Should Everything Be Black?

[DaveyBoyo]

Alright, hey guys.

I just bought the game last week and upon installing it, I was told my machine (an Acer laptop) did not meet the minimum specifications and the game would not properly initialize. The computer is a little more than a year old, so I am not sure as to why it does not meet the specs. I'm thinking it might be because Warcraft III (monumental in terms of disk space) is also installed.

When I started a new game, everything was black except for trees, cities and the odd Oasis, etc. Should it be like this? On the box it shows nothing like that. I'm not talking about fog of war, but I am confused. I can see the outlines of water, but once I have explored a square (for example, hills) it remains black. Does this have something to do with my graphics or what?

Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Dave

 

[civ_god06]

Chances are your video crad does not meet the requirements. Could you list the specs of the laptop please.

Or better still post a copy of your dxdiag.

 

[DaveyBoyo]

Intel Celeron Processor
Windows XP Home Edition - Version 2000 - Service Pack 2
1.50 GHz
448 MB of RAM

 

[crunch]

Patch the game to 1.61: http://www.civfanatics.com/civ4/patch/. If that won't help, search this forum for "black terrain".

 

[kornish_pasty]

Please post your DXDIAG via clicking on the Go Advanced option

 

[DaveyBoyo]

I'm hoping this is what you wanted..

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 9/6/2006, 14:30:58
Machine name: ACER-B0474DC4D4
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Acer, inc.
System Model: Aspire 3500
BIOS: Phoenix NoteBIOS 4.0 Release 6.0
Processor: Intel(R) Celeron(R) M processor 1.50GHz
Memory: 446MB RAM
Page File: 246MB used, 808MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

 

[civ_god06]

can you post the part under display as it will be the video card causing problems

Thanks

 

[DaveyBoyo]

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
Display Tab 1: No problems found. Direct3D 7 test results: The tests were cancelled before completing. Direct3D 8 test results: The tests were cancelled before completing. Direct3D 9 test results: The tests were cancelled before completing.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Music Tab: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.
Network Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (n/a)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: SiS M661MX
Manufacturer: SiS
Chip type: SiS 661FX Rev 01
DAC type: Internal
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1039&DEV_6330&SUBSYS_00821025&REV_00
Display Memory: 64.0 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 800 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
Driver Name: SiSGRV.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.3654 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 3/1/2005 23:47:32, 862208 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
VDD: n/a
Mini VDD: sisgrp.sys
Mini VDD Date: 3/2/2005 00:09:02, 240640 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71ED9-2070-11CF-D37D-8820A1C2CB35}
Vendor ID: 0x1039
Device ID: 0x6330
SubSys ID: 0x00821025
Revision ID: 0x0000
Revision ID: 0x0000
Video Accel:
Deinterlace Caps: n/a
Registry: OK
DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Enabled

 

[civ_god06]

The problem is that your video card does not support hardware transform and lighting.

You should try updating drivers from laptop manufacturers website and get the 1.61 patch.

Other than that there is not a lot you will be able to do. Sorry

 

[DaveyBoyo]

so you're sayin even if i update the drivers and download that patch it still probably wont work?

 

[civ_god06]

Probabbly not but its worth a try isnt it?

 

[crunch]

You can also try this workaround in-game: Hit Escape, Enter Worldbuilder, and there find the option to reveal entire map.

 

[DaveyBoyo]

*sigh..thanks for the help guys

I even tried that Harkonnen thing but nothing worked. I put everything back in the box and I'll just wait til I get an upgrade on my desktop til i play it.

Later

 

[monolith94]

I have the same problem, and am using a 2.2 GHz AMD Athlon XP 3200+. Not my computer, how do I find out what graphics card the computer uses? And what's a 'DxDiag'???

 

[civ_god06]

click start, run and type dxdiag

Then click on save all info and attach the text file to a post using the go advanced button