Modders Guide to Civilization V

Firstly I'd just like to say a big thanks to Kael for the amazing Modding Guide. I work in the industry myself and it's great to see someone taking the time to help put something like this together. There is nothing more satisfying than being able to customise the games you love - let's face it, behind every game player is a frustrated game designer who knows what THEY want to play. :)

OK, now the embarrassing bit, bearing in mind that I do work in the industry and have even released my own game. And while I am an artist rather than a programmer, I have done a lot of script and xml work, so am familiar with the language used in Civ... so why won't my art assets load? Following Kael's guide I have added a new faction and created placeholder graphics to the specifications set out in the document, but when I load my mod I get a message to say that there is an error loading the .dds files.

Unfortunately the error message doesn't go into any more detail, so I'm not sure whether the problem is related to the actual .dds file or its location. Like the example I have an Art folder and am wondering whether it's because the .dds files are not in the same folder as the .xml file calling them, as it doesn't explicity point at their location. Another possibility is the format of the .dds files, but I have again followed Kael's example and saved them from Photoshop as DXT 1s with no mipmaps as the NVidia screen shows in the .pdf document. So I'm a little stumped and unfortunately until I can get rid of this error I can't progress. :(

So if anyone else has encountered this problem and knows what the answer is then I'd be very grateful for the assistance, thank you.

Zak
 
There have been some changes to the modding system since Kael published his guide. The biggest change with Art assets is that they must now be explicitly imported into the Virtual File System to work. In Modbuddy, right-click on each filename and choose "Properties." This should open a Properties subwindow on the right side of the screen; make sure "Import into VFS" is true for all of your DDS files.
 
Thanks for the reply MP, will try that as soon as I get in. Fingers crossed that is the answer I've been looking for as I tried everything I could think of last night. :D

Will let you know how I get on. Thanks again. :goodjob:
 
MP... you're an absolute star! Worked a treat and now I can go ahead and carry on modding! Thanks so much for your help! :D
 
I'm very new to modding Civ 5 and I'm going through Kael's guide to creating a mod. However, I'm having difficulty implementing something and I'm hoping someone can help.

I'm planning on doing a total conversion mod for the game and, therefore, I would like to disable all other civilizations in the game. I'm trying to do the following but it is not working:

CIV5Civilizations.xml
Code: 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- Created by ModBuddy on 5/17/2011 00:16:47 -->
<GameData>
	<Civilizations>
		<Row>
			<Type>CIVILIZATION_CHINA</Type>
			<Playable>false</Playable>
		</Row>
		<Row>
			<Type>CIVILIZATION_JAPAN</Type>
			<Playable>false</Playable>
		</Row>
		<Row>
			<Type>CIVILIZATION_ENGLAND</Type>
			<Playable>false</Playable>
		</Row>
		<Row>
			<Type>CIVILIZATION_FRANCE</Type>
			<Playable>false</Playable>
		</Row>
		<Row>
			<Type>CIVILIZATION_GERMANY</Type>
			<Playable>false</Playable>
		</Row>

etc.

	</Civilizations>
</GameData>

Then, in ModBuddy I have the action:

OnModActivated; UpdateDatabase; XML/Civilizations/CIV5Civilizations.xml. I build the mod and it appears in the mod manager in the game. However, whenever I enable it, it has no effect.

Also, I was thinking it would be possible to just mod the table value <Playable> to be false by default so that I wouldn't have to indicate each individual civilizations. But I'm not having any luck with that approach either.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.
 
This xml makes all civs unplayable by the player, change Playable to AIPlayable to prevent the computer using them. Make sure you use this before adding your own civs.

Code: 
<GameData>
	<Civilizations>
		<Update>
			<Set Playable = "0"/>
		</Update>
	</Civilizations>
</GameData>
 
Thanks stevo32! Works perfectly! :)

I have another question, if that's ok. Is there a simple way to "clone" an existing civ with the only change being the name of the civ? For example, is it possible to create several civs that essentially point to all the elements and data of a single civ, but are distinguished only in name? The reason I ask is that the civs of the mod that I am working on (Supreme Commander -> Civ 5) have significant overlap in early game and I'd like to have a simple way of testing out basic mod functionality before branching out and making the 4 civs distinctly civs in their own right.

Thank you for helping. Much appreciated.


EDIT: OK, I'm having difficulty implementing the Celtic civ from Kael's guide. As a bare minimum, skeleton template for a new civ, I tried just using the Civ_Celt.xml and GameText.xml (leaving the leader as Elizabeth). I didn't add anything else, just those 2 files, created the necessary Actions in ModBuddy, and the game doesn't recognize it as a new Civ. The code is a direct copy+paste from the guide. Why doesn't this work? Am I missing something?
 
Well copy and Paste would be easiest. The files are in .../Steam/SteamApps/common/sid meier's civilization v/assets/GamePlay/XML/Civilizations/CIV5Civilizations.xml

As for the civ not showing up post a zip file containing your files and someone can look at it, but first check the Actions tab is set up correctly:
OnModActivated UpdateDatabase (relative filepath)

Make sure you use forward slashes as well for the filepath.
 
I'm new to mods, so please be patient. I find the majority of XML tags self explanatory. However, is there a definitions file to help where it is not so obvious? Two specific tag questions I am currently trying to understand are;
1) In defining a new building, when do I use the Happiness tag vs Unmodded Happiness?

2) Where in the XML files for Naval Units does one define that a unit can enter ocean hex's rather then being limited to the coast?

Many thanks
Jim
 
The "Can't enter ocean" behavior is promotion based. In the vanilla game, some units have either PROMOTION_OCEAN_IMPASSABLE or PROMOTION_OCEAN_IMPASSABLE_UNTIL_ASTRONOMY assigned to them in the Unit_FreePromotions table.
 
Thanks Mousey for pointing me to the right spot on setting ocean tile capability.

To anyone; My first mod was to change the naval unit upgrade path to be;
Trireme -to- Caravel - to- Frigate. The following seemed to build OK in modbuddy and loaded into the game mod file where I was able to select it upon game start. However, it didn't work! When I got to Astronomy then Navigation, no unit upgrade option was available. Please help point out where I went wrong. Thanks - Jim

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- Created by ModBuddy on 5/18/2011 5:18:51 PM -->
<GameData>
<Unit_ClassUpgrades>
<Update>
<set UnitClassType="UNITCLASS_CARAVEL"/>
<where UnitType="UNIT_TRIREME"/>
</Update>
<Update>
<set UnitClassType="UNITCLASS_FRIGATE"/>
<where UnitType="UNIT_CARAVEL"/>
</Update>
</Unit_ClassUpgrades>
</GameData>

************* Error Found **********
whoward pointed out to me the "Case Sensitivity" of XML, and how I needed to capitalize the tags Set and Where.
 
I figured out what my problem was (iconatlas tag value). And if i could have figured out how to delete this post of mine, i would have....
 
Hi Guys & Gals

Im sorry to bother but I have a problem. I cant find the World Builder! I look everywhere under steam and can even find the tools that all the posts mention! I have been trying to find this for months now can anybody help please?

Thanks in Advance

John
:)
 
Hey PLZ so everyone knows it. !!!!!:scan:
EVEN if you add tecnologies to tech tree that should go around
DONT lock original techs as it makes people get stuck in loooooow age.
AND PLZ would people plz check there own MODS on more than just there own computer before posting emm?? sure would be nice^.^


btw a little question. Is a certain windows pogram needed to run player made civs??O.o
 
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