Also, Stardock has not yet enabled custom mods in multiplayer, so if you're playing multiplayer, you'll need to actually replace the files in the install directory ({Steam install dir}\steamapps\common\Galactic Civilizations III\...). I assume that since this only modifies map creation, only the game host needs to do this. When going this route, I suggest making a backup copy of the vanilla files, before replacing them.
[quote who="Chris FFZ" reply="11" id="3661386"] How do you install this 'fix'? [/quote] Simply unzip the mod (including the mod folder) into your 'My Games/GalCiv3/Mods/' directory. After that, the mod will automatically get loaded when you launch the game.
This mod restores both the galaxy size definitions from v1.83, as well as the default object frequencies (planets, stars, etc.). If you want to use the new object frequencies with the old (larger) map sizes, just remove the file 'MapSetupDefs.xml' from the mod folder.
Question for pshaw (Stardock): The standard Insane galaxy size (prior to v1.9) contains 434,341 total hexes. Is this the maximum number of hexes that the engine can support? If not, what is the maximum number, or is there no hard limit?
[quote who="Badbonez" reply="4" id="3661022"] Looking forward to reverting back. [/quote] FYI, in the meantime, you can use this mod to revert back to the previous map sizes and densities.
Thanks, Spider. I had narrowed in on this file, but hadn't yet gotten it to load correctly as a mod (apparently, the client does not like having empty folders in the mod folder, despite what the readme says). As a note, they also modified the map setup definitions, in addition to the map size definitions. I've created a little mod which restores both of these files to their original settings (including the restoration of the original Large and Huge map
Do you know if there's an XML setting that is used to set the map size for each of the galaxy size selections? If so, perhaps there is a simple one-file mod. that can be used to set the galaxy size back to what it used to be?
Yeah, I used an Immense galaxy with 22 races (where the recommended is 32), and I got contact on turn 1. Perhaps when they said "more vast than before", they meant "vastly inferior" -- and "more stars and planets" apparently must include the new invisible kind, which drastically reduces the number of visible stars and planets.
One of the highlights for the new patch states that "performance optimizations have allowed the addition of more stars and planets , making galaxies feel even more vast than before". At least on the Immense size galaxy, the opposite seems to be true. The total area of the galaxy seems smaller and more cramped, with fewer stars (bunched closer together) than in v1.83, despite using the same map generation settings. By contrast, the Immense galaxy in v1.83