mind telling us whats it about because i don't like downloading things with out knowing what they are.

Kael provides a detailed description how to mod for Civ5 .. interesting stuff Would be nice if the devs and not the Com would prepare at least a basic document to start with - they have normally for sure an internal document for all the items

just need Frog to tell us which what XMLs do what then we right.... all i know of now is a can really only add a few things not really make anything new.

I'd prefer good wiki rather than single guide. Speaking of which, is there any for EWoM?

If a game is advertised

When a game is advertised as being 'moddable' or 'modders friendly' the least a publisher can do is provide the tools to use that portion of the game; and this includes proper documentation.  However it's a common practice in the industry to let the community figure things out - it cuts on the production costs.  Personally I find that detestable.

EDIT: I would pay for a full Editor Suite, sold separately, and containing a full blown manual replete with examples on how to do something; instead of having to scrounge this and other boards to piece up the necessary information.  Add to this an interface that allows the player to *not* have to muddle through XLM file structure and I would pay even more.  Players come up with such things in a flash (witness Elementerra and the Faction editor) - I don't understand why Stardock can't - and make a profit out of it.

G.

^^^^
This.

I think that mods are going to be limited to appearance altering stuff for the most part.  Campaign/scenario mods will be difficult for a while because of the sweeping changes that are forthcoming.

Top

As opposed to all the time being wasted now on mods that can become obsolete for the same reasons?  Oh, but this is the community's time, not the company's time, so that makes it alright, I suppose.  For the record, I agree.  This is why I'm in a holding pattern on my mod. 

But this does not change the fact that this is something we need.  It can be a WIP until they have finalized everything internally, but we really do need SOMETHING.  I.e. if resources are solid, give us everything we need on resources.  Same for buildings, quests, weapons, armor, etc.  As it is right now, I feel like the modding community is a neglected stepchild.

Also, Stardock can draw a line in the sand for backwards compatability, particularly since they are using XML.  It's very simple to support the future formats along with legacy formats when you are parsing XML.

Well, I can't speak for everyone else, but I'd rather you enticed Kael over here and got him to write it

Perhaps not yet though, I'm with Kyogre on this - I don't mind if modding/modding guides wait until the base game settles down a bit. Graphics additions aside, anything that alters gameplay now will just have to be redone anyway after official updates change the vanilla gameplay.

Perhaps it is presumptious of me to suggest this, as I still havn't figured out XML, etc., yet.  However, what about having the community here create and update our own mod guide.  This, i suspect, is happening 'informally' as verious grooups have boned and are working together on various modding projects.

Might SD allocate a place here in the forums, for the players to start building a guide? Just a crazy idea...