Firaxis: Patch coming next week

[maartena]

"And yes, there is a patch in the works. =)"

More confirmation from Firaxis, just as part of my technical question to them.

 

[kattana]

the only issue i have with this entire thread is that no one else responded to this comment

>Atari did the exact same crap with Masters of Orion 3

that leaves me wondering...you all couldnt have possiblely have liked MOO3 could you?

that was a horrid retch of a game

 

[rob.derosa]

I did get the 3 day grace-period when the Windows Activation pop-up occured. I shutdown my computer in frustration after that, and ever since when I power on my computer it flat-out tells me to put in the code or I can go screw myself. I lost those 3 days in 3 hours I guess.

My home computer hasn't had internet access in about a year. I got out of the AirForce and have had a lot of moving around to do (and still not done finding my niche in civilian life). As for what Service Pack, I think I might have 2, I need to check though really. When I was online I enjoyed a router and firewall so I wasn't very paranoid of the internet (not a whole lot at least).

I am dispirited and frustrated and I got off on the wrong foot here, and I will be the first to admit I could have done a whole lot of things differently. The point I am trying to drive home is that had Firaxis spent more time on their product, I would never have had any of these problems. Am I wrong for taking this stance?

Hardware changes? Since installing XP I have -

Put in a DVD/CDROM Burner
Removed 512MB of Ram (used to have a Gig of RAM but cannabalized one stick of RAM for another computer).

..and that's it.

Now, from what I have read on WindowsXP, if after 3 or so hardware changes on your computer, the Activation Code pops back up. When I uninstalled the ATI Uninstall Utility, to my understanding it removed all drivers and everything else video card related right? So when I rebooted as far as windows was concerned my videocard was new hardware. Either that or Windows decided to screw with me at a very coincidental moment...which I doubt.

Yeah, I see the 1-888 number to call Windows. But is there any point in calling if I can't find the package/booklet that came with the disc when I purchased it? Or is all I need my serial key? It is so much more complicate now than it once was. I have also been told the techs on Microsoft's end aren't very pleasant to talk to - prone to accusing you of being a software pirate.

all you need is the cd key.

lol you have a massive rant about not actually being able to activate it. but have you tried?
jesus

oh yeah ive used that ATI utility loads of times. doesnt remove any hardware, just removes the drivers. windows doesnt use drivers to generate the machine code it activates your product with. so sounds like it was just a co-incidence.

 

[Mujadaddy]

"Crappy hardware" seems to be the item of choice for hardcore fans who refuse to believe Firaxis could be unscruplulous.

Is it so hard for you to believe that Firaxis is actually trying to give (ok, sell) us a great game and a great value?

I actually HAVE "crappy hardware" and I haven't had ONE significant problem.

Computers are more complex than ever. WINXP is notoriously unweildy and inelegant. Caveat emptor. Ever have an automobile crap out on you? A modern computer is the same principle -- maintenance and knowledge are your friends.

 

[Dark Helmet]

Hey! MOO3 had the potential to be an awesome game. Atari simply underestimated the power of word-of-mouth when people stopped buying the game because they knew it was incomplete. Atari then turned around and said they couldn't finish patching the game because "there wasn't enough support" and they were suffering on sales.

MOO3 had the potential to be something....beautiful. Atari simply smothered it with a pillow and handed us its corpse and declared it a 'final product'.

 

[Mujadaddy]

the only issue i have with this entire thread is that no one else responded to this comment

>Atari did the exact same crap with Masters of Orion 3

that leaves me wondering...you all couldnt have possiblely have liked MOO3 could you?

that was a horrid retch of a game

When I heard you couldn't play the Elerians, I declined to even check it out

 

[maartena]

As to "crappy hardware"...

There is a difference between "crappy hardware" and "hardware not suitable for 3D gaming".

My laptop is not even 2 years old, 1.6 Ghz, 512 Mb, 40 Gb, DVD/CDRW drive and many more features.... and Intel Integrated graphics.

That laptop is stable, it always works, it does the job where I bought it for, and is CERTAINLY NOT a piece of "crappy hardware". It has one of the newest generations chrystal liquid screens on it, and playes movies with great clarity.

What it is, is "hardware not suitable for 3D gaming", but it is certainly NOT "crappy".

What I am trying to say is that there are many hardware configurations - especially laptops - which are not suitable for 3D gaming because of the lack of hardware T&L built in, but they are otherwise state of the art machines that do the job that they were bought for well. They are NOT "crappy", just "unsuitable".

There is a difference.

 

[chris8b]

I don't have time for thimble-brains who feel justified in insulting people for no reason.

Ironic.


Anyway, good news on the patch. In spite of the apologists who'd like to shift the blame to the customers, there are serious issues with the game for even top-end well-maintained machines. I'm happy to see the developers moving quickly to address these problems. The way a company behaves post-release is more important to me than the initial release of a game.

-C

 

[Willem]

Or is all I need my serial key? It is so much more complicate now than it once was. I have also been told the techs on Microsoft's end aren't very pleasant to talk to - prone to accusing you of being a software pirate.

