Screen goes black and screws up my monitor when actual gameplay starts.

[Defeatist]

I haven't played Civ for months, but I decided to have a game today. When I last left it it was working fine, and I haven't made any adjustments since.

Now, it will work fine all the way up to Nimoy's monologue about dust>>>ciivilization, but when I press the play now button the screen goes black, and then a couple of seconds later my monitor screws up, forcing me to reset. (the green power light flashes intermittently and no picture can be seen on the monitor, although sound remains). It always happens at this point.

Anybody have any ideas?


------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 2/10/2008, 12:30:44
Machine name: HAL2000
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.070227-2254)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: AWARD_
System Model: AWRDACPI
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Sempron(tm) 2600+, MMX, 3DNow, ~1.8GHz
Memory: 512MB RAM
Page File: 347MB used, 902MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode


---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: RADEON 9200 PRO Family (Microsoft Corporation)
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: RADEON 9200 PRO AGP (0x5960)
DAC type: Internal DAC(500MHz)
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_5960&SUBSYS_1011196D&REV_01
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Dell M570
Monitor Max Res: 1280,1024
Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6462 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 8/4/2004 00:56:42, 201728 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: n/a
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
VDD: n/a
Mini VDD: ati2mtag.sys
Mini VDD Date: 8/3/2004 22:29:28, 701440 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71EE2-1A20-11CF-E363-1B30A0C2CB35}
Vendor ID: 0x1002
Device ID: 0x5960
SubSys ID: 0x1011196D
Revision ID: 0x0001
Revision ID: 0x0001
Video Accel:
Deinterlace Caps: n/a
Registry: OK
DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Not Available
DDraw Test Result: Not run
D3D7 Test Result: Not run
D3D8 Test Result: Not run
D3D9 Test Result: Not run

 

[Defeatist]

Thanks, guys: you've been a lot of help

 

[auldian]

In your civ *.ini files you can set the display resolution manually, ie 1024 x 768 as your desktop is. From what you've pasted that's about all I can see and your symptom is that of a monitor with an unusable resolution.
Your video driver software is over 3 yrs old. You might check for newer from ATI (now www.amd.com).