Solver's unofficial BtS 3.17 patch

[blitzkrieg1980]

No. . Really, I like the game as is. If someone has only modded the 1 thing I would change, then fine. But usually a MOD consists of many changes (being more than 2) and I'm happy /w the game as is.

 

[Wodan]

Interesting. Thanks.

I guess my viewpoint is that there are some fundamental problems withthe basic game, such as lack of RPS (rock paper scissors) for naval units (which they did a good job with on land units, but for some reason didn't carry it over to naval). That's why Wolfshanze is a good replacement (to me) over the basic game.

That doesn't get into a more "typical" mod which screws with a bunch of core game mechanics. I tend to agree with you there... I've tried some of them and seems like they screw up as much as they add.

Some few exceptions like FFH, which really is a totally new game.

 

[blitzkrieg1980]

Can you link the Wolfshanze mod thread? I'm interested in it now

 

[Wodan]

Wolfshanze Mod

To be honest, one of the things I like about his mod is that he doesn't screw around with the basic mechanics. He added a TON of unit skins, which is flavor, no more, some new units (especially naval which as I mentioned I thought was sorely needed anyway), and I think he added 1 tech. That's about it.

 

[blitzkrieg1980]

Thanks a bunch, Wodan. Will definitely look into it.

ooooh.... here's my problems

Cannons now available with Chemistry
Airships now require Physics AND Combustion
Grenadiers now have city-attack bonus instead of Rifleman attack bonus
Stealth Bomber range increased to 16
Carrier combat value increased to 18
Global Warming will drop fallout on random tiles instead of turning random tiles into desert
New tech "Air Superiority" as a tech-requirement for WWII aircraft
New tech "Muskets" as a tech-requirement for Musketmen (Gunpowder now allows for the new "Bombard" unit)
Paratroopers and the Pentagon now become available with "Air Superiority"
Lt.Bob's Nuclear Fallout instead of desertification in Global Warming

Ultimately, I know that I'm just a picky ass b***h, but I like the way CIV has the units and techs arranged. If there was just a MOD that gave all 3.17 changes EXCLUDING the tank barrage nerf (or changing the nerf to discount tanks having City Raider), then I'd go for it. As is now, I'm sticking with 3.13

 

[RulerOfDaPeople]

I'm currently playing the Wolfshanze Mod in my game (and for the first time) and I am noticing many problems. While the flavor is nice, I think he went overboard with it. But back to the problems: Every time you found a city (or have a city weak in culture next to an extablished cultured city of a AI civ), it always tells you that the people of that city are requesting to be a part of their neighboring civ, but the problem is... they always get the civ wrong! For example I founded a city Next to Khmer and Portugal and they asked to be a part of BABYLON! Babylon wasn't even on that same continent! All game long that's been hapening.

Farther more, there are alot of other bugs in it that seem to make it crash (both MAF and unkown plain crashes) quite often, while on the other hand if I play a regular game (no mods) it's actually very stable. I suspect the fact that all the game files within the mod are fpk packed files may have something to do with the unstable part.

And I'm not too fond of the rearanged tech tree. But other than that it's a very nice mod that I would enjoy... if I could just get it to stop crashing on me. (I seriously think playing this mod played a big role in it breaking... it ate my game! lol )

 

[JujuLautre]

How to change tanks to barrage back, after having installed the unofficial patch but without using a mod:
- go to your customassets folder
- open the xml folder, then units, then the CIV4PromotionInfos.xml file
- search for the PROMOTION_BARRAGE1 entry
- search for the following UnitCombats line
this entry should contain two other entries: UNITCOMBAT_SIEGE and UNITCOMBAT_NAVAL
copy one of these entries (4 lines: from <UnitCombat> to </UnitCombat>) and paste it just after; in the new entry you created, just change UNITCOMBAT_SIEGE (if you copied siege) by UNITCOMBAT_ARMOR
- do the same for barrage2 and barrage3

Now, armor units have barrage back

Actually, it's perhaps also possible just to drop the promotions file, I do not know if anything else was changed.

 

[blitzkrieg1980]

Will the unofficial patch play nicely with my Direct-2-Drive version of BTS? The last bunch had to utilize the patch from the Direct-2-Drive site itself otherwise it didn't work.

 

[JujuLautre]

I don't see why the unofficial patch should not work. But I am not completely sure, I do not use D2D version of the game.

However, do not mix patch (3.17) and unofficial patch (from here); I believe that you need a special patch for 3.17 if you have a D2D version of the game, that you can get from there; but once again, I'm not sure.

 

[EmperorFool]

In the case of Steam, I believe all the core Assets (Python, XML, Art, DLL files) are installed as normal files on your drive. Since the UP works at that level, all works fine.

If D2D does it the same way (look for the Assets folder and see if it contains the folders Python, Art, XML, Res and a DLL) and if those folders contain real files (open an XML file to make sure it's a readable text file), then the UP should work for you as well.

 

[blitzkrieg1980]

thanks so much guys!

