During the load up sequence I get an error message saying "python initialisation failed". Ive tried everything i can think of. Ive reinstalled vanilla civ aswell and BTS and also made sure I have all the updated direct x but still nothing. I wanna play the game already :'(
Anyone got any ideas?

Not out of the top fo my head. Can you tell where you installed Civ Vanilla and BtS? Default directory or somewhere else? Did you patch Civ Vanilla before installing BtS? Any specific language version (English, German, French or some other language I forgot).

theyre all english versions, installed in default directories. At first i tried installing BTS with warlords direct to drive installed. Then when that didnt work I uninstalled everything, then reinstalled vanilla and installed BTS after that without any patches. The manual and readme say BTS should work on vanilla 1.0
Im so confused :S

I have digital versions of civ4 and warlords and concerned it might be the problem, even though the web site says it should not be an issue.

Also have installed total realism at one point.

Either of these situations ring a bell?

well yeah as I had d2d warlords, but after uninstalling it and just installing to the vanilla 1.0, surely it should work :confused:
did you have the same problem with the "python initialization failed" message box? and if so how did you get around it?

Dont know if you MUST have warlords installed first or not. Suppose not.

I only have 64 mb video ram. Tons of ram, space, 1g virtual mem though.

How about you?

ive got 256 video, gb of ram. You dont need warlords you only need vanilla. Which is what im trying to say. My vanilla is the CD version so after reinstalling it I dont understand why the problem persists :(
So how did you get around the problem yourself?

I am having the same problem. I also have the disk version of Civ 4 and the D2D version of warlords. I bought the disk version of BtS today and get this message as soon as the loading window says "initialize Python" I am currently working on reinstalling everything from scratch minus warlords, but it sounds like that will most likely not help.

I'll let you know if I get it working.

Robert

I had a similar problem after uninstalling Warlords.
BTS ran without any problem, except that due to my system I have to run with low graphics. I then read that Warlords is not needed unless you use the scenarios so I uninstalled it, went back to my game on BTS and had the python error message. Rebooted the machine and tried again but to no avail so I unistalled BTS and vanilla, reinstalled both and, hey presto, BTS is up and running again. :)

ok guys i got it sorted :)

for anyone else with the same problem I did the following:

1)Entirely uninstalled all civ games via add and remove programs.

2)Reinstalled vanilla civ and BTS in safe mode (safe mode may not be needed, I just wanted to make sure nothing screwed up the install)

3) Smiled a lot

Basically BTS doesnt like d2d warlords, and although I thought I had uninstalled it, I hadnt, so I had to remove the remnants using add and remove programs.

Thanks for all ur help guys!

Yes, I got mine working as well by completely removing all Civ4 instances. I then DL'd the most current patch for civ4 vanilla, reinstalled vanilla, patched it, and then reinstalled BtS. Its now working fine.

I'm figuring BtS boxed version (at least) does not like the D2D warlords version.

Well Im having the same issues as you guys, but all my versions are from the boxed versions not direct to drive, and im still getting the failed python issue,grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr[/I]

so...I have Civ4 and Warlords from D2D. Must I uninstall BOTH first, then download Civ4 and my disc copy of BTS? Or just remove the Warlords and then download the BTS again?

I have now installed this on my laptop and desktop computers.

Desktop: Civ4 CD, Warlords D2D, BTS CD
Laptop: Civ4 CD, BTS CD


BTS works on the laptop, but the desktop is failing on initializing Python. Seems to lend some credence to D2D copies being an issue...but who knows? I'll be watching this space eagerly for the fix.

EDIT TO ADD: I can't uninstall Warlords until I finish my current game, so hopefully there is a fix for this rather than "deep six Warlords".

Moved to tech support

I am having the same problem, but only with BTS. The 2K tech support told me the problem was my disk drive, but it works with all other CD media. I have disk copies of CIV, Warlords, and now BTS, and only BTS does not run. CIV is even patched to 1.71. :confused: :confused:

I have even returned the copy of BTS, thinking it was faulty, but the 2nd copy is doing the same thing.

I have reinstalled all of the programs, turned off all background programs, and reinstalled all my drivers. I have even done system restore, after thinking I corrupted something. ANY IDEAS???

