How to 'install' mods that did not unpack

As we all know, subscribed mods don't always pop up in the MODS-menu when subscribed to them. You tried re-launching the game, restarting your PC, etc. but it doesn't seem to download the mod...
Usually, this means that the game failed to 'unpack the mod', meaning that it's still in its .civ5mod-file, meaning that the game does not recognise it, which means that it fails to show up in the MODS-menu!

This is a guide that shows (with pictures) how to manually unpack the .civ5mod file using 7zip, allowing the mod to show up in the MODS-menu so you can play it!


DISCLAIMER: This guide ONLY works when there's a .civ5mod-file. If that does NOT show up, then this guide is USELESS. Do NOT comment 'there is no .civ5mod file' as I cannot help you in that case!

Introduction

As we all know, subscribed mods don't always pop up in the MODS-menu when subscribed to them. You tried re-launching the game, restarting your PC, etc. but it doesn't seem to download the mod...
Usually, this means that the game failed to 'unpack the mod', meaning that it's still in its .civ5mod-file, meaning that the game does not recognise it, which means that it fails to show up in the MODS-menu!

This is a guide that shows (with pictures) how to manually unpack the .civ5mod file using 7zip, allowing the mod to show up in the MODS-menu so you can play it!


DISCLAIMER: This guide ONLY works when there's a .civ5mod-file. If that does NOT show up, then this guide is USELESS. Do NOT comment 'there is no .civ5mod file' as I cannot help you in that case!

How to do it

Where is the mod?

Let's take 'Boris, king of the Slavic Block' as an example in this guide. Since it starts with the 'B', it should appear in between 'Additional Achievements' and 'Citadels don't steal land'.
As you can see, it's not there!

Install 7zip

Firstly, install 7zip, which is a free file-(un)packer.
(Programs such as Winrar would also suffice, though I used 7zip)
If you do not know how to install 7zip, just google 'How to install 7zip' and you'll probably get there.

Open 7zip

This should be quite self-explantory

Browse to the game's MODS-folder

Browse to the game's MODS-folder. It's located in C:\Users\[USER]\Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 5\. (Double click to open a folder)
(NOTE: File path might differ between different OS's or OS versions. I am using Win10)

Doing the 7zip 'magic'

As you can see, the Boris mod shows up as an .civ5mod-file. For some reason, the game did not want to unpack it, which is why we are here.
Select the .civ5mod-file and click 'Extract' (the minus-symbol), which is near the top-left corner of the 7zip interface.

Let 7zip do the rest

A new window will pop up. Simply leave all the default settings and press 'Ok'.
After a while this window will close and you'll get back to the interface which shows all the directories.

You're done!

You're done! We have now upacked the .civ5mod-file and it will show up in the game's MODS-menu!
(The mod now also shows up as a normal directory in the 7zip interface. If this directory is empty, the modmaker might not have uploaded his mod correctly!)

FAQ's

Help, this doesn't work

Please be more specific. I am unable to help you if you do not specify your exact problems!

How do Install 7zip

Just google 'how to install 7zip' and you'll probably get there.

Can I also use winRar/another unpacking program

WinRar has been confirmed to work.
For the others, most probably, yes.

Can I also use Window's standard zip-tool

No! You need a special program for it such as 7zip or winRar

I opened up the wrong folder, can I go back a folder/move a directory up?

Yes, just press the little 'folder and green arrow' icon at the topleft of the 7zip interface

The file path is incorrect(, it's *insert_file_path_here!))

The file path might differ between different Operating Systems or Operating System Versions!
(I am using Win10)

The .civ5mod-file does not appear in the MODS-folder but I subscribed!

It might be the case that the modmaker did not upload his mod properly.
If that is not the case, then this guide is useless for you and you can ignore it. I AM NOT able to help if this is the case!

There is no MODS-folder!

(1). If you have just installed Civ, you first need to run it for it to be created
(2). Have you browsed correctly? Are you ENTIRELY sure you're NOT in the INSTALLATION folder of Civ5?

