Noob questions - Current versions? Overview of AOD2?

[ModernKnight]

Hi folks, I got C4C a couple of weeks ago after playing Civ4 for years - I have no idea why I waited so long! Anyway, I found aspects of vanilla C4C overly complex, so I'm glad I found out about AoD2... it seems like the most popular mod, or at least a top mod to try. But I have some basic questions...

1) What version of C4C do I have?? The AoD2 download (1.12) says it requires C4C "1.01f". I used the C4C in-game updater, and "About This Build" reads:

Col Ver 101
Save Ver 2
Build Ver 1.0.0.1 (121000)
Build Date 2/27/09
FINAL RELEASE​

None of these is quite "1.01f", although I can guess that 101 = 1.01 and f = Final.

But why guess? And why do folks always have different ways of calling game versions?? LOL. Ok, nm me. It would be nice if the main AoD2 doc had a quick note about noobs can find and interpret their C4C version, though.

2) I can see that there is, for example, a nice long changelog in the AoD2 zip file, and also, of course, there's this forum. But it there a simple overview of how the feel of this game will differ from vanilla C4C?

I take it that "AODII ChangeLog.txt" spells out ALL the changes from vanilla, yes? Which if true means that technically it shows all the differences. But that doesn't tell me succinctly how I should differ my approach, etc. If you know of a webpage or thread that says this, could you provide a link?

Thanks, folks! I'm looking forward to something that will make C4C rock!

MK​

 

[Aerion]

I'm not at home so I can't verify your version. But I can tell you that AoD2 is pretty much a full expansion pack for C4C. Dale has done an amazing job with it. The Mod also includes a number of smaller mods done by other people to add to the experience. There are some who find fault with it, but I've never heard anyone say they prefer vanilla over AoD2.

I still make some tweaks on top of AoD2 but only a few.

 

[Aerion]

And checking from home, you have the correct build for AoD2.

 

[ModernKnight]

Great... and yes, it's working fine.

So far, it feels like a realistic multi-faceted struggle - better than vanilla C4C, which seems poorly tuned in comparison.

And this is on the easy setting 2/7... gulp. Hehe.

One more question? When I load C4C anew from my desktop icon, I have to reload the AoD2 mod each time. Is there some way to have it automatically go into AoD2?

Thanks! - MK

 

[Dale]

Yeah, change your desktop icon shortcut path (so right-click properties to get to it) to:

C:\Games\Colonization\Colonization.exe mod=\AgeOfDiscoveryII

Or whatever path it is. The "mod=...." is the important bit.

 

[ModernKnight]

Thanks, Dale!

 

[ModernKnight]

Does anyone know if you can launch C4C or AoD2 from a savegame?

I've been doing this with Civ4 forever - I have a desktop Explorer shortcut that loads the Civ4 savegame directory sorted by decreasing timestamp, with the latest savegame at the top. So I click on the top savegame, get my coffee, and my next Civ4 turn is waiting when I get back to the PC.

But when I try this with C4C, it doesn't work.

Any ideas?

MK​

 

[kaibayashi]

Does anyone know if you can launch C4C or AoD2 from a savegame?

I've been doing this with Civ4 forever - I have a desktop Explorer shortcut that loads the Civ4 savegame directory sorted by decreasing timestamp, with the latest savegame at the top. So I click on the top savegame, get my coffee, and my next Civ4 turn is waiting when I get back to the PC.

But when I try this with C4C, it doesn't work.

Any ideas?

MK​

Does anything happen at all? I would presume its possible given the closeness of the games. Perhaps the association needs to be set in windows/file types??

 

[ModernKnight]

IIRC, the association is set when I double-clicked on a savegame and told WinXP to associate it with the Civ4 .exe.

Which was very cool of Civ4.

But it doesn't work with C4C.

 

[kaibayashi]

IIRC, the association is set when I double-clicked on a savegame and told WinXP to associate it with the Civ4 .exe.

Which was very cool of Civ4.

But it doesn't work with C4C.

You can set file associations in Windows Explorer can't you? (I can't remember as i don't use it any more).

 

[ModernKnight]

Yes, that's right. And I did that for the C4C savegame extension.

But for some reason, it's not working for C4C. Even though it worked for Civ4.

So I'm wondering if I'm doing it wrong some how - has anyone else been able to get it to work for C4C or AoD2?

 

[kaibayashi]

Well i tried it and it loaded the game, but not the save Haven't tried it with Civ4 so dunno what the difference is

 

[ModernKnight]

That's what it does for me - just loads the game. Which probably is saying Windows got the association right (and started C4C, then passed it the savegame filename), but C4C didn't know what to do with it.

With Civ4, it goes directly to loading the saved game. You don't have to pull up the Save Game menu in the game. If you've also turned off Civ4 intro movies in your settings file, it means you can click on your latest savegame (via a Windows shortcut that points to the savegame directory), then get some coffee and the game is loaded when you're back, no interruptions. I played huge Civ4 games and they took a couple of minutes to load.

Anyway. I guess it doesn't work for C4C. That's the bad news. The good news is that so far, C4C games have loaded real fast for me. But then I'm just learning and playing small maps.