I got an answer back from Take2 America support.

They want my DirectX info. :eek:

If anything comes of this, I'll gladly post it.

Here is the recommended fix from Take2. The link at the bottom is to a registry cleaner. I'm not sure if\when I'm going to try this. Reinstalling doesn't help, and the temp files are easy enough to try, but I've not heard of RegCure before. Anyone know anything about it? The site looked odd...very squatteresque.



In order to fully troubleshoot the problem that you are having please try the below information:

1. Delete all temporary files from your system.
From the Start menu, select RUN and type "%Temp%" without the coma`s(""), this will bring up your Temp folder, Delete all the files in this folder.
You may need to turn on the ability to view hidden files and folders to do this. To do so, double click My Computer, then click Tools and Options. Then click View and select the option to view all hidden files.
Then reboot and try the game again.

2. Close down all background tasks.
To do this click Start, then Run, then type MSCONFIG and click OK. From there click on the tab marked startup.
For Windows XP users click the button marked as Disable All, then click Apply and Close.
For Non Windows XP users, please remove the ticks from all of the boxes apart from the below four and then click Apply and close.
LoadPowerProfile
ScanRegistry
SystemTray
TaskMonitor
Once this has been done, please reboot the computer and then try the game again.

3. Reinstalling the game.
Please uninstall the game, then delete the folder that is left behind. Then reboot the computer, reinstall the game and reboot again. Then install any patches that are available for the game, reboot the computer and then try the game again.

4. Run a thorough Scandisk and Defrag on your computer.
From the Start menu please select and run a thorough Scandisk of your computer's hard disk drive. Then run the Defrag option from the same menu.
Then reboot and try the game again.

5. Update your drivers.
Please ensure that you have downloaded and installed the latest drivers for your video and sound cards available from the website of the card manufacturer. Then reboot and try the game again.

6. And can you please download the fix from the Webside

http://www.faster-pc.net/python.exe?gclid=CPXpsoqTw40CFSdPEgod2Sa7MQ

I did some checking on Regcleaner, and I'm not even going to try it. Here's a link to some of the user experiences with it:

http://forums.techguy.org/windows-95-98-me/469582-regcure.html

I sent an email back to Take2 to see if they would tell me what SPECIFICALLY might be wrong with the registry so that I can fix it by hand, if it is indeed a legitimate fix.

Wow some strange advise in here.
To fix the problem install the expansion when logged in as administrator. Worked for me.

Strangly an account with same rights as admin don't work so you have to use windows built in admin to install then you can play with whatever user you like.

Had to do the same myself - totally uninstall all Civilization and then install only Vanilla and BtS (my Warlords copy is from D2D).

I am going to try installing Warlords later, and see if it works properly so long as BtS is installed first.

Take2 is giving me basic crap support.

"Please install in Save mode."

LOL

Semi-official response from Take2:



Hello

The game will always try to pick up the warlords as this on direct 2 drive it will not be able to pick it up you will need to remove warlords then install it after BTS

FYI, this is a fix. Uninstall Warlords and BTS, reinstall BTS and then Warlords. Running without issue.

It's not exactly what Direct2Drive promises on their website, but cest la vis.

This is the response I got from Take 2 support but I don't know if it works. Going to try tomorrow... seems like an aweful lot of work to install a game. It is absurd the amount of work expected of the consumer here.

Subject
Error when trying to launch.

Discussion Thread
Response (Daniel Hart) 01/08/2007 07.22 AM
Hello,

Please try the following, if this does not work then we would suggest to return the gsame back to point of purchase for a replacemt disk.

Please create two folders on the desktop, one called Civ 4 and the other Beyond the Sword. Next you will want to boot into safe mode so write these instructions down before hand.

To boot into safe mode you will need to restart the PC and keep pressing the F8 key while restarting, Once in safe mode you will need to copy the contensts all Civ 4 disks into the Civ 4 folder located on your desktop, now because in safe mode it can take between 10 and 15minutes to copy over.

Then you will need to the same with Beyond the Sword and copy its contents into the Beyond the Sword folder while still in safe mode.

