Memory-fix by Harkonnen is out!

Solver
I pressed reply button and then I saw "invalid thread id" message. I guess the poll is currently being merged into this thread. I will reply when I see it again...

Moderators
Is there a way to add a poll with already created thread? I couldn't find any, so I started a new one...
 
I have a Pentium IV 3GHz, 1 GB RAM and an nVidia GeForce 6600 256MB. Civ 4 used to be sluggish, unstable and a downright ***** to play. With your patch, it works brilliantly.

Thank you very, very much for a job wel done!
 
Solver said:
You forgot one - "I didn't try the fix because I don't have memory/CTD issues with Civ4" :).
I don't have any big issues either but there are small things I wanted to fix and this did fix it but it made other areas worse. So you might want to give it a try too and if it doesn't work then give it up for now. Harkonnen has done a good job. :)
 
Harkonnen said:
Moderators
Is there a way to add a poll with already created thread? I couldn't find any, so I started a new one...
I just send you a PM about it. :) The option is under "Thread Tools". Give it a try.

Normally merging the threads would have moved the poll over too, but it didnt show up correctly this time and I had to remove it. Sorry about that.
 
Harkonnen said:
If you are new with this fix and have something to say, please use original thread, not this one. I track support and gather general picture over there, so let's keep it in a single place...

The only thing that should be written in this thread is some pool item which you'd like to add.

I don't want to be very strict with fans, just this thing has become too popular, and a bit hard to manage...

Thank you!

I clicked on the link to go to the "original thread" and it brought me to this exact same thread... I think the original was merged or something.
 
@solver
I do have a proplem with this game.
I runs VERY SLOWLY even though it seems that it shouldn't
I hope it is just alot of background tasks and not spyware!!!!!! although...hmm....background tasks...i do have alot...next time i am going to shut all those tasks down before i play...hmmm...i might have solved my own problem....if htat was the case then boy....am i an idiot for not stating the obvious.
 
The only problem I had prior to applying this patch is that I couldn't play anything bigger than tiny without serious lag in the late game. I don't have a really super-hot, up-to-date system, but what I have works fairly well.

After installation, Seems to work great... only problem I have now (Which I didn't have before) is that when I alt-tab out and back, I have black screen.

Nice work, Harkonnen! Thanks a LOT!
 
Harkonnen said:
Ginger_Ale
Well, I'm not sure... Anyway, if you try, it will be much appreciated since you are the 1st GF2 user on my memory with this fix.

Try 'vid_mem_usage = 32', 'insane_mode = 0'

Hi Harkonnen,

I found it didn't affect my game much at all (with a nVIDIA GeForce2 MX 400, 64 MB), and the intro movies/Baba Yetu still stuttered. Anyway, it was worth a try, especially seeing how much it helped others. :goodjob:
 
Three_Crowns said:
It is possible that you need to install either chipset or agp drivers. If in doubt, you should consult your motherboard manual.

I have teh proper ATI Drivers.
I just actually installed the latest 5.12 Driver trying to get the AGP{ Texture Accelration to hopefully work.

As for the Chipset ... how DO I add that?
I do not remember adding a chipset driver, just the BIOS for the Motherboard.

<edit>
Ok my Motherboard is the Asus P4S8X.
Seems it is suppose to have the SiS 648 CHipset.
Went to the Asus DL sitre but Unseure which file to download and install sad

WHich one should it be as Described below:

- SiS AGP WHQL Drivers for Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP V7.2.0.1170

- SiS Acceleration Graphic Port R1.14 WHQL.

- SiS AGP WHQL Drivers for Windows 98/ME/2000/XP Version 1.13

- SiS AGP WHQL Drivers for Windows 9x/ME/2000/XP Version 1.12

- SiS AGP WHQL Drivers V1.11 Windows 2000/XP Driver Windows 98/ME Driver​
 
rcoutme said:
Ok, try to treat me like a small child please! :blush: I do not see the ini file of which you speak... I thought it might be the Civ IV icon file, but when I try to open that, the game starts...:crazyeye:

Next: about where in the file will I find the places to change the values?

