video memory?

[The Art of War]

i installed Civ IV, my second copy (i got lucky and found a good one with only one try), last night. I installed the patch and did the tutorial. when i start to play a regular game, even on a small map, it crashes, saying i'm lacking video memory.

so i reinstalled without the patch, and it started the game (with the leonard nemoy intro and everything) and froze with a black screen. ...

so my game doesn't work with the patch/without the patch.

what would you guy suggest?

thanks for your help.

 

[Zanmato]

Could you post your DxDiag log please so we know what graphic card you have running, and the general spec of the machine.
'Start' > 'Run' > Type 'Dxdiag' > 'Save all info' then attach the .txt file to your next post. Then, helpfully we can help. But from what you say it sounds like you have a below spec video card or are running a IGP. IGPs, the game can have problems with them.

 

[melsrvec]

I was wondering if anyone thinks this card would run civ iv on my computer. I was planning to upgrade to a full gig of ram as well. The DX log is attached (i hope).
Thanks,
Matt

 

[Zanmato]

I was wondering if anyone thinks this card would run civ iv on my computer. I was planning to upgrade to a full gig of ram as well. The DX log is attached (i hope).
Thanks,
Matt

I think you might need to upgrade the video. I honestly don't think you will get anywhere with 8mb of video memory. It's also an IGP, I assume that from the website. Chances are it will run the game, but might have the terrain black and it will run awfully slow.

 

[The Art of War]

hmm...i'm running a year old Sony VAIO. could the vid card already be out of date?

What a POS game..

 

[melsrvec]

I think you might need to upgrade the video. I honestly don't think you will get anywhere with 8mb of video memory. It's also an IGP, I assume that from the website. Chances are it will run the game, but might have the terrain black and it will run awfully slow.

I forgot to post the link to the video card, http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=329249&pfp=BROWSE

WIll this card work with the dx log in my first post?

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Terrahoming]

hmm...i'm running a year old Sony VAIO. could the vid card already be out of date?

What a POS game..

Your card has only 64mb memory, while it might be sufficient to at least run the game (with the patch), u wont be able to get far. A Radoen 9200 has enough features to play the game, but ur memory is too small i think

 

[auldian]

hmm...i'm running a year old Sony VAIO. could the vid card already be out of date?

What a POS game..

Your computer meets minimum specs. If it were mine I'd update the video drivers

Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6436 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 3/22/2004 20:00:16, 201728 bytes

(I use ATI's official, many like the aftermarket Omegas) and just play with the options at minimum. Perhaps the patch Thamer's mentioned will enable more satisfactory play of the "POS" once it's released.

 

[The Art of War]

so what is your recommendation? new vid card? (any su ggestions would be very helpful). thanks for your help guys.

 

[Zanmato]

so what is your recommendation? new vid card? (any su ggestions would be very helpful). thanks for your help guys.

I would recommend a card with 256mb onboard to start with. Not sure what's a good ATI card for civ but if you're going to consider GeForce cards then get one from the series 6 range, eg. 6600, 6800. Plus, a card with it's own cooling would be advisable also.

 

[auldian]

so what is your recommendation? new vid card? (any su ggestions would be very helpful). thanks for your help guys.

I wouldn't spend a cent more, myself, until I see a considerable patch from Take2/Firaxis. I presume you're playing your other games well with your Radeon 9200. The 4.4 drivers you're using now are old. If just using the much lauded 4.12 series (or newer) will improve your situation, that'd be the simplest.

 

[The Art of War]

i like your idea, auldian. so just be patient, i guess?

the only game i really play anymore is Civ II, but i've had a few newer released games on this comp since I've gotten it and they've all run fine.

 

[Gunnie]

This is the message i get when i'm playing with the map almost fully exposed: Your system has run out of video memory. Please try reducing your video settings. file:\main\civilization4.bak\SDKs\Gamebryo2_0\corelibs\NiDX9Renderer\NiDX9VBManager.cpp,line:1018
I have radeon 9600 video card and the latest drivers, as you can se in the dxdiag. What do I have to do to solve this problem. It's been bugging me for quite some time now.

 

[kipperhague]

This is the message i get when i'm playing with the map almost fully exposed: Your system has run out of video memory. Please try reducing your video settings. file:\main\civilization4.bak\SDKs\Gamebryo2_0\corelibs\NiDX9Renderer\NiDX9VBManager.cpp,line:1018
I have radeon 9600 video card and the latest drivers, as you can se in the dxdiag. What do I have to do to solve this problem. It's been bugging me for quite some time now.

This is my latest error message as well. Anyone else getting this, and moreso, anyone have any idea why? Seemed to happen once I downloaded the latest patch. Haven't tried the 4.12 ATI driver fix yet, so we'll see if that works.

 

[Gunnie]

This is my latest error message as well. Anyone else getting this, and moreso, anyone have any idea why? Seemed to happen once I downloaded the latest patch. Haven't tried the 4.12 ATI driver fix yet, so we'll see if that works.

Let me know if it works. Thanks.

 

[hamtastic]

Just real quick: my laptop was doing that for a while - the whole running out of video memory thing. Now it's not. Here's what I did:

1. Changed main settings for screen size (resolution/whatever it's called?) to the recommended optimal settings.

2. Changed screen size to that in CIV 4 also. Note that in my case it meant making the screen larger than I'd had it before - seemed counterintuitive, but look at step 3.

3. Played all the games that were having video memory crash with no problems.

 

[El Bajong]

I'm getting the same message about not having enough video memory, and this has been a problem ever since I got the game. It becomes more of a problem in the late game (I like to play the largest maps). Im getting tired of this, and would have thought that Firaxis might make some decent patches by now. I have the lastest patch they did make, but It did not fix it. I allso got the lastest driver for my gfx card, that didnt help either.

To my knowledge, my computer is more than good enough to run this game, 256 mb of video memory among others.

I do hope someone can help out, so I might finally be able to play this game without it crashing before I can finish one round.

 

[Luckymoose]

I am getting the same problem too.I may just reset my ingame screen resolution and see if that helps.

 

[hamtastic]

So, out of curiosity, did you try what I recommended? Did it not work for you?

 

[El Bajong]

So, out of curiosity, did you try what I recommended? Did it not work for you?

I dont know what you mean by "recomended optimal settings", so I do not what settings I am supposed to use.