Civ2 TOT won't load saved games

[Jellric]

The game works just fine under XP until I attempt to load a saved game. Then I get the following error msg: "Civ2.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close. Sorry for the inconvenience."

I have installed the 1.1 patch. When first installing the game I declined to install the direct 6.0 drivers since I have a much more recent version.

I have tried running the game under every compatibility mode available.

Any ideas?

 

[Jellric]

Twenty-five views and no one has any ideas?

 

[Mercator]

Yep, pretty much... I've had some problems with my ToT too on occasion. It crashed on startup for a while and I might even have had the same thing as you. But in both cases it seemed to solve itself after a while... And I don't have Windows XP.

I don't really know what to say except some general questions that probably won't help...
Have you tried deleting the Civ2.dat file in the Civ2 folder? Re-installing? Applying XP updates (or undoing them)? You have the comdlg32.dll file? What version is it (right-click, see properties)? You have a 64-bit processor? Has ToT ever worked or did it always do this? If it did work, do you know when it stopped working? Does it crash when saving too? Loading a map rather than a saved game?

 

[Jellric]

Have you tried deleting the Civ2.dat file in the Civ2 folder? Re-installing? Applying XP updates (or undoing them)? You have the comdlg32.dll file? What version is it (right-click, see properties)? You have a 64-bit processor? Has ToT ever worked or did it always do this? If it did work, do you know when it stopped working? Does it crash when saving too? Loading a map rather than a saved game?

I tried deleting the civ2.dat file and reinstalling the game. I have the latest updates to XP which I got prior to installation. I have the comdlg32.dll file- it is in my windows folder.

The game never would load saved games from the beginning. It only crashes when attempting to load, not save.

 

[Mercator]

So you can start a new game, right?

Try loading a game through the Game menu once you're already playing.

And try the following when you've just fired up ToT:
- "Start a Single Player Game"
- "Original Game"
- Cancel to go back to the previous menu
- "Load a Saved Game"

Do either of these work?

 

[Jellric]

So you can start a new game, right?

Yes.

Try loading a game through the Game menu once you're already playing.

And try the following when you've just fired up ToT:
- "Start a Single Player Game"
- "Original Game"
- Cancel to go back to the previous menu
- "Load a Saved Game"

Do either of these work?

Ok, when I try that I get a new error msg: Civ II Fatal Error: Error "CivKeyNotFound (City) (Bad Rules.Txt) in module "<Startup>" data: 67 0.

 

[Mercator]

Excellent!

ToT usually opens the dialog in the main ToT folder. Something in there must be crashing it. By using one of the methods I describe you bypass that folder and go straight to one of the ToT game subfolders... Did you put any new files in there, perhaps a filename using special characters?

Or actually, when exactly did you get the error? When the open dialog box opened, or when you'd already selected the file and the open dialog had just closed? Are you saving your games in the main ToT folder or in its game subfolder (as you should)?


The new error you're getting indicates a problem with your (Original game?) rules.txt. Did you edit it? Look at the last line of the @IMPROVE section (the Cure for Cancer wonder). Is there a comma missing or something?

 

[slinky360]

You are never gunna get an old game to be 100% compatible with xp (you ant got prey with vista!). I have a vista system and the only way i can play my old games is with Virtual Pc 2007 (free from microsoft). All the patches in the world ant gunna fix a win95/98 game to play on xp/vista. The game would have to be recompiled from source to work on todays systems. Dosbox is also great for the old dos apps!

 

[Jellric]

Or actually, when exactly did you get the error? When the open dialog box opened, or when you'd already selected the file and the open dialog had just closed?

After I had selected the saved game and the dialog had closed.

Are you saving your games in the main ToT folder or in its game subfolder (as you should)?

They are being saved in the subfolder.

I did make one small change to the rules.txt in the main TOT folder but changed it back when I realized the changes didn't show up in the game. I have also reinstalled TOT since then and am having the same problem. A check of the rules.txt shows they are unchanged and no missing commas where you suggested I check.

 

[Mercator]

You are never gunna get an old game to be 100% compatible with xp (you ant got prey with vista!).

Well, I don't know about Vista, but I actually only just switched from Windows 98 to XP and I've had no problems at all, even with "classic" Civ2, which is designed for Win 3.1.

After I had selected the saved game and the dialog had closed.

Ah, ok... That clears things up.

I did make one small change to the rules.txt in the main TOT folder but changed it back when I realized the changes didn't show up in the game. I have also reinstalled TOT since then and am having the same problem. A check of the rules.txt shows they are unchanged and no missing commas where you suggested I check.

