Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

Dear Fanatics,
I am currently trying to change my resolution in Civ3 Conquest, but I'm losing hope. I know how to do it, I've read :) :) :) :):) :) :) :):) :) :) :):) :) :) :) ton of articles and disscusions. The problem is I cant find the god damned conquests.ini file. I know where it should be. But as you can see in the screenshot, there is no such a thing.
I also tried to create a new one and put it there - did not work either.

Please, if you have any idea where the problem might be, or better, how to fix it (without re-install), I would really appreciate it.

Thank you so much.
 

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Demo102 said:
Where the heck Is M$ putting the saved games? I have searched the Windows directory for a Virtual Store with no results.
Please forgive my complete incompetence.
Thanks again.
Click to expand...
The VirtualStore folders are in C:\Users\<YourUserName>\Local\Appdata\. This folder and/or some of its subfolders may be hidden: the 'View' menu in Windows Explorer (or whatever M$ calls it these days) should have an checkbox/button to 'Show/hide hidden files/folders'

Would strongly recommend re-installing the game outside ProgramFiles though. Then everything ends up where it should be (according to Civ3).
 
Beaverix said:
Dear Fanatics,
I am currently trying to change my resolution in Civ3 Conquest, but I'm losing hope. I know how to do it, I've read :) :) :) :):) :) :) :):) :) :) :):) :) :) :) ton of articles and disscusions. The problem is I cant find the god damned conquests.ini file. I know where it should be. But as you can see in the screenshot, there is no such a thing.
I also tried to create a new one and put it there - did not work either.

Please, if you have any idea where the problem might be, or better, how to fix it (without re-install), I would really appreciate it.

Thank you so much.
Click to expand...
I see from your screenshot that you've installed the game in the default 'ProgramFiles' location. This is the root of your problem.

Windows7 and onwards will not allow unauthorised programs to write to this directory. When any unauthorised program tries to do so, Windows writes the file to a 'mirror' location in 'VirtualStore' (see my post above). This is where your conquests.ini is likely to be, and also where your savegames will be put. Although Windows knows where these files are, the Civ3 executables do not, since the game was written before VirtualStore became a thing. So every time you start a game, a 'new' .ini file will be created, and then shoved into VS, overwriting the previous.

Re-installing the game in a different location really would be the best option in the long-term.

But if you don't want to do that, you will need to set the game to run in Admin mode, which will authorise the game to write to the ProgramFiles directory. Find the executable (civ3conquests.exe; it's right there in your screenshot), right-click on it to bring up a menu, and you will see an option 'Run as Administrator'. Clicking this once should (I think) tag the file as having 'full control' thereafter, allowing it to to everything it needs to do.

If not, come back here, tell everyone I was wrong, and someone more qualified will steer you right ;)
 
Thanks tjs282! Persistence pays off. Finally found the .ini file and changed the civ3.exe to admin mode. Only two questions left. Anyone remember the command line for full screen no resolution change? I know it's in this forum somewhere but I can't seem to find it.
Also any thoughts on the game freezing on the spaceship completion screen?
Wonderful forum!
 
Demo102 said:
Thanks tjs282! Persistence pays off. Finally found the .ini file and changed the civ3.exe to admin mode. Only two questions left. Anyone remember the command line for full screen no resolution change? I know it's in this forum somewhere but I can't seem to find it.
Also any thoughts on the game freezing on the spaceship completion screen?
Wonderful forum!
Click to expand...
KeepRes=1 is the line you need to add to use your monitor's native resolution.

As far as the Spaceship-movie crash, not sure. I haven't (yet) seen that problem on Win8.1.

I do remember that a similar problem was reported a long while back for an earlier Win-version (don't recall which, sorry), for which one suggested solution was to copy and rename (one of) the Intro-movie(s) as 'Race.bik' (you should be able to find Race.bik in ...\Games\CivIII\Art\Movies\ -- rename it as e.g. 'Race ORIGINAL.bik' first, before putting the copied and renamed file into the same directory).

