Class-Action Lawsuit Anyone?

[seebs]

I think we're pretty much hosed; the games industry is too dependent on getting paid for games sooner, and too many people make huge fusses about a game not coming out soon enough.

I don't think the people at Firaxis like this any more than we do. I just don't think they have other options which are economically viable.

[DKDiveDude]

Ok maybe this post was just hasty venting my steam. Probably because this is my favorite game series and I was so dissapointed to not get it to work even with the official ATI fix.

After having left the program be for a few days, I then tried to install it on my laptop computer, a Compaq Presario 2100, AMD XP 2400, 1GB, Windows XP home sp2, Net 1,1, and ATI IGM 320M graphics card. There the game actually worked better than on my home workstation!

Yesterday however on my workstation, I tried to turn my AGP speed down to zero in the "SMARTGART" section of the ATI Catalyst Control Center, after a reboot the game worked flawlessly on 1024x768 low graphics where had left it on earlier attempts. I then increased to my normal 1600x1200 and set graphics to high, restarted the game and then played for a few hours without a single problem. Then I set my AGP back up to 4X, rebooted and then started a new game for 4 hours, and I was hooked could not leave it until 2:30am in the morning Later today I'll try and take it back up to 8X just to see if the errors reoccur.

BTW I have Audigy 2ZS too. Read somebody having a problem with that.

Next time I have a problem with a game, I guess I'll try and tweak the settings a bit more before I vent my steam

Sorry Firaxis!

[seebs]

It's not that I don't think the game has bugs, mind you. I am pretty sure it's buggy, although I have found at least a temporary workaround on my system. I just don't think it's the kind of thing one could reasonably sue over.

[BleckLord]

DKDiveDude,

I'm glad that you have found the mana from heaven that is Civ 4, no lawsuit required

[JohnUghrin]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
Look, given the sheer variety of PC system configurations, it's categorically impossible for a game to be released in this day and age that works perfectly out of the box on every imaginable computer. The more complex a game (like Civ4 is), the more odds that more systems will encounter problems.


As was mentioned above, the ONLY way to prevent these issue happening is to have uniform gaming platforms. Expecting software companies to be able to test on every imaginable system out there is ludicrous.

This is a flat out lie that software companies have enculturated into us over the last 20 years or so. (Microsoft leading the way) Simply put, this problem, and others like it are the result of the industry being unwilling to implement proper quality control standards to ensure the error-free operation of their product. This occurs simply because the public is (for whatever reason) willing to accept it.

I'm not just blowin' smoke, either. There's plenty of extremely complicated pieces of software that are all-but completely error-free, fault-tolerant, and don't crash. (cell-phones come to mind) There's even a book on it:

The software conspiracy : why software companies put out faulty products, how they can hurt you, and what you can do about it , Mark Minasi 2000. ISBN: 0071348069.

If Civ4 works for you, great. That doesn't mean we should (continue to) tolerate this kind of behavior from software companies.

[Note: I have generally avoided a lot of games for this reason. This is the first time I've been so disappointed in a Civ product for technical reasons]

[mrs_c]

I was a huge fan of Civ I and don't remember that game ever crashing. You could play it for hours..even days with no problems.

Now Sid Meier plasters his name all over the game and it a terrible product compared to the original. Perhaps he no longer cares about his reputation in the gaming community.

The Sid Meier name now equals don't buy it in my book.

[BleckLord]

I've read a lot of posts flat-out stating that Firaxis isn't the problem, its users, its 2k, its this or its that. Regardless of where the problem is, this is the result; long time fans are turning their backs, and new players are simply shelving the series.

Its great for Firaxis and Sid to have great reputations, but they have to live up to them.

[Jack Noir]

Your August Sirs,

After reading a thread on “things you could do to fix slow performance”, I decided to update my Bios. This may or may not have had any positive effect. However, in the process I discovered the setting for the APG memory transfer to my graphics card was 64MB. My new graphics card has 256MB. Duh! Of course, resetting the Bios to 256, to match my card, fixed everything.

Later, I was reading the tech-tree poster for Civ-4 and it occurred to me that I have been traveling my own tech-tree with the PC's that I have owned. I can remember, in 1985 or 86, building a new computer so that I could run some game I was fixated on. In 2002, I had to add lots of memory, a new sound card and a new graphics card to handle the next great game. However, I did not have to change (and this is the important part) the processor, operating system or hard drive resource. They were fine. Two days ago, I got the game on which I am currently fixated. I discovered, ungracefully, that I had to buy a new graphics card and fiddle my Bios to get it to run properly. There was no building a new computer from scratch required. It was not necessary to replacing all the boards in the box. I just had to upgrade the one piece of technology that is still changing quickly, the graphics card.

I get comfortable sitting on the same branch of the tech-tree. It seems I always have to relearn this the hard way. Luckily, Attila will roll up with his Motorized Infantry to teach me this lesson or some new piece of software will demand that I have a “real computer”. Then it all becomes clear to me, upgrade or die!

Jack Noir

P.S. you know, all kinds of squirly things happened when I was running with the Bios mis-match. Lock-ups, progressive slownes and a crash. It could be that all the talk of memory leak is just the processor trying to keep track of graphic date that was not transfered.

[Wise Ass]

For all the complaints that I've seen in this forum, I still don't think it is nearly as bad as when civ3 was released. The same conversations took place then from people who couldn't get the game to work, about how firaxis lied about MP, etc. This is nowhere near as bad as what civ3 was IMO.

That being said, the only way you will ever possibly get the software standards changed is to fight the ESA for better practices. They represent the gaming industry in legal proceedings, and if the government hasn't beat them, I don't think you're going to either.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Regardless of where the problem is, this is the result; long time fans are turning their backs, and new plays are simply shelving the series.

Yeah, I heard this with CivIII as well, but it seems CivIV is selling better than the 3rd in the series

[DKDiveDude]

After having set the AGP up to 4x, I did experience problems, such as sudden blue screen of death crashes.

I then turned off Fast AGP write, but left Fast Write yes there is two different, and Fast AGP Read on. With this I was able to win one game yesterday, with just a few non-fatal problems such as an occasional sound stuttering and garbled Wonder Movies. BTW I now only play in Windowed mode.