Hmmm, could you perhaps attach that rules.txt? I'll compare it to mine, just to make sure. Could you perhaps also give me a list of files you have in your main ToT folder?

I had a go earlier at removing a bunch of files from my main folder to see what ToT needed to start up, and removing some of them gave me the error you were seeing, so perhaps some of your files are missing or corrupted...

 

[Jellric]

Hmmm, could you perhaps attach that rules.txt?
I'll compare it to mine, just to make sure.

Sure, attached is the one from my main TOT folder.

Could you perhaps also give me a list of files you have in your main ToT folder?

That would be pretty tedious as there are so many files in there.
If I could somehow take a pic of the folder contents I'd be glad to.

 

[Mercator]

There's only one difference I can see between that rules.txt and mine... But now I think of it, that difference looks like it might be a difference between ToT v1.0 and v1.1.

Are you sure you installed the patch (just to be sure)? Did you by any chance install the "Time Threat Paradox" scenario? If so, re-install the v1.1 patch.

I just copied a Civ2 FW rules.txt into my Original ToT folder and got the same error you did. Something is seriously messed up with your ToT install.

In fact, the fact that the error you got was Error "CivKeyNotFound (City) (Bad Rules.Txt)" in module "<Startup>" data: 67 0. rather than Error "-5" in module "3" data: 67 0. indicates that you must have the modules.db and errors.db files, which were in my classic Civ2 install, but not my ToT install.

Do you have multiple Civ2 versions, or just ToT? It seems like your files are all mixed up.

 

[makairo]

I didn't see any final answer and I'm having the same problem with my TOT.
and this is diving me crazy. The game is fantastic, but I can't play it for 12 hours straight (everyday) to get some good game time in. should I just get a different version of civ2 or perhaps try out civ3, or is the game all the trouble. somebody posted that this game will never work on winxp, is this true?

 

[Titi]

somebody posted that this game will never work on winxp, is this true?

Nope, it works well for me. But with the latest patch installed.

 

[slinky360]

People this is an old problem with many old games. Sometimes they may work on some systems, but its only a fluke. The way windows handles and allocates memory is very different now to older windows versions. Programmers have different compilers and lib's for programming xp/vista apps. If you ever tryed compilling the test of time code with todays compiler and lib's it with chuck out of string of errors. Bottom line: If you want test of time to ever be 100% compatiable with xp or vista, use would have to compile the sourse code with the xp libs or vista libs. Then and ONLY then will you have a 100% compatiable piece of software. That could be done with test of time 2 as the source has been released. This would involve modding the code as it would have to be linked to todays lib's. An easier way is, as i have said on a previous post, is to use virtual pc, which will run another windows version inside a window. In effect, you will have a perfect emulator on which to play test of time. I have done this and it works no probs. There ant no patch on the net that will help as these patches were designed to patch faults on the game, not to patch the game for xp/vista. I hope this has cleared up matters. Virtual Pc is free for download at microsoft.

 

[Malta]

I had the same problem with TOT, installed from Civ Chronicles.
So I tried installing the 1.1 patch, but it won't since TOT isn't installed. So I've reinstalled TOT a couple of times and still it won't install the patch. The game doesn't appear in add/remove programs.

The computer I'm working on has Windows XP home edition installed.

So far I've not been able to solve the problem. Next step will be testing a "pure" TOT installation from a different source, just in case that makes a difference.

Update: Maybe I should have searched the forum, as there is some help available for my particular problem.

 

[goofydink]

I use winxp here. I had the same problem that is mentioned here. What I found out is that the saved game files need to be saved in a different folder than what comes up as the the default save folder. TOT in my case has the default save folder as C:\Microprose Software\Civilization II Multiplayer Gold Edition. The saved games would not load from here. When i saved a game to to C:\Microprose software, it loaded fine. So in my case anyway it is a pathing issue. I hope this is helpful.

 

[Andy Ore]

I can't believe it! Changing path to any other different from the game folder really worked!
Goofydink, you're a deity!

I had not played Civ2 for years, and when I finally get a copy of ToT, graphics changed to older Civ2 style when loading games, with many weird colors everywhere and loss of rules for fantasy games. Now it's solved.

 

[goofydink]

I am glad its working for you now. I am partial to civ2 tot. I have vista now... I hope it will work for me! BTW civ4 runs like a scared rabbit on my new pc. dual core quad with 8 gigs of ram.... Happy gaming!