[MOD] Modified Special Domestic Advisor

[12monkeys]

Another column that would be really useful for the city screen:

Base Production <-- the value that's displayed when you mouse over the production in the city screen. It's a raw add of the hammers in the city.

When trying to figure where to build anything fast, the regular hammer value currently displayed is misleading. This value takes into account the overflow and any bonuses applied, which may not apply to what you're trying to build.

Another use is when you want to build something like the heroic epic (+100% military production) in a city that consistently has the highest production. It's possible when looking at the current screen that you would select a city for a high value that was only because temporary overflow from a previous build.

The column is already avaiable, but is not displayed. To display them you have to open the CvModSpecialDomesticAdvisor.py file and look for the text "BASE_PRODUCTION". You can find it commented in several dictionary definitions, one for each screen (Default, Specialist and Military). You just have to uncomment the line in the view you want the collumn to be disaplyed.

The Default View starts with

		self.DEF_VIEW_LIST = [

The Specialist view starts with

		self.SPEC_VIEW_LIST = [

The Military view starts with

		self.MIL_VIEW_LIST = [

The piece of code should look like this (part for the Default View):

		self.DEF_VIEW_LIST = [
			# Columns Name						Width		
			( "BUTTON", 						25.0 ),
			( "NAME",							90.0 ),	
			( "LANDMARKS", 						80.0),
			# ( "AUTOMATION",					94.0 ),
			# ( "DATE",  						49.0 ),
			# ( "RELIGIONS", 					25.0 ),
			# ( "SPECIALISTS", 					25.0),
			( "POPULATION", 					36.0 ),
			# ( "POPULATION_REAL", 				52.0 ),
			# ( "GARRISON", 					31.0 ),
			( "HAPPY", 							36.0 ),
			# ( "BASE_HAPPY", 					36.0 ),
			# ( "BASE_UNHAPPY", 					36.0 ),
			( "HEALTH", 						36.0 ),
			# ( "BASE_GOODHEALTH", 				36.0 ),
			# ( "BASE_BADHEALTH", 				36.0 ),
			( "GROWTH", 						36.0 ),
			( "FOOD", 							36.0 ),
			# ( "FOOD_STORED", 					36.0 ),
			# ( "BASE_FOOD", 						36.0 ),
			( "PRODUCTION", 					42.0 ),
			# ( "BASE_PRODUCTION", 				48.0 ),
			( "MAINTENANCE", 					38.0 ),
			# ( "MAINTENANCE_DISTANCE", 			38.0 ),

just remove the "#" in front of the row where the BASE_PRODUCTION was found and align them with the other lines (important!).

If you need further help, post you requests here.

 

[_alphaBeta_]

Ah, very cool. Got it working. I didn't know things were so customizable. Thanks.

 

[jray]

View attachment 117381Hum.

Actually had this a few times now. Hit F1 or button and 'donk'. Game over. Civ4 freezes and have to use Task Manager to crash to desktop. Only happens occasionally. Not had it with vanilla DA. I will still keep using MSDA - it's just too useful. But any comment or help appreciated.

(I've reduced colours to 16bit hence weird look.....)

P.

At least with Taelis's customizable domestic advisor, this is caused by a bug in Firaxis's code when the advisor reaches the threshold of 21 cities when it needs to start scrolling. Maybe something similar is happening here. Here's the bug report I just filed:

Crash to desktop using customized domestic advisor whenever more than 20 cities

 

[12monkeys]

At least with Taelis's customizable domestic advisor, this is caused by a bug in Firaxis's code when the advisor reaches the threshold of 21 cities when it needs to start scrolling. Maybe something similar is happening here. Here's the bug report I just filed:

Crash to desktop using customized domestic advisor whenever more than 20 cities

It may be the reason. But in general the MSDA is working with more than 20 cities. I did some tests with more than 50 cities and did have no problem. The only thing which stops working is the "jump to citiy" button in the first collumn.

 

[jray]

It may be the reason. But in general the MSDA is working with more than 20 cities. I did some tests with more than 50 cities and did have no problem. The only thing which stops working is the "jump to citiy" button in the first collumn.

Ok, cool! Good to know. I recently switched over from Taelis's mod after my "21st City phobia" got out of control .

I'd like to echo the sentiments of other posters in this forum that it would be awesome to develop a kind of "best of both worlds" that incorporates features from MSDA and Taelis's. I've just started playing with the Python files, and I'll let you know of any successful merges I can manage. (Although I don't actually know Python, so don't expect too much!).

The first thing I'd like to do is try to maximize the view of the rows, rather than seeing such a large empty space at the bottom (which is useful on some screens like the Specialists screen, but just dead space on others). In Taelis's default view, you can see several more cities. Any suggestions on how to change that? Thanks!

 

[12monkeys]

... I'd like to echo the sentiments of other posters in this forum that it would be awesome to develop a kind of "best of both worlds" that incorporates features from MSDA and Taelis's. ...

First : sorry the delayed response.
Next : I never tried Taelis customizable advisor, I just had a look in the code for this or that. So its hard for me what is the best of both. Maybe you can just create a list of what you're missing and I will have a look.

