Does the game work now?

[freddyfear]

Hei, I bought the game only few weeks after the release and tried to install. Now keep in mind that I'm no pc- specialist, so after 3-4 installs I started browsing the forums for some help.
I soon established that my problems was the same as many who use ATI cards, mine being a 9550. After some testing with the various "fix-lists" I resigned and went back to the store to return the game. They took it back as I was not the first...

So I'm now back to have a look if the game is fixed for the likes of me, anyone know? I see on the forum that many are still experiencing problems, but is it fixable now for someone like me? Did any patches deal with this or has the entire population of ATI- users been neglected by Fireaxis?

I like this game, liked civ2 and civ3 very much and have an urge to try the new one. But I reject the idea of having to be a pc- engineer to be able to install a simple game to my computer..

So, should I try again or stay away?

 

[MrCynical]

Please, please post the actual problems you were having. It is very hard to comment on whethersomething has been fixed when you aren't sure what the problem was in the first place. There's been a fair number of different problems reported, and they aren't that consistent for a particular graphics card.

If you were trying prior to the 1.52 patch (and it sounds like you were) then it might be worth trying again, but it is hard to be sure without knowing the specific problems.

 

[senwiz]

Assuming your computer drivers are up to date, you shouldn't have any issues installing and playing. What type of problems are you having?

I have a ATI 320M IGP card in my laptop, and don't have much issues playing the game. It is slower than my desktop, but that is a minor thing.

 

[McLMan]

I got the game when it first came out, and had the black terrain issues. My graphics card wasn't up to the task. In late January, after getting Christmas paid for, I could finally afford an upgrade. I bought an ATI 9550 (256mb), as well as a memory upgrade (now have 768 RAMBUS). The game had been patched twice during the time I was down. Now, with the 1.52 patch, the game runs like a champ. A minor slowdown late-game on larger maps, but changing the graphics settings from high to medium takes care of most of that. I really don't understand why it runs so well on my machine when there are so many others with much more powerful machines having problems.

Long story short, I don't think your 9550 will be a problem, some tweaking of your settings both in game and out might be all you'd need to do, but (based on problems others are having) there's no guarantee.

 

[CloudyPeak]

Interesting I bought the game soon after release too. After trying it for awhile it began to crash to desktop and also completly taking down Windows XP Pro. My computer made funny sounds that it had never made before and my rock solid system that is above specs begain to become very unstable. I loved the game so persisted to try to fix it. Added the 1.09 patch but no better. After testing everything and adding grunty power supply, different video etc etc I discovered that my memory chips (TwinMos)were faulty and seemed to have been overheated ??? . I swapped them for some new ones (Samsung)that were brand new and hey presto all good again. Game was sold on TradeMe Auction site as it was so bad that it could completly destablize my machine it was too great a risk. Remember my machine was only 6 months old and "rock solid" before Civ 4. I too love the game and wonder if I risk it all again hence I'm here looking how the fixes are going.

 

[Fatty]

I got my game going with the latest ATI drivers and upping my agp aperture setting to 256MB in the BIOS. I was having random crashes and garbled video problems. What a difference. Now, rather than complaining about not being able to play the game, i complain about aspects of the game!

Fatty

 

[auldian]

So, should I try again or stay away?

Have the store, if it's like CompUSA or someone, install it and patch it for you to see if it will run. Many will do this if you ask, though not necessarily at the front of the queue.

 

[freddyfear]

As I said in the initial post the problems I was facing was a great issue on these forums just after the release. On some sites people had listed huge fix- lists with screanshots and so on as so many ATI users could not install and/ or play. So after trying some that required me to uninstall all graphics drivers, then install game and patch, THEN install the drivers again I gave up. I point out again that to me it is rediculous that I need to be a pc- engineer to install a game to my pc.
Now my pc is now maybe 6 months old, it is an up to date gameconsole, ATI 9550 256mb graphicscard. I use Star wars galaxies and Battlefield2 with absolutelly no problems on this one with high performance. The reason I returned the game was that I got the impression that ALL ATI users were excluded from the game as the problems were so many.

So I now return to the forums a few months later to check if I am again let into the crowd, but the forums seem so spammed with people having problems that I will not risk another day of frustration and failure installing Civ4 before someone can tell me straight: "the problems for ATI users were fixed in patch xxx"!

In comparison the statement from BF2 read something like: "We have found a problem with the patch (1.2) which gives ATI users lower performance, we are working on this for patch 1.21"!

That is what I want to hear...

Guess I'll stay away then!

 

[auldian]

Guess I'll stay away then!

Perhaps that's best.
Patch notes are linked atop the page under the Civilization IV category. There's no exclusive "ATI issue" as far as I know.
Be well.