Colonizing causes game to freeze

In general playing any of the GalCiv II games for a long time, an hour or more would cause this, but now it is happening with Dark Avatar at any time I attempt to colonize any planet. Freezing really isn't accurate. The machine is still responsive, but the graphics won't refresh any further. The sound is still playing, it is more as if the graphics just stopped painting anything new. I can out, and come back in, but after this point it return to just a black screen. Some times by doing this the game will move ahead to the initial colonize screen allowing me to name the planet, and I can alt-tab out and back in several more times and I can see the planet details screen. Alt-tab doesn't always work. I saved the game just before I was ready to colonize, rebooted, came back in and immediately attempted to colonize and it locked up. It seems like the alt-tab will work if I click around before I alt-tab out.

I can start a new game and play it for a while, colonize a few planets, then it just hits a brick wall and I can no longer colonize. FYI, I did mess around with the Cheat switch in some of my earlier games, but it seems to happen even in games I never used the switch.

Running Windows Vista Ultimate
AMD Athlon 64 FX-60
2047 MB RAM
32-bit
NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX
Res is 2560x1600

I don't do any over clocking and my machine has never shown any type of instability. In fact I can alt-tab out and work on other things just fine.

Also I copied the save game to my laptop and I can play it there without any issues. But that is an XP machine.

Jason

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kryo

Join Date 05/2003

+458

Please open your debug.err file in notepad, and copy/paste the contents into a post here. This will give us some technical information that can help troubleshoot your problem. The location you'll find the debug.err in varies depending on your game version:

Dread Lords, all versions:
C:\Program Files\Stardock\Totalgaming\GalCiv2

Dark Avatar 1.5-1.6 (non-Vista):
C:\Program Files\Stardock\Totalgaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar

Dark Avatar 1.6+(Windows Vista), 1.7+(non-Vista):
My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar

Twilight of the Arnor:
My Documents\My Games\GC2TwilightArnor

Be sure to copy the debug immediately after the error occurs; if you start the game again, the debug will be erased and recreated for the new session.

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Debug Message: Version v1.80f Dark Avatar test 2 last updated on: Fri Nov 16 12:21:58 2007
Debug Message: Checking DX Version.
Debug Message: *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 11/30/2007, 19:07:53
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
Machine Name: WINDU
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Ultimate (6.0, Build 6000) (6000.vista_gdr.070828-1515)
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: MSI
System Model: MS-7220
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 FX-60 Dual Core Processor (2 CPUs), ~2.6GHz
Physical Memory: 2046MB RAM
Page File: 1776MB used, 2536MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows

Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM)
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce 7800 GTX
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0090&SUBSYS_035010DE&REV_A1
Display Memory: 512 MB
Current Display Mode: 2560 x 1600 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Dell 3007WFP
Monitor Max Resolution:
Driver Name: nvd3dum.dll,nvapi.dll
Driver Version: 7.15.0010.9746
Driver Date: 12/8/2006 03:25:00
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes

Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: Speakers (SB Audigy)
Default Sound Playback
Default Voice Playback
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0007&SUBSYS_10091462&REV_00
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: P17.sys
Provider: CREATIVE
Driver Version: 5.12.0001.2004
Driver Date: 6/13/2007 08:58:16
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 1
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0

Sound device 1:
Description: Digital Audio Interface (SB Audigy)
Default Sound Playback
Default Voice Playback
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0007&SUBSYS_10091462&REV_00
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: P17.sys
Provider: CREATIVE
Driver Version: 5.12.0001.2004
Driver Date: 6/13/2007 08:58:16
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 1
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0

