graphical problems...game crashes to desktop

[MURDERMASS]

after playing on a huge map for about 1 hour the game freezes, parts of the screen goes black and all buildings, units, trees and roads disapears, meaning that there is just bare ground to be seen.
10-15 seconds later the game works like normal again for about a minute, then the same thing happens again, and again, and again. until the windows cursos becomes visible and the game crashes to desktop.

i've got the latest (81.85) drivers for GeForce 6600 256MB
AMD Athlon 3800+ (2,4 Ghz)
1024 MB Ram

which means that I may run games like FEAR, Half Life 2 and Battlefield 2 on high settings without experiencing any problems...why must Civ IV be an exception?

 

[ceprab]

I posted on this a couple of days ago - but have subsequently noticed I randomly did it in a really stupid place. Darn Civ keeping me up all night so I am too tired to function properly!

Anyway: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=134027&page=2

Hopefully this helps, good luck.

 

[MURDERMASS]

didn't help...thanks anyways!

 

[Gustomucho81]

Bad programming, don't touch your computer. Stop playing this piece of crap software and wait untill they release a patch. Don't break your computer for this game.

All advice you will get here will get you maybe 1h of stability before the game crashes again. Unless you want to be a laboratory rat.

 

[Nick82]

I get the exact same problem, it used to be that it happened a few times before it crashed, but now I can't play two turns without it crashing. I'm playing an epic game on a huge terra map in the year 1520.
AMD Athlon 64 3200+
1GB DDR RAM (2x512 MB, dual channel)
GeForce 6600GT 128 MB (PCI-E)
SoundBlaster Live!
Western Digital 160GB WD1600JD
NForce 4 chipset

 

[Wizard Zedd]

I would suggest emptying out the Cache folder before restarting a game. If you have been play for a while, shut down and empty the cache folder then restart the game. Make sure you save first! This trick seems to help me alot once I notice my game slowing down or the graphics starting to corrupt.

The cache folder is here:

C:\Documents and Settings\"your name"\Application Data\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\cache

Delete ALL files in the folder.

 

[Gustomucho81]

I would suggest emptying out the Cache folder before restarting a game. If you have been play for a while, shut down and empty the cache folder then restart the game. Make sure you save first! This trick seems to help me alot once I notice my game slowing down or the graphics starting to corrupt.

The cache folder is here:

C:\Documents and Settings\"your name"\Application Data\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\cache

Delete ALL files in the folder.

Another temporary fix, why did Firaxis didn't program the game so the cache folder would be deleted when you exit/start the game?

Bad game, it shouldn't be on the market.

 

[Wizard Zedd]

Another temporary fix, why did Firaxis didn't program the game so the cache folder would be deleted when you exit/start the game?

Bad game, it shouldn't be on the market.

I agree that it is a temp fix. I also agree that this should have been incorporated into the game but not only should it clear the cache before and after playing but also at set intervals DURING the game. It is while playing that many are experiencing lag and crashes.

 

[Nick82]

I would suggest emptying out the Cache folder before restarting a game. If you have been play for a while, shut down and empty the cache folder then restart the game. Make sure you save first! This trick seems to help me alot once I notice my game slowing down or the graphics starting to corrupt.

The cache folder is here:

C:\Documents and Settings\"your name"\Application Data\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\cache

Delete ALL files in the folder.

I don't even have a cache directory...

 

[Sorceresss]

I don't even have a cache directory.

Me neither! I just looked everywhere in the C:\Documents and Settings\"my name"\Application Data\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\ directory and I did not find any folder named "cache" ! But I experience NO significant problem running Civ IV.

 

[sweKangaroo]

I got some similar problems. Ive been playing a custom 18civ eart-map for a couple of hours. It worked great at the beginning, but now its slowing down whenever i zoom or move around the map.

When i finish my turns and click space to watch enemy movements, the game crash if i dont zoom to the closest level before pressing space.

When the diplomatic view pops up, the game often crash.

It seems like the game eats RAM, as some other people allready have said.

P4 3.4GHZ
1GB RAM
ATI Radeon X800-XT

 

[MURDERMASS]

someone mentioned that the Nvidia 71.89 drivers may be the solution to the freeze problem