nVidia GeForce Problems

[hazeroth]

Same thing here - game crashes to desktop, and it struggles often in-game too.

P2.4 SP2
1 gig RAM
GeForce Ti4400 120 MB video RAM

Trying to install the 81.85 drivers, and I get this msg:

Error Code: -5005 : 0x80070002
Error Information:
>Kernel\KernelMedia.cpp (95)
>Kernel\KernelMedia.cpp (95)
>SetupDLL\SetupDLL.cpp (1619)
PAPP:NVIDIA Display Drivers
PVENDOR:NVIDIA Corporation (http://www.nvidia.com/)
PGUID:EFB7D050-CAD2-11D4-B34D-00105A1C23DD
$9.1.0.429
@Windows XP Service Pack 2 (2600) IE 6.0.2900.2180

Argh.

 

[Fallblau]

Boy, the more I fiddle fart with this game, the more weirdness occurs... I *did* have the movie stuttering and slow scroll problems, so I upgraded to 81.85... Then, not only did I have those two, but the globe view started "interlacing"... In both windowed and full-screen modes... So I decided to poke around for some possible solutions...

I found that my game graphic assets were still packed (.pak0 file), and said to myself "Self, I bet it would speed things up if you unpacked those!"... So I did...

NOW, in windowed mode, the first wonder movie per session plays flawlessly, but the second one either shows garbage or plays at 1fps, and the scrolling still stinks, though FRAPS swears that I'm getting between 15 and 30 fps in most places (though I've seen it ditch to 2 occasionally)...

In full screen mode, I now get "Failed to initialize renderer..." which I NEVER got before...

Crappier and crappier... At least I can play, but the more I play, the more I think I like Civ3, frankly... I'm still not used to the gameplay of 4.... Maybe it'll grow on me... Sort of like a fungus...

 

[Snackwell]

I have many of the problems discussed here. Info:

My problem: certain "layers" of graphics aren't shown. This is similar to the "Cheshire Cat" discussed in other threads. Sometimes all or most of the terrain is black and all I can see are blue outilines of the figures. Sometimes all of the graphics is ok except for I can't see some of the text.

.

I have the exact same problem, and also have the nVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 LE. When I updated to the 81.85 driver, the next game I started worked fine for a while, through at least one movie, but then completely crapped out in the same fashion when I hit Judiasm. This is ridiculous, I've got way more specs than the requirements, up-to-date drivers and Windows patches.

Let us know if you hear anything, eh, Josh?

 

[jofesh]

I have fixed my problems with the following adjustments:

* I went back to an old nVidia driver (61.77) link:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_61.77

* I uninstalled Windows Media Player and then reinstalled it.

* Turned off in-game movies in .ini file.

I think the key was WMP, can't tell you why though. With these adjustments I haven't had any graphical problems even at high graphic detail. Hope this solution helps others.

 

[ERIKK]

I am an NVIDIA user, after a couple of hours playing, here are my problems so far:

- glitches on the map here and there but no heavy distortions
- no hammers and trade at all
- choppy intro movie, new game movie
- havent seen any wonder movies yet but expect them to be choppy too
- no cheshire cat or crashes at all

System:
P4 1,3Ghz
Fresh Win2k SP4 install Build 2195
NVIDIA Geforce 4 MX4000 128mb
392 MB internal memory
- all drivers up to date
- currently upped my virtual memory to 4 gig and defragged the hard drive
- running the game not in full window and screen res is 1024x786

I expect a patch will be delivered to fix the problems. People with much better systems suffer from worse bugs than the ones I encounter. I hope they can make the performance of this game better. As my systems can handle much heavier workloads (graphic and non-graphic).

 

[Adam99]

Here's what I have:

NVIDIA GeForce4 MX Integrated GPU
Microsoft XP Pro
AMD Athlon 1.7 GHz
448 MB Ram
Direct X 9

I was getting the failed to initialize renderer error, but now it goes to something XML then shuts down and doesn't say why?

