Black terrain problem

[B-Rock!]

So basically there's no ground, well no, the ground is technically black, I guess. And I hear this is a fairly common occurrance and I'm sure there's a couple threads already; but here I go anyway:

I have all the system requirements, lastest patch (1.61v) and all the lastest drivers. Now, I use to not have faces either (just the eyes and teeth, kindda weird); but the lastest patch fixed it up.

I've heard word of a World Editor to reveal the map, so the game is playable. I was just wondering that if this is my only chance to play this game, if someone could explain how exactly I use it to work.

Thank you,
B-Rock!

 

[Zanmato]

What's your video card? The video need hardware TnL support to display the map fully. Some old cards and IGP's can lack this feature.

 

[T_Raccoon]

like zanmato said give us your hardware specs and we may be able to help you some more.

 

[crunch]

Start a game. Press Escape to access menu. Select "Enter Worldbuilder", "Yes". Select the "Reveal Tile Mode". Select "Reveal All Tiles" (make sure that your civ is selected in the combobox below). Close world builder using the "Exit World Builder" button.

If this works for you, by editing an xml file it is possible to do this automatically everytime you start a new game. Ask if needed.

 

[Sandrock]

I'm having the same problem as this guy as well as all the others out there who've run across the dreaded black terrain.

Everything else seems to run fine (except for the choppy movies), but I just can't seem to get this fixed. I've tried the WorldBuilder fix mentioned a number of times here, and while it does get rid of the black terrain, I wouldn't say this is a perfect fix.

Is it my system at fault? I'm using a three-year old Sony VAIO PCG-FRV25 with a P4-2.66 processor, 1GB of RAM and a 64MB ATI RADEON IGP 345M graphics processor (chip type RS200M AGP). I've applied the v1.61 patch, updated the video drivers with the latest ones specifically for this RADEON model available from Sony and I have DirectX 9.0c installed.

Any help really appreciated.

 

[Zanmato]

64MB ATI RADEON IGP 345M graphics processor (chip type RS200M AGP).

I'm surprised it runs at all. The min spec is a ATI Radeon 7500 with hardware TnL. The game was never intended to be run on IGPs hence no support is given for them. The patch may fix some of the issues but you will struggle all day long with the videos and graphics with a card without TnL. The best thing you can do is get a card that has this feature. You could try the Omega drivers also to see if it makes any difference but I doubt it.

 

[Artosoft]

I've got above problem when I edit config file to minimize memory usage. I can't recall the name in the config file. Turn it back (use more memory) and the problem doesn't exist anymore.

I believe this is a bug .

Regards,
Arto.

 

[pour789]

crnch could you please tell me how to edit the xml file to do this automatically? As I have the same problem

And which xml file is it?

Thanks to crunch and whoever helps out one this!!

 

[crunch]

Copy the file CIV4TechInfos.xml from the folder C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Civ4\Assets\XML\Technologies to folder My Documents\My Games\Civ4\CustomAssets\xml\technologies.

Now open the file in the CustomAssets in a text editor (e.g., notepad). Search for the six possible starting technologies (Fishing, Wheel, Agriculture, Hunting, Mysticism, Mining). For each tech, in the line "<bMapVisible>0</bMapVisible>" replace "0" with "1".

 

[Captain Badger]

i have a similar problem, in that when i start a game, i can see perfectly well, but once i move my units (i think past the centreal horizontal line) it goes dark, but only around there. i can still see my starting location etc.

CPU: Sempron 2800
RAM: 512MB
VIDEO: Sparkle Nvidia 6600GT 128MB
OS: XP with Service Pack 2

Any Suggestions?

 

[crunch]

Have you installed the latest civ4 patch, capt'n?

 

[HRM the King]

If I apply the "reveal all tiles" option, the terrain is still a bit dark. It misses brightness.
Is there anything I can do about this?
Thanks!

 

[HRM the King]

Is there any possibility "they" might be working on a patch to fix this?
If I can get the terrain visible by using "Reveal All Tiles", it doesn't seem to be such a difficult problem, or a hardware problem that can't be fixed ?!

 

[crunch]

I don't expect that it would be handled by them Firaxis,... but some skillful modder could do it I guess.