Civilization 4 - Problems?

Hey all,

I picked up Civ4 this weekend, and while I really like it, the lockups and crashing are kind of irritating. I have the Acer Ferrari 4005 (x700 128MB ati) and I've heard ATI chipsets have trouble with it. There may be a bit of a heat issue going on too, but I find when I play other games (dawn of war etc) it doesnt seem to crash out or anything like that.

Anyone know if there are any recommended fixes etc? I have the mobility catalyst drivers (5.10) and am running it at 1366x768 or something like that. I was running it at the native res (1680x1050) and while it ran plenty smooth, it seemed to lock up more. Perhaps I will scale back the resolution a little more..

Anyway, if people could post any problems/solutions they have found on Civ4 perhaps it could help others with similar probs!

Thanks

Edit: I just noticed the support build stuff with the art packs on the civ website ( http://www.2kgames.com/civ4/support_ati.htm), I had just skimmed that earlier and had assumed it was *just* for installing new drivers.. I will give that art pack fix thing a try and see how that goes!

 

I have been running Civ4 for a week, works flawlessly. Using ATI x700 128MB ram. Running the stock drivers from HP version 6.14.10.6564 Dated 6/20/2005

 

I have the same problem with my Ferrari 4005. Civ4 runs perfectly in the early game (up until 1100 AD or so) after which it becomes unstable. The crashes seem to occur when the screen is scrolling, and the first sign is that the mouse pointer turns into the default windows arrow.

After a while the game screen disappears, and I get a messed up windows desktop. The mess is cleaned by opening a program in full screen. After this I can restart the game and play a couple of turns until the same happens.

I am using all the default drivers (from Acer website), as ATI's updater will not install. The crashes occur at all graphics settings. I tried the long repair process described on the support website, but the problem persists. I also briefly tried unpacking the graphics file as instructed, but after that the game would not start at all.

So, if anyone has been successful in fixing the game (on Ferrari 4005, which seems to be the common factor for those with problems) please post instructions here! Thanks.

Found a possible solution: I downloaded the X700 drivers from HP. Using these drivers and the maximum graphics settings the game has crashed only once. Now it's totally playable.

 

Got the patch, still crashes.. But it crashes on other people's desktops who are running ATI cards too..

Seems odd the HP drivers would help, and can they be installed on the acer without a problem?

 

I'd look here
http://forums.civfanatics.com/forum...forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=170

 

I have the same problem too - and I also use an Acer Ferrari. Kinda making me worry about the hardware

 

Well, from looking at the Civ 4 forums, I'm a lot more confident about my hardware again - looks like this was yet another game released too soon. Everyone but everyone seems to be having the same problem, not just us Ferrari owners.

 

Yeah, I have been following the developments on the forum I linked above and it looks like Civ4 is full of incompatibilites