1.61Patch out!

[Generaldoktor]

Originally posted by MadDjinn
a three-year-old ATI video card...

thar be your issue...

likely lacks the shaders/etc that this game (and pretty much every new product requiring graphics) uses...

Alright fine, I've heard it before, ; point is, that card puppy still runs everything else I do with this PC fine; and I don't want to go in the cabinet, with no experience or expertise in this area; or have some storefront pseudo-expert of uncertain background doing it. I could probably afford the new card, but not a new PC if it gets f-cked up.

Other point, the advertised minimum requirements for this game suggest I should have been able to manage with the equipment I have.

As I said earlier, I am still playing it, but it gives me more grief in doing so than I think it should.

[snoopy369]

Installing a new graphics card into a desktop PC requires no expertise other than the ability to push a card into a slot, and the operation of a screwdriver.

[snoopy369]

Regardless, I'd suggest the 128MB RAM is your problem. 128MB RAM is barely enough RAM to run WinXP, and if you're running Win2000 or ME, it's not much more than enough. I'd consider 512MB RAM the minimum for a large map in CIV, and probably 1 GB to be necessary for no-slowdown performance.

RAM is also simple to install (no screwdrivers even unless your case opening requires it) as long as you're careful about static (and then it only damages the RAM, not the computer itself). Just be careful to buy the kind your computer uses - a 3 year old computer likely uses DDR RAM, which is the most common kind. Check your computer's make/model online (just google it, usually) and you can see those specs there.
DDR RAM has a speed associated with it, but it's not required to get the same speed as your computer has (if it's faster than your computer is made for, it'll just run slower [ie, at the computer's speed]; if it's slower, it'll run at its speed, slower than the computer, but not noticeable probably to you. Just make sure not to get DDR2 RAM, I don't believe that is compatible with DDR RAM.
DDR RAM btw, is also called "PCXXXX" ie PC1600 or PC2700 or whatnot. That's another way of describing the speed. DDR400 is PC3200.

[MadDjinn]

Originally posted by Generaldoktor


Alright fine, I've heard it before, ; point is, that card puppy still runs everything else I do with this PC fine; and I don't want to go in the cabinet, with no experience or expertise in this area; or have some storefront pseudo-expert of uncertain background doing it. I could probably afford the new card, but not a new PC if it gets f-cked up.

Other point, the advertised minimum requirements for this game suggest I should have been able to manage with the equipment I have.

As I said earlier, I am still playing it, but it gives me more grief in doing so than I think it should.

I had to buy one as well... my comp. is 4 years old

the ATI 9250 is a good card for you then (if you can get it). It's backward compatible to AGP 1.0 slots (likely what you have now), and has 256 MB or GPU ram on it, so if you ever buy a new system, that's the card you plug in as well...

and maybe a mem upgrade could help as well...

[Generaldoktor]

Originally posted by snoopy369
Regardless, I'd suggest the 128MB RAM is your problem. 128MB RAM is barely enough RAM to run WinXP, and if you're running Win2000 or ME, it's not much more than enough. I'd consider 512MB RAM the minimum for a large map in CIV, and probably 1 GB to be necessary for no-slowdown performance.

RAM is also simple to install (no screwdrivers even unless your case opening requires it) as long as you're careful about static (and then it only damages the RAM, not the computer itself). Just be careful to buy the kind your computer uses - a 3 year old computer likely uses DDR RAM, which is the most common kind. Check your computer's make/model online (just google it, usually) and you can see those specs there.
DDR RAM has a speed associated with it, but it's not required to get the same speed as your computer has (if it's faster than your computer is made for, it'll just run slower [ie, at the computer's speed]; if it's slower, it'll run at its speed, slower than the computer, but not noticeable probably to you. Just make sure not to get DDR2 RAM, I don't believe that is compatible with DDR RAM.
DDR RAM btw, is also called "PCXXXX" ie PC1600 or PC2700 or whatnot. That's another way of describing the speed. DDR400 is PC3200.

Appreciate the gesture, I'm wondering if you and I didn't talk about this earlier in the year, on a different thread. This kind of detail though, is what I don't like to get into; believe it or not, some people do not like to be this "hands on" with their computers.

I may do it. MadDjinn took the plunge and I get the impression he didn't enjoy it either, but benefited from the result, (see above.)

When I look at the packing slip, it says the card has a capacity of 128mb but that I actually have 512 mb RDRAM; which makes sense if I'm able to run huge maps, which I am, only with bad performance. Somebody else told me that's probably a misprint though, that SDRAM was most likely what was available when I bought the machine in January, '03 and the SDRAM, though older, is better anyway. This is all probably a little off-topic, regardless.

[Urban Ranger]

Well, I have just installed patch 1.61 and run into this problem: "XML Error: Tag: TECH_COMMUNISM in Info class was incorrect. Current XML file is: Units/CIV4UnitInfos.xml"

Strangely, I am not able to find the line in that file. Any suggestions?

[Prussia]

Have you modded anything to screw it up?

When I have conflicting XML when I am modding, things like that come up alot.

[Urban Ranger]

Nothing. I even cleaned out the old mods.

I have modified the terrain and bonus XML files, but I don't think they would cause a problem like this.