The first thing I'd like to do is try to maximize the view of the rows, rather than seeing such a large empty space at the bottom (which is useful on some screens like the Specialists screen, but just dead space on others). In Taelis's default view, you can see several more cities. Any suggestions on how to change that? Thanks!

You have to change the variable seld.nTableLength dependant on the view you have. Thats all you need to do.

BTW : I planned to give the MSDA a review next weeks. But first I have to finish another piece of work.

 

[mikezang]

I just found that I can't use this MOD and Exotic Foreign Advisor in same time.
There is only one MOD working, does anyone tell me why?

 

[12monkeys]

Cammagno did merge the two version. You can find them here.

 

[_alphaBeta_]

Is there a way to add the beaker column from the city view to the buildings page? I've quickly looked at the code and can see this is not as trivial as adding or removing columns from the other screens.

It would personally be handy for me in order to decide the best location for an academy. Yes, I'm aware you can keep switching back and forth, but when you have 5 academies and 12 cities, you have to keep switching between screens quite often to see which city has the highest beaker output, that doesn't already have an academy.

 

[Duke van Frost]

Good idea alphaBeta, i second that one!

 

[A Silly Goose]

If you want real specific information like that, then the Customizable Domestic Advisor is probably the better choice; you can just set up a new view that has whatever information you want on it, and it's done in-game.

 

[12monkeys]

Is there a way to add the beaker column from the city view to the buildings page? I've quickly looked at the code and can see this is not as trivial as adding or removing columns from the other screens.

It would personally be handy for me in order to decide the best location for an academy. Yes, I'm aware you can keep switching back and forth, but when you have 5 academies and 12 cities, you have to keep switching between screens quite often to see which city has the highest beaker output, that doesn't already have an academy.

It should be not a big problem to add that collumn and I put it on my to-do list for the MSDA. I plan to start working on the next release for the MSDA after the civ4 patch is relaesed and my next version of the plot list enhancements is finished.

 

[_alphaBeta_]

It should be not a big problem to add that collumn and I put it on my to-do list for the MSDA. I plan to start working on the next release for the MSDA after the civ4 patch is relaesed and my next version of the plot list enhancements is finished.

Good to hear. I just started using your plot mod as well - very nice and helpful too.

I suppose an icon could be added to the landmarks column as well on the city screen if that's easier. That may actually be more helpful than adding it to the buildings screen. There's plenty of room in that column. Just a thought; not sure which way is easier to implement.

 

[Duke van Frost]

oh yes alphaBeta, that&#180;s a way better idea.

would look nicer, because it wouldn&#180;t destroy the look of the buildings page!

and as 12monkeys knows i&#180;m a little bit into these aesthetics (you know, it&#180;s not all about functionality - i also like my game to look nice)

If you want real specific information like that, then the Customizable Domestic Advisor is probably the better choice;

I tried the customizable advisor - but still IMHO the MSDA is the best Mod for the Domestic Advisor.

 

[_alphaBeta_]

Yeah, a little beaker in the landmark column. This way it won't interfere with the building screen.

The academy is the only building that comes to mind where I find myself going crazy with the current tables. Locating the best place for other wonders is easy since you only get one of them. Everything else is a building that can be built everywhere anyway.

I think the academy is a special enough case to warrant such an indicator.

 

[12monkeys]

Update for Civ4 patch 1.61 available. See first post for update to MSDA v1.8d. Have fun!

 

[_alphaBeta_]

The updated MSDA 1.8d causes some issues in the tech chooser. When clicking on a new tech to research, the screen must be manually updated to reflect any changes.

I'm talking about how the currently selected tech turns light blue. Also if you queue up a bunch of techs, the changes aren't shown unless you manually load the tech chooser again. I confirmed the issue is specific to the MSDA.

Otherwise, thanks for the quick update!

 

[12monkeys]

The updated MSDA 1.8d causes some issues in the tech chooser. When clicking on a new tech to research, the screen must be manually updated to reflect any changes.

I'm talking about how the currently selected tech turns light blue. Also if you queue up a bunch of techs, the changes aren't shown unless you manually load the tech chooser again. I confirmed the issue is specific to the MSDA.

Otherwise, thanks for the quick update!

Ok, is fixed. See first post to update to v1.8e.

I simple ahvn't recognized that the CvScreenInterface.py file has been changed in 1.61. So I delivered the MSDA it with the one from the 1.52. And this causes the problems in the tech chooser. Sorryf or that. I should be more carful next time.

Anyway, thx for reporting _alphaBeta_. You became my most valuable tester .

 

[Rabbit, White]

There are couple of more issues I noticed.

When selecting a city the highlight only appears when the mouse is away from the selected city, resulting in an annoying blinking behaviour.

Also, there is a detailed information about culture, income, great people, etc. in the lower right corner but it doesn't seem to get updated as I select the various cities.

 

[12monkeys]

There are couple of more issues I noticed.

When selecting a city the highlight only appears when the mouse is away from the selected city, resulting in an annoying blinking behaviour.

Also, there is a detailed information about culture, income, great people, etc. in the lower right corner but it doesn't seem to get updated as I select the various cities.

This selection behavior has been in before. I will try to fix it with the next major release.

The information in the lower right corner is a global information which is dependant on the game you play (chieftain, prince, deity, ....). It is not related to the city you selected. I plan to remove this information and put it into an mouse over help.