[ModPack] Total Experience

[Wipperwill]

I would like to try this mod out but I cannot stand having to wait 'til biology to clear Jungle. If the Aztecs and Incas can build huge Civs by clearing jungles we should be able also.

Your work gathering together the various Mods is great man. Keep up the good work!

Wip

(edited for spelling)

 

[Edibi]

Hey Gekko,

a couple of things that have come in multiplayer gameplay. Floodplains should probably return to 0.5 penalty in health or at least .33. At .25 penalty they have very little negative impact on a city and considering the outright advantage that a city can have growing so quickly with slavery, etc. you might want to consider raising the cost again.

 

[[to_xp]Gekko]

I'm copy-pasting this from a post in the first page of the thread:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bringa
CLEAR JUNGLE with BIOLOGY (instead of Iron Working)

I haven't played this mod yet, but this sounds INSANELY late. This means that for all intents and purposes, jungle-surrounded starting points are viable for good cities until modern era. That sounds way off. Why did you do that?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Primarily for the sake of realism, as jungles have been on the planet till the 19th century, and medicine had a grand part in doing it. it does make things a little worse if you start right in the middle of jungles, but remember that you'll be able to at least build roads and improvements needed to gather resources with just ironworking. moreover, I've halved the growth rate of jungles, so at least they won't get bigger

anyway, if you don't like this tweak, all you have to do is open up (using wordpad or any other such program) the BuildInfos.xml file in the Assets/XML/units subfolder, and then change every "TECH_BIOLOGY" to "TECH_IRON_WORKING"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

this is really easy to do, just Search for TECH_BIOLOGY in the file and substitute each one of it with TECH_IRON_WORKING.
btw, I'm planning to add another tweak from GreenMod in the next version, which will automatically clear of jungle the 8 tiles surrounding a newly built city. this will help A LOT

 

[[to_xp]Gekko]

btw, while I'm working on the new version, I'll write here how to fix the problems mentioned by Edibi ( don't be afraid, it's a piece of cake ) :

1 hemp on hill: open up (with wordpad or something similar) the Civ4BonusInfos.xml file in the Assets/XML/terrain folder of the mod. then, in the infos related to Cannabis, where it says <bHills>1<bHills/> , change it to <bHills>0<bHills/> . voil&#224;, no more hemp on hills.
2 to fix the messed up starting technologies, you'll have to copy the Civ4CivilizationInfos.xml file which is in the folder Assets/XML/Civilizations ( the vanilla game Assets folder, NOT my mod's one) , then paste it over the one in my mod's folder. then open it up and edit the lines

<UnitClassType>UNITCLASS_MARINE</UnitClassType>
<UnitType>UNIT_AMERICAN_NAVY_SEAL</UnitType>

to

<UnitClassType>UNITCLASS_CAVALRY</UnitClassType>
<UnitType>UNIT_USCAVALRY</UnitType>


thans Edibi for pointing those out, also in the next version I'm going to consider changing the unhealthiness caused by floodplains

 

[Edibi]

to follow up on Gekko in response to wipperwill.

When you take advantage of any resource on a jungle square by placing a camp, irrigation, etc. It does clear the jungle square. It is only empty jungle squares that require biology.

Gekko, I like the idea of clearing out the jungle surrounding a city that is found, but is it possible to time delay the clearing of all the squares? maybe 10-20 turns per square of jungle dependent on game speed?

Just some thoughts. Btw, I am also really impressed at how well the AI is able to utilize the changes in the game. Also, the chopping exploit is still useful but not nearly as crazy as it was before. Monarch is now the same challenge as Emperor on vanilla.

 

[JohnYoga]

could you provide me with a link to those two mods?

edit: btw, I just fixed the problems mentioned in the above posts. somehow some starting techs go messed up, but I've fixed everything. also, it is now possible to build farms on hills, so you will finally be able to get irrigation to that spot you previously couldn't due to stupid hills blocking the way

Thank you for your lightning fast response. Here are the links to the two mods I am hoping you can add to your wonderful mod:

Mod #1: Tune GameSpeed...This is a great feature, as it allows the user to adjust the point values, and therefore speed up/slow down the game. Great for when we MP together...

