BTS requires admin privileges to run under Vista?

[sapphire_wyvern]

I originally had civ installed on a secondary partition (D: ). It was patched up to 1.61 when I installed BTS.

I generally run as a Limited account in Vista for good security hygiene reasons. Civ IV was always perfectly happy with this. When I installed BTS, I used the UAC prompt to escalate to an Admin account, and BTS seemed to install fine. However, *every single time* I try to run BTS, I get UAC prompts for privilege escalation. This happens even when I'm logged in as an Admin primary user.

I have tried uninstalling BTS and reinstalling while logged in as a primary admin and it hasn't helped at all.

Are other people getting this behaviour? It's unacceptable for a brand-new game to require Admin privileges to run, especially since Civ IV without the expansion handled this perfectly fine.

 

[jwbjerke]

Have they fixed the issue of unusable voice capture device? I'm running Vista 32 bit and everytime I start Warlords, I get 3 prompts about an unusable voice capture device. I click OK on the warnings and then the game plays fine, it's annoying. I was hoping for better Vista support.

 

[sapphire_wyvern]

Well, I don't get any messages about that. I haven't installed xfire, don't know if that makes a difference.

The voice capture thing might be a hardware-specific issue in any case?

 

[jwbjerke]

It very well could be a hardware issue. I'm very curious about this admin issue. Since this is a "Games For Windows" title, there are very strict guidelines that must be followed.

Platform standards

Games which wish to be included in the Games for Windows platform must meet certain requirements regulated by Microsoft. These include but are not limited to:

* An "Easy Install" option that installs the title on your PC in the fewest possible steps and mouse clicks
* Compatibility with the Windows Vista Games Explorer (see below)
* Compatibility with the Xbox 360 controller (where applicable)
* Installs and runs properly on x64 versions of Windows Vista and is compatible with 64-bit processors (though the game itself can be 32-bit)
* Supports normal and widescreen resolutions, such as 4:3 aspect ratio (800 x 600), 16:9 aspect ratio (1280 x 720), and 16:10 aspect ratio (1152 x 720)
* Launching from Media Center (Windows Vista Home Premium and Windows Vista Ultimate have Media Center)

While not a required feature at this time, some Games For Windows certified games are playable during the game's installation, making PC games more convenient and more similar to console games, in that players aren't required to wait until the game's installation is complete before they can play the game. This feature is known as Tray and Play, and is available in Halo 2 for Vista.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Games_for_Windows

 

[sapphire_wyvern]

Update: even after installing BTS, I can still run Civ IV vanilla without needing privilege escalation.

However, BTS requires privilege escalation, no matter whether I start it from the Games browser, Media Center, or CD Autoplay launcher.

By the way, I'm running Vista 32-bit Ultimate.

 

[Sebastian Piotr]

I have this same problem. I notice one more thing I HAVEN'T ICON for CIV:BtS all the time when I want play I must use autostart option from disc. I try create shortcut manualy (succesfuly) but still I need admin priv. to start game. I use Vista Home Premium on Acer laptop Aspire 5630.

 

[sapphire_wyvern]

I have this same problem. I notice one more thing I HAVEN'T ICON for CIV:BtS all the time when I want play I must use autostart option from disc. I try create shortcut manualy (succesfuly) but still I need admin priv. to start game. I use Vista Home Premium on Acer laptop Aspire 5630.

I don't have a Start Menu icon, but the game did add itself to the Vista games menu... did you get that?

 

[Skunky]

I don't have a Start Menu icon, but the game did add itself to the Vista games menu... did you get that?

I use Vista 64 Ultimate, no desktop icon or start menu group, just the shortcut on the game menu; I think it's by design.
Same for UAC every time I run BTW, while vanilla and warlords work without UAC.

 

[Ammar]

I use Vista 64 Ultimate, no desktop icon or start menu group, just the shortcut on the game menu; I think it's by design.
Same for UAC every time I run BTW, while vanilla and warlords work without UAC.

Same for me.

 

[sapphire_wyvern]

Hmm. Well, I'm satisfied with the icon situation; I agree that it's a design decision, and I'm happy with it.

But I really hope that some forthcoming patch will allow BTS to run without needing escalation.

Are there any Firaxians around who can clarify why BTS is requesting admin rights? I find it curious that Warlords didn't need it (I don't have Warlords myself).

 

[Sebastian Piotr]

I haven't any CIV4:BtS icon on my desktop or on program list. I've Programs\FiraxisGames\CivilizationChronicles
.............\.................\Civilization 4
..............\.................\Civilization 4:Warlords

but I have not Civilizaton 4: Beyond the Sword

all the time I must use autoplay from DVD or shortcut (create by me). This extension pack has more bugs to repair.

 

[sapphire_wyvern]

Hi Sebastian.

You're running Vista Home Premium, right? If you have the Vista-style Start menu turned on, when you click on the Start button you should see an item labelled "Games" on the right hand side, along with Documents, Control Panel, Computer etc.

