So... no MODS for Mac? NOT True!

[AlanH]

Hi, Shiwacca42, welcome

I'm pleased to hear that you resolved your permissions problems while I was still asleep!

Haravikk is correct. If you download a mod as a .Civ5Mod file then you need to expand it, otherwise the Mac version of Civ5 can't read it. I use Ez7z, which you can get from Downloads.com or MacUpdate.com.

 

[Shiwacca42]

I think i followed Haravikk's directions right but it stil doesn't come up in the browse mods section or anywhere. is there anything else i could try?

 

[Shiwacca42]

yay! i had my tech-savy brother help me out. thnx to Haravikk and AlanH for all ur help.

 

[jonaliew]

Hi everyone. New to Civ 5 (though I've played previous installments) and this forum as well.

Just downloaded the Civ 5: Campaign Edition for Mac.

I managed to get the mod menu up as instructed. But I can't seem to load any mods (even the basic ones in the recommendation or previous users have posted up that would work on mac). I can only see the Mongol one.

For the mods my folder is ~/Applications/Civilization V Campaign Edition.app/Contents/MODS

But it seems like non of my mods I put in are loaded.

Any idea why? Did I name or place my mod file in the wrong place?

And any idea where the safe files are hidden? I can't seem to my it in documents. Nor in the civ 5 content folder as well.

 

[Haravikk]

It sounds like they may have done something different with the campaign edition, though putting user-folders inside packages is never a good idea. You might want to check in case you also have the same folder structure as the regular edition in case mods will work there instead.

In my case, my mods folder is under:
~/Documents/Aspyr/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/MODS

If that doesn't exist then the folder you've identified is probably correct. I assume you've already expanded the .civ5mod files?

 

[AlanH]

You shouldn't have to put the mods inside the application package. That isn't where they go in the Steam version either.

For the Campaign edition, they should be put in ~/Library/Application Support/Civilization V Campaign Edition/MODS/

For the Steam version, they go in ~/Library/Application Support/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/MODS/ or ~/Documents/Aspyr/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/MODS/ depending on whether you have changed the setting described elsewhere to use the Library instead of Documents.

The squiggle (tilde) means "start at your home folder"

 

[jonaliew]

It sounds like they may have done something different with the campaign edition, though putting user-folders inside packages is never a good idea. You might want to check in case you also have the same folder structure as the regular edition in case mods will work there instead.

In my case, my mods folder is under:
~/Documents/Aspyr/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/MODS

If that doesn't exist then the folder you've identified is probably correct. I assume you've already expanded the .civ5mod files?

Yeap. Files have been expanded.

To answer yours and AlanH questions. In my documents, I don't see

~/Documents/Aspyr/Sid Meier's Civilization 5/MODS

nor do i see

~/Library/Application Support/Civilization V Campaign Edition/MODS/

Tried searching far out for it. Even go to folder also doesn't find it.

 

[dalhamir]

Hey, is there any update on if all mods work once you expand the mod archives?

Is there only some type of mods that work?

Thanks for all of the great information so far.

 

[AlanH]

I am not aware of any mods that are incompatible with the Mac version - once expanded.

Of course, that will all change when Firaxis release the DLL code, threatened for a few months time. That will allow Windows mods to be developed that will simply not work on a Mac, because they will run code that will be compiled for Windows version only.

 

[Mavfin]

I am not aware of any mods that are incompatible with the Mac version - once expanded.

Of course, that will all change when Firaxis release the DLL code, threatened for a few months time. That will allow Windows mods to be developed that will simply not work on a Mac, because they will run code that will be compiled for Windows version only.

And that's what, in the end, makes the game's lifecycle short for Mac users. I'll be forced to run Civ 5 even for Thal's mod, I bet, on my Win 7 partition. At least with Steam I paid one price and can play on either OS.

Just sucks that 2K treats us like redheaded stepchildren, but, then, we enable them, too.