Once both games have been copied over you then need to browse the Civ 4 folder on your desktop and run the setup.exe this will start the installation for the original game. Once it has been installed you then need to do the same for Beyond the Sword and run the setup.exe. Once both games have been installed you then can restart the computer and try the game again.

Customer (Entered by Daniel Hart) 01/08/2007 07.22 AM
Failed to initilise python error when trying to launch the game.

Question Reference No070801-000086
Product Level 1: PC
Product Level 2: Sid Meier's Civ IV: Beyond the Sword
Date Created: 01/08/2007 07.22 AM
Last Updated: 01/08/2007 07.22 AM
Status: Solved

This is the response I got from Take 2 support but I don't know if it works. Going to try tomorrow... seems like an aweful lot of work to install a game. It is absurd the amount of work expected of the consumer here.

Subject
Error when trying to launch.

Discussion Thread
Response (Daniel Hart) 01/08/2007 07.22 AM
Hello,

Please try the following, if this does not work then we would suggest to return the gsame back to point of purchase for a replacemt disk.

Please create two folders on the desktop, one called Civ 4 and the other Beyond the Sword. Next you will want to boot into safe mode so write these instructions down before hand.

To boot into safe mode you will need to restart the PC and keep pressing the F8 key while restarting, Once in safe mode you will need to copy the contensts all Civ 4 disks into the Civ 4 folder located on your desktop, now because in safe mode it can take between 10 and 15minutes to copy over.

Then you will need to the same with Beyond the Sword and copy its contents into the Beyond the Sword folder while still in safe mode.

Once both games have been copied over you then need to browse the Civ 4 folder on your desktop and run the setup.exe this will start the installation for the original game. Once it has been installed you then need to do the same for Beyond the Sword and run the setup.exe. Once both games have been installed you then can restart the computer and try the game again.

Customer (Entered by Daniel Hart) 01/08/2007 07.22 AM
Failed to initilise python error when trying to launch the game.

Question Reference No070801-000086
Product Level 1: PC
Product Level 2: Sid Meier's Civ IV: Beyond the Sword
Date Created: 01/08/2007 07.22 AM
Last Updated: 01/08/2007 07.22 AM
Status: Solved

I would try the easy way first, which is uninstalling warlords, installing Bts, and then reinstalling Warlords. They suggested this safe mode install to me, but it didn't make any sense. Too many people reported the problem for me to believe it was a bad install or a conflict with a running program, so the only fix that made sense to me was installing D2D Warlords AFTER BTS. And now all three games are up and rocking on my system. :)

I just bought BTS yesterday and have both IV & Warlorlordsf rom D2D and have the same fail to ini python so I'm reading all your posts and waiting for updates - thank you for posting your results so others can learn.

I appreciate your efforts and so does my sanity

Follow Up:

1) Uninstalled Warlords & BTS
2) Re-booted in SAFE mode
3) Logged on as Administrator
4) In Safe mode installed BTS
5) Re-booted in normal windows

It Works! Now for a Nap

Leslie in San Antonio

i tried the same thing as springanew and no luck :(

any other ideas?

I also tried uninstalling all civ instances, and reinstalling vanilla and bts in safe mode logged in as administrator. it took an hour, and still nothing.

i'm fiending!!

thanks for any help...

I have the same setup as MrSachmo and the solution was to install BTS BEFORE Warlords.

I have the same setup as MrSachmo and the solution was to install BTS BEFORE Warlords.

Exactly. If you have Warlords on your system from D2D, make sure you uninstall it before even trying to install Retail (or maybe even D2D) BTS. You should be safe to reinstall Warlords after BTS is on your system.

im having this failed python stuff too.
problem is the warlords won't uninstall via its uninstaller nor the add and remove. so i deleted manaully from program files and documents and settings.

problem is when i stick the warlords disc in it gives me the play option not install. i went into cd and clicked setup, then it said warlords cant install as its detected warlords patch version 2. odd.

but i can't see how i deleted everything

any help?? as i want to pay BTS

I had the same problem.

