What's up with my BTS?

[Krath]

I'm fairly sure I have all the correct files, and nothing seems to be wrong with the disk or anything. However, whenever I load up the game, it'll go fine, showing the characters, encyclopedia, and maps fine, but if I try to start a game, it'll freeze and auto-exit Civ4 right before it's done loading.

I've tried reinstalling it, and that didn't do anything. I'm 99% sure this isn't a disk-related problem, as this disc has no visible scratches or anything on it. Any tips?

 

[ori]

is the game patched to date? what operating system is this? does the windows event manager show any error when it crashes? could you post your dxdiag results file as a file attachment?

Welcome to CFC

 

[Krath]

- I'm fairly sure I have the latest patch available for BtS.

- I'm running Windows Vista. Normal Civ4 seems to run fine.

- I don't think Windows Event Manager shows anything regarding to Civ.

- Since I have no idea how file attachments work, being the nub I am, I'll just post my dxdiag results in this.

Spoiler :

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 10/9/2009, 10:57:38
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6000) (6000.vista_gdr.090302-1506)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Inspiron 531s
BIOS: oC)Phoenix - AwardBIOSTeDell System v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+ (2 CPUs), ~2.3GHz
Memory: 958MB RAM
Page File: 1036MB used, 1132MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 6.00.6000.16386 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03D0&SUBSYS_020E1028&REV_A2
Display Memory: 281 MB
Dedicated Memory: 58 MB
Shared Memory: 223 MB
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Dell SE198WFP(Analog)
Driver Name: nvd3dum.dll,nvwgf2um.dll
Driver Version: 7.15.0011.7516 (English)
DDI Version: 9Ex
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 5/3/2008 00:16:00, 5685248 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Enabled

-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
Description: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0888&SUBSYS_1028020E&REV_1000
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: RTKVHDA.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5555 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
Date and Size: 1/24/2008 11:06:40, 2054872 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
HW Accel Level: Basic
Cap Flags: 0xF1F
Min/Max Sample Rate: 100, 200000

I believe that is everything the normal Dxdiag command showed me. As I said before, normal Civ4 works perfectly fine, so it must be a BTS related problem.

 

[ori]

-vista is not updated - while service pack 2 is in most cases not needed - service pack 1 really makes the operating system much much much more stable with regards to various programs - so I'd recommend at least installing SP1 (but preferentially SP2)
-are you running the game with administrator rights?
-your graphics drivers are not updated - get newer ones: http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7_winvista_32bit_191.07_whql.html
-can you start the game at all (i.e. get into the main screen)? if yes please click on advanced and then on about this build and check what it says there

 

[Krath]

I've done everything you said. I updated my graphics driver to the newer ones, I've checked and found out I had SP 1 and 2 all along, and I've set it to run with administrator rights.

However, I still have no idea why it's not working. Everything on the menu works fine. If I click Play Now, it'll let me pick a leader, and map and everything. But when the actual match starts loading, it'll freeze up right before it finishes, with a pop-up saying 'Civ4 has an error, needs to shut down, etc etc'.

I checked the Advanced option and it showed me this.

Civ Version: 301
Save Version: 300
Build Version: 3.0.0.91 (74697
Build Date: Thu Jun 28th 13:37:52 2007
Build: FINAL RELEASE
Mod Name: None

 

[ori]

patch the game to 3.19 - and make sure to run the patch installer with admin rights (i.e. download it from the downloads database here, unpack it if it is a zip file and then right click on the .exe file and choose run as admin).
also: your dxdiag file does not show the service packs - which it should - if you already have both installed then I'd recommend getting a directx update from the microsoft site since something is not working right then.