This is from Junuxx:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=137749

For a while he had the Tune GameSpeed mod by itself, later embedding into a modpack called Atlas.

There is a picture of the GameSpeedTuner attached.

Mod #2: Turns Left and % Left...Really cool as well. It lets you know how many total turns there are in the game, how many turns you have taken, and the % of game completed.

This one is by Goombaz...

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=144754&highlight=show+turns

Thank you for the consideration Gekko!

Regards,

John

 

[[to_xp]Gekko]

@JohnYoga: Thanx, I'm going to check those 2 out

@Edibi :

Gekko, I like the idea of clearing out the jungle surrounding a city that is found, but is it possible to time delay the clearing of all the squares? maybe 10-20 turns per square of jungle dependent on game speed?

well maybe that could be done, but not by someone with no skills at python. and I have no skills at python whatsoever

 

[[to_xp]Gekko]

ok, so the next version is coming up kinda quickly and nicely.
some changes so far:
french musketeers have 10 combat instead of 9 to make them a little bit more useful.
meditation's cost has been raised to 120 (was 100)
Buddhism is now founded with Literature ( thanx Abbamouse)
hemp now needs a plantation instead of a farm
can now build farms on hills too.
mausoleum of mausollus gets double production with stone intead of just +50% ( like all the other wonders)
when a settler builds a city, any jungle in the sorrounding 8 squares is automatically erased ( thanks Master Lexx)
hindu temples now get +1 happiness with hemp
oil is more clumpy in its distribution, which will cause more conflicts to gain it (just like RL ) ( thanks to Dearmad)

moreover, I've added some more mods to this:

Hastur's Caravans and supply trains
12monkeys' ReInitialize Interceptor Missions
12monkeys' Plot List Enhancements
last version of 12monkeys' Modified Special Domestic Advisor
last version of DireAussie's Random Events mod

so I still have to add in 2 mods ( the ones which are gonna take more time to add) , which I'm going to do tomorrow as here it's closing to 3 AM and my eyes are closing to bleeding :
Master Lexx's Second Unique Units & The Lopez's Great Specialists.

 

[YNCS]

I just tried to download your mod and got the following message:

Username's beginning with M-S will have their files offline for routine maintenance.

 

[[to_xp]Gekko]

sorry there's nothing I can do about that. it's good to know that they do server maintenance though just try downloading it again later and it will work

 

[YNCS]

I can't get the mod to load. I downloaded it, unzipped it into C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\MODS, and fired up Civ4. Selected "Advanced," "Load Mod," and "Total Experience." Clicked on OK for the reload. The game reloads with [MOD/Total_Experience] showing during the load. I get a message "Total Experience" in the upper right corner.

At this point, I select "Single Player" and "Play a Game." I get a vanilla game. What am I doing wrong?

 

[[to_xp]Gekko]

unzip it in C:/Program Files/Fireaxis Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 4/Mods.

if then you still have the same problem, well probably it just LOOKS like it's vanilla, but it's actually not vanilla at all

 

[Good Sauce]

no, it's vanilla, i had the same problem. I think it might have something to do with the above mentioned server maitnence.

 

[Edibi]

Hey Gekko,

been playtesting this mod with my friends quite a bit over the past few days + single player. Pacifism should definately not have +225% to great people. It is way to exploitable and makes the pyramids more powerful than when it gave government civics.

Also, it diminishes the benefits of philosphical civs. +25 and an additional +100 in city with religion makes more sense.

Another major point of contention is the base benefits from pearls, salt, hemp in that they give way too much initial benefit before they have a workboat or farm/plantation put on them.

pearl and salt should only give base +1 gold. Salt should give +1 health +3 gold when workboat is used and pearls should just give +5 gold. Hemp should have a focus on production and maybe 1 or 2 gold only when fully used.

potatoes and lemons are fine

caste system should NOT give a free specialist in every city unless it was on high upkeep.

