Win 7 and XP (64 bit) civ 2 MGE and TOT issues (Fix inside!!)

[vonmatrices]

Originally Posted by theemaster

Sorry, even though I'm a "civfanatic" I've never played test of time..

But I just got Civ2:MGE v1.0 working easily and effortlessly on my box.. (I thought you needed a emulator like the windows one or vmware to do it! )

My box is Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64 bit, Athlon II X4 640 processor 3.0 ghz, 8 Gb of ram ddr3, ati 5570 1 gb etc. etc.

Here are the steps I did..

I launched the installer (setup.exe) after it crashed/"was slow" in re-correct settings mode or whatever that Windows7 prompt is..

When I right clicked it's "compatibility" I found that xp sp2 had been checked.. I also added 256 colors (have no idea if that made a difference)

It took about 5-10 minutes.. but the installer finally came up and I was able to click next (I had crashed it a few times before.. being impatient)

And it installed.. to my shock!

But when I launched the game there where 3 problems (it launched and that was great!)

1. Was the music from the CD was not playing.. I fixed that with this thread.. (as I installed civ2 from a cdrom emulator like this person did.. I burned my civ2 to disc on my only cdrom and walla! I had music..)

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=324962

2. Do to it being wishy washy when launching civ2 (sometimes weird windows of blackness) I turned on "compatibility mode" to windows xp sp2 for the civ2 executable.. that seemed to help..

3. When I went to settle a city.. it immediately crashed.. so I installed MastermindX's patch.. and I can now do that now...

So I'm going to spend many hours playing now.. if there's any additional issues.. I'll post back.. I'm surprised it all works..

No such luck on this end. When I double click my SETUP.EXE that is found on my CD, I get the following error verbatim:

"The version of this file is not compatible with the version of Windows you're running. Check your computer's system information to see whether you need an x86 (32 bit) or x64 (64 bit) version of the program, and then contact the software publisher."

I am assuming the above error is because I am running Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit.

This is why I directly copied the CIV2 folder and CIV2.EXE to my hard drive and tried the Mastermind patch, since I thought that it was supposed to fix this issue.

Still no luck. Thanks for the heads up!

[vonmatrices]

Ok, now it works.

What did I do?

1) Used the files found here - http://www.civfanatics.com/civ2/downloads/cedric/

Copied over the old files in my CIV2 directory to upgrade it to MGE. This now allows the game to run in Windows 7 64 bit.

2) Ran in compatibility mode to fix video issue (Windows XP SP 2 compatibility mode worked)

3) Ran Mastermind's patch. This was only possible after upgrading to MGE. The patch ran without issue or without additional files.

Also of note - never believe what it says on the box. I thought I bought Civ II Test of Time, but by looking at the steps I just took, it looks like it was vanilla CIV 2. Thanks all.

[Nikoagonistes]

OK, so it does look like Civ 2 MGE and ToT can run on 64-bit systems. I'm considering finally upgrading to either 64-bit XP or making the jump to Windows 7, and my main concern is whether or not I'll be able to play games like Civ 2 anymore. One question does remain (other than how ridiculously expensive Win 7 upgrades are): What about some of the programs used for Civ 2 scenarios, such as Red Front's batch program and Meractor's utilities? I'd hate to have to be unable to use them simply due to a more advanced OS...

[DaemeonD]

Thanks for the patch bud.
Nice work.
I really like the patch processes button you added.

Nice job

[DaemeonD]

Hmm. So after having installed the patch (Windows 7 64bit) the length of time between each units moves seems to have increased. I suppose I'm running CIV II MGE V1.0...if I patch to 1.3 think that will help?

[Baka]

Just wanted to drop by and give my thanks again, just got Test of Time running fine under the Windows 8 Developer Preview build

[Varpus]

Thanks man, i was trying to play this game for a looong time in my computer, I used to play it in high school in a Pentium 1 hahaha, 10000thanks!

Greetings from Perú!

[Morten Blaabjerg]

Thanks for the patch - it works very well!

Any chance one may apply this patch to the map editor as well? Seems it has the same issues as the game : it crashes in Win7 when one has to type in something, such as the ressource seed :-(

It doesn't save maps either...

[Morten Blaabjerg]

Being the part time hack that I am, I figured the patch may work well for the map editor as well as the main game, if it is the same patch for MGE as for ToT. Trouble is, the patch won't allow you to select the civ2map.exe file for patching.

Seemed easy to fix (never do something like this w/o backing up your original files) :

1) simply move the map editor executable to the desktop.
2) rename it from "civ2map.exe" to "civ2.exe" temporarily
3) apply the patch to the file on the desktop : patch successful!
4) rename the file back to "civ2map.exe"
5) move the map editor executable back to the main civ2 folder.

Now that seems a simple workaround!

This does indeed fix the map editor, so that one can add a ressource seed as well as load/save maps.

Please note, that the map editor should not be set to run in any compatibility mode, in which case I experienced the inability to load/save maps.

[EDITED after some more thorough testing, after which at first it seemed I could alter the ressource seed and make maps in different sizes, however couldn't load/save maps(!) This problem was ultimately fixed by turning off compatibility mode in Windows 7]

[Firlefanz]

I hope you can help me. I read through the entire thread to figure out what I could do to play Civi II again, the MGE version. Nobody reported the behaviour I have seen.

I used to have it running on my XP computer with no problems whatsoever. Had to get a new computer, had my old XP Pro reinstalled as OS. I'm a user with admin rights in this install, I have no idea what I was on the old machine. I have a 32bit system, figured that out with help.

a) The CD did not autorun.

b) I did the setup manually, and Civi II installed.

c) When I started Civi II, it completely crashed my computer. Computer reboots. Obviously, I'm not repeating that often.

