Recommend me a mod!

[Kaleb]

Hello fellow civ fanatics.

I've not tried a new mod for quite a while now and I've lost track of where the various mods are in terms of development. I'm too lazy to read through all the mod descriptions so I thought I would just do a shout for other people's recommendations as to a good mod to try.

I normal play BtS on Huge, Epic, and Emperor settings.

I'm looking for something that will be a big game with lots of variety at different stages of the game.

Rise of Mankind looks nice, but that's all I've really looked at in detail. I guess I'm kind of looking for the Civ4 equivalent of the MTW2 'Stainless Steel' mod.

Thanks for any tips!

 

[Ajidica]

There arent any medieval mods out with the exception of TheNavySeals Earth 1000 AD and the MEdieval Age or European Middle Ages for Vanilla Civ. Primordial Stews Rise and Fall of the Roman EMpire mod is cool, but it is a bit large and if you have a slightly slow computer, it will have a hard time handleing RFRE due to lots of Python and large map. I have never played Stainless Steel, but from what I can remember, a nice streamlined mod is Rise and Fall of Civilization. All civs come in at dynamic points in time. If you are looking for a truley awsome fantasy mod, try Fall From Heaven. Another good fantasy mod is Warhammer Fantasy Battles. It is still in beta stage but is completly playable.

 

[dot]

I don't know anything about stainless steel.

But I recommend the option to make your opponents weapons rust, to make your units haste, to upgrade the weapons of your melee units, to be able to play a raiding Civilization (or an adaptive one for that matter), to throw fireballs at your opponents, to summon krakens and treants and earth elementals and to finally fight with or against the inhabitants of hell.

And that ... is but a glimpse of what awaits you.

Spoiler highly addictive stuff :

Did I manage to spark your curiousity? --- If so, check this.​

 

[Wolfshanze]

You might like to try the Wolfshanze Mod (link in sig-line below).

It's a Civ-flavor-mod, combined with some new units in the biggest gap Firaxis left in the game... the Industrial Age... and a few new civs (Austria, Poland & Vietnam).

First, the "flavor mod" aspect makes each and every civ look and feel completely unique... Aztec cities look Aztec... Chinese cities look Chinese... Russian cities look... well... Russian. Same for the units... Germans look German, Japanese look Japanese, etc, etc... the uniforms and equipment are specific to each nation (Germans will fly Messerschmidt fighters, Americans will fly P-38 Lightnings, etc, etc). This "flavor" aspect is covered from the dawn of civilization in 4000 BC right up to the very end of the game in modern times.

As for the Industrial Age enhancements, the Wolfshanze Mod adds units missing from that age... especially coal-fired navies, ocean-going ironclads, pre-dreadnoughts and dreadnoughts, WWI units such as early tanks and biplanes.

Gameplay-wise, the game plays the same as it always has... you can still play from 4,000 BC to modern times just like always... tech progression is the same, old strategies still work the same, you just get better looking units, better looking cities, more units to play with in the industrial age, and better naval options.

Here's a video teaser of what you get... if you see it in the movie clip below, you get the equivalent of it in the Wolfshanze Mod... link for the mod is in my sig-line.

Spoiler :

Click Here to see the Wolfshanze Mod Video Introduction

 

[Marshall Thomas]

You might like to try the Wolfshanze Mod (link in sig-line below).

It's a Civ-flavor-mod, combined with some new units in the biggest gap Firaxis left in the game... the Industrial Age... and a few new civs (Austria, Poland & Vietnam).

First, the "flavor mod" aspect makes each and every civ look and feel completely unique... Aztec cities look Aztec... Chinese cities look Chinese... Russian cities look... well... Russian. Same for the units... Germans look German, Japanese look Japanese, etc, etc... the uniforms and equipment are specific to each nation (Germans will fly Messerschmidt fighters, Americans will fly P-38 Lightnings, etc, etc). This "flavor" aspect is covered from the dawn of civilization in 4000 BC right up to the very end of the game in modern times.

As for the Industrial Age enhancements, the Wolfshanze Mod adds units missing from that age... especially coal-fired navies, ocean-going ironclads, pre-dreadnoughts and dreadnoughts, WWI units such as early tanks and biplanes.

Gameplay-wise, the game plays the same as it always has... you can still play from 4,000 BC to modern times just like always... tech progression is the same, old strategies still work the same, you just get better looking units, better looking cities, more units to play with in the industrial age, and better naval options.