The modded civ does not show up under the civ-selection

First of all, this is not related to this guide, and it might be a problem with the mod itself.
However, are you sure you ENABLED the mod and did NOT press 'back' any time during the modding setup!

The directory containing the mod is empty!

That might be an issue on the end of the modmaker, he might not have uploaded correctly!

Does this also work for other mods than the Boris-mod?

Yes, any mod that suffers the problem of not unpacking will be appropriate for this guide

Will this also work on Mac

Steam User Mihajlo961x has confirmed this works for a program called Keka. I've never used this program myself so use at your own risk.

Old Answer:
I don't own a mac myself, though you will probably need a Mac version of a program such as Winrar or 7zip. The interface will probably be different too, as well as the location of the MODS-folder, but the idea is probably still the same.

Sidenote: DLL mods (such as 'The community Patch') will NOT work on Macs (not sure about Linux). The boris mod used in this example will (probably) work on Macs though, since it does not use a custom DLL

And how about Linux Machines?

My Linux knowledge is very, very, very limiited. But probably the same thing applies as in the 'Will this also work on Mac' paragraph above.

My question isn't here!

Comment below if it's related to this guide/topic ;)

[Hereward]

On a Linux system the mod needs to be extracted with file names in lowercase.

Requires 7zip and zip

Install

Debian-based.


sudo apt update

sudo apt install p7zip-full zip unzip

Manual

1. In your working folder, create temp folder.
2. Copy mod to temp folder and rename to `pack.7z`
3. Open terminal and extract 7zip file `7z x pack.7z`
4. Delete 7zip file.
5. Repack into zip file `zip -r pack.zip *`
6. Move zip file to working folder.
7. Go to working folder.
8. Delete temp folder.
9. Create finished folder.
10. Unpack in lowercase into the finished folder `unzip -LL pack.zip -d finished`
11. Delete zip file.
12. Rename the finished folder with the lowercase name of the modinfo file.

Script

Place in working folder.


#!/bin/bash
mkdir temp
cp *.civ5mod temp/pack.7z
cd temp
7z x pack.7z
rm pack.7z
zip -r pack.zip *
mv pack.zip ../pack.zip
cd ..
rm -rf temp
mkdir finished
unzip -LL pack.zip -d finished
rm pack.zip

[Ajax]

A question I don't see: what is the best thing to do if the mod is installed and present in a folder, but CIV5 downloads an extra copy of the civ5mod file instead? Would I just delete the extra civ5mod file, or would I unzip it and replace the contents of the existing folder, or what?

[DangerousNate]

@nordicwy

For Windows 7, if you right click on the file there should be an option "open with" then you can choose another default program to open it with.

[nordicwy]

What is the default for the .civ5mod file? I accidentally set notepad to it and now everything is not how it's supposed to be. Mods aren't being automatically unzipped and I'm struggling to figure out how to do that. I'm hoping that uninstalling and installing again will get me back to the default.

[Scutlet]

@Mihajlo961x Will update this in the tutorial!

[Mihajlo961x]

Anyone facing this on a Mac: simply download an app called Keka and follow the same general steps. Works like a charm!

[SwagDaddy69]

i'll try that. It'd be much easier if i could just set winrar as the openner, but windows wont let me

[Scutlet]

The .civ5mod file should indeed contain a .modinfo-file, though that cannot be (or rather, should not be) the only file that's there!
Are you trying to open the file inside the file explorer (so directly left-clicking on it), or via opening up winrar first and then browsing to it?
If the first, then right-click and select 'open with' instead and select winrar from that list. If winrar isn't there there's probably another button that states 'choose a different app' (or sth the like). Press that and you can browse to the .exe of winrar (located in the installation folder of winrar) inside the file explorer that just opened up.

If it's not clear enough then please let me know

[SwagDaddy69]

Alright, should it show up as a MODINFO file?

[SwagDaddy69]

I cant manage to open it with winrar, it prompts me to use a program from the windows store.