Initialize Renderer Failed....

[fooka03]

Oh yes, that dreaded problem has reared its ugly head yet again. After running the game(steam) once and changing the graphics and audio options to where they need to be I can no longer launch the game. The screen flickers for a good min or 2 then the error drops. Funny thing is I never got the error on vanilla civ(retail) or BTS(steam).

So after reinstalling, updating directx, reinstalling drivers, restarting, deleting the ini, reinstalling yet another time, disabling most of my video card options, I'm still at an impasse.

Downloading the game 3 times in one evening is not my idea of a good time...

System specs:

Proc: AMD 5600+
MB: MSI K9A2 Platnium
RAM: 8GB DDR2 1066
Vid: 2 x ATI 3870
Hdd: Raid 0 (2 x 320GB) WD HDD SATA 7200RPM

 

[fooka03]

including dxdiag (32 and 64 bit) and the error message.

(forgot to mention OS as well, vista ultimate 64 bit)

 

[ColdFever]

After running the game(steam) once and changing the graphics and audio options to where they need to be I can no longer launch the game.

Try deleting the hidden folder with game settings in your personal profile.

Unfortunately I do not have the pathnames of the English version, just the German version, so here a translation of how the English pathnames *might* look like:

Windows XP:
C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Local Settings\Application Data\My Games\CivColPath

Windows Vista:
C:\Users\Username\Local Settings\AppData\My Games\CivColPath

 

[fooka03]

yea i killed that whole folder when i deleted the ini

 

[fooka03]

blah, a little more tinkering of trying to set a custom resolution through the ini now leads the game to freeze the system. time for bed, will call firaxis in the morning...

 

[Greybriar]

....After running the game(steam) once....

It sounds like you should have quit while you were ahead.

 

[MiKa523]

Steam?
This can't be good..

 

[Ellestar]

Try to make a shortcut with an alternate route to config files. For Civ 4, it looked like "D:\Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Civilization4.exe" /ALTROOT="D:\Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Default_Settings". It works in Col2 too, i did it because i wasn't able to find Col2 config files at all. It should reset a config and you'll be sure that Col2 uses settings from that directory, not something else.

 

[fooka03]

No dice elle, still bombs.

And what's so wrong with steam? This is the first game I've had any real trouble with.

 

[fooka03]

hmm, disabling the intro video worked. well that's interesting

 

[doron]

No dice elle, still bombs.

And what's so wrong with steam? This is the first game I've had any real trouble with.

Check the steam forums for the Civ games, might find some help there.

 

[fooka03]

Well I have it working now, went into the ini and disabled the intro video. Something there in the vids seems to be hanging up directx

 

[Lord Shadow]

Maybe your video codecs got corrupted or something.

 

[GVBN]

Are you using ffdshow or some codec pack?

 

[fooka03]

nah nothing like that. the in-game revolution movie ran fine so i dunno what was going on there.

 

[Cokeoverpepsi12]

After 4 hours of figuring out how to play the game, I changed the full screen option on the Civ4config. It was set at 1 I changed to 0 and everything works fine now. I hope it works for all of you out there also, cause it was driving me crazy

 

[repeatoffender]

i had the same problem. i had to change my refresh rate on my monitor to 80+..

 

[fooka03]

so apparently there's all sorts of ways to trigger this error. do you guys also use ATI?

 

[Bkeela]

I use ATI, and gave up jumping through the various hoops to try and fix the problem in regard to Civ IV. If I use the default driver, it works. If I use the Catalyst driver - instant problem.

I wonder if there is some kind of conspiracy with Nvidia, to make life difficult for ATI users.

 

[mva5580]

Same problem here. Game goes to a black screen, but I can hear everything going on still.

Pretty aggravating.