Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[Ben E Gas]

..........................If you want, I could help you configure the regularity and amount of autosaves that you want to have the game create for you. It's not that difficult, but maybe you're satisfied with the 1 in 4 turns autosave feature with a maximum of 5 autosaves.

Yes, that'd be great. How do I change the settings. I'd like it if it saved all of the autosavs and quick saves, not just 5. If I need to delete them, I'll go in and delete them myself.

I'd like it to maybe autosave every 5 or so turns, maybe 10.


Another question, about warlords. If I install the warlords expansion, can I still play my old saves and the old vanilla version? I don't want to abandon any PBEM vanilla games that I'm about to start.

 

[Paco Rabone]

I am a longtime fan and addict of the entire civilization series (incidentally by favorite of all time was Test of Time the Midguard scenario) and now I am very hooked on Warlords.

I would love to be able to make my own maps but this version is the first that it isn't an option for me. I have been downloading different maps but I would still like to make my own.

How can I make my own maps??

Cheers

Paco Rabone

 

[Ginger_Ale]

What is the best version of Civ4 to buy? Any advantage to going after the Special Edition or the DVD version?

See the response I wrote in the thread you started.

Yes, that'd be great. How do I change the settings. I'd like it if it saved all of the autosavs and quick saves, not just 5. If I need to delete them, I'll go in and delete them myself.

I'd like it to maybe autosave every 5 or so turns, maybe 10.

You can change this in your .ini file (../My Documents/My Games/Sid Meier's Civilization 4/, called CivilizationIV.ini - for the Warlords one, it's in the Warlords folder, I presume). Open it in Notepad. There will be two lines you want to change:

; The maximum number of autosaves kept in the directory before being deleted.
MaxAutoSaves = 100​

I have mine set to 100 (or 1/4 of a game). If you want to keep all the autosaves from a game, just set that number to 400! Also, you'll want to change this line:

; Specify the number of turns between autoSaves. 0 means no autosave.
AutoSaveInterval = 1​

1 means save every turn. If you just want it to autosave every 5 turns, set it to 5 (and then you can change the max autosaves to just 80).

Another question, about warlords. If I install the warlords expansion, can I still play my old saves and the old vanilla version? I don't want to abandon any PBEM vanilla games that I'm about to start.

Yeah, I don't have Warlords, but like Civ3 and the Civ3 expansions, assuming you put the Vanilla CD in the drive, you'll still be able to play the saves. After all, Warlords requires Vanilla to be installed, so it makes sense that you can use it!

I am a longtime fan and addict of the entire civilization series (incidentally by favorite of all time was Test of Time the Midguard scenario) and now I am very hooked on Warlords.

I would love to be able to make my own maps but this version is the first that it isn't an option for me. I have been downloading different maps but I would still like to make my own.

How can I make my own maps??

Cheers

Paco Rabone

Hey Paco, the only map-making tool is one called the WorldBuilder, which is only accessible by pressing Control + W during a game. So, to make a map, you can just start a game (making the settings close to an idea for a map you have might help to save time, but it's not necessary), and press Control + W. From there, you can edit terrain, cities, units, fog of war, and all the other stuff needed to make maps.


edit: Crosspost with Roland Johansen. Seems we both had the same things to say!

 

[Roland Johansen]

Yes, that'd be great. How do I change the settings. I'd like it if it saved all of the autosavs and quick saves, not just 5. If I need to delete them, I'll go in and delete them myself.

I'd like it to maybe autosave every 5 or so turns, maybe 10.

In the main civilization folder is a link called _Civ4Config. If you double click the link, you'll open the CivilizationIV.ini file. This file contains some settings for the game. Two of those settings control the autosaves:

; The maximum number of autosaves kept in the directory before being deleted.
MaxAutoSaves = 5

; Specify the number of turns between autoSaves. 0 means no autosave.
AutoSaveInterval = 4

You could increase the maximum number of autosaves kept to a large number like 50 by setting MaxAutoSaves = 50 and then you'll probably will have enough autosaves. The number of turns between autosaves can be set to a larger value like 10 by setting AutosaveInterval=10.

Personally, I use AutosaveInterval=1 (save each turn) because I only seem to use it when I misclicked a stack of units to a wronge position on the map. And then I don't want a save from a number of turns ago.

