Thinking about having a go at modding an existing civ...difficulty?

[Shekwan]

Hi I'm new to modding and signed up here mainly cos I'm a big civ fan. I didn't realise howmuch could be modded in civ 'til I checked here! Wow...

Well anyway I'm thinking about giving it a go, specifically i want to change the "Celts" to Ireland. Now I know theres a couple of Irish civs available for download but they're not quite what I would envision Ireland as, civwise.

MOst of the changes I want to do are name changes. Brennus to Brian Boru, Citynames, Dun to Ringfort, G Warrior to something more Irish specific. Basically the only graphical changes would be perhaps the flag and border colour. Even the existing colours are apt for an Irish civ. Theres too many Green civs already anyway. Damn Portuguese steal our colour as well as our fish

Also I want to play around with starting techs, UU and UB stats, and leader traits. Would this be a difficult undertaking? All the tutorials on the forums seem to be for creating completely new civs and leaderheads, I'm not looking to get into that as I don't really have the time.

So I guess I'm asking, where do I start? Thanks in advance for any replies

 

[Saschkin]

Hello Shekwan..
..im new here and to modding games (that came after civ2) as well and
learned everything from changing a civilizations/leaders name to making my
own unit in blender and importing it in less than 2 weeks by starting off just
the way you want to, adding my own civilization.

First, id advise you to rather add than change a civilization so you dont mess
up any links etc.. (just copy the Celts civilization in the respective files)
Tutorials you might find useful:

My add a civ tutorial by Charcoal
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=148507

adding new units by sovarn
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=139721

and the tutorial index by woodelf in general
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=236836

Tools you might find useful:

DXTbmp for reskinning units
http://www.brothersoft.com/dxtbmp-71327.html

PakBuild to unpack the .fpk files of vanilla civ or mods and check their file/
folder structure or the logic of certain files
http://civilization4.filefront.com/file/Pakbuild;51173

Also id make a modmod of an existing mod so you have it easier with the file/
folder structure... ..i used the Wolfshanze Mod which has a nice balanced
gameplay and quite some additional modern era units and custom graphics.
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=249129

ok, thats it, good luck

 

[Shekwan]

Thanks Saschkin for the really helpful reply. Look like I've got a bit of reading to do! Never thought about just copying the Celts... stupid. That way I can have both. With all the custom units available in the downloads here I should be able to find a new look for my UU at least. Not so sure about the skinning, as I said I have no experience with any modding nor am I artistic in any way... just a desperate history buff