Not sure if that would work on Win10 though; but if your version of Civ3 can play the Intro-movie successfully, it might be worth trying. This would mean that the game plays the Intro-movie instead of the Spaceship movie. Not ideal, but it should at least get you past the crash.
 
tjs282 I thank you!
I added KeepRes=1 to the .ini file and just for giggles, without renaming the movie files, I went back to the game and let it replay the end of the turn leading to the completion of the spaceship. AND much to my delight and surprise it played through and did not hang-up or jam.
Got to LoVE Windows=NOT
All I can say is WTH and go on playing as if nothing is wrong with the OS/Civ3 combination.
If this is the fix for the crash.....pretty easy one. Thanks!

tjs282 said:
KeepRes=1 is the line you need to add to use your monitor's native resolution.

As far as the Spaceship-movie crash, not sure. I haven't (yet) seen that problem on Win8.1.

I do remember that a similar problem was reported a long while back for an earlier Win-version (don't recall which, sorry), for which one suggested solution was to copy and rename (one of) the Intro-movie(s) as 'Race.bik' (you should be able to find Race.bik in ...\Games\CivIII\Art\Movies\ -- rename it as e.g. 'Race ORIGINAL.bik' first, before putting the copied and renamed file into the same directory).

Not sure if that would work on Win10 though; but if your version of Civ3 can play the Intro-movie successfully, it might be worth trying. This would mean that the game plays the Intro-movie instead of the Spaceship movie. Not ideal, but it should at least get you past the crash.
Click to expand...
 
walletta said:
Figures
Click to expand...

Yeah, the game can be be frustrating that way.

As an off the wall comment, you now have 666 posts to your record. *cue evil music here*
 
@Demo102:

Glad to hear that your Civving is now proceeding unimpeded. You (and Beaverix)'re very welcome -- both to the help, and also to CFC.

And now I have a question. I just re-read your earlier post, and this jumped out at me (this time):
Demo102 said:
Hello all. New here and have recently installed Civ3 PTW from CD onto an ASus laptop running Windows 10
Click to expand...
:eek: Running the game from CD-based installations -- especially from older game-disks -- has become problematic (to say the least) on Win7-10, ever since M$ disabled SecuROM/SafeDisk late last year. NoCD patches of the game executables are now required to continue using most (if not all) of those installations. But your post implies one of two things to me:
  • EITHER Windows10 has (recently?) been updated to bypass/ignore SecuROM-type copy-protection (seems unlikely)
  • OR (by process of elimination...) there are CD-version(s) of Civ3 out there which don't use SecuROM/SafeDisk
So, Demo102, which CD-version are you using? Because maybe that publisher would like some of my money too... (Free market, right? Reward the businesses that offer the best deals, watch and laugh as the others go under...)
 
tjs282 said:
@Demo102:

Glad to hear that your Civving is now proceeding unimpeded. You (and Beaverix)'re very welcome -- both to the help, and also to CFC.

And now I have a question. I just re-read your earlier post, and this jumped out at me (this time)::eek: Running the game from CD-based installations -- especially from older game-disks -- has become problematic (to say the least) on Win7-10, ever since M$ disabled SecuROM/SafeDisk late last year. NoCD patches of the game executables are now required to continue using most (if not all) of those installations. But your post implies one of two things to me:
  • EITHER Windows10 has (recently?) been updated to bypass/ignore SecuROM-type copy-protection (seems unlikely)
  • OR (by process of elimination...) there are CD-version(s) of Civ3 out there which don't use SecuROM/SafeDisk
So, Demo102, which CD-version are you using? Because maybe that publisher would like some of my money too... (Free market, right? Reward the businesses that offer the best deals, watch and laugh as the others go under...)
Click to expand...

tjs282,

So I had seen posts re the NoCD patch and assumed (forgive me) that this was for downloaded versions only because there was no CD. If the NoCD patch will allow me to run my version (CD loaded) without the need to use Disc 1 I would love to have this patch. Can you provide a link for it?
That said, I am running an old version from a 3 CD package that I have installed on machines running Win98, and XP over the years with no problems (well other than the usual). I am currently running it on an ASUS laptop which was purchased about a month ago. Win10 was installed when purchased and updates is enabled so whatever M& pushes at us to fix the crap they released is also installed. The game ran from install without issues except those you kindly fixed for me.
The package is a 3 disc set in a silver box. Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete. It contains Disc 1 Install/Play Disc 2 Play the World and Disc 3 Conquests.
It is from Firaxis games and ( I believe this is the info you want) labeled 2K Games. I'm guessing they were the distributor. The sys reqs are listed as Win98/ME/2000/XP.
If I have omitted anything let me know.
As always, I bow to your wisdom.
 
