Ultranoob question: deleting parts of XML objects

[Goody the Hutt]

I've been trying to learn Civ5 XML editing lately but I think my mind is still working in Civ4 terms. To start I'm trying to make a simple mod that removes all of the great peoples' unique names, leaving their default unit names (Great General, Great Artist, etc.) alone to be used in-game. However, I've been completely unsuccessful at doing this and my mod doesn't have any in-game effect.

I tried making a mod with ModBuddy that simply closes the <uniquenames> tag in Civ5Units like this: <uniquenames/> but it doesn't seem to take effect in-game. (Yes, I know, that's how you'd do it in Civ4 by "replacing" it but I thought it might still work.)

In most of the threads and tutorials I've read I only see instruction for how to add/edit things, not how to take them away. I'm thinking the game is simply ignoring my change and using the default XML since it's not detecting anything that's been added or changed?

I saw something about a delete command but I can't figure out how to use it in this context. I don't want to remove the entire object, just its use of unique names.

Does anyone know what the most efficient/simple way of doing this would be that still makes the mod as modular as possible?

 

[PawelS]

Civ5 mods don't work like Civ4 ones, they add or remove game objects instead of replacing the original XML files (at least that's how it works for GameData tables).

I use SQL to delete things, this will delete all unique unit names:

DELETE FROM Unit_UniqueNames;

But you can also do it using XML:

<GameData>
  <Unit_UniqueNames>
    <Delete/>
  </Unit_UniqueNames>
</GameData>

 

[Goody the Hutt]

Oh, now I'm starting to see, thanks.