Where to start?

[DavinciFan]

I recently got civ4 and before the discs were even out of the box I was conjuring up ideas for modifications. My first project is a lot more than a toe dip and probably a bit ambitious, so I thought I would ask those with more experience before setting out on a complete revamping.

When designing a mod in which almost every aspect of the game will be changed, where do you start. Everything seems so interlaced that there is nowhere to start unwinding the spool. Any advice on what goes into YourMod - 1.0 would be much appreciated.

 

[Kael]

I recently got civ4 and before the discs were even out of the box I was conjuring up ideas for modifications. My first project is a lot more than a toe dip and probably a bit ambitious, so I thought I would ask those with more experience before setting out on a complete revamping.

When designing a mod in which almost every aspect of the game will be changed, where do you start. Everything seems so interlaced that there is nowhere to start unwinding the spool. Any advice on what goes into YourMod - 1.0 would be much appreciated.

I would hit the tutorials and guides forum. See what can be done will help you decide where to start.

Outside of that I started with small changes. Adjusting costs, changing tech requirements, stuff like that before I ever started adding or removing objects.

You are right that there are a ton of interdependencies, it can be overwhelming at first. But once your through that its not to bad.

 

[Officer Reene]

One of the easiest things is to mod/edit xml files...

they are limited but allow you to create new buildings/units/wonders/new civs etc



these resources explain the XML tags:


http://civ4wiki.com/wiki/index.php/Xml_files


and here:

http://modiki.apolyton.net/index.php...=Reference_xml


(cross reference them both since some have info the other does not)


yeah and like Kael said... check out the tutorials!

hope that helps

 

[DavinciFan]

I was curious... Is it possible to change the way combat resolves? I do have a little familiarity with different coding languages, so the actual manipulation should not be a problem, but I want to know if it is even possible.

 

[The Great Apple]

Yes - it's in the SDK. I think CvUnit.cpp is the one you want.

 

[Dale]

DavinciFan:

There's two classes you need to look at for combat.

CvSelectionGroup::groupAttack()

&

CvUnit::attack(..) + CvUnit::updateCombat(..)

I'm working on a combat mod now that completely changes how it's resolved.

Dale

 

[Jeckel]

I would have to agree that it is best to start with the xml. Make a mod and mess with the leaders, civs, units, ect. Once you figure out what there is to work with it is alot easyer to then python in your own stuff.

And it bears repeating yet again, read through the tutorials on this forum and check out the wikis that Reene posted above, they will save hours of re inventing the wheel.

Once you got the basics done and start working on your own projects, the best way to figure out how to do somthing is to find some mod that already does somthing similar and see how they accomplished it.

 

[Avynth]

while we're on the subject, i'm new to this too, but what i'd really like to do is just make units rather than the whole scripting... so how do i make the 3d units? and not just apply a new skin?

 

[Killamike718]

while we're on the subject, i'm new to this too, but what i'd really like to do is just make units rather than the whole scripting... so how do i make the 3d units? and not just apply a new skin?

You might want to check out these 3D Applications in this thread:
http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=202348
It will show you a Great guide to the 3d packages and although its a really hard learning curve, it will greatly benifit you in modding for any other game, and even for the creation of art. Good luck and dont give up.