Next Patch?

[Bongo-Bongo]

They "supposedly" know the cause now of much of this as posted on the main page a couple weeks ago here. Even knowing the cause, the programming for netcode / memory clearing is so poor they still don't have the multiplayer fix done.

THIS is what needs to be fixed NOW. Not in another week, TODAY. They acknowledged the problem and people were patient, but the patience is running out.

~Zy

Its not a case of just being able to fix it and releasing it. Any fixes need to be tested. Fixing this bug could have knock on effects, causing more serious problems so if this is being fixed, then it needs to be tested properly so sadly, you will have to be patient, it will be worth it in the end.

 

[Frostyboy]

I really hope the wonder (and end) movies get better this time

 

[Wolfwood]

I really hope the wonder (and end) movies get better this time

Yup, the end movie did not work for me in the latest patch, although it had in the previous patches (only showed the first frame). (space victory on both times).

 

[warpstorm]

I really hope the wonder (and end) movies get better this time

This is beyond the scope of most patches. When a project ships the first people to be tasked on the "next big thing" are usually the artists and designers. A skeleton crew of programmers is all that is usually left. Trust me, you don't want programmer art (in most cases - there are exceptions).

 

[zx1111]

I remember that they quoted end of Jan. or early Feb. for SDK in some interview...
Now, well in February...No new news on SDK.. or patch..
I guess we had to wait at least till End of Feb.
Or should I lower my expectation to first half of this year to avoid disappointment?

 

[Abaddon]

there won't be a patch.. we'll have to wait for the X-packs now

Oh, there will be a patch after the 1st X-pack to sort the problems it brings with it aswell

 

[DangerousMonkey]

I think they need to make multiplayer work properly. That'd be enough for me.

 

[warpstorm]

there won't be a patch..

I predict that there will be a patch.

 

[Willem]

there won't be a patch.. we'll have to wait for the X-packs now

Oh, there will be a patch after the 1st X-pack to sort the problems it brings with it aswell

There will be a patch, there's still some issues to resolve as of 1.52.

 

[Sahkuhnder]

Soren (or was it thamer) said in one of the threads that it will be released in a few weeks.

This thread has Mustafa Thamer (lead developer) saying on Jan. 28th:

"The next patch has even more gameplay fixes, improvements and another major system and video memory reduction. Also the SDK and PitBoss server is on the way - so lots of good stuff to look forward to. We would like to have the patch out within a couple of weeks. Thanks for your patience and feedback."

 

[Alistic]

I think they need to make multiplayer work properly. That'd be enough for me.

Agreed. Its marketed as built for mulitplayer from the ground up. I think it should be stripped of game of the year, if this isnt addressed in the next patch.

 

[sliganian]

I look forward to the patch as someone who is very 'in the middle'.

Did 1.52 make the game playable? Yes. For the most part.

However,
1) I often have 'pixelated' bits on the Leaders heads, or on my little image flag. Ditto for the Wonder Movies. Yeah, 'sometimes' things look fine, but most often they don't.

2) Sometimes when I go to do combat the zoom-in happens but I don't see my units onscreen but I can see the defenders react. Or humourously, they run across the Ocean and up to the city. Very buoyant Macemen.

3) Map lag in late game is still very very annoying.

4) I still see the occasionally little pop-up (WinXP) at the bottom that says 'You are low on Virtual memory.'

Hmm... Athalon 3200, 2.2 Ghz, 512MB ram, Radeon 9200 128MB Video with Catalyst 5.13 patch. That would seem to be enough.

And telling players to 'use a smaller map' is a horrid cop-out, akin to a Groucho Marx response:
Man: "Doc, my arm hurts when I go like this."
Groucho: "Don't go like that."

 

[Willem]

Hmm... Athalon 3200, 2.2 Ghz, 512MB ram, Radeon 9200 128MB Video with Catalyst 5.13 patch. That would seem to be enough.

Not really. If you're running Windows XP, 512 should be considered a minimum for RAM. The OS will use up almost half of that on it's own. Do yourself a favour and get at least 512 more. Oh and your video card is a bit slow, you should have a 9600 or better for optimal performance.

 

[DaviddesJ]

Hmm... Athalon 3200, 2.2 Ghz, 512MB ram, Radeon 9200 128MB Video with Catalyst 5.13 patch. That would seem to be enough.

It doesn't seem like enough to me. I think 512MB is just too little for a modern computer, and you should expect to have problems with such a configuration. And compared to the cost of the computer, the cost of upgrading to 1GB is trivial---it's less than the cost of Civ4!

 

[Roland Johansen]

I still see the occasionally little pop-up (WinXP) at the bottom that says 'You are low on Virtual memory.'

Hmm... Athalon 3200, 2.2 Ghz, 512MB ram, Radeon 9200 128MB Video with Catalyst 5.13 patch. That would seem to be enough.

Sorry to hear that you are experiencing problems. If your system is complaining about a shortage of virtual memory, then this doesn't have that much with your system values. It's a setting where you're using a part of your hard drive as 'virtual' memory. The size of this virtual memory can be set in Windows (Right click my computer -> properties -> advanced -> performance settings -> advanced -> Virtual Memory change). It is often said that setting this value higher than about 2 times your physical memory isn't very usefull as Windows cannot use it effectively. But I don't know the finer points about that. Note that virtual memory is very slow compared to physical memory.

The larger map sizes are using a lot of memory later in the game. If you are thinking about upgrading your computer for Civ4 and future games, then I would advice you to buy an additional 512 MB of memory. Your memory size is relatively small compared to the processor speed. You could at present only try to minimize the amount of programs that are loaded at startup to preserve the valuable MB's of memory that you have.

Good luck.

 

[BirraImperial]

It doesn't seem like enough to me. I think 512MB is just too little for a modern computer, and you should expect to have problems with such a configuration. And compared to the cost of the computer, the cost of upgrading to 1GB is trivial---it's less than the cost of Civ4!

1GB is well worth it, not just for CIV4

 

[V. Soma]

"The next patch has even more gameplay fixes, improvements and another major system and video memory reduction. Also the SDK and PitBoss server is on the way - so lots of good stuff to look forward to. We would like to have the patch out within a couple of weeks. Thanks for your patience and feedback."

I call everyone's attention to the words
"would like to" and "couple"...

Couple: it can mean 3-4 weeks, if we take it that the time is less than a month
(that is, from 28th of Jan.: 20-25th of Febr.)

Would like to: it will or will not happen within the time (3-4 weeks)

What seems to be sure though is the patch itself:

"The next patch has" - it involves the existence of a patch

 

[Older than Dirt]

I'm glad Firaxis is more reliable than the place where I work. Here 3 to 4 weeks, is more likely to be 3 to 4 years - seriously! I work for the government. We don't count on anything until the day after it happerns.

 

[GIO888]

V.Soma;
Read my mind!!!