Modpacks on the Mac?

[volseraph]

I've installed the Double Your Pleasure modpack and the Ancient Mediterranean modpack (for Vanilla Civ3, 1.29f beta 2) on my machine (different installs of Civ; I'm blessed with a big hard drive).

However, neither of them work. Double Your Pleasure, in fact, crashes while loading the game, TAM crashes invariably around 600 AD. Anyone have similar problems/know how to get them to work?

 

[AlanH]

I haven't played either of them, but I installed DYP and played a few turns to check it would run.

- How did you install them?
- Do you get any error message when it crashes?
- If yes, what is it?
- If no, are you running OS X?
- If so do you have a crash log for Civ3, and can you post it?

 

[volseraph]

I haven't played either of them, but I installed DYP and played a few turns to check it would run.

- How did you install them?
- Do you get any error message when it crashes?
- If yes, what is it?
- If no, are you running OS X?
- If so do you have a crash log for Civ3, and can you post it?

I unpacked the exe with Stuffit Expander, then moved the contents of each directory in the modpack into a clean install of Civ III, making sure not to drag folders so that I didn't erase any files that weren't being replaced.

The only message I get on crash is the standard "do you want to tell Apple;" I have crash logs for both DYP and TAM. Here is the DYP one.

 

[AlanH]

As there's a lot to move around there's a good chance of missing something. The crash log indicates there's a graphics file misplaced or corrupted I think.

Have you tried using my drag and drop mod installer? When you open it it should display the various Civ3 installations on your hard drive. If the one you want is not there then drop its folder onto the window to add it to the list. Then drop the unzipped mod folder onto it (it doesn't extract DyP from the .exe yet)

There's a more generalised version of the mod installer on my web space here. This version also handles Hearts of Iron and Europa Universalis mods if they are in the right format.

 

[Caveneau]

I have to make a personal plea...If Queue and AlanH have to abilities to create a working mod for Civ3, to allow PTW, Conquests, that would be incredible. I think Civ3 by Macsoft was unforgiveably overlooked. You'd be doing something monumental in my humble opinion. I'm in love with this game. I wish I could do what you guys are capable of. Anyway, peace.

 

[AlanH]

There's no way for anyone to build PtW or Conquests for Mac without Firaxis' active cooperation.

But have a look at bluebox's new offering here. He's created a scenario file that allows you to play random games using all the gotm civs and the current gotm rule set if you download the gotm mod files and install them. That means you have equivalents of extra PtW civs - Ottomans, Carthage, Spain, Vikings, Celts, Arabs, Korea .... plus a rule set that emulates some of the features of Conquests ... plus a whole lot more.

Here's a shot of the player setup screen ...

 

[Caveneau]

AlanH, is the GOTM installation process simple to follow?
If so, thank you kindly to esplain to me...

 

[AlanH]

The Mac installation for GOTM is simpler than the Windows ones because (a) there are fewer steps and (b) the installers check that the place you are installing to is reasonable.

Download my three installers, linked in the first post of the main GOTM Installers thread here. Run them in sequence by double clicking and the following the on screen instructions. Run the Full GOTM 23 first, then one of the GOTM 24 Incremental ones, depending on your bandwidth, then the GOTM 25 Incremental. If one of them throws up an error then use the installer's File menu to look at the log. This should give you a clue about what the installer didn't like. If you don't understand the log, post it here and I'll try to tell you what the problem is.

The only complication then is that you need the correct pediaicons.txt file. I have not updated the installers since gotm 25 was played, so the copy of this file in the installer is not correct for the most recent games. The best version is very probably the one in bluebox's new mod pack above, but this has not been tested by the GOTM staff yet. The one that has been used to play gotm31 is at http://gotm.civfanatics.net/games/civ_PediaIcons/pediaicons.txt.zip

 

[volseraph]

Reinstalled it using your installer (really cool program, BTW, didn't know about it), and it works fine. Thanks!

 

[Caveneau]

Okay, I installed GOTM 23,24,25, renamed my old pediaicons-old.txt and the civ3mod-old.bic (old is what i'd remember easily)For some there are no entries in the civlopedia for the new tribes and some unit desc. and graphics are missing? Is this normal?

 

[Caveneau]

How do I use the Drag'n drop program of yours Alan? And can you explain it a little to a bumbling novice like myself?

