[MOD] The Authentic Colonization (TAC)

[Mentat]

Thanks Wrting Bull, the Tutorial is thourough and should do, though I do have some questions regarding TAC in the matter.

I am actually adding Sweden, as probably most reasonable Nation to TAC.
Since there are already files for a swedish Nation its all just a matter of implementing them correctly into the respective files and folders of TAC and adding the XML code.

Art_Pak_TAC.FPK
seems to play a crucial part in regards of graphic files
I was able to unpack the FPK into an folder named "art" that contains a bunch of things that make up the mod.
Ahh yes, what compression rate will be needed, will I have to the full path or the relative path of the filesystem? (btw. I am using PakBuild). Edit: Found an answer to that already in the Tutorial! Only the full path option has to be checked.

So my first question would be,
Can I simply add the respective files for the Swedish nation, update the XML references and pack the thing again into FPK to make it work?

Another question would be in regard of the countryspecific untis, which I haven't found provided in the forums so far. What program would you recommend to alter one of the given nations to create a specific swedish optic for the untis and ships?

As I am looking for the correct position to add the Swedish leaderhead animations, would that be in the leaderhead folder? For the Portuguese I can find Mem de Sa and Sousa in there, but I suppose you used the john ii animations for the portuguesean king?

Generally I found it a bit odd, that you used the Russian uniforms for Portugal. Is there nothing better provided in the CIV IV forums? And generally, are CIV IV graphic packs/animations compatible with Colonization II?

And finally, please don't be offended in that matter, but I am a bit disapointed that nobody has yet come up with a reasonable map for the americas, geographical and in regards of first nation and precolombian tribe placement and names. How come that modding has developed so sloppy in Col II, if compared to CIV III mods?

Thanks again for your quick answer.

edit: I am totally new to CIV IV and COL II, so don't expect I have yet read all Tutorials and Infos about the modability of either.

 

[Willi_Tell]

The Swedish (incl. units, ships, citystyle, leaderheads) can also be found in "Religion & Revolution"-Mod (RaR) here at the forum. If you like to implement just that particular civ into your version of TAC, this will be - as far as I know - just an XML thing (and copy/paste some graphic art folders/files).

You could also just play RaR (having your belowed Swedish in), but as you said that you are quite a beginner in playing Civ4Col, I suggest you to start with TAC

FPK: you don't even have to unpack/pack all these graphic files, all you have to do is adding the (new) folders containing the Swedish art files to the proper place in your mod directory. There are plenty of tutorial how to do in the Civ4 section, as - you got it - these two games are technically very similar.

Happy colonizing & modding to you!

 

[c13Garrison]

Greetings one and all. I have just discovered TAC after playing BTS exhaustively, and I marvel at the beauty of the game. The tiles and graphics are so 'pretty' I have forsaken my usual appreciation for the grand scope of 6000 years of recorded history to focus my available hobby time on TAC. It is a truly slick, finished product.

I do have one question though, regarding transportation. Do automated wagons do anything at all? I grew tired of commanding a dozen wagons PLUS 6 ships every turn, and so set them on automatic. However, they appear to just drive themselves to a city and sit there, while their drivers pop into the local pub or something.

What is the easiest way to manage transport? I read Agaro's magnificent post upon the topic, but even that seemed extremely complex, or at least more complex than the game designers must have intended.

Other than that my only complaints are that the game ends- you cannot become a player on the world stage, become involved in international politics, or begin to modernize. However, knowing the scope that would involve, it is understandable why the game has a "last page." A superlative effort.

Looking forward to whatever the next project from the TAC Team is !

Garrison

 

[Writing Bull]

Greetings one and all. I have just discovered TAC after playing BTS exhaustively, and I marvel at the beauty of the game.

Hi Garrsison,

thank you for praising our mod. I'm very glad that you like TAC.

Do automated wagons do anything at all? I grew tired of commanding a dozen wagons PLUS 6 ships every turn, and so set them on automatic. However, they appear to just drive themselves to a city and sit there, while their drivers pop into the local pub or something.

Did you use our transport-routes-menu? If you activate a wagon and click on "R", the menu appears. There is a button with a question mark. Please click on it. Then you can see our detailed manual for that menu.

There is a chapter "enemies on sight". Please read it and check if there is an explanation for your problem.

What is the easiest way to manage transport?

... that menu!