2K support told me that warlords and BTS do not work together well.
The solution that was offered and that worked fully was:

A) Uninstall Civ 4 completely including expansions.
B) Re-install Civ 4 and patch it to 1.61, not 1.74.
C) Install BTS and patch to latest.

This solution fixed my 'failed to init python' problem fully. Hope this helps all of you.

** Read Messages #36-38. ***

okay will give it a go and let you know.

no different, still crashes at python stage

Could the version of Python have anything to do with this? What version should you have?

Then I recommend that you contact support via this number:

USA
1-866-219-9839
(Email: usa@take2support.com)

CANADA
1-800-638-0127
(Email: Canada@take2support.com)

Webpage: take2games.com/support

This information is in your game manual on page 63.

Did you uninstall using add/remove programs?
(support told me that I had to do that with no mention of safe mode.)

1. start, control panel, add remove programs.
2. remove all updates and expansions (particularaly warlords.)
3. remove the Civ 4 vanilla.
4. re-install per instructions in message #32

Exactly. If you have Warlords on your system from D2D, make sure you uninstall it before even trying to install Retail (or maybe even D2D) BTS. You should be safe to reinstall Warlords after BTS is on your system.

I was told by support via phone conversation that BTS and Warlords do not get along.
I think you should axe (pun intended) warlords and intstall Civ 4, patch to 1.61 then, install BTS.
(Per 2kgames support.)

originally like more than 4 months ago i had to manually uninstall warlords because it wouldn't uninstall and it crashes the add and remove.

now months later that bloody game is stopping me from playing BTS.
i tried installing civ4 and patching it to 1.61 then bts... no change.

still crashes as soon as the python bit comes up.


p.s. i already sent an email to take2.. its been 2 days now and no responce.

Sounds to me like you did not completely remove Warlords and it is still
conflicting with BTS. If you know how to remove all instances of it in your
registry, you might try that. Or, call that support number tommorow.

yeah theres something still left, but where, i have deleted everything warlords and i have a registry scan thing, warlords isnt on its list.



also i can't call that number, i live in the UK and would cost a fortune.

is there any other way i can search for these elusive files? as i want to play bts, im stuck just being able to play civ4 atm.



p.s. i have just done another windows search, but this time in hidden folders and sub-folders... searched for warlords. found afew in windows folder and alot in bts which i won't touch.
but why are there warlords files in my windows folder? im going to delete them, uninstall civ4 and bts and try another install. i will let you know.

i've just uninstalled civ4 and bts, funny thing is there was a tab for warlords in add and remove:

warlords
size 39.50mb
used frequently
last modified 8/18/2007

now thats interesting considering it was last year i install that, i tried the remove tab but like a year ago it crashed and i got a pop-up saying their was a problem blah blah blah would you like to send an error report.

could this be the source?

I'm almost certain that it is.
You have to get that old warlords completely out of your system.
Maybe try reinstalling it to the same old directory and then uninstall it using
the add/remove method. I will call support today on your behalf and ask them
for advice and then I will post it here.

Ok,

I contacted them and they are emailing instructions to me for the manual uninstallation
of Warlords. I will post that here after it arrives.


*** EDIT ***

Here is the email: (let me know if it works)


Recently you requested personal assistance from our on-line support center. Below is a summary of your request and our response.

If this issue is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may reopen it within the next 7 days.

Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you.


Subject

Discussion Thread
Response (Overflow UK 1) 20/08/2007 01.21 PM


Hello Rick,

RELEASE VERSION

A) Open My Computer then open the Local Disk C Drive
B) Open the program files folder.
C) Click on the tools menu then choose folder options
D) Click on the view tab and tick the box labelled "show hidden files and folders". Press OK
E) Open the installshield installation information folder
F) Search for a folder named {3E4B349F-10B5-4586-9D99-489A90A8B228}
G) Right click on the folder and choose rename. Press the End key on the keyboard and type the word OLD. Press the enter key


POST 2.08 PATCH

1) Click START > RUN and type REGEDIT
2) Now navigate to HKey_local machine > Software > Microsoft > Windows >Current Version > Uninstall.
3) Now can you delete the Folder {3E4B349F-10B5-4586-9D99-489A90A8B228}
4) Now run the setup.exe found on the Civilisation IV Warlords cd.

