Bug!!!!

[slinkyart]

I've got a bug!

So, I did the whole digital download thing, and I've never had a problem doing that before...but I downloaded the Civ IV install file and after I installed it and tried to run the game, the sound was kind of choppy on the intro, and then when I go to choose which country I want to be, the charachter animations don't appear. Then when I go to actually play the game, I see the characters that are on the screen, but everything else is black!!!!

What's the deal?!

[MattPilot]

just to make one thing sure.....

You downloaded it legally or illegally?

[slinkyart]

I most certainly downloaded it legally. I downloaded it from Direct2Drive.com

[Dr,ape]

sounds like a video issue, not a bug.
A bug would be something that happens to everybody under the same game condition.

[slinkyart]

I've got a brand new computer Do you have any suggestions as to how I can fix this?

Thanks.

[Dr,ape]

try the usual first.
find out what kind of video card you are using, and see if it's on the latest drivers, and if it meets the minimum requirement of the game. New computer does not guarentee that.

[slinkyart]

sorry to sound like a complete moron...but how do I find out what video card I'm using?

[Risa]

Yes, the most probable reason is your video card doesn't support hardware T&L. What's your video chip, by the way? You can check that by right click on the desktop, choose property, then setting page. There's a line on that page telling which video chip you are using.

[nbarclay]

It looks to me like slinkyart has been bit by a bug in the graphics that quite a few people have reported - myself included. The video configuration very likely plays a role, but some of us who have been bit by it have cards that definitely do meet the stated minimum requirements - in my case, a Radeon 7500 - so it's not necessarily a matter of having graphics that aren't sophisticated enough to meet the official requirements. Hopefully, Firaxis will get the problem fixed in a patch, at least to a point where graphics chips that are officially stated as meeting the minimum requiements can be consistently relied on to work properly. In the meantime, one workaround that some people are using for seeing the terrain is to go into the World Builder and select the reveal all terrain option, although that ruins the exploration aspect of the game. (And there may still be graphical anomalies; I tried that trick once, and after I did, I couldn't see the crabs off my coast anymore, although their existence could still be shown by having the game highlight resources.)

[slinkyart]

This is really frustrating because I have the proper video card to play this game, but it's just not showing certain things! Do you know if there is a patch by Firaxis out there already to fix this problem?

Did you get yours working nbarclay? If so, how?

Thanks

[slinkyart]

Risa, to answer your question, I'm using Intel(R) 82852/82855 GM/GME Graphics...is that good? Or no? Do I need to go out and buy a different graphics card?

[seebs]

Originally posted by slinkyart
Risa, to answer your question, I'm using Intel(R) 82852/82855 GM/GME Graphics...is that good? Or no? Do I need to go out and buy a different graphics card?

You probably need a different video card. Intel does not do real 3D hardware.

[slinkyart]

crap That figures. Any good ones that you know of for a Gateway Laptop that I could by? Suggestions welcome

THanks,

[Raion]

Some people have reported success or more success using ATI Catalyst 4.10 or so drivers. I do not not know.

Intel at any time does not and has not had any T $ L support, whether new or old. That is needed to play the game and has been on video cards as far back as the Geforce 2 type cards.

[seebs]

For most laptops, there simply isn't any way to upgrade the video card; if it doesn't have the feature you need, you just lose. Civ4's hardware requirements are amazingly far out of line for the series, which is why so many people are getting bitten by this.