New Civ - Byzantium

Amra · May 12, 2006

Byzantium for Civilization IV (Vanilla & Warlords)
*Updated 03/20/07*

Version 2.3 for Warlords v2.08
DOWNLOAD FROM DATABASE

View version 2.3 readme & installation instructions

Spoiler :

DOWNLOAD version 1.1
for Civ4 v1.61

View version 1.1 readme & installation instructions

Spoiler :

Screenshots are below. Please note that version 2.0 for Warlords only has one unique unit, the Dromon. I did this to bring this civ in line with the retail civs which only have one UU. In version 1.1 (vanilla civ4) and in my modpack, Byzantium will have two Unique Units.

..

Amra · May 12, 2006

Other Downloads

Earth 1000AD Scenario with playable Byzantine Empire - DOWNLOAD
This modified scenario uses Basil II for the leader and will still have 2 UU's versus the other civ's one UU each. Hopefully that shouldn't be a problem as I don't think eaither Byzantine UU is overpowered or unfair. Also, be aware that the scenario may have some different city names for the Byzantine empire than the ones in my mod.

To install, extract the archive to your <Game Directory>\PublicMaps folder. Then AFTER loading my Byzantium mod, select the scenario called "Earth1000AD_with_Byzantium".

Tunch Khan · May 12, 2006

Beautiful background for Theodora and very cool skins for UU. Looks like a job well done, congrats.

war65 · May 13, 2006

Superb!!!!

Amra · May 13, 2006

war65 said:
Superb!!!!

Thanks, I read your post about 2 UU's in the Tibet Civ thread. Would you or anybody else want this civ with only one UU also?

I know some people don't like the two UU's and don't want to muck around in the XML files to remove them so, if requested, I can upload an alternate version

war65 · May 15, 2006

ok good cool yay byzatines well i see what tyou meen but this one its hard to choose for the uu

Wei-Yan · May 16, 2006

finaly ive requseted this civ 3 times! i cant wait to play it

HolyOne · May 16, 2006

I really missed this one from the original civ4. Shame on you, Firaxis

Amra · May 16, 2006

Thanks for the nice words everyone.

@war65
I posted two patches in the post#1 to remove one of the UU's. I will leave it up to you, or anyone else who only wants one UU, to figure out which UU to remove

As with any patch, backup the mod before using either in case you want both UU's again. Extract either (NOT both) patch to your "MODS" directory to overwrite a few files in my mod.

Bungholio · May 20, 2006

looks like isabel...

Martinus · May 23, 2006

Bungholio said:
looks like isabel...

Master of perceptiveness!

Shqype · May 23, 2006

Martinus said:
Master of perceptiveness!

hahahahahaha!

Xen · May 24, 2006

good lord, you chose theodora? faulty civ franchinse history strikes agian, I see.

PW90 · Jun 6, 2006

Hello,

I really like your Byzantines, it's amazing. :goodjob:

A question: I would make a MOD like Lankous Superciv-MOD and publish it in a german forum. I would translate the civnames, leadernames and civilopedia-entrys into german. I need your permission to include this civ, then I could do it.

Amra · Jun 6, 2006

PW90 said:
Hello,

I really like your Byzantines, it's amazing.
A question: I would make a MOD like Lankous Superciv-MOD and publish it in a german forum. I would translate the civnames, leadernames and civilopedia-entrys into german. I need your permission to include this civ, then I could do it.

Of course. Anything I post on the internet is fair game. Check out the links below in my signature line for other civs as well as my modpack which includes this civ.

LeperColony · Jun 9, 2006

Thanks for making this mod. Omitting the Byzantines has always been a curious oversight, given their longevity and influence on world development. I think a few of the choices you made were interesting.

Regarding Theodora, I too find her to have been a questionable choice. Most (though admittedly not all) of the other leaderheads have been the titular heads of their society, and it isn't like Byzantium lacks for dramatic emperors. Justinian, Basil, Heraclius, Manuel Comnenus and so on. Theodora is a fine choice for a female leaderhead, though Irene actually reigned in her own right, whereas Theodora's claim to fame was manipulating her husband and badmouthing Belisarius.

As for the traits, I agree that philosophical and religious make sense at first glance, but religious especially I think is misplaced. Although Byzantine society was undeniably religious, religion was as much a divisive as unifying force for them, as they liked nothing better than coming up with obscure theological divisions and then persecuting people who didn't agree. Thus, the result was a society given to deep and lasting religious tensions, rather than the harmonius sense of unity of Civ 4's religious trait.

