Patch 1.09 released!

[CTDsux]

I agree 100% with Cytadc.

I think there are alot of ppl who do have problems but seldom post about them (like me). this is the first time ive ever posted a rant about a game, becuase usually i either just stop playing it or manage to fix it or watever, but this is absolutely rediculous. I have never had this much trouble for a game that i bought.

I had continuous CTD before patch, but everything else worked fine. Now after the patch, i have the same (if not more) CTD occurrences only this time i have to reboot every time to start the game again. Also i am missing some sound files, the wonder movies' resolution and framerate has dropped CONSIDERABLY. In late game (past 1940s, medium map) i have to save game every single turn, as i seldom get to complete a whole turn without having to reboot. This is frustrating me beyond belief, and as u guys sed before, i dont like the feeling of paying for beta testing.

im so frustrated right now i cant even make sentences (or spell for that matter).

it annoys me when people say "its impossible to make games work on every system". they obviously did not do a good job trying, considering how long these threads are, and the fact that i have never had a game on my system that had this amount of problems. And have never had anything that uses 100% of my available memory as well as 100% of available CPU, even when it is idle and minimized.

/end rant
//sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[vinstafresh]

I had no critical problems with 1.00, but reading the comments here I was in doubt. I installed the patch anyway and I notice that the game is slower now than it was before. Now I'm experiencing crashes too. The signal to the monitor just terminates and the sound skips in a loop. I can't even reset the computer, I have to turn the power off and restart. This was after 2 hours of play or so. I am very disappointed, I'm reverting back to 1.00

 

[CloudyPeak]

Civ IV has been rushed for sure !

I'm positive you have all heard enough about it by now.

Well I just have to share my disappointment and its very sad as I LOVE the CIV game and have had years of enjoyment out of all the older versions and its just "the very best game ever" for me ........ til now.

Well ppl I have run the version 1.0 with Crashes to desktop ... stuttery sound and wonder video's ..... jerky graphics etc etc ... yea you have all heard enough. OK install the patch and its a big improvement .... and just when I get my faith back its the biggy ........ Crashed completly and computer had to restart itself .... it blew Windows XP SP2 right out.

Its gone now .... I uninstalled it ...... and put it far away. I will wait until its fixed proper but I really think it may be a lemon and never really be right. I'm going back to Conquests!!!!

I run absolutely every game flat out no problems. I have a grunty computer like you ppl with all the bells and whistles and I have NEVER had a problem till now. I'm off to buy Age of Empires III .... wish me luck !!

 

[hajoobies]

mine crashes to desktop while playing still.

 

[Natronomonas]

I agree 100% with Cytadc.

I think there are alot of ppl who do have problems but seldom post about them (like me). this is the first time ive ever posted a rant about a game, becuase usually i either just stop playing it or manage to fix it or watever, but this is absolutely rediculous. I have never had this much trouble for a game that i bought.

I had continuous CTD before patch, but everything else worked fine. Now after the patch, i have the same (if not more) CTD occurrences only this time i have to reboot every time to start the game again. Also i am missing some sound files, the wonder movies' resolution and framerate has dropped CONSIDERABLY. In late game (past 1940s, medium map) i have to save game every single turn, as i seldom get to complete a whole turn without having to reboot. This is frustrating me beyond belief, and as u guys sed before, i dont like the feeling of paying for beta testing.

im so frustrated right now i cant even make sentences (or spell for that matter).

it annoys me when people say "its impossible to make games work on every system". they obviously did not do a good job trying, considering how long these threads are, and the fact that i have never had a game on my system that had this amount of problems. And have never had anything that uses 100% of my available memory as well as 100% of available CPU, even when it is idle and minimized.

/end rant
//sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I concur. I have frequent random exits to desktop, freezing requiring reboot, and prior to the 1.09 patch, the odd random reboot.

I'm really enjoying the gameplay of Civ4 - I more or less skipped from Civ1/2, so it's all quite new and fun, except I get into it then the GAME QUITS ON ME!! The autosave needs to be going every turn just to have a "functional" game.

All my other games, apps etc work fine - including DC projects that show my system *should* be able to handle some stress no problems - and yet Civ4 still brings everything down!

I think the patch might have helped a little, but it feels like splashing some water around while Rome is burning... (can't remember the real saying, but you get the drift...)