Customer (Entered by Michael Spence) 17/08/2007 06.25 PM


> When he starts beyond the sword he gets failed to initiate pyton when he goes to play the game. <


Reinstall and repatch civ 4 to 1.61 then install BTS and patch

Question Reference No070817-000225
Product Level 1: PC
Product Level 2: Sid Meier's Civilization IV
Date Created: 17/08/2007 06.25 PM
Last Updated: 20/08/2007 01.21 PM
Status: Solved


Please be sure to delete all previous correspondence when replying. This will help us to process your response in a more timely and efficient manner.

Kind Regards,

2K Games Technical Support

okay i have rename a file old and deleted the same one in regedit.

should i reinstall warlords and then delete or just try and reinstall civ4-1.61 patch-bts?

the problem i had with reinstalling to uninstall warlords was the installer alway said i had a newer version than the one i want to install and that i should uninstall that first, hopefully the renaming and deleting will of got rid of that.

thanks Ingot for contacting them on my behalf

You're welcome,
I hope it works and that you will let me know either way.

okay i uninstalled bts, installed warlords(2k stuff worked) and then add and removed warlords.
then uninstalled civ4 and started all over again...... civ4-1.61-bts

and it WORKS!!!!!!

thanks a million Ingot

Alright!
Yer welcome. see you in multiplayer sometime.

new problem... ggrrrr

was playing the mod where you kill zombies all night, great mod by the way.
and when i woke up and launched civ4 to continue i got this:


Initialize renderer failed. check directx installation. latest graphics drivers and graphics settings parameters:
-width = 1024 (should 1440)
-height = 768 (should be 900)
-flags = 0xc
-hwnd = 0x2d03ac
adaptrid = 0
deviceid = 3
error: creation failed: invalid 3d device type


its like what the hell, nothings changed since last night, i have even started over fresh and still the same.
i know its not the laptop as it meets the requirements:

3.4ghz pentium 4 ht
1.5gb ram
ati radeon mobility x600
loads of disk space
got latest ati drivers and latest directx 9.0c i have xp so this is highest for me.

I haven't experienced that so I don't know what it is. But, it does sound like
a driver conflict to me. Have you ran windows update? I think I can recall
seeing something in the tech support forums about ATI issues with Civ 4.
I'll look around and I recommend that you do the same. If we don't come
up with anything, we can give support another call.
(start with windows update and see if it helps)

i sorted it Ingot.

somehow the ATI files got corrupted and it turned itself off, hence civ4 didn't know what i had. wasn't until i rebooted and got 800x600 that i realised there was a problem. ATI help files said uninstall but i couldn't reinstall it just crashed so i had to go extreme and reformat my laptop.

after a loooong time updating i am once again playing BTS.

thanks anyway Ingot

Great news then.
Have fun!

Hey guys, I've also had this problem and managed to fix it quite simply, what I had done wrong was forget were I had installed Civ4 originally. When installing Civ4 and the expansions it automatically goes into the C: drive, which is not were I keep it.

So, it gets installed to the "C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Beyond the Sword\Civ4BeyondSword.exe" etc, where there are Firaxis files, but I had top copy the whole BtS folder and paste it to "D:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Beyond the Sword\Civ4BeyondSword.exe". After doing this BtS works for me.

FYI I have Warlords still installed etc and there doesn't seem to be any conflict, although all the games are off of discs and not D2D.

Hope this helps someone, sometimes when looking for problems the simple solutions are easy to miss!

Sounds like you have a nice solution there but, I can't really understand what you are saying. Could you clarify your solution?

Sorry mate, will try and clarify:

My pc came partitioned, i.e. my 150gig hard disk was split into a 40gig (HDD) C: drive and a 110gig (DATA) D: drive. The operating system (XP) and other essential programs and files are stored in the (HDD) C: drive, while music, films, games and other non-essential programs and files should be stored in the (DATA) D: drive.

I believe the reason for this is incase the need arises to reinstall your operating system (XP in my case) if/when something goes wrong; or if I wanted to install Vista without losing whatever I had on my pc when I was using XP.

