Civ 5 graphic issues (DX9 version); gray world again

[El-]

Hello,

I'm curious if anyone else has experienced what I have posted in the images below:

When I have "yeild Icons" turned on, they display with the tops of the image cut off, and another copy of the image appearing below the first one. This can best be seen in the bottom left corner of the image.

This shows that when looking at the tech tree, all of the icons of what you will get with each tech are pixilated, and out of order.

This is part 1 or 2. Every so offten, when a text overlay appears on screen, either from advisors, the tech tree, pretty much anything, my game will lag and I get what happens in the next image (You can also see the glitched tech tree graphics again in these):

Part 2 of 2. The tiles will briefly turn grey before they reload to what they should look like.

Lastly, when on main menu, the background has some glitchy-ness to it as well:


I am playing the game in windowed mode, with all video settings turned as low as possible, and at 1020 x 768 resolution. What you see above also happens when I am in full screen, at higher resolutions, and higher video detail.

My DX Diag report will follow in the next post.


Any ideas or suggestion on what might be causing this are much appreciated!

 

[El-]

My DX Diag report:

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 9/22/2010, 00:37:55
Machine name: LOUIE
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.100427-1636)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: HP Pavilion 061
System Model: EL406AA-ABA M7350N
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 3582MB RAM
Page File: 1064MB used, 6444MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
Display Tab 1: The file ati2dvag.dll is not digitally signed, which means that it has not been tested by Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL). You may be able to get a WHQL logo'd driver from the hardware manufacturer.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Music Tab: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.
Network Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (n/a)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: Radeon X1600/X1650 Series
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: ATI Radeon Graphics Processor (0x71C2)
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_71C2&SUBSYS_23421002&REV_00
Display Memory: 512.0 MB
Current Mode: 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: SyncMaster 2494SW(Analog)
Monitor Max Res: 1920,1080
Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6925 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 2/10/2010 23:45:14, 325120 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: No
WHQL Date Stamp: None
VDD: n/a
Mini VDD: ati2mtag.sys
Mini VDD Date: 2/11/2010 02:38:10, 3565056 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71EE2-3282-11CF-BF68-4803A1C2CB35}
Vendor ID: 0x1002
Device ID: 0x71C2
SubSys ID: 0x23421002
Revision ID: 0x0000
Revision ID: 0x0000
Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D ModeWMV8_B ModeWMV8_A ModeWMV9_B ModeWMV9_A
Deinterlace Caps: {6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
{3C5323C1-6FB7-44F5-9081-056BF2EE449D}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{552C0DAD-CCBC-420B-83C8-74943CF9F1A6}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
Registry: OK
DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Enabled
DDraw Test Result: Not run
D3D7 Test Result: Not run
D3D8 Test Result: Not run
D3D9 Test Result: Not run

-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
Description: Realtek HD Audio rear output
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0882&SUBSYS_103C0000&REV_1001
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: RtkHDAud.sys
Driver Version: 5.10.0000.5178 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
Date and Size: 10/18/2005 08:15:42, 4034048 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
HW Accel Level: Full
Cap Flags: 0xF5F
Min/Max Sample Rate: 8000, 192000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 33, 32
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 33, 32
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: Yes, Yes
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: Yes, Yes
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
Registry: OK
Sound Test Result: Not run

---------------------
Sound Capture Devices
---------------------
Description: Line in/Mic in
Default Sound Capture: Yes
Default Voice Capture: Yes
Driver Name: RtkHDAud.sys
Driver Version: 5.10.0000.5178 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Date and Size: 10/18/2005 08:15:42, 4034048 bytes
Cap Flags: 0x41
Format Flags: 0xFFF

Description: Realtek HD Digital input
Default Sound Capture: No
Default Voice Capture: No
Driver Name: RtkHDAud.sys
Driver Version: 5.10.0000.5178 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Date and Size: 10/18/2005 08:15:42, 4034048 bytes
Cap Flags: 0x41
Format Flags: 0xFFF

 

[Baron von Klotz]

i've got the same prob
i'm running on win7 with amd 64 x2 3800+, ati x1950pro, 2gb ram. we have a similar graphiccard, maybe that's the troublemaker. let's hope for patch asap

 

[Barbaar]

I got exactly the same list of problems. x2 5000+ and ati x1900xtx.

 

[El-]

Bump. I'm going to assume this has something to do the the X series of ATI cards?

 

[Equendil]

Exact same problems here, same glitches on main menu, yield icons messed up in the same way, terrain redrawing (painfully slowly, I'm below specs ) from grey goo when windows such as the Civilopedia or civics show up, or while displaying tooltips in the tech selector side window amongst other things. I've got a few additional issues as well: icons showing citizen allocation in the city display are not properly sized/located, strategic view crashes the game a lot (quite a lot of people who get that, might be unrelated), and I have also noticed that my framerate is way lower when I start a new map than it is several minutes and a number of turns later (goes from a steady ~15 fps to a steady 50+ while zoomed in to the max, terrain ain't redrawing or anything going on either way).

