need help installing visible wonders mod for apolyton pack

[Stephanie]

Help! I'm brand new to this whole mod business. I can't figure out how to install the visible wonders mod to the Apolyton Pack. I got as far as copying the gtset565 but the whole readme file is Greek to me. Can someone make me a "Installing the visible wonders mod for dummies" version? It would be ever so helpful.

[HuangShang]

finally a girl on the forms

anyway i don't get the visible wonders mod installation either
is all i have to do is unzip the files?
the readme said something about something else right

[Immortal Wombat]

To use the Visible Wonders mod with the default game, simply unzip the zip file, and then use modswapper to select the Visible Wonders Mod.

There is no Apolyton Pack version yet.

Once I am sure the default version is bug-free and works perfectly, I will make a version for the Apolyton Pack, and explain to Wes (?) and hexagonia how to make MedPack and Cradle versions.

[HuangShang]

k... thanx for letting us know

[Stephanie]

actually I think I'm confused now. There were two different installation procedures in the readme file one (the simple one) was using the mod by itself. The second was how to install it to be used as a supplement to another mod. That's the part I needed help with. I only wanted the Apolyton instruction because that's the only mod I downloaded so far. I was planning on trying other mods with the V.W. mod too.

[Immortal Wombat]

If you haven't done much modding previously, it is probably better to wait until Dale or I do an Apolyton Pack version, but if you want to have a go, I'll try to explain it a little better:

In this explaination, all the text files you need, apart from APOL_Strings.txt are in [CtP2 directory]/ctp2_data/default/gamedata. APOL_Strings.txt is in [CtP2 Directory]/ctp2_data/english/gamedata.

Firstly, unzip the file as you would anyway. This gets all the files in the right places, most importanttly the tiles. If you get a message saying "Do you want to overwrite gtset565.til", click "no", then make a BACKUP copy of this file (in ctp2_data/default/graphics/tiles), and unzip again.

The first thing you have to do to create any new mod is to tell the game what rules you are using. This is done in the file called gamefile.txt (with the prefix of that mod, eg. the Apolyton Pack uses APOL_gamefile.txt, Cradle uses CRA_gamefile.txt).
For your Apolyton Pack/Visible Wonders mod, maybe use the prefix APVW_.
Because you are working from the Apolyton Pack, make a copy of APOL_gamefile.txt, and rename it APVW_gamefile.txt. Find the third line from the bottom where it says "Apolyton Pack v2.0 - CtP2 the way it should be" or something like that, and change it to "Apolyton Pack v2.0 with Visible Wonders". When you open ModSwapper, you should now see that as an option.

That was the easy part. Now you have to change the "rules" of this new mod so that the VisiWonders show up.

Open APVW_gamefile.txt again, and find the lines "APOL_tileimp.txt" "APOL_script.slc" and "APOL_Strings.txt".
In each line, change the letters "APOL" to "APVW".

Make copies of APOL_script.slc and APOL_tileimp.txt, and rename them to APVW_script.slc and APVW_tileimp.txt respectively.

For every wonder you want to make visible (there are 9 in the Apolyton Pack), you need to make an entry in APVW_tileimp.txt.
You can copy a template from IWW_tileimp.txt as provided in the download.

In fact, since the Apolyton Pack uses the same wonders as the default game, you can copy the wonder tile improvements straight from IWW_tileimp.txt, and put them in at the bottom of APVW_tileimp.txt.
Find the lines beginning at:

TILEIMP_WONDER_PYRAMIDS {
   GLHidden
   Icon ICON_TILEIMP_OUTLET_MALL
   Tooltip TOOLTIP_TILEIMP_SELECT_ATM2_BUTTON
   Statusbar STATUSBAR_TILEIMP_SELECT_ATM2_BUTTON
   Level 3

and so on... and highlight from the top of that to the very bottom of the file (IWW_tileimp.txt). Copy all that into the bottom of the new APVW_tileimp.txt.

Now go to ctp2_data/english/gamedata and make a copy of APOL_Strings.txt. Rename it to APVW_Strings.txt and write at the bottom:

import "IWW_str.txt"

Luckily, the Apolyton Pack uses the same wonders as the default game, so the long complicated explaination as to how to do the SLIC becomes irrelevant.

Simply open your new APVW_script.slc (back in ctp2_data/default/gamedata) and add the line to the bottom:

#include "IW_wonders.slc"

Use notepad to open it, not Word, because Word can corrupt it sometimes when you save it.

Subsequently, any updates I make can be unzipped over the top, replacing any IWW_ prefixed files, and the mod will work as it should, with no further corrections by you.

Having made those changes, the Visible Wonders mod will be included with the Apolyton Pack, and should be able to be selected in Modswapper.

If any of this is unclear, I will be happy to clarify it
Ben

[Stephanie]

Thank you sooo much for giving me this help. Even though I really don't have any modding experience (I just discovered what a mod is like a day or two ago) that really does help my brain start to digest it. The only way to get familiar with mods and slic and stuff is to have exposure and experience working with it. It actually does make a little more sense now. thanks again! :-)

[Immortal Wombat]

no problem

The only way to get familiar with mods and slic and stuff is to have exposure and experience working with it.

Very true. Have fun

[Stephanie]

Hey I have another question, can you use a mod with that scenario I think it's called occ a new dawn, or is it considered a mod too?

[Immortal Wombat]

The scenario uses default rules.
Which mod did you want to use?

[Stephanie]

I don't know I was just asking. Just wanted to make sure it wouldn't crash or something dumb if I tried to use one.........to tell you the truth the only mod I've tried so far is the visible wonders mod by itself. I just spent all night online downloading a bunch of different mods to try......
that reminds me I sure am hungry.....prolly isn't good to stay up being pregnant......

[Immortal Wombat]

The scenario wouldn't crash if you used a different mod I don't think... you might get a SLIC error or two. But it wouldn't work properly.

I just spent all night online downloading a bunch of different mods to try......

Its 6am in CA, no?

[HuangShang]

[SIZE=1] Its 6am in CA, no?

its 7am here when you replyed... so whats the time delay b/w L.A. and Europe/Africa... assuming that's where you are

EDIT: god vB Code is so hard what happened to print view

[Immortal Wombat]

So it was 6am when Stephanie wrote:

I just spent all night online downloading a bunch of different mods to try......

WST is GMT - 8

[Stephanie]

yeah it was 6.....I live about an hour's drive from LA...(or less or 2 hours, or 4 or more depending on traffic)...........sorry I didn't post back I slept for awhile and then I'm sure you know how it goes with that game.......days on end.....stiff neck sore back.....I avoided the computer for a few days I was so sore.......I bet my husband wishes he never introduced me to CTP2, I used to think it looked dumb and wondered why he played it so much and then he talked me into starting a game together....now I'm hooked and he has to about wrestle me from the computer for a turn!!!