Civ 3 Complete has no launch for the vanilla

[Alex12312]

I bought Civilization 3 complete on steam a while ago and I've been wanting to play the vanilla version but I can't find an .exe file to launch it. Is it possible to find it somewhere?

 

[tjs282]

Yes. IIRC, there is a legitimate NoCD .exe (supplied by Firaxis) for the original Vanilla version included in the 'Patchpaket' download from the German "PCGames Magazine" website, here:

http://www.pcgames.de/Civilization-...-Civ-3-Vollversion-Hier-gibts-Abhilfe-401682/

However, as you might expect, the installation instructions are all in German (and are also not necessarily helpful even if you can already read that language). Rather than extracting anything directly to your Civ3 install-location, I would suggest rather extracting the entire zipfile to your desktop first, then searching through the various directories within the "Patchpaket" folder for the one file you need: Civilization3.exe. This file should then be copied/moved to your <DRIVE>:\...\SteamApps\...\[Civ3]\* folder. Once it's there, double-clicking on it should start the game.

*

Spoiler :

While I don't know exactly what your Steam install-path looks like, I am assuming that you do. But if you need any further advice/assistance, just ask.

Bear in mind, though, that the Vanilla 1.29f version is considerably more limited than Conquests 1.22: it has fewer Civs (and Civ traits), fewer terrain-types, fewer buildings, and fewer units (but also fewer bugs!).

Oh, and... Welcome to CivFanatics!

 

[Alex12312]

Yes. IIRC, there is a legitimate NoCD .exe (supplied by Firaxis) for the original Vanilla version included in the 'Patchpaket' download from the German "PCGames Magazine" website, here:

http://www.pcgames.de/Civilization-...-Civ-3-Vollversion-Hier-gibts-Abhilfe-401682/

However, as you might expect, the installation instructions are all in German (and are also not necessarily helpful even if you can already read that language). Rather than extracting anything directly to your Civ3 install-location, I would suggest rather extracting the entire zipfile to your desktop first, then searching through the various directories within the "Patchpaket" folder for the one file you need: Civilization3.exe. This file should then be copied/moved to your <DRIVE>:\...\SteamApps\...\[Civ3]\* folder. Once it's there, double-clicking on it should start the game.

*

Spoiler :

While I don't know exactly what your Steam install-path looks like, I am assuming that you do. But if you need any further advice/assistance, just ask.

Bear in mind, though, that the Vanilla 1.29f version is considerably more limited than Conquests 1.22: it has fewer Civs (and Civ traits), fewer terrain-types, fewer buildings, and fewer units (but also fewer bugs!).

Oh, and... Welcome to CivFanatics!

Thank you. This isn't working for me. When I move it there, it gives me an error that says "No Civilization III installation detected" instead of working how it should. When I move the exe to the other folders (Civ3PTW and Conquests) it shows the loading symbol but unfortunately, it doesn't start up.

 

[Lanzelot]

Perhaps the Steam installation does not create the same registry keys as the old CD installation did?

 

[Alex12312]

Perhaps the Steam installation does not create the same registry keys as the old CD installation did?

Would that mean that another solution would be needed instead of using the no CD? Or would there be no other way?

 

[777]

I like to bump this thread because I am also searching for a way to play complete as vanilla. Does anybody know? Or is there a digital edition available to buy?

 

[Civinator]

I like to bump this thread because I am also searching for a way to play complete as vanilla. Does anybody know? Or is there a digital edition available to buy?

When I klick on the exe of Civ 3 Vanilla in the GoG installation of Civ 3 Complete, I can start it with that klick without the launcher - but I´m not sure if I have treated that exe with the no-cd patch some years ago. At least the official Firaxis no-raze patches for Civ 3 Vanilla and C3C, mentioned by tjs282 in post 2 of this thread, are still available at pcgames.de : https://forums.civfanatics.com/thre...-launch-for-the-vanilla.632790/#post-15137123

 

[tjs282]

I like to bump this thread because I am also searching for a way to play complete as vanilla. Does anybody know? Or is there a digital edition available to buy?

If the 'Patchpaket' method above doesn't work for you either, another possibility would be to play the Vanilla-version as if it were a mod, using the conquests.exe (the executable file that launches when you start Civ3Complete). Although this will still not be an exact match for the original Vanilla (e.g. because Armies were re-coded for Conquests/Complete, and the AI can no longer load/use them properly), there are several possible ways to do this, if you want to try.

