Memory-fix by Harkonnen is out!

[Gen]

When your say AGP on it is in BIOS or in card configuration in Windows.

Where can I see if agp is on for Geforce3 Card?

GEN can you answer this question for me Please

First check DirectX options
1. Execute dxdiag command from command line (or menu Start -> Run -> type "dxdiag" and hit enter)
2. Go to Display or Screen tab (sorry I don't know how exactly it's called in English version of DirectX as I use Polish)
3. See if you have "Fast AGP textures" on (or something like that, again sorry if in English version it's shown differently, it should be in the left-bottom corner of the dialog)
4. Set this on if needed.

Also, in BIOS there should be setting called AGP Aperture size - where exactly it is placed depends on BIOS. There should be some options to chose, eg. 64MB, 128MB etc. Set maximum possible value, save changes and reboot.

Edit: as for separate setting for AGP in video card properties I don't know, mine doesn't have any... I probably can't switch it on/off there...

 

[Thrallia]

Hey, new to the forums, but I've also been interested in a way to keep my large maps from lagging insanely after I hit modern age and my huge maps from lagging when I hit the industrial age...
This seems like a good way to do that, and I've downloaded the patch in post #640, but I'm not exactly sure how or where to install it?

Anyone who can help me and tell me what, so far, the ideal settings for my setup is would be much appreciated

(laptop)
Pentium M 1.6GHz
RAM-512MB
VC- Radeon x300 128MB
DirectX 9.0c

 

[David Smith]

Tried your first patch and it didn't work even with a standard map. I did all the things that you said to do in your post but the game keep on crashing.

I took patch and the game out, then reinstall game and path, still nothing!!

Then you came out with the second patch, I tried it.
Your second patch worked, it no longer crashes. Some times slow but it works.

Now I can finish a game without crashes. Thank you ever much.

AMD Athlon XP 2500+, 1GB Ram, XP pro Service Pack 2, nivda fx5200 128MB

 

[FullyCompletely]

Thank you very much Denis, with this patch for your fix I'm no longer getting that run-time error at the load saved game point.

 

[Caesar69]

Where is the second patch all i can see is the original patch for download and i still have problems with it. i have nvidia 6600LE 256mb and none of the settings work if i use 180 it works fast but get memory errors if i use 80 i get no errors but its so slow that u cant play the game. plz update the link with the latest version

 

[Harkonnen]

Caesar69
Update is located at post #640 attachment. It is PatchByHarkonnen.DLL only and some explanations. Post #1 still contains original version.

All
I'm not yet sure this version is better than previous one, so I'd like to keep post #640 version unknown to those who download original version via outside link and simply leave the forum... I'm just afraid to loose the popularity this fix has gained outside the site if it becomes more troublesome.

When I will receive some more replies (around 5-10 I think, but I won't wait more than a day) about new version, I will come to final decision. Up to current moment I'd rather replace post #1 version with post #640 version, but again, not enough info so far... Tomorrow is Saturday, so I am planning to get some more replies.

I will reply to those who had problems posted tomorrow. It was a big day, and most probably successful day (a little tired).

Thanks to everyone who took time to test it and to those who yet plan to do so. Noone will be forgotten in 'installer' version CREDITS ZONE !!! I don't want to be the only one who gets memoried with the fix since I would go nowhere without this forum, wouldn't even start...

 

[Zydor]

Post 640 will give you the info you need. Please remember that Version 2 is on test, and he is requesting that folks give feed back etc. Read at #640, and all should be clear. Worth scan reading down fromthere to here, and you will see what others are doing to help with the test patch.

EDIT: Oppps didnt see you on line - sorry Harky ....

Regards
Zy

 

[Conroy]

I don't see much difference in the patch so far. (radeon mobility x300 128, 1gb ram)

I tried windowed insane mode and now I'm playing full screen w/ no insane mode

Edit: as to your questions

1) I haven't seen any gray leaders

2) Terrain and trees have always looked okay for me

4) No new improvements or problems that I've seen so far

5) Old 'vid_mem_usage' 80. new 128

 

[MourinhoPortuga]

"You will have to set 'vid_mem_usage' to amount of video memory you have (64Mb users should read below). Just set it to 128 if you have 128Mb of video memory."