All you need is your serial number, though that is generally on the case unless you pasted it somewhere else. And you don't actually talk to anyone, it's done with an automated answering service. Which can be equally as annoying as talking to some paranoid customer service rep.

 

[Willem]

the only issue i have with this entire thread is that no one else responded to this comment

>Atari did the exact same crap with Masters of Orion 3

that leaves me wondering...you all couldnt have possiblely have liked MOO3 could you?

that was a horrid retch of a game

Huh? Atari doesn't own Civilization 4, Take 2 does. And what does MOO3 have to do with anything?

 

[logical_psycho]

Sweet, I just hope the patch will fix the memory leak!

 

[Kolyana]

the only issue i have with this entire thread is that no one else responded to this comment

>Atari did the exact same crap with Masters of Orion 3

that leaves me wondering...you all couldnt have possiblely have liked MOO3 could you?

that was a horrid retch of a game

I loved the MOO series, but was so disappointed with MOOIII that I uninstalled in less than a week and gave the game away. I prebought that title (and this one, unfortunately), but I'll not make that mistake again.

Firaxis and Atari are both on my list of "wait to see what the game is reviewed like and several patches later".

 

[maartena]

Yeah, I see the 1-888 number to call Windows. But is there any point in calling if I can't find the package/booklet that came with the disc when I purchased it? Or is all I need my serial key?

All you need is the installation key. If you bought your computer with Windows pre-installed, the key is most likely on a sticker somewhere on your computer. Check the back of the box.

If you can't find the sticker or the box is buried too deep in your desk setup somewhere, you can use RockXP, a completely legal and freeware utility which reveals the key of your Windows installation (and Office and other products) so you know which key was used when you installed it.

Download here: http://www.snapfiles.com/download/dlrockxp.html
Or official website: http://korben.othersystem.net/

With that number in hand, you can then call Microsoft and they will get you through the Activation process in less then 10 minutes. They will ask you to name the key, and in return they will give you a response key to type in the actvation window, and you are all done.

 

[franlato]

I have an Ati 9800 pro, Someone from firaxis actually emailed me twice to get my dxdiag.txt and stuff like that...

It was a relief for me to learn that they where hard at work on it (even if I already knew, it's obvious)

and so far they didn't found a memory leak he said

 

[Dark Helmet]

Huh? Atari doesn't own Civilization 4, Take 2 does. And what does MOO3 have to do with anything?

I made reference to MOO3 earlier, and how I got screwed because the developer didn't spend enough time on it to ensure quality, and drew parallels with Civ4.

I am calmer now. More than anything I just needed to vent before my eyes burst in my skull. I had eagerly waited for Civ4 as much as the next guy, and to have it turn to crap in your hands is a very disenchanting experience.

I will give that phone # a shot, and hopefully won't have to worry about going out and buying another copy of XP. Here's to hoping I won't get automated messages accusing me of being a hacker. "Press 1, you pirating piece of scum".

 

[doggiedaddy]

Not at all. He followed the instructions on their website and it killed his computer. That is totally unacceptable. He could probably sue them for the cost of buying Windows XP and win.

HIGHLY...and I do mean HIGHLY... unlikely..

Actually, impossible. I've gone through many ups and downs with my system. As someone else said, prepare for the worst. Besides, all that was called for was the xp serial, I'm sure. I have every serial and every disk for every original program on my system. Besides, his problem could simply be operator error.

I'm lucky I didn't have the massive problems other people have had. On an older system the game has played beautifully. I finally learned that when you load the game from a save you need to give it a LOOONG time. Then it runs fine, for the most part. Yes, it has it's problems, but the severity changes along with the user.

 

[Willem]

What I am trying to say is that there are many hardware configurations - especially laptops - which are not suitable for 3D gaming because of the lack of hardware T&L built in, but they are otherwise state of the art machines that do the job that they were bought for well. They are NOT "crappy", just "unsuitable".

There is a difference.

OK, maybe I was a bit harsh in that statement. But at least you understood my point. Many people refuse to accept the fact that their cherished systems, be they laptops or desktops, simply aren't up to the task of running the game and continue to compare it to Civ 3. It's new game with new requirements, and some machines just aren't good enough.

 

[Willem]

Ironic.

I didn't appreciate being called a "clueless malcontent". I was just responding in kind. Eye for an eye and all that.

 

[mweather]

Realize that (some) hardware that meets the recommended settings has severe performance issues.

When has that ever been in contention? I'd say the ATI fix would pretty much refute anyone claiming otherwise.

P.S. I'm not asking for help here, just saying this to point out that if you think that everyone with problems is below the required or recommended specs, you are definitely wrong.

Nope, I don't think that at all. Nobody here has said anything suggesting that.

Saying the patch won't fix the problems with crappy hardware isn't assuming that is where everone's problems stem from.

 

[MerakSpielman]

Good job with the quick patch, Firaxis. My issues were fixed by turning the AGP speed from x8 to off, so I hope after the patch I'll be able to turn it back up again.

I also hope you've fixed the broken diplomacy in Hotseat games. My wife and I have a blast with those.