CivAssist II 30-Oct-2016

[Lamecodename]

Please: I'd like some help setting up Civassist on my windows 10 pc... That and dotnetfx... Not sure what I'm doing wrong, or what the civassist is supposed to look like once Civ3 is running... Oh and 1 last thing, I'm playing Civ3 complete via Steam (if that makes any difference)...

Thanks again for this awesome Civ3 toolkit (I've read it's awesome, however I haven't experienced it working)...

 

[WeirdoJoker]

I still cannot seem to open my C3C saves into CAII. I seem to remember a post that talked about exactly the steps to go through re: install, compatibility, &c., but I can't remember where to find it.

Obviously, I can run the game without it, but there are functions in there I particularly like(d), and would like to be able to run it again.

 

[Mizar]

Please: I'd like some help setting up Civassist on my windows 10 pc

Here are the steps that should work:

1. install .net framework (link in 1st post)
2. install CivAssistII
3. right-click on CivAssist.exe, go to compatibility tab, select Windows7
4. when you start the program, right-cklick and run as Aministrator
5. now load a save game.

The only tab that is not working for me is Diplomacy, that one gives an error, all the rest runs fine.
I couldn't play my large maps without this program, so incredible useful.

 

[EMan]

I'm with you, Mizar.................I always have CivAssist II loaded during my Milk Runs...............Very useful for knowing (without keeping track manually) which tiles are available to get the 10-shield Bonus, which I use primarily to rush-build workers in worker factories.

 

[WeirdoJoker]

Here are the steps that should work:

1. install .net framework (link in 1st post)
2. install CivAssistII
3. right-click on CivAssist.exe, go to compatibility tab, select Windows7
4. when you start the program, right-cklick and run as Aministrator
5. now load a save game.

I followed this procedure, even down to removing CAII and reinstalling it. I continue to get an error message that says "Cannot open file [filename]; access is blocked." I even tried other compatibility settings (Vista, Vista SP1, Vista SP2 and Win8) in addition to Win7, and nothing seems to help. Ideas?

 

[Mizar]

I'd check the folder access privileges (right click on folder with saved games, properties, security tab)

 

[WeirdoJoker]

I'd check the folder access privileges (right click on folder with saved games, properties, security tab)

I looked at it, and I have Full Control for all options for which it is possible. No change.

 

[tjs282]

I followed this procedure, even down to removing CAII and reinstalling it. I continue to get an error message that says "Cannot open file [filename]; access is blocked." I even tried other compatibility settings (Vista, Vista SP1, Vista SP2 and Win8) in addition to Win7, and nothing seems to help. Ideas?

Did you at some point manually enter a file-path under CAII's 'Options', to search for saved games? I tried that once, and afterwards got that same message. Deleting the entered file-path (leaving the box blank) solved the problem.

 

[Puppeteer]

With Win10 I don't think you install the dotnet package anymore, but you have to get the more recent version of CAII.

I'm not sure what the problem is, but a lot of problems can be resolved by installing CivIII in a custom location outside of Program Files. (Video in my sig.) CivIII is from the days when programs stored data in the Program Files hierarchy, but modern Windows fights against that in several ways, and that may be what you're seeing.

 

[WeirdoJoker]

I did that, but when I blank it out I just get a different message - "CivAssistII has encountered an exception," or something to that effect ... either way, it's not opening any files. Currently the box is empty; compatibility is set to Win7; and when I click "File" to open a file, I have to search for the file pathway to get to the Saves, whereas when the box had the file path in it the program went straight to the file list (but still won't open anything).

 

[WeirdoJoker]

With Win10 I don't think you install the dotnet package anymore, but you have to get the more recent version of CAII.

I don't know which version I have, but it's the one I downloaded from the forum.

I'm not sure what the problem is, but a lot of problems can be resolved by installing CivIII in a custom location outside of Program Files. (Video in my sig.) CivIII is from the days when programs stored data in the Program Files hierarchy, but modern Windows fights against that in several ways, and that may be what you're seeing.

I have it installed outside of Program Files, so it's not that.

 

[Nials]

I'm having exactly the same problem as WeirdoJoker. Running Windows 10 Pro x64.

Would love if anyone stumbles upon a solution.

Update: I now at least have CAII working in manual mode. Thanks, David Carpenter!

Hi,
this is my understanding after spending many happy days trying to make it work on Windows 10Pro x64, build 1607. I am not sure what OS you are using.

1. The file is no longer a zip file but an exe, that immediately runs CA2. CA2 always needs to be run as ADMINISTRATOR
2. The latest version CA2 runs using the .NET 4.0, rather than 1.1, so don't think dot.net fix 1.1 will work ( could be wrong for your OS)
3. The automated link between Civ3 and CA2 does not work, this the error that you see on your screen regarding the path.
4. The workaround is to manually save the file in Civ3, then, open it in CA2. To set this up click ignore on the screen that you posted, in CA2 Options - set the "Game File Path" to the Civ3 save files, in my case the directory is "E:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete", the only change from the default Civ3 install is the drive letter, yours wil probably be a different drive. Exit CA2 and restart again as administrator. On the Main CA2 screen select Files, you wil then see a list of all the files in your saved directory. Full detail in Madwheel's posts above.

