To the guy that e-mailed me re the saves not loading!

[ainwood]

I tried to reply, but the e-mail bounced.

Your problem is that your browser is changing the file extension. The easiest solution is for me to zip the files first - they're attached to this post. Unzip them to the saves directory - the directory that you specified in your e-mail was the correct one (\My Documents\My games\Sid Meiers Civilization 4\Saves\single\)

 

[DaveMcW]

Would it be possible to auto-detect defective browsers, and serve them a zipped save?

 

[ainwood]

I really don't know... My browser at work used to serve-up the correct file. Now its not actually adding the .txt extension - its actually serving it up without an extension! I'm getting this both via right-click-save-as and by clicking on it - behaviour I've never seen before.

 

[Ronald]

I had the same problem. Save would load with .txt extension. I manually changed it to the right extension (.Civ4SavedGame). Then I could load it without any problems

 

[CliftonBazaar]

As a new player I had this problem (no extension) and I checked here to find out what was wrong - I couldn't find anything here so I assumed it was me
Took me about 10 minutes to realise that the save file had no extension.

Forgot to say that I manually had to put the file extension onto the save file.

 

[AlanH]

Would it be possible to auto-detect defective browsers, and serve them a zipped save?

Do Civ3 .SAV files behave OK on systems that are giving this problem with Civ4 ones? If so it's either to do with the long file extension or else Windows isn't registering the Civ4 file association correctly to accept that these really are application binary files.

I guess we might as well just go back to serving zip files. We thought we'd got away from having to zip files by setting up the server to play right. FWIW, Safari and Firefox behave perfectly on my Mac with all the file types, so I 'm fairly sure the server is doing exactly what it should do.

 

[ainwood]

I guess we might as well just go back to serving zip files.

Yep. I think this is the way to go.

 

[civ_steve]

FWIW, I have downloaded GOTM2 and GOTM3. I have IE, and both times the file came with NO extension. After not finding it in CIV, I opened up my browser, found the file, and manually renamed it, adding the '.Civ4SavedGame' extension.

 

[Denniz]

I find the variations to be really curious. Turning off hide extensions has been mentioned elsewhere, but I wonder if file type associations are part of it too.

On my PC, .Civ4SavedGame is associated with the Civ4 exe. (first pic) So when I download the save games my "Save as" dialog recognizes the file type and saves it correctly. (second pic)

So the question for those having problems: what shows up in your "Save file as" dropdown on your "Save as" dialog?

Also, I am using IE 6.x and WinXP SP2 with up-to-date windows updates. I wonder is there is a pattern in OS and IE versions.

 

[superslug]

Do Civ3 .SAV files behave OK on systems that are giving this problem with Civ4 ones?

We've had at least one user in the HOF with this problem, and he doesn't have any trouble with 3 sav files.

 

[ainwood]

@Denniz - that could well be right - I get no extension downloading at work, where Civ4 is not installed. At home I use firefox, which works fine.

I still think the zipped file is the best solution though, although in the interim, I'd encourage people to right-click and choose "Save As" rather than left-click on it.

 

[Denniz]

@Denniz - that could well be right - I get no extension downloading at work, where Civ4 is not installed. At home I use firefox, which works fine.

I still think the zipped file is the best solution though, although in the interim, I'd encourage people to right-click and choose "Save As" rather than left-click on it.

I have run across references to "content-disposition" relating to html and php as a way to set the file type. I am not sure how or where (browser/os/etc.) it works, but it might be worth some research.

 

[mboza]

Sitting at work at the moment (without Civ4 installed), just downloaded GOTM3 in IE6 (XP2) and in firefox, and both saved with file extensions.
Tried it with and without file extensions, though I did not bother to reset the PC in between. So for my 2 cents, I would guess it is a IE version problem

 

[Don Vito]

FWIW, I have downloaded GOTM2 and GOTM3. I have IE, and both times the file came with NO extension. After not finding it in CIV, I opened up my browser, found the file, and manually renamed it, adding the '.Civ4SavedGame' extension.

Problem seems to be in the IE : i tried to dl the game with IE also, and it came without extension; Opera, which is my usual browser, handles the file correctly.

 

[Conroe]

I find the variations to be really curious. Turning off hide extensions has been mentioned elsewhere, but I wonder if file type associations are part of it too.

I get an extension of .txt when I download save files. The exception, though, is save files that are attachments. The .Civ4SavedGame is preserved if it is an attachment to the post rather than an in-line link. How's that for variations?

I have IE6 and the file associations match your posted images.

 

[AlanH]

I've changed the download links for GOTM 03 to run a script that sends extra headers (thanks for the tip-off Denniz ). Preliminary testing by Ainwood seems to be promising, so let's see how it survives contact with the real world!

Please can people who have previously had download problems (and those who haven't) test them out for me and let me know the results here?

 

[Ronald]

Now it worked perfectly for me.

 

[ungy]

I have successfully downloaded the civ4 gotms, but couldn't open the recent conquests gotm. I am new to gotm (I have conquests 1.22). Do I need to change the extentension? (I used IE)

 

[AlanH]

Civ3 files have never given any trouble as far as I know. I was waiting for more feedback here before changing the Conquests save system.

The file should have .SAV on teh end. If IE is adding .txt to it then just delete the .txt. If it's deleting the whole extension then put .SAV on the end.

 

[ainwood]

I sure hope that the guy who e-mailed me actually now has the file - rather than thinking I ignored him.