What can I do? I'm not very computer savvy. I miss my Civi II badly.

[Jacen_Fel]

First off excellent patch Mastermind it worked great for me getting Test of Time to work on Windows 7 :-)!

Unfortunately I have tried to use it to get the editor working with no luck. I have even tried Morten Blaabjerg's method. Can someone link me to a version of the editor that works on Windows 7 or a link to a download if it that can be patched as I apparently have the wrong version to patch/get working. When I try to start the editor it doesn't give me any kind of error or acknowledgement just nothing starts. And yes I do have the correct files in my main directory from downloading the editor.

Any help would be greatly apperciated--its a pain in the ass to change terrain using the scenario editing modes which is what I have been stuck doing in the meantime .

I found that MapEdit 2.1 works on Windows 7 but this editor appears to be a different kind of editor for changing some other features on maps quickly. Still trying to get an editor working that lets me edit the terrain quickly...similiar to the Civ2 normal editor I remember using in the past. Is the MGE editor workable for ToT maps?

[PlutonianEmpire]

I figured I'd try going back to my olden days of my Civ 2 MGE addiction. I installed the game, applied the patch, applied the ai hostility fix that was linked to on page 3, and applied the 64 bit fix.

The game still crashes.

OS is win 7 64 bit.

I installed the game in the Docuements\My Games folder instead of program files, so I could manipulate the game like I used to.

Is this a lost cause at this point?

PS, I do have a question. I saw two buttons on the 64 bit patcher, "patch" and "patch process". what does the second button mean? Is there something I need to click it for? When I click it, it says "no process found".

[Rebelstar]

Has anybody tried to download any patches from the civ2 section lately? I lost a hard drive and I'm trying to get everything back to normal(all patches and updates installed) and all of the downloads i've tried so far come back 404 page not found. Never mind, found the working link. Got all I needed.

[CrashHydrogen]

Thank you for this, I found it this week and quickly ordered MGE, and got to play it today. I'm so happy now

[krisuli]

I have multiplayer version and the mastermind's patch is working just great. However AI is too weak. In the beginning AI is great but as the game proceeds AI just doesn't develop their cities enough and grow, for example in the hardest level some AI cities may have still only phalangs and such and only like a couple of cities with a lot of free land. It nice to get 600 % at deity level, but I miss real war with advanced tech.

Has anyone else has the same problem and is there a solution?

[URUWASHI]

Managed to run CIV II on windows 7 -


This are the 3 simple steps :
1 ) Run in Compatibility Mode
Steps for running in Compatibility Mode
For Patching Problems: Right-click the icon for the game.
For Installation Problems: Right-click the setup.exe icon.
Click Properties.
Click the Compatibility tab.
Check the box next to Run this program in compatibility mode.
Select the version Windows XP SP2.
Click OK.
2 ) Disable desktop composition and visual themes
Steps for disabling Desktop Composition
In the Compatibility mode tab go to the section labeled settings.
Check the box for Disable desktop composition and Disable Visual themes.
Click OK.
3 ) Run as Administrator
Steps for running as administrator
For Patching Problems: Right-click the icon for the game.
For Installation Problems: Right-click the setup.exe icon.
Select the ""Run as admin"" option.
Additional Information

Click on the Drive , where Civ II is located.
Do you want to run this program ?? Click YES
Run Civilization II
Screen will go Black , left click on Mouse
READY TO PLAY !!

It is important to note that these options are not available with Windows XP, Windows 2000, or Windows ME.

( If you do not see these options in Windows Vista or Windows 7 then your account may not have the proper privileges to use these functions. Please make sure to contact your system administrator for assistance in modifying your permission levels in Windows.)

[Catfish]

Which version of Civ2? Classic, MGE or ToT? What type of Windows architecture? 32-bit or 64-bit? This thread is really about 64-bit compatibility. I've never had a problem running any version of Civ2 (16-bit or 32-bit) on several 32-bit Windows (XP and 7) machines.

[punkthis26]

Hey guys, I've read through pretty much every post in this thread but I'm still having issues... I'm trying to install / run Civ 2 MGE on Windows 7, but I can't even get it to install. I tried downloading the patch but I don't even really know what to do with it... I've tried changing compatibility settings in the properties box too but they don't seem to help. Pretty frustrated because it used to run on my old laptop with vista no problem! Can anyone point me in the right direction? I mean, I'm not computer illiterate but not super great at this either...

[punkthis26]

Originally Posted by punkthis26

Hey guys, I've read through pretty much every post in this thread but I'm still having issues... I'm trying to install / run Civ 2 MGE on Windows 7, but I can't even get it to install. I tried downloading the patch but I don't even really know what to do with it... I've tried changing compatibility settings in the properties box too but they don't seem to help. Pretty frustrated because it used to run on my old laptop with vista no problem! Can anyone point me in the right direction? I mean, I'm not computer illiterate but not super great at this either...

Well, apparently the game won't even attempt to load with Google Chrome open, so to my surprise when I closed my browser about 50 civ2 windows opened. So now the game is installed, and apparently I managed to patch it, but I'm getting 2 black windows and the game window that open. And the game window has no option for me to start a new game...

[punkthis26]

Alright, so I know this thread is now just me talking to myself, but I have a new update! I patched after my last post and now I can get the game to actually start... but any time I type something (ie. character name) the game crashes. I traced this issue back to the first page of this thread but am still not sure what the solution is.