 

[Shujaa]

For anyone on Windows 7, use the older version of CivAssist found in the versions section of the downloads page. Seems the newer version doesn't detect the game when it's running.

 

[TimHobbit]

For anyone on Windows 7, use the older version of CivAssist found in the versions section of the downloads page. Seems the newer version doesn't detect the game when it's running.

Thanks! That’s good to know.

 

[WeirdoJoker]

I still haven't been able to get CAII to work on Win10. Actually gave up trying ... not sure what to do for it anymore.

 

[Puppeteer]

I'm with you, Mizar.................I always have CivAssist II loaded during my Milk Runs...............Very useful for knowing (without keeping track manually) which tiles are available to get the 10-shield Bonus, which I use primarily to rush-build workers in worker factories.

I've recently started playing Civ3 again, and upon further review I don't think I've ever got CivAssist II or MapStat to work in Win10. I was pretty good at getting them working in Vista, Win7, and Win8, but I'm having no luck with Win10.

The old fixes for dotnetfx 1.1 DEFINITELY won't work on Win8 or Win10. In 2016, Ainwood recompiled CAII for a newer .NET version, and that is here: https://forums.civfanatics.com/resources/civassist-ii.21/ . But I can't get that to work in Win10, either. (It worked great in Win7/Win8, though.)

I think I've read him somewhere in this thread saying it couldn't go to newer .NET versions because some of the libraries used are gone in newer versions.

Given all this, I've decided to try to make my own Civ3 game assistant that works on Win10. Right now it doesn't do much, but it does show map tiles which have been chopped for shields before. Some more info on that and an early test version download link are in this post here on this forum. A screenshot of the map w/chops page is attached to this post.

 

[Puppeteer]

@vmxa from another thread:

I know what you mean. I spent a long time without it working in Win10. I finally tried version 2.0.6147.37169 and it has been working.

WhaaaaaAAAAa? I have that exact version and it doesn't work for me in Win10. Can you provide any more info that might help us desperate folks?

I'll go reinstall to be sure I was using that version and see.

Edit: I'm having mixed results. I can get it to start, sometimes with an error dialog, but it's in "manual mode" and won't auto-load new saves. But I can put the civ install location and then use the file picker to manually open a save, and that's an improvement over what I could accomplish before. I tried variations of normal startup, admin startup, and compat mode for Win8 + admin startup. But the presence or lack of an error message is inconsistent so far.

Edit 2: I also made some progress on my own civ helper; it now shows tech trade options as of v0.4.1-alpha9: https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/civ3-show-and-tell.493582/page-13#post-15719550

 

[vmxa]

I just posted my uselessness on the issue. I think that .net framework version could be the problem, but do not know. I seem to remember that 2.0 was as high a version as CAII could use. I have 1.0, 2.0 and many others installed. That is all I could speculate on. Probably way off base. Maybe try PM Ainwood.

 

[Toxicman007]

I have windows 10, and I use the older version of CivAssist, the one released on Jul 26 2006. This works fine, the only problem is it does not auto-load the next save as I continue playing a game I started today. I have to manually load the autosave in CivAssist for every turn that passes. Does anybody know how I can fix this?

EDIT: Now it will not load ANY of the autosaves from this particular game. I can load all my other saves, but neither the autosaves or manual saves from one game.

Prior to this I had been using CivAssist2 without any issues whatsoever on windows10 for the past six months or so.

 

[King Bulrush]

Hi everyone! I am a long time fan of the Civilization series (and long time lurker on these forums). I recently, due to the current events, found myself with a lot of free time and decided to go back to playing Civ 3 after a gap of many years, and today I was for the first time able to get CivAssist to run under Windows 10. So being still euphoric after this succes I finally decided to sign up on the forums to report it.

Short version: The above information from Toxicman007 is correct: The older version of CivAssist is the one that will work under Windows 10. I had previously tried to use the newer version and nothing worked. I could get it to see the save files but never to open them. However after installing the old version everything worked as advertised.

Long version: I will now write a longer explanation for people like me who are not very technically savvy and need the steps clearly outlined. These are the steps I followed:
- open the download link (the one from the first page of the thread - this one: https://forums.civfanatics.com/resources/civassist-ii.21/ )
- click on "version history" and select the lower option (the one with release date "Jul 26, 2006")
- it will download an installer. Run it and let the program install itself. Then let it install the .net framework when prompted
- right click on the installed CivAssist.exe (or on its shortcut if you created one) and choose "run as administrator" just to make sure. Once it opens, click on "file" to check that it sees your existing save files (it did for me).
- after starting CivAssist, start a game of Civilization 3 and you should see the CivAssist icon in game, with information from your latest autosave.

In summary, this is what I did and it worked for me. From the above conversation I understand that for some users this utility may not work at all under windows 10. But if you are reading this thread and think you are one of the lucky ones this is the way to find out.

Some more info:
- I have the Steam version of Civ3 Complete
- I use Windows 10 (obviously) and I have reinstalled Windows about a month ago, so it is a relatively clean install
- A curious thing about the .net framework: I tried to manually download it and was told that I allready have the latest version on my computer and that no older versions can be installed. However, when running the CivAssist installer, it promplted me to install the .net framework (I think it was asking for an older version), I clicked "Yes" and it did its thing without any issue.

I hope this information will help at least someone.

Best regards and Happy Easter to anyone who is celebrating it these days!