FIRAXIS: a frequent problem, a major bug, and a minor bug (all with 1.21)

simwiz2 · April 29, 2002, 17:57

The frequent problem:
In 1.17 there were a few times where the game would get stuck on a unit with 0 moves left for a few seconds. It was rare, so i just ignored it. But in 1.21 it is happening EVERY TURN with almost EVERY unit. My turns are taking almost a half an hour, and this is on a TINY MAP! I send a bomber out to bomb a city, and it returns to base, and i wait sometimes up to 20+ seconds while it sits there with 0/1 moves, and the terrain that it bombed has similar delays updating (taking off RR, irrigation, etc). Ok, so my computer isnt very good, and it has a celeron instead of the recommended pentium 2, but despite this i was able to play the game fine pre-1.21. This problem now makes civ3 almost unplayable on a tiny test map, so i cant imagine what it will do to my usual standard map games. The delay happens with all units, not just bombers. And it is a constant occurence. It also happens with Zoom to City.

The major bug (gameplay breaker):
I built a city and it disappeared, along with my settler! I was taking over Egypt, and they had this city that I wanted to move over one space. So I built a settler in one of my native cities, took the Egyptian city. To save time, i took the city (to gain RR's) then walked my settler to the space where I wanted the city. Clicked abandon city for the egyptian one I took. Then it said "The Resistance has Ended" (and the resisance did end, instantly). A possible exploit? Well anyway so I click abandon city again and it abandons it. Then I build my city. It takes awhile to zoom to it like its supposed to (but that happens all the time, see frequent problem). SO I make it start building a temple, click the X and... my city was GONE!!! (See Screenshot below, if it works)

The minor bug:
I was the Americans in the ancient era of a civ3 game, and suddenly i lost all the keyboard commands. Not looking forward to moving everything around with the mouse, I saved the game and reloaded. It reloaded, zoomed to... China's captial! I had no contact with the chinese, nor had i even explored the land where the capital was. The city icon in the center of the big X was not visible, but everything else was - the worked tiles had the food/shields/trade icons, the production/trade, what it was building, improvements, culture. A spot on the mini-map had the fog of war removed - the 2x2 radius of the city. When i closed the city window, that 2x2 discovered area dissappeared, and everything was back to normal. I was even able to use the keyboard again.

Coracle · April 29, 2002, 20:17

The "hanging" unit thay takes forever to end its turn so we can move on happened a lot to me with 1.17 in the Modern era. I haven't geotten that far too often yet with 1.21 so I'm not sure if it's still around.

simwiz2 · April 29, 2002, 21:45

ok well the screenshot didnt work but i uploaded it to my mod website, so you can see the screenshot here.

Grrr · April 30, 2002, 00:10

The hanging unit problem gets to be a real nuisance.

simwiz2 · May 1, 2002, 20:04

does anyone know if firaxis still reads these boards? i posted this so they could read it and hopefully fix the bugs, especially the first one. they dont seem to have read this, so does anyone know where i should send this to make sure they know about these bugs?

asleepathewheel · May 1, 2002, 20:14

Quote:

Originally posted by simwiz2
does anyone know if firaxis still reads these boards? i posted this so they could read it and hopefully fix the bugs, especially the first one. they dont seem to have read this, so does anyone know where i should send this to make sure they know about these bugs?

firaxis still reads the boards. Soren has a post from yesterday i think in the thread about the AI onthe strat page. and speed bump has a post in the thread about new maps at civ3.com. Not sure if Mike has posted recently. so maybe they have read it. I dont know what more you could do, it is pretty obvious that you flagged something for their attention. you could probably just email your question directly to firaxis, but who knows if you woudl get an answer for your questions.

Panag · May 5, 2002, 19:05

hi ,

firaxis visit's apolyton , that's for sure , now , one could speculate if they read the poll's or not , ......but , if we as players , read buyers , stop to post the problems , remarks , advice , feedback , jokes , and some "unpleasant" things then , they , firaxis , got to do it without us , and that means , more bugs , allas , i heard , they bring a patch , to patch the patch of the patch , huh , right , i dream of patches , and hope , hope , ......

oh yeah , multoplayer , i heard they have a patch to patch that as well , .........

allas , in short , unless we talk , huh , write , no patch , .......

of course , rome and paris where not build in one day , either , ....

have a nice day

Grrr · May 6, 2002, 00:01

A patch a day keeps complaints at bay. This is sadly not so.

