Help me, can't play game efficiently at all!

[Matjillam1]

Okay, recently I tried to install the newest patch, which I couldn't because my Installshield Wizard went totally wacko! (which it still does)

It made my civ4 go mental, so I decided to just reinstall it and play without patch.

But (!), when I reinstalled it, suddenly these weird bugs showed up. In the game, things like: "TXT_KEY_GAME_OPTION_LOCK_MODS" appear instead of just "Lock Mods". No big deal, I could live with that.

BUT my civic screen is TOTALLY bugged. I can't change civics during the game (only when I invent something unlocking a new civic, which means if I adopt Org. religion, I have to stick to that the rest of the game).

I've tried uninstalling/reinstalling vanilla, warlords and bts in all combinations possible several times, still the same errors occurs.

Please help me, this is severely crippling my game!

 

[Matjillam1]

It is to be said, that these errors ONLY occurs when playing BtS and Warlords. When playing vanilla, there's no problems.

Can't figure this out. How come BtS suddenly bugs like hell when it was working fine 1 week ago? (except the fact I couldn't install the patch )

 

[ori]

it probably installed the patch partly...
what does about this build under the advanced settings say?

 

[Matjillam1]

It says:

Civ version: 301
Save Version: 300
Build version: 3.0.0.93
Build Date: Thu Jul 5 01:57:40 2007
Build: FINAL RELEASE
Mod: None

 

[ori]

what did you do when you uninstalled?

 

[Matjillam1]

Control panel, uninstall

No errors detected there, neither in the installing face. (still cant install any patch though).

And as said, I've reinstalled vanilla, Warlords and BtS in any possible order.

And really can't understand that TXT_KEY etc. thing and the broken civic screen

 

[Matjillam1]

Btw, it was me who had problems with installing the newest patch

You tried to help me by doing something about Installshield.

But I didn't get any further in installing the patch. and now I can't even play the game properly

 

[ori]

sorry - I forgot your name
these messages (txt_key) mean either of two things:
- some xml files are missing
- some xml files are there but somehow altered (this happens quite often in modded games - but should not happen in fresh installs)
could you post again what messages those are?
Usually I would recommend a new install - but we already where there
Edit: still IF you decide to reinstall again the following would be in order:
Uninstall all 3 games in control panel, then remove the stuff the uninstaller leaves behind (documents and settings\<username>\my files\my games\ each of Vanilla, Warlords and BtS have their own folders there - those often cause troubles so delete them - and the same is true for documents and settings\<username>\application data\my games\ (application data is a hidden directory))
then reinstall Vanilla, then warlords, then patch those to 1.61 and 2.08 (download the patches from this site), then install BtS - if the patching does not work - do not install BtS, but test whether Vanilla and Warlords work without the BtS install, only then proceed with the BtS install...
I'll go and reread what you already did in the other thread. I am sorry it is giving you such a hard time

 

[Matjillam1]

Bah, reinstalled vanilla, DL'd 1.61 patch from official website. This occured:

! C:\Documents and Settings\Mathias\Skrivebord\Civ4_1[1].61.zip: CRC failed in Civ4Patch1.61.exe. The file is corrupt

So couldn't install it... I'm about to break tears

 

[Matjillam1]

Bah, reinstalled vanilla, DL'd 1.61 patch from official website. This occured:

! C:\Documents and Settings\Mathias\Skrivebord\Civ4_1[1].61.zip: CRC failed in Civ4Patch1.61.exe. The file is corrupt

So couldn't install it... I'm about to break tears



I tried to install Warlords now, without 1.61 patch installed. It's here, the error occurs apperently.

Cause the Vanilla version works fine, but with Warlords, it's all screwed up!

Still those "TXT_KEY_ etc." things around and still can't change any civics, sigh

 

[Matjillam1]

Okay, succeded in patching Warlords... Don't really know what that means... errors still there

 

[Matjillam1]

Anyone there?

I'm still in desperate need of help!

 

[ori]

still there got busy at work...
anyway could you sum up what the problem is now? I reread what you did and I am not sure if I have any more ideas but I also am not sure what exactly is happening...