So, when if I'm installing Civ4 etc, I change the place to save the game files from the default C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games etc, to D:\Program FIles\Firaxis Games etc.

The problem arises when the program you are installing, for whatever reason, doesn't let you change the location of where it is going to be installed. I think Civ4 and the expansions are guilty of this, or if they are not then the downloaded patches won't work unless the game is in C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\ etc (which is why I've got half the game installed in one place and the full game installed in an other).

What you need to check is the pathway for BtS: to do this right click on the BtS icon on your desktop; properties and check where the game application is looking for the game on your pc. As I said in my previous post, the default location is "C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Beyond the Sword" but because not all of the game files were there (they were in my other, larger drive (DATA) D:) I had to manually change it in the icon properties to -> "D:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Beyond the Sword\Civ4BeyondSword"

The main thing to remember is that the pathway in properties etc must be where all the relevant files for the are. So, after checking the pathway follow it yourself, so you click on My Computer; then whichever drive the pathway says, if it starts off with C:\ double click on that, then Program Files etc right through and make sure the files are there, if not you only have to copy and paste, or even easier change the pathway itself to wherever the files are on your pc.

I think this problem has more to do with the computer not finding all the files it is supposed to find and thats whats causing the problem, and what I've tried to describe above is how I fixed the problem myself.

So, try looking at the pathway first and make sure that where the computer is looking is where the files are!

Hopefully that is a little bit clearer - if not just say and I'll try again.

P.S. - The screenshot is what your screen should look like in the Beyond the Sword Folder, the only difference is the wee file with the planet in bewtween < > those arrows, thats because I have a program to edit xml, but everything else should look the same.

Ok,
so your installation was not finding the python.dll file it seems.
I don't konw if that is our problem and becuase everything is
working, I'm not inclined to experiment. However, if I want to
revert to Warlords someday with BTS installed, I may be able
to use your solution in some way.

Thanks for taking the time to clarify your situation. I think it
has given me a new understanding of the issue.

Hello, even after trying everything on this thread, I cannot find a solution to the "failed initializing python" error. Tech support was no help, I've tried cleaning the registry, and many other things. This is really making me sad, as I can see no reason as to why the game would not work. I've tried vanilla, BtS, Warlords, nothing seems to help.

Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.

Did you fully uninstall all versions of Civ, then resinstall only vanilla with BTS?
Warlords and BTS don't work together well.

You should try to completely uninstall everything and to be sure you have completely
removed everything, follow the procedures from this part of the thread that tells you how
to manually remove any remmenants:

Hello Rick,

RELEASE VERSION

A) Open My Computer then open the Local Disk C Drive
B) Open the program files folder.
C) Click on the tools menu then choose folder options
D) Click on the view tab and tick the box labelled "show hidden files and folders". Press OK
E) Open the installshield installation information folder
F) Search for a folder named {3E4B349F-10B5-4586-9D99-489A90A8B228}
G) Right click on the folder and choose rename. Press the End key on the keyboard and type the word OLD. Press the enter key


POST 2.08 PATCH

1) Click START > RUN and type REGEDIT
2) Now navigate to HKey_local machine > Software > Microsoft > Windows >Current Version > Uninstall.
3) Now can you delete the Folder {3E4B349F-10B5-4586-9D99-489A90A8B228}
4) Now run the setup.exe found on the Civilisation IV Warlords cd.

Customer (Entered by Michael Spence) 17/08/2007 06.25 PM


> When he starts beyond the sword he gets failed to initiate pyton when he goes to play the game. <


Reinstall and repatch civ 4 to 1.61 then install BTS and patch

Yes, and I've tried reinstalling with all the various patches installed.

You might have some registry entries from warlords remaining. Try the manual removal that is listed above and see if it helps.
(after fully uninstalling all expansions and vanilla using windows uninstaller)

I've tried that, and it didn't really help. Sorry, I'm not trying to be short with you or anything.

The only thing I can think of if neither support nor those methods help is to reformat your drive and try from scratch. But that is a little drastic.

Well, thanks for talking to me. I can't really format the computer, as it isn't mine, but if you can think of anything, that'd be great. Thanks a ton!