Common problems, no immediate solutions

[Enginebuilder]

Thanks for taking the time to help me out with the following problems; I have read the stickies regarding these problems, and notice that many people have had some of the same problems.
Pertinent info:

Windows XP/SP2
Civ3 v1.29f, no mods/expansions
AMD 1ghz
512mb RAM
19" proview monitor
Nvidia Geforce2 Mx400 video card
Directx 9.0c

Problem #1: Frequency out of range. As this has been covered many times in the stickies, I will list what I have tried:
A: Change config.ini to include the following: Refresh=60
B: update to version 1.29f
C: I have looked into my registry, to try and remove the entries allowing display modes my monitor will not allow, to no avail; i can't find them.
D: start program in compatibility mode (this works, but....)

Problem #2: When exiting program, civilization3.exe keeps running in the background, causing the screen resolution to be wrong. Task Manager allows me to terminate the program manually, but this a PITA

Problem #3: Since "upgrading" to version 1.29f, all units move as if they are on a railroad... The movement seems instantaneous from grid to grid, whereas they previously had an animation showing the movement.

Problem #4: Since "upgrading" to version 1.29f, the map no longer scrolls when a unit moves toward the edge of the screen.

Problem #5: Wierd problem with the city name box on the main map: all of the city name boxes have a black outline around them, but that outline is not centered around the city name, but approx 3-4 grids away, so there is a black outline floating where no city name is. Along with this problem, when a settler moves around, there is usually a rectangle or square showing what the culture should be around the new city; this rectangle does not accurately depict it however; it's as if the graphic is rotated improperly.

As you can see, i am having many issues with this game; while none of them have seriously impeded gameplay, they are nonetheless annoying. I have been a civ fan for a long time, and am looking forward to playing civ4; but i am going to be extremely displeased if i experience these same types of problems.

 

[Turner]

Problem 3, I would check and see if you have "Animate unit moves" on. There are several different ones, check and see if for your civ is turned on.

I remember having a problem with Civ3 still running after exiting, but it was more of a slow unloading than it continued to run. I forget how long it continued to run, but I seem to remember that a patch fixed it.

I'm curious about something, tho. Did you upgrade to XP/SP2 after you installed Civ? I have heard of problems with Civ after upgrading to SP2.

You could always try reinstalling. The other problems sound like it might be a messed up installation to me.

 

[Enginebuilder]

Installed Civ3 and the 1.29f update after SP2; have un/re-installed, with no noticeable affect.
Have let the .exe file run for approx 15mins without it terminating itself; I assume that letting it run longer would not help. I believe this is a side effect of utilizing the "compatibility mode"; if anyone else is using this method to ammeliorate the "frequency out of range" problem, I would be interested to see if they are having the same problem.
Not sure how it got checked, (perhaps set as default with the 1.29f patch?)but indeed the game was not set to animate the unit moves; changing this also fixed the scrolling issue, thanks.

 

[Enginebuilder]

Quick update:
the graphics problems described in #5 above only began after installing the 1.29f patch- I have uninstalled civ3, and then re-installed (w/out the patch) and the graphics are fine.

As I originally d/l'd the patch in hopes of fixing the "frequency out of range" problem, which it didn't fix, is there any good reason to install the patch? I don't play the game online, and have not experienced any other problems with the game.

 

[Turner]

There are a lot of gameplay issues that are fixed with the 1.29 patch.

Try this...maybe it'll work, maybe not. (I'm going off the top of my head here.) Play a game, and put the keepres=1 and refresh=XX into your game. Then copy that file to your desktop or someplace. Make sure you've got all the .ini switches you want. Then apply the patch. After the patch is done, copy the file back to your Civ3 directory. If nothing else, it will restore your .ini settings to what you had them before the patch.

Or go out and buy Conquests. Should be pretty cheap now. Talk about an improvement! Lot more stuff in Conquests....