Finally, I think the inclusion of a cavalry unit was an interesting solution, though maybe not one I would have picked. Some sort of heavy cavalry does make a certain amount of sense, but not an upgraded knight. By the time (at least as it is represented in Civ) knights dominated the field, Byzantine heavy cavalry was not the equal of its western counterparts. Cavalry engagements between Greek and Frankish forced during the Fourth Crusade showed a clear superiority in western cavalry arms. An upgraded horse archer (with a different name and melee skin) may have been more appropriate. Of course, you could have gone with the easy cop out of the Varangian Guard, which would have been a solid if stereotypical choice.

icemanjsg · Jun 11, 2006

I like this mod it's great, I hope they put this civ in the expansion as well!

thanks for making this

Amra · Jun 11, 2006

LeperColony said:
Regarding Theodora, I too find her to have been a questionable choice. Most (though admittedly not all) of the other leaderheads have been the titular heads of their society, and it isn't like Byzantium lacks for dramatic emperors. Justinian, Basil, Heraclius, Manuel Comnenus and so on. Theodora is a fine choice for a female leaderhead, though Irene actually reigned in her own right, whereas Theodora's claim to fame was manipulating her husband and badmouthing Belisarius.

You know, to be real honest, I chose Theodora because she was in Civ3 and I wanted to reskin Isabella for my modpack. Otherwise, I think i would probably have chosen Justinian. Unfortunately, I didn't have a more profound reason for choosing Theodora.

LeperColony said:
I think the inclusion of a cavalry unit was an interesting solution, though maybe not one I would have picked. Some sort of heavy cavalry does make a certain amount of sense, but not an upgraded knight. .. you could have gone with the easy cop out of the Varangian Guard, which would have been a solid if stereotypical choice.

I, again, chose the Dromon since it was the Civ3 UU but when searching Google for a 2nd UU to include in my modpack, the Tagmata was the first historical unit I could find. I actually had not heard of the Varangian Guard (my historical knowledge is obviously not as deep as yours) but I will have to look it up now to see what I missed. :crazyeye:

LeperColony · Jun 11, 2006

Sorry, didn't mean to come off as a know-it-all (which I certainly am not), just happy that my years of historical study finally have a practical application! Good thing for computer games.

I appreciate your having made the civ. Is there a way to integrate it into a mod pack that I'm currently using, or can you only use it in standard Civ?

Amra · Jun 12, 2006

LeperColony said:
Sorry, didn't mean to come off as a know-it-all (which I certainly am not), just happy that my years of historical study finally have a practical application! Good thing for computer games.

I appreciate your having made the civ. Is there a way to integrate it into a mod pack that I'm currently using, or can you only use it in standard Civ?

Please don't think that you came off as a know it all, you certainly did not and I wasn't upset by your question at all

I actually appreciated the insight. Thanks.

As far as integrating this civ into another modpack, it shouldn't be too difficult. Obviously, make a backup copy of the modpack you are integrating it with first. Then copy the files under my modpack\Assets\Art\ to the corresponding directories in the new modpack.

Next (using Notepad) open the "XML Changes.txt" file that is included in my modpack. This will show you the changes that were made to the xml files included in my modpack. If your new modpack includes new civs already, then, most likely, it will already include the necessary xml files that you will need to edit with notepad. Presuming that this is the case, simply copy & paste the text lines from "XML Changes.txt" to the appropriate xml file in your new modpack. When doing this part, be sure to look at how the xml files are set up. You can't just paste my changes at the top of the new modpack's xml files. They need to be pasted after another civ's entry. I think if you look at the xml file you are posting into, then you will figure it out.

If I have a xml file in my modpack that is NOT in your new modpack, then you can just copy my xml file to the same directory in your new modpack.

Lastly, I don't think I listed the xml changes that tell Civ4 what colors to use for Byzantium. Oops. :rolleyes:

So... If you need to edit the Assets\XML\Interface\CIV4PlayerColorInfos.xml file (ie: you new modpack already includes this file) then you will want to add the following lines:

Code:

       <PlayerColorInfo>
            <Type>PLAYERCOLOR_GOLD</Type>
            <ColorTypePrimary>COLOR_X_GOLD</ColorTypePrimary>
            <ColorTypeSecondary>COLOR_PLAYER_BLACK</ColorTypeSecondary>
            <TextColorType>COLOR_X_GOLD</TextColorType>
        </PlayerColorInfo>

Then add to Assets\XML\Interface\CIV4ColorVals.xml the following:

Code:

        <ColorVal>
            <Type>COLOR_X_GOLD</Type>
            <fRed>1.00</fRed>
            <fGreen>0.84</fGreen>
            <fBlue>0.00</fBlue>
            <fAlpha>1.00</fAlpha>
        </ColorVal>

Hopefully, I covered everything there but if not let me know.

New Civ - Byzantium

the Lion

the Lion

King

Chieftain

the Lion

Chieftain

Japanese and proud of it

Chieftain

the Lion

Warlord

Emperor

Shqyptar

Magister

Warlord

the Lion

Chieftain

Warlord

the Lion

Chieftain

the Lion

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