Ninot · May 6, 2002, 00:46

Quote:

Originally posted by panag
hi ,

firaxis visit's apolyton , that's for sure , now , one could speculate if they read the poll's or not , ......but , if we as players , read buyers , stop to post the problems , remarks , advice , feedback , jokes , and some "unpleasant" things then , they , firaxis , got to do it without us , and that means , more bugs , allas , i heard , they bring a patch , to patch the patch of the patch , huh , right , i dream of patches , and hope , hope , ......

oh yeah , multoplayer , i heard they have a patch to patch that as well , .........

allas , in short , unless we talk , huh , write , no patch , .......

of course , rome and paris where not build in one day , either , ....

have a nice day

just a question (even if it is offtopic)... does anyone understand this guy? he's driving me crazy with these... 'posts'

oh... and to make sure i'm posting something on topic:

I have experienced part of your minor bug. In many of my games, i have had 1 turn experiences where i can't use the keyboard. Mouse-interface only. But it would only last for a turn, then i get control back. Dunno if our problem is simmilar.

I might have the rest of the problem too, but by the time i usually notice this bug popping up... the cities it zooms to have already been discovered, and i tend to think its just something the AI did that made me focus on that city.

Dienstag · May 6, 2002, 02:39

I haven't noticed the bugs simwiz2 mentioned (or, maybe the unit delay is there but much less than 20 seconds). Somehow, this thread reminded me of another minor bug I noticed, which is that sometimes in my build window the unit icons (settlers, warriors, etc...) are red, when I'm playing a non-red civ like the Germans. About as harmless as a bug can be, but I haven't seen anyone else mention it so I thought I'd toss it out.

And yes, I too have noticed panag's unique posting style. It doesn't drive me crazy, but it sure does make me wonder who this guy is. My wildest hypothesis is that panag is the result of a artificial intelligence research project meant to see if a computer can participate in forum discussions. My sincere apologies if that's not the case.

asleepathewheel · May 6, 2002, 02:46

Quote:

Originally posted by Dienstag

And yes, I too have noticed panag's unique posting style. It doesn't drive me crazy, but it sure does make me wonder who this guy is. My wildest hypothesis is that panag is the result of a artificial intelligence research project meant to see if a computer can participate in forum discussions. My sincere apologies if that's not the case.

Maybe he just enjoys some weed while he posts. What is wrong with that, man? Who hasn't at least posted while they were drunk?

Dienstag · May 6, 2002, 03:27

I honestly haven't posted while drunk

So you're 0 for 1, asleepa(t)thewheel. Now if panag cared to explain himself we could check out your other hypothesis.

[sorry for continuing this sidetrack...back on topic soon, I hope]

asleepathewheel · May 6, 2002, 03:32

Quote:

Originally posted by Dienstag
I honestly haven't posted while drunk

So you're 0 for 1, asleepa(t)thewheel. Now if panag cared to explain himself we could check out your other hypothesis.

you're certainly missing out, since you haven't posted while drunk.

and yes, thanks for bringing it to my attention that my name is missing a 't' there is a limit to the letters used, and I figured that extraneous t could go. step down Dienstag, step down.

on topic:haven't seen this problem, though my mouse (MS optical intellimouse) wigs out sometimes, scrolling all over the place. Don't think its the game though. Keyboard has never had problems inside the game.

Conqueror · May 6, 2002, 05:03

I must have been very lucky, never have had any of these problems even i play civ3 v1.21f 2-3 hours every day.

Maybe this has something to do with the fact that i usually win or quit/restart the game before reaching the modern times ?

Bill9999 · May 6, 2002, 07:11

I have not upgraded to 1.21 yet, but I have had the problems of losing keyboard control, sometimes just one turn, sometimes multiple, sometimes I have to reboot to get it back.

I have also had wierd experiences with the screen jumping to strange places on the map, I have noticed it happens most often when I raze an enemy city...

I haven't really noticed the problem where a unit sits at 0 turns, but i do get 10-15 sec delays between units sometimes.

louiethelesbo · May 6, 2002, 07:54

If Firzaxis is really reading these boards...I bet a lot of their programmers are already looking for new jobs.

Panag · May 6, 2002, 08:15

hi ,

to whom it may cpncern ;

firaxis tried to "fabricate" a working AI , however they found me , after a long coma , .................to much damage , .......

they are actually trying to make a patch , .............

topic ; some sound files dont seems to play correct

; when capturing enemy workers ; they show as yours in city's , dont show up on foreign advisor screen's , or show up as your workers , however outside the city they keep their "original identity .

as for the rest , i really wonder why it is that when you make a mod , play it on a comp with win98se you have no troubles , but play the same map or mod on 2000 you got trouble this or that , and ME or XP give other problems , sometimes a problem occurs in one version and is gone in the other , ......

have a nice day

Stuie · May 6, 2002, 08:38

Getting back to the original topic, I have never experienced any of these problems, but I also never installed 1.17f. I would try a complete uninstall, then reinstall, and then apply the 1.21f patch. Firaxis would probably ask the same prior to any additional troubleshooting.

