Game Will Not Launch

[WeirdoJoker]

I haven't played in a while (probably a couple months) due to personal circumstances sucking up all my time, but since the last time I updated my system CivIII will not launch. I'm running a no CD version that used to work just fine. I've tried adjusting the compatibility mode (using XP service pack 2), and various other compatibility settings to no avail, including running as administrator (both ways). Does anyone know if a recent Windows update is affecting this game as well as the CD game?

Edit: I just checked my update history, and it says none have been installed, which I know is not true. It's weird.

 

[WeirdoJoker]

After closing some other open programs, I got it to launch, but still could not start up ... main screen was mostly black except I could highlight the game buttons on the main menu. Couldn't start the game, though. I think it might have to do with available memory, though this was never a problem before. I have 6GB memory, and was using about 70% when I last started the game. That should leave plenty. However, I do not know how much available memory the No CD version requires, as opposed to the CD version (which can run on 64MB, according to the user manual).

 

[tjs282]

I have 6GB memory, and was using about 70% when I last started the game. That should leave plenty. However, I do not know how much available memory the No CD version requires, as opposed to the CD version (which can run on 64MB, according to the user manual).

Don't think that has anything to do with it -- this game is nearly 20 years old, and the NoCD version should need less memory, if anything, since it skips the copy-protection checks!

For compatibility, though, why use WinXP SP2 and not SP3?

Could this be a driver problem, e.g. for your disply? I've heard that Civ3 will sometimes crash while trying to play the intro-movie (which uses a smaller area than the default 1024*768). You can test this by opening your ...\Civilization3\civilization3.ini file in Notepad, and adding the line 'PlayIntro=0' if it's not already there. This should then skip the intro-movie, and hence that particular (potential) crash-trigger.

 

[WeirdoJoker]

For compatibility, though, why use WinXP SP2 and not SP3?

I'm using WinXP SP3. It was a typo.

Could this be a driver problem, e.g. for your disply? I've heard that Civ3 will sometimes crash while trying to play the intro-movie (which uses a smaller area than the default 1024*768). You can test this by opening your ...\Civilization3\civilization3.ini file in Notepad, and adding the line 'PlayIntro=0' if it's not already there. This should then skip the intro-movie, and hence that particular (potential) crash-trigger.

Interesting idea. I did just get it working again (though I still don't have much play time right now) once I got my system restarted and working (which is a different issue), so if I have startup problems again I'll go for that. It was crashing before the intro-movie started playing, though, so I'm not sure that was it.

 

[WeirdoJoker]

I meant to say, I'm using the WinXP SP3 compatibility mode in Win10.

 

[WeirdoJoker]

After updating the computer again, CivIII once again refuses to launch. The compatibility settings have been reset, and the system does not want to save them for future use - i.e., it keeps insisting on running while not in a compatibility mode. WinXP-SP3 is the correct one, but the system just won't hold it. Is there some way to fix this?

 

[WeirdoJoker]

Could this be a driver problem, e.g. for your disply? I've heard that Civ3 will sometimes crash while trying to play the intro-movie (which uses a smaller area than the default 1024*768). You can test this by opening your ...\Civilization3\civilization3.ini file in Notepad, and adding the line 'PlayIntro=0' if it's not already there. This should then skip the intro-movie, and hence that particular (potential) crash-trigger.

I tried making this change, and it did not help.

 

[WeirdoJoker]

I ended up re-downloading the No CD patch (turns out I still had it from last time & hadn't been able to find it, but either way...), and it's working fine now.

 

[WeirdoJoker]

And ... now it's back to not working again. I can click the boxes to change the compatibility mode, but the changes won't take, and so the game crashes before it really launches.

Would it be worth trying to download C3C from Steam? Would it run on Win10? And if so, would I still be able to play a game saved in Vanilla?

 

[tjs282]

And ... now it's back to not working again. I can click the boxes to change the compatibility mode, but the changes won't take, and so the game crashes before it really launches.

Would it be worth trying to download C3C from Steam? Would it run on Win10?

Yes, the DL-version should work on Win10, but if you're going to go that route, I'd strongly recommend getting the DL-version from www.GOG.com rather than Steam, since (unlike Steam) GOG still doesn't require you to DL their client software ('GOG Galaxy') in order to install/play. Galaxy does make installing/updating your GOG-games more convenient (and has a whole lot of additional features), and is a hell of a lot less intrusive than the Steam-client (e.g. it doesn't try to phone home every time you boot up your computer) -- but if you don't want it, you don't need it.

And if so, would I still be able to play a game saved in Vanilla?

As I might have mentioned elsewhere, once or twice although the current DL-versions of Civ3 InComplete necessarily include all the art/asset files for Civ3 Vanilla v1.29 and Civ3 Play The World v1.27 (final patch of the first expansion-pack), they only include an .exe file for Civ3 Conquests v1.22 (final patch of the second expansion-pack), not for the earlier versions.

AFAIK, a Vanilla game-save (i.e. based on a .bic ruleset-file) can be opened by the Conquests .exe (which normally uses .biq ruleset-files to generate games), but that game would then be subject to the hardcoded Conquests rule-tweaks (e.g. to the corruption rules, which make Ring City Placement pointless) and bugs (e.g. barbarian tunnel vision-bug, sub-bug) -- and if you re-saved that game via the Conquests .exe, I believe Vanilla would then not be able to open that new save.

