Ruff03 - AW Middle Ages

[Conroe]

I don't want the humans to use the exploit atlas mentioned while the AIs don't.

Maybe the solution is to enable the $-buying of units.

the other thing we could do is limit the science slider to 50%, 60% or 70% or just a fixed number - call it a tithe to the ruling religion.

If the rules of an SG state that an exploit is not to be used, then that should be enough. To do otherwise is cheating; and frankly, what's the point? In other words, why bother playing with a variant if you're not going to follow the rules of the variant? Just my 2 cents.

Not to belabor the point, we can reduce the amount of commerce in the game. I haven't figured out how to do it, yet, but I will work on it tonight.

 

[Conroe]

Installing the Mod

1. Download the attached ZIP file. It is at the bottom of this post.
2. Extract the ZIP file to:
   C:\My Documents\My Games\Civilization 4\MODS
   A subdirectory, Ruff03, will be created in the MODS folder containing this mod.

Using the Mod

1. Under the Advanced menu is an option to Load a Mod.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Select the Ruff03 mod and press OK.
   
   
   
   
   
3. A dialog box will appear telling you that needs to restart to load the mod.
4. After starts, you should notice the name of the mod, Ruff03, in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
5. Start up a game as usual.
6. In the Custom Game screen, select the starting era as renaissance to start with the Middle Age techs.
   
   
   
   
   
7. In order to load a save from a modded game, you must first load the mod using the above procedure.

Contents of Mod

1. Only techs from the Ancient, Classical, and Medieval eras are available. Press F6 to verify after starting the game.
2. All traits have been removed from all civs. Hover your mouse over the civ flag at the bottom of the game interface to show that your civ has no traits.
3. All unique units have been removed from all civs. Start a game as Saladin. After founding your first city, you will notice that a Knight is in the list of units rather than the Arabian Camel Archer that normally replaces the Knight.

 

[ruff_hi]

Just looked at the mod ... looking good. Comments / suggestions

• I was thinking that the tech tree would be removed (not just greyed out)
• Also, I would not include the last column (the one with banking in it)
• good job on the traits
• I would remove library (pointless for this game)
• Remove specialists (adjust forge, theatre, market, grocer, temples, etc)
• remove the culture multipler buildings (pointless for this game)
• civics ...
  • des or here rule
  • barb or vassalage
  • tribal, slavery or serfdom
  • decentralized
  • pagan, OR or theocracy
• the file 'CIV4TerrainInfos.xml' controls the commerce, food, hammer production for each tile (under the <yields> flag - I think it is in the order commerce, food, hammer but I could be wrong)

Finally, can anyone recommend a good XML editor - I double click on and XML file and it loads it in IE.

 

[Conroe]

[*]I was thinking that the tech tree would be removed (not just greyed out)

All of these XML files are inter-linked. Deleting the techs all together would force too many other XML modifications. You would have to delete ALL of the units associated with those techs. Same goes for buildings, civics, etc. Even though all of those techs, units, etc are still in the game, they are totally 100% inaccessible to any civ.

Basically, I was attempting to quickly create a usable mod that met your original objectives: middle ages warfare on a level playing field.

[*]Also, I would not include the last column (the one with banking in it)

I killed the techs based upon era. Banking is a medieval era tech. However, we can make it go away if you want.

[*]Remove specialists (adjust forge, theatre, market, grocer, temples, etc)

I would hesitate on this one. The AI seem to rely on golden ages from my experience. By removing the specialist, you remove the great leaders for the AI to kick off a golden age. I think this mod will hurt the AI more than us.

[*]the file 'CIV4TerrainInfos.xml' controls the commerce, food, hammer production for each tile (under the <yields> flag - I think it is in the order commerce, food, hammer but I could be wrong)

Yea, that is one of them. It looked like it was food/hammer/commerce to me.

A bit of a problem, though, removing cottages. Like the tech, they are interlinked throughout the XML files. I can eliminate the commerce effect, however, it will not stop the AI from building them.

Finally, can anyone recommend a good XML editor - I double click on and XML file and it loads it in IE.

