Modding Question

[Sullla]

OK, I will freely admit that I have absolutely zero knowledge of anything related to modding in Civ4. Because of that, I'm hoping some of you can help me out on a couple of questions. I'm trying to set up the next Adventure with an Aggressive/Philosophical Montezuma, rather than with his default trait combo. So what I'd like to know is:

* What do I need to do to effect this change?
* Can the changes be stored in a save file, without need for swapping assets?

If the trait change can't be stored in a simple save file, I'll just use Alexander instead for this game, although the Aztecs will fit much better for thematic purposes. I'm hoping that this is relatively simple to pull off...

[FeedBack]

I never, actually, had done any modding on my own. But I've read a lot about them lately. So, I think I'm going to give good information here.

* What do I need to do to effect this change?

Wait... Getting my pen drive to work...
Ok, got it! Now..
Yeah, I'm pretty sure the only think you should do is editing the CIV4LeaderHeadInfos.xml, under the /Civilizations directory, under the XML assets folder. The edit is kinda simple. Take a look:

Code:

...
<LeaderHeadInfo>
    <Type>LEADER_MONTEZUMA</Type>
    ...
    <Traits>
        <Trait>
            <TraitType>TRAIT_AGGRESSIVE</TraitType>
            <bTrait>1</bTrait>
        </Trait>
        <Trait>
            <TraitType>TRAIT_SPIRITUAL</TraitType>
            <bTrait>1</bTrait>
        </Trait>
    </Traits>
    ...
</LeaderHeadInfo>
...

You should only change the TraitType tag.

* Can the changes be stored in a save file, without need for swapping assets?

If the trait change can't be stored in a simple save file, I'll just use Alexander instead for this game, although the Aztecs will fit much better for thematic purposes. I'm hoping that this is relatively simple to pull off...

Well, simple it is. But I don't think you'll be able to pack it into the save file. So, my guess is you'll end up with Alexander... =)

[Ruff_Hi]

* What do I need to do to effect this change?
* Can the changes be stored in a save file, without need for swapping assets?

FB's answer is correct. The change is simple and NO, it cannot be saved in the save file. To get it to work and with no confusion, make the change to the XML file, put your new file in a new directory under \prog files\civ4\MOD and start your game using the mod. The mod information is saved in the save file but everyone will need to d/l the mod to run your save.

Do you want me to set it up for you with install instructions?

Edit: give me 0.5 days and I will upload the mod with instructions on installing it. There are a bunch of us that do this sort of stuff to play really wacky SGs.

[Gyathaar]

OK, I will freely admit that I have absolutely zero knowledge of anything related to modding in Civ4. Because of that, I'm hoping some of you can help me out on a couple of questions. I'm trying to set up the next Adventure with an Aggressive/Philosophical Montezuma, rather than with his default trait combo. So what I'd like to know is:

* What do I need to do to effect this change?
* Can the changes be stored in a save file, without need for swapping assets?

If the trait change can't be stored in a simple save file, I'll just use Alexander instead for this game, although the Aztecs will fit much better for thematic purposes. I'm hoping that this is relatively simple to pull off...

That data cant be stored in the savefile.. you would have to supply the modified XML..

However... you can store any civ/leader combination in the savefile.. so you could make Alexander as leader of Aztecs.. to do that you just have to make a worldbuildersave to start the game from, and switch the data around in that..

Since it is the human player. he woudl see little signs of that he is playing as another leader

[Ruff_Hi]

Here you go. Unzip the zip file to here (C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Mods) so that your install looks like the picture then select 'advanced' from the main menu and then 'load a mod'. Once you have a save created, you can just double click the save and CIV 4 will load with the mod (assuming you have it installed).

[Sullla]

That data cant be stored in the savefile.. you would have to supply the modified XML..

However... you can store any civ/leader combination in the savefile.. so you could make Alexander as leader of Aztecs.. to do that you just have to make a worldbuildersave to start the game from, and switch the data around in that..

Since it is the human player. he woudl see little signs of that he is playing as another leader

This sounds much closer to what I'm aiming for (thanks very much for the help though Ruff! ) Gyathaar, can you explain how exactly one changes a leader using a Worldbuilder save file? (That is, creating a game with Montezuma, saving the first turn as a Worldbuilder save file, then swapping him over to Alex.) I took a stab at it, but couldn't pull it off.

[sooooo]

EDIT: I changed my instructions to hopefully make some sense, and not be stupid:

If you save the worldbuilder file, you can open it up in notepad. From there, you can change many things about the game. For example, you can change an Aztec civ to have Alex as its leader (it's fairly obvious which parameter refers to what), but have a green colour still. Save the file in notepad, then load the new game by going to Play a Scenario and selecting your edited worldbuilder save. Then the game will ask you which leader you want to play as, you select Alexander and play.

[Gyathaar]

This sounds much closer to what I'm aiming for (thanks very much for the help though Ruff! ) Gyathaar, can you explain how exactly one changes a leader using a Worldbuilder save file? (That is, creating a game with Montezuma, saving the first turn as a Worldbuilder save file, then swapping him over to Alex.) I took a stab at it, but couldn't pull it off.

Just go to the player section.. and replace
LeaderType=LEADER_MONTEZUMA
with
LeaderType=LEADER_ALEXANDER

[Sullla]

Excellent! Thanks to everyone who posted with advice!

[KMad]

for anyone who is truly curious and bored, here is a post on CFC about a bunch of funky stuff you can do with worldbuilder save files. i found it once when i had just about had it with peaks!!! i wanted to play a map with zero peaks ... at all. but i wanted suspense, so i wasn't about to open the map and change every peak. too time-consuming and then i'd see the whole map. i used a text editor on the WBS, replaced all instances of "PlotType=0" for that game, and got it out of my system .

now, peaks still annoy me, but i can deal. but gosh i needed it that day *giggle*.