Can get some help?
I hit "Play Civilization III Gold", the cd spins, the screen flashes black, then shows my desktop in 1024x768 resolution for a second, then another black screen flashes and thats it.
I've tried everything and spent hours trying to get it to work, but I never get anything different.
Dont know a lot about drivers and that, but I have DirectX 9. I also have plenty of memory, XP home, A brand new hp t460a and a hp f1903 lcd screen. Video card is a Intel 82865g graphics controller, 96.0 aproxx total mem, and sound is a realtek AC97 audio.
Is it a driver problem? if so can you tell me what I need and how to get it?
Help me out!!!

Well, it sounds like it could be related to directx, or maybe something to do with the intro video.

Go to your \civ3\ directory, and find the file called 'civ3.ini'. Try editing that (open it with notepad) and add the line playintro=0 - see if that helps (disables the starting video)

Alternatively, you can try clicking on the 'start' button, and choosing 'run'. In the box that appears, type dxdiag.exe and hit enter. This will start the directX diagnostic tool. Run the tests on display, and see if its working OK. You can try updating your directx version by going here (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.aspx) - it looks like directX 9.0c is out, and it would be interesting to see if that helps!

Note: Atari's advice for this would be to disable third-party applications (shut-down your firewall, anti-virus etc). Might be worth trying, but I don't think many people have had much success when trying this.

Thanks for the reply!
Well I searched everywhere, but apparently 'civ3.ini' is non existent. I've tried removing the file 'intro.bik' as well but no change at all. Even tried removing the sound folder as well. So I followed your link (thanx heaps) and installed directX 9.0c. Now when I hit the icon in the civ folder, I get a message; "the sound header files in the game do not match the ones used in sound dll. check all sound h. and sound device versions." Well that at least is more than I've had in a week.
Any advice?

If the civ3.ini isn't there, then create it. As I recall, that file is not created until you actually start a game. Since you can't get to the game to start one, the program doesn't get created.

mine doesnt give me any messages, it just crashes back to the desktop

i'm having the same problem except when i load my game up (Civ3 original) it says please eject and re-insert your cd-rom every time and i can't fix it don't know what the problem is

Nikora, use ptw.ini found in \Atari\Civilization III\Civ3PTW. Civ3.ini isn't applicable to gold edition.