No My Games folder and .ini file

[Ne0phyte]

Guys I think bottom line is... the problem is with the copy protection, namely, SafeDisc 4.

Fact is, we have to wait until Deviance or some other group comes out with a crack.

Good job Firaxis on copy game protection, now paying-customers are not able to play.

 

[aro_cz]

In this case I think I know the problem and solution:

Problem:
You downloaded the game, mounted *.mdf file, installed, but after you start the game only splash screen with "loading..." messages in 6 languages appear, then the program exits to the desktop without a warning ...

Solution:
You probably unRARed the archive in the following way: you clicked on *.rar file, selected all files and copied to uncompressed folder, the catch is that you are probably missing *.mds file which is in the LAST archive and that *.mds file is essential to run the game from virtual cd, so get the missing file, mount it again (using *.mds instead*.mdf file) and play (you are probably not going to experience other problems as I assume you have already reinstalled directX and graphic drivers ,

 

[Ne0phyte]

I didn't download.

But how would you be able to install the game succesfully, yet be missing this .mds file? Doesn't make sense. If it installs properly, it means there are no missing files.

 

[aro_cz]

I didn't download.

But how would you be able to install the game succesfully, yet be missing this .mds file? Doesn't make sense. If it installs properly, it means there are no missing files.

You CAN mount *.mdf file, you CAN install without *.mds file, but you CANNOT run the game without that *.mds file (that *.mds file have only 4kbytes and its content will have something to do with copy protection .. I think ;-)

 

[Ne0phyte]

However, what is the solution if you bought the game? I guess I should just download it then and maybe it will work.

 

[Aganerral]

So found a work around, sort of. Dug up a CD-ROM drive I wasn't using, popped that into my system and used it to install/run instead of my DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive. Worked just fine. So if you have spare hardware around, this could be work for others having this issue.

 

[GIDustin]

You CAN mount *.mdf file, you CAN install without *.mds file, but you CANNOT run the game without that *.mds file (that *.mds file have only 4kbytes and its content will have something to do with copy protection .. I think ;-)

I dont see how this has anything to do with the problem. Civ4 does not come with .mds or .mdf files. Mine came with CDs...

For those with Daemon tools installed, turn off all emulation options and set the number of drives to "Disable". The emulation options mess with your REAL cd and cause it to not work.

For those of you who cannot run civ4 without a Daemon Tools mounted ISO of the game, sorry I guess...

 

[Oblvn]

Yes, it seems like the problem is not related to any ini files. They are created on first game start.

Thanks for the files anyway. I tried to enable logging but it seems the games doesn't get to a point where it logs something before the crash.

The problem is clearely related to the safedisk 4 protection. I tried an image of the game mounted with alcohol and daemon tools and anti-blaxx and any other piece of program related to safedisk i could find but to no avail. I would've tried another dvd unit but i don't have any and i don't really want to buy one just for this.

I read on some site that there is some magical program that patches an exe that uses safedisk. Yet i doubt something like that exists if anyone knows anything about this it would be nice to tell us.

So for the people with the same problem: wait for a "patch" that removes the safedisk check.

 

[Kakalamaka]

ok try this. Remove every daemon alcohol and etc. Then uninstall the game. If u have any burner hardware then flash it or try to remove it. Install the game and try if it works. If not then i am out of ideas. maybe i just format my computer and start over.

 

[Oblvn]

Ok, problem solved. As I was saying the game didn't work even after i made an image with alcohol 120 and tried all the anti safedisk stuff. Interesting enough i found a way to run the game after all...

i kept the mdf file but replaced the mds file (the small one) with one available on some torrent sites. I mounted the image with this mds and used anti-blaxx (it asked for a cd otherwise) and to my amazement it worked.

It seems that people sharing this game through bittorrent (tsk tsk) make better dvd images than me : ).

I also saw some advice about using an image and disabling the physical cd/dvd unit from device manager. I guess the game looks at the real unit first and if it doesn't like the unit it crashes.