My system:
AMD Athlon 64 3200+, ATI Radeon X1950 Pro (DirectX9), 1.5GB RAM. WinXP Pro.

So, I've got one of them X cards too ...

I've tried full screen, windowed, low/off video settings, I've altered terrain settings in ini files, updated my drivers, nothing I've tried so far has made a difference.

 

[dshirk]

Many of these systems are below min-spec unfortunately (some video, some RAM) with drivers that are no longer supported. The game will still function, but because of the video cards, the UI textures are going to do wonkey things unfortunately.

 

[Equendil]

Well, RAM ain't the issue here, EL- has got 3.5GB and my system runs lean, ain't got a bloated anti-virus or firewall, no useless services, drivers or tray apps in the background, I'm not running the game with a web browser or anything open, I actually got some RAM left while the game is running.

Video cards now ... it appears we all use ATI cards of the same series. They're not top of the shelf anymore, but they're proper DX9 cards all the same, and the game is supposed to support that. Quite common stuff as well. I don't mind a few glitches or the game running a little slow but that terrain redraw thing is really painful and likely very fixable as the game is otherwise running decently fine until one of those pesky UI windows causes the whole terrain to reset.

 

[Equendil]

More people with at least partly the same problem in this thread: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=383159
Mostly X1950 pro gfx cards, though a couple are reporting the main menu glitch on Nvidia cards.

 

[dshirk]

The minimum cards that we are currently supporting (with drivers still supported by ATI and nVidia) are the ATI 2600 GT, and the nVidia 7900 GT.

Cards older than this have drivers that are a bit behind the times and cannot process the UI textures correctly, among other things. Some have success with older cards, tweaking the UI and font settings, etc., but generally the experience will not be too positive.

 

[Equendil]

Does this mean this won't get looked at @ Firaxis ?

 

[The_J]

I guess you can assume that.
But according to this chart the X1950 Pro is equivalent to the 7900 GT, which is the min. requirement, but like Mr. Shirk said, the drivers are different for the X1 and the X2 cards, so this is probably the problem.
And the X1650 is clearly under the min specs.

 

[Equendil]

They list "256 MB ATI HD2600 XT or better" as min. requirements ATI wise. The X1950 pro actually performs better than a 2600 XT, but "better" here really means "newer" and the X1xxx series is one generation behind the 2600. ATI has stopped supporting the X1xxx series (not that it's all that old, but we're supposed to buy a new card every six months apparently), which I expect is a problem for Firaxis.

Ultimately though, what the drivers may not do, client code can work around, and it's a matter of whether Firaxis prefers to deal with angry customers or spend some time making things work on hardware that can actually run the game reasonably well.

Edit: And of course, failing a workaround, this leads to a silly situation whereas "upgrading" to a worse performing gfx card would bring us at or above requirement.

 

[El-]

Well, I went and spent $70 on a newer model of my old card (new card is the HD 4350), and all of the above issues are gone. Still get the "gray reloading of textures" if I alt-tab, but otherwise the game runs great now.

 

[player1 fanatic]

And the X1650 is clearly under the min specs.

Depends how you look at that. For example 3470 on my laptop is definitely slower then x1650. And it runs game fine (on low settings).

So it seems it's not issue of speed for those old cards, but driver support. During 2009 AMD dropped support for pre-2000 series of their radeons, and there is probably some driver bug, which is fixed in later drivers, that leads to this issue And old card users are stucked with outdated drivers.

 

[sebtanic]

I have the same issue when I play the DirectX9 version using any Alienware M11X R2 with GeForce GT335M graphics card.
When I run the DX11 version it looks great

 

[Shurdus]

This seems like a cooling issue with video cards. Insufficient cooling can mess up the video RAM.

Can you guys post temps of the video cards? There are quite a few utilities out there that can do that, quite a few of those are provided when you buy the card.

 

[flyingbunnys]

I have the same issue with my X1600XT, minus the grey landscape. Everything works perfectly fine, and at a great speed, its just that the main screen and the little images for techs and stuff look wierd. Everything plays w/o any slow down so it doesn't really affect anything other than my being OCD.

 

[Teperi Blaze]

I have ATI Radeon 4770 and EVERYTHING runs smooth and nicely, except Civ5. 4-quad too.

Playing with XP still, but this is the only game I have problems with.

I get the grey zones already on large maps and on huge maps I get pixalated polka-dot areas?

The game runs nicely in itself, except for the graphic glitches. So Zoom into the lowest camera zoom allowed and the grey, polkadots go away, just brush the areas selected. But that gets pretty old soon.

DX9?

 

[jacklours]

I know it's an old thread, but I came here looking for that exact problem. I too have a x1950pro.

That's what I had figured but I was hoping some people would have had a way around it. Anyways, if anyone found something, you can always respond here it would be appreciated.