It Wont Work *Proceeds to cry like a baby*

The Andy-Man · November 18, 2001, 16:29

I got Civ3 yesturday, eagerly installed it (knowing before hand my piece of **** pc probably wont run it, but still hoping), i dbl clivk the civ3 icon, the civ3 loading screen thng comes up for a moment, disapeers, and leaves me looking at my desktop, all plain and empty, not even the decency of an error mssg

I have a pentium 2 400mhz, so this is not the problem, 64mb ram, the game says it only needs 32. So what could be the problem?

THERE IS NO EMOTICON WITH WHCICH TO EXPRESS MY FEELINGS!

Gaius Marius · November 18, 2001, 16:40

Sounds like either a problem accessing the CD or something wrong with your video setup - it may be crashing when it resets the resolution. Take a look at the readme - there is a setting for civ3.ini that keeps your desktop resoultion. Try that, and try different desktop resolutions.

You aren't playing a cracked version, are you? This kind of thing often happens when Safedisc protected games are copied or patched...

Good luck.

The Andy-Man · November 18, 2001, 16:49

wow, you replied quick. thx for th help, will try out now.

erm, nope, not cracked. all legit and stuff.

The Andy-Man · November 18, 2001, 16:59

well, it looks like this idea might work, but Civ3 has never actually run (properly) to creat the .ini file...... (like i said, that civ3 screen comes up with the coloseum thing, and then it goes and thats it).

maybe if someone sent me an ini file and told me where to put it (andyman69@thefreeinternet.co.uk)

HugoHillbilly · November 18, 2001, 17:07

Here's my .ini, just stick it in the Civ3 folder.

I dont know if this is machine specific, but try it anyway.

Venger · November 18, 2001, 17:21

Reload Direct X (8.1 is out now). Also, you may want to try a noCD crack from http://www.gamecopyworld.com as some CD players (more than you might expect) don't like the Safedisk2 copy protection.

Good luck...

Venger

The Andy-Man · November 18, 2001, 17:24

the .ini thing didnt work so it must be a cd thing then (i hear it struggling when i try to run it).

and i have Directx8.0a, so it should be ok.

i will try the CD thing now (ouch this sight is hard to searc)

The Andy-Man · November 18, 2001, 17:55

all the crack did was remove that civ3 screen at the the start, so now, i dbl click and absolutley nuthin happens

silly game, never have this problem with a TV....

Zorkk · November 18, 2001, 18:14

Quote:

Originally posted by Gaius Marius
You aren't playing a cracked version, are you? This kind of thing often happens when Safedisc protected games are copied or patched...

Good luck.

Funny Statement. I've actually seen enough to believe that safedisc or copyprotected games only have the problem. quite often a full copy w/ crack works flawlessly.

@The Andy Man:

Seems like your PC meets specs. What type of graphics card do you have? and have you upgraded all your drivers and updated windows???

Zorkk

Gaius Marius · November 18, 2001, 20:21

Yeah, it can go either way. Sometimes the CDROM (usually old/crappy ones, like my old one) don't like safedisc. Other times, the noCD patch can make the game crash at startup (often intermittently - you might ahve to start a few times to get it to work.)

Weird. Safedisc sucks. Safedisc 2 is worse.

The Andy-Man · November 19, 2001, 16:21

erm, well i have windows95 (the oldest onbe i think, but i have all the .dll's, or there would have been an error mssg).

My CD Rom is about 6months old and is 52x, so i dont think that is a problem..... if it was the cracked version would work.

As for grahix card, well, i dont know what i have, i do know that when i set windows to have a 1078x7?? (the highest res) i HAVE to use 256color mode, which makes my screen go all funy (i get this prob with dos games, and some widows ones - had it witgh SMAC- the scrteen gets all these lines in it and that and the colours mess up a bit, i was told this was my old motherboard though....) Perhaps this has something to do with it, or my PC isnt capable of the grpaphix res for the game, but i doubt it because i have run games that rewuire the 16bit depth (i have my PC set to that) and i have played games with that reselopution.....

Here is a better explanation of what happens when i run [a craked] version of civ3, click icon, mouse pointer shows that PC is thinking, this last for about half a second, then it goes back to normal and nothing happens. But The Editor works, perhaps i will just play that...

*proceeds to cry like a baby that lost its dummy*

allbad · November 19, 2001, 16:32

Ahh, it's the video then. 1024x768 w/ 256 colors (8 bit) is below the minimum system requirements of 1024x768 w/ 65,000 colors (16 bit). If you only have a 1MB card, then you will not be able to get better than 256 colors. Hope this helps.

allbad · November 19, 2001, 16:36

While you're looking that up, also check out the rest of the minimum requirements:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is a description of the minimum system requirements for Civilization III. If your system does not meet or exceed these requirements, then the game will run incorrectly, or not at all.

