Fix-It List

I just bought CIV 4 and can't install it on my new Dell computer that has way more than minimum requirements. I get all the way through installation with both discs (the first one twice), click play, and after a few seconds this pops up:

Initalize renderer failed. Check DirectX installation, latest graphics drivers and graphics settings parameters:
width=1024
height=768
flags=0xc
hwnd= 0x290222
adaptrid=0
deviceid=3
Error: CReation failed: Could not match desired fullscreen mode

I have played Civ for years and want to continue. What do I need to do?
 
Cupofgo said:
#18

I just bought the game today, the installation initializes fine, but when i insert the second disk it starts to read the disk then pops up a message "Feature Transfer Error - Default Feature- Catastrophic error". When I access the cd outside of the install program it just comes up as a 646mb Winrar Archive file, any ideas? I really want to get started playing. :mad:
Click to expand...



I'm having the same problems any one know what to do?


EDIT: I have answered my own question. Apparently there are two versions of the install disks. One will have written on it Disc 1 & 2. These seem to be the ones that will create this issue. The other version have written on them Disc 1/Install and Disc 2/play.
 
Kyle2K, I confirm the same behavior for 1.52 vs 1.61, ie: 1.52 had no CTD (never had any!) but was much slower overall. I tried turning the graphics settings to minimum but I'm still experiencing those random crashes (sometimes to desktop, but often it's a full computer shutdown!)...

Intel 3.2 Ghz, 1 gig RAM, ATI X850 XT, everything updated.
 
Hi,

I just got Civ 4 and am trying to install it on my laptop. The autorun (install; read me; exit) loads, but when you click install, the autorun closes yet nothing replaces it. When you open up the d: drive, and double click setup.exe, you get the following message: "d:\setup.exe Only part of a ReadProcessMemory or WriteProcessMemory request was completed. Do you know why it won't install?

My Specs:
Pentium M 1.5Ghz
Radeon 9000 IGP
702MB RAM
Direct X 9.0c

I installed Windows Service Pack 2; went on the ATi website and installed the local drivers.
 
Hi - I've been fighting with Civ 4 trying to get it to work for 4 days... just got it working so I thought I'd pass along the fix in case somebody else has the same problem (plus I'm euphoric and am feeling goodwill toward all mankind)

Also, sorry if somebody else has posted this already but I couldn't find it.

I have a new Dell laptop with way over the specs for Civ 4. The game installs fine but when I click "play me" it just sits there and says "Loading..." for 5 minutes and eventually gives you a generic Microsoft error window before closing.

The trouble was the game copy protection with my DVD burner (TSST TS-L532B slim 8x DVD+/-RW). I went to the Dell website, upgraded the firmware and it works fine now:
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...eid=R126423&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=167990

Yeehaw!

btw, does anybody else find the take2support people erm... not terribly useful?
 
Let me start out by saying that although I am not totally clueless when it comes to computing I am no genius either. While I do understand half of the technical advice that is given here the other half might be over my head. Having said this I recently purchased Civ 4 and was really looking forward to dominating the game but have encountered countless problems just trying to get it to work. Currently after much effort and sweat (and cursing and contemplating just sticking to playing Civ 3) I am now to the point where the game plays (although a bit slowly, specially late in the game, during wonder movies {heavy stuttering and static}, and in the diplomacy leader clip {really slows down when attempting to initiate the leader screen between turns). However I am now in the latter stages of a game and the problems seem to be getting worse. Recently upon completion of the Space Elevator wonder the computer froze and I had a lot of difficulty even getting Task Manager to come up. I shut Civ 4 down and restarted the system which overcame this problem (I was still not able to view the movie but the computer did not freeze this time). Yet when I completed the Space Race and earned a Space Race Victory the computer crashed again. In summary I need help in four particular areas:

1. Improving game speed between turns (especially when a diplomacy window is going to appear).
2. Improving or eliminating wonder movie performance.
3. Improving game speed in general (regardless of what graphics quality sacrifices I must make).
4. Improving Intro and Victory movie performance (or getting it to play at all) or eliminating them.

Here is what I have done so far:

1. All updates for Windows are installed.
2. Latest version of DirectX installed.
2 1/2. Direct X ran and tested (passed all tests).
3. Latest Sound and Video Drivers installed.
4. Requirements checked and passed.
5. Page File on Virtual Memory set to Min=Max
6. Sound Acceleration turned off.
7. Direct3D enabled.
8. Direct3D acceleration disabled.
9. Messed with many memory saving settings in the _Civ4Cofig file.
10. Downloaded and installed latest Civ 4 patch.
11. Messed with many memory saving settings in the _Civ4Config file (again).
12. Turned all the Video settings to Low within the options Menu in the game.

Here is what I have not done so far:

1. I have not changed the AGP memory size on my BIOS settings (because I do not know how or where to).
2. I have not disabled Antialiasing (because I cannot find where to do so {have looked everywhere in DirectX and in the Display and System Utilities in the Control Panel}).
3. Have not been able to clear Game Cache (can't find file, tried to follow both paths listed on this forum but so far have been unable to get there)

Here is what I suspect might be wrong:

1. When I downloaded the patch I did not do it through the game rather I logged on to the Official Web Site and got it through there while the game was off. As a result it did not save the patch within the Sid Mier's Civ 4 Folder but instead under My Documents in a folder I created myself. When I installed it I saw the Civ screen come up so I assumed everything went ok, could this be the problem?