 

[c13Garrison]

Yes, I see what you mean. I am using it now, but it seemed like an optional "high detail" way of doing things so I had not gone into it. The button called "automate" seemed to sound like it would do everything on its own.

The wagons are moving now, it just required a higher level of detail to set up than I'd expected. My bad for asking questions without taking the time to read things in detail.

Thank you for your prompt replies, at, ... some un-Godly hour in the early morning.

 

[bagmanmic]

I've tried several times to download this mod from CFC. Says file is unavailable. Is there anywhere else I can download this file?

 

[Writing Bull]

I've tried several times to download this mod from CFC. Says file is unavailable.

Have you used that download-site with that download-link?

 

[c13Garrison]

I'm trying to decide whether to abandon my current game. Given how time-intensive the turns are, its a real question.

Its 1690 or so, and I have no hint of an arms industry. I have armories in a couple cities, but the build-up of guns is tiny. I have 40+ free colonists at my capitol waiting for guns, which I have to buy in Europe every 5 or 6 turns when I can afford them. There must be a gross inefficiency in my colonies somewhere. My pool of colonists waiting for guns grows 4x faster than I can afford to equip them.

Is it foolish to "bank" colonists to eventually make them Militia when the dribble of guns becomes available? At what point should you be able to make 150 guns a turn to arm your own militia?

Sorry for all the novice questions, but I'm not a "Starcraft" person. This micro-management of resources is wholly new to me. :\

Thank you, for anyone who takes up the time to offer advice.

Garrison

p.s.- Additionally, since starting to use the automated trade routes, my turns have suddenly started taking 90-150 seconds to process. Saving, exiting, and re-loading does not seem to fix the issue.

 

[Willi_Tell]

Could you give some more informations about your game settings?

- what's the difficulty level you're playing with?
- which map size do you play?
- what kind of computer/OS are you using?
etc.

 

[c13Garrison]

Gladly.

I was playing on Explorer level, with a huge map on marathon. My pc is a 3.1gig dual-core processor with 8gig of ram, with an ATI Radeon HD 5450 video card. It says 756meg of video ram, but I don't know where that number comes from.

My turns were processing pretty much instantly, just the normal CivIV 5 second 'spinning globe', then it would pop me to an event or active unit or the Europe screen, but after automating all my wagons the turn time wait become onerous, it was actually 3 minutes or so. I did in fact abandon that game, but the turn lag was really only the last straw, I realized I'd been playing it BADLY anyway. I haven't started a new game yet. There's a number of issues I need advice on;

Do I need to assign Every colonist manually? I have never had a city over size 10 (made it to year 1699 in that game), but my neighbors all have cities in the high teens. I can't imagine how to get such a large population size.

Do automated Pioneers make good decisions, or do I need to manually command the pioneers? I'm not sure if chopping down every forest is the best way to go, but then the AI nations are fully automated, and they get huge cities and must be able to build Garrison Cannons easily because of the huge stacks I see.

Those are really my main 'game-play' questions. Considering the 100's of times I've played CivIV-BTS I feel silly about asking about a 'beginner's guide' or tutorial, but the micro-management of so many resources is really very different from BTS's very general approach.

My apologies if these questions are insultingly basic, I'm sure you all are spending your time on far more evolved game concepts. I do appreciate the attention to my unworthy difficulties. I'm reading about the RaR mod, but it seems foolish to download that without first mastering TAC.

 

[raystuttgart]

I'm reading about the RaR mod, but it seems foolish to download that without first mastering TAC.

It is probably better to play and master TAC first, if you are a beginner.

 

[Writing Bull]

Hi Garrison,

the turn lag was really only the last straw, I realized I'd been playing it BADLY anyway.

At our FAQ you will find some information about turn lags.

Do I need to assign Every colonist manually?
Do automated Pioneers make good decisions, or do I need to manually command the pioneers?

My advice: Don't use those automating-functions. The Human Intelligence is better than the AI.

 

[zogleheros]

Hello,

I have an issue with the game, it crashes on September 1769 end turn, while I'm in the revolution war. It may have been 200 turns since another nation (spain) declared independance and failed, so I don't know if this may be the problem. I posted the save in attachment.

I also have a couple issues with the mod. The tax rate still goes up way too fast, increasing sometimes by 15% in one turn (i was 40% after 100 turns), and the maximum rate doesn't seem to limit anything. Refusing tax rates by boycotting is still not very interesting.
And the sell price of wares with the customs house is very low, does it add the tax rate to the 80 % ? I remember it being more interesting in the original Colonization.

