The Powers that Be

[TheUnwashed]

Hello Seasnake! thanks for the fast response.
Here s a screenshot from the welcome screen.
As far as Mods go, I know they are nice to play and that they make the CIV-brand bigger and better, but technically I now nothing about them.
Whats an operator error? Something to do with Windows user-accounts?
well thanks again for the response
cheers!

 

[seasnake]

Okay, that's a takes the cake type of bug.

As to the operator error thing, my gut tells me it doesn't have anything to do with the user accounts. I'm going to do some talk to a few people and see what they say.

 

[The_J]

Empty screens without any text normally come from starting the game in a language which is not supported / for which no translation exists -> change it before when you normally load BtS.

 

[God-Emperor]

Here's a Python bug:

I built the world trade center. It does nothing but pop up a Python error message like so:

Traceback (most recent call last):

  File "CvEventInterface", line 30, in onEvent

  File "CvCustomEventManager", line 148, in handleEvent

  File "CvCustomEventManager", line 159, in _handleDefaultEvent

  File "CvEventManager", line 692, in onBuildingBuilt

NameError: global name 'C1Building' is not defined
ERR: Python function onEvent failed, module CvEventInterface

SO I check the Python and find a typo (missing letter "B") on line 680 which caused the problem:

			b_school = gc.getInfoTypeForString("BUILDING_WTC")
			[B][COLOR="DarkRed"]C1uilding[/COLOR][/B]	= "BUILDING_CORPORATION_1"
			C2Building	= "BUILDING_CORPORATION_2"
			C3Building	= "BUILDING_CORPORATION_3"
			C4Building	= "BUILDING_CORPORATION_4"
			C5Building	= "BUILDING_CORPORATION_5"
			C6Building	= "BUILDING_CORPORATION_6"
			C7Building	= "BUILDING_CORPORATION_7"

I'd also like to point out that the WTC code has issues.
First, it doesn't check to see if the corp it is founding has already been founded (not just in this city, but anywhere). What happens if it founds a corp that has already been founded elsewhere? I don't know. But if it picks a corp that has already been founded in that city then you get no corp (although you do gain a free bonus that it can use).
Second, it doesn't check to see if a competing corp is already in the city. As I recall, using great people you can't found a corporation in the same city as a competing corp since it wouldn't just displace it, like it does for a non-headquarters corp expansion, it would presumably wipe out the other headquarters, leaving that corporation without one so it won't let you do it.

In my case, if it hadn't been for the bad code it would have tried to found Cereal Corp in the city (since that is what C1Building would have been pointing at it it existed). I had already founded Sid's Sushi in that city. So what would have happened? I don't know, but it probably would have been bad in some way.

 

[seasnake]

Here's a Python bug:

I built the world trade center. It does nothing but pop up a Python error message like so:

Traceback (most recent call last):

  File "CvEventInterface", line 30, in onEvent

  File "CvCustomEventManager", line 148, in handleEvent

  File "CvCustomEventManager", line 159, in _handleDefaultEvent

  File "CvEventManager", line 692, in onBuildingBuilt

NameError: global name 'C1Building' is not defined
ERR: Python function onEvent failed, module CvEventInterface

SO I check the Python and find a typo (missing letter "B") on line 680 which caused the problem:

			b_school = gc.getInfoTypeForString("BUILDING_WTC")
			[B][COLOR="DarkRed"]C1uilding[/COLOR][/B]	= "BUILDING_CORPORATION_1"
			C2Building	= "BUILDING_CORPORATION_2"
			C3Building	= "BUILDING_CORPORATION_3"
			C4Building	= "BUILDING_CORPORATION_4"
			C5Building	= "BUILDING_CORPORATION_5"
			C6Building	= "BUILDING_CORPORATION_6"
			C7Building	= "BUILDING_CORPORATION_7"

I'd also like to point out that the WTC code has issues.
First, it doesn't check to see if the corp it is founding has already been founded (not just in this city, but anywhere). What happens if it founds a corp that has already been founded elsewhere? I don't know. But if it picks a corp that has already been founded in that city then you get no corp (although you do gain a free bonus that it can use).
Second, it doesn't check to see if a competing corp is already in the city. As I recall, using great people you can't found a corporation in the same city as a competing corp since it wouldn't just displace it, like it does for a non-headquarters corp expansion, it would presumably wipe out the other headquarters, leaving that corporation without one so it won't let you do it.

In my case, if it hadn't been for the bad code it would have tried to found Cereal Corp in the city (since that is what C1Building would have been pointing at it it existed). I had already founded Sid's Sushi in that city. So what would have happened? I don't know, but it probably would have been bad in some way.

That has been playtested. It gives you a branch of the corporation if it has already been previously built, so you have a branch of the corporation in there. However, I need to release it with that line of text fixed in the Python. However, I think it says it in the strategy text that it puts a branch of a random corporation in the city, and if the corporation hasn't been founded already this creates the corporate headquarters.