 

[Matjillam1]

Okay, no problem Must really say, it's cool that you take time to help the lost suckers on these forums

Anyway, here's my whole civ4 story:

I wanted to install the patch some time ago. I DL'd the official patch, but got this error message while trying to install it:

"Error Code: -5006 : 0x8000ffff
Error Information:
>SetupNew\SetupDLL.cpp (841)
PAPP:Sid Meier's Civilization 4 - Beyond the Sword
PVENDOR:Firaxis Games (http://www.2kgames.com/civ4)
PGUID:32E4F0D2-C135-475E-A841-1D59A0D22989
$12.0.0.49985PAK"

You told me it was a problem with Installshield Wizard, and advices me to rename and relocate the folder, which I did. Unfortunately, it didn't work.

It still wouldn't install the patch.

I uninstalled the game and reinstalled it thinking: "damnit, let me just play it without patch then".

BUT, then the horrible happened. When I reinstalled BtS, it bugged like crazy!

Many places, things like "TXT_KEY_GAME_OPTION_LOCK_MODS" and "TXT_KEY_MAIN_MENU_CUSTOM_SCENARIO" appeared, but I thought it didn't ruin my game.

But my civic screen was also bugged. I couldn't change civics at all, which meant kinda crippled and NOT FUN gaming

You said it may have something to do with the game having the patch half-installed, but that wasnt the case, cause my game version was normal.

Vanilla version still works fine without any errors, but BtS is bugging like crazy


So this is where I am now



PS: Where is the "InstallShield" folder located? Thought I might throw it back to it's rightfull place hoping I can at least play BtS kinda normally

Thx in advance

- Matjillam

 

[ori]

the installshield folder belongs into
...\program files\common files\

 

[Sam_Yeager]

You do seem to be having a few problems. You could try the following for a comprehensive uninstall which may resolve your problems.

To completely uninstall try and go through the normal uninstall process through Add/Remove in control panel.

Delete the "C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games" folder (assuming that where you installed it), delete the "C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\My Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4" folder if it is still there as well as the Warlords and Beyond the Sword folders.

Go into the registry (Start->Run->regedit) and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software. If this is the only game you have from Firaxis delete the key called "Firaxis Games" otherwise delete any sub keys of Firaxis Games" starting with "Sid Meier's Civilization 4". Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall and delete the following keys {4377F918-E6C9-4ECA-A7F5-754B310B7ED8}, {CFBCE791-2D53-4FCE-B3FB-D6E01F4112E8}, {3E4B349F-10B5-4586-9D99-489A90A8B228} and {32E4F0D2-C135-475E-A841-1D59A0D22989}.


Also delete the following folders if they exist:
"C:\Program Files\InstallShield Installation Information\{CFBCE791-2D53-4FCE-B3FB-D6E01F4112E8}" - Vanilla
"C:\Program Files\InstallShield Installation Information\{3E4B349F-10B5-4586-9D99-489A90A8B228}" - Warlords
"C:\Program Files\InstallShield Installation Information\{32E4F0D2-C135-475E-A841-1D59A0D22989}" - BTS

NB. The InstallShield folder is hidden by default. You will need to configure Windows Explorer to show hidden files and folders.

Reboot, reinstall Civ4 vanilla and reboot again. With luck that will get you back to a known state. After that you can apply the DirectX update from Microsoft.

After testing Civ4 vanilla try installing Warlords which will patch vanilla to 1.61. Reboot afterwards. If Warlords works ok then you can try installing BTS which will patch vanilla to 1.74 and warlords to 2.13. If vanilla, warlords and BTS all work then you can patch BTS to 3.13.

Btw I'm assuming that you're running Win XP rather than Vista.

 

[Matjillam1]

Yes, I have XP

I did everything u said. No luck. Vanilla worked out fine (as it has been all along). But when I installed Warlords and rebooted, the same errors occured.

That means, the "TXT_KEY_..." errors still was there, AND the civic bug...

I really can't understand it :S

Can't be the CD that's scratched or something, cause the same errors occurs both when installing with Warlords OR BtS

I'm so confused

What the hell is wrong with my game!?!?

 

[Matjillam1]

Hmmmm, just found out another game wont install correctly either....

It's "The Battle for Middle Earth II"... Recently uninstalled it (can't remember why), and now I can't install it..

My D: won't even let me run the autorun... It just says that: "It has found an error and will close down"


Perhaps my whole D: disk is just screwed?

 

[ori]

do you have access to another computer/cd drive to test whether its the disks or your machine?

 

[Matjillam1]

No, unfortunately I haven't