Game won't start

[Gary Childress]

I posted this in the Tech support forum, however, I'm just afraid I won't get any response there since the forum seems pretty dead. I've played Civ III for years on my computer without any problem. Now I'm suddenly getting the following error message when I double click on the Civ III game icon on the desktop.

Civ3Complete has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

The game doesn't even begin to start or anything. I've tried reinstalling and still get the same error message. Has anyone else had this problem? Anyone know what might be going on?

 

[The Guardian]

I posted this in the Tech support forum, however, I'm just afraid I won't get any response there since the forum seems pretty dead. I've played Civ III for years on my computer without any problem. Now I'm suddenly getting the following error message when I double click on the Civ III game icon on the desktop.



The game doesn't even begin to start or anything. I've tried reinstalling and still get the same error message. Has anyone else had this problem? Anyone know what might be going on?

Can I have your system stats
In particular what operating system are you using?
What is the path to the EXE file?

 

[Ares de Borg]

Try to re-install, I had this problem once after a cleaning program kicked out the C3C entries in the registry.

 

[Gary Childress]

Can I have your system stats
In particular what operating system are you using?
What is the path to the EXE file?

Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.100427-1636)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: BIOSTAR Group
System Model: A780X-A2
BIOS: )Phoenix - Award WorkstationBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Phenom(tm) 9850 Quad-Core Processor, MMX, 3DNow (4 CPUs), ~2.5GHz
Memory: 2048MB RAM
Page File: 779MB used, 3160MB available
Windows Dir: H:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)

Path to EXE file is H/program files/firaxis/civilization III complete/...

 

[The Guardian]

Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.100427-1636)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: BIOSTAR Group
System Model: A780X-A2
BIOS: )Phoenix - Award WorkstationBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Phenom(tm) 9850 Quad-Core Processor, MMX, 3DNow (4 CPUs), ~2.5GHz
Memory: 2048MB RAM
Page File: 779MB used, 3160MB available
Windows Dir: H:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)

Path to EXE file is H/program files/firaxis/civilization III complete/...

It looks ok, have you run a scan on the exe file? Civ III complete has civIII, play the world, and conquest. Have you tried starting conquest directly from the exe file in the conquest directory?
If that does not work, Ares may be correct, you may have to reinstall. I recommend you back up the entire civ III directory, then reinstall. After the reinstall is completed, you can copy back all the sub-directories.

 

[General 666]

Maybe your shortcut is corrupt. Ever tried to use WINDOWS EXPLORER ,navigating to the exe and launch it directly?

Another guess of mine is that a log file is blocking your access. If you could start it once but now you can`t ,the system could be blocked by a log. So run this one windows tool which cleans the logs might help. btw ,I use CCleaner (Freeware).

 

[tom2050]

With a system like that, I'm guessing you are running Vista or 7... I got / get the exact same message if I don't run Conquests in compatibility mode. Right-click the Civ3Conquests.exe-> properties -> compatibility tab -> and select Run this program in compatibility mode for (Windows XP Service Pack 2)

Try that and see if it's already selected or not.

 

[Goldflash]

Civ Three Complete Edition is five dollars on steam. Problem solved.

 

[Gary Childress]

As I said in the first post, I've tried reinstalling. The game used to work fine on my computer. I don't think it's the game CD, I'm having the same problem with another game I have. I'm guessing it's something to do with a Windows corruption or maybe a virus or something. I guess I'll try reinstalling Windows. It's the only thing I can think of.

 

[Ozymandias]

With a system like that, I'm guessing you are running Vista or 7... I got / get the exact same message if I don't run Conquests in compatibility mode. Right-click the Civ3Conquests.exe-> properties -> compatibility tab -> and select Run this program in compatibility mode for (Windows XP Service Pack 2)

Try that and see if it's already selected or not.

Also, if Vista, rather than compatibility mode, try Administrator mode.

-- And where've you been hiding!?

,

Oz

 

[Moosezilla]

I've had a similar problem w/my old xt system,my solution was to dump the installed shortcut and make a new one. Hasn't been a problem since.

 

[The Guardian]

Also, if Vista, rather than compatibility mode, try Administrator mode.

-- And where've you been hiding!?

,

Oz

I believe he said windows XP home edition

PS I also noticed the path is H: I assume this a portable or secondary drive. If so, can you reinstall on another drive and compare files?

 

[tom2050]

The strange thing is that it worked and then suddenly it stopped working. Initially that would lead one to believe it is possibly the registry, or a problem with the shortcut; or something related to a change that happened with the OS. I've had problems with the shortcut before, and I run the game from the exe file in the Conquests directory now.

 

[Gary Childress]

PS I also noticed the path is H: I assume this a portable or secondary drive. If so, can you reinstall on another drive and compare files?

Actually it is my main hard drive. For whatever reason, when I built my computer all the initial drives were taken by a multiple memory card reader I installed with it. So the H drive is actually the C drive.

 

[Gary Childress]

-- And where've you been hiding!?

,

Oz

Hey Oz, I've been hanging out over at Matrix Games and also playing WH40K lately. Haven't touched Civ III in over 3 months I think. But I got the itch to come back to Civ III and when I try to run it now I get the error message.

 

[wolf_66]

Hi Gary
I missed your thread so my reply is quite late. I hope you managed to fix you troubles in the meantime. If not, I would tell you I had quite similar experience time ago.

To sum it up:

1. The fact that problem is present with other games (or software) too should indicate the harm is coming from OS.

2. I tried for 2 weeks to reinstall “blocked” application, scan registry to search for wrong keys (also using dedicated tools and utilities). That ended in nothing and some of my desperate attempts even mined overall PC stability.

3. In the end, I had to back up data and completely reinstall Windows (XP SP3 Pro, English) and all other software. BTW, XP setup has a “repair OS” option. I tried this before but did not work so just reinstall a fresh Windows copy.
I know this is a pin in the ass but I found no other way to get out of troubles. For sure someone more skilled than me can advise you better

Good luck

 

[WildWeazel]

Have you tried uninstalling, completely deleting all traces of it (including ant registry entries), and reinstalling to a different location? It sounds like either there is some residual configuration that's breaking the installation, or there's just something wrong with your OS.

BTW you can remap drive letters in Windows through Disk Management in Administrative Tools if you want, but that's not hurting anything.