Modding in Civilization V: Using the Map Editor for Earth Files

====================================================================================

Table Of Contents

----------------

1. Introduction

2. Prerequisites and Needed Software

3. Editing an Existing Map

4. Adding More Civilizations to a Map

5. Making Vanilla/Warlords Maps Compatible with Beyond The Sword

6. Cleaning Up a Map from Preset Civilizations

7. Changing Civilization and Leader Names

Introduction

----------

Civilization V's map editor is a powerful tool that allows you to customize almost every aspect of your game world, including adding new civilizations or modifying existing ones. In this article, we'll explore the process of editing earth files (.map) in order to unlock more possibilities beyond what the built-in World Builder offers.

Prerequisites and Needed Software

------------------------------

Before diving into map modding, make sure you have a few things installed on your computer:

* A copy of Civilization V with its latest patches applied.

* Winzip (or an alternative such as 7-zip or WinRar) to extract the game's files.

Once these prerequisites are met, let's move onto actually editing our map!

Editing an Existing Map

-------------------

1. Open up your computer's file explorer and navigate to: `Documents\My Games\Civilization IV_III_IV_XIV_Campaigns\Maps`.

2. Find the earth file (.map) you wish to edit.

3. Double-click on it with Winzip (or another zip-compatible program like 7-zip or WinRar) open.

This will extract all of the map's assets into a new folder within your `My Documents` directory, named after the original .map filename but without any extension (. Earths).

Inside this folder you'll find several important files and folders:

* data: Contains all information about units, buildings, technologies etc.

* civics.xml, `units.XML`, `structures.XML`: These XML-files contain all data for each civilization (except leaders).

+ Each line in these files looks like this: `...`

- The text inside the tags is what you see ingame.

* maps: This folder contains a .map file which holds everything about your map, including its size and shape.

* Open up `Maps/map.XML` with any text editor (like Notepad++) to view or modify its contents.

Civ 5 map editor earth file