However, the NoCD Vanilla .exe which you already have, can be added into the apparopriate location in the DL'd Civ3Complete installation. Having done that, you would be able to continue to play your Vanilla game(s) under the Vanilla-ruleset, if you wish to.

(Firaxis also issued a legal NoCD .exe for Civ3PtW, but you'd need to hunt around the internet for it.)

 

[WeirdoJoker]

Another question while I decide what to do ... does CivAssistII work with Civ3-Complete, or is there another version?

(I tried doing a search of the site, but it seemed easier to just pose the question here.)

 

[tjs282]

Another question while I decide what to do ... does CivAssistII work with Civ3-Complete, or is there another version?

(I tried doing a search of the site, but it seemed easier to just pose the question here.)

Yes, it should do. Basically, CivAssist watches the list of active processes for use of the file(name)s Civilization3.exe (Vanilla), Civilization3X.exe (Play the World), or Civ3conquests.exe (Conquests): so long as one of those is running, CAII should update itself every time the game-state is (auto)saved.

Spoiler Potted history of the Civ3 releases :

Civ3 was released in several forms over ~4 years. The original game -- what we now call Vanilla (16 Civs) -- came out in 2001, and was patched several times over the next year or so. The Play the World expansion (late 2002) required an existing Vanilla-installation, and added 8 Civs, some new epic-game units (plus some 'Extras' for modding purposes, e.g. Dinosaurs, Japanese units, WWII units) and online-multiplayer capability (including short-game modes such as Regicide) to that installation; PtW also received several patches. Vanilla+PtW were later released as a single package, 'Civ3Gold' (early 2003).

The Conquests expansion (late 2003) added another 8 epic-game Civs, 7 of which are playable (the Austrians are the 'hidden' 32nd Civ: they can be modded in to replace one of the default 31 Civs), 2 new Civ-traits (Agricultural and Seafaring), several new Wonders (e.g. Statue of Zeus), yet more units and some new unit-capabilities (e.g. enslavement, stealth-attacks, anti-aircraft defence), new gameplay mechanics (e.g. locked wars / alliances) and 12 full-conversion 'Conquests' scenarios, each showcasing a couple of the new PtW/Conquests game-features. Conquests also required a Vanilla-install, but not PtW: if a user only had Vanilla, the Conquests-disk would also install the PtW-content.

The Civ3conquests.exe 'fixed' a few of Vanilla/PtW's problems (e.g. maximum corruption was reduced -- from 95% to 90%! -- and the 'Ring City Placement' (RCP)-exploit was fixed), but unfortunately, it also added a couple of new bugs of its own, and re-introduced some bugs that had previously been fixed in the last patches of the Civilization3X.exe. Although the Civ3conquests.exe was patched sveral times, these bugs were never (officially) fixed.

'Civ3Complete' (2004) was/is the 'final' version of Civ3, but it was/is basically just a marketing term to describe the whole Civ3-package -- all 3 parts, the final patch-versions of all 3 executables (on the disk-versions of C3C, anyway), the 'Extras' from the PtW-install (which some versions of the Conquests-expansion disk didn't include, IIRC), and also a whole bunch of user-generated content (e.g. maps and terrain-graphics, primarily for Vanilla and PtW), much of which represents early modding efforts by Apolyton and CFC-users.

Since the DL-version of C3InC includes Civ3conquests.exe, CAII should therefore work with it just like with Vanilla. But if you haven't done so already, you might need to (re)install the newest version of CAII, to ensure that it works with Win10. I think that's the version linked in Post#1244 of the CAII thread.

Spoiler (Re)Installation suggestions :

If/when you get the DL-version, it should ideally be (re)installed outside the default C:\ProgramFiles\... location. (NB simply dragging-and-dropping the installation-folder from ProgramFiles to somewhere else, which I vaguely remember you saying you'd done -- as a workaround for the Win7+ VirtualStore problem? -- is insufficent for CAII's purposes, which might also be why you're having problems with it at present).

Since it's a bad idea to have two copies of a software installed in two different locations on your machine, you'll need to uninstall/delete your existing Civ3-installation and start over anyway, so it's up to you to decide where the DL-installation goes (mine's in D:\Games\Civ3\, and CAII is in D:\Games\CivAssist\). This ensures that the game is allowed to write saves to its own location without needing to run it as Admin (which, in turn, allows CAII to write to the gamefiles), and that the registry entries for the gamefiles are correct.

Before uninstalling your old version, though, don't forget to drag-and-drop the noCD-version of the Vanilla Civilization3.exe file to your desktop. If you want to keep your old games in ...\Civilization3\Saves\, and/or your Hall-Of-Fame file (can't remember the exact filename offhand, sorry -- maybe 'civ3campaignrecord' or similar -- but it's also in the root ...\Civilization3\ folder), then save those files to desktop as well. After you've installed C3Complete, simply move those files (back) to their correct locations in the new installation.

 

[tjs282]

Did you see this?

https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/civiii-complete-on-sale-1-49-at-gog.623192/

Can't say fairer than that...

 

[WeirdoJoker]

Did you see this?

https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/civiii-complete-on-sale-1-49-at-gog.623192/

Can't say fairer than that...

Yes, I saw. Got it and Civ IV ... for $9 total, no way could I resist. Haven't installed them yet, though ... may wait until Sunday (I have a 3-day religious holiday coming up tomorrow night), unless I do it tonight or tomorrow morning.