Eliminating Many Bugs People are Reporting

[Gustomucho81]

Funny how my computer can play ANY OTHER GAME WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS but when it comes to Civ4 I get :

Crash to desktop
Blue Screen (/reset)
Funky black lines
Flickering screen

When you need to modify your system for ONE game it is pretty simple : the game is buggy.

I have yet to play 2+ hours without a crash.

 

[mabusciv]

very strange. I've been running it since thursday a good 12 hours per day every day, and have not had a single crash

 

[amrikove]

yah i have no bugs, crashes or black screen. this is my specs to help every one to see where really the problem is, it is rather embarresing but here we go...

2.0 GHZ Pentium 4
256 RD Ram
64 mb radion

and the game is working with normal speed till i start searching the gun powder. I do not know if there is leak or not because of the crappy hardware.

 

[Abegweit]

Memory leaks are normally no longer possible with modern languages, but it may be that the garbage collector has problems keeping up.

The game is written in C++. Possibly this does not qualify as a modern language in your mind, but it is certainly possible to leak memory when using C++.

 

[Dom Queron]

The dark terrain is generally caused by not having a video card that's Hardware T&L compatible. That's not a bug, it's a hardware issue that Firaxis is not going deal with. The requirements for the game have been clearly stated and the issue has been discussed ad nauseum. Go complain to the manufacturers of the crappy video cards you own.

The same issue is also caused by the game running out of memory for textures on large+ maps in later eras, regardless of the video card you run... if it doesn't CTD immediately. Easy enough to reproduce to know that the game was shipped with this bug on the know issues list, or that 2K QA was on vacation the other day...

Memory leaks are normally no longer possible with modern languages, but it may be that the garbage collector has problems keeping up.

Developers avoid using "modern languages" for a variety of reasons, the most important one being speed. Good luck also trying to find middleware such as speedtree or gamebryo for Java & Co. C++ is still the number 1 language of choice for game development and that ain't going to change for quite a while.

 

[Willem]

The same issue is also caused by the game running out of memory for textures on large+ maps in later eras, regardless of the video card you run... if it doesn't CTD immediately. Easy enough to reproduce to know that the game was shipped with this bug on the know issues list, or that 2K QA was on vacation the other day...

You'll notice that I said generally caused by. I admit there may be other reasons for this to occur, but for the vast majority of people facing this problem, it is a hardware issue and it won't be dealt with in a patch.

 

[Hannabir]

Developers avoid using "modern languages" for a variety of reasons, the most important one being speed. Good luck also trying to find middleware such as speedtree or gamebryo for Java & Co. C++ is still the number 1 language of choice for game development and that ain't going to change for quite a while.

Tests indicate that there is little speed difference between C++ and C#.

 

[Abegweit]

Tests indicate that there is little speed difference between C++ and C#.

Try writing your graphics code in C# and you'll see what difference there is.

 

[robwr]

I've already said this in another thread, but I really think it bears repeating - if Firaxis would have opened up their beta a bit more, these problems could have been detected and avoided before release. I like to point to my other fav strategy game, Supreme Ruler 2010 as an example, they had a long beta and released rock-solid (and they support map sizes much bigger than the Civ4 large maps, so memory use can be handled). Of course, SR2010 didn't go with the 3D units and structures that Civ uses, instead they use more of the graphics style of a wargame or the Paradox titles... but that extra 'load' of the 3D should have been even more of a reason to open up the beta first.

Though in looking at all the bugs listed in this forum, I think the #1 problem was that their publisher, 2Kgames, rushed them out before they were ready. Just to hit the Christmas market or whatever. When will developers learn not to let themselves be pushed around like that?!

PS - Maybe they'll never learn - so far every major review I've read has downplayed the bugs and stability problems. Of course, reviewers tend to use top-end systems, but still, I think Civ is being given an easy ride by the media - maybe the big 2Kgames ad budget has something to do with it?

 

[Ozymandous]

ad mabusciv:

myriad options for hardware might be right, but DirectX and XP and other normed interfaces are there to solve the problem
and: how the hell did they overlook bugs concerning graphic cards which are in 1/3 or more of the laptops that are in use ? thats not myriad of possibilities but simply invalid beta testing

I1 of 5 pcs where my friends and I tried to plays the game without bugs, the rest is suffering from "black terrain /faint terrain", or "only toast city screen" or "no music in ancient era" or "no wonder movies" which makes the game unplayable and they fulfill all requirements!

and yes, we all have bought the retail version have all newest drievrs installed, made the art0.fpk thing and the xml trouble thing and I don´t know what else

sorry when I sound pissed, but my friends and I wasted the whole weekend on the issue without any results

Umm, hate to tell you this but laptops aren't designed to run video games, they are designed for mobile computing, ala office application, etc. Can you run games on laptops? Sure, but before you whine that your laptop can't run the game, why don't you go look at the spec's of the laptop you have, most of them -do not- have good video cards like the majority of games require, for this very purpose.

To whine that you laptop over heats, or the video card sucks, is like complaining that your Ford Probe (economy, i.e. "cheap" car) can't run 200 m.p.h. down the Interstate highway. If you want to play games then get a upgradable workstation PC, install a NON OEM version of the OS and NON OEM version of the video card in it and go from there.

I work on laptops and workstation PC's all day long and have heard this before from people who expect their laptop to do all sorts of high end computing that they aren't really made for.

 

[SewerStarFish]

Sorry, but you're just flat wrong. Everyone who tries to run it on a non T&L card is having the dark terrain problem. They can run the game, sort of, but the map is black and the leaders are nothing but floating teeth and eyes, with maybe a necklace.

Gotta admit: When the game first started all I could think was "Oh, I build my leader not a palace -- how odd."

 

[batteryacid]

@Ozymandous

These Laptops were especially built to be able to play video games and they have a graphic card that fulfills all mentioned criteria- I mean I read about people with an odd integrated IBM graphic chip that could run this game!! Read a bit before posting.

on this Laptop I can play without any restrictions:
Jedi Knight 3, Dawn of War winter assault, Serious Sam 1 and 2, I could even play (with some graphic restrictions - means resolution and some effects) Doom 3 and Far Cry

and Civ 4 is by the way not an ego shooter but a turn based strategy game whose core users are midtwenties and not some teenage alienware addicts