The CivilizationIV.ini file is in My Documents\My Games\Sid Meyer's Civilization 4 folder. :)
 
Kilim said:
As for the Chipset ... how DO I add that?
I do not remember adding a chipset driver, just the BIOS for the Motherboard.
You need to go to your mainboard manufacturer's website and see if they have chipset drivers avaialable. These will be in addition to the BIOS updates - things like sound drivers, USB driver updates, enmbedded video chipset updates, etc. Hopefully it is a mainstream board - if it is for example, a PCCHIPS board that comes under many brand names , you may have to do some searching to find these. Good Luck! :)
 
Thanks I think I figured it out :D

I DL and installed the "SiS Acceleration Graphic Port R1.14 WHQL." and it now enabled my AGP Texture Accelration!

Now I have setup the game at 180 vid mem useage and about to up it to 200.
And I also have it running at ALL HIGH Settings!!!

Everything runs smooth now.

It loads the Huge game slightly longer on Higher settings during the Post Industrial Era but it still loads it faster compared to prior to adding this fix!

Hark You da man!

<edit>

I just tested the new vid_mem_useage of upto 392 and it still works!
(I did that formula in your Hark.ini and my Vid Memory(256) + AGP Apperture(256) - 120 = 392)
Now I am just unsure what number would be the most Optimum for me.
Considering I have a ATI X850XT 256mb, you did mention to put it at 200 before.
SO I guess I will play around with that.

I also did notice a slight lag when I go to Globe View.
But at least I can view it and use it now unlike prior to using your patch!
 
the patch kinda work on my my game. The game loaded up fast, a first. Before, the game would freeze when the wonder video pops up, now the game does not crash. It still suffers from serious lagging, especialy when the diplomacy screen comes up. Ill try to fiddle with the resolution, graphics, virtual memory, and gameplay options, then report back here when my game runs smoothly.
 
Worth popping in later - Hark is probably sleeping the sleep of the dead right now - the amount of work he has done for all is astonishing. From what you said it may be that he can help with some ini settings, it seems similar to other problems that were sorted. Treat my words with caution tho - I am not certain. But it is certainly worth popping back in to check before you do too much full scale changes your end

Regards
Zy
 
this fix(mod whatever) screwed up my videos. before I installed it the intro movie ran great with patch 1.09, but after I installed this the intro movie started to stutter. I forgot to back up the zlib1.dll file, so I had to uninstall civ, and reinstall civ and the 1.09 patch. I ran the game again, and the intro movie worked great again. I also noticed that after the 1.09 patch the version of the zli1.dll file is 1.2.3.0, and your mod(fix) uses version 1.2.2.0, and the original game uses version 1.2.1.0. A little off topic here, but this zlib.dll file could have been the fix for the movie stuttering problem people were looking for.

My Specs
Intel Pentium 4 1.7Ghz
1 gig of pc 2700(333mhz) SDRAM
Nvidia Geforce 6200 Overclocked with 256 Mb Vram
 
ok i changed the mem to 40 and insane is at 0 everything seems to work ok, except being a lil slow at times but i can live with that. after playing for awhile i found that my old problem is still there, if a wonder movie pops up or another civ pops up to talk with me the map turns black. if i disable the in game movies i dont have that problem but i hate doing that and it doesnt stop the leaders from coming up anyway.
 
I am sorry to come back so lately... Just fell asleep after all the day supporting this and other threads. Today I will be less active just to bring update release ASAP as promised.

ALL (and kettyo in particular)
The way I'd recommend choosing 'vid_mem_usage' has changed after reading all the feedback. Basically, just try the following values in decreasing order: 180, 150, 120, 80, 60, 50, 40, 32 and stop at that one which causes no visual bugs / crashes.