How do I do this?

 

[Caesar69]

Ok i tried the 2nd patch and it still crashes if i use anything greater than 80 for video memory usage i tried 256 like it states for 256 users and get memory error box

 

[Pheoni]

Alright, so I haven't tried the first patch, but with the second patch,

3400+ AMD64
1gig ram
9600xt aiw 128mb (set memory to 128 as per 2nd patch instructions)

The game ran pretty smooth, wonder movies don't studder at the start anymore, and no system crashes like I had without the patch. New problem: every 15-60min of gameplay, when I go to submit my turn, the game locks up and won't give my system back to me. This is running full screen, both with and without insane mode.

Any requests Hark?

 

[arioch99]

I am primarily interested in following three things:
1) Do gray leader-boxes still appear (not after alt-tabbing, just on its own)? If the answer is 'yes', did you have this problem before my fix?

2) Do black terrain/colored trees still appear (not after alt-tabbing, just on its own)? If the answer is 'yes', did you have this problem before my fix?

3) Does globe view perform worse than before the first version of fix? It shouldn't become faster on its own, my aim with this is not to make it slower at least.

4) Any new problems / improvements as compared to previous version of the fix (post #1)?

5) Your old 'vid_mem_usage' (post #1 version) and your new 'vid_mem_usage' (this post #640 version).

Ok I've tried the intermediate patch, the opening movie is very better, and I see a great difference to in the gameplay, more fluid. A little slow between turn but not too much.

1) Yes I see the gray box and I've this problem with 1st patch, but not before your patch. I've also leader face problem.

2) No problem with that and no problem before patch.

3) No the global view is working a little faster for me.

4) Since the second patch, the score graph don't appear in info menu and at the end of the game, replay don't appear too. I see that if I turn patch OFF. That appear with patch #1

5) Vid_mem_usage #1 patch = 32 or 70
Vid_mem_usage #2 = 128

Thanks performance increase, but some graphic problem with leader and score graph.

 

[arioch99]

First check DirectX options
1. Execute dxdiag command from command line (or menu Start -> Run -> type "dxdiag" and hit enter)
2. Go to Display or Screen tab (sorry I don't know how exactly it's called in English version of DirectX as I use Polish)
3. See if you have "Fast AGP textures" on (or something like that, again sorry if in English version it's shown differently, it should be in the left-bottom corner of the dialog)
4. Set this on if needed.

Also, in BIOS there should be setting called AGP Aperture size - where exactly it is placed depends on BIOS. There should be some options to chose, eg. 64MB, 128MB etc. Set maximum possible value, save changes and reboot.

Edit: as for separate setting for AGP in video card properties I don't know, mine doesn't have any... I probably can't switch it on/off there...

Thanks Gen My AGP is ON. And no problem, my dxdiag is in french and I can found what you talk about.

 

[Conroy]

"You will have to set 'vid_mem_usage' to amount of video memory you have (64Mb users should read below). Just set it to 128 if you have 128Mb of video memory."

How do I do this?

MourinhoPortuga: You need to edit the Harkonnen.ini file that you copied to the civilization game folder.

 

[Thrallia]

ok, System Specs:
Pentium M 1.6GHz
512MB System RAM
Radeon X300 128MB

My settings:
Everything on the right side of graphical settings was turned on, except for full screen mode
Graphics Level was at 'High' setting
Render Quality was at 'High' setting
Globe Quality was at 'Medium' setting
Texture Quality was at 'Low' setting

