[BTS] TyrMegMa mod Mega-Marathon

[TyrAntilles]

Civilization IV Beyond the Sword mod Mega-Marathon by Tyr Antilles
[UPDATE: I made a new version a lot better here: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/tyrmegma40-mod-mega-marathon-with-34-civs.662336]

TyrMegMa mod is basically the default Civ4BtS but longer and larger.

For hard-core Civilization IV enthusiasts that feel the huge maps of the game are too small and Marathon mode is too fast, I made this mod that offers two things:
1. create a huge random map several times bigger then the original Huge map of the game (original Huge have scale factor of 32x20 and TyrMegMa Huge is 80x50).
2. game speed, tech discovery, construction and others are a lot slower (about three times slower then original Marathon speed of the game), giving you enough time to play every age a lot.


Start of the mod:
- Close Civ4 if is open

- Unpack TyrMegMa.zip to Civ4BtS mods folder:
* for STEAM version of Civ4BtS, Mods folder is: {the place where your STEAM folder is located}\Steam\steamapps\common\Sid Meier's Civilization IV Beyond the Sword\Beyond the Sword\Mods\
* for the standalone installation of the game (if you installed on the default path) Mods folder is: C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Civilization4\Beyond the Sword\Mods\

- Clear the cache from Civ4 cache folder - just delete all files inside cache folder from c:\Users\{your win user}\AppData\Local\My Games\beyond the sword\cache\

- Fire up Civ4BtS and launch the mod from Advanced > Load a mod > TyrMegMa
The game will restart loading the mod. In upper right corner will be written the name of the mod: TyrMegMa

- At the beginning of the game choose:
* Custom game.
* Map type (Archipelago works best, but other types can be suitable. You can check how a new map is generated by entering the map editor, then restarting a new game with that map type.)
* Size: Huge (This is the one I modified and is about six times bigger then the original huge map of the game. All other sizes are game's default.)
* Speed: Marathon (This is the one I modified. All other speeds are game's default.)
* Deselect Victory: Time victory (To not have the game end just when things start to become interesting.)
* The other choices are optional.

Required to finish such a game: a strong computer and a TON of patience and free time.
If you want to know more about his mod, further details and the things I changed are explained on Calculus - Civ4BtS TyrMegMa.ods (can be opened with LibreOffice).

 

[TyrAntilles]

I just finished a game with this settings and it was great. I won by cultural victory at turn 3268 after an epic game. There are too many barbarians spawning though, so is better to lower their number from 950 to 500 or 400:
On CIV4GameSpeedInfo.xml -> <iBarbPercent>500</iBarbPercent>
I think this is the only modification needed.
Here is a screenshot with the world view. Notice the size of the continents and the number of cities. Mwhahahahaha!

 

[Guillermo Perez]

Hello TyrAntilles!

Thanks for sharing this mod! This kind of mega-marathon on mega-huge maps are mi kind of games! I tried loading your mod, closely following the instructions you posted, and managed to start a game, but the problem is that I can only see the map and my units... There is no UI buttons and controls visible! Am I doing something wrong, or is it that there is a setting that I have to change to be able to see the whole game screen with all its controls and information?

I'm just a newbie in the Civ4 universe, and I am using the gog.com version of the game (Beyond the Sword v3.19) and I have integrated the BUG mod to it.

Can you help me? Thanks in advance!!

 

[TyrAntilles]

Unfortunately this seems to be a limit of your computer, or a limit of the game itself. I think you need Windows 10 x64 and at least 8 Gb of RAM. Check your video card drivers as well.
My mod does not change the default game interface.
As a solution, change all graphic settings to low and see if you can play the game like that. Or use the settings from this attachment. It should work.

Please let me know if you could play my mod with these settings.

 

[TyrAntilles]

Ah, also, if only the interface is at fault, try the shortcuts for interface: Alt + I = Remove/Bring back interface , Ctrl + I = Minimize/Maximize interface .

 

[Guillermo Perez]

Hello TyrAntilles! Many thanks for your prompt and detailed answer!
In the meanwhile, I was reading over some places in the forums and found another player requesting help for an identical problem, but with another mod, so I adapted the detailed solution that another forum member gave to him and I could make it work:

1) Navigate to your BTS folder in the Explorer.

2) Right-click on the icon for Civ4BeyondtheSword.exe and drag it somewhere (like the desktop); choose "Create Shortcut Here" from the menu.

3) Right-click the new shortcut and choose Properties.

4) Switch to the Shortcut tab then add the following to the end of the Target box:
Code:
mod=\TyrMegMa
(Note there is a space before "mod")

5) Switch to the Compatibility tab and check the option "Run this program as an administrator"


6) Click OK. When you double-click that shortcut, BTS should run in administrator mode (you'll have an extra confirmation first) and automatically load Age of Ice.