I use Notepad.

 

[ruff_hi]

Thanks for the comments. I looked into removing the beaker slider and I think I can do that. I can also remove the culture slider but I think we might want to leave that in to fight WW.

I was thinking that we should remove specialists as we have removed wonders. Anyone else got comments on this?

I think we should remove the banking column - I just moved them to the 'ERA_RENAISSANCE' era in the XML. I'll play a game tonight and see if that works.

Re cottages - I just removed that option from the worker build possibilities.

 

[ChrTh]

Hey gang,

Hate to bail before the game started, but based on my upcoming schedule, I don't think I can give this game the effort it deserves (since it is AW). I'd rather jump ship now rather than later. Sorry. I will lurk, though.

...

Oh, what the hell. Make me an alternate.

PS Chris Thompson is actually pretty close. Christian Thoma is the true answer.

 

[ruff_hi]

Here is the current situation ... I took Conroe's mod and made some adjustments

• removed paper, banks, divine right tech
• removed elephants
• removed libraries and all specialists from other buildings
• changed sliders so that they are either 0% or 100% (couldn't work out how to remove science slider)
• modified civics
• added 'rush with $' to Here Rule
• removed the ability to build cottages from workers

I've attached the updated files (see zip file below) and it can be installed in the same method that Conroe outlined most brilliantly above.

I played a game last night (not AW) and it was ok. I think it is fairly balanced but it does have a bit of CIV III feel (expand like crazy and resources are critical). Hopefully the AW option will control the expansion part and the longbows will make defense possible if you don't have key resources.

Do we want to start or do you want to discuss the mod a bit more? I am happy either way.

 

[Munterpipe]

I vote for let's go!

 

[ruff_hi]

Ok, you don't have to tell me twice. Here are the game settings ...

Is marathon a bit much? Long build times but we are already 361 turns into the game.

Here is the starting position. We have two longbows, two settlers, one worker and 1 scout. All units have moved to show more area EXCEPT the settlers. Where do we want to settle?

 

[ruff_hi]

My selected tiles are:

• one N of the corn (capital) for corn, iron, cows and banans
• one S of the suger (second city) for rice, wine, pigs, suger

Is it suger or silk - always get those two mixed up.

 

[Munterpipe]

I agree with you on those.
A slight problem I see, is that none of the sites are coastal, but I don't know how important that is on Pangea.

 

[Conroe]

I've attached the updated files (see zip file below) and it can be installed in the same method that Conroe outlined most brilliantly above.

Well, thank you for the compliment, however unwarranted it may be. Good job on creating this mod. I certainly could not have done it with my ~20 hours of modding experience. Maybe one day, though ...

No horses! We really needed to get those Knights out early in an AW game.

My selected tiles are:

• one N of the corn (capital) for corn, iron, cows and banans
• one S of the suger (second city) for rice, wine, pigs, suger

Would the 1N of corn tile have access to fresh water? If it doesn't, I would think 1NE of the corn to access the river and the extra health. The palace will give us our border pop in 5 turns so that we can mine the iron. The worker can road it while waiting for the border pop. Of course, you lose the grassland cows, which are always good to have within a city radius ... Can we move one of the settlers 1N to get a look at those 2 fogged tiles? Then do a mouse hover to see if it is fresh water.

I would vote to wait a few turns before settling on a second site. I sure would like to see some horses within our borders.

 

[ruff_hi]

Well, thank you for the compliment, however unwarranted it may be. Good job on creating this mod. I certainly could not have done it with my ~20 hours of modding experience. Maybe one day, though ...

Are you kidding me - you did all the hard work and got the ball rolling.

No horses! We really needed to get those Knights out early in an AW game.

Would the 1N of corn tile have access to fresh water? If it doesn't, I would think 1NE of the corn to access the river and the extra health. The palace will give us our border pop in 5 turns so that we can mine the iron. The worker can road it while waiting for the border pop. Of course, you lose the grassland cows, which are always good to have within a city radius ... Can we move one of the settlers 1N to get a look at those 2 fogged tiles? Then do a mouse hover to see if it is fresh water.