AI is way stronger than in the original, actually too hard for lower difficulty levels I think, and the natives have a habit of declaring war while i'm in positive relations with them, kinda surprising, all of a sudden, war, while i'm still in relatively early development stages. It makes the game hard xD.

 

[Writing Bull]

Hi zogleheros,
thank you for your remarks!

I have an issue with the game, it crashes on September 1769 end turn. (...) I posted the save in attachment.

What a pity that you can't finish your match. It seems to be a very rare problem. Stoepsel (one of our team members) has just reported your problem at our team-forum. Perhaps somebody will find an explanation. But please notice that the development of TAC is finshed, you are using our final version. Sorry!

the maximum rate doesn't seem to limit anything.

Sorry, I don't understand that. Do you believe that the feature of maximum rate doesn't work?

Refusing tax rates by boycotting is still not very interesting.

Yes, this is a feature of the vanilla version. We haven't changed it.

And the sell price of wares with the customs house is very low, does it add the tax rate to the 80 % ?

Yes, it does.

the natives have a habit of declaring war while i'm in positive relations with them, kinda surprising, all of a sudden, war, while i'm still in relatively early development stages.

There are several aspects which affect whether a native nation will attack you. The diplomatic status is one of them. For example, other important aspects are the character of the native leader and his oppinion about your military strength in relation to his own one.

 

[raystuttgart]

Perhaps somebody will find an explanation.

Is the CTD reproducable with the save ?

 

[HermanHeydt]

Hi all!

Thx for a really great mod

I am currently making a wiki-page for R&R (which is based on TAC) and was wondering if I could use some of the text from this thread and the manual (since these mods have similarities).
Will of course credit everything I use.

Please leave a PM if it is ok...

H

 

[lymond]

Hey folks....trying to get into Colonization again with the TAC mod. Honestly, I never really was "into" it, having played maybe a couple of games a few years ago after purchasing it and sucking badly. I've been an avid BTS player for years, not that it matters much for this game.

I have to say yall's GOTM videos have enticed me. They are really well done. Unfortunately I doubt they get that much attention on the CFC Home page. I recommend posting up something in the CIV4 General or S&T forums to convert more people.

Anyway, I was wondering if yall could point me to a good TAC strategy article or post, or ideally an English Let's Play (I've only found German ones so far). I'm looking for a quick path to awesomeness , so I can start playing the GOTMs....and still sucking badly.

 

[Writing Bull]

I have to say yall's GOTM videos have enticed me. They are really well done.

Thank you very much, lymond!

Anyway, I was wondering if yall could point me to a good TAC strategy article or post, or ideally an English Let's Play (I've only found German ones so far).

Unfortunately we have only a lot of German texts like our detailed TAC-wiki. Specially there are two interesting articles about strategy: about military and about diplomacy. Besides we have started "Tactorial", videos for TAC-beginners. Here is the playlist, here video No. 1 about "The first 10 minutes", here No. 2 about the interface, buttons and options, here No. 3 with an economic introduction. But sorry, sorry ... only in German. If there will be somebody who will be interested to translate parts of these texts or to translate the texts of the videos, all TAC-modders and TAC-users will be happy!

Here the first three videos of "Tactorial":

Spoiler :

Link to video.


Link to video.


Link to video.​

Thx for a really great mod
I am currently making a wiki-page for R&R (which is based on TAC) and was wondering if I could use some of the text from this thread and the manual (since these mods have similarities).
Will of course credit everything I use.

HermanHeydt, of course you can do so. We will be satisfied, if you could put a reference, which includes a link to this TAC-thread here, on each site which contains a part of the TAC-manual or another official TAC-text.

We wish you good luck!

 

[skallben]

I have a question I'm not sure where to post since you lack subforums. I'm losing boycotted goods from my capitol, it has a Customs House but it doesnt seem to sell any goods. What am I doing wrong? Is something bugged?

 

[Guynemer]

I gave this mod a try, first time I've played Colonization in years, and it is fantastic. But, I have a question.

I just managed to defeat the very last of the King's forces (it really came down to his last few guys against my last few stocks of muskets). I finally killed his last Hessian and retook my last colony. And then... the game kept going. I checked the revolution screen; he had no forces left except for a few Man-O-Wars; do I have to defeat his entire navy in addition to his entire expeditionary force?