Patch Creates XML Memory Error

Colonization and CIV IV (from CIV IV Complete) both load fine after basic install.

After patching Colonization the game fails to load during the "Init XML (uncached)" portion with the following error message.

More siblings than memory allocated for them in CvXMLLoadUtility::SetVariableListTagPair

Regular CIV IV loads fine, it seems to be a problem with the patch. I've tried a complete uninstall/reinstall with the 1.01f patch from different sites including the Firaxis/2k site. So it seems that it's not a bad/corrupted patch file.

Anyone else having this problem?

I'm running COMODO anti-virus, which might be causing a problem, but shouldn't that cause a problem for all CIV Games?

Thanks!

Regular CIV IV loads fine, it seems to be a problem with the patch. I've tried a complete uninstall/reinstall with the 1.01f patch from different sites including the Firaxis/2k site. So it seems that it's not a bad/corrupted patch file.

Click to expand...

Just to make sure: you're aware that the 1.01f patch is for Colonization and not for Civ4?

Yes, the problem is with Colonization only. It works before the 1.01f patch but then has the XML siblings error after the patch.

bjp55 said:

After patching Colonization the game fails to load during the "Init XML (uncached)" portion with the following error message.

More siblings than memory allocated for them in CvXMLLoadUtility::SetVariableListTagPair

Click to expand...

I take it that you are trying to start a new game and don't want to continue one which you started before applying the patch?

The error message means that in one of the XML files now are more tags than expected by the load utility (defined in the .dll).
Obviously, this should not happen if
a) the patch was installed correctly
b) the game is started based on the patched version and no old savegame continued

All I could think of at the moment would be that your installation path might contain some nation-specific special characters (like we in German do have the infamous Ä Ö Ü ß...).

The game won't even start, it crashes before you get to the start screen.

Install path is not unusual. I added the game path to anti-virus exclusions just in case with no result.

The CD i installed from looks clean, the only thing I can think is that there's something wrong with my patch extraction or something in the patch file itself that's causing a problem during the installation.

Last question, as I don't have any more ideas: does your rig run under Windows10?
There have been reports that installation of Civ4/Col under Windows10 may not properly work (although this would happen at installation already... but one never knows...)

Is anyone using Windows 10 to play TAC or RaR? I have TAC working reliably on Windows 8.1 and I keep getting reminders about the free upgrade. I bought this computer to play TAC and I don't want to lose the game now that I'm finally seeing what the talk was all about. On the other hand, if there's not likely to be a problem, I try to use the current system.

Yes, I use Windows 10 and the game/mods (e.g. Religion and Revolution) work fine.

Schmiddie, did you just upgrade the existing windows version (which would keep all the installation information already available), or did you install a fresh copy of Col after upgrading?
And if the latter, was it a CD/DVD-version or a Steam-version?

As far as I understand it, the problem is with the copy protection of Col, which is no longer supported and which would prohibit a fresh installation under Win10.

I just upgraded the existing Windows 7 up to Windows 10.

Thank you, Schmiddie. I've upgraded to Windows 10 from Windows 8.1 and TAC works fine. My original installation of TAC was using Windows 8.1 on a Steam version of Civ4Col.

bjp55 said:

Yes, the problem is with Colonization only. It works before the 1.01f patch but then has the XML siblings error after the patch.

Click to expand...

Hi everyone! I know this is an older thread, but I have pretty much the same, hitherto unsolvable problem - Colonization IV works fine un-patched, but the installation of the 1.01f update screws it up and I get a bunch of .xml siblings errors (in my case related to civ4leaderheadinfos.xml) upon first launch. After clicking them away the game progresses to the main menu, but won't let me start a game or scenario or even accept any tweak in the options.

Any solutions? I re-installed the original game after a couple of years but 1.0 is not an option. Does anyone have better experiences with the steam version?

Can you give us more information like operating system, Steam yes/no, installation path, language used (the language und which you run your operating system), antivirus program in use and so on ...

Sorry, of course.

Win 7 SP1
Steam installed, although I installed ColIV from the original DVD
English version both for Win 7 and ColIV
Installation path D:\Games\Colonization IV
COMODO antivir + firewall (same errors even if I turn this entirely off)

Apart from that, a rig built around a Core i5-4670, 8GB DDR3, and a GeForce 650 Ti-Boost. Should suffice, methinks.

this looks pretty ok to me.

All I could think of (although not too likely) would be the space character between Colonization and the IV.
I vaguely remember having had some similar problems some years ago which made me install my version just in a "Col" folder by which I solved my problems. I don't remember the exact problems, though.

Just one other thing:
Where did you get your patch from? Did you try to call the update function inside the game/on the DVD (don't remember anymore, where it was located - I have my patch saved to the HD)

In any case, here is a link to a patch version which was said to be working:
http://www.weplayciv.com/forums/downloads.php?do=file&id=138
Please read the instructions given in that link.

And finally, as unlikely as it may be:
Are you running under an user account on your rig or do you run under the "normal" account (which would be an administrator account)? If the first, it might be worth a try to switch to your main administrator account just to exclude any problems in this area.