Ottomans, Malians, and Community Mods
With the addition of the Ottomans and Malians in the Age of Empires IV Anniversary Edition, there are a number of potential interactions with these new civilizations that may affect certain mods.
These interactions have the potential to create errors, produce unintended results, leave new units unaffected by global effects, or otherwise cause mods to function in unintended ways.
This guide covers any potential impacts these civilizations may have, and how you can check and update your mods to accommodate them.
Potential Risks
The primary risk with the new civilizations involves fatal Scar errors that may occur when the game attempts to retrieve information related to specific civilizations.
Mods that do not directly modify or reference civilizations such as all Random Maps and any Crafted Map that doesn't use scripting will not be affected by the upcoming expansion.
However, Tuning Packs, Game Modes, and Crafted Maps that utilize scripts may be affected by the new civilizations, especially in cases where references are made to the units, upgrades, and other elements associated directly with specific civilizations.
Refer to the checklist below if you believe your mod may fall into one of these risk categories.
Mod Stability Checklist
If your mod falls into any of the risk categories identified above, follow the steps provided below to check your mod and make any modifications as needed.
Tuning Packs
Risk: If you have modified common units throughout all civilizations in your tuning pack by cloning them, your mod will not include the equivalent units from the new civilizations. For example, if you modified the spearmen for all civilizations, the Ottoman and Malian spearmen will not get those changes and will instead use their default spearmen.
Solution: Replicate the changes you made to the other civilization's units with the Ottoman (_ott) and Malian (_mal) equivalents as well.
Game Modes
Risk: Any instance where you intended to reference or include units of all civilizations may encounter an error whenever they interact with a Ottoman or Malian unit, or in the case of global effects that affect all units, may exclude the units from the new civilizations from their effects.
Solution: To assure both new civilizations are accounted for in your script, perform the following checks, making changes as necessary:
- Go through your scar files and assure you reference the Ottomans and Malians in any place where you were intending to reference all civilizations.
- Go to your mod.rdo file and check the following:
- Add any units or buildings in the precache list in the same way you did so for the other civilizations.
- Check any upgrades or player upgrades and also grant them to the Ottomans and Malians as needed.
Crafted Scenarios
Risk: Crafted maps utilizing scripting that references units from specific or random civilizations may not work correctly as some units may be omitted from its effect or throw errors when a unit is called but is unrecognized.
Solution: Check your scar files and make sure to add or update any references that involve units, upgrades, spawning codes, events files, and objectives. In these instances, add the necessary references for the Ottomans and Malians.
Re-Publish Your Mod
If you uncovered changes you needed to make due to the new civilizations, make these changes and re-publish your mod.
To assure players that your mod is now up to date, it is recommended you add a note in your mod's description that it is now compatible with the new Ottoman and Malian civilizations.