The simplest method would be to use Windows Explorer to search for the 'civ3mod.bic' file in your root .../Civilization III/ folder, and then copy (or move) that file into your .../Civilization III/Scenarios/ folder. Then when you want to play 'Vanilla' you would start up Civ3Complete, go to 'Civ-Content' on the start screen, scroll down to 'civ3mod.bic' (it will be near the bottom of the list, along with the other .bic files), and start a game using it.

Be aware that this may cause some problems during gameplay, if the conquests.exe terrain-generator also adds Volcanoes and Marshes on random maps: Workers with 'Vanilla' abilities will not be able to do anything with these terrains (they are not in the .bic, so the conquests.exe shouldn't do that, but you never know...). So if you start up a game and that does happen, then you would need to use a more complex method: actually creating a 'proper' mod from the .bic.

Open the Conquests Editor, and use it to find and edit the 'civ3mod.bic' accordingly. Under the 'Terrain' tab, you would need to either (to be more like Vanilla) delete the Marsh/Volcano terrain-types if there, or (if you don't mind having those-terrains in your Vanilla-like game) add the property 'Road = +1 commerce' and the Worker-job 'Clear wetland' to Marshes, so that your Workers can road/drain them.

To get the Conquests-AI to use Armies more like it did in Vanilla, you would also need to go to the 'Units' tab, scroll down to the Army-unit, and reduce its 'Transport capacity' from 3 to 1, giving it a hitpoint-bonus of, say, 8HP to compensate for those 2 units you can no longer load into it. I can't remember offhand if Vanilla-Armies also had the 'Blitz' multiple-attack ability, but if they did not, then you would also need to de-select that property in the lower-left box (hold down <CTRL> while doing so, to avoid affecting the other settings in that box).

The Conquests-Editor cannot save in the .bic file-format, so you would have to re-save that file as e.g. "civ3mod.biq" (possibly also in your .../Civilization III/Conquests/Scenarios/ folder). To play your modded Vanilla-like .biq file, go to Civ-Content as above.

(Note that you can use a similar method to convert the 'civilization3X.bix' (for PTW) into a Complete-compatible .biq)

If that all sounds too much like hard work, there are still a few CD-versions of Civ3 Complete being sold which do not use the SafeDisk copy-protection (disabled by Microsoft in 2015, for all Windows versions after XP, rendering all SafeDisk-protected CDs useless). For example, the "Civilization Chronicles" collection does not use SafeDisk (AFAIK), and (though quite expensive) includes CivDOS up to CivVI, plus some extra goodies.

X-posting...

When I klick on the exe of Civ 3 Vanilla in the GoG installation of Civ 3 Complete, I can start it with that klick without the launcher - but I´m not sure if I have treated that exe with the no-cd patch some years ago.

You're using Win10 now, IIRC? If so, then you must be using a NoCD version, because the Vanilla civilization3.exe in the GOG-version was/is disabled by the SafeDisk/SecuROM (secdrv.sys) security patch-out.

(At least, it was when I installed/tested it on Win8.1, shortly after GOG first started selling Civ3 — though they may have updated their install-package since then, to remain true to their 'No DRM' policy).

But don't you also have the Chronicles collection anyway?

 

[777]

Thank you for the answers

 

[Civinator]

But don't you also have the Chronicles collection anyway?

Yes, for modding purposes I have three different installations of Civ 3 Complete on my pc, among them Chronicles.

 

[Puppeteer]

When I klick on the exe of Civ 3 Vanilla in the GoG installation of Civ 3 Complete, I can start it with that klick without the launcher - but I´m not sure if I have treated that exe with the no-cd patch some years ago. At least the official Firaxis no-raze patches for Civ 3 Vanilla and C3C, mentioned by tjs282 in post 2 of this thread, are still available at pcgames.de : https://forums.civfanatics.com/thre...-launch-for-the-vanilla.632790/#post-15137123

I very recently installed the GOG version for the first time on an erased-and-reset-to-defaults PC. There are no executables for vanilla or PTW, but the manuals and PTW files and extras (dinobarbs!) are there unlike in the Steam version. I'll have to try out the nocd executables and see if the necessary support files are all in place.

Yes, for modding purposes I have three different installations of Civ 3 Complete on my pc, among them Chronicles.

How does that work? I figured it wouldn't because the install location is in the registry. Hmm, maybe only the installers and patchers use that? Come to think of it, all the game settings and configs are in the filesystem and not the registry.

Cool, thanks, I'll have to do that!