Problem in Vista

[gfuandrew]

I just got a new computer and am trying to get civ4 and the expansion to run on vista 64-bit. First it says that my computer has low capabilities so it has to run in the lowest setting possible. I can change most of these up and it runs okay. However, if I change resolution settings at all it stops working at startup and goes to a series of flickering screens and then errors.

This is the error.

Initialize Renderer failed. Check DirectX Installation, Latest Graphics Drivers and Graphics Settings Paramaters:

-width =1920
-height =1080
-flags -0xc
-hwnd =0x3029c
-adaptrid =0
-deviceid =1

Error:


And that's it. Obviously i could leave it on a terrible resolution but i'd prefer it to look nice.

 

[ori]

Welcome to CFC

did you install the most recent DirectX 9c release?
if not do so here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...38-db71-4c1b-bc6a-9b6652cd92a3&DisplayLang=en

Also: are the graphics drivers up to date? if in doubt post your dxdiag results file as a file attachment to a new post

 

[gfuandrew]

Welcome to CFC

did you install the most recent DirectX 9c release?
if not do so here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...38-db71-4c1b-bc6a-9b6652cd92a3&DisplayLang=en

Also: are the graphics drivers up to date? if in doubt post your dxdiag results file as a file attachment to a new post

I have directx 10 installed (I just tried 9c just in case and it said I was fine.

I should have the most recent drivers as I bought the computer last week...though I don't know how to find dxdiag results, i'm not much of a computer guy.

Thanks for the welcome by the way.

 

[gfuandrew]

By the way my video card is a ATI Radeon HD3870 512MB GDDR4 and I run my normal resolution at 1920x1080.

 

[ori]

what is the driver date?
also directx 10 does not always include the code the game uses from 9c - but if you tried the above link its fine.

 

[gfuandrew]

what is the driver date?
also directx 10 does not always include the code the game uses from 9c - but if you tried the above link its fine.

driver date is 6/10/08

 

[ori]

on the ati site you can get one that is only a week old - maybe that helps

 

[gfuandrew]

on the ati site you can get one that is only a week old - maybe that helps

errors every time i try it. i've installed it 3 separate times and never works.

 

[ori]

what errors?
also: is your computer from any large vendor like dell or HP? in that case you'd need to get the patch from them..

 

[gfuandrew]

Install worked okay until the restart. Then it says

"Catalyst Control Center: Monitoring program has stopped working. A problem cause the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available."

 

[gfuandrew]

ahh yes i have dell. I'll try there.

 

[ori]

if that happens does event manager contain the actual error?

 

[gfuandrew]

Alright i downloaded the most recent drivers from the dell website. All were listed the same as what I already had installed.

 

[ori]

now I'll go into very low probability stuff:

the only time I got this error on my own machine was when I played around with available memory and the graphics card suddenly had less memory available than it liked - you do have sufficient memory (2-3 GB)?

Also: does any other resolution work?

 

[gfuandrew]

now I'll go into very low probability stuff:

the only time I got this error on my own machine was when I played around with available memory and the graphics card suddenly had less memory available than it liked - you do have sufficient memory (2-3 GB)?

Also: does any other resolution work?

lowest resolution does work. I have 500 GB memory available. Also, my roommate has a similar computer, same issues and error. (different graphics card)

 

[ori]

weird...
how do you set the resolution?
ingame?
try forcing it in the civilizationIV.ini

 

[gfuandrew]

weird...
how do you set the resolution?
ingame?
try forcing it in the civilizationIV.ini

yeah I set it in game, works fine. If I close or minimize it though it freaks out and has to be reinstalled in order for me start the game again.

 

[ori]

you can try the following if it freaks out again:
open the civilizationIV.ini and set the resolution that works there - it should look like this:

; Custom Screen Height, minimum: 768 - Normal resolutions can be set in-game and will be used when set to 0
ScreenHeight = xxx

; Custom Screen Width, minimum: 1024 - Normal resolutions can be set in-game and will be used when set to 0
ScreenWidth = xxx

where xxx are the working resolution numbers - this way it should start again after it had a problem... I am sorry I am out of ideas though as to your actual problem

 

[gfuandrew]

you can try the following if it freaks out again:
open the civilizationIV.ini and set the resolution that works there - it should look like this:

; Custom Screen Height, minimum: 768 - Normal resolutions can be set in-game and will be used when set to 0
ScreenHeight = xxx

; Custom Screen Width, minimum: 1024 - Normal resolutions can be set in-game and will be used when set to 0
ScreenWidth = xxx

where xxx are the working resolution numbers - this way it should start again after it had a problem... I am sorry I am out of ideas though as to your actual problem

Thanks for trying to help either way. It's certainly a strange one.