I would vote to wait a few turns before settling on a second site. I sure would like to see some horses within our borders.

Yes, no horses so no knights in the sort term. I will explore and see if we can find some.

1N is fresh water, forested. 1NE is also fresh water and plain (I think). I don't think settling on the coast is as important as normal because we don't care about commerce as much in this game. Defense and production is much more important.

I think we should settle the second city quickly - good chance we grab a holy city - all the religions are allocated to various cities about 2 or 3 turns in and having a holy city that isn't the capital is great - free culture expansion.

Edit: It is silk, not sugar.

 

[Conroe]

1N is fresh water, forested. 1NE is also fresh water and plain (I think).

In that case, I would vote your originally suggested 1N tile for the capital. Fresh water and cows ... much better site than 1NE.

I don't think settling on the coast is as important as normal because we don't care about commerce as much in this game. Defense and production is much more important.

That and we don't want to take the time to build boats. Speed is of the essence in an AW game. We want to be building troops, not boats. It would be a different story on a different map ...

I think we should settle the second city quickly - good chance we grab a holy city - all the religions are allocated to various cities about 2 or 3 turns in and having a holy city that isn't the capital is great - free culture expansion.

Good point! I had not thought of that. When you suggest 1S of the suger silk, are you refering to the tile that is 1N of the desert that picks up the rice, pigs, and wine? I presume that is the tile that you are referring to. In which case, it looks like a good candidate to me.

Lets not delay too long getting a Settler going for when we discover some horses, though.

 

[ruff_hi]

When you suggest 1S of the suger silk, are you refering to the tile that is 1N of the desert that picks up the rice, pigs, and wine? I presume that is the tile that you are referring to. In which case, it looks like a good candidate to me.

Lets not delay too long getting a Settler going for when we discover some horses, though.

Yes, I mean 1S of the southern most silk.

I will try and play 20 rounds tonight and post report tomorrow. We have the city locations set and I will explore N, looking for horses. I don't want to explore too much for obvious reasons in an AW game.

PS. I changed the mod files so that the sliders move in increments of 10% (100% would be too much) and updated the post above with the new file. So, if you have downloaded it, please download again.

 

[colony]

Yep, I agree with both those city placements, I wouldn't worry too much about not being on the coast, but some coastal cities will be useful especially without cottages, as there won't be many other sources of commerce.

We'll need horses soon, speed still kills, if not quite as effectively as in Civ3. I'll have to have a practice game using the mod to be able to tell how not having to research affects an AW game, although with cash rushing on and only culture to spend it on a mix of 1 or 2 cities building/buying Settlers and Workers, and the rest building units might be the best way, once our border cities are secure and we have a few cities.

 

[ruff_hi]

I played 30 rounds of marathon and got BORED ... bored, bored, bored. Both cities were only half way through their barracks. So, I made an executive decision and scrapped that game to drop back to Normal speed. It meant we lost that start but hopefully, you will like the start we got.

Here are our lands at 1100AD ...

As you can see, we are already at war with a couple of people. All our cities are founded on hills (+25% defense). The two on the left have walls (or nearly) and I just founded the city on the left (Barracks first), then walls and castle (more defense). We have horses, iron and food. It looks like we have Katherine to our NE and India to our SW. I am glad that we have some ocean to our backs - we only need to defend 3 directions.

I even managed to kill some units - silly explorers that came to close to my longbows ...

