Game freezing up

[Kerze]

yesterday when I bought this game it was fine (everything was ok, no problems, no nothing with what I did) but then today when I downloaded the patch (1.59 I believe) the game freezes up whenever it plays a movie for when I complete a wonder.

Is there any way to fix this?

 

[Zydor]

Make sure you have loaded Patch V1.52.

If then still issues, could you please post your Dxdiag - someone can then pick you up from there

Start button - click - select run - type dxdiag - press enter - wait a min - select "save all information" - then post the file using the file upload via the 'go advanced' button below

Regards
Zy

 

[Kerze]

Make sure you have loaded Patch V1.52.

If then still issues, could you please post your Dxdiag - someone can then pick you up from there

Start button - click - select run - type dxdiag - press enter - wait a min - select "save all information" - then post the file using the file upload via the 'go advanced' button below

Regards
Zy

There is NO option to load a patch....

Also that program you suggested I run? All it's doing is getting my hardware specs when it's blatantly the patch that's causing the problem.

 

[Zydor]

You can load the patch via the gameinterface (options - advanced) or you can run it separately after downloading. Its essential that the patch is loaded, it resolved a lot of prior hassles.

The Dxdiag is need to fault find your system, without it we cannot move forward

Your choice

Regards
Zy

 

[etouffee]

Ok, well I am having similar problems and I see no need to start another thread about the same thing, so I'll jump in here. The game runs fine til the later stages of the game, then when I get a popup movie (usually the movie for discovering "the internet") it freezes up. When I load the autosave, it just keeps doing the same thing.

I have patch 1.52 installed. My dxdiag is attached.

Any help you can offer would be most appreciated.

Make sure you have loaded Patch V1.52.

If then still issues, could you please post your Dxdiag - someone can then pick you up from there

Start button - click - select run - type dxdiag - press enter - wait a min - select "save all information" - then post the file using the file upload via the 'go advanced' button below

Regards
Zy

 

[Zydor]

Your video driver is dtd 24 May 04.

Go to the link below, download the latest NVidia driver set and install - they were released 21 Dec 05

http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_81.98.html

Other possibilities are bios (2004, maybe a later one, pagefile on the high side may have a lot of background apps running causing contention, might have had bits from prior version still on disc from last install, sound driver is 2003 (it can cause hassles, the sound driver). You also have a lot of options / tweeks in the video card enabled, when you install new drivers let it install default first of all, dont tweek it yet

Load the video drivers first and we can go from there, post again if still hassle (in particular the V81.98 drivers add Directx 9.0c support - important for Civ IV). When the drivers are loaded, start the game, go into options and reduce all the video related options to a low setting, eg low res, low textures etc). Reduce your desktop colour depth to 16 bit, or even 256 colours if you can. All this reduces graphics card load. Later if we get it running with movies, we can turn em back on one by one, for now lets reduce video load to a min and get the movies running.

There is a known issue with the movies in the way they were coded, you have a good cpu, and if we get the rest tuned in you may well get them running, a little slow and stuttery, but running. The movie one is a hassle, and we may end up switching them off and awaiting patch - all that for later tho, do video drivers first

Regards
Zy

 

[walkinash]

I have a problem when I win. When viewing the results if I click on Largest Cities/Wonders the game aoes off. This also happens if I try to create any custom game, once it has loaded and I click start the game goes off then as well.

 

[Zydor]

Walkinash

Please post your Dxdiag using the 'go advanced' button under this post at the bottom of the page

regards
Zy

 

[walkinash]

View attachment DxDiag.txt
Here are DxDiag rusults [if I've done it right]

 

[Zydor]

Walkinash

Your basic problem is the Radeon 9200 LE graphics card - that is a cut down version of the 9200, crudely its about 25% less performance than a 9200. Overall comparisons are:

Radeon 9200 Pro - Core 275Mhz, Memory 550Mhz
Radeon 9200 - Core 250Mhz, Memory 400Mhz
Radeon 9200 LE - Core 200Mhz, Memory 333Mhz

We may be able to get it to run, but it will be slow(ish), will not be able to play at the larger map sizes, will need to reduce video quality/textures/resolution etc, and I think you will have increasing problems with Civ IV as the game develops over time. I would seriously think about getting a mid range card to replace it, you will notice a significant performance increase, and much less hassle, mid range cards are not too bad in price these days.

Meanwhile .....

Make sure you have loaded Patch V1.52, but, also ensure that the memsaver switch in the ini file is set to 0 (figure 0 not a letter O). The reason is that 1.52 placed more load on video cards to help those with low main RAM, if memsaver is switched on (using a 1 in the ini file entry) it switches on that feature which you dont want as your graphics card is your weak spot.

- Turn off textures in the game Options menu
- Set the game resolution to as low as possible
- set your desktop resolution to the same as you are going to use in the game
- set the desktop refresh rate to 60Hz
- Turn off any background application or services running that you dont really need (via MSconfig). That includes going off line to play Civ, and turning off Anti-V & Firewall.

Video Drivers
The Video drivers you have are outdated (Apr 2004), download new drivers from here
http://www.omegadrivers.net/
Scroll down that page until you see Radeon Omega Drivers 2.5.97a (Catalyst 4.12) they are not the latest,but they are a very stable reliable set, and probably better for your older setup. If they dont work properly, try Radeon Omega Drivers 2.6.83 (Catalyst 5.11) at the top of the page

Thats a fair number of changes, if you are not confident on some post again we will try to help. If you are not confident on most, it may be better to get a friend to help with the changes. Post again with concerns etc we will try to help.

Cannot guarantee the above will solve your 9200 LE hassles, but if you want to try, keep in mind your aim is to reduce as much as possible the video load, and try to get the card working as efficiently as you can vis drivers etc.

Regards
Zy