Those who have 256Mb of video memory should start with 180 and normally should not get below 120.
Those who have 128Mb of video memory should start with 80 and normally should not get below 50.
Those who have 64Mb of video memory should start with 40 and normally should not get below 32.

Ignore AGP aperture size from now on... It causes more trouble and confusion as I see :)

kettyo
As I read on, you seem to have found your top performance spot. Good job! :goodjob:

pbgrhino
Well, just install the fix and try the above recommendation about 'vid_mem_usage'. With 256Mb of video memory value 180 is definitely a good start.

rcoutme
Well, if you have file extensions hidden, you'll see it just as "Harkonnen" in your files explorer window. When you double click it, a notepad should start and open it. There find strings 'vid_mem_usage = 80' and 'insane_mode = 1' - these are to be changed if at all. All the rest in these files are comments. Coming update will be automated in many aspects, so you might want just to wait a little.

Raggamuffin
Well, by now I don't know what to suggest... Probably AGP is off or probably I have already asked you. Please subscribe to releases info thread, and try it again when I release update for my fix. It will perform more tests automatically and suggest settings, probably it will solve your problem or at least tell what might be causing degraded performance.

polyphemus
Yes. Since you have only 256Mb of physical RAM, setting everything to low is a must here if you want to play large/huge worlds. Then set 'vid_mem_usage = 80', 'insane_mode = 1' (insane mode is also a must in this config if you want noticeable improvements, but you shouldn't alt-tab frequently from full-screen mode with it being set).

DeyofAlgiers
Yes, you made the right step by replacing 'zlib1.dll', otherwise patch would have no effect. Also you have extracted 'Harkonnen.ini' in the correct location, otherwise the patch would show you an error message. I recommend using 'vid_mem_usage = 80', 'insane_mode = 1' with your system. Make sure you have AGP turned on. Someone offered to turn it off long before my fix, but this time it might be the reason of slow-downs.

If you have AGP on or didn't change it (in this case it's still on as default), try settings 'insane_mode = 0'.

polyphemus
You may find your civilization 4 folder in "c:\program files\Sid Meriers' Civilization IV" or such. You may also search your hard-drives for 'civilization4.exe' and seek for locations like this one. Extract or copy both DLLs and Harkonnen.ini there. Make sure that 'zlib1.dll' becomes overwritten. So far, it should work for you. Settings like AA/textures/etc... you were asking about are located in game options. GAME_MAIN_MENU -> ADVANCED -> OPTIONS

Solver
Yes, you are right. I will describe current situation with poll in my next reply.

Merum
That's insane mode effects. If you have 1Gb of physical memory, switchching it off (insane_mode = 0) should solve black-screen-after-alt-tabbing problem without loss of performance.

Ginger_Ale
Well, thank you for trying anyway :) The patch had to save ~50-100Mb of memory anyway. Though, video card weakness neglected all effects :(

Kilim
Phew, I'm happy for ya! Tenacity brings belief in success, belief in success brings the success itself :)

Cube4
Hmm... that's strange. Movie surfaces aren't affected by my fix. I will check zlib.net for fresh sources. AFAIR, I have downloaded the most recent source there. Also, there is a link at the bottom of post #1 to original 'zlib1.dll' file. And 'zlib1.dll' isn't connected to movies playback. Probably my patch has negative effects on intro movies in some cases, I will check it more closely. Thanks for pointng that out.

obe
ndvsky
Thank you! :)

Zydor
You are right... the sleep-of-the-dead started the day I released it :D Anyway, I'd appreciate people to try various settings on their own. 'Harkonnen.ini' is as simple as a boot - just two things to change, with most effects coming from 'vid_mem_usage'.

Thanks to everyone who helped me by answering other people over here while I was away! This thing grows a little big for a single coder to maintain, especially with a lot of work still to do with the fix aside from supporting. I don't mean I give up replying everything and everyone, I just want to reward those who help me with that :goodjob:
 
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