[Warlords] Battle of Hastings

[Flintlock1415]

For the syntax, I've found that there are incorrect indentations and even 1-2 lines of empty space. I was thinking the Windows wouldn't allow that.
I think I know what you're talking about with the bad text; for Windows mods, Mac users usually have to change up the text files and do something called 'Zap Gremlins' to eliminate any bad symbols. I don't recall it causing any crashes, but I could be wrong.

This mod isn't dead, but just on hold for BTS or until the problem is fixed.

 

[AlanH]

If you are talking about XML files, white space is ignored, including spaces, tabs and new lines, on all platforms, so indents and blank lines are not an issue. Python depends on very precise indentation to define block scopes, but I don't think that's what you are concerned about.

The main problem you and NwabudikeMorgan have with cross-platform XML compatibility is that the Mac versions of Civ4 seem to ignore the Schema file when reading an XML file, whereas the Windows versions demand compliance to the Schema. So you can get away with leaving out mandatory tags or inserting invalid ones until your XML moves to Windows.

 

[iggymnrr]

Seems like the Colbert tutorials mentioned that is was bad to delete unused tags or leaving nothing between tags. For instance, I either copy my English text between two German tags or the word "none." i.e. , <German>none</German>

 

[The_J]

This mod isn't dead, but just on hold for BTS or until the problem is fixed.

We'll wait .

If you are talking about XML files, white space is ignored, including spaces, tabs and new lines, on all platforms,

...erm, no. I've formated text in word, including new lines, i've pasted the text into a xml file, and it's still formated in civ.

 

[AlanH]

Copy and paste a MS Word document, and all bets are off. You don't just paste the text, you also paste all the hidden formatting tags that MS Word uses to remember what fonts and paragrraph formats you used.

When I said "new lines", I meant carriage returns and/or line feeds. An MS Word end-of-paragraph marker doesn't qualify, as it's a container for all sorts of other stuff.

 

[iggymnrr]

Just downloaded the current Hastings mod. I can now dual boot my Mac into X or Xp and have both the Windows and Mac versions of Warlords. So I can help on both sides. Guess I need to know what you need from a tester. I'm a little new to modding, so I can use this to learn too. FWIW my own idea for a mod is to use a more abstract layout in development and use Automator to produce a port to any of the five versions of Civ IV I now have: the 3 windows (vanilla, warlords, and bts) and 2 mac (vanilla and warlords.) Conceivably I could add Colonization to the workflow. Design once, port many times. (BTW YES you can install a version of Windows w/out SP2 with Boot Camp, workaround required.)

 

[Flintlock1415]

First and foremost if I want to continue this for Warlords version is to fix the Windows bug(s).
If that isn't possible, then I will need balancing(heavily), historical factchecking, and basically any new ideas that pop into your head.

I'm interested to see what you come up with, sep. once you get into making your own mod!

 

[iggymnrr]

Getting the Windows version working is definitely high priority. You may then find it desirable to assemble a team of 3-4 people to focus on specific elements. I just finished playing 6 turns as each of the two principle parties to get a feel for how it is supposed to look. This was the Mac version and is largely playable but I did notice some glitches that I will send to you privately. I didn't run into anything that caused the game to crash. I'm heading over to XP soon to see how the mod runs there.

 

[Flintlock1415]

Alright, thanks!

 

[iggymnrr]

Still trying to crack the Windows version of Hastings. Keeps crashing at init Engine though sometimes it gets by that to crash on something that says fonts. Two things I noticed right away were .DS_Store files littering most of the folders in the mod. These are hidden files on the Mac and are visible on Windows. These may not be causing the problem but it is very bad cross-platform politics. The mod also unzipped with a blank MacOSX folder. ?? Where did that come from? I then copied my own beginning mod over (vanilla) which is nothing more than my own civ to play with custom graphics and special unit. It loaded beautifully right down to the photo flag. Checking the files on my mod I saw no .DS_Store files anywhere. Also, I never created a directory for it unless I needed to put something in it. Hastings has a lot of empty directories that looks like you dragged-and-dropped and/or created for the sake of mirroring the original. These empty directories are not needed. Still, I went through Hastings and deleted all .DS_store files and empty directories (250 + items in my recycle bin) and ... still crashed at the same point. (I may not have gotten them all.) I'm a little puzzled but it feels like I am close to finding an answer. Just need to break and wait for an idea.

 

[iggymnrr]

Here's some good news before I call it a night. I copied the Hasting mod back to my Mac, minus the 250+ deletions and it ran. It also loaded my two games I started above and I could pick up where I left off.

