist in Civ 5 but not in BE, like GAMEOPTION_NO_ESPIONAGE and Controls.CultureOverviewButton

And does anyone have any experience with modding the map scripts?

You could check the mod section of this site or the Steam workshop, for example: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=549821348

But if you just want to mod the map sizes, you don't need to mod the map scripts, you can directly mod the map sizes themselves. I did this but I have the opposite problem (maps are too big for me): https://github.com/bmaupin/micro-be...d014ec886/src/XML/Micro_Beyond_Earth.xml#L153

Also it looks like there is already at least one mod with larger map sizes: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=333787019

They look relatively understandable, so I guess I can try tweaking stuff and see what happens, but if I try that, is there an easy way to reveal the whole map to see how it actually works?

It's been a while since I've done it and I can't find my notes, but I think this should work (assuming you're in Linux based on https://forums.civfanatics.com/thre...n-including-fix-for-mods.690875/post-16732819):

1. Edit ~/.local/share/aspyr-media/Sid Meier's Civilization Beyond Earth/config.ini
2. Find DebugPanel and set it to 1, e.g. DebugPanel = 1
3. Start a game
4. Press ~
5. Click Reveal All

 

[xzu]

My impression is that when they made Beyond Earth, they used the Civ 5 code as a starting point. I've found multiple references to things that exist in Civ 5 but not in BE, like GAMEOPTION_NO_ESPIONAGE and Controls.CultureOverviewButton

Okay. I actually have never even played Civ 5, but I guess I'll manage.

You could check the mod section of this site or the Steam workshop, for example: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=549821348

But if you just want to mod the map sizes, you don't need to mod the map scripts, you can directly mod the map sizes themselves. I did this but I have the opposite problem (maps are too big for me): https://github.com/bmaupin/micro-be...d014ec886/src/XML/Micro_Beyond_Earth.xml#L153

Also it looks like there is already at least one mod with larger map sizes: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=333787019

Yeah, the existing larger maps one I found. But it's not only sizes. I wanted to make a world with a couple of continents (with lakes), but also with a fair amount of islands in the ocean, sort of in-between of Terran and Atlantean or so. I also had some success already. River generation's one of the things that looked excessively complex, let's see if one of the proper scripts has something about that... Okay, so there are also "advanced maps" that contain predefined terrain, etc.

It's been a while since I've done it and I can't find my notes, but I think this should work (assuming you're in Linux based on https://forums.civfanatics.com/thre...n-including-fix-for-mods.690875/post-16732819):

1. Edit ~/.local/share/aspyr-media/Sid Meier's Civilization Beyond Earth/config.ini
2. Find DebugPanel and set it to 1, e.g. DebugPanel = 1
3. Start a game
4. Press ~
5. Click Reveal All

Thanks, perfect!

 

[bmaupin]

Okay. I actually have never even played Civ 5, but I guess I'll manage.

I don't think that matters, I just thought I would mention you might see things in Beyond Earth code that don't exist in the game.

Yeah, the existing larger maps one I found. But it's not only sizes. I wanted to make a world with a couple of continents (with lakes), but also with a fair amount of islands in the ocean, sort of in-between of Terran and Atlantean or so. I also had some success already. River generation's one of the things that looked excessively complex, let's see if one of the proper scripts has something about that... Okay, so there are also "advanced maps" that contain predefined terrain, etc.

Sounds fun.

I found another mod that has a map script that sounds like mostly water with islands. It might be helpful as a reference: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=549821348

Also, Beyond Earth has a few extra maps (tiny islands, inland sea, ice age) included that have to be manually unlocked (https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/spoiler-all-starships-unlockables-for-beyond-earth.544763/). My patch script for Linux has that included: https://github.com/bmaupin/civ-be-linux-fixes/blob/main/patchcivbe.sh#L94

Speaking of Civ 5, it has a lot more map scripts that might also be useful as a reference. In fact it looks like someone converted at least one Civ 5 map for Beyond Earth: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1098827436

I know you haven't played Civ 5 but it has a free demo that might be useful for reference, although the demo might not come with very many maps.

 

[xzu]

Actually, if I try the DebugPanel thing, I get only something that shows only "Toggle Panel" and "Toggle Log", I don't see anything like "Reveal All".

I found another mod that has a map script that sounds like mostly water with islands. It might be helpful as a reference: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=549821348

Yeah, thanks. And I did unlock them, but they weren't extremely useful in my case. A mapscript mod called Isolation seems to have a rivergen method that uses lakes as a starting point, seems quite promising.

I know you haven't played Civ 5 but it has a free demo that might be useful for reference, although the demo might not come with very many maps.

Seems to be "PC only", so maybe I'll skip it. Though yeah, surely some Civ 5 map scripts could be handy if they were converted like that...

 

[bmaupin]

Actually, if I try the DebugPanel thing, I get only something that shows only "Toggle Panel" and "Toggle Log", I don't see anything like "Reveal All".

Maybe try Ctrl+~

I just tried it and it worked.

Seems to be "PC only", so maybe I'll skip it. Though yeah, surely some Civ 5 map scripts could be handy if they were converted like that...

I bet it will probably work on Linux with Proton. The Beyond Earth demos worked for me with Proton.

 

[xzu]

I found another simple solution: inside civbetechnologies.xml, I added <MapVisible>true</MapVisible> to TECH_HABITATION. So I see everything right after planetfall. Well, except for resource pods, but that one starting bonus does that.