 

[abbamouse]

I'm getting new bugs I haven't seen before. Unfortunately, I don't know whether thi was my upgrade from an nvidia ti 4200 to a 6200 or the upgrade to 1.09. The most annoying new bug is that sometimes part or all of one or more leader names and scores will fail to display with the others. The problem is even "remembered" if I save; restarting the game and loading the save doesn't fix it. This is very annoying; I sometimes can't figure out how to contact a civ since it doesn't show up on the screen and I can't seem to get a dialogue screen from the foreign advisor.

 

[dawn]

The most annoying new bug is that sometimes part or all of one or more leader names and scores will fail to display with the others. The problem is even "remembered" if I save; restarting the game and loading the save doesn't fix it.

I found that each time before I start the game (sometimes mulitple times during a gaming session - but that's another story), deleting the cache directory helps in a big way. You can see if the cache is cleared when the game loads - Loading XML screen will show as Cached or Uncached. I believe there is a way to clear it when loading the game (holding down <ctrl> or something like that. I do it manually in the c:\documents and settings, \app data, \my games, \civ 4 directory. Just delete the cache directory under there.

As for defragging (mentioned elsewhere), this also helps me. Run even if the system says it doesn't need it.

Paging file - move it to a seperate HD if you can. Not just a different drive letter, but totally different HD. For most people that's not possible, but Windows performs better all around if the paging file is away from the c:\windows partition.

 

[Jack Roo]

Well I have it working, ignored advice from my computer shop about replacing and upgrading drivers, and I take back what I said about the developers covering their backsides, I was just frustrated, but the advice about making sure everything is as up to date as it possibly can be worked for me. As for the game it been pretty stable and although it looks a bit xp-ish with lots of pastels but that's for another thread.

 

[ImmortalU]

Its strange some people experiancing slower gameplay, mine is definatley faster....

 

[Ahimsa]

We need a class-action law suit

Latte, anyone?

 

[Rising Sun]

Well im not sure if i wanna download that patch or not, my pc can handle HUGE world with max civs in it but some cases i do lag and sometime overheated my cpu/video causes it to crash my pc. My pc barely meet the requirements.

Anyway the only things im not happy with Civ IV is the combat system, since most of you guys heard that longbowman can shoot down a gunship or spearman can defend well against a tank, that was just totally stupid. Im still looking for solutions to correct this before i play again or never.

Sadly seen so many ppls with problems after patching up even slowing down or worst before the patch was release.

 

[Ttocs]

FYI, on my P4 1.5GHz/1 GB RAM/SB Live/GeForce 6600GT system, the latest NVIDIA drivers fixed most of my problems (corrupt textures when zoomed out)...the patch crashed my system once, but has worked fine ever since...and now the wonder movies are watchable (they were choppy pre-patch)...

I also had my saved game (from 1.00) jump back 10 years...I got the 100 turns left message in 1940!

 

[AngryCat]

Well, isn't this dandy! I initially downloaded the patch (patch... HAH!) because I was having a few issues with the occasional stuttery movie. I thought "Hey, it's a patch, and those fix things!", and merrily installed it. I double-click my CIV4 icon, the 2K movie plays *without* a single hitch! "Whoohoo!" I exclaim loudly to the general irritation of my neighbours, but what do I care, it seems like all my problems are fixed! I start a new game, pick a huge world and prepare myself for hours upon hours of fun!

Not gonna happen. Build stonehenge, and after a minute of stuttering, I finally get past the blueprint stage. Unfortunately, I've lost my patience, and I cancel the movie. Some turns go by, and I notice a drop in performance. A few more turns go by, and the game crashes. Violently. My computer makes strange noises, my monitor flickers on and off, and there's nothing I can do except to reset the damn thing. Tough luck, I guess, and reload the game from a few turns back. I get to play for half an hour: crash, reset, reload, crash ad nauseum.

This is the fun part! I had absolutely no troubles with playing huge world before, even after uncovering the entire map - now I can't have a map larger than 45x45 without risking crashes every turn! Even after trying all the tips I've read here previously, and applying a few tricks of my own, nothing works. So thank you Firaxis, for making a patch that destroys an otherwise excellent game! And thank you for showing me just how incompetent a human being can be - you have gotten me to pray to the aliens again, begging for a quick, ruthless subjugation.

I swear, I'm going to found my own city out in the wilderness somewhere, so I can train my own warriors to smite bad programmers...

 

[maccool]

Went to Multi-player, did not get prompt/pop-up for download. Went to Advanced/Check for updates and the computer and/or game seemed to lock up.

I then went to the archive and downloaded direct. When I run the executable (v109PATCHREL.exe), I get the error response pop-up below (I have the image file of the window, but the text should suffice).

