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Some of the biggest beneficiaries of these improved tools have been art and graphics modders. When Firaxis said Civ VI was built from the ground up with modding in mind, it wasn't lying We spoke to some veterans of the Civ modding community about working without this deep-level access to the game, and the workarounds they’ve been using to get their impressive mods working regardless. But here we are, well over three years into the life of Civ VI, there’s still no sign of it. Historically, Firaxis released this ‘DLL source’ to the public some time after a Civ game’s release – six months after Civilization IV, and 18 months after Civilization V. If a modder is savvy in C++, it unlocks the very core of the game for customisation. This is the part of the game files that dictates logic and AI, enabling significant overhauls that led to vast mod projects like Vox Populi for Civilization V and Fall from Heaven II for Civilization IV.
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This could be due to a few things, but the most notable reason is that developer Firaxis is yet to release the DLL source code for the game. Now, nearly four years on, the modding community is strangely emaciated, struggling to gain momentum despite creating some incredible work. A few years ago here at PCGamesN, when Civilization VI had just landed and the community began digging around in its code, we spoke with several top modders and their hopes for its modding tools.
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