Debug Message: *********END dxdiag info.*********
Debug Message: Entering WinMain
Debug Message: ******* Starting Game Shell *******
Debug Message: Going Fullscreen
Debug Message: Preparing to change display settings.
Debug Message: Using hardware vertex processing
Debug Message: Using multilsample setting: D3DMULTISAMPLE_4_SAMPLES
Debug Message: Attempting to create D3DDevice at resolution 2560 x 1600, Windowed: 0, Multisample: 4
Debug Message: Game Resolution: 2560 x 1600
Debug Message: Running fullscreen.
Debug Message: HAL (hw vp): NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM)
Debug Message: D3DPRESENT_INTERVAL_DEFAULT
Debug Message: Refresh rate: 60
Debug Message: Bit Depth: 32 bit.
Debug Message: *********Checking D3DDevice Caps***********************
Debug Message: A full-color cursor is supported in hardware at high resolution modes.
Debug Message: RGB in format 6:6:6, Masks reported as ff0000:ff00:ff
Debug Message: Now Fullscreen
Debug Message: Shell initialization complete
Debug Message: GalCiv2 is activated.
Debug Message: ***** Initializing Game *****
Debug Message: Timer Frequency is 0 369e99
Debug Message: Initializing sound card.
Debug Message: initailizing bink
Debug Message: No files found matching mask Movies\techs\*.bik
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\jacurry\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\Gfx\Movies\*.bik
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\jacurry\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\sfx\*.wav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\jacurry\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\Music\*.mp3
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\jacurry\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\Event Music\*.mp3
Debug Message: Create setup screens.
Debug Message: Clear galaxy settings.
Debug Message: Clear influence.
Debug Message: Clear up laws.
Debug Message: Clear first time events.
Debug Message: Clear wonders and trade goods.
Debug Message: Clear sector mapper.
Debug Message: Set mouse.
Debug Message: Set update timer.
Debug Message: Clear data definitions.
Debug Message: Killing ship styles:
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\jacurry\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\ships\*.xml
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\jacurry\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\shiptemplates\*.xml
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\jacurry\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\ShipStyles\*.xml
Debug Message: No files found matching mask ./Data/\FleetFormations\*.fleet
Debug Message: No files found matching mask Gfx\Planets\C0*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/1SideN*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/1SideE*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/1SideS*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/1SideW*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/2SideN*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/2SideE*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/2SideS*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/2SideW*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/3SideN*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/3SideE*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/3SideS*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/3SideW*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/4SideN*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/4SideE*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/4SideS*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask gfx/Terrain/4SideW*.png
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\jacurry\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\ships\*.shipcfg
Debug Message: Reading Star Names
Debug Message: Reading Star Names... Done
Debug Message: No files found matching mask ./Data/English/Tutorials/*.xml
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\jacurry\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\CustomMaps\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\jacurry\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\Dark Avatar\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\jacurry\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\Gfx\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\jacurry\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\Metaverse\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\jacurry\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\SandboxGames\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\jacurry\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\ships\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\jacurry\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\ShipStyles\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\jacurry\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\shiptemplates\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\jacurry\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\temp\*.sav
Debug Message: Killing threads.
Debug Message: Kiling civs.
Debug Message: Killing ships.
Debug Message: Killing rallypoints.
Debug Message: Killing misc objects.
Debug Message: Killing stars.
Debug Message: Killing anomalies.
Debug Message: Killing asteroid fields.
Debug Message: Killing asteroid field mining bases.
Debug Message: Killing space resources.
Debug Message: Killing colonies and planets.
Debug Message: killing scenario.
Debug Message: Clearing Turn Event Log
Debug Message: Clear galaxy settings.
Debug Message: Clear influence.
Debug Message: Clear up laws.
Debug Message: Clear first time events.
Debug Message: Clear wonders and trade goods.
Debug Message: Clear sector mapper.
Debug Message: Loading Custom Map
Debug Message: Loading Data Defs
Debug Message: Clear data definitions.
Debug Message: Killing ship styles:
Debug Message: Loading TechDefs
Debug Message: Max num techs: 273
Debug Message: Loading ImprovementDB
Debug Message: Loading Component Defs
Debug Message: Loading ShipTypes
Debug Message: Loading ShipTemplates
Debug Message: Loading ParsedHardpoints
Debug Message: Loading AnomalyTypes
Debug Message: Loading RandomEvents
Debug Message: Loading UPIssues
Debug Message: Loading ResourceTypes
Debug Message: Loading InvasionTactics
Debug Message: Loading SBmodules
Debug Message: Loading PoliticalParties
Debug Message: Loading Planet Types
Debug Message: Loading Star Types
Debug Message: Loading AFMBModules
Debug Message: Loading ShipStyles
Debug Message: Loading Game
Debug Message: Loading: Game mode is normal.
Debug Message: Loading Galaxy
Debug Message: Sectors across: 18 x 18
Debug Message: Loading FOW Map
Debug Message: Loading ZOC Map
Debug Message: Loading Planets
Debug Message: Loading Stars
Debug Message: Loading Anomalies
Debug Message: Loading Resources
Debug Message: Loading AsteroidFields
Debug Message: Loading AFMiningBases
Debug Message: Loading Civs
Debug Message: Loading Colonies
Debug Message: Loading RallyPoints
Debug Message: Loading Ships
Debug Message: Loading Fleets
Debug Message: Loading Turn Event Log
Debug Message: Loading Treaties
Debug Message: Loading ENDGALAXYDATA
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: UIBeginGame called with g_ulLocalPlayerID = 0
Debug Message: UIBeginGameHelper: New Game Started
Debug Message: UIBeginGameHelper: Mods are Disabled
Debug Message: Destroying ship Colony Ship 29. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Error flipping back buffer to primary buffer.
Debug Message: Unknown
Debug Message: n/a
Debug Message: Unknown error when flipping back buffer to primary buffer.
Debug Message: Error flipping back buffer to primary buffer.
Debug Message: Unknown
Debug Message: n/a
Debug Message: Unknown error when flipping back buffer to primary buffer.
Debug Message: Error flipping back buffer to primary buffer.
Debug Message: Unknown
Debug Message: n/a
Debug Message: Unknown error when flipping back buffer to primary buffer.
Debug Message: Error flipping back buffer to primary buffer.
Debug Message: Unknown
Debug Message: n/a