 

[AlanH]

Okay, I installed GOTM 23,24,25, renamed my old pediaicons-old.txt and the civ3mod-old.bic (old is what i'd remember easily)For some there are no entries in the civlopedia for the new tribes and some unit desc. and graphics are missing? Is this normal?

That's right. Some gotm staff hold the view that the civilopedia was deliberately left uninformative about the new tribes to provide an air of mystery. Others think it was more a case of shortage of time and resources. Take your pick

If you read his thread, Bluebox is threatening to add some more civilopedia info in the next version. I wouldn't be surprised if he was prepared to accept volunteer help with the content if anyone wants to make a contribution.

How do I use the Drag'n drop program of yours Alan? And can you explain it a little to a bumbling novice like myself?

- The drag and drop installer will install a mod file set into a civ3 application folder. The file set MUST be built so that the folder hierarchy matches the Civ3 folder structure, with Art and/or Text and/or Scenario folders at the top level. If the mod set is zipped then the installer will extract the files from the zip archive or you can unzip it yourself first.

- Download it from the links I've provided.

- Put it in the folder of you choice - /Applications is a good place. Take care to use the latest version of Stuffit Expander if you are unzipping it. Some versions are bad at preserving file permissions.

- Double click it to launch it.

- You should see a window listing some or all of the installed copies of Civ3 on your hard drive(s).

- If you have recently created a new copy of your Civ3 folder it may not be listed. [The program uses the Unix 'locate' index to find them rather than crawl all over your disks to find them itself, and the 'locate' database is only updated about once a week in the wee small hours.]

- If the copy you want to update is not in the window then drag it (the Civ3 folder, not the application itself) onto the window to add it. You only have to do this once and it will add it to its own index.

- Drag the mod file set that you want to install from a Finder window onto the Installer window, and onto the listed copy of Civ3 that you want to update.

- The program will ask you to confirm the update and will then copy all the files in the mod file set into the correct locations in the Civ3 folder you selected.

HTH

 

[AlanH]

Reinstalled it using your installer (really cool program, BTW, didn't know about it), and it works fine. Thanks!

I'm pleased to hear it. I've previously posted info about the program in various places, here and in the main DyP thread and on the DyP forum. Sorry you missed it.

 

[Caveneau]

Alan, I noticed that you created that map with Civ3 edit v1.32.1? Is that correct?

 

[AlanH]

Why? Is that bad? That's the version I have here

[edit: here's the splash screen:]

 

[Caveneau]

nevermind, that was stupid, I just looked and realized that that's the one I tried
already. That really broke my heart that I could not load that civ3edit. I followed the instructions carefully. As soon as I would launch it, the window border did its little opening flash, but the editor didn't launch. I can't leave it alone.

 

[Caveneau]

In addition to my barrage of random confusion, I must add 2 new questions.

1. Is it possible that I was launching the Civ3edit incorrectly? I assumed it was as simple as saving it directly inside the Civ folder, and then double clicking it in the finder window. Correct?

2. I came across a posting of yours from February, I believe, I've included a picture to refresh your memory. I'm not sure if I would need this or not. I'm not even sure if I'm up to date with all mac improvements.

 

[AlanH]

In addition to my barrage of random confusion, I must add 2 new questions.

1. Is it possible that I was launching the Civ3edit incorrectly? I assumed it was as simple as saving it directly inside the Civ folder, and then double clicking it in the finder window. Correct?

Yes. That sounds like the correct sequence.

2. I came across a posting of yours from February, I believe, I've included a picture to refresh your memory. I'm not sure if I would need this or not. I'm not even sure if I'm up to date with all mac improvements.

There has been a lot of confusion over pediaicons.txt files. It began with gotm24, when Cracker introduced a lot of new civs and renamed old civs. He thought he was limited to 32 civ names in pediaicons.txt, so he replaced existing civs in the file instead of just adding the new names. That has caused subsequent problems, and we still need to sort it out and fix the file for good. I haven't checked bluebox's pediaicons.txt file yet, but I suspect his may be the best one to use from here on in to cover both gotm and standard games.

 

[Caveneau]

Bluebox had mentioned to me that He is working on a patch to fix the missing Civlopedia entries as well as missing graphics. So patiently I await. In the meantime I want to get 1.21 again, for those times I don't feel like seeing happy faces on my maps. And the distant dream that I may eventually be able to run the Civ3 editor.

 

[Caveneau]

What's the reason for the happy faces on the terrain anyway?