I don't know hardly anything about computers, any help would be much appreciated.

I had a similar xml problem. Since I could not find an unintall component with the program and since it wasn't fully installed, so the control panel uninstall could find it, I deleated the whole faraxis folder, rebooted my pc and reinstalled. And it worked fine after that. I assume it had something to do with not restart the pc after direct x was installed and going straight into the civ 4 installation, so that it didn't take affect. Hope this helps.

BTW, I also have choppy movies. GeForce 128mb something or other.

 

[jofesh]

I have fixed my problems with the following adjustments:

* I went back to an old nVidia driver (61.77) link:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_61.77

* I uninstalled Windows Media Player and then reinstalled it.

* Turned off in-game movies in .ini file.

I think the key was WMP, can't tell you why though. With these adjustments I haven't had any graphical problems even at high graphic detail. Hope this solution helps others.

Regarding this fix I posted earlier, I still have massive display issues when playing multi-player, even though seems to work fine single-player

 

[Elu Venius]

Another Laptop player here,

System : zd7010us
2.66 Ghz Pent 4
512 MB SDRAM 333Mhz
Screen Resolution 1440-900 -17 widescreen

Video card : GeForce4 448 Go
Bus AGP8x
64 MB
Driver Version 5.4.0.1
date 2/3/2004

Problems :

Choppy video and stuttering sound at opening and wonder videos.

Had the fog of war, till I deleted the cache folder.

Still only have no hammers or trade.

Crashes to desktop probably every 30 minutes, but can get it to come back up, without rebooting.

So my laptop is only upgradeable with ram, might have to go back to CIV III, till a patch comes out.

Still the game is playable, but only CTD's and missing content is stopping me from truly enjoying this game.

 

[MTcowboy30]

I have A Geforce FX5200. Where do I fine the currents drivers for this card? I have looked on nVidia site but I only see drivers for other cards.

 

[Cyberstar]

I have A Geforce FX5200. Where do I fine the currents drivers for this card? I have looked on nVidia site but I only see drivers for other cards.

Hey Cowboy, if you look deeper on the nvidia site you'll notice that the newest drivers are for nearly all GF cards. Check out the models. I think you'll find yours listed for using the latest 81.85 driver.

 

[gunnergoz]

nVidea 5700/256 MB
P4 2.53 Ghz/1G RAM
Win XP Pro SP2
SB Audigy 2
All the latest drivers. Choppy sound/video in the wonder movies. Large games eventually slow to a crawl then CTD.
I suspect massive memory leaks and memory management issues need to be addressed.
Good thing Sid's name is on the product or else it could end up another MOO3 debacle. I don't think he'll let it languish.
Not enough beta testing? Could be. Or it could be that the problem is relatively rare and only shows up when thousands of people try the software. Nothing like the "real world" to test a product.
I'm banking upon patience and lots of bug reports like this thread, and they will eventually fix the problems.

 

[oldStatesman]

nVidea 5700/256 MB
P4 2.53 Ghz/1G RAM
Win XP Pro SP2
SB Audigy 2
All the latest drivers. Choppy sound/video in the wonder movies. Large games eventually slow to a crawl then CTD.
I suspect massive memory leaks and memory management issues need to be addressed.
Good thing Sid's name is on the product or else it could end up another MOO3 debacle. I don't think he'll let it languish.
Not enough beta testing? Could be. Or it could be that the problem is relatively rare and only shows up when thousands of people try the software. Nothing like the "real world" to test a product.
I'm banking upon patience and lots of bug reports like this thread, and they will eventually fix the problems.

To be fair to the independent Beta testers - I am assuming they were not involved in the final testing; i.e the last 3 or 4 weeks. Most software in the final stages of development will go into a 'fast track' mode - and at that point only in-house testing is done, which is obviously not as diverse as that done by a larger group.

 

[computer_dudes]

I am experiencing similar problems. After playing the game for about an hour the game becomes very slow. For example when I move units the frame rate drops and their movements and animation seems choppy. If I restart the game it runs smoothly again. The wonder screens are always very choppy. My hardware should be suitable for this game...