***** it repeats this way for several pages *****

Debug Message: Unknown error when flipping back buffer to primary buffer.
Debug Message: Error flipping back buffer to primary buffer.
Debug Message: Unknown
Debug Message: n/a
Debug Message: Unknown error when flipping back buffer to primary buffer.
Debug Message: Error flipping back buffer to primary buffer.
Debug Message: Unknown
Debug Message: n/a
Debug Message: Unknown error when flipping back buffer to primary buffer.
Debug Message: WM_CLOSE message received.
Debug Message: GameUninitialize start
Debug Message: Killing Galaxy
Debug Message: Killing threads.
Debug Message: Kiling civs.
Debug Message: Killing ships.
Debug Message: Killing rallypoints.
Debug Message: Killing misc objects.
Debug Message: Killing stars.
Debug Message: Killing anomalies.
Debug Message: Killing asteroid fields.
Debug Message: Killing asteroid field mining bases.
Debug Message: Killing space resources.
Debug Message: Killing colonies and planets.
Debug Message: killing scenario.
Debug Message: Clearing Turn Event Log
Debug Message: Clear galaxy settings.
Debug Message: Clear influence.
Debug Message: Clear up laws.
Debug Message: Clear first time events.
Debug Message: Clear wonders and trade goods.
Debug Message: Clear sector mapper.
Debug Message: Clear data definitions.
Debug Message: Killing ship styles:
Debug Message: Killing Galaxy: Completed
Debug Message: Shutting down sound system.
Debug Message: Clearing sound and music handles.
Debug Message: WorkAreaBack.png not cleared 1 counts left.
Debug Message: GameUninitialize end
Debug Message: Device not cleared. 822 counts left.
Debug Message: D3D not cleared. 1 counts left.
Debug Message: Destroying Window.
Debug Message: Main Shell terminating normally

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kryo

Join Date 05/2003

+458

The Vista release drivers are bugged, causing that repeating error (and the problem). It was fixed back in March, so just head over to nvidia.com and get the latest drivers, and you'll be all set.

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Worked like a charm! Thanks!

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