The same old problems

[OblivionOdyssey]

I am completely new to these forums, but have been a long time fan of Civ. Recently I purchased Civ 4, but was very disappointed with various problems.

Games take up to 5 minutes to load- the load screen just stays on finished

The lags a lot towards the latter stages of play, and when a city or unti is being selected

The diplomacy screen takes aages to load

After trading maps the game lags considerably

The screen saying I have discovered a new technology (with a quote) takes a long time to appear

The wonder movies appear slow and jerky

I have tried many things- from turning all options to low or off, which helped a bit, to installing the newest patch, which helped a bit, to defragmenting my drive, which barely helped at all, to clearing gigabytes of space of my drive, which still didn't help, to updating my graphics card drive, which at least let me view the wonder movies without my computer shutting down, and, most recently, disabling my security.

I am at a loss as to what to do. As far as I can tell, my system requirements are fine- the only slight problem is that I only have 512MB of RAM. Would upgrading this to 1.0GB help significantly?

I am really looking for a wonder fix, but I understand that I may have to keep working on it. Any help is greatly appreciated, as I am desperate to enjoy this game.

 

[ArmyOfOne]

I've have the same problems. Check my thread:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=153622

They didnt solve my problems yet but you can try some of the possible solutions posted there.

Personally, I think its a ton of bugs in the game that hopefully another new patch will fix. My computer ran Doom3, FEAR, and Gothic pretty decently so if it cant run Civ4, its not the computer. Its gotta be the game?

I have 128mb RADEON 9800 Pro, 512mb, AMD Ahtlon 2.0ghz

 

[Krupo]

You want to double your RAM for sure. Your processor is due for an upgrade if you want a smoother experience. Mine's an Athlon 2500 but I know the game would be happier with a faster processor.

Also, play on smaller maps. Yes, we all love huge-ass maps, but they'll cause a huge performance hit.

I played my first few games on the the #3 size maps and had no trouble at all. Now I'm in a #4 size (I have completely forgotten the maps size names... oh well), and I find myself having to downgrade the graphics settings in the late game to avoid crashes.

Running Civ IV at low on my system maintains stability. Trying to run at high is a lost cause.

I'd argue that, despite the comparative specs you see here and here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civ_4

Doom3, is a year older game. While the specs are described as similar, the huge playing field created by large Civ 4 maps can make it even more demanding; it's not really an apt comparison. And then there's the potential for poor coding. But yeah, you want a fast computer if you're going to play on huge maps.

Also, I love this image: http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=102936&stc=1&d=1131352772

 

[ArmyOfOne]

Ok i'll give you the Doom3 point but i think its also because of the Civ4 game or the poor coding.... I've even played FEAR on my computer and it ran well. I know Civ has many things running in the background of the game. But FEAR is pretty demanding. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.E.A.R._(computer_game)

I know my 128mb RADEON 9800 Pro isnt top of the line, but even for my card not to run it well.... then Firaxis is asking alot out of Civ fans to go out and buy new "near" topline hardware.

I see alot of old computers out there and they probably should get new hardware. But for me, I really shouldnt have to... especially since my computer is only 1 years old.

 

[OblivionOdyssey]

I just checked dxdiag, and it says I only have 256MB RAM!!! I always thought I had 512... is there any way this information could be incorrect? If it's right, then I;ve definitely found the problem! I've posted my dxdiag in case there's something else going on... any help is appreciated.

 

[Krupo]

Army: and I'll agree with you regarding coding efficiency: I'm sure they could've done some things more efficiently.

It's completely common, however, for certain games to push the envelope. I remember people in newsgroups asking Microprose to make sure Falcon 4.0 could run on their P133's. The game was a dog on anything less than a P2-400 or so.

The comparison to Falcon 4 is apt, though: both Civ and Falcon are simulators. While Civ simulates the world, Falcon simulates a war zone, complete with a full tactical battlefield. Users had the greatest trouble when their "bubble" representing the war zone expanded beyond a small range.

That means that as the game gets later into its play-cycle, the demands on the computer can increase exponentially. I'd argue that most FPS's, on the other hand, enjoy a relatively fixed demand level, since they usually only have to make your computer calculate/render a limited area.