CPU: P4 3.4GHz
MEM: 2GB DDR2 533MHz
VID: 256MB GeForce 6800 Ultra OC
HDD: 10000rpm WD Raptor

Hopefully Nvidia will address this in their next driver release or Firaxis will release a patch....

 

[pygbe]

[answer to "I just ordered a 6600 agp8x, will it be good?]


I'm playing with that card (well it's a 6600gt, so even better)
and I have lag problems... after some turn game slows down terribly; need to save and reload and it's ok. Then some other turn and so on...

No other problems, so if you can bear this... it's a good card.

 

[Snackwell]

I hadn't looked in the .ini file, but when I emailed Fraxis about the problems, they replied:

In the mean-time, open your civilizationiv.ini file and look for the following:

; Set to 1 for no in-game movies
NoMovies = 0

Change that to "1".

This will disable movies while in-game and will allow you to continue
playing until the problem is solved.

This lets me play for about half an hour before things start disappearing. Once it was all the trees on the map. Sometimes it's the 'dark terrain' problem. Sometimes it's weird bits of UI. Anyway, saving, quitting out of the game, and restarting works for now.

Because it's not the movies specifically, and it gets worse over time, it's gotta be some kind of memory leak, right?

 

[smallfella]

And I thought I had problems!!!
The only problem with mine is a flicker on the graphics when zoomed out, and then only when the game is several hours in. Zoom in until the flicker goes.
I thought it was me so I've ordered a new graphics card, I should have read this forum or even better waited for the inevitable patch before buying the game.
When will we ever learn?

 

[mabellino]

I have a p4 1.7GHz, 900MB RAM, Geforce FX5200 and a new Audigy SE sound card.
The only probs I have are the intro movie stutters slightly and some of the wonder movies are a bit stuttery. No crashes yet (15+ hrs gameplay) and none of the weird graphical glitches reported here.

Here's what I did...

1. Uninstalled old nVidia drivers and installed the 81.85 ones.
2. Downloaded and installed XP service pack 2
3. Defragged drive even though it was only 3% fragged.
4. Ran Spybot et. al. to make sure no trojans were lurking.
5. Turned off all unnecessary programs such as MSN and most of the things listed under my profile name.
6. Inserted disc.
7. Prayed. A lot.
8. Did the advised re-boot when directX had installed. (already had 9.0c)
9. Switched off all crappy programs that started up again when rebooted.
10. Installed Civ4 as the default installation. Didn't even touch the custom bit!
11. Rebooted
12. Turned off crappy progs again
13. Started playing. Got bored of tutorial and played on my own.

3 games later and everything seems ok.

I don't have the best hardware but it does meet recommended requirements.

 

[sumoworm]

I had all of the above problems initially with a 5200 nividia card. Then I downloaded the tweaker program that allows you to set the pixel shader back down to 1.1. I swear that fixed the problem and I was able to play the game without any major crashes. But I independently screwed up my hdd and had to reinstall windows and now of course civ IV is back to all the problems I once had. I can't find that nvidia tweaker program which allows you to adjust pixel shading. Does anyone know where it is and can you please link it here so the rest of us can try it?

PIII atheolon 1.67
256 ram
ge force 5200

Thanks,
rethinker

 

[Sevenhertz]

I have a 2.8ghz AMD with a Gforce 5200 256mb Asylum card. I have 512mb 3200 (400 mhz) RAM. I run Windows XP Pro SP2 updated 100%. I also have the very newest video drivers.

Any help is much appreciated!

I have the same card as yours and set up and I have not had your problem.
It is not your card.

I do however have the lagging bug, and the eventual game freeze and loading times bugs.

This is all linked to the serious, numerous, catastrophic bugs that are causing this whole fiasco of a game release.

 

[pygbe]

Does anyone know where it is and can you please link it here so the rest of us can try it?

Look for RivaTuner.