And thanks The_J that was helpful information.

 

[God-Emperor]

That has been playtested. It gives you a branch of the corporation if it has already been previously built, so you have a branch of the corporation in there. However, I need to release it with that line of text fixed in the Python. However, I think it says it in the strategy text that it puts a branch of a random corporation in the city, and if the corporation hasn't been founded already this creates the corporate headquarters. .

Ah. That makes sense. The strategy text does say that. The help text just says "Founds a random corporation", which is what you see if you hover over the button.

What happens if the branch building it is adding is for a competitor to a corporation that was already present in that city, or even founded in that city like it trying to give me Cereal Corp in the city where I had already founded Sid's Sushi? They should not be able to coexist.

There is also a small problem with the text that I noticed while checking the strategy text. The strategy text for the WTC for languages other than English is actually the strategy text for the Terracotta Army (in English). This is also true of the name (TXT_KEY_BUILDING_WTC), the pedia (TXT_KEY_BUILDING_WTC_PEDIA), and the help (TXT_KEY_BUILDING_WTC_HELP), as well as the strategy (TXT_KEY_BUILDING_WTC_STRATEGY) text in GGexpansiontext.xml. I also noticed that the next building in that text file, the Pantheon, has a similar problem: for the strategy and pedia text the English entries are for the Pantheon, but the others are not (they are apparently for the Mausoleum of Mausolos). (I haven't looks at much more, but it looks like some others also have this problem - you should probably check them all).

 

[keldath]

hi,

have anyone tried this mod on mp play?

great mod by the way.

 

[Civ'ed]

The mod should work on mp, since me and my friend always play it in hotseat.

 

[seasnake]

Ah. That makes sense. The strategy text does say that. The help text just says "Founds a random corporation", which is what you see if you hover over the button.

What happens if the branch building it is adding is for a competitor to a corporation that was already present in that city, or even founded in that city like it trying to give me Cereal Corp in the city where I had already founded Sid's Sushi? They should not be able to coexist.

There is also a small problem with the text that I noticed while checking the strategy text. The strategy text for the WTC for languages other than English is actually the strategy text for the Terracotta Army (in English). This is also true of the name (TXT_KEY_BUILDING_WTC), the pedia (TXT_KEY_BUILDING_WTC_PEDIA), and the help (TXT_KEY_BUILDING_WTC_HELP), as well as the strategy (TXT_KEY_BUILDING_WTC_STRATEGY) text in GGexpansiontext.xml. I also noticed that the next building in that text file, the Pantheon, has a similar problem: for the strategy and pedia text the English entries are for the Pantheon, but the others are not (they are apparently for the Mausoleum of Mausolos). (I haven't looks at much more, but it looks like some others also have this problem - you should probably check them all).

I'm not going to fix this, I only know English and Spanish. If someone is dedicated enough to do all the translation work, that would be great, but as it it is right now it is set up for english. I think it even says it in the readme.txt. If not, it should be.

 

[God-Emperor]

Taking more of your book writing time...

Playing a bit more I hit an unknown bug. It crashes Civ. It also crashes if I try to enter the world builder, so I can't see exactly what is going on at that time. My first guess would be that the Sumerians are building the world's first Arcology, since they have had the tech for a few turns now, but it is just a guess since I can't get into Worldbuilder to check.

Using the attached save, just end the turn. Shortly thereafter Civ crashes asit processes the AI turns. Hopefully, you have a debug DLL handy to find out what the problem is.

 

[TheUnwashed]

Empty screens without any text normally come from starting the game in a language which is not supported / for which no translation exists -> change it before when you normally load BtS.

thanks!
It worked, now playing The powers that be

 

[Asaf]

Using the attached save, just end the turn. Shortly thereafter Civ crashes asit processes the AI turns. Hopefully, you have a debug DLL handy to find out what the problem is.

@Seasnake - I did some debugging, and it appears that the crash is due to a problem with the paratrooper's art info (I think it's ART_DEF_UNIT_PARATROOPER_MODERN_SOUTH_AMERICA which had an assert, but I didn't really have the time to verify).

In addition I've come across several asserts:
- One of the buildings has a FLAVOR_RESEARCH which is unrecognized.
- CIV4FormationInfos generates a LOT of asserts. I'm not sure about some of them but it seems that you are missing some "General" Unit Entries. You are also missing some Siege Unit Entries, but I think it's because you used SEIGE instead of SIEGE in several places.

I might have missed a few, and I'm sorry for the lack of details but I don't have the time. Hope what I've written here is enough.

 

[seasnake]

Taking more of your book writing time...

Playing a bit more I hit an unknown bug. It crashes Civ. It also crashes if I try to enter the world builder, so I can't see exactly what is going on at that time. My first guess would be that the Sumerians are building the world's first Arcology, since they have had the tech for a few turns now, but it is just a guess since I can't get into Worldbuilder to check.