Serfdom should be improved, it is pretty lame and skipped right now, maybe +1 gold or +1 food from farms in addition to faster growth. Serfdom allowed nobles to generate more income from the lands.

hindu religion special GP building should give 2 culture per city maybe?

more ideas will come. Please feel free to give rebuttals.

Also, please please, sort out the fact that incas and azetcs only start with hunting. They should get two starting techs.

I like some of the ideas for next iteration. I need to do some more late game playing before i comment on that.

Edibi

 

[[to_xp]Gekko]

Thanks a lot for the playtesting you're doing Edibi, I really appreciate it!
I already changed the unhealthiness for floodplains to -0.4 in the next release, so you can be sure I will be listening to anyone's suggestion
so let's see what you suggest:

Pacifism: you may be right, I'll check this out.
Caste system I find is good as it is, if I took away the free specialist it would be too weak compared to the others IMHO.
Serfdom: I agree with you it's too weak. I like the idea of making it give +1 gold for farms and will add it to the next version.
anyway, I'm almost sure I'm going to implement Armandeus' Civics Balance mod soon, so things are gonna change A LOT regarding civics (check out his thread for more detailed infos)

Base benefits for the bonus you mentioned: point taken, I'm going to check those out.

the hindu GP building I think is good as it is, moreover I've already made hindu temples a little better.

I've already fixed the starting technologies for the next version.
btw, fixing them is very easy to do by yourself: just open up the file
CIV4CivilizationInfos.xml located in Mods/Total Experience/Assets/XML/Civilizations , Search for "Aztec" and "Inca" , then scroll down till you find :

<FreeTech>
<TechType>TECH_HUNTING</TechType>
<bFreeTech>1</bFreeTech>
</FreeTech>

and right under it add (for aztecs):

<FreeTech>
<TechType>TECH_MYSTICISM</TechType>
<bFreeTech>1</bFreeTech>
</FreeTech>

While for Incas you should substitute it with:

<FreeTech>
<TechType>TECH_MYSTICISM</TechType>
<bFreeTech>1</bFreeTech>
</FreeTech>
<FreeTech>
<TechType>TECH_AGRICULTURE</TechType>
<bFreeTech>1</bFreeTech>
</FreeTech>


hope I've been clear and hope to hear suggestions from you soon

 

[[to_xp]Gekko]

ok, so version 2.0 is almost done, it just needs a couple more fixes and should be ready for tomorrow I guess. I want to say a huge THANK YOU to TheLopez who has basically done himself all the python for this version. so this second version is actually the result of a teamwork between him and me .

Here I post the updated readme for those of you interested in checking out what's new. as usual, suggestions and comments are very welcome

*check out the first post of the thread*

 

[JohnYoga]

Hello Gekko.

Thank you for hearing me out and adding the Turns at a Glance, by Goombaz.

Is adding the game speed tuner a pain in the ass, or would you rather not add it ? If you would rather not add it, is there a way *I* can add it? In other words, is there a spot on CivFanatics which shows how to imbed/attach a mod to another mod?

I look forward to seeing this release come out in the next couple days!

Regards,

John

 

[[to_xp]Gekko]

well , from the looks of its installer, I'm guessing it can be used on top of any mod, right?

If this is incorrect, I will look into adding it in the version which will come after 2.0 ( which should not take lots of time anyway )

 

[JohnYoga]

But it says that the game must restart to load a mod...And I wonder that when this restarting happens, it wipes out the settings of the gametweaker interface...

Thank you for even being open to adding it sometime soon Gekko.

John

 

[[to_xp]Gekko]

well, if you open up your Civ4Config.ini file in your main game installation folder, you'll notice there is a line near the end that says:

; Specify a Mod folder (Mods\Mesopotamia), '0' for none
Mod = 0

substitute 0 with Mods\Total Experience

and the mod will load up automatically on game startup

hope this works for you