This page includes information on the Civ5 Modding Tools as well as links to other useful programs.
- 5Testing and debugging
World Builder
'This example mod changes the visuals of the game to better match the colors and tones of it's predecessor, Civ V. Changes include multiple terrain texture modifications with more Civ V like details, a color key that puts the buildings and units into a more neutral palette, along with a number of other small changes. Delete the folder 'MPMODSPACK' or move it out of your DLC folder. PRO TIPS: To make it easier to install/uninstall put a shortcut on your desktop to Civ 5's DLC folder. When you are done playing with the mod move the 'MPMODSPACK' folder to the desktop to Civ normally. To play an NQ Mod game again just drag it back in easy. The mod manager tries to enable mod support for Civilization 5 multiplayer games. How does it work? It parses your installed mods in the CiV userdir mods directory (usually My Documents My Games Sid Meiers Civilization 5 MODS) and creates a list of currently supported mods. You can than activate the mods you want to play with. The best introduction to civ5 modding is still the Kael's Guide. However it was written a long time ago and some information is obsolete or missing. Import your files into VFS. The main change since Kael wrote his guide is about the VFS (Virtual File System). Forgetting to import files into the VFS is the common source of problems for beginners.
- The stand-alone world builder allows users to create and modify maps and scenarios for Civilization V.
Mod Buddy
- An editor (IDE) for the XML and Lua elements of the game and allows for the creation, packaging, and uploading of mods. To use it, you have to install the Visual Studio 2010 Shell (Isolated) Redistributable Package. ModBuddy will prompt you to install this if you don't have it already
- Installing ModBuddy Extensions
Nexus
- A collection of tools to to work with the art in Civilization V.
- Initial Look at Nexus, 3D Unit Art, and Reskinning
- Note that Photoshop templates for icons are also bundled in the SDK, under the Art folder (in Programs Files/Steam/...).
FireTuner
- An advanced debugging terminal. It displays the lua output, provides an interactive console and can be simply extended with custom controls and tables.
- Do not forget to modify your *.ini files, see Debugging#Configuration.
- Simple Tuner Modifications
Since the documentation is sparse, you need a tool to quickly inspect the civ5 source and data files and search in all of them at once. See also this comparison of search tools.
Notepad++
- A great and renowned text editor with a 'search in all files' feature (hit ctrl + shift + f). Used by many developers around the world. Download.
Visual C++ 2010 Express
- This is Microsoft's free C/C++ IDE, which is needed in order to compile the DLL. It includes code editing, autocompletion, compilation, and debugging and can be downloaded here. NOTE: any more modern version of Visual Studio should work so long as you have VC++ 2010 installed as well.
Dragon unpacker
- Can extract the Firaxis packages (.fpk files). Download.
DDS Unpacker
- Some DDS files have been compressed even further and look messed up if you open them in an image viewer. This tool rebuilds them. Download.
XnView
- An images browser to get a quick look at all the DDS files to spot the one you're looking for. Download.
FireTuner: Textures Viewer
- A FireTuner panel to browse most of the game's textures. Download.
FireTuner: Icons Viewer
- A FireTuner panel to browse the game's icons. Download.
Best Mods Civ 5
NVidia Texture Tools for Photoshop
- A Photoshop plugin to save textures under the DDS format. Download
Paint.net
- An easy-to-use and moderately powerful open-source image editor for Windows that natively supports the DDS format. Download
GIMP
- A free & open source image editing and manipulation tool. Very useful for creating 2d assets (icons). A windows installer version can be downloaded here.
Nexus Buddy 2
- Created by a member of the CFC community, this tool makes it much easier to work with 3d assets, especially for things other than units. You can download the latest version from the forums here, and it is actively updated by its author.
Mods For Civ 5
SQLite tools
Anytime it starts a game, Civilization V saves a SQLite snapshot of the database, including the changes made by mods, under Civ5DebugDatabase.db.
SQLite Manager
Civ V Mod Folder Commands
- NOTE: This is at the moment not compatible with the latest version of Firefox. The latest version it is compatible with is 19.0.
A Firefox plug-in, slightly more powerful than the previous tool. Download
SQLiteSpy
- A Windows software to inspect the SQLite files. Download
SQLite Browser
- A Windows software to inspect the SQLite files. Download
Cheating tools and game inspectors
In-game Editor (IGE)
- Add or remove units, cities, resources, change the terrain, trigger wars, etc. Convenient to quickly test your mod. Download (also on the Steam Workshop).
FireTuner: Techs and policies panel
- A FireTuner panel to list, grant and revoke techs and policies. Download.