- IBM PC or 100% compatible computer
- Pentium II-300 MHz or faster processor
- Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, or XP
- 32 MB RAM
- 500 MB available hard drive space
- 4X or faster CD-ROM drive
- SVGA video card (capable of 1024x768x16-bit color) *
- Windows 95 or 98 compatible sound card*

For improved performance, you'll want to ensure you meet all of the above requirements, plus the following:

- Pentium II-500 MHz or faster processor
- 64MB RAM

* Compatible with DirectX version 8.0a or higher

The Andy-Man · November 19, 2001, 16:44

well, i have all the minimum requirements execpt the video card then

is there a way to get around this lil problem...... (with out gettin a new vid card)...... can i like edit the .exe... (remember, the /ini file thing didnt work)

Wrong_shui · November 19, 2001, 17:27

Download a program called power strip, lets you do all sorts of crazy things with your graphics card.

mr.buddylee · November 19, 2001, 18:35

If you have Windows 95, you have to install OpenGL I think.

A couple other things from the readme.txt:

* Ini file tweaks: The first time Civilization III is run, it will create a file called 'civilization3.ini'. The following lines can be added and allow you to tweak the game:

*KeepRes=1 - When set to 1, your desktop resolution will be what the game uses. 1024x768 screens will be centered, but you will be able to see much more of the map on one screen.
*NoSound=1 - Disables all sound in-game.
*Video Mode=1792 / Video Mode=1600 / Video Mode=1280 / Video Mode=1152 - Force screen resolution to one of these settings.

First edition versions Windows 95 did not include OpenGL, which Civilization III requires. A program named 'opengl95.exe' can be found in the root of the game's CD, which will install the required drivers. NOTE: This is only for first edition versions of Windows 95 that have trouble running Civilization III. If you don't have a first edition version of Windows 95 or you are not having difficulty starting the game, do not install these drivers!

The Andy-Man · November 19, 2001, 18:49

well, i have openGL, if i didnt there would be an error mssg.

i have no ini file because Civ3 has never actually RUN.

I am using this power strip thing, but i cant seem to get hte setting, 16bit color, 1024x678 res

please help.....

GreekyGoodness · November 19, 2001, 19:02

Did you try to alt-tab and see if the civ3 icon is in the list? You never know, it might just be coming up minimized and skipping the movie...You just never know.

The Andy-Man · November 19, 2001, 19:07

nope, not therer. i said, i double click the icon, and for all the changes it makes to my pc, i may aswell just have left it switched off.

the only change after an attempt to get it to work is a second will pass on my PC clock (which is 3 days behind anywho)

Zyzzarzaz · November 19, 2001, 20:56

Well, you could have outdated drivers for your videocard. Try figure out the manufacturer and modell by looking in the hardwaremanager or something and then check thier homepage for an update.

Hmm, the safedisk problem. I just hate that thing

... I need to crack every other game I purchase. Don't they understand that those copy protections have no effect? The net is crowded with cracks... It will take about 15 minutes for an amateur pirate to find and download a crack. ..bah.

Zorkk · November 19, 2001, 21:38

I would have to say it's totaly your video card that's the problem. Sometimes, if a game needs say a p200, you can get a way running it on a p166.. but unfortunatly, video just doesn't work that way. The game is trying to initialize your video, and it can't becuase there's not enuf video ram, or resolution, so it probably generates a failsafe error, and just quites, without telling you what's wrong.

Go get a new video card! yer in the dark ages anywaz! you can pick up a simple PCI 16MB 3D video card for probably less than 50bucks, and that would let you play the game i'm sure.

Zorkk

korn469 · November 19, 2001, 21:55

The Andy-Man

i have an old ATi 8mb AGP video card that will run civ3 (i got me a radeon 32mb card for like 90 bucks so i upgraded), however i have had it in my top desk drawer for about the past 6 months so i'm not sure if it still works, but i will mail it you if you want it

if not here is a list of video cards at outpost.com

http://shop3.outpost.com/category/Ou...o+Cards/32+MB/

Zorkk · November 19, 2001, 22:19

Hopefully he has AGP! if he doesn't, wanna send that to me? I gotta pii 350 just waiting till I have the spare cash for a vid card! heh =)

Z

The Andy-Man · November 20, 2001, 15:44

i would love your old vido card if you dont want it, erm, e0mail me at:

AndyMan69@thefreeinternet.co.uk and we can sort all the little details out. thx.