Zoid · May 6, 2002, 10:30

Quote:

I have never experienced any of these problems

Neither did I, not with my old Celeron 433. And not with my PIII 450. There seem to be a lot of those things that only happen to some people

ahenobarb · May 6, 2002, 12:22

simwiz2, I used to get the "hung unit" problem all the time and I too found it unplayable. Once it happens once in a game, it recurs every turn, I discovered. The best way to deal with it is to save your game, shutdown Civ and then relaod. It shouldn't happen for about 5 turns or so, and then it comes back.

The problem has to do with computer speed, I believe, because I got a new computer that is much faster and I have no had the problem since.

While we're on the topic of bugs: what up with the sound? I have had multiple problems with it (won't bore you with all of them), but most recently when I am playing the game the sound cuts out unexpectedly.

I'll move a unit, the next unit in the movement queue comes up, but the sound is gone for everything in the game. I have to sav and restart Civ to get it back. It happens almost every turn now.

Panag · May 6, 2002, 12:35

Quote:

Originally posted by Kamrat X

Neither did I, not with my old Celeron 433. And not with my PIII 450. There seem to be a lot of those things that only happen to some people

please explain , ......

have a nice day

SpencerH · May 6, 2002, 12:44

I dont know if this is the "hung unit" problem. What I've seen is that the game will occasionally get very slooooooow while moving the units. It doesnt happen all the time but it's related to not waking up completely after sleep mode. My solution is to re-boot.

Dwarf Lord · May 6, 2002, 12:46

You know, normally, commas are placed like this:
word, next word
and not like
word , next word

This may sound like nitpicking, but your writing-style actually makes it difficult to read your posts (even if it's intended

)

On topic: I haven't had a problem with these bugs yet, and 1.21f seems an ok version.

Panag · May 6, 2002, 13:20

Quote:

Originally posted by Dwarf Lord
You know, normally, commas are placed like this:
word, next word
and not like
word , next word

This may sound like nitpicking, but your writing-style actually makes it difficult to read your posts (even if it's intended

)

On topic: I haven't had a problem with these bugs yet, and 1.21f seems an ok version.

hi ,

please explain , as to whom you refer , ......

have a nice day

Fitz · May 6, 2002, 15:18

The 0 moves thing was supposed to have been fixed in 1.21f. I have experienced (repeatedly) a mouse failure, and it seems to be connected to the military advisor screen. Since on my PC civ eventually crashes anyway, usually precluded by sound errors, if it runs for long enough, I just save and reboot when I get this problem.

Since I have permentantly disabled my wheelmouse (SMAC/X requirement) and disable pretty much all non-windows programs running from the Task Manager, this suprises and annoys me greatly since that indicates a conflict with Windows or a basic error within the program itself (or possibly a hardware conflist). Not insurmountable though.

And as far as panag goes, I can't stand trying to decipher his undecipherable and incoherent comments anymore, so now I automatically skip his posts. I highly recommend that you try the same. It will reduce the stress in your life by a large amount, and you will soon find yourself sleeping sounder and breathing easier.

Dwarf Lord · May 6, 2002, 17:23

Quote:

Originally posted by panag

hi ,

please explain , as to whom you refer , ......

have a nice day

I refer to you, of course, as you are the only one around using such strange puctuation methods.

Panag · May 6, 2002, 17:32

hi ,

well ; its like smilies , ......

topic ; no leader sounds in the first 2 era's , anyone else seen this ?

have a nice day

asleepathewheel · May 6, 2002, 17:37

Quote:

Originally posted by panag

topic ; no leader sounds in the first 2 era's , anyone else seen this ?

have a nice day

Leader production is random. some people go whole games without them. It really depends on how warlike you are.

you have a nice day

Panag · May 6, 2002, 17:41

Quote:

Originally posted by asleepathewheel

Leader production is random. some people go whole games without them. It really depends on how warlike you are.

you have a nice day

thanks

no , i mean the sounds and sometimes the animation is gone , in the first era , and sound sometimes in the second era aswell .

have a nice day , huh , all of you

asleepathewheel · May 6, 2002, 17:45

Quote:

Originally posted by panag
thanks

no , i mean the sounds and sometimes the animation is gone , in the first era , and sound sometimes in the second era aswell .

have a nice day , huh , all of you

whoops, sorry about that, i completely misread your post.
have you done any modding with the leaders? I mean, each era has its own leader animation on your hardrive, perhaps something is wrong there.

I will have a nice day, thank you very much.