 

[sedna17]

The .DS_Store files shouldn't be the problem. I mod on my Mac side and play Civ on my Bootcamp partition. If I forget to delete the .DS_Store files ahead of time, they show up annoying in Windows but don't cause any problems with the mod.

 

[AlanH]

I deleted ALL the .DS_Store files when I was trying to get to the bottom of this crash. It made no difference. I also don't think the empty folder are a problem.

I removed them using the Windows File Search facility to find them, and deleted them all right in the Search results window. Then I ran Search again to convince myself they were all gone. No effect

 

[iggymnrr]

Ditto. Had one interesting thing happen. I opened an arbitrary xml file and deleted a tag. When I launched the mod the error message came up telling me exactly what I did and on what line. Then a 2nd error message came up something like "Tag for CIVILIZATION_BARBARIAN in info class is incorrect" with another line telling me the parser was in some place that was not in the mod. Replacing the tag both error messages disappeared. I tried another random xml file and got another 2 error messages. The first was just as accurate as before and the 2nd one was the same vague error about the barbarian tag. This is wierd since no changes in the xml fetched no error messages before the crash.

 

[iggymnrr]

Progress! I was able to duplicate the crash on the Mac side. I deleted the Barbarian Civilization from the CivilizationInfos xml, saved and loaded the mod. I got one error message. The same vague "Tag for CIVILIZATION_BARBARIAN in info class is incorrect" I got in Windows. It started to load as if the mod would launch and then ... crashed. The error message said something like it was in a Civ4WorldPickerInfos.xml. This file exist in two places: Civ IV and the Warlords/Mods/Barbarians. Going to cogitate for awhile to see if this means anything.

 

[iggymnrr]

I'm leaving the above on the backburner. The solution may lay in the mod's civilopedia. Seems like I remember the Colbert tutorials mentioning that if you leave the foreign tags empty or delete them you can't even play the English version of the game. There are a number of entries there with empty tags or no foreign tags. I'm am going to attampt to patch things up there but may not finish tonight.

 

[iggymnrr]

Big problem. Assuming Colbert is correct, cleaning up the civilopedia is not going to be fun. Invoking the TXT_KEY command will create 5 entries in the civilopedia which must be filled: english, french, italian, german, spanish. It is also not necessary to copy all the existing entries only what's changed or been added. It doesn't even have to be the same filename either. You can call your text xmls anything. (I never use an existing file name for my own civilopedia.) I would be willing to volunteer to condense the civilopedia. But there a some hiccups. It's easy to sort out what's been added since it's unlikely you're fluent in all five languages. But there are some funny looking entries I don't fully understand yet. (I will figure these out.) This isn't the worst. If the TXT_KEY command was invoked for cities in the civilizations xml ... UH, ... I will not know what's been added and would rather follow Colbert's advice not to use the TXT_KEY for cities but his workaround.

Someone else will have to tackle cities. If you remember what's already in the game by default fine. Otherwise use Colbert's advice: <City>Hastings</City>. (There are no tags inside.) This can be done independently from my work and won't require any additional civilopedia entries.

Once the pedia has been been condensed it will be easier to do stuff like historical fact checking too. (Why do I get the feeling I've just volunteered again?) I have already started to condense but don't expect to finish for at least two days--11 and 10 hr work days. But I do have a 4-day weekend.

 

[Flintlock1415]

Wow, this is quite the undertaking. I can't believe that deleting the other languages tags would cause a break in the game. I didn't do many Civilopedia entries, so I don't know how much you'll need to go into those. The object names are where most of the problems would occur if I understand you right.

If I'm reading this right, are you saying that doing an empty TXT_KEY call is better than removing the language tags? I know you can just put names in for object names and cities, (or even civilopedia entries, but that is a bit long..)

If you get sick of this you can send me what you've done and I'll attempt to finish it up.
Thanks for the help!

EDIT: Actually I would do a test mod and see if what Colbert (don't know who that is even) is saying is correct.

 

[Ajidica]

The pedia language tags don't matter in the Windows version. As long as you don't try and play in that language, it isnt needed. Also, if you need historical fact checking, I'm pretty into the dark ages and normans, so I can help there. My interests fall more pre-norman invasion, but I can still help.

 

[iggymnrr]

Quick answer: I just opened Dale's text directory for Age of Discovery -- 1 file with language tags included. I'll deem my effort necessary because he is a top modder. (That's ONE text xml for the WHOLE pedia for AOD.)

No. No TXT_KEY call for cities you add to the basic game unless you want to include info in the pedia. In the cities you add to a civ just <City>London</City> is enough. (NOT <City>TXT_KEY_London</City>