[BTS] Game crashes after loading screen

thinkingnut · Apr 18, 2014

Hi All,

My game crashes after the initial loading screen. It plays the intro movies fine, but just as they finish, the game automatically shuts down and I get the following image.

It's such a strange problem, especially since the game was working fine yesterday, with no glitches, lags or bugs. Now it can't even open properly.

I'm using a Mac Book Pro Retina laptop. My version of OS X is version 10.9.2; processor 2.6 Ghz Intel Core 17.

Any and all help would be extremely welcome.

Thanks!

AlanH · Apr 18, 2014

Something must have changed on your Mac since yesterday. If you can think of anything you have installed to updated, then that may give a clue. Alternatively, you might have to try reinstalling the Civ4 software.

thinkingnut · Apr 18, 2014

AlanH said:
Something must have changed on your Mac since yesterday. If you can think of anything you have installed to updated, then that may give a clue. Alternatively, you might have to try reinstalling the Civ4 software.

Well, I tried downloading from a back up I made on the Time Machine Capsule. When I backed up, the game was working fine. Even with the supposedly clean copy I still can't get it to work.

I contacted Apple Care about this, and we tried creating a new user account in System Preferences (set to admin). Interestingly, if I log in as that temporary user, the game starts up fine. But once I log back into my usual user account. The problem comes back.

Thing is, can't identify what changed since last night. I haven't downloaded anything onto my Mac for days. I haven't changed any of the System Preferences either. What could be wrong?? :confused:

AlanH · Apr 18, 2014

It sounds as if one or more of your BtS personal files are corrupted.

Go into your ~/Library/ folder
To do this, hold down the alt key in Finder and select the Go->Library menu option.
Open the Preferences folder in there.
Find the file called com.aspyr.civ4bts.plist.
Move that file to the desktop, and try launching BtS.
If it still crashes, go back to the ~/Library folder and look for Application Support/Civilization IV Beyond the Sword.
Move that folder to the desktop and try launching BtS.

You may need to re-select your preferred screen resolution and other options on the launch screen, as that information is held in the Preferences file. The Application Support folder only contains cached data that will be re-created when BtS launches properly.

Let's hope that fixes the problem.

thinkingnut · Apr 18, 2014

AlanH said:
It sounds as if one or more of your BtS personal files are corrupted.

Go into your ~/Library/ folder
To do this, hold down the alt key in Finder and select the Go->Library menu option.
Open the Preferences folder in there.
Find the file called com.aspyr.civ4bts.plist.
Move that file to the desktop, and try launching BtS.
If it still crashes, go back to the ~/Library folder and look for Application Support/Civilization IV Beyond the Sword.
Move that folder to the desktop and try launching BtS.

You may need to re-select your preferred screen resolution and other options on the launch screen, as that information is held in the Preferences file. The Application Support folder only contains cached data that will be re-created when BtS launches properly.

Let's hope that fixes the problem.

Hm. Tried those two steps. No luck, I'm afraid. What now?

Edit: After some further testing, I notice Warlords also crashes, except that it crashes before the intro movies even start. I'm trying to see if I can replace my current version of BTS with an even older backup I made yesterday. Don't know what else to try.

AlanH · Apr 18, 2014

OK, that's all there is in the ~/Library folder. The other possibility is there's a corrupt file in the ~/Documents/Civilization IV Beyond the Sword folder. You *could* try just moving the CivilizationIV.ini file to desktop first.

If that doesn't work, try moving the whole folder to the desktop. Don't throw it away, as it contains your mods and saves. If BtS starts up it will re-create that folder, and you will then need to move your old saves and mods back into it.

thinkingnut · Apr 18, 2014

AlanH said:
OK, that's all there is in the ~/Library folder. The other possibility is there's a corrupt file in the ~/Documents/Civilization IV Beyond the Sword folder. You *could* try just moving the CivilizationIV.ini file to desktop first.

If that doesn't work, try moving the whole folder to the desktop. Don't throw it away, as it contains your mods and saves. If BtS starts up it will re-create that folder, and you will then need to move your old saves and mods back into it.

Hallelujah! I tried moving the CivilizationIV.ini file to the desktop and starting BTS. It works now, and I'm able to begin a new game as well. :king:

The question remains: what do I do with this "ini" file on my desktop? BTS seems to have created another CivilizationIV.ini file when starting up. So does that mean I can throw this one away?

AlanH · Apr 18, 2014

Good news

Throw the old .ini file away. That was obviously the broken file.

The .ini file can be edited manually to change things like how often to make autosaves, whether to show the intro movies, which mod to load up automatically when you start BtS, and whether to enable debug logging.

thinkingnut · Apr 18, 2014

AlanH said:
Good news

Throw the old .ini file away. That was obviously the broken file.

The .ini file can be edited manually to change things like how often to make autosaves, whether to show the intro movies, which mod to load up automatically when you start BtS, and whether to enable debug logging.

Thank you so much for your help! :cool:

Before we close this thread, I have one last issue I want to discuss with you:

I notice one problem when doing a quick game on a duel-sized Pangea map. How come I don't get the Conquest victory when I destroy my opponent completely? Is it automatically disabled if I use World Builder or something? This was a problem before, so it's probably not related to today's issue. And I double-checked I have conquest victory turned on when playing.

AlanH · Apr 18, 2014

I've no idea. I have to confess that I've never played a Civ4 game of any flavour to completion. I used to play Civ3, but now I just stick around here running the admin on the GOTM series of competitions, and trying to help other Mac users.

thinkingnut · Apr 18, 2014

AlanH said:
I've no idea. I have to confess that I've never played a Civ4 game of any flavour to completion. I used to play Civ3, but now I just stick around here running the admin on the GOTM series of competitions, and trying to help other Mac users.

Oh ok. Never mind, I'll post the issue in technical support. Thank you for helping me get the game up and running again. Many hours spent creating a mod; and I literally just finished one big section of it yesterday night. So you can understand my frustration when I found it not working today!!

Thanks again! :goodjob:

AlanH · Apr 18, 2014

[PS] I checked, and conquest victories are certainly possible on duel maps. The HoF competition lists results for such games.

thinkingnut · Apr 20, 2014

AlanH said:
[PS] I checked, and conquest victories are certainly possible on duel maps. The HoF competition lists results for such games.

Yeah, I found out later on that the game doesn't allow conquest victories to kick in until turn 10. That's why if you win (with world builder ofc) before then you'll have to wait till turn 10 for it to work.

Thanks for confirming though.

AlanH · Apr 20, 2014

Ah! Well that demonstrates my level of ignorance about the game. It never occurred to me that anyone would want to complete a victory in fewer than ten turns.

[BTS] Game crashes after loading screen

thinkingnut

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