Worldbuilder advice?

[Venboven]

I'm trying to create a larger scale version of the "Gifts of the Nile" map. I loved the scenario version, but it ends at turn 125 and I wanted to make it include territories farther south along the Nile and have a larger delta region.

However, I know the scenario has special worldbuilding tiles, such as the cataracts, which can't be produced in the regular worldbuilder. Do you know if it's possible to create a new map with cataract tiles? Would I have to dig in the files, or could I import it?

Also, very general question, when creating a worldbuilder map packaged as a map mod, does it matter what mods are enabled before creating the new worldbuilder map? How do I create a map that I can play on with any mods I choose?

 

[Gedemon]

Have you tried to load the map in the worldbuilder with the scenario activated ?

I don't have that DLC, so I never loaded that scenario, IDK what they use to represent the cataract tile (I don't even know how they look like), maybe it's a feature (like reefs) over a water tile?

I don't know if you could use them in a regular game (either by having the scenario activated or by reusing the assets in a mod), but maybe @Deliverator or @LeeS ?

Activated Expansion/DLC/mods at the moment you're making the map are saved with it and are required to load it, but unless it's a "hard" requirement (for example using assets from a DLC/mod), you can remove any requirement that was added by mistake using sqlite following the instruction here:
https://forums.civfanatics.com/thre...-a-map-i-made-a-mistake.647266/#post-15559481

Alternatively, converting a map to the YnAMP format remove all requirements (except YNAMP then) and allows you to use the advanced settings and features of the map pack.

 

[Mew151]

Indeed! The Cataracts are similar to reefs, except they actually have a flow direction, though it's hard to see in the static screenshot. This is a picture of Cataracts (flowing southwest to southwest) that I used to represent the Sarn Gebir on the Anduin River in my map.

​

Cataracts (similar to the Gold scenario resource) won't show up in normal games because in the modinfo for the DLC scenarios, it'll only activate if that specific scenario is being played.

As for the first part of OP's question, I've already dug up the cataract files from the Nubia scenario as a mod, since I'm also using them in a custom map. Beware though, the actual placement of Cataracts is very non-user-friendly. Some caveats:

• Cataracts MUST have a flow direction manually assigned to them. Unlike all other features, Cataracts will appear as a red exclamation point if no direction is assigned. In WorldBuilder, click on "Plot", select the tile with the Cataract and choose a "Feature Direction".
• Because the Feature was designed only for the Gifts of the Nile scenario, the directions of water flow only exist for the 5 configurations that exist in the Gifts of the Nile scenario (e.g. it is impossible to have a Cataract flow west or southeast because the scenario map doesn't have them, and thus Firaxis didn't design the respective graphics for them.)
  • The Cataract animation actually includes two directions, an inflow direction and outflow direction. Sometimes both are the same, but not always. Both inflow and outflow directions correspond (arbitrarily) to one WorldBuilder direction (in bold below).
    • No Direction: not used (will appear as Red Exclamation Point if selected)
    • Northeast: NE inflow to E outflow
    • East: NW (both inflow and outflow)
    • Southeast: SW (both inflow and outflow)
    • Southwest: N inflow to NE outflow
    • West: NE (both inflow and outflow)
    • Northwest: not used (will appear as Red Exclamation Point if selected)
• You cannot have Tundra or Snow tiles of any type adjacent to the Cataracts, or else it'll cause the graphic to glitch.
• Activating my mod will make you unable to start the Gifts of the Nile scenario. You'll have to disable this mod before loading that scenario.

Since you are aiming to recreate a grander version of the Gifts of the Nile scenario map, some of the caveats won't apply to you. If you are recreating the existing parts of the Gifts of the Nile scenario map 1:1, the directions you want for the six Cataracts (from south to north) are Northeast, East, Southeast, Southwest, West, Southwest

I considered releasing this as a Mod on the Steam Workshop, but honestly, (especially with how janky their use is) I think you and I are the only two people that would ever use Cataracts in a custom map. Because of that, I think it would be more convenient for the people playing our maps to just have the Cataract feature built in to the particular map mod itself instead of as a separate dependency.

Cataract Features Mod download (It's an external link because I can't seem to upload it directly to the forum).

Good luck, and feel to ask if you have any questions! Happy mapping!

 

[Venboven]

Indeed! The Cataracts are similar to reefs, except they actually have a flow direction, though it's hard to see in the static screenshot. This is a picture of Cataracts (flowing southwest to southwest) that I used to represent the Sarn Gebir on the Anduin River in my map.

​

Cataracts (similar to the Gold scenario resource) won't show up in normal games because in the modinfo for the DLC scenarios, it'll only activate if that specific scenario is being played.