Note that another common reason for getting no interface when launching a mod is that there is a conflict with some of your Custom Assets. In that case, you can open up the mod's INI file and set the option.
Code:
NoCustomAssets = 1

I first tried applying just the new direct shortcut solution, without editing the mod's .ini file, but the problem persisted...
I also noticed then that while starting, the game sent an error message: "Buginit - cannot find XML file for mod"

So I edited the .ini file and the game initiated just fine... The only problem is that the interface is that of the unmodded game, not the one with the BUG mod improvements, which I consider very positive and gave me a much more frustration-free experience while interacting with the game.

So, the unavoidable question is: Can I have the best of both options, i.e. play TyrMegMa mod with BUG interface?
By the way, my computers run on "just" Windows 7 x64, but I have plenty of RAM installed = 24 Gb

Thanks for being so nice and helpful!

 

[Guillermo Perez]

Just another thought, and a question... Is there an easy way to "mod" my vanilla Beyond the Sword installation with BUG mod to be played on mega maps and Mega marathon turns? Can this be made by just editing one or two files in the game directory? Thanks again!!

 

[Guillermo Perez]

...Aaaand... Sorry for ripple-firing postings, but I am looking at things and thinking hard about finding a way to play my "dream game"

I found that there are two .xml files in your mod directory Assets/XML/GameInfo, called CIV4GameSpeedInfo and CIV4WorldInfo...

Question 1: If I overwrite the same named files in the BtS directory with your mod's files, can I have a mega-huge map and mega-marathon turn game with the vanilla-BUG modded BtS game? Or will I break another thing?

Question 2: What about if I only copy the parts about huge word map and marathon game from your .xml files to the vanilla .xml files (which you say are the only parts of that files edited by you). Would it be the same result as question 1, or will be better because there is less risk of breaking another thing in the game?

Question 3: Is it necessary to edit or change any other file to achieve the result I desire (mega map and mega marathon game)?

Thanks again!!! And sorry again!

 

[TyrAntilles]

I see. I do not know anything about compatibility with BUG mod. I didn't know anything about BUG mod till now, and reading about it on net I found this statement here: http://civ4bug.sourceforge.net/BUGMod.html
"Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword has the ability to be modified through Python Code, as well as XML code. The Civilization Community has worked hard, and they have created many great modifications for the game. Unfortunately not all of these mods are compatible with each other, and require a lot of time and effort to merge these mods together, without causing errors."

Just another thought, and a question... Is there an easy way to "mod" my vanilla Beyond the Sword installation with BUG mod to be played on mega maps and Mega marathon turns? Can this be made by just editing one or two files in the game directory? Thanks again!!

I think you can do that by adding my files from TyrMegMa to the other mod, respecting folder structure.

I found that there are two .xml files in your mod directory Assets/XML/GameInfo, called CIV4GameSpeedInfo and CIV4WorldInfo...
Question 1: If I overwrite the same named files in the BtS directory with your mod's files, can I have a mega-huge map and mega-marathon turn game with the vanilla-BUG modded BtS game? Or will I break another thing?
Question 2: What about if I only copy the parts about huge word map and marathon game from your .xml files to the vanilla .xml files (which you say are the only parts of that files edited by you). Would it be the same result as question 1, or will be better because there is less risk of breaking another thing in the game?

NEVER touch the original game files. Just add the files from my mod to the other mod. Combine the two mods into one to build your "dream game".

Question 3: Is it necessary to edit or change any other file to achieve the result I desire (mega map and mega marathon game)?

No. Just don't touch the original game files and focus into modifying the mod you want to play. Let me know if you succeed.

 

[Guillermo Perez]

Hello Tyr:

I can confirm you that I had success! I am now currently playing a game with the BUG AI improvements on a mega map and mega marathon turns (as far as I could see, each turn is worth 5 years). This test game is in a very early stage, but till now, everything seems to be OK.

What I did was simply overwriting the CIV4GameSpeedInfo and CIV4WorldInfo files from your mod in the Beyond the Sword game directory. Of course, I made backup of the original BtS files before overwriting them. And previous to that, to be sure, I compared your files with the original ones using WinMerge to check that the only differences were the ones regarding the parts about Huge maps and Marathon duration games. By the way, using that same software, I found that there were also some differences in the GlobalDefines.xml file refering to some variables values about global warming, and another thing I can't remember now, but I thought that it was not necessary to touch that file.

So, speaking shortly, your TyrMegMa mod could be merged with a BUG modded Civ4 BtS game. Of course, I will continue my test-run...
One comment about barbarians: As I said, I am just in the very early stage of my civilization, but I already have two cities, because a native village gave me a settler... but my scout unit already found three barbarian units marauding my zone: a wolf, a bear and a lion pack! So far, I am successfully avoiding them (I don't like to kill animals, and I prefer they attack another civ scouting units!)

Thanks for your time and assistance!

 

[TyrAntilles]

I improved this mod A LOT combining it with the brilliant 40civs mod created by Mikel Olson. Now the world is not empty anymore. Also, some minor improvements were made to take advantage of 40civs. Check out the new version here: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/tyrmegma40-mod-mega-marathon-with-34-civs.662336/