If you also play Warlords, then you can enter the subfolder named Warlords and there you'll also find a link called _Civ4Config which governs the same settings for the Warlords expansion set.

Another question, about warlords. If I install the warlords expansion, can I still play my old saves and the old vanilla version? I don't want to abandon any PBEM vanilla games that I'm about to start.

A Warlords game is started by using a different exe file. The original exe file is still present and thus normal civ4 games can still be started or continued. I'm not sure, but I believe that the expansion pack also upgrades normal civ4 to version 1.61 so if you haven't done that already, then that might cause problems for savegames.

I am a longtime fan and addict of the entire civilization series (incidentally by favorite of all time was Test of Time the Midguard scenario) and now I am very hooked on Warlords.

I would love to be able to make my own maps but this version is the first that it isn't an option for me. I have been downloading different maps but I would still like to make my own.

How can I make my own maps??

Cheers

Paco Rabone

This game contains a Worldbuilder for creating maps (editing values for units, adding buildings and units and changing other stuff works differently). You can enter it from the main game after you've started a game. Just click CTRL-W (from the main map) or select the world builder option from the menu.

More options for the worldbuilder become available if you enter CheatCode = chipotle in the civilizationIV.ini file (the ini file for Warlords is in another place then the ini file for vanilla Civlization 4). See the answer I gave to Ben E Gas for where to find the ini files.
More about this cheat code and using the World Builder can be found here.

By the way, welcome to civfanatics, Paco Rabone

Edit: cross posted with Ginger_Ale

 

[a4phantom]

I'm getting an unhappiness penalty for being at war with fellow Buddists. It makes sense, but I don't think I've seen it before. Is taking a hit for fighting your brothers and sisters of the faith new to Warlords?

 

[Roland Johansen]

I'm getting an unhappiness penalty for being at war with fellow Buddists. It makes sense, but I don't think I've seen it before. Is taking a hit for fighting your brothers and sisters of the faith new to Warlords?

No, it's always been there. Maybe you're paying more attention to details now than a few months ago. Or maybe you just haven't been fighting brothers and sisters of the faith in your last games. The penalty isn't huge and so you could easily miss it.

 

[a4phantom]

My first war is usually with Isabela or Monty, whose faith I have adopted . I guess I don't pay as much attention as I should to causes of unhappiness, comes from playing Prince. It's religious patricide, but I want that shrine.

 

[tomart]

Hi, all! Long-time Civ3 addict (Conquests beta veteran) but new to CIV (C-IV? CivIV?). Hope this is the right thread for this question.

I've been through the manual and browsing this forum, but can't find how to do the following:
"Teams can easily communicate with each other. Example: You are able to put signs on tiles and draw lines on the terrain and other players are able to see that and know where to go (if a specific location is your goal. This is available in Single-Player mode as well).
- (quote from Multiplayer FAQ, I think.)

If this is available in SP, this sounds like something I've wanted for years - a way to label terrain features. Wouldn't it be great to put your own labels on oceans, mountain ranges, rivers, deserts, jungles, almost anything? I have dozens of favorite names I'd love to have on the map - "Amazon Rainforest" "Misty Mountains" "Piker's Peak" "Cape Fear" "North Point" "Lazy River" "Bottleneck" ...if you're creative, the list is endless. Compared to CIV's amazing 3D presentation, this is easy programming.

Thanks in advance for your time.

 

[Lord Parkin]

Yep, you can do this both in single player and multiplayer. Just press Alt-S, and select the location for your sign. To remove old signs, press Alt-S and click them again. Enjoy!

 

[Roland Johansen]

Hi, all! Long-time Civ3 addict (Conquests beta veteran) but new to CIV (C-IV? CivIV?). Hope this is the right thread for this question.

I've been through the manual and browsing this forum, but can't find how to do the following:
"Teams can easily communicate with each other. Example: You are able to put signs on tiles and draw lines on the terrain and other players are able to see that and know where to go (if a specific location is your goal. This is available in Single-Player mode as well).
- (quote from Multiplayer FAQ, I think.)

