Movie Playback -- Try This

[jkfrench]

Like a lot of you I've been attempting to get the stuttering movie playback problem resolved since the initial release of Civ 4. I have ran across something that may be useful to Firaxis in resolving this problem and was hoping some of you would also give a little test a try and respond with either a success of failure.

Here's what I'd like you to try...(it doesn't matter whether you use the hires or lores movies)...in your ..\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Assets\Art\Movies\Intros directory rename intro.bik to 2kg_ntsc.bik and rename 2kg_ntsc.bik to intro.bik ... if you have some other movie than 2kg_ntsc.bik with intro.bik then just substitute...the idea is to just swap the files (this will take actually 3 renames...i.e. rename 2kg_ntsc.bik to 2kg_ntsc.bik.x, then rename intro.bik to 2kg_ntsc.bik and finally rename 2kg_ntsc.bik.x to intro.bik). What this will effectively do is force the longer intro movie to play first and the 2k logo movie to play 2nd when you start the game. (note: make sure you still have the movie playback on...or turn it back on). Now run the game.

What I am seeing is that the longer movie will now play perfectly (unlike before) and the the 2k logo movie will spit and sputter...in fact any movies following the first movie will have problems.

The reason I ask you to do this is that the problem 'feels' like the bik playback isn't getting 'reset' after playing the first movie...so all movies following the first have problems (if that is truly the case, a resolution shouldn't be too hard to find!!!).

So first step's first...give it a try and see if you have similar results. Then maybe we can help Firaxis get this resolved!!!

Thanks for your help!!!

 

[Boogiebolch]

Brilliant! Works a treat! For the first time I can watch the intro movie in game.

Why didn't anyone think of this before?

Boogie.

 

[jwildstr]

I tried, and it's a no-go for me (I expected as much, since the 2K movie doesn't play smoothly either). I wish I knew which piece of the system was an issue; my guess is my video card, which makes me regret going for the basic option (I didn't know Civ would be so hungry for graphics that a GeForce 6200 TurboCache wouldn't work).

 

[jwildstr]

Hmmm...although I think you're on to <u>SOMETHING</u>.

If I drop my screen resolution to 1024, and tell the driver not to scale it up (i.e., to just display it in the middle of my flat panel), then it works a little better. FRAPS tells me I'm getting 30 FPS on the first movie (no matter which it is) and 20 on the second. But even at 30 FPS, it's still not smooth....it still jerks around a little bit in there. I think it's STILL due to the scaling up...is there any way to tell CIV to display all the movies just at the native resolution (I.e., 720x486 for the intro) in the middle of the screen? I think that's part of it, although I think you're right about second movies not performing as well as the first...

Now how do we bring this to Firaxis/Take2's attention? And how do we get it so that they can actually have us try the fixes if they can't recreate it?

 

[jwildstr]

And because two posts in a row isn't enough, here's a third...

I've had a case about the movies open with Take2 for...3 months now, I think. I called them again, and gave them an update with the fact that resolution is definitely connected, and the fact that it dropped by a third after the first movie finished. I've been told to expect to hear back within 72 hours (although I've been fed that line before). If I don't hear by the weekend, I'll call them again on Monday to poke them. If/when I hear anything, I'll let people know.