Oblivion: also just open "my computer" go to "help" and choose "about." It'll mention the amount of "physical memory available to windows". If it's also at 256megs, then you have confirmation. Unlikely that dxdiag.txt is wrong, but it's an easy way to check.

If you've got a spare $50 to $100 lying around, though, it's a pretty cheap upgrade to fix your 'problem'.
[prices for a half gig and a gig of RAM, respectively, as of right this moment]

 

[Zydor]

OblivionOdyssey

The symptoms in your first post are those classic ones from out of the box unpatched V1.

Patch V1.52 fixed very significant memory management issues, its a must have patch, and stay at that leveleven if other issues surface, it was a good patch, going back a version will only mask real current problems with the smoke of pre-1.52

In your case you had the additional problem of only 256Mb RAM, if the dosh allows goto 1Gb RAM - but 512Mb would be fine, if less responsive than a 1Gb base.

If you still have issues, post again, buit it looks as though 1.52 + more main RAM will sort it.

Regards
Zy

 

[OblivionOdyssey]

Thanks for the help- I have installed the 1.52 patch and, as I sadi, it helped the problems a bit, but not as much as I would have liked. Is it possible to tell whether I would be able to run the game to its full capabilities (all graphic options high and on) and experience no slow downs with 1GB RAM? I checked and I do only have 200 and something MB of RAM, which really sucks.

 

[Zydor]

In your case you had the additional problem of only 256Mb RAM, if the dosh allows goto 1Gb RAM - but 512Mb would be fine, if less responsive than a 1Gb base.

You could go to 1.5Gb, but thats throwing money at hardware with diminishing returns. Any more than 1.5Gb would be OTT for your PC, and Civ would in any case rarely utilise 2Gb to its fullest extent. There is a line of thought that says go 2Gb anyway as games are rapidly moving to true 3D (which Civ is) - not just something that looks like 3D, which many others are - and you can therefore expect increasing issues with hardware on a 12-18month view as other games also place extensive load on hardware - the latter is impossible to avoid with true 3D games. You could go to 512 or 1Gb RAM and a card upgrade, good spec Video cards are very important in true 3D games.

On balance, as a minimum since you are in "upgrade mode" I would go 1Gb RAM, see how it goes, then if speed is an irritent, go for a new card. It will run 'fine' on that card, depends on your aspirations, it maybe necessary to go to a 6 Series card for 'smooth' play - take it a step at a time.

The shift to true 3D in the Civ III - Civ IV change has caught many people who are not used to coping with true 3D related issues, especially the hardware spec, the importance of upto date drivers etc, minimising the background apps in the background to prevent memory contention, and the increased heating effects on speed and efficiency of Video RAM.

This time next year it will be second nature - right now its a "new world" to many. As time moves on, if you are not already into it, take the time to understand the real - not the Urban Folk Law - issues and motivators behind the various levels of Video cards, the high level broad meaning of the technology behind them, the true issues of Card heating and how to mitigate card heating problems. This time next year I believe lots of dramas will occur as peoples video cards get really stretched, as game writers are at a temporary dead end in terms of hardware performance. Until its economic to write multi-thread code for multi-core CPUs etc (an expensive & time consuming proposition) - they will dump more work on the Cards in order to satisfy user demands for speed and features.

Regards
Zy

 

[Krupo]

Thanks for the help- I have installed the 1.52 patch and, as I sadi, it helped the problems a bit, but not as much as I would have liked. Is it possible to tell whether I would be able to run the game to its full capabilities (all graphic options high and on) and experience no slow downs with 1GB RAM? I checked and I do only have 200 and something MB of RAM, which really sucks.

On the four smaller maps, yes.

On huge, you *will* need a faster processor. I've heard other people write that their 3.5-ish Ghz processors handle the game wonderfully at max details; that's probably what you're going to have to aim for if that's your goal.

If #3 or #4 largest sized maps are okay for you, then the memory will suffice.

 

[OblivionOdyssey]

Turns out my motherboard can't support 1GB of RAM, so I'm going to 512MB. Will that still make a big difference?

 

[Krupo]

Yes, definitely. Not just with Civ 4, but with your computer in general too; I'd hate to run XP with less than 512!