Spoiler turnlog :

Turn 139 (0) (560 AD)

IBT:

Turn 140 (1) (580 AD)
Mecca founded
Mecca begins: Work Boat

IBT:

Turn 141 (2) (600 AD)
Medina founded
Medina begins: Barracks

IBT:

Turn 142 (3) (620 AD)

IBT:
Contact made: Russian Empire
Contact made: Malinese Empire
Contact made: Indian Empire

Turn 143 (4) (640 AD)
Mecca finishes: Work Boat

IBT:

Turn 144 (5) (660 AD)
Mecca begins: Barracks

Turn 144 (6) (660 AD)
Mecca's borders expand

IBT:
Judaism founded in Medina
Judaism has spread: Medina
Christianity founded in a distant land
Hinduism founded in a distant land
Buddhism founded in a distant land
Confucianism founded in a distant land
Taoism founded in a distant land

Turn 145 (7) (680 AD)
While attacking, Longbowman defeats (6.00/6): Russian Explorer

IBT:
Contact made: English Empire

Turn 146 (8) (700 AD)

IBT:

Turn 147 (9) (720 AD)
Medina's borders expand

IBT:

Turn 148 (10) (740 AD)
Longbowman promoted: City Garrison I
Medina finishes: Barracks

IBT:

Turn 149 (11) (760 AD)
Medina begins: Worker
Mecca grows: 2

IBT:

Turn 150 (12) (780 AD)

IBT:

Turn 151 (13) (800 AD)
Mecca begins: Settler
Mecca begins: Settler

IBT:

Turn 152 (14) (820 AD)
Mecca grows: 3

IBT:

Turn 153 (15) (840 AD)
While attacking, Longbowman defeats (5.04/6): English Explorer

IBT:

Turn 154 (16) (860 AD)
Longbowman promoted: City Garrison II

IBT:

Turn 155 (17) (880 AD)
Mecca grows: 4
Mecca finishes: Barracks

IBT:

Turn 156 (18) (900 AD)

IBT:

Turn 157 (19) (920 AD)
Medina finishes: Worker

IBT:

Turn 158 (20) (940 AD)
Medina begins: Longbowman
While attacking, Longbowman defeats (4.08/6): Malinese Explorer

IBT:

Turn 159 (21) (960 AD)
Longbowman promoted: City Garrison I

IBT:

Turn 160 (22) (980 AD)

IBT:

Turn 161 (23) (1000 AD)
Mecca finishes: Settler
Medina grows: 3
Medina finishes: Longbowman

IBT:

Turn 162 (24) (1010 AD)
Mecca begins: Walls
Medina begins: Walls
Longbowman promoted: City Garrison I
Longbowman promoted: City Garrison II

IBT:

Turn 163 (25) (1020 AD)

IBT:

Turn 164 (26) (1030 AD)
While attacking, Longbowman defeats (3.12/6): Indian Explorer
Mecca grows: 5

IBT:

Turn 165 (27) (1040 AD)
Medina grows: 4
Medina's borders expand

IBT:

Turn 166 (28) (1050 AD)
Medina finishes: Walls

IBT:

Turn 167 (29) (1060 AD)
Medina begins: Longbowman
Damascus founded
Damascus begins: Barracks
Mecca finishes: Walls

IBT:

Turn 168 (30) (1070 AD)
Mecca begins: Work Boat

IBT:

Turn 169 (31) (1080 AD)
Mecca grows: 6
Medina grows: 5

IBT:

Turn 170 (32) (1090 AD)

IBT:

Turn 171 (33) (1100 AD)

Roster
Ruff - played
Conroe - up
colony - on deck
Munterpipe
??? (missing)

 

[ruff_hi]

Things to remember

• rush with gold
• i'm trying to spread religion via roads - no luck so far, might build missionaries for this
• gold is important, defense and production more so
• use the culture slider to quickly pop city borders
• rush with gold!

 

[colony]

While I was trying to load the game to have a look at it I had a slight problem. Civ4 seems to be looking for the mod in the wrong directory (seems to be looking for ruff's Windows log-in name instead of mine). Does anyone know if there's an .ini file or a registry entry anywhere to edit it?

I might try having a look in the mod forums if I can't get it to load

 

[ruff_hi]

While I was trying to load the game to have a look at it I had a slight problem. Civ4 seems to be looking for the mod in the wrong directory (seems to be looking for ruff's Windows log-in name instead of mine). Does anyone know if there's an .ini file or a registry entry anywhere to edit it?

I might try having a look in the mod forums if I can't get it to load

Where you trying to load the saved game or start a new game? Where did you put the mod?