New 1.21f Bug...

Larry Davis · May 13, 2003, 13:26

The following was sent to tech support via e-mail since I have been unable to find any telephone numbers or mailing address for tech support...

Hello: I thought I would send you just a few examples of the problems I have been experiencing with the new 1.21f Patch for Civilization III PTW… (See below)

These have occurred late in the late stages of single player games at random…

The only balance this new patch has brought me is one between the number of turns successfully completed verses the number of invalid page fault/stack dump crashes!

And before you say it, yes, I’ve turned off and disabled all other programs. The only other program running besides Civilization III PTW is Explorer. I have a Dell Pentium III 1,000 MHz machine running the latest version of Windows 98 Second Edition and all patches and all hardware driver updates have been maintained and are current. Often when your program crashes I have to reinstall my CD’s driver or at least get the computer to re-recognize the CD’s driver. Also the computer will not Shut Down after these crashes and I have to use the Reset button to re-Start the computer.

I must say that needlessly this has made my enjoyment of your product most frustrating to say the least! I do not have these problems with other manufacture’s programs… Blizzard is one good example of a company, which does not release a program until it is well polished and crash free. You would be well served to follow their example.

I also have not been able to play any on-line multiplayer games without crashes, sync errors, etc. I am convinced that it is virtually impossible to plat Civilization III PTW with a dial-up modem connection speed, something that was more that accomplishable with Civilization II Multiplayer Gold Edition. When using a DSL connection at a friend’s home I have experienced similar problems with on-line multiplayer games and thus once again I am VERY disappointed with the performance of your product.

Do I feel ripped-off and taken for granted as your and Sid Meiers customer? Yes!

Did I buy the original Civilization III based upon pre-release information, which lead me to believe that it would be an executable program with multiplayer features? Yes!

Did I Buy Civilization III PTW based upon information, which lead me to believe that it would be an executable program with multiplayer features? Yes!

Do I have a love/hate relationship with Civilization III? Yes, most definitely!

Will I continue to be your fool? Not until these problems are corrected and amends made to similar dedicated Civilization players… I believe that the current conditions border on a fraudulent and deceptive situation and that a class action by Civilization’s consumers may be in order if the current situation is not quickly rectified. Until then I guess if I want to play any on-line multiplayer games I will have to go back to Civilization II Multiplayer Gold Edition. Sincerely; Larry Davis, 268 South, 600 West, Hebron, IN 46341, (219) 988-4843, lad@netnitco.net

Spiffor · May 13, 2003, 13:58

The crashes you are referring to are extremely strange. I think the QA department of Firaxis will be interested in them, and you should enter contact with Barry Caudill (rats, I cannot find the email-addy), Firaxis' QA manager who is responsible for the next patch.

Otherwise, your complaints are understandable, and have been widely discussed upon here. The 'true lies' done by Infogrames PR concerning MP in the original release of Civ3 were outrageous. BTW, Infogrames has always pushed for Civ3 and PtW to be released on schedule even when they weren't ready. That's why the games were buggy as they hit the shelves (it was impossible to play MP when PtW came out), and that has terribly hurt Civ's reputation

Acemo · May 15, 2003, 10:55

If I were you Larry, I would edit my personal info from the original posts, esp address and phone number.

3rdTrial · May 15, 2003, 13:27

I would like to add the indignation about the hotseat diplomacy error where after breaking a deal (because of war or after 20 turns) you can no longer access the active deals of either civ with the other.

That mekes it impossible to use diplomacy at all in hotseat games.

ghen · May 15, 2003, 18:53

In my completely uneducated guess I'll say bad ram chips or some other hardware malfunction.

Chieftess · May 15, 2003, 22:14

It might not be Civ at all. I've heard of some people having problems when they run both Civ3 and a browser. How much memory do you have?

3rdTrial · May 16, 2003, 09:54

Sorry guys,

I must the software because,

I happens in more then one computer, I have three at home which are rougthy the same

Athon XP 2.2+
1 gb ram

I run on this network stuff that is way more demanding then any game you guys can think off.

I went across the trouble to uninstall and install the game in another one to verify some of these possibilities (despite being remote possibilities) and it makes no difference.

But what really gives away that it is a problem in the software is that is deterministic. In other words, I can make it happen when I want to! If it were a ram problem, then the virtual memory system in windows would hide allocation and I would not be able to make the error repeat as I want in any moment of the game.

Why don't you try it, make a hotseat game, run as at least two civ's. make a commercial deal to buy somthing and paying with gold per turn. After 20 turns, discontinue the deal. You will see how it breaks, when you try to see current active deals.

BTW, I'm using the US version of the game, since I live in US.

Larry Davis · May 16, 2003, 10:03

It is not a hardware problem... a detailed check of hardware has shown no problems. I have 256 ram and that is plenty to run every other game there currently is! The fact of the mater is I do not have any problems with other games its Civilization III and Civilization III PTW that have been a bugger ever since I purchased (the U.S. Version) them. lad@netnitco.net