Windows 7 BOTM message

[THE WIZ]

Hey all -- This is the message I get when I try to open the BOTM on my shiny new 7 32 install.

Warning -- the HOF MOd will be unable to save settings. Games played will not be valid for submission. Please use a user account with admin access. etc etc etc.

I tried the vista fixes, but running Civ4 as admin gives a compatibility issue that didn't happen before, and every time I try to modify the settings, they instantly revert back as soon as it is closed.

It is installed in C:\games\civ4

Needless to say, this is the only problem I have had converting to 7.
Can anyone help? I know I can't be the only one.

 

[da_Vinci]

Hey all -- This is the message I get when I try to open the BOTM on my shiny new 7 32 install.

Warning -- the HOF MOd will be unable to save settings. Games played will not be valid for submission. Please use a user account with admin access. etc etc etc.

I tried the vista fixes, but running Civ4 as admin gives a compatibility issue that didn't happen before, and every time I try to modify the settings, they instantly revert back as soon as it is closed.

It is installed in C:\games\civ4

Needless to say, this is the only problem I have had converting to 7.
Can anyone help? I know I can't be the only one.

As a first thought, my install path on Vista looks like: C:\Program Files (x86)\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Beyond the Sword ... your path looks too simple to be valid, perhaps?

Also, is your mod install in the Firaxis games folder, or in the My games folder (the former works, the latter may not, IIRC).

Can you get the BUFFY mod to work on a random game that you start up?

dV

 

[leif erikson]

Suggest you post this in the HoF thread as they developed the HoF Mod and have more experience with it than our Staff does.

I checked around there for some info that might help you, but couldn't find anything specific to Windows 7 (only Vista), so posting there should get you a response that will be helpful.

Good luck.

 

[THE WIZ]

Thanks for that info -- I will post in the HOF thread.

My path is simple because 7 has tighter security around the Program Files directory -- read only for the entire thing.

Also, BUFFY is in the mods folder with the ones that come with the game.
Same warning whenever I try to use BUFFY.

Thanks again.

 

[12Voltman]

did anyone get a fix to this? I'm getting the same error and would like to start the new BOTM.

 

[AlanH]

It's undoubtedly a permissions issue. You need to have admin privileges when you run the game, and the mod needs to be in a location where it can write to its settings files.

Contrary to da_Vinci's suggestion, I believe BUFFY should run fine installed in the Mods folder in your My Games path, and that's a better place for it. You can then run the Civ4 software in the Program Files path, as that should not need to write to its own files.

Disclaimer: I'm no Windows expert, and I don't have Vista or WIn7 to play with. My experience is all with XP and OS X.

 

[leif erikson]

Please see the threads below:

Here is the updated Vista and Win7 fixes page Denniz posted on the HoF BUFFY Mod fixes page.

This is the thread The Wiz started in the HoF Forum.

Hope these help.

 

[12Voltman]

Thanks all - well, I get Buffy to work but now get this message. "Your machine is below recommended specifications. The graphic settings were altered to accomodate this, however, you may experience performance issues."

A little frustrating given this is a very new, souped up machine. Anyone run in to this issue?

 

[AlanH]

This can happen on some Mac hardware, where the software is simply incapable of recognising the awesome capabilities of your graphics system. However, I've no idea whether it can apply to a Windows box. If you are sure you have the latest drivers for your graphics card, and if you are convinced you have the latest and greatest version of DirectX3d, then you can suppress the warning, and maybe the automatic changes, by setting:

HideMinSpecWarning = 1

in your \MyGames\...\CivilizationIV.ini file for the appropriate variant of the game.

 

[da_Vinci]

Thanks all - well, I get Buffy to work but now get this message. "Your machine is below recommended specifications. The graphic settings were altered to accomodate this, however, you may experience performance issues."

A little frustrating given this is a very new, souped up machine. Anyone run in to this issue?

I used to get a warning that Civ 4 would not play on a laptop that had shared video memory, yet it would play the game (maybe not so well on the large maps late, but it completed many a game).

Maybe the system is not accounting for the additional available video memory if that is shared? If you have big dedicated video memory, then I can't explain it.

dV

 

[da_Vinci]

Contrary to da_Vinci's suggestion, I believe BUFFY should run fine installed in the Mods folder in your My Games path, and that's a better place for it. You can then run the Civ4 software in the Program Files path, as that should not need to write to its own files.

Disclaimer: I'm no Windows expert, and I don't have Vista or WIn7 to play with. My experience is all with XP and OS X.

Hmm ... all I can say is that all my mods are in the program files > firaxis games > ... > mods path, not in my games. Not that I put them there, that is were the mod download has installed them by default.

And I vaguely seem to recall folks who could not get the mods to work in my games, but they worked in program files ... am I hallucinating?

Addendum: Here is one example of what I am remembering ... http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=5738923&postcount=72

dV

 

[AlanH]

Ahah! You fell into my little trap

You may observe that I was specifically talking about BUFFY. Your example refer to an older HOF Mod. The original HOF Mods were written along what I think of as traditional lines. BUFFY has a different pedigree.

The user's Mods directory was always supposed to be the "correct" place for user-created content, since that location would not risk being overwritten during a Firaxis upgrade. But back in the mists of Civ4-Mod-History there were problems running mods from the user directory. Conceivably, there were bugs in Civ4 Possibly, some modders were not savvy enough to work out how to build them to run properly from the user directory. As time went on, it became folklore that you could only run mods in the Program Files directory, and this was reinforced as libraries of reusable mod-making utilities became standardised, such as CvPath and Cv4lerts, that only worked if you put them there.

Fast forward to BUFFY, based on BUG. BUG has a lot of user-defined settings, and its developers made a conscious effort to break with the above traditions so that the settings files could be easily updated without upsetting the new Windows Vista permissions controls. Hence my suggestion that we can finally start to put mods in the right places.

Having said all of the above, though, as you rightly point out, the team who created the installer for BUFFY are a little set in their ways, and so the mod is still installed into Program Files. What is worse, and I have not checked this out yet, it may be the case that moving the BUFFY mod from Program Files to the My Games path may cause the locked assets checks to fail, in which case you win

 

[da_Vinci]

I am just a simple end-user, not a programmer, so for me, the simplest thing that works is best.

Sounds like a lot of convoluted history there ... so I think I won't go fixing what ain't broke, at least for now ...

dV