Civ3 Complete on MacBook - Please help!

[cap364]

Hi, ive installed civ3 complete on my mac book, here are my specs

Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook3,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.2 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz

as far as i can tell my laptop meets the games requirements, yet when i try to play the game i get an error message stating,

"Civilisation 3 Complete recommends a PowerPC processor running at 500MHz or faster. Your computer does not meet the recommended processor speed requirement. Game play will suffer..yada yada...tech support will not be able to assist you"



now, i dont pretend to be computer literate, but my processor should be fine, shouldnt it?

when i click ok on this message the games closes.


all and any help very much appreciated!

thanks,

frank

 

[AlanH]

Hi, welcome

Civ3 Complete was released shortly before the Intel Macs were launched, so it was compild to run on a Power PC CPU. It is looking at your Mac hardware through the distorting lens of the Rosetta emulation engine used to run PowerPC software on an Intel CPU. I'm sure your system is capable of running it just fine, but it thinks it knows better.

I recommend you update your copy of Civ3 Complete using the Rev A patch. As well as fixing some bugs, that will turn it into a Universal Binary, capable of running on either class of CPU.

Rule number 1 when buying software on a CD/DVD is that the publishers put it in the box a while ago. Always check online for updates!

 

[cap364]

thank you so much for the help, im downloading the patch now!

 

[cap364]

the patch is downloaded but wouldnt you know im having trouble installing it, the installation seems to be stalling on "OpenPlay.rsrc", unless it is normal for it to take 20-30 minutes to install?

 

[AlanH]

Ah! I should have mentioned that Aspyr's installers only work if you drag-copy them from the disk image onto your hard drive - eg your desktop, then launch from there.

 

[cap364]

the installer works, and begins to install, but gets stuck when installing "OpenPlay.rsrc", whatever that is...lol

ive tried again after doing your suggestions, copied the installer from the disk image to my desktop and started it again, and at present ive left it "installing" the above file i quoted.

im at a loss, i read the thread below mine, do you think i should try that manual install thing?

 

[AlanH]

Yes, it's worth a try. Aspyr have clearly posted that manual installer because others have had your sort of problem.

 

[cap364]

oh this knows no bounds! lol

i got the patch, manually installed it, replaced the relevent files, now when i click to start the game nothing happens at all, no error message, nothing. it seems to load and the quit instantly.

thanks for your continued help Alan, i really appreciate it.

 

[AlanH]

I was holding my breath half expecting this reply.

That sounds like the QuickTime 7.6 problem that's been discussed here and in the Civ4 forum. Some people have fixed it by downloading and installing the QuickTIme 7.6 installer from Apple's site. Others have had to Archive and Install the OS X 10.5.6 Combo updater.

 

[cap364]

all fixed now, thank you Alan, for your patience.

 

[AlanH]

What did you have to do?

 

[cap364]

i downloaded 7.6 quicktime, and changed the resolution the game starts up in by doing that option click thingy, its windowed, but tbh, im just glad its working, i'll get round to sorting full screen out some other time (havent tried going full screen - just dont feel like tempting fate if you know what i mean)

 

[AlanH]

Thanks for the info. It might help someone else.

 

[gastong]

how can I manually install the patch?

Moderator Action: Please don't ask the same question in more than one place. I've already replied elsewhere.

 

[Baleog]

Hi,

Here is what has been happening to me when I try to run the game.
The game installs fine. As with cap364 I get a warning when I try to run the game about not being a powerPC of the correct speed, but this is not a problem as my specs are as good as cap's. Once I OK this error the game stops loading (that is the "C" symbol stops bouncing and then disappears from the dock).

I have downloaded the patch and installed it. Once this is done when I try to load the game it fails as before except without an error.

I have downloaded the new Complete.app file and installed it (manually) and again I get the same result. (If anything the C stops bouncing even quicker now).

I have re-downloaded Quicktime 7.6.4 and installed it and am seeing the exact same result.

I sent a ticket to aspyr yesterday and they replied today, however before I saw their reply I read most of the threads on this forum so I had a pretty good idea of what they were going to say. Anything they suggested I have already tried and they also suggested that it might not be possible for me to get a fix. However as far as I can tell everybody on this forum has managed to get their copy working in some form or another.

Can I get clarification on how cap fixed his problem? Specifically where he says

"i downloaded 7.6 quicktime, and changed the resolution the game starts up in by doing that option click thingy, its windowed, but tbh, im just glad its working"

Can someone explain what this means please?

If that doesn't work how do I do what AlanH suggested here:

"Others have had to Archive and Install the OS X 10.5.6 Combo updater."

Apologies if this is spelt out in detail somewhere else. I have read all the threads that looked like they were relevant to my problem and am now suffering from serious brain burn.

HELP

 

[AlanH]

The problem that caused the icon to bounce a few times in the dock and then just stop was caused by an Apple Quicktime update to version 7.6. It was around for a few months before Aspyr finally nailed it. During that time the users who were affected found a number of work-rounds, including manually installing older versions of Quicktime, and/or reinstalling their OS X.

Once Aspyr released the replacement application file, that fixed the problem, and none of the other work-rounds were necessary any more as far as I know. Cap364 probably used one or other of them at that time, but they are irrelevant now.

So you should be able to:

- Start with a clean installation of Civ3 Complete
- Download and apply the latest patch, which makes it a Universal application capable of running natively on an Intel CPU,
- Download and replace the application file to fix the Quicktime bug

If you do those three things, and ignore all the other work-round stuff, it *ought* to work. I can't tell you what to do about your Quicktime, as I am now on version 10 having installed Snow Leopard. Just make sure that any Software Updates are applied to your OS.

 

[Baleog]

Thanks for the quick response.

Unfortunately I have tried all three of these steps several times and I know they will not work altohugh can you explain how you ensure that software updates are applied to your OS.

As I appear to have exhausted the correct method of fixing this problem I am prepared to resort to the old out moded versions.

Did you know how cap "changed the resolution the game starts up in by doing that option click thingy".As I don't really use my mac for watching video might it be a good idea to download an old version of quicktime?

Any help is much appreciated

 

[AlanH]

I really don't think you should need an old version of Quicktime.

For uninstalled OS updates, just open Software Update from the Apple menu and let it check. If there are any listed then install them.

When you double click Civ3 to launch it, hold down the Command key. Use Command+Option if you use a dock icon to launch it. This opens a dialog where you can select full screen or window mode, change the window size, and choose another screen if you have a second display connected. I far prefer to run windowed anyway. If this dialog comes up then try different settings. Maybe it just doesn't like your screen size.

 

[Baleog]

It WORKED!

The command key thing is an option I did NOT know about.

Cheers Al!