Here's a video teaser of what you get... if you see it in the movie clip below, you get the equivalent of it in the Wolfshanze Mod... link for the mod is in my sig-line.

Spoiler :

Click Here to see the Wolfshanze Mod Video Introduction

I really can't imagine anyone not liking the Wolfshanze mod. It's additions are great and it takes away nothing. I know that I'll never play without it.

 

[Ajidica]

I tried Wolfshanze mod, didnt like it that much. It wasnt that it was bad, but it felt like a 'blob mod'. With the exception of some ships, it didnt do much. I agree that unique art is great, but it annoyed me when I was the english that all of my battleships were the HMS Hood. If I download a mod, I like it to either introduce new things or to focus specificly on one thing, or to be a really neat and innovative concept (davidlallans post-apocalyptic Fury Road or Colins Necro Christi). To each their own however.

 

[Kaleb]

Ooh, some nice tips here. Thanks

I mentioned Stainless Steel mod purely because for Medieval Total War 2 it is by far the most popular mod with several upgrade and loads of extra detailed content. The kind of mod that once you've played it you'll never go back to the original again.

What I would most love is a game that went at Marathon pace (in terms of total turns) but had more techs, more building, resources and units.

I don't know anything about stainless steel.

But I recommend the option to make your opponents weapons rust, to make your units haste, to upgrade the weapons of your melee units, to be able to play a raiding Civilization (or an adaptive one for that matter), to throw fireballs at your opponents, to summon krakens and treants and earth elementals and to finally fight with or against the inhabitants of hell.

And that ... is but a glimpse of what awaits you.

hehe that DOES sound interesting

Rise of Man also sounds cool but do the civs that join later in the game get a big disadvantage??

I also like the sound of 'flavor mods' because the basic game of Civ4 (unlike MTW2) is just so replayable.

 

[dot]

... The interesting sounding one has high replayability. ...

​

 

[Wolfshanze]

I agree that unique art is great, but it annoyed me when I was the english that all of my battleships were the HMS Hood.

Well if you play the English in the default game, all of your battleships are the USS Iowa (as well as everyone else's battleships).

Besides... all the English Battleships are now patterned off the KGV now!

 

[Ajidica]

I would rather have alot nondescript battleships that many clones of the Hood or KGV. As I said, to each their own, we like different things in a mod. Also, I do like cultural units, but I also like to be able to tell what unit it is at a glance, WWI Dreadnoughts look very similar to WWII battleships when zoomed out.

 

[Wolfshanze]

I would rather have alot nondescript battleships that many clones of the Hood or KGV.

So what you're saying is you prefer many clones of the USS Iowa, because that's exactly what you were getting... default Civ4 is cloning the American Battleship USS Iowa to every nation... it's not a nondescript generic warship... it's the USS Iowa... so not only are you getting a clone, you're getting a clone of a ship from the wrong nation (that every other nation is also getting).

WWI Dreadnoughts look very similar to WWII battleships when zoomed out.

That's probably because in real-life, WWI Dreadnoughts look alot like WWII Battleships... that would be called realism... what did you want WWI Dreadnoughts to look like... Ancient Triremes? Each dreadnought is actually modeled after an ACTUAL Dreadnought. Do you also hate default Civ4 because zoomed-out Cuirassiers look a lot like zoomed-out Cavalry?

I just don't get what you're complaining about... you don't like clones of the Hood or KGV, but you're a huge fan of getting clones of the USS Iowa, and you don't like ships looking like they historically are, as-in Dreadnoughts (of which many served as "Battleships" in WWII). I understand different strokes for different folks... but your arguments of why you don't like this or that seem rather odd... like not getting clones of English Battleships for England because you prefer getting clones of US Battleships for England... weird.

 

[Ajidica]

I never realized it was the Iowa, to me it was just a battleship. This is probably I know very little about what the weapons (including planes, ships, tanks, ect) look like. To you you probably can recognize the difference, but can you recognize the diference between a cataphract and a knight? Probably not because that isnt where you know alot about. Just by looking at the ships, the only ones I could probably recognize are the Hood, Bismark, and the Ark Royale. As I have said before, to each their own, and lets leave it at that.