Using the attached save, just end the turn. Shortly thereafter Civ crashes asit processes the AI turns. Hopefully, you have a debug DLL handy to find out what the problem is.

Asaf was there for the save.

I'm going to work on a patch this weekend, then. I'll fix what I can that's been mentioned in this thread, WTC, paratrooper, SEIGE_UNIT, etc. I'll work on adding those fixes to all elements of the hotfix.

If anyone knows of anything else or has a gameplay/balance suggestions, please tell me before Sunday. ETA is monday or tuesday release.

As for the book, well I've done less writing these last two weeks and more studying and drawing. I've made up the world map, and after numerous attempts I finally have a working world map that I like. I now am learning about minerals, trying to figure out where materials such as jade, gold, silver, etc. would most likely appear and learning about map curvature, because distances on the map at the polar regions should be a lot different than at the Equator. I've also got to blow up one continent in particular and really flesh it out, I have the 8 major powers on the continent listed but I need flesh out the smaller towns, roadways, passes over mountains, and geography of the land.

I took nothing of geography or geology in college (I'm an attorney, no math or science for years!) so this is a lot of learning. After this I need to really map out trade winds (the time period is Age of Discovery) and ocean currents, and map the sea floor.

Next up is a crash course in anatomy! I have four human races living on this planet, one evolved to resemble humans here, another evolved to live in trees, another underground, another in the water. So the tree race is thin, their feet are like hands, their eyes can look directly at the sun, etc., while the water races had gills, webbed hands and feet and a layer of blubber.

But don't worry, I will crank out that patch soon.

 

[seasnake]

I should explain, what consists of the book now are drafts of chapters about characters interacting within the arc of the overall story, but many details of the larger world were creeping in to these scene drafts so that I had to really hammer out a logical world map. It isn't enough to have one character traveling to Smithtown, I needed to really know what kind of roads where there, the weather conditions, what the town trades in, whether this would lead to banditry and the need to hire guards, whether my character is astute enough to know that, etc. One of my chief gripes of fantasy fiction is when it's obvious that the towns and worlds are plot devices instead of environments that have a life beyond the two days your character will be there.

Also, already one Town I though would be insignificant has gained greater prominence as, geologically, it would be a good source of marble, as I originally mapped that region as having a lot of limestone (and I recently learned Marble is found near to certain limestone deposits, yeah for minerals!). I figure a town with a lot of marble would be attractive to artisans and sculptors and important to royalty for those reasons, so now some works of art commissioned will have X Marble, and as that town is due for a visit it will come up in the dialogue.

 

[seasnake]

Patch is delayed by looking at adding in new features. Thanks to a conversation with DOMAR, I'm considering adding a few new types of luxury/bonus resource and making other types already in the game rarer, to encourage more trade between nations. Also investigating the feasibility of non-aggression pacts, where an AI can propose with another peaceful AI an agreement that neither will be able to attack the other for 15 turns. Weaker civs should be willing to pay for this kind of security, while stronger civs should be able to extort for it. Or, if you don't want troops on your eastern flank, you sign a non-aggression pact with the nearest civ and then you can send your troops to the west and another theater of war.

 

[DOmar1990]

Hey, IA's don't modernize their primary sieges to cannons and artillery. They have lots of previous sieges in advanced eras and never modernize them or produce advanced siege units. Do you have that in mind to the new hotfix update?

 

[Logistics]

Hi all,

I'm a huge fan of the mod. But it seems that every time I get to a certain stage in the late-game, everything crashes. I remember reading something somewhere about the first time a Civ builds an arcology, but I can't be sure.

Here's two save games that crash when I go to the next turn. Does the same thing happen to anyone else?

 

[Asaf]

both crash because of a missing art def ART_DEF_UNIT_PARATROOPER_MODERN_AFRICAN.

BTW, I got asserts for having more than a single instance of building class corporation 5 in one of the saves. Is it possible there are multiple HQ's for this corp.?

 

[Logistics]

OK, thanks. Is this a fix I ought to wait for in the next version, or something D-I-Y that I can do with little effort? I'm not a modder, just a gamer.

Also, I'm not sure I understand the 2nd part to your post. As far as I know, there's only one HQ for each corporation...

 

[Asaf]

OK, thanks. Is this a fix I ought to wait for in the next version, or something D-I-Y that I can do with little effort? I'm not a modder, just a gamer.

Next version depends on seasnake.
Try replacing the xml file in the mod's Assets\XML\Civilizations folder with the attached one (I didn't try it before that. might work. should also solve the previous crash in this thread).

Also, I'm not sure I understand the 2nd part to your post. As far as I know, there's only one HQ for each corporation...

Maybe I misunderstood the error message I got, but in any case it doesn't seem to influence your game.