 

[jmelnick]

I found the MainMenu.lua file, yet I cannot edit it. It says in TextEdit it is a locked document. Should I open it with anything else?

 

[jmelnick]

And also, how do you expand files and what do you do with them?

 

[jmelnick]

Never mind.... I was able to find the Mods button on Civ5 startup screen. I have activated the Carthage, Holy Roman, and Byzantine Mods from this website. Why is it that whenever I try to start a Mod game Civ5 crashes?

 

[AlanH]

Hi, welcome

I found the MainMenu.lua file, yet I cannot edit it. It says in TextEdit it is a locked document.

I assume you are running the App Store version of Civ5? If so, you will have found the .lua file in the Civ5 application package, at /Applications/Civilization V Campaign Edition/Contents/Home/assets/UI/FrontEnd/MainMenu.lua.

If you select the file in Finder and Choose Get Info from the File menu you will see that the permissions are: Owner=root; Group=wheel, and only the owner can write the file. The same applies to the 'FrontEnd' folder that it lives in.

You need to grant yourself permission to modify this file, and for various complicated reasons that means you also need permission to modify its parent directory as well. You do this in the Get Info window for each item. Click the lock icon at the bottom right of the window; enter your password (assuming you are logged in as a user with Admin privileges); and change the permissions to allow read and write for everyone.

Now you should be able to open the file in TextEdit and change it, and save the changes.

Should I open it with anything else?

I use BBEdit for editing text files. That has a built-in feature to escalate privileges when you need to change files owned by root, and saves a bit of time. But TextEdit should work if you change permissions manually.

And also, how do you expand files and what do you do with them?

Use Ez7z to expand a xxxx.Civ5Mod file. That creates a folder that you can drop into the Mods folder, which is at:

/Users/<your_name>/Library/Application Support/Civilization V Campaign Edition/MODS

If you are running OS X 10.7 (Lion) then your /Users/<your_name>/Library/ is hidden in the Finder. Hold the Alt key down and select the Finder's Go menu. You will see Library as one of the options in that menu. If you want to be able to get back to it often then, while you have the Library window open, select "Add to Sidebar" in the Finder's File menu. It will then apper in the left hand list in Finder windows.

 

[jmelnick]

Thank you.
I have found it all and the MODS option has been found. However, I am not able to play with the mods. I enabled them but every time I start a Modded game, Civ5 crashes. Any recommendations?

 

[AlanH]

Nope ... I don't play the mods, I just work out how to install them.

I can only suggest you:

(a) make sure that you done the above steps accurately.

(b) make sure that the mods you are trying are good mods - check the forums for satisfied users.

(c) check that your computer meets more than the minimum requirements for Civ5, since mods often impose more stress on memory, graphics and CPU performance.

(d) wait for someone with more user experience to come by.

 

[jmelnick]

I found the problem... thanks.
How do i expand/change .rar files to become mods to play with?
I really want to download a couple of mods that are .rar files yet when i use Ez7z, they don't expand/shrink/PAR2 into playable mods

 

[AlanH]

OS X should be able to expand .rar files without assistance from any third party software. Have you tried just double clicking them?

Trouble is, I have developer tools of various kinds installed, so I'm never sure what a vanilla system can do.

Are you going to tell us what the issue was? It might help someone else ...

 

[jmelnick]

Whenever I download .rar files, they open automatically with Ez7z. I close Ez7z and then copy them into the MODS folder of Civ5. When I launch Civ5, they are not there to use in play.

 

[AlanH]

When I asked if you would tell us what the issue was, I meant it might be useful to others if we knew what was causing your Civ5 to crash.

I've checked, and Ez7z does, indeed, expand a .rar file. You have to click on Expand, then tell it where to save the result - eg your desktop - and it should make a folder there that you can drop into the Civ5 Mods folder.

Give me a link to one of the .rar mods you are having trouble with and I'll see if I can work out what your problem is.