Patch 1.09 released!

There is a "robustness" principle (frequently noted in RFCs) which I just don't accept. It states "be democratic with what you get, be strict with you give". It's about the code, protocols and interfaces.

Whenever I write something, I prefer using "be pain in the a** with whatever you get". Otherwise a lot of bugs become legal, and a lot of ambiguities appear.

Damn, even HTTP has legitimate bug with chunked output. It should end with \n\n, but it ends with just \n (probably vice versa). Read RFC and check google output with telnet (or any other web site). And FireFox has stepped on this stone with their first version... I even saw request for fixing at RentACoder

 

As much as I hate to bang on about it I agree also. Would it be acceptable for a playstation/XBOX game to be released in this state? I know they don't have compatibility issues, but I think the real gripe is that SO MANY systems & cards were not Beta tested. I agree that 99% is an acceptable success rate and that some systems will always have issues, but I personally don't believe Firaxis came anywhere near this figure (on systems THEY said should work).
They deserve credit for getting the problem fixed so quickly (For those unaware Rome total war suffered CTD in the same way and to his date, STILL no patch). However, there is still no excuse for not getting it right first time.

Not sure how it works in the US, but in the UK you can basically take any game back if it doesn't work (even unpatched). In the US, either they should accept returns no questions asked, or they should ensure proper testing. They can't have it both ways.

This issue has slowly been getting worse over the last 6 or 7 years and it is time some kind of legislation was implemented in the major gaming countries, to force publishers to hit certain targets in relation to compatibility on release and also revised targets after a given time period, to allow for patching. The difficult bit is coming up with a sensible & reasonable solution which doesn't hold back games producers. HOWEVER, THERE MUST BE A WAY!

 

Created this account just to let Hark know that his work made it possible to play this game...it would CTD for me after a while, but not any more...and there is no reason a game like this should cause my rig to CTD...thanks man!

 

I also haven't had a CTD since applying his patch. I can actually play huge maps with 18 civs, which was previously a very bad idea.

 

I am downloading v1.52 now, so let's hope that this is the one we have been waiting for.

 

sorry, wrong thread

 

I think we need to close this thread .

 

With a PS2 or an X-Box there is just one configuration for the developers to test the game on, with the PC there is almost an unlimited amount of different combinations, so there is no way in which they can get the game to work fine for all possible pc combinations. When people find a bug for their system, they can report it and they fix it.

 

Or, when they find many bugs, they can report all of them and they can all be fixed.... which is what is finally happening : )
: )

Did I mention I'm happy after the 1.52 patch : )

 

sure sure sure sure sure

 

Let me start out by saying that although I am not totally clueless when it comes to computing I am no genious either. While I do understand half of the technical advice that is given here the other half might be over my head. Having said this I recently purchased Civ 4 and was really looking foward to dominating the game but have encountered countless problems just tryng to get it to work. Currently after much effort and sweat (and cursing and contemplating just sticking to plaing Civ 3) I am now to the point where the game plays (although a bit slowly, specially late in the game, during wonder movies {heavy stuttering and static}, and in the diplomacy leader clip {really slows down when attempting to initiate the leader screen between turns). However I am now in the latter stages of a game and the problems seem to be getting worse. Recently upon completion of the Space Elevator wonder the computer froze and I had alot of difficulty even getting Task Manager to come up. I shut Civ 4 down and restarted the system which overcame this problem (I was still not able to view the movie but the computer did not freeze this time). Yet when I completed the Space Race and earned a Space Race Victory the computer crashed again. In summarry I need help in four particular areas:

1. Improving game speed between turns (specially when a diplomacy window is going to appear).
2. Improving or eliminating wonder movie performance.
3.Improving game speed in general (regardless of what graphics quality sacrifices I must make).
4. Improving Intro and Victory movie performance (or getting it to play at all) or eliminating them.

Here is what I have done so far:

1. All updates for Windows are installed.
2. Latest version of DirectX installed.
2 1/2. Direct X ran and tested (passed all tests).
3. Latest Sound and Video Drivers installed.
4. Requirements checked and passed.
5. Page File on Virtual Memory set to Min=Max
6. Sound Acceleration turned off.
7. Direct3D enabled.
8. Direct3D acceleration disabled.
9. Messed with many memory saving settings in the _Civ4Cofig file.
10. Downloaded and installed latest Civ 4 patch.
11. Messed with many memory saving settings in the _Civ4Config file (again).
12. Turned all the Video settings to Low within the options Menu in the game.

Here is what I have not done so far:

1. I have not changed the AGP memory size on my BIOS settings (becouse I do not know how or where to).
2. I have not disabled Antialiasing (becouse I cannot find where to do so {have looked everywhere in DirectX and in the Display and System Utilities in the Control Panel}).
3. Have not been able to clear Game Cache (can't find file, tried to follow both paths listed on this forum but so far have been unable to get there)

Here is what I suspect might be wrong:

1. When I downloaded the patch I did not do it through the game rather I logged on to the Official Web Site and got it through there while the game was off. As a result it did not save the patch within the Sid Mier's Civ 4 Folder but instead under My Documents in a folder I created myself. When I installed it I saw the Civ screen come up so I assumed everything went ok, could this be the problem?

2. I have made several changes within the _Civ4Config file but I have noticed that almost none of them have taken effect. List:
1. HideMovieBackground = 1 (yet it stills shows the background)
2. MemSaver = 1 (alt-tab function still works)
3. Bink16Bit = 1 (cant really tell whether this change took effect but there was no improvement in game play. It was suppossed to switch from true color to hi-color movies)
4. BinkInterlace = 1 (can't really tell if this took effect or made a difference).
5. Disabled background music (this actually did take effect!).
6. NoMovies = 1 (nothing happenned still get all the in-game movies)
7. AutoSaveInterval = 0 (one of the few changes that did work, no more auto-saves).
WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? WHY ARE SOME CHANGES FUNCTIONING AND OTHER NOT?

3. The first time I ran Civ 4 after installing the patch the game said that some of the system requirements were barely met the settings had therefore been altered and that this might effect game play. Are my problems just a matter of computing power and I either have to live with what I have or is there anything else I can do?

I apologize for the length of this letter and I do appreciate any help offerred and your time in reading this long list of complaints. I have been plaing Civ for about 13 years now and I have always loved the game so this is pretty disappointing since I have never had such a problem running a game before. Once again thanks for any help I can get and good gaming to every one.

 

1.09 did very little to address these issues. Try the latest patch, 1.61 which you can find here.

 

talk about necromancing...

 

Was that response intended for me or someone else? If it was for me I have downloaded the latest patch v1.61 already but my problems continue. I am especially perplexed by the fact that some of the changes I made in the config file have taken effect while others have not. Anyways thanks for the help if you were replying to my post, if not thanks anyways.

 

That wan intended for you, it was the first one after you posted. It's to you definetly.

 

Of course it was intended for you. This thread is about about 1.09 and nowhere did you explain that you had downloaded any other patch.

Sorry. That was the only suggestion I had. The only other thing I can think of is your computer may not be up to scratch. You need a recent video card and at least 512Meg of RAM. Preferably a Gig. But you probably knew that already.

 

I'm using patch 1.5something. Works for me and I'm not going to risk a patch that will screw it all up for me. Maybe you can try that one