Windows XP and v1.16f - WORKING!

[Master of Ceremonies]

For all of you who experienced the same problem I had, I am now running Civ III v.1.16f problem-free (knock on wood).

In version 1.07f upon startup, the computer would check for the CD and then spin for around 5 minutes with the splash screen up until the game would either finally kick in, or a message would come up saying to insert the CivIII CD. When I upgraded to 1.16f the game would not work at all.

Here's the fix for XP computers.

Totally uninstall version 1.07f and do a fresh install.
Download the 1.16f patch.
Install the 1.16f patch.
Make sure that you are not running the game in any compatibility mode - run it in XP.
Go through the hoops and get the safedisk patch from Infogrames. This is the key to the solution.

Hope this helps.

[Master of Ceremonies]

In case you're wondering what kind of system I'm running:

e-machines T1090
Intel Celeron 900 MHZ processor
128 MB ram
Built-in 3d video
Samsung internal CD-ROM
Windows XP home edition (with all updates)
Video set to 1024 x 768 (85 MHZ refresh rate)

[Shirl]

Man, I wish I had the same luck . When I installed the patch the game would not run at all. I e-mailed support and they said to completely uninstall Civ III (I even deleted the Civ III folder as they recommended), reinstall and then install patch. I did this and I still get the same problem (double click on Civ3.exe and hourglass shows for 10 secs or so and then nothing). I don't think I did anything differently then you. Weird...... Anyone have any other ideas as support has not got back to me yet.

[dannyb]

Are you running it in Compatibility mode or did you change it at one time to compatibility mode? If so, uninstall the game and reinstall it and it should work fine. Hope this helps

[Shirl]

I run it in XP. If I completely uninstall Civ III and the v1.16f patch and then reinstall Civ III from the CD it works fine (except all the bugs the patch is supposed to fix). However, as soon as install v1.16f patch, I can't even get the splash screen. It just sits there. I go to task manager and I can see Civ III running, but nothing happens. I love this game, but very frustrating..........

[Kingpin]

Great advice, guys!

Here is something else I had to do in, addition to the above, in order to get Civ3+patch to work in Win XP:

After installing the patch, add a line in Civilization3.ini as follows:

Refresh=60

You'll find Civilization3.ini in Program Files | Infogrames | Civilization 3.

If you're getting nothing but a black screen (with all your monitor lights flashing) that should help. The problem is that the game is choosing a refresh rate that your monitor can't handle.

Once you get Civ3 working, you can gradually adjust the refresh rate up to 65, 70, 75, 80 or 85 until you no longer get a nasty flicker.

One other thing, make sure you are NOT running Civ 3 in compatibility mode!

Good luck!

[Mookem]

Thanks to this thread I finally got my Civ3 working on XP Pro!!!

I need the Refresh= command which is ONLY available in v1.16f so I actually needed to install 1.16f in order to be able to run Civ3.

My compatability settings had to be turned off and I am using Refresh=85 as the first line in my Civilization3.Ini file.