 

[RulerOfDaPeople]

In the case of Steam, I believe all the core Assets (Python, XML, Art, DLL files) are installed as normal files on your drive. Since the UP works at that level, all works fine.

If D2D does it the same way (look for the Assets folder and see if it contains the folders Python, Art, XML, Res and a DLL) and if those folders contain real files (open an XML file to make sure it's a readable text file), then the UP should work for you as well.

Do you need to replace the current Python etc folders with the ones that comes with Solver's patch to get the unnofficial patch to install? Or is it only the game core that needs replaced?

(I'm still unsure about this.)

 

[GrimZ1113]

What is the difference (using the installer) between installing the unofficial patch as a mod or as an asset? Does that mean that you either have to load it as a mod everytime you want to play versus just having it integrated into the game itself? What would you guys recommend?

 

[EmperorFool]

Do you need to replace the current Python etc folders with the ones that comes with Solver's patch to get the unnofficial patch to install?

You can use the DLL with or without the Python files. If you're using BUG, skip the Python files as similar fixes are already included in BUG. The Python fixes clean up the interface when you are playing with the No Espionage option.

What is the difference (using the installer) between installing the unofficial patch as a mod or as an asset?

Installing to the Assets folder means that it is always used. Doing so means you can continue old games using the Unofficial Patch.

Installing as a mod means you have to load it specifically before starting a game, and any game you start that way will require the mod in the future.

I installed it directly to the Assets folder since I was familiar with all the fixes applied and always wanted to use it. You can always uninstall it and reinstall as a mod if you change your mind, and vice versa.

Just remember that games started with a mod are tied to that mod forever, though depending on the mod you can sometimes trick Civ into thinking the mod is installed by creating an empty folder with the same name in the Mods folder after uninstalling the mod itself.

 

[Rub'Rum]

May I ask why?

It's getting a bit out of topic but maybe I'll mention why I don't like to play mods so much myself. You get used to a great game, like Civ 4 BtS, and when I change it with mods, it seems I only get annoyed by not being familiar with the differences and just go back to playing the original. But that's over-simplifying really, most mods for strategy games make me feel like I'd rather be playing the original.

If the mod doesn't make me want to play the original, it just makes me feel like I'm playing a slightly different version of the same old, and I just get the sudden need to play a new game. I can blame Civ IV mods likes Rhye's and Fall of Civilization for making me just go "screw this I'll just get out and pick up an entirely different game like Europa Universalis III or Hearts of Iron or Sins of a Solar Empire or Age of Empires III". Anyway, hard to explain...

But I DO use some mods. Those I use are purely aesthetic or make the game more manageable (Varietas Delectas + BUG), so I'm all for a modding community.

It's a bit different for RPGs like Oblivion, where a large portion of mods actually add content without altering the rules of the game. But even then, I stay away from mods that give uber weapons to everybody and stuff like that. In a game like Civ, sure, you can add tons of techs and units, but the game mechanics become a lot more strained and stretched and some of its faults become more obvious.

So that's how I feel and why I don't play a lot of mods. But I see that modding communities certainly have an effect on the game developers and on sequels of certain game series, and that's a good thing, because let's face it, these guys can learn a lot from us I am disgusted by companies like EA or Ubisoft, who make a lot (most?) of their games basically unmoddable. All hail Firaxis, Bethesda, Paradox Interactives, etc.

 

[RulerOfDaPeople]

What is BUG?

 

[Rub'Rum]

BtS Unaltered Gameplay, there's a whole forum dedicated to it

http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=268

It gives you a lot of messages and visual indicators of what is going on ("this city will go into revolt next turn" "Shaka now has too much on his hands" (indicated by a fist next to his name)). It just tells you IN YOUR FACE the things that you usually have to click 347 times per turn to find out.

Frankly, I hope they inspire themselves from BUG when they do Civ V. It just seems plain obvious the game should be like that at all time, conveying you the information easily.

 

[RulerOfDaPeople]

Thanks. That really sounds like something I need too.

 

[GravityWave]

BtS Unaltered Gameplay, there's a whole forum dedicated to it

http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=268

It gives you a lot of messages and visual indicators of what is going on ("this city will go into revolt next turn" "Shaka now has too much on his hands" (indicated by a fist next to his name)). It just tells you IN YOUR FACE the things that you usually have to click 347 times per turn to find out.

Frankly, I hope they inspire themselves from BUG when they do Civ V. It just seems plain obvious the game should be like that at all time, conveying you the information easily.

I think they didn't want to scare newbies by presenting them with loads of visual information... they really should have included a switch along the lines of the Show Detailed City Info one for the main interface though imo. I don't hold up too much hope for having a customisable interface for Civ 5... they did remove the glance tab purely because they thought it looked "ugly."

 

[RulerOfDaPeople]

Is there something like this that allows for 40 or 50 civs that works with the updated BTS 3.19 patch?

I loved this patch but it no longer works with my mod because of the 3.19 update.