Civ IV wont run - conflict with Python Interpreter?

[eminer]

Hi,

I'm an absolute neophyte with Python, but wanted to try teaching myself.
So I installed a python interpreter. Since then, I have tried to run my Civ IV, which I hadn't done in a long time. However, when I try to run it, nothing happens.

So I'm guessing there may be a conflict between my Python installation and Civ, (although I cant say this for certain).

Any thoughts, suggestions, or comments would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers

 

[isenchine]

I'm not sure about a conflict between Civ4 and a Python Interpreter.

A few things though:

Of course you may want to learn Python for other reasons, but if it's only for Civ4, you don't need to install anything more.

Civ4 uses an older version of Python and it's not fully compatible with more recent ones.

Try to uninstall your Python Interpreter first and maybe reinstall Civ4 afterwards.

In another thread you said you were on Windows 10. It's possible that you might be experiencing this recent problem, especially if you're trying to play the vanilla or Warlords versions.

You should play Civ4 with Python exceptions enabled but if it doesn't even launch, this advice is not yet so helpful...

 

[vincentz]

I dont think other python installs interfere with civ4. I have python 2.7 installed without any problems on win7. Though tbh I'm not 100% sure what an Interpreter is

 

[Nightinggale]

Civ4 use an ancient version of python from 2004 (2.4 if I remember correctly). It adds the python dll next to the exe and the exe will use that one and only that one. Unless you install some other software, which will start to read dll files in your civ install, then the two versions of python should be sealed from each other.

Though tbh I'm not 100% sure what an Interpreter is

The simplest way is to call it a compiler for python. That's not 100% correct because python is a script language, which isn't compiled. Instead it's read from source at runtime, which is why it is an interpreted language while C++ is a compiled language. Using an interpreter, you should be able to run the python files and check for errors without starting civ4 itself.

However I'm not sure that's a good idea to use an interpreter because most of the python code is based on the dll interface, which would not be testable in such a setup. If you write code, which can be tested externally and you install software to do so, you might as well do it in the DLL as that would be faster and have a higher degree of modding freedom. Mac compatibility would be a valid reason for using pure python, but that's the only reason I can see. C++ can be debugged and runs a whole lot faster.

 

[vincentz]

rgr. but it wasnt for civ4 I have it installed. I used it for other games (Elder scrolls and Oolite iirc). Some of the utilities required it to execute.

 

[eminer]

A few things though:

Of course you may want to learn Python for other reasons, but if it's only for Civ4, you don't need to install anything more.

Civ4 uses an older version of Python and it's not fully compatible with more recent ones.

Try to uninstall your Python Interpreter first and maybe reinstall Civ4 afterwards.

In another thread you said you were on Windows 10. It's possible that you might be experiencing this recent problem, especially if you're trying to play the vanilla or Warlords versions.

Thank you:
I uninstalled python and Civ 4 then reinstalled Civ 4.
After investigating, it does appear that the incompatibility is with win 10. However, others seem to have posted that their Civ 4 is working with win 10. Is that because I'm using vanilla Civ 4 or that the posts of win 10 compatibility were prior to the windows update?

At this point, I think I'm going to try to roll back to windows 8.

Thanks for all the feedback

PS
My interest in python is general in nature - not for modding Civ (at least yet - i'm not that good at coding) - and the coments re: python and Civ are still relevent even if not directly related to my current incompatibility, so thank you for those.
Cheers

 

[isenchine]

To clarify a bit: BtS 3.19 freed us from the need to play with the CD loaded. In other words, it doesn't check anymore if a CD is inserted or not.

People who had BtS 3.19 installed had no problem when installing Windows 10. The problem is indeed for Civ4 Vanilla, Warlords or even BtS pre 3.19, as the checking of the CD was disabled in Windows 10, rendering the earlier versions of Civ4 (and many other old games) impossible to play.

Furthermore, Windows also disabled the checking of the CD in their other versions (W.8, 7, Vista) through a Windows update. The thread linked is to show people how to go over this update.

However, I have no idea if it works for Windows 10 as that checking of the CD was never introduced in the first place. It seems a good idea to revert to Windows 8 if you want to stick with Vanilla Civ4.