Allowed Utilities/Mods

[notque]

[Q]
PS - I've never used BMT, so I don't know what I'm missing anyway

- Maniac[/quote]

Well this will be good for me, I forget just how silly the game looked before blue marble

[Arathorn]

There should be some kind of formal/semi-formal process for getting mods (visual only, for now) approved for RB Epics. I’ve not downloaded any of these yet, as I didn’t want to mess with adding/deleting things when playing different games, but some of these are fundamental improvements on HOW information is displayed, making gameplay easier without providing any information that wasn’t available before. It’s organized better, it’s clearer, it’s just better. Without getting into Civ4’s short-comings in that regard, I would like to propose the following visual mods be considered.

Better domestic advisor at http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=145285
Any of the commerce/coin mods, like http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread...ost3370089 or in http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=143449
Even something as simple as camera angle (like http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=140680) would be nice to know. Actually, according to a strict reading of the rules, anyone who has enabled (don’t enough have to use it) flying camera mode or windowed mode during Epic I would be dis-qualified (you have to mod an XML file, if not Python, too, to do it). That seems more than a bit silly.

I’ve not looked into the Python and XML files in very much depth. Would it be possible to designate some files as freely mod-able, others as verboten, and others on a case-by-case basis? Obviously, mucking around with Units.xml (or whatever it’s called) would be bad, but some user convenience functions would be nice to have.

I understand the desire for a level playing field. So much of it is already based on “good faith”. I would argue letting participants use their own best judgment on what mods to use/disallow would be at least as logical as the current system.

Arathorn

[Sirian]

I would argue letting participants use their own best judgment on what mods to use/disallow would be at least as logical as the current system.

I don't think so. But then, these matters would have to cross my desk, and eat up my time and energy if something goes wrong, so that may be the bulk of the reason why I see it differently.

That being said, if we get some volunteer help, more things are possible. For instance, a community committee to provide recommendations on specific mods: to use them, check them over for "undocumented features", and make sure they work as claimed and won't disrupt things. Something like that could go a long way to speeding the process. I'd want to get at least five to seven folks involved, though, and reach for consensus advisories.


If anybody would like to volunteer to help out in this regard, reply in this thread. Thanks.


- Sirian

[Arathorn]

So, Sirian, are you planning on disqualifying everybody who uses windowed mode? Or who enabled flying camera mode?

Now, there are a TON of questionable mods out there, too -- like http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=143823 which shows some score info (really, enemy GNP, pop info) that is being exposed that wasn't there before. I kind of like the look of it, but I think it reveals too much -- it's providing info that wasn't there before.

Yeah, it's tricky. I don't envy the person in charge.

By raising the issue, I think I already volunteered to be part of the solution. So, count me in.

Arathorn

[BeefontheBone]

Both windowed mode and flying camera mode require modification of the config .ini file only, not to the xml or python; it's like an extended Options menu clearly available to all, and therefore obviously not disqualification-worthy.

FWIW, I use the BlueMarble terrain, plus eotinb's autolog and reminder mods and the improved Dom Ad normally, and would be happy to see any or all of these on the allowed list - but you can't expect for them to be added as soon as they're released.

In response to your previous post, it's not very difficult to disable mods - just rename the CustomAssets folder and clear the cache, then change the name back when you're done playing (and delete the new empty CustomAssets folder).