The game is unplayable

[microbe]

Since my old T30 shows black terrain, I tried to use my parent's newly purchased R52 (Mobile Intel 915GM/GMS, 910GML Express Family). The game loads perfectly.

But after just a few turns, the computer crashed with an error in atapi.sys (some error like KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR).

I've heard people saying "most people don't have any problems". However the game has problem on both computers I've tried. They are both laptops, so did Firaxis actually test the game on a popular laotop, ever?

I'm officially pissed off.

 

[xguild]

There are a lot of people "claiming" that there game is completetly bug free and they seem to get off on coming to the "bug" forum to proclaim that fact, but for the most part they are full of S***.

The game is buggy, it does have a lot of problems and the only way you are playing a bug free game is if you are doing it with blinders on. The truth is that a lot of people with elite systems aren't disrupted by the memory leak (because they have sooo much memory, 1GB+) and some PC configurations don't seem to affected by the severe game crashing bugs.

That doesn't however mean that they can avoid the in game bugs that litterly plaque the game (scan the bug report forum if you want to try and make a list) but I would say at this point it is in excess of 100 (minor in game) bugs.

The most serious bugs and hopefully the first one to be fixed is going to be the memory leak. Although right now we don't have confirmation that there is a memory, it's pretty obvious to me at least that there is. If you play the game long enough it will lag out and eventually crash on you (especially on standard or larger maps with lots of civs). I did a few test and all I did was load up the game and let it sit there and it eventually crashed on it's own without me ever taking a turn.

This is likely what's affecting your labtop, memory leaks are usually responsible for the countless "unusual" errors that you might get. In essence when there is a memory leak in a piece of software, you can expect your machine to react randomly, which is why some people have no problems at all and some people had to re-install their operating system after trying to run the game that resulted in a complete operating system failure.

If you can't wait to play, people have had a lot of luck with doing a Format and clean re-install of the operating system. Probobly because this is the only way the game was ever tested.

 

[robwr]

I think game developers should be forced to make and test their games only on systems that are the minimum spec from the box - no using 1GB RAM systems with dual processers and what-the-heck. Then we'd see problems like performance slow-downs and memory leaks finally fixed before release!

 

[AsnoT]

it's close to impossible to check every configuration out there for possible incompatibilities with a program/game.

i was surprised to see that civ4 runs without problems (no init error etc, there ARE gameplay bugs) on both my computers i tried it on.

on the other hand, expecting a game to run flawlessly on a laptop may be wishing for the stars.
laptops are problematic since most do not have a real gfx CARD but a gfx chip soldered onto the mainboard, and to reduce heat problems components (cpu, gfx chip) may have lower core speeds.
intel onboard gfx chips don't have hardware T&L (info from another thread, not confirmed by me), adding to the problem list.

in general, laptops are designed for office appliances, not gaming

 

[microbe]

in general, laptops are designed for office appliances, not gaming

This is lame. There is nothing wrong with laptops. They should at least test it. Some problems are not because laptops are interior but lack of testing.

By the way, after the first crash I've been able to run CIV4 on the R52 without much problem so far (I did update the BIOS).

 

[balearicrazy]

There are a lot of people "claiming" that there game is completetly bug free and they seem to get off on coming to the "bug" forum to proclaim that fact, but for the most part they are full of S***.

Oh dear, you do sound a little bitter.

I got the game today, running on a 2.8 AMD, 9600 128Mb ATI Radeon, 1Gb RAM, Win XP, runs no problems with the expection of a little choppyness in the wonder movies. No need to mod or download anything, stright install and away we went!

Incidently you can tell most people are running the game fine, a week ago at this time I would have struggled to get on this forum, today, no problems at all! Lots of people off playing the game.

 

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

Oh crap. Sorry for you, microbe.
I can only tell you that CIV does work on my laptop, though. Still, this is more than an office machine - it does have an Nvidia 128MB, for example. And, I'm not sure if using XP Pro helps; maybe this is another cause of troubles for most buyers (their 'regular' XP, that is).
But you're right, I don't think there were many more laptop only users in the beta...

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

The fact of the matter is that NO 3D GAME out there will run well (or at all) on a laptop unless it has a real graphics processor on it. The same applies to desktops. Read the forums and look at the users complaining that it will not run on their $900 Dell that has onboard graphics.

If you have a problem with this, then you need to go buy a laptop with real graphics capabilities on it. Otherwise, stop complaining.

 

[forgotten fans]

There are a lot of people "claiming" that there game is completetly bug free and they seem to get off on coming to the "bug" forum to proclaim that fact, but for the most part they are full of S***.

Yes. They subscribe to the maxim "the consumer is always wrong."

 

[Mercade]

Since my old T30 shows black terrain, I tried to use my parent's newly purchased R52 (Mobile Intel 915GM/GMS, 910GML Express Family). The game loads perfectly.

I'm officially pissed off.

Without intending to bash anything or anyone other than the wall , does your parents R52 (whatever that may be) meet the minimum requirements as listed by the publisher, i.e. a 64MB (dedicated?) graphics card including T&L?

Just because a car is new, that doesn't mean that it comes with air conditioning and a five speaker stereo system.

That said, I agree that the game is too demanding on resources for a Turn Based Strategy game, regardless of eye candy. My five year old Unreal Tournament runs flawlessly at 40 FPS in a high resolution. And so should .