PC Games Civ IV Review + Interview

[MarkG]

somehow i doubt the the world builder (a integrated part of the game(not an external tool) which was presented with an article by the senior producer just last week will not ship with the game

he might be talking about something else....

[lockstep]

Originally posted by sabrewolf
surprisingly much information. usually the german market only gets 2nd hand information

Sad, but true.

[Sava]

Originally posted by Solver
Sava, you can do rule tweaks the moment you install the game. Game data is stored in XML files - if you want to change unit strength, building cost and probably lots of similar things, that's where you do it.

The SDK is for really advanced modding - creating total conversions, absolutely new features, changing the AI, etc. And games that have a SDK always get that SDK released later, that's the way it has to be.

okay, I hope that is right...

I know Firaxis does lots of testing to balance the game, but I usually like to do minor changes like maybe road movement and stuff just to make my gameplay more fun.


btw, what is needed to edit XML files? MS Office? or notepad? I forget...


I don't really care about the SDK all that much. I probably won't be futzing with that. Although I did experiment with Battlefield 1942's Mod Development Toolkit. That was fun. I made the jets in the mod "Desert Combat" shoot artillery rounds (with really high cyclic rate) from the M109 Paladin.

You don't know the meaning of the word "awesome" until you fly an A-10 Thunderbolt with a rapid fire 155mm howitzer as its primary weapon!


edit: okay wtf... excite smiley is gone, and the nod smiley is not working

[MarkG]

Originally posted by Sava
btw, what is needed to edit XML files? MS Office? or notepad? I forget...

notepad will do the job just fine although there xml editors that have some helpfull features

then again one could also easily do a small application to change xml files

[Solver]

There are many good XML editors out there, but indeed, one of the beauties of the format is that you can change it as long as you have notepad.

[sabrewolf]

Originally posted by MarkG
notepad will do the job just fine although there xml editors that have some helpfull features

then again one could also easily do a small application to change xml files

if they ship it with the DTD or XSL or whatever schema language is used, a decent XML editor should be able to help non-IT-people model stuff.

the question is: is there a freeware XML editor which can do such stuff?

[MarkG]

http://www.altova.com/support_freexmlspyhome.asp

[sabrewolf]

24 hours evaluation time? so never leave it running when you leave for work in the morning

anyhow, i'll be looking around for some OSS/freeware editor, unless somebody can give a hint

[Sava]

Originally posted by sabrewolf
unless somebody can give a hint

Does MS OfficeXP come with an XML editor? I should really install it and find out. But I'm too lazy.

[MarkG]

Originally posted by sabrewolf
24 hours evaluation time?

it's for "selected features of the XMLSpy® 2005 Enterprise and Professional Editions"
the basic functionality is free. for ever

[PJayTycy]

XIN editor is a freeware/open source (windows only) XML editor.

http://xined.sourceforge.net/

[alva]

Or else you cold try notepad++

[sabrewolf]

oh great , i spent all this time and effort translating and on the civ4 title page the CFC version (ok, admittedly better translation) is mentioned

[GeoModder]

It came there after yours was finished. Thought at first it was yours.

[Locutus]

Originally posted by sabrewolf
oh great , i spent all this time and effort translating and on the civ4 title page the CFC version (ok, admittedly better translation) is mentioned

That's DanQ for ya, he doesn't have the time to read the forums every day, that's basically Solver's and my job. Too bad I'm too busy IRL ATM to contribute much to the site or I would've written an article earlier. Next time, give us a heads-up at news@apolyton.net.