Civ1 crashes on Win Millenium

[JB2]

Howdy,

As a wannabe Civ 1 fanatic, I downloaded the game from a website (zip file), unzipped, and ran the file civ.exe.

Excellent although longish opening sequence and credits (any way to skip through this?),then crash...a runtime error, try to divide by zero problem.

Any tips to get this running?

Thanks in advance

Rick

Edit Note: deleted the link to abandonware site.

[This message has been edited by Thunderfall (edited April 02, 2001).]

 

[TTG]

Well skipping the song and credits is easy -- just press any key to get the main menu. Certain keys will actually preselect the options for you. The only one I know by heart is L which selects load game, which is obviously the one you will be using the most. Normally, just press <enter>, and it should take you to the menu. As for a divide by zero error, I really can't help you. I have never seen this error before, so I assume it has something to do with WinME. Try running the game in DOS instead. I don't know much about WinME, so if it does not have "DOS mode" built into it like win9x does, go to a computer that is based on DOS, Win311, Win95, or Win98 and make yourself a DOS bootdisk. DOS is really small and can be run from a floppy (in fact, so can Civilization 1... it can be run from 2 floppies). If you are not familiar with DOS, or have trouble getting access to a computer from which a bootdisk can be made, then you may run into some difficulties here. Even if you do get it to work, it is most likely that only the PC speaker sounds will work, and your mouse will likely not work either. This is not too bad, though. When I first started playing civ, it was on an old computer that had no sound card and no mouse, and the game was still very enjoyable.

That reminds me of another possibility you might want to try. When the game starts up, select more conservative options, such as no mouse and no sound. See if the game runs. If it does, then you'll have to go to the manual (found on my site) to get all the keystrokes to play the game without a mouse.

I hope this helps.

 

[JB2]

thanks TTG, I'm going to try your suggestions, I'll let you know!

 

[R]

How do you divide the files to be able to play the game from 2 disks?

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<IMG SRC="http://www.missionsos.org/urkraftkallan/civsignatur.gif" border=0>
...............(R)

 

[TTG]

That's actually an interesting question. I no longer have disks (they are corrupted) so I can't tell you. Does anyone here still have the original floppies???

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Civilization I Master of masters
Webmaster of Civilization I Fanatics Center

 

[GenghisK]

First, JB2, I am suprised that Thunderfall and the moderators have not deleted your URL, since it's illegal to post links to abandonware sites here. That's just FYI.

Concerning the problem, if I can submit my humble suggestion:
I still own the original copy of Dos, AND Civ1. If you're interested... BUT:

The ultimate and good idea is to play Civ for Mac (sorry I'm playing on both Mac and PC so I'm also advertising for the fantastic and superior Mac version

). You can download a freeware Mac emulator for PC called Basilisk II and then install the 4 disk Civilization Mac version. And can guarantee you that you'll have a shock. The graphics and the sound are better than pc adlib version. Just read my reply concerning another post from R.
I also own the original Civ for Macintosh disks, which are still working, surprisingly (hey, I'm crazy, I've bought 2 copies of Civ, one for Pc, the other for Mac

)

If you need further information, just let me know. Sorry, I have to leave now. And kindly note that there're no problem on Civ Mac, since it's a Mac game. No dos memory problem, no working sound problem, etc. You only have advantages playing Civ Mac. And the argument which will definitely convince you is that there's a Mac Civ trainer which can modify your .exe file and give you some cool capacities (ground units on water, boats on land, building rails across the sea...). Come on, join me in the Mac Civ addicted. As far as I know, this forum hasn't been exclusively designed only for PC user I suppose. Right, Thunderfall?

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Genghis K.

 

[andy6474]

I have been playing civ since I purchased it back in 1994, and never had any trouble on all the pcs I have used in that time until now. My new laptop which runs windows 98 gives me the division by zero runtime error on the civilisation title screen. I get into dos by using the 'restart in ms-dos mode' option, and have tried it with and without my mouse driver running with no luck. I guess it must be another driver (but which) or the version of DOS causing the problem, but how to fix is another problem... I think I will have to try and get my hands on an old 486 or something to play.
:-(

 

[Cedric Greene]

Since Winblows 98 DOS have not been really there but 'emulated' and therefore options are missing (moreso in ME) and the speed is slow. If you are having problems with a divide by zero errors I would make sure that your WinG driver is up-to-date and also download from Microsoft.com any "service packs" that your version is missing, though if dialing up this could take an immense amount of time.

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"In your life you seem to have it all, you seem to have control, but deep within your soul you're losing it. You never took the time, assume that you're to blame, you think that you're insane..." -Tantric
Cedric's Civilization II Page-Home of the *NEW* "Multiplayer Gold Edition" patch.

 

[andy6474]

Well, Ive had no luck fixing the 'division by zero' errors I was getting, but it does run if I run it in a dos window (fullscreen) rather than rebooting in DOS! Unfortunatley this is to slow to be playable. (I could probably read the entire works of Shakespeare in the time it takes to move one unit one square...(Its even slower than the Amiga version))
Luckily I have managed to get my hands on 'Civilization for Windows' which runs without any problems, so I have been able to address my Civilization withdrawal symptoms...
Id really like to get my original DOS version running though. The graphics in CivWin (same gfx as CivNet) are somewhat 'dull'... Not quite the real thing! lol.