Demo102 said:
If the NoCD patch will allow me to run my version (CD loaded) without the need to use Disc 1 I would love to have this patch. Can you provide a link for it?
Click to expand...
This is the recent CFC thread that discusses Windows10-woes in detail.

The link to the NoCD patches from the German PCGames magazine is right there in the first post. These patches (for Vanilla and Conquests, the PtW-patch is no longer included in that download) were originally supplied by Firaxis, so (1) should work with your installation, (2) can be regarded as legal, and (3) can be trusted not to malware your machine.

The instructions for patch installation are in German, but you don't need to worry about translating them, because they are misleading/wrong. LauranaKanan elaborated on how to install the patches further downthread, in response to my request for clarification: you can read that, or you can unhide this Spoiler:
Spoiler :
VERY important: the patches in the zipfiles have the same filenames as the original executables, but appear to have been designed to work in tandem with them, rather than to replace them (that's certainly true for the Vanilla patch -- I didn't need the Conquests one).

So (contrary to the given instructions) DO NOT unzip the 'patchpaket' folder directly to your Civ3 installation, because doing so will over-write your executables. Rather, extract the patch(es) to your desktop first, then rename it/them as e.g. 'Civ3 NoCD.exe', then move the renamed file(s) to the relevant Civ3 folder, and then create a shortcut(s) to the patch(es).

Slightly less important (only applies if you use CivAssistII): The Vanilla NoCD patch for some reason prevents CAII from recognizing that the game is running, so it will not update itself automatically after each turn. The auto-saves can still be manually loaded.
The package is a 3 disc set in a silver box. Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete. It contains Disc 1 Install/Play Disc 2 Play the World and Disc 3 Conquests.
It is from Firaxis games and ( I believe this is the info you want) labeled 2K Games. I'm guessing they were the distributor. The sys reqs are listed as Win98/ME/2000/XP.If I have omitted anything let me know
Click to expand...
No, I think that about covers it, thanks
As always, I bow to your wisdom.
Click to expand...
Wouldn't do that if I were you... ;) :lol: :crazyeye: :lol: :crazyeye: :lol:
 
tjs282 said:
This is the recent CFC thread that discusses Windows10-woes in detail.

The link to the NoCD patches from the German PCGames magazine is right there in the first post. These patches (for Vanilla and Conquests, the PtW-patch is no longer included in that download) were originally supplied by Firaxis, so (1) should work with your installation, (2) can be regarded as legal, and (3) can be trusted not to malware your machine.

The instructions for patch installation are in German, but you don't need to worry about translating them, because they are misleading/wrong. LauranaKanan elaborated on how to install the patches further downthread, in response to my request for clarification: you can read that, or you can unhide this Spoiler:
Spoiler :
VERY important: the patches in the zipfiles have the same filenames as the original executables, but appear to have been designed to work in tandem with them, rather than to replace them (that's certainly true for the Vanilla patch -- I didn't need the Conquests one).

So (contrary to the given instructions) DO NOT unzip the 'patchpaket' folder directly to your Civ3 installation, because doing so will over-write your executables. Rather, extract the patch(es) to your desktop first, then rename it/them as e.g. 'Civ3 NoCD.exe', then move the renamed file(s) to the relevant Civ3 folder, and then create a shortcut(s) to the patch(es).

Slightly less important (only applies if you use CivAssistII): The Vanilla NoCD patch for some reason prevents CAII from recognizing that the game is running, so it will not update itself automatically after each turn. The auto-saves can still be manually loaded.
No, I think that about covers it, thanks
Wouldn't do that if I were you... ;) :lol: :crazyeye: :lol: :crazyeye: :lol:
Click to expand...

Ok, so just to admit how computer illiterate I am (and why I bow to your wisdom) can you give me step by baby step instructions as to how and which patches to extract and how and where to patch them into the Civ3 folder?
I know...pathetic, sorry.
 
You can't hurry them the same way, IIRC.
 
Hmmmm. The Forbidden Palace is a SW so you can't build it twice&#8230; better safeguard the original core of your civ and then move the capital around as required.
 
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