Interesting problem with nvidia card

[relyt460]

Ok, so it is apparent that Civ IV is a very buggy game. I have seen many posts from people who are having very similar problems (black terrain, cheshire cat). I am sure those problems will be fixed soon enough, but I am worried that I might be in trouble cause I haven't seen many posts on the particular problem that I am having right now.

Initially, the game seems to run fine, but after a few minutes of play, interesting shapes start emanating from either animated resources (horses, cows, beavers) or cities on the main map. These shapes will show up as one or two lines of solid colors, then eventually overshadow the whole map with one solid color. These shapes seem to enter the game quicker when the animation of another leader is up or when animated Sid is telling me what to do in the tutorial.

It is possible to save the game as soon as the first shape shows up, then load the game and there will be no more shapes, however, they will return within a minute or two.

I have tried changing video quality and resolution, both to no avail.

Other problems include the game randomly freezing. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it, it has happened at the main menu, when loading a game, or even during a game.

Anyone else having these issues? Any replies would be great so that I can assume its a software problem and not hardware.

AMD 3000+ processor
1 gig ram
nvidia geforce4 ti 4800
current drivers from nvidia's website.

 

[Emerson8]

I have an nvidia 4600 - after several minutes of normal gameplay, I'm getting a memory dump indicating a problem with 'nv4_disp.dll'. So, I'm also having a problem with nvidia but sounds like it's different (have the latest drivers).

 

[mojocommando]

Emerson8,

Hopefully this thread will help:

http://www.softwaretipsandtricks.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=94

I would try running Civ 4 in Windows 2000 compatability mode before re-installing anything though.

 

[snepp]

I have an nvidia 4600 - after several minutes of normal gameplay, I'm getting a memory dump indicating a problem with 'nv4_disp.dll'. So, I'm also having a problem with nvidia but sounds like it's different (have the latest drivers).

I've got a Ti4600 and run the game without any crashes using the 71.84 drivers.

 

[[3nD]Fuad]

Athlon XP 2000+
768 MB RAM
GeForce FX 5200
Crazy Glitches as mentioned by relyt.
Somehow, however, also CS and other 3D-Stuff has gone crazy and crashes! *wonders*

 

[[3nD]Fuad]

(1) Installed 7184 drivers
(2) Set all graphics options to low
(3) disabled McAfee Virusscan

Runs fine.

Will now pimp graphics step by step, and change (3) back, we'll find the culprit!

 

[relyt460]

I solved my problem as well. After spending countless hours tweaking and shutting down unessential programs and still no luck, I went nuclear and formatted the hard drive and started from scratch.

Works great now. Maybe take2 should post this as a fix on their support site? lol.

 

[xNitex]

some notes hope it helps
civ4 needs

Vertex Shader 2.0
[ anything below 2.0 u will see fukcup terrain like grey or some other funny funny colors ]

Pixel Shader 1.3+
[ at least 1.3 if not the graphics will be of very low detail and sometimes funny funny graphics error will show up ]

for GeForce cards that are not 6xxx series
it's better to run Pixel Shader in 1.3/1.4 for better performance

 

[TheDesertDragon]

Ahh... I had the same problem with World of Warcraft once... Though I've never had it with this game, it's propably the same: Overheat.

Some games and drivers will attempt to overclock the GFX card instead of just making the game lag like hell. (which is actually a bad thing) If this overclocking is going on for too long, eventually the card will overheat. I opened my computer and touched the card while these problems were occouring. And mind you, it was HOT! About 60-70 degrees celsius I guess!

Change the settings down, remove some of the detail, close other programs while running the game, (especially 3D-renders) anything that will make the game run worse.

Then load the game again and start playing. If the problem persists then... You got a problem!

 

[itsmekirill]

If it runs fine initially but then graphical artifacts start appearing, that is mostly likely a problem with overheating...various graphics cards have different operating ranges though. Some of the later ones like Geforce 6 and 7 series will routinely break 70 and even 80 degrees celcius and most of the time this isn't a problem. The temps also depend a lot on the ambient temperature in your room.

 

[[3nD]Fuad]

Just when I was about to be happy about the problem solved, the freakshow started again...
I don't think it's a heat problem, I mean the card's not overclocked at all, doesn't feel hot to the touch and moreover doesn`t crash running other 3d-apps. However, I added a massive 120mm fan and opened the case, to no avail.
To cut a long story short:
I bought a new computer (was scheduled anyways), Barton 3000+, GeForce FX 5500 256 MB, 1 Gig System Memory - no lag, no crash, no problems so far - might be another point Take2 might suggest!