As for the first part of OP's question, I've already dug up the cataract files from the Nubia scenario as a mod, since I'm also using them in a custom map. Beware though, the actual placement of Cataracts is very non-user-friendly. Some caveats:

• Cataracts MUST have a flow direction manually assigned to them. Unlike all other features, Cataracts will appear as a red exclamation point if no direction is assigned. In WorldBuilder, click on "Plot", select the tile with the Cataract and choose a "Feature Direction".
• Because the Feature was designed only for the Gifts of the Nile scenario, the directions of water flow only exist for the 5 configurations that exist in the Gifts of the Nile scenario (e.g. it is impossible to have a Cataract flow west or southeast because the scenario map doesn't have them, and thus Firaxis didn't design the respective graphics for them.)
  • The Cataract animation actually includes two directions, an inflow direction and outflow direction. Sometimes both are the same, but not always. Both inflow and outflow directions correspond (arbitrarily) to one WorldBuilder direction (in bold below).
    • No Direction: not used (will appear as Red Exclamation Point if selected)
    • Northeast: NE inflow to E outflow
    • East: NW (both inflow and outflow)
    • Southeast: SW (both inflow and outflow)
    • Southwest: N inflow to NE outflow
    • West: NE (both inflow and outflow)
    • Northwest: not used (will appear as Red Exclamation Point if selected)
• You cannot have Tundra or Snow tiles of any type adjacent to the Cataracts, or else it'll cause the graphic to glitch.
• Activating my mod will make you unable to start the Gifts of the Nile scenario. You'll have to disable this mod before loading that scenario.

Since you are aiming to recreate a grander version of the Gifts of the Nile scenario map, some of the caveats won't apply to you. If you are recreating the existing parts of the Gifts of the Nile scenario map 1:1, the directions you want for the six Cataracts (from south to north) are Northeast, East, Southeast, Southwest, West, Southwest

I considered releasing this as a Mod on the Steam Workshop, but honestly, (especially with how janky their use is) I think you and I are the only two people that would ever use Cataracts in a custom map. Because of that, I think it would be more convenient for the people playing our maps to just have the Cataract feature built in to the particular map mod itself instead of as a separate dependency.

Cataract Features Mod download (It's an external link because I can't seem to upload it directly to the forum).

Good luck, and feel to ask if you have any questions! Happy mapping!

Wow thank you so much! I did not expect anything like this - the pre-made mod and all the amazing information are going to be extremely helpful. I'm super excited to try this out!

 

[Venboven]

Have you tried to load the map in the worldbuilder with the scenario activated ?

I don't have that DLC, so I never loaded that scenario, IDK what they use to represent the cataract tile (I don't even know how they look like), maybe it's a feature (like reefs) over a water tile?

I don't know if you could use them in a regular game (either by having the scenario activated or by reusing the assets in a mod), but maybe @Deliverator or @LeeS ?

Activated Expansion/DLC/mods at the moment you're making the map are saved with it and are required to load it, but unless it's a "hard" requirement (for example using assets from a DLC/mod), you can remove any requirement that was added by mistake using sqlite following the instruction here:
https://forums.civfanatics.com/thre...-a-map-i-made-a-mistake.647266/#post-15559481

Alternatively, converting a map to the YnAMP format remove all requirements (except YNAMP then) and allows you to use the advanced settings and features of the map pack.

Yeah it loads the cataracts in the worldbuilder if you load the scenario map. Took my a while to find the map file though.

So if I wanted to create a map that I could play on with different types of mods (or if I ever actually publish the map to the workshop), I would have to convert it to YnAMP format? Is converting to YnAMP hard to do?

 

[Mew151]

I'm glad you found it useful! The Cataracts mod was something I originally prepared because I wanted to push the limits on adding iconic features to a Middle-earth map I'm working on, and I honestly didn't expect anyone else to find use in it!

You can play with any mods you want on either a WorldBuilder or YnAMP map, and either can be uploaded to the Steam Workshop.

With WorldBuilder though, whatever mods you have enabled when you click "New Map" will be defaulted as requirements whether or not assets from them are actually used in the map. As Gedemon pointed out, it's easy to remove any unnecessary prerequisite mods from a WorldBuilder map with a SQLite editor. I personally prefer the YnAMP format because it's really flexible and has lots of additional built-in features, and is easier (in my opinion) to pre-place things into a map, like cities, roads, improvements, etc. A big one is that if you just open up the Gifts of the Nile scenario map in WorldBuilder, you're stuck with the original dimensions (You can get around this by creating a new WorldBuilder map with the dimensions you desire, but then you'd have to manually "paint" the new map using the scenario as a template). With YnAMP, you can start the scenario, export the map, and then expand it to whatever dimensions you desire (granted it's not quite as easy as I may be making it sound, but it's still much less time consuming than manually copying an existing map tile-by-tile into a new one). Converting a WorldBuilder map to YnAMP is super easy with Yet (not) Another Bit Map Converter.