Fixing Civ4 Problems: START HERE!

[lolmeup]

hold down shift while CIV4 starts to clear cache

Holding down while clicking on CIV 4 icon until game loads clears cache.

[conanav]

Hi Guys. Merry Christmass

I have been having a really strange problem with Civ IV and as far as I have loooked, it has not been adressed.

When I tried to startup the game, the game first showed a message box stating something like this (can't really give you the exact phrase as you will find out in a second): "procedure entry error, can't locate _binkshould@4 in the binkw32.dll library" so I tried updating the .dll library using the file I found on the web, then another yet similar error appeared "can't locate the procedure entry point binksetvolume@12 in the library of dynamic links binkw32.dll". Then I found another binkw32.dll version on this forum, and after I used this one, nothing happens. The game just loads for 5-10 seconds (no change on the screen though, just the "load" light on the tower flashes) and then nothing happens. Does anyone of you have any idea what might be the cause?

I have never encountered such a strange problem dealing with the dynamic libraries, usually just using a newer version of the library did the trick, however I tried that here already. Thanks for all the help and merry christmass.

[Berzerker]

Are there instructions on installing patch 1.52? I dl the darn thing (dial up) and it does nothing when I click on it in the civ4 folder.

I set the priority to above and it keeps reverting to below

Oh ya, and I get a message on start up at the earth/space screen telling me my machine aint up to snuff but doesnt tell me why. But it plays anyway, albeit more sluggish as the game progresses as described by many people.

Am I in the minority for thinking software should work right out of the package?

[Urban Ranger]

The patch should install itself after finishes downloading.

I feel your pain, though. No broadband.

[Berzerker]

I tried to dl thru the game and it doesn't register. I just sits at 0% and says its downloading.

[Penta]

OK, I'm going to go batty here.

New laptop for Xmas; Since I also got Civ4, and my desktop is up at school, I figured why not try it?

Laptop specs:

Toshiba Satellite L25-S119
Intel P4 1.5Ghz
ATI Radeon XPress 200M series
256MB RAM

Now, here's what happens...

First: This game is SLOW. Loading up a savegame (or a newgame) takes 10-20 MINUTES. Yes, I timed it.

Second: I open the console, hoping there's some relief there.

I type help, and hit enter.

Freeze. I can't exit the console, can't type anything else, get no response.

What the heck?



Why won't my game WORK with me?

[Berzerker]

because the software industry seems to be exempt from quality controls required for other industries

[Berzerker]

Well, finally got the patch dl'ed again and unzipped it into the game and I no longer get machine under specs messages and the game seems to work okay.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Penta
Why won't my game WORK with me?

256MB seems to be a tad low.

Try setting all the graphics opinion to "low."

[sarukun]

Here's one. My system refuses to acknowledge the existance of the Install Disk (Disk 1). It can see Disk 2 just fine, but Disk 1 simply does not register when it goes in the drive. The "reading" light flashes for about 20 to 30 seconds after I insert the disk, and then remains lit without flickering; generally when I insert a disk, it flashes for about 15 seconds and then goes dark unless something is being read from the disk. It also seems like the disk isn't spinning: the drive is totally quiet. As I said, Disk 2 reads just fine, but I can't access the installation and setup .exe's because the disk just doesn't show up. Even if I double-click on my DVD drive, it shows up as empty. The drive is a CD/DVD writer; could that have something to do with it? I know that a lot of back-up programs cause issues with SecuROM, but I'm not getting ANYthing at all from this CD, not even a "Disk not found" error. Any ideas?

[ZikChil]

Moved: see "Cursor Issues?!"

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by sarukun
I know that a lot of back-up programs cause issues with SecuROM, but I'm not getting ANYthing at all from this CD, not even a "Disk not found" error. Any ideas?

What do you get when you try to access the disc from Windows?

[dw153]

Feature Transfer Error when installing

I get the following error when I attempt to install civ4. it comes up after disc 1 has installed, and pops up immediately after i put in disc 2.

Feature Transfer Error
Feature: DefaultFeature
Compenent:
File:
Error: Catastrophic Failure

I have been on the phone with take2's worthless techsupport for the past 10 days in a row and each solution they have provided has done nothing. I have also tried the one solution posted on this thread relating to the one similar problem posted.

If anyone has any idea on how to fix this I would be eternally grateful.

thanks

[troglodyte]

My experience and simple fix!

I initially found the game frustratingly slow (2.4Ghz, nVidia GForce Titanium 128, 512 RAM, XP Home SP1) - I was one of the fortunate ones that could play the game though.

However, a friend suggested that I download a copy of IOLO Memory Manager from their website. Initially I thought this is just another one of those damn memory managers... but, I discovered that if you use this tool (and I suppose others may do the same thing) and defrag the RAM once or twice consecutively to get about 410-430 MB free, the game works wonderfully.

I found this works and maybe others might find this useful.

==troggie

[CoJo]

I think I have the same problem as conanav... I keep getting the error "The procedure entry point_BinkShouldSkip@4 could not be located in the dynamic link library binkw32.dll"

At first I got an error that said something like insert DVD, but it was already inserted... so I downloaded a no DVD patch for the .exe and I get that error. Is there a way to fix either of these?