CTD on city mgr screen

Toro · August 19, 2003, 11:02

Oh my god...! I've found folks who actually still work on this game! Gods be praised.

Okay, to my question: one of the very irksome things for me in this game (more irksome because I think CTP2 is probably the coolest civ game yet) is a CTD that happens when, later in the game, I click on the city manager screen. Started again last night, just after I settled my 39th and 40th cities. Too many cities?

Running XP now, 512 RAM. Also occurred in Win95. Any thoughts, fixes, more info needed?

centrifuge · August 19, 2003, 11:55

Do you have the patch and are you using any mods?

Toro · August 19, 2003, 12:51

1.1 installed, but no mods.

Martin Gühmann · August 19, 2003, 13:30

It looks like your governemnt doesn't allow 40 cities so get a better government in the mean time every city over the limit, removes one point of happiness in every city of your empire.

-Martin

Toro · August 19, 2003, 14:12

Hi Martin.

Thought of that. Going over the gov't limit normally causes unrest, not a crash. But in this case, I'm a Corp Republic, so 45 cities should be acceptable.

Gilgamensch · August 20, 2003, 04:12

can you try to attach a savegame?
Might be something wrong with the savegame.....
Did you ever reload in between from the Autosave?

Toro · August 20, 2003, 09:37

Hi G,

Interesting thing, it occurs sporadically. Last night, I was able to play a few turns without problem (I recall this happening before, too). Then, when I play long enough, it'll crash again. Seems to happen when I have plenty of cities and (necessarily) later in the game. IOW, it'll happen again. Perhaps a memory leak???

I can attach a game the next time it crashes, send to you?

Thanks.

Tamerlin · August 20, 2003, 09:40

If the game is crashing (I don't know what CTD is) try the /reloadslic trick after you have loaded your saved game.

Hit the ' touch and then enter /reloadslic in the text window, hit Enter to execute the command and then Enter again to close the window.

Toro · August 20, 2003, 09:58

Hi T,

Okay, I'll try, see what results.

CTD=crash to desktop.

Thanks!

Gilgamensch · August 20, 2003, 10:05

And in case it happens send the save, we will have a play

Toro · August 24, 2003, 15:31

Okay, it's still happening. I've a file, but how do I get it to you guys in order to take a look?

Many thanks.

centrifuge · August 24, 2003, 15:44

Use a program like winzip or windows XP's file compressor, to put it into compressed format, and than use the attach file button from the "post reply" screen. Simple as that

Tamerlin · August 25, 2003, 09:56

BTW Toro, if you are experiencing repeated CTD you can try to install again CtP2 using the Compatibility Tool provided with XP. I am using Win2000 and this tool has often allowed me to solve problems.

Toro · August 26, 2003, 19:08

The file.

Thanks for assist here.

Maquiladora · August 26, 2003, 21:05

I played about 12 turns and no problems anyway, except for switching you to a commie

Toro · August 27, 2003, 01:01

Commie! Wha???

Actually, I played all night, and no problems. Only thing I did different was I didn't zoom out, but played at the starting zoom setting. I'll try more tomorrow.

If you get a chance and have the inclination, zoom out two clicks and play a few, making sure to access the city mgr often (I'd like to know if that, by some odd chance, is the issue).

Thanks.

Maquiladora · August 27, 2003, 09:59

When you tested it on Win95 was it the same graphics card/other hardware? Obviously win95 different drivers but it can be hard to find reliable drivers for CTP2 (or at least it was for me with nvidia) sometimes it can freeze, sometimes it can just drop out of the game, although this is less likely to be a graphics problem, it could still be.

Other things like, did you alt-tab at all before resuming playing when it crashed?

I played another 40-ish and tried my best to crash it but it just wouldnt have it.

Toro · August 27, 2003, 15:01

Hi M,

No, no unusual alt-tabs or whatnot. I suppose there's a few other things to try (change resolution, sound, etc).

Since it's something that occurred on Win95 and XP with me, diff equipment too, there's got to be something I'M doing that's causing it, some setting I like. Humm....

Thanks for the help.
Toro

mucker · August 27, 2003, 21:51

I also have a CTD problem, but it isn't associated with me doing anything in particular (ie looking at a particular screen, hitting a particular button). I find it very aggravating, having to reload and use autosave, especially when I have to play the same turn over and over and over again.

I would tell you all my machine details, but the only thing I know is that I'm running ME. I am also using a mod (medmod), and have updated to 1.1. But the problem occured when I wasn't running a mod and before I used the patch.

Toro · August 27, 2003, 23:15

Hi Mucker,

Hate to say it, but it could be ME.

BUT, in any case, oddly enough, my CTD has not reappeared in two full evenings' play. The ONLY thing I've done differently is not zoom out. (scratching my head...) I'll continue to "test"...

BTW, for those who've looked at my game, I've beaten the Romans. Forced them into capitulation (cease fire) after capturing five cities and laying waste to their naval power. Ah, the smell of victory...

Maquiladora · August 28, 2003, 02:36

The zooming out thing (if your sure it occurs then) is maybe associated with graphics drivers, especially with the CTP games. If you get frequent crashes at the same point id change your graphics drivers for a few days (downgrade if you have the newest), especially if you get crashes in other games or windows frequently.

Toro · August 28, 2003, 23:27

Well, the CTD actually occurs when clicking on the City Manager Screen button. But... ever since I stopped zooming out (I used to play two steps zoomed out so I could see more of the play board) I have not had a single CTD.

Bug? Who knows. All I know is that now I can play this game without getting super frustrated because of crashes.

Thanks all for the assist and thoughts.

Tamerlin · August 29, 2003, 08:07

Though I don't have crashes with CtP2, the last one was identified and related to a diplomod 3.6 bug, I am quick saving the game very frequently (every turn) using the Ctrl+S keys and saving normally when I quit the game.

If you have a quick save, you can start back the game without losing a turn and try to Reloadslic. This last command is sometimes solving many problems.

Reminder:

hit '
Type /reloadslic
Press Enter
Press Enter again to close the chat window...

Tamerlin · August 30, 2003, 08:53

Toro,

Your CTD could be linked to a graphic issue. One way to improve Windows' management of the older games is to disable the DirectDraw acceleration of DirectX.

The problem is I don't know where is the DirectX folder in WinXP.

Another thing that can help is the Hardware Acceleration* setting of your Graphic Card, lowering it one rank or more can help the older games to work better. You can also try to lower the acceleration setting until the problem stops (the lower settings will also disable the DirectDraw Acceleration).

*Not sure of the translation

Toro · August 30, 2003, 09:31

Thanks, Tamerlin. I'll keep those in mind.

Regards!

Martin Gühmann · August 30, 2003, 11:03

If necessary you can also use the auto save, but be careful if you just discovered an advance you lose it and can research it again.

-Martin