Can't install patch

[Sfinks]

Hi everybody. I spent a lot of time trying to play civ2 on the net again. The problem is that when I start the patch, the install program says it can't find a copy of civ2 multiplayer gold edition on this computer. I bought a CD and have installed it. It is civ2 Multiplayer purchased in UK.(for #5) .
As to the version of the game, the things are a bit confusing for me. The readme file on CD says it is Gold Edition, but the label on CD reads only civ2 multiplayer. When I start the game and check the game options, the version number is 5.3.0f 1st feb. 1999, which contradicts to the production year stated on the CD, 1998.
The patch is d-loaded from this site. v1.3 US edition and I also tried ultimate classic colection whith the same result. I have win 98.
Can anybody help? I'm really looking forward to playing whith people. Thanks

 

[dr_eamer]

Sometimes the patch can't automatically find the right directory, especially if you installed it in a custom dir rather than the default. At the point the patch tells you it can't find the game, you should have the option to find it yourself. Just click on 'browse', locate it and away you go. If that doesn't work its likely you don't have the game you think you do, go to the download page and grab Cedrics 'upgrade any civ2 to MGE' files, follow intructions and then install patch.

 

[Cedric Greene]

Yeah while it might say MGE in some readme files if it doesn't say "Civlization II Multiplayer Gold" as the title of your first window when starting Civ 2 then it might be the UK only multiplayer edition.

 

[Sfinks]

Tnanks for your answers. Unfortunately, I don't get any options. I played the game on the zone last year without problems, just with
patch which was maybe the same as this one. And also I would like to make clear one thing. Is it possible at all to play the net game without any patch, supposing you have a proper Multiplayer Gold Edition CD? Thank you

 

[dr_eamer]

Only if you find others who haven't upgraded with the patch - and I doubt many of them are around. If the patch you aret rying to install is the MGE 1.3 patch then you really should get an option to locate the game yourself. Look carefully at the screen. If you are trying to install the Ultimate Classic patch then forget it, upgrade your civ using cedrics patch then run the MGE patch.

 

[Cedric Greene]

Does your first menu look like the part of the attached jpg circled in red?

 

[Sfinks]

No, it is Ultimate Civilization II. Do I have to upgrade it to MGE, and if so how could I have played it last year, with only one patch?
To Dreamer:
Idon't get any options, except to confirming the abortion of instalation.

 

[Cedric Greene]

This patch doesn't work? http://www.civfanatics.net/downloads/civ2/utility/civiimge_uccupdate3.exe
Too strange. If you haven't already I would recommend uninstalling and reinstalling Civ2 into the default directory and then trying to reinstall the patch, could be it just doesn't like your civ.ini file for some reason.

 

[dr_eamer]

Maybe last year there were still people using Ultimate Edition, hence you could find players. For all I know they may still be out there, but for widest range upgrade it to MGE. Then the patch that Cedric pointed you to should work fine.

 

[Cedric Greene]

Just received my copy of Civ2 Multiplayer which I won from eBay. This is the version you have, the notorious UK edition. I have created a patch to specifically upgrade it to MGE. The file is a little under 1mb and here is the direct link http://hometown.aol.com/cedricgreene/Civ2MPtoMGE.exe
This should fix any compatability problems you have.

 

[Sfinks]

Ok. So definitely I must upgrade to MGE first.
The game is installed in default folder. Mps=>civ2
Well Cedric I d-loaded your patch from hometown but here is what I got after choosing the folder:
Cannot update..... because
C:\MPS\civ2\smeds.log: unknown version

 

[Cedric Greene]

Grrr fricken irritable patch-maker, did you try installing the patch with a totally clean version of Civ2MP, meaning a fresh install and not even starting the game? If that doesn't work try downloading my smeds.log into your directory and see if it likes it better. And if that doesn't work I'll fix the patch in the morning.

 

[Cedric Greene]

K nevermind that smeds.log, doesn't work. But I have updated the patch so the link above should lead you to a working version also I have created a zip as well so you can just extract the necessary files. The zip is almost twice as large as the exe so choose whichever. Zip is at http://hometown.aol.com/cedricgreene/Civ2MPtoMGE.zip

 

[Sfinks]

Thank you. Unfortunately I won't have much time these days, so I'll try it later. I hope things won't change much.

 

[Mercator]

Before you start messing around with unofficial custom-made "patches" I suggest you try both of the 2 Multiplayer Updates here:
http://www.civgaming.net/mercator/legacy/misc.htm#updates

 

[Cedric Greene]

That's awesome Mercator, I've never seen that patch anywhere before! It worked on my copy of Civ2MP so it should work with yours Sfinks. The only difference is it still doesn't include the Editor menu from MGE but it should make it compatible with MGE for multiplayer.

sp edit

 

[Mercator]

Great to see it works, the editors are a waste of space anyway, so nothing's lost.

All Civ2 patches are still available from the MicroProse FTP site:
ftp://ftp.microprose.com/pub/mps-online/new-versions/

 

[Andu Indorin]

As long as we're on the topic of attempting to use the MGE patch ... Everytime I have tried to use it, I've received the following error message. Anyone have any idea how I might get around this problem?

 

[Mercator]

Have you also tried the "other" patch? That is, the one that's called civiimultiupdatev1.3.exe (or the other one, if this was the one you were trying).
What you describe must be a problem with the smedsnet.dll, which also seemed to cause the troubles Sfinks' case.

If that still doesn't work, perhaps you could go to the microprose ftp site (link in my previous post) and try installing one of the earlier patches instead. And after applying those, apply the last patch.

 

[Cedric Greene]

Andu, I am in the process of redoing the patches again, though they won't be much (if any different) I am hoping to find the source of the problem and a common fix for it. So far I've been able to replicate this error once with required files installed only and when I reinstall with all files it goes away. Others have gotten around it by installing into a different directory. Mercator is sure to say that that shouldn't fix it but give it a whirl if you haven't, also try the no-cd crack or download the smedsnet.dll from my site and see if that makes a difference.