Just spoke with Civ4 tech support

[Raider]

And it's all bad news. Basically, if you are getting the black terrain, it means that your video chipset is too old to run the game, and there is no solution planned for that. If you are seeing some of the terrain, while the rest is black, it means the same thing--your video chipset is too old, and you will not be able to play the game properly on that machine.

So, in conclusion, if you are having video problems with Civ4, they are there to stay because Firaxis made the game that way. There is no solution right now, and there is not one planned in the future. I am returning my own copy to the store tomorrow. Apparently, my one-and-a-half-year-old P4 2.4 laptop, which runs Doom 3 and HL2 flawlessly is not good enough to run the incredibly technologically advanced Civ4.

 

[bugmenot17]

And if you are getting any errors because of the buggy code, it means that your CPU is too old to run the game.

 

[allism]

Nice, so my laptop which I bought right after Christmas last year, is TOO OLD?!

 

[Comraddict]

Like I guessed before, this pretty much means: requirement is pixel shader 1.0, not just hardware TnL. People with GF4MX reported such problems, although it supports TnL.
Such requirement has very few games.
Even unrealeased Call of Duty 2 doesn't require pixel shaders! Nor does DOOM3, nor HL2.

 

[Prometheus_666]

Pixel Shader 1.0 is the culprit along with TnL then?

Oh me oh my.

In this forum which has become saturated with 'HELP ME!' threads this one in particular is quite important to read since the thread starter says he has spoken to Firaxis tech support about it.

So it seems vid cards without support for pixel shader 1.0 and TnL are no go's for Civ IV and never will be.

So why are ATI cards seemingly affected more so than Nvidia?

 

[bugmenot17]

Even unrealeased Call of Duty 2 doesn't require pixel shaders! Nor does DOOM3, nor HL2.

Yeah, but those games aren't nearly as "addictive" as Civ4 is. Really. Developers said so themselves. How could THEY be wrong?

I feel so bad because my computer is not as technologically advanced as Civ4 is. It's like I'm living in a stone age. Does anyone have a time machine to sell?

 

[ltcoljt]

2pm on a worknight and over a hundred viewing this sub forum. Ships late, but dn't worry, in a few years, when you buy your next computer, the game will work fine.

Love it man.

 

[Comraddict]

This is just pure speculation at this point, about pixel shaders being required. I don't want to spread false conclusions.
ATi cards have drivers problems, most mentioned cards support pixel shader 1.0. in fact radeon 7000 series are very rare; all others have pixel shader.

I guess we will know for sure in day or two. I have laptop with GF4MX and I will try many different drivers when I get my copy tomorrow.

 

[Raider]

Comraddict, let me know how your attempts go because I have the same exact situation as you (GF4MX on a laptop) and 10 days of return policy. I will wait to see if someone can find a solution to this. Either post here or email me:
phexac@yahoo.com
Or better yet both

 

[bugmenot17]

Ships late, but dn't worry, in a few years, when you buy your next computer, the game will work fine.

I'll lose my interests for the game a long time by then. Besides, they'll release CIV V by that time, with requirements like 5GHz dual-core CPU, 10GB RAM and 512MB/DirectX11 graphics card.

 

[Comraddict]

sure, I will post my results tomorrow or whenever I get my copy.

 

[Monoment]

So why are ATI cards seemingly affected more so than Nvidia?

Because nVidia boards are far superior to any ATI board. I am not a fanboi, but I recently dumped my good ol' Radeon 9800 in favor for a Geforce 6600 and not only the performance was stunning, but the Geforce drivers are MUCH more stable than any ATI driver. I have had many headaches of the years with ATIs sub-par driver uninstall/install routine and... surprise, it's all gone with nVidia.

 

[ellie]

This doesnt make sense pixel shader 1.0 is quite old i think?.
An 18 month old machine should have no issues..can i ask what
the card is?.

 

[Ihmemies]

You could always try 3danalyze's settings and see if the game works

http://www.tommti-systems.de/go.html -> files -> click 3danalyze screenshot to download.

You can do all kinds of things with that... maybe even emulate pixel shaders, I'm not sure

 

[bugmenot17]

You can do all kinds of things with that... maybe even emulate pixel shaders, I'm not sure

And run the game at 3 fps. Joy.

 

[nomo]

Ii tried 3D analyze on civ 4, it diddn't work for me.
It does seem verey strange that the black screen just means our graphics cards are to low, because some people have recorded the same problem, even thogh they have high-end video cards.

On most games that require pixel shaders, it tells you that u dont have one before the game even starts. I tried to play psychonauts (requires pixel shader v1.1) and it wouldn't let me start the game.
Everything seems verey strange. I guess I'll go back to plaaying civ 3 for now.

 

[Iolum]

Because nVidia boards are far superior to any ATI board. I am not a fanboi, but I recently dumped my good ol' Radeon 9800 in favor for a Geforce 6600 and not only the performance was stunning, but the Geforce drivers are MUCH more stable than any ATI driver. I have had many headaches of the years with ATIs sub-par driver uninstall/install routine and... surprise, it's all gone with nVidia.

Why don’t you compare apples to apples ? 9800 is obviously not comparable to a 6600. Personally I prefer ati over nvidia, the x800 have better performance, use less bay space and power. Performance wise, both comparable ati and nvidia cards almost always end up being the same or close enough.

 

[Comraddict]

One person reported that everything is working well with GF2MX, which doesn't have pixel shaders. Thus, my speculation was wrong

 

[bugmenot17]

Everything seems verey strange. I guess I'll go back to plaaying civ 3 for now.

That one has a crappy AI.

 

[pearle]

My ATI Radeon x800 PE XT works just fine. No problems. Actually, I haven't had any driver related problems since I've owned the card (almost a year).