game constantly freezes.

[free90free]

I just got the game, and patched with the 1.74 patch, but I can't get more than 10 turns into the game before it freezes on me, and if I load a saved game it's almost gauranteed to freeze in 2-3 turns?

my specs are like so (should be more than enough)

Windows XP
Athlon64 X2 2.2ghx
2gig DDR800 ram
Geforce 8800GT 512mb

I have all the graphics settings at high, ecept AA is at 0, tried 2, 4, and 16.
Resolution, I had at 1440x900, but have also tried 1280x768 and 1024x768.

still get the same results no matter what the settings are.

 

[ori]

welcome to cfc

could you please post your dxdiag results file?
also: after it freezes how do you get out of the program?
did you look in the windows event manager for any error message? is there one - if so post it please

 

[free90free]

welcome to cfc

could you please post your dxdiag results file?
also: after it freezes how do you get out of the program?
did you look in the windows event manager for any error message? is there one - if so post it please

how do I acquire the dxdiag file? I get out of the file by either reseting the the mobo, or the rare chance CTRL+ALT+DLT works i just close the running task.

I probably sound dumb, but by event manager do you mean the task manager and if so how do you get error results from non responsive programs.

is there a way to set a debug setting with the game to create a dump file?

 

[ori]

event manager:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427

dxdiag:
on windows desktop
click start
click run
type dxdiag
hit enter
click save results
come back here
below the quick reply box
click go advanced
click manage attachments
attach the saved file
post

 

[free90free]

hopefully this is what you were looking for the dxdiag, I'm not sure what you were looking for in it? The only thing I see maybe being a probablem is I've got a soundblaster PCI audio card that I use as an output, but by default the game uses the mobo's Realtek audio for input??

 

[ori]

your system should be well up to the job. Did you look for any error messages?
two things:
your graphics driver is not updated - look on nvidia's homepage for a new version
your windows is not updated - you might want to look into installing service pack 3

 

[free90free]

your system should be well up to the job. Did you look for any error messages?
two things:
your graphics driver is not updated - look on nvidia's homepage for a new version
your windows is not updated - you might want to look into installing service pack 3

Updated my Graphics card driver, and installed SP3... even though I've installed it before???

After restarting I loaded up my last save, and low and behold I made it 4 turns flawlessly, till I discovered another civ(japanese). When the little video of they're leader popped up, I went to the bathroom, when I came back the app had crashed o the desktop with an unspecified error???

This just happened so I going to try again and hope it was a fluke... but seriously if this game has this many problems... why are they allowed to release it?

 

[ori]

at least it does not freeze anymore
the problem is that it does not interact well with some graphics cards - the 3d animations it uses are scripted in a way that is way to resource demanding for what it actually does and for some reasons some cards seem unable to work well with e.g. the leaderhead animations - if they crash for you constantly you might want to consider the static leaderheads pack available from the download section of this site.
As for the crash: have a look in the windows event manager and see if the error has a little more specs there (if you do not know how to find the event manager: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427 ).

 

[free90free]

at least it does not freeze anymore
the problem is that it does not interact well with some graphics cards - the 3d animations it uses are scripted in a way that is way to resource demanding for what it actually does and for some reasons some cards seem unable to work well with e.g. the leaderhead animations - if they crash for you constantly you might want to consider the static leaderheads pack available from the download section of this site.
As for the crash: have a look in the windows event manager and see if the error has a little more specs there (if you do not know how to find the event manager: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427 ).

I'm not saying the freezing has stopped, just that it crashed before it froze.

 

[free90free]

nevermind didn't even make it to the other civ and the game just randomly crashed in the middle of a turn... twice. How could this game get a 9/10 rating? if you can't even play it.

 

[ori]

Is there any information about the crash in the event logs?

 

[free90free]

Is there any information about the crash in the event logs?

I'll copy and paste it the next time I have a nerve to replay this... think I'll stick to number 3. Just played it again got the farthest I've ever been... 30-40 turns into a game when all of a sudden it just froze up on me, I couldn't even control+alt+delete, had to restart the computer.

 

[ori]

the event logs are kept - so no need to replay it you just need to look through the event manager for errors related to the game

 

[free90free]

AS a developer myself I think it's very aggravating that I should ever need to go through these headaches to play a game without it crashing constantly on a system that's years beyond what it was designed for.

I've loved the Civ series ever since I had the chance to play Civ2, and Have played Civ3 ever since it came out... Just never cared for cool games that went to 3D, and from the parts that haven't crashed this game dissapoints me just as much as I'd expect. Everything is smaller, faster paced, and less detailed than the 2d versions.

The worst spent 20 bucks ever.

EDIT ** I checked the event viewer and I'm not sure what I should be looking for, I'm assuming the Application errors and Application Hange are the sources I'm looking for but its all address/values that I would have know clues as to what those values pertain to?

 

[ori]

I cannot comment on your feelings about this other than: I understand your frustration but it would be much better if you also send them to take2/firaxis - this here is just a fansite no one here works for the developers/publishers

as for what to look for: I am interested in what modules crash/hang and what eventID is reported - problem is: sometimes it is helpful without access to microsoft's internal code tables and sometimes it is not...