Thanks,

Mac


The setup has detected that no version of Sid Meier's Civilization 4 is installed.
This update requires that a previous version of the application be installed.

 

[medicstu]

http://www.civfanatics.net/downloads/civ4/patch/v109PATCHREL.exe

if ya had problems d/l it from within the game like me:/

 

[Numdydar]

I pre-bought the game (CD version) and installed just fine on both.

Computer A
2.4G Dual core Intel CPU
1G RAM
ATI 850XL
SB Audigy 2

Computer B
3G Intel (Single core)
1G RAM
ATI 9800 Pro
SB Audigy 4

The game ran with ABSOLUTELY no problem on A straight out of the box.

The ran ALMOST fine on B with the following issues
Random lockups where I had to reboot. Times between lockups varied from hours to several minutes.
Stuttering with the in game movies.
Lagging with late game events.

As I play on B as A is my wife's PC (believe it or not I still played a lot. Why? Because the game is FUN. I deal with these issues and continue to play the game anyway. If the game locks up, I simplely reboot and load an autosave and move on. To me this is NOT a big deal. I am not sure why it is to so many people.

The patch (1.09) downloaded fine through the in-game update on both PC's and I do have a firewall installed (Linksys 114FP).

Since the patch the following is true.
PC A still has no issues and gameplay has been much improved.

PC B has the gameplay enhancements as well but has the following issues.
Random lockups still occur but are much less often.
Movies still have issues.

I am willing to live with these problems, mainly because the game is so good, I don't really care about what I consider relitively minor issues. I do not think I have played on a huge map yet with either PC, but I have done large on both PC's with no issues other than those noted above.

One other note; I do NOT have the latest video drivers for B's video card. I am using drivers dated 2/2005 versus 11/2005. I have tried the new drivers and they had no effect on the issues I was having on PC B. The reason that I am not using the newer drivers (for those who care , is that the new drivers cause me random lockups in other games I play regularly. If I cared enough, I would just upgrade the video card on PC B (sounds like a nice xmas present doesn't it , anyone listening)

The bottom line for me (for those that have read this far is:
The game was worth every penny so far
The patch has improved the gameplay and improved some of my issues on PC B.

And before I get flamed by everyone that still have issues, 90% of all software issues with ANY software program (not just games) are due to misconfigurations of the OS, hardware (i.e. bios, etc), or improper installs. I do not overclock, have non-standard bios settings, and I only use two downloaded apps (i.e. non-shrinked wraped) weather pluse and window blinds. So before Take2/Firaxis gets blamed for all your issues, look to see what else is going on with your system first.

 

[blue3c]

Went to Multi-player, did not get prompt/pop-up for download. Went to Advanced/Check for updates and the computer and/or game seemed to lock up.

I then went to the archive and downloaded direct. When I run the executable (v109PATCHREL.exe), I get the error response pop-up below (I have the image file of the window, but the text should suffice).

Thanks,

Mac


The setup has detected that no version of Sid Meier's Civilization 4 is installed.
This update requires that a previous version of the application be installed.

Mac, you got a bad incomplete patch. It actually kills your exe file. You have to uninstall and reinstall. But you may have to reinstall uninstall then reinstall. Then patch at your own risk. Good luck with that. I suggest putting it away until it is tested, and many people post raves about it in here. Until then you risk ctd and hard crashes. The two combined can hose windows or kill your hdd. Hard crashes, depending on your set up can kill your drive.
For those of you about to tell me they won't. Go back to your little A+ class.
Anyway good luck Mac.

 

[Yrth]

Last night I fired up CivIV while holding down the SHIFT key as others had mentioned. I saw the message that it loaded without a cache and I was able to play maybe 10 turns without a problem. I'm in the middle of a war so each move took a while. The only reason I stopped was because it was movie time and I had to quit.

I'm about to start up again. Hopefully, I'll go a while without a crash. For some reason, I'm thinking that the SHIFT key load up is better than manually removing the cache files but that could just be wishful thinking on my part as the latter technique did not seem to help me much.

 

[Harkonnen]

Yrth
As I noticed during my patch development, cache issues show up only during start-up phase. I.e. if game loads up till menu, cache deletion won't help anything.

 

[honus]

Right out of the box this game worked very well for me. Now that I've installed the patch it runs really slow, has choppy video and sometimes just freezes. Ugg! Maybe the next patch??

P4 1.9GHz, 512MB RAM, ATI Radeon 9600XT