If this is available in SP, this sounds like something I've wanted for years - a way to label terrain features. Wouldn't it be great to put your own labels on oceans, mountain ranges, rivers, deserts, jungles, almost anything? I have dozens of favorite names I'd love to have on the map - "Amazon Rainforest" "Misty Mountains" "Piker's Peak" "Cape Fear" "North Point" "Lazy River" "Bottleneck" ...if you're creative, the list is endless. Compared to CIV's amazing 3D presentation, this is easy programming.

Thanks in advance for your time.

To add to Lord Parkins answer. Alt-s lets you create signs as he explains. But you can also go to the strategic overlay. When you zoom out until you see the flat terrain change into a globe, it is one of the buttons in the lower right part of the screen. Only when zoomed out, you can draw on the map with the features in the strategic overlay. It also allows you to create signs, but it is easier to do that with Alt-s.

I typically use it to remind me of some things (how I plan to change terrain, where to place cities, what a city should do in the future). It can be very useful. But it doesn't look great, so I wouldn't use it to name terrain features.

 

[Steev42]

So, for the first time, I've decided to start trying out some mods. In particular, I've downloaded SevoMod and the HoF mod. I've come across the same problem with both--no interface. Ctrl-I and Shift-I have both been tried with no results.

Am I missing something simple, or is this something I should take to the technical support forum?

 

[Raisin Bran]

So, for the first time, I've decided to start trying out some mods. In particular, I've downloaded SevoMod and the HoF mod. I've come across the same problem with both--no interface. Ctrl-I and Shift-I have both been tried with no results.

Am I missing something simple, or is this something I should take to the technical support forum?

Welcome to CFC

Your answer sghould be best answered in the respective MOD forums

here link link link

 

[Raisin Bran]

Now I have a question concerning Cavalry (cossaks included)

Are these units listed as mounted units or gunpowder units?

Im asking this because I want to know how well a machine gun unit will defend against cavalry.

Will the machine gun benefit from the +50% against gunpowder units?

 

[flamingzaroc121]

no im pretty(98%)sur that cavalry are mounted because the can upgrade from other mounted units

 

[Steev42]

Welcome to CFC

Your answer sghould be best answered in the respective MOD forums

here link link link

Thanks, and I've posted in Sevo's forum. However, I don't think it's mod-specific, though an attempt at the American Revolution mod/scenario seemed to work fine.

 

[OscarWildebeest]

Sincere apologies if this has been answered elsewhere, but I didn't find it after doing a search and I'm reluctant to read through all 200 pages of this thread...

Is there a way to see, on one screen, all the wonders that have been built and who's built them?

 

[Sisiutil]

Sincere apologies if this has been answered elsewhere, but I didn't find it after doing a search and I'm reluctant to read through all 200 pages of this thread...

Is there a way to see, on one screen, all the wonders that have been built and who's built them?

The Top 5 Cities/Wonders page of the Info Screen (F9 IIRC) will tell you this, though not, unfortunately, the city where every wonder is located.

 

[Zophos]

Sincere apologies if this has been answered elsewhere, but I didn't find it after doing a search and I'm reluctant to read through all 200 pages of this thread...

Apologize not. That is the point of this thread, actually. You can post any question, even if it's been posted a thousand times before, and get a quick answer.

As I see Sisutil did for you.

 

[OscarWildebeest]

The Top 5 Cities/Wonders page of the Info Screen (F9 IIRC) will tell you this, though not, unfortunately, the city where every wonder is located.

That's OK, I only need to know how many wonders Hatty has. Somehow she's stealing a march on me, points-wise, and there's only about 20 years of gameplay to go...

 

[Ben E Gas]

Yep, you can do this both in single player and multiplayer. Just press Alt-S, and select the location for your sign. To remove old signs, press Alt-S and click them again. Enjoy!

Nice feature. I too like to be able to name the different terrain. I always thought you had to go into world builder to do it. Thanks for the quick tip, I'll try out the Alt-s.

So, for the first time, I've decided to start trying out some mods. In particular, I've downloaded SevoMod and the HoF mod. I've come across the same problem with both--no interface. Ctrl-I and Shift-I have both been tried with no results.

Am I missing something simple, or is this something I should take to the technical support forum?

I use Sevomod. It is great. I don't know what your having a problem with though. I am just learning all of the quick keyboard controls, so I never tried the ctrl-I or shift-I command. But I have never had any problems getting into any of the menus. Did you find an answer to your question? If so, what was it?