Still cannot play HOF on Mac

[Maga_R]

Hello,

I apologize if it is not the right place to ask for help, but I am increasingly frustrated - I cannot find a way to play Hof on Mac , even though I invested in Windows version of Civ and tried to run it under Windows virtual machine - I was repeatedly asked to insert the game CD, even though it was in the drive.

Is the only way to play HOF to invest in hardcore Windows computer? I do have an old Windows laptop, but I was not able to patch it up to the required patch version because Windows version was too old.

I was also interested in running mapfinder on Mac - but despite reading all AlanH's threads I am still not able to do it . I was once able to install mapfinder successfully, but the whole game acted weird, with "runaway cursor" syndrom, so I unistalled everything.

It seems that part of the problem is that both Mac and Windows version of Civ IV and BTS I have (I am mostly interested in playing BTS) are CDs, not downloads, and they are currently several patches behind. I seem to encounter problems with even patching them to current version.

I would be grateful for any pointers. Do you think Civ download would install properly on Windows virtual machine on Mac (I am using Virtual Box)? Any more pointers on making at least mapfinder work on Mac?

TIA

 

[AlanH]

Hi, welcome

You are correct in saying you cannot play the HoF competition using the Mac versions of Civ4. This is because the mod they require will not run with the Mac version.

You should be able to run the Windows version in a virtual machine and get the same behaviour as on a native Windows PC. So if you update your copy of Windows BtS to the latest version, you should be able to play without the CD. Earlier patches did require the CD.

It sounds as if your basic problem is that you are several patches behind, and you are having trouble updating them. If you can fix that then you should solve your other problems. So - what happens when you download the updater and run it in Windows?

 

[Maga_R]

Wow, it never occured to me downloading newer patch cam solve CD requirement problem. Thank you very much!

It is not working yet properly, though - now I am running into some screen resolution (?) issue:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Initialize Rendered failed. Check DirectX Installation, Latest Graphics Drivers and Graphics Settings Parameters:

width =1024
height=768
flags=0xc
hwnd=0xa056e
adaptrid=0
deviceid=3
Error:creation failed: Invalid 3D device type

-------------------------------------------------------------

Unfortunately I am rather computer illiterate - do you know how I can solve this problem?

TIA,
Maga

 

[AlanH]

Are you trying to run the full DX10/11 version? That will not run in Parallels, as Parallels can only support DX9

 

[s.bernbaum]

FWIW, even on a dedicated Windows machine, you have to download DX9 if you are using Windows 7, according to the experts in the Tech Forum. Apparently, CIV requires DX9 and Windows 7 does not automatically install it.

 

[Maga_R]

As a virtual machine, I am using Virtual Box and I am running Windows XP under it. I am not trying to run any version of DX consiously - how can I check which one is being used?

So far every Windows program was running without problems on that machine - but I never tried any computer game before. I was trying to read instructions on this forum but everybody is seeming to use parallels - I have Virtual Box. I also have Windows XP, not Windows 7. I understand that buying downloadable form of Civ to run under this virtual machine would not solve my problems, right?

 

[z0wb13]

As a virtual machine, I am using Virtual Box and I am running Windows XP under it.

from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/157730

To use the DirectX Diagnostic Tool to determine the version of DirectX that is installed on your computer, follow these steps:

Click Start, and then click Run.
Type dxdiag, and then click OK.
On the System tab, note the version of DirectX that is displayed on the DirectX Version line.
On the various tabs, check the version information for each DirectX file.
When you are finished checking file versions, click Exit.

I am not trying to run any version of DX consiously - how can I check which one is being used?

you must have certain dx9.dll files installed for civ4 to function, but they should be installed by the civ4 installer.

Spoiler :

d3dx9_26.dll, d3dx9_31.dll, d3dx9_32.dll, d3dx9_33.dll

I understand that buying downloadable form of Civ to run under this virtual machine would not solve my problems, right?

correct, but once you patch BtS to version 3.19 you don't need to have a dvd in the drive to run the game. just download the standalone patch from here and launch it like any other program from inside your virtual machine.

if you really want to play with HoF mod, you can use my method here.

 

[Maga_R]

Thank you very much for all the replies. I finally somehow installed all the required dxs and stuff and started my first game. I went pretty well until crashed and then continue to crashed within the same turn :-( - nothing special was happening in this turn, no wonder build with special graphics. But I guess this is subject for another thread.

 

[z0wb13]

that sounds like an xml error. you need to have msxml3 and msxml4 installed. also, i think you need mfc71 msvcp71 msvcr71, which are part of vcrun2003. if you need to install them manually, they come as part of this package.

 

[iggymnrr]

I do it with bootcamp and Windows XP. Seems like I had to find a workaround to get XP to install since it was below the minimum recommended version. But the work around succeeded and I've been using it for years now for HoF use.