My results:
I tried the second patch(after figuring out how to get it installed and running)

video_mem_usage= 80
I found that I was able to get 100+ fps with this setting during cinematics, but that during the game itself it took awhile to load and would sometimes slow down and seem to freeze for a few seconds, the worst lag was right after opening up a saved game. But overall, I was able to play much better and much faster in my saved game(1910, Large, Future Tech, entire map revealed) than before I installed the patch.
For some reason, some of the ships were colored green, dunno why.
However, it didn't FEEL like it was as high quality as I was used to, and my wonder videos still didn't load very well...it lagged until the video was almost done then went superspeed through the whole thing(super time lapse or something), so I tried a different setting.

video_mem_usage= 128
I found that my cinema sequences(intro especially) still had about 100+ fps
The game itself and the loading of the saved game went much smoother and faster than before(dunno why that made a difference, but it did)
Upon loading the game, I was almost instantly able to control my game, rather than having to wait a minute or two upon loading for it to unfreeze. Everything went much faster. Units lagged by a couple seconds, but that's a completely acceptable tradeoff to being able to move anywhere on the map without lag.
Wonder movies worked brilliantly this time...it loaded immediately, and I saw my first wonder movie since Notre Dame(ironically enough, it was the Manhatten Project that I saw first lol)
I'd give this an A+ so far, a little bit of finetuning is still needed to get rid of the slight lag left, but I'd say Firaxis would be stupid not to talk to you about this patch.

 

[I_batman]

After this brilliant work, what is next for you to tackle, or are you going to take a very well-deserved break?

 

[Serene1]

Hey I'm new to this forum, but have been following the thread. Downloaded Harkonnen's most recent patch. Civ IV is now working great. However, I noticed that none of the "F" keys (F1, F2, etc...) now work inside the game. Is this the way patch works?

Also, I play World of Warcraft. The next time I played WoW after a Civ IV session I had a problem. My Esc key now closed WoW and returned me to the desktop? Also, I couldn't type inside the game anymore.

I think as I booted up Civ IV and held down the "shift" key that filter keys was activated. This causes quick key strokes to be ignored. So I turned it off and am hoping the key problem is gone. Just wanted to know if Hark's patch turned off any shortcut keys inside Civ IV?

Thanks,
Serene1

 

[Smidlee]

what really strange is using World builder on empty huge maps I get better framerate in globel view than zoomed in. On new huge maps I'm getting 160+ fps in globel view.

 

[Aeon221]

Erm. Is the new patch a major improvement in gamespeed over the old one? Or is it simply to fix the movies (which I have off) and the leaderheads (which I _wish_ I could turn off)?

Could you explain in moron terms what the vid_mem_usage number actually means?

 

[atomant]

Originally Posted by Harkonnen

I am primarily interested in following three things:
1) Do gray leader-boxes still appear (not after alt-tabbing, just on its own)? If the answer is 'yes', did you have this problem before my fix?

Never had this problem.

2) Do black terrain/colored trees still appear (not after alt-tabbing, just on its own)? If the answer is 'yes', did you have this problem before my fix?

Never had this problem.

3) Does globe view perform worse than before the first version of fix? It shouldn't become faster on its own, my aim with this is not to make it slower at least.

Hmmm, I think the second version of the patch makes it a tiny bit slower on zooming out. Scrolling around after zoomed out is slower with 2nd patch.

4) Any new problems / improvements as compared to previous version of the fix (post #1)?

Scrolling around is slower/pauses moving around the map either zoomed in or out using 2nd patch. However, think time between turns seem to be faster with 2nd patch.

5) Your old 'vid_mem_usage' (post #1 version) and your new 'vid_mem_usage' (this post #640 version).

Old = 80
New = 32 and 130. You did say previous (80)+50.

This was tested on the same standard map. At a certain point in my testing, I put it into debug mode to display/show everything and test scrolling and speed again.

My system is Dell 8250, 3Ghz, 512 MB with Geforce 4 MX 420 64 MB

Wish I could see the info screen in the 1st patch to give you better stats.
Overall I like the first patch, but I will continue to play around with the second.

Again, you have done such a great job and we can't thank you enough. I'm glad I saw past my own short sighted thoughts( crazy russian ) to keep watching your posts and make me into a believer.