Handful of BtS issues

[keshaldra]

Forgive any obvious errors, I'm normally a PC user and am trying to set everything up on a Mac that I'm not too familiar with, but here goes:

Preface
Bought Civ 4 and BtS through Direct2Drive.

Installed Civ 4 and tested. Works fine.

Installed Bts.



Current issues
The game crashes when I try to build a city with a settler.

First warrior starts out with infinite xp.

Client claims it is a different version than my PC when connecting via a LAN game.
(PC is running 3.1.9.0 (128100) and Mac is running same, albeit with a different build date, obviously)

When setting up the game, we can get past the "different version" notification by hitting OK, but then the game goes out of sync after the first turn....not too surprising if they think they're different versions.


Attempted solutions
Have tried uninstalling/reinstalling both Civ4 and BtS.

Tried adding a manual 3.1.9 patch to BtS.

Tried lowering settings, but they default to lowest already.

Tried starting game in windowed mode instead of full screen.

Rebooted (hah!)



Current situation
Civ 4 still works fine on the Mac

BtS still crashes on first city build attempt (also shows gold production at something like -972875, but I figure that has a good chance at going away once (if) I build a city)

Mac claims it is a different client than my PC, even though they have the same version listed (3.1.9.0)

Cannot play a LAN game with my PC (goes out of sync), but I figure that's related to the previous "different client" issue.

First warrior starts out with infinite xp.



System specs
iMac using OS X 10.6.6
2.5 GHz Intel Core i5
4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Radeon HD 6750M 512 MB




Any help/ideas? I'm ok with computers in general but new to macs.

 

[s.bernbaum]

I can't comment on the LAN problems, as I have never played CIV in any version in multiplayer mode, other than hot seat. However, the crashes, warrior, and gold problems should not be happening. It sounds like you may have gotten a corrupted file in your download. I'm not familiar with Direct2Drive but if they allow you to download a fresh copy of programs that you have purchased, I would try that next.

Your system specs look fine. Mine are far lower and BTS runs fine on my Mac.

 

[keshaldra]

That's worth a shot; I'm starting the fresh BtS download now (Basic Civ 4 works fine so far on single player, haven't tried it with multiplayer)

 

[keshaldra]

Redownloaded and installed everything; same problems as in the OP (Civ 4 works fine, BtS is screwed up).

Build number is fine by default (3.1.9); on one of the original installations I tried manually patching it in case that was the problem.

I'm really frustrated with this, any more ideas?

 

[keshaldra]

Ok, emailed Aspyr support. They recommended a few things that didn't work, then had me send them a system profiler diagnostic.

They responded by telling me that I had the game installed on the Desktop (the readme told me to!), and that I should uninstall/reinstall in the Applications folder.

Voila! It (mostly) works now. It still says TXT_KEY_RACE or whatever for the new races, and still claims a different version than my PC when we play over the LAN, but it works.

I didn't realize that the location of the program would have an effect over this sort of thing; they told me that the graphics drivers don't properly recognize programs unless they're in the Applications folder. Seems unusual, but it's working now.

 

[AlanH]

I very much doubt if the graphics drivers care at all where your software is installed. It's more likely that the problem is to do with permissions.

The ~/Desktop/ folder is in your User folder, and stuff in there is owned by you, not by the system. /Applications/ is a system-wide folder, and apps in there are normally owned by root. My guess is that Civ4 is written to only work properly with system permissions. I've never seem any installation instructions to install into Desktop, though there have been times in the past when you had to run the upgrade/enhancement pack installers from somewhere other than in the disk Image that they arrive in.

 

[keshaldra]

I very much doubt if the graphics drivers care at all where your software is installed. It's more likely that the problem is to do with permissions.

The ~/Desktop/ folder is in your User folder, and stuff in there is owned by you, not by the system. /Applications/ is a system-wide folder, and apps in there are normally owned by root. My guess is that Civ4 is written to only work properly with system permissions. I've never seem any installation instructions to install into Desktop, though there have been times in the past when you had to run the upgrade/enhancement pack installers from somewhere other than in the disk Image that they arrive in.

That makes a lot more sense (the permission concept), and I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to the difference in permissions for certain locations in the mac os (though now that you mention it, it seems pretty intuitive).

Just quoting what they told me. Also thought it was weird that the aspyr readme told me to install on the desktop, but I was just following instructions there.

Anyway, glad to have it mostly resolved, and the rest is livable. Thanks for your help guys!

 

[AlanH]

The Mac OS file system is a lot more intuitive than the Windows one for me.

if you look at the Windows file system in Windows Explorer, the Desktop looks like the top level in the hierarchy. Or just keep clicking the Up arrow in a file view until you get there. It actually isn't at the top - it's a location within your C:\Documents and Settings\<User name> folder, and this is exactly equivalent to your Home folder on the Mac. But in my view, Windows confuses users no end by apparently "promoting" it.

Anyway, I'm pleased to hear you have a working system now.