2. I have made several changes within the _Civ4Config file but I have noticed that almost none of them have taken effect. List:
1. HideMovieBackground = 1 (yet it stills shows the background)
2. MemSaver = 1 (alt-tab function still works)
3. Bink16Bit = 1 (can’t really tell whether this change took effect but there was no improvement in game play. It was supposed to switch from true color to hi-color movies)
4. BinkInterlace = 1 (can't really tell if this took effect or made a difference).
5. Disabled background music (this actually did take effect!).
6. NoMovies = 1 (nothing happened still get all the in-game movies)
7. AutoSaveInterval = 0 (one of the few changes that did work, no more auto-saves).
WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? WHY ARE SOME CHANGES FUNCTIONING AND OTHER NOT?

3. The first time I ran Civ 4 after installing the patch the game said that some of the system requirements were barely met the settings had therefore been altered and that this might affect game play. Are my problems just a matter of computing power and I either have to live with what I have or is there anything else I can do?

I apologize for the length of this letter and I do appreciate any help offered and your time in reading this long list of complaints. I have been playing Civ for about 13 years now and I have always loved the game so this is pretty disappointing since I have never had such a problem running a game before. Once again thanks for any help I can get and good gaming to every one.
 
@collissimon:
- try installing the game in windows safe mode
- try to copy the content of the cd to your HDD and install from there
- search google for this error

@deskrsalx:
- turning off movies is now an in-game graphics option
- you can turn off the HideMinSpecWarning in the ini file
 
Yes, this worked for me----YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Dell Inspiron with ATI Radeon card -- I tried everything -- but this WORKED.

Thank you!!

:)
 
mjn said:
Hi - I've been fighting with Civ 4 trying to get it to work for 4 days... just got it working so I thought I'd pass along the fix in case somebody else has the same problem (plus I'm euphoric and am feeling goodwill toward all mankind)

Also, sorry if somebody else has posted this already but I couldn't find it.

I have a new Dell laptop with way over the specs for Civ 4. The game installs fine but when I click "play me" it just sits there and says "Loading..." for 5 minutes and eventually gives you a generic Microsoft error window before closing.

The trouble was the game copy protection with my DVD burner (TSST TS-L532B slim 8x DVD+/-RW). I went to the Dell website, upgraded the firmware and it works fine now:
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...eid=R126423&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=167990

Yeehaw!

btw, does anybody else find the take2support people erm... not terribly useful?
Click to expand...

Yes, this worked for me----YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Dell Inspiron with ATI Radeon card -- I tried everything -- but this WORKED.

Thank you!!

:)
 
Let me get this straight.

I have a 64 MB VIA/S3G Unichrome IGP video card.

Unless I invest in a new video card, I will always get the stupid black terrain? The cheshire faces were fixed after I downloaded the 1.61 patch. Could someone please confirm this? Any way I can help this? I'm not really in the mood (out of frustration) to look through 25 pages.

I bought this game at Best Buy, too, which makes it virtually impossible for me to return it unless I claim it's defective (in which case I would only be able to exchange it for another copy, which doesn't help).
 
Kirobaito said:
Let me get this straight.

I have a 64 MB VIA/S3G Unichrome IGP video card.

Unless I invest in a new video card, I will always get the stupid black terrain? The cheshire faces were fixed after I downloaded the 1.61 patch. Could someone please confirm this? Any way I can help this? I'm not really in the mood (out of frustration) to look through 25 pages.

I bought this game at Best Buy, too, which makes it virtually impossible for me to return it unless I claim it's defective (in which case I would only be able to exchange it for another copy, which doesn't help).
Click to expand...
Your computer is below spec for the game you bought. If you [advanced search] these forums, you'll find people that have had some limited success playing small maps in some machines that are below spec.
Regarding your video card, you can read about your hardware here: http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=5&ArticleID=365
 
Hello all... I've searched through everything i can find online and nothing has seemed to work so i figure its time to post something and see if anyone else has had the same problem. I played the game for a few hours and got to a certain year when my game Crashes to the Desktop. Its in year 300 AD when the computer takes its turn. I can see for a split second a pop up that tells me i have discovered something, but can't think of what it is. I want to say maybe i'm entering the midevil era or something. I have a GeForce 5200 FX (Nvidia) w/ a AMD 3200 w/ 2gig ram. I've updated and rolled back different drivers, turned off the movies, played the game in a window and it still seems to crash at the same point. Thanks in advance for all your help
 
Without any patches the game worked, but after patching i get the attached errors. They appear when the map normally gets displayed. As result you can't see the map.

Strange the problem started AFTER installing the patch.

Does someone know a solution for it ?
 

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Any one get this to work on Vista BETA 2?
The directX 9c is killing me.
Its looking for a DLL from the version.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Deasun
 
Got the vista answer.
You need to get directX 9.0c installed on the system. then it will work.

Thanks for the help.
 
I can play the game fine, but for some reason there's a terrible lag on all the cut scenes. It was very frustrating when I launched the ship for the first time. Now here's the kicker - the movie scenes started off running fine when I first installed Civ4 on a fresh OS. Then Windows loaded all sorts of updates onto XP and after one of the updates the lag started.

I also get this error saying my machine is below specs but for some reason everything runs fine even after I put the graphics settings back to a normal level.

Anybody else have these problems or know what can fix them? I'm running a Pentium 4, 2 GHz, 512 MB RAM, 128 MB AGP card.
 
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