If you click on that, you should get a window that pops up with a list of games installed on your computer. (Most "big name" games will automatically show up on that list, but old games and games from minor publishers may need to be added manually). Anyway, the shortcut for Beyond the Sword should be in there.

If you have the Start Menu set to "Classic" style rather than Vista-style, that may explain your lack of shortcuts...

 

[Sam_Yeager]

I've just installed BTS on Win XP SP2 and it also seems to require admin rights to run.

If I try to run under a limited user then it bombs out just after the 'Loading' screen and I get a message from the OS that the program has encountered an error and do I want to send the details to Microsoft. If I run it under my admin user then it starts fine. Vanilla still runs fine under the limited user.

 

[Sebastian Piotr]

sapphire_wyvern you have right. When I change taskbar style from classic to vista I found CIV4:BtS icon . Next bug to repair. Did Firaxis hired some people from Microsoft? There is so many stupid bugs......?

 

[sapphire_wyvern]

I've just installed BTS on Win XP SP2 and it also seems to require admin rights to run.

If I try to run under a limited user then it bombs out just after the 'Loading' screen and I get a message from the OS that the program has encountered an error and do I want to send the details to Microsoft. If I run it under my admin user then it starts fine. Vanilla still runs fine under the limited user.

Hmm... is that the "Loading" screen with no progress bar and "Loading" in multiple languages? That would be the MacroVision SafeDisc copy protection flash screen. I wonder if BTS is using a new version that requires admin rights?

I generally prefer to remove disc checks from my games, since having paid full retail price, I will not settle for a product that's inferior to a pirate version (ie, one that requires me to carry optical discs around with my laptop) - and I have noticed that the first loading screen disappears when I do so. I will certainly check to see if removing SafeDisc clears up this admin rights issue.

If the game needs admin rights for copy protection reasons alone, that would be even more infuriating than having sloppy but actually gameplay-related code which requires admin rights...

(Note: I strongly advocate purchasing legitimate copies of games, and am strongly against software piracy. Please don't mistake any content of this post as endorsement for piracy.)

 

[Sam_Yeager]

Hmm... is that the "Loading" screen with no progress bar and "Loading" in multiple languages? That would be the MacroVision SafeDisc copy protection flash screen. I wonder if BTS is using a new version that requires admin rights?

Yes I get the screen with 'Loading' in multiple languages and then it bombs out.

If it's the copy protection causing the problem then we may not have much chance of getting the problem fixed. Presumably they would have to issue a new DVD with a patched copy protection.

Can you see those flying porcines going by the window?

 

[necbone]

Haay guys^^

Games for Windows doesn't allow games to install desktop icons on the desktop; go to game explorer or online media to check play the game

And about the pop-up you're recieving when running BtS, check your permissions or allowances to turn that off.

You have to remember that BtS is one of the first games released on the GFW label, so alot of people don't know about this.

 

[sapphire_wyvern]

Hi necbone.

If Firaxis can tell me which specific folder permissions to grant, I will happily do so.

On the other hand, if anyone thinks I should disable computer-wide security escalation mechanisms for the benefit of a game that (for no obvious reason) does not follow Windows application guidelines, I'm afraid that is not good advice at all....

@Sam: sounds like it's getting past the security check and then bombing out when it starts to load. Hmm, wonder if it's something to do with registry access... does anyone know of a tool that allows you to find out exactly what permissions a program needs so that I can manually configure persistent permissions? UAC prompts aren't exactly rich in technical detail.

 

[Sam_Yeager]

Hmm, wonder if it's something to do with registry access... does anyone know of a tool that allows you to find out exactly what permissions a program needs so that I can manually configure persistent permissions? UAC prompts aren't exactly rich in technical detail.

Regmon from Systernals is a free tool that allows you to see which registry entries a program is making. I'll need to have a play with it.

 

[lroumen]

I'm on home premium and I've got the same problems.
- Civ-Vanilla starts without problems.
- Civ-Warlords iirc used to have a UAC but now doesn't (maybe due a later patch)
- Civ-BTS does not start without UAC interference.

I've looked all over the net for tips and tricks with UAC, but so far I haven't been able to come up with much.
- You can disable the UAC in the control panel, but that is not really a solution to this problem.
- It seems that in Ultimate and Business you can also decrease the security policy so that you do not have elevated UAC warnings as an administrator and you can automatically continue.... however, that is also not a solution as it effects all programs.


It's easy to see which programs have UAC interference, namely, the windows shield icon hovering over the program icon. If I check the Civ-Vanilla and Civ-Warlords executables, I see no such icon. When I check the Civ-BTS executable I do see the UAC windows icon hovering over it. Of course, the shortcut just inherits the status of the executable so that requires UAC permission as well.

It should be possible to have a safelist of individual programs which can by-pass UAC because this is sort of rediculous. I know UAC enhances security and therefore I do not wish to disable it permanently, but it should at least be editable to allow execution of those programs which YOU trust.

If anyone can come up with a "windows only" resolution to this problem I'd like to hear it (I will not use third party programs to bypass the UAC).
I'm certain that Firaxis can fix this in the next BTS patch, since UAC checks can be coded, probably in a dll or such.