 

[dumbttt]

All of the game's units, especially modern ones must be based on something. If it is the standard one that the game's designers use, it is "nondescript". I don't care if the battleship is based on the Iowa, it is nondescript as far as the game is concern.
It is also unnecessary to have 10 different graphics for the same unit, that all of them has the exact same stats, especially if the unit is a mechanical unit. In the case of archers, Asian archers will probably look Asian while the European ones look European, but it is perfectly sensible for Asian civ and European civ to manufacture similar looking tank. In fact, it is kind of ridiculous that they would make different looking tanks that happen to have exactly the same stats.

 

[Wolfshanze]

All of the game's units, especially modern ones must be based on something.

Precisely my point... most of them aren't just "based" on something... most of them ARE something.

If it is the standard one that the game's designers use, it is "nondescript".

No... it's not "nondescript".

non·de·script
Pronunciation:
\ˌnän-di-ˈskript\
1 : belonging or appearing to belong to no particular class or kind : not easily described
2 : lacking distinctive or interesting qualities

By definition, nondescript means it's generic... you don't know what it is because it's not based on anything in-particular.

In Civ4, most of the modern units are indeed based on something... the "Fighter" is actually a British Supermarine Spitfire... the "Bomber" is a British Lancaster... the "Jet Fighter" is an American F-16 Falcon... the "Tank" is an American M4 Sherman... the "Battleship" is the American USS Iowa... the list goes on and on and on... they're not nondescript because they are definitely models of actual equipment built by specific nations.

If you're playing Civ4 and you're the Spanish fighting the Germans, you've got Spanish flying British/Spitfire fighters against German British/Spitfire fighters. That's silly.

You argue that units have the same stats, and ergo should all look identical. That's just as silly... You go to the movies and see a WWII film... do you expect the Americans and Germans both to fly British Spitfires against each other? In the movies (at least modern ones) the Germans have German fighters and the Americans have American fighters... in WWII the Germans flew German Fighters and the Americans fly American fighters.

Look... nobody must play my mod... if you don't like it you don't have to play it... I just find the argument of "I want nondescript units, even though most of the modern units are anything but nondescript" is a bit crazy... especially trying to rationalize why everyone should be sailing American-built USS Iowas on the high seas and British-built Spitfires in the air... woe is me, I tried to make the Americans look American and the Germans look German... how horrible. If you want non-descript, we could make all the units look like red blobs... now that would be non-descript.

 

[Agent327]

Rise of Man also sounds cool but do the civs that join later in the game get a big disadvantage??

I think you're confusing Rise of Mankind with Rhye's and Fall of Civilization. Rhye has balanced his mod to counter any possible disadvantage of later starting civs; the only downside might be the longer waiting times before you can actually start playing, but this can be countered by choosing an earlier civ first and switching to your fav civ later (if you still want to by then).

Also, Merged Mod incorporates Wolfshanze's mod, while merging in a few good others as well (like Dale's Combat Mod).

As a general hint I'd just like to say: try out a couple - you can always switch if a mod turns out to be not your cup-a-tea.

 

[dot]

To get back on topic: I still recommend FfH II.

 

[Kaleb]

Well I think I am sold on the Wolfshanze mod, I'll download that and use it instead of vanilla from now on.

I'll also give FfH a try although I didn't fall in love with the Ice version first time around. And yes, I was getting Rise of Man muddled up with Rise of Mankind, but I knew what I meant

I'll give that a go too!

thanks for all the tips.

any other quirky mods to suggest?

 

[Ninja2]

Well... if you try out Wolfshanze's mod, and you like it, I'm almost sure you'll like Merged Mod as well!

 

[Maaximillus]

If u want mod that does not change basics of Civ4 but adds many new units/civs/leaders ect ect I suggest you try Wolfshanze's mod. If you want mod that plays pretty much like basic civ4 but is more realistic and more advanced I suggest you try Rhye's and fall of civilizations or Rise of mankind. They both have later spawning civs. In rhyes the game is pretty balanced because the map and the systems are always the same. In Rise of mankind the late spawning civs are either barbarian cities that are civilized enough to turn into civilization or rebels who rebel against bigger country. If they are rebels they get same technology that empire which they rebelled against had. If they are barbarians turning civilized theyh get average tech so that they arent last and arent first in tech. Rise of mankind has many awesome and realistic things in it. If you want something totally new I suggest FFH2 or that space mod that comes with BTS.

 

[Donkey Puncher]

I recommend ROM2 ,Thomas' war,History in the Making and overlord and nextwar advanced