Another Crash

right before the menu

from GalCiv2 Forums
hey everybody... i installed the game and right after the intro (which runs perfectly fine) i see the menu very very shortly and the game crashes... i have all the system reqs (1ghz, 256 RAM) and a 1.5gb page file thingy. im almost positive the problem is because of my old old Voodoo5... but the drivers i have installed support Directx 9c and i have 64megs of video ram... so according to the system reqs i have what the game needs. im basicaly just posting to find out if there is any chance in hell that im going to be able to run this (from what i can tell great) game wityh this card:

Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: AMIGAMERLIN 3.1-R11 For Voodoo 5 5500 AGP
Manufacturer: 3dfx Interactive, Inc.
Chip Type: VSA 100
DAC Type: 3dfx Internal DAC
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_121A&DEV_0009&SUBSYS_0002121A&REV_01
Display Memory: 64.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (75Hz)
Monitor Name: StudioWorks 995E
Monitor Max Resolution: 1600,1200
Driver Name: 3dfxvs.dll
Driver Version: 5.00.3590.0242
Driver Date: 6/1/2005 19:32:20
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes
 (hmm sorry if this in the wrong place... im used to the invision powerboard and probably screwed up :P)
6,422 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Could you post the debug.err file (in GalCiv2 directory) as that has a bit more info., like what version you're running, region settings, sound drivers, etc.?

That driver is quite old though.... is there a more recent one you could try?
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
well those are third party drivers. the official drivers are from like 2001... the drivers im using are supposed to be better than those actually. there ARE newer third party drivers but they arnt as good and ive tried them and get the same error. im just wondering if the game will even support a voodoo5... i know technicaly it would have too... but considering that 3dfx went out of buisiness what.... 5 years ago it wouldnt surprise me if there are 3 lines of code missing that make it non-compatibel (no i know nothing about this stuff ). anyways thanks for the reply and here is the dump:


Debug Message: Version v1.0 last updated on: Mon Feb 6 12:52:05 2006
Debug Message: Could not find a TGN Serial No.
Debug Message: *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 3/28/2006, 16:20:29
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Machine Name: CREG
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: FA6E39CBDFF36CWC 80172364
System Model: VT8363
BIOS: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) Processor, MMX, 3DNow, ~1.0GHz
Physical Memory: 256MB RAM
Page File: 99MB used, 1519MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS


Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: AMIGAMERLIN 3.1-R11 For Voodoo 5 5500 AGP
Manufacturer: 3dfx Interactive, Inc.
Chip Type: VSA 100
DAC Type: 3dfx Internal DAC
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_121A&DEV_0009&SUBSYS_0002121A&REV_01
Display Memory: 64.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (75Hz)
Monitor Name: StudioWorks 995E
Monitor Max Resolution: 1600,1200
Driver Name: 3dfxvs.dll
Driver Version: 5.00.3590.0242
Driver Date: 6/1/2005 19:32:20
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes



Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: VIA Audio (WAVE)
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_1106&DEV_3058&SUBSYS_760915DD&REV_20
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: ac97via.sys
Provider: Microsoft
Driver Version: 5.10.0000.3622
Driver Date: 8/4/2004 07:32:31
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 3
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: Multisample Type chosen in prefs not supported. Forcing a supported type.
Debug Message: Using multilsample setting: D3DMULTISAMPLE_NONE
Debug Message: Game Resolution: 1024 x 768
Debug Message: Running fullscreen.
Debug Message: HAL (sw vp): AMIGAMERLIN 3.1-R11 For Voodoo 5 5500 AGP
Debug Message: D3DPRESENT_INTERVAL_DEFAULT
Debug Message: Refresh rate: 75
Debug Message: Bit Depth: 32 bit.
Debug Message: *********Checking D3DDevice Caps***********************
Debug Message: Hardware does not support a color cursor.
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: ***** Initializing Game *****
Debug Message: Timer Frequency is 0 369e99
Debug Message: Initializing sound card.
Debug Message: initailizing bink
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: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\-DakaSha-\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\*.StarSystems
*DEBUG ERROR: ***Unable to find required tech ImpossibleTech for PirateShip. ***
*DEBUG ERROR: ***Unable to find required tech ImpossibleTech for Starbase. ***
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\-DakaSha-\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships\*.shipclass
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\-DakaSha-\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships\*.shipcfg
Debug Message: Reading Star Names
Debug Message: Reading Star Names... Done
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Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
i installed the game and right after the intro (which runs perfectly fine) i see the menu very very shortly and the game crashes..


Have you installed any of the patches yet? There have been several tweaks and bugfixes already released for the game. If you're used to playing games by other companies, I'm sure you aren't used to such a quick patch cycle, but Stardock does a killer job with their fixes/additions.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I just updated my Voodoo 5 to an ATI. That was one of the worst purchases I have made, if only because it was very expensive, and the company went out a business a year later causing me to lose customer support. NVIDIA bought them out, so maybe you can get a driver update from them?
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Updating to the 1.0X patch might help, but that video card is reaaaaaally old. I know you can pick up some really cheap 128 cards these days, that would be my advice. I run an nvidia FX 5200 with no problems and they are super cheap now.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
thanks everybody...

i updated and got into the game.. the menu looks fine but when i start a new game it crashes after about a min into the hint screen right here: (looks like the card is just too old... ive tried turning off all the options... reducing the nebula and stars too 0... turned off sound... all that. still the same thing though)

Debug Message: Reading Star Names
Debug Message: Reading Star Names... Done
Debug Message: CustomRaceWnd: Cannot find OBJID CustomRace_Description_Text
Debug Message: CustomRaceWnd: Cannot find OBJID CustomRace_Tab_Homeworld
Debug Message: Creating Galaxy
Debug Message: Set galaxy size.
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 space resources.
Debug Message: Killing colonies and planets.
Debug Message: killing scenario.
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: Creating Random Map
Debug Message: Creating Random Map... Stars
Debug Message: Number of Unplaced Stars: 3.
Debug Message: Creating Random Map... Planets
Debug Message: Creating Random Map... Anomalies
Debug Message: Num Anomalies: 10
Debug Message: Creating Random Map... Resources
Debug Message: Creating Random Map... Done
Debug Message: Creating Civs
Debug Message: Drengin Empire: Intellence -> 50
Debug Message: Altarian Republic: Intellence -> 70
Debug Message: Creating Civs... Done
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Galaxy Create... Done
Debug Message: UIBeginGame called with g_ulLocalPlayerID = 0
Debug Message: setting size 16 x 0
Debug Message: setting size 16 x 0
Debug Message: setting size 16 x 0
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Can't tell if you've done everything recommended above so:

1. Download the latest official patch 1.0X (if you haven't already), then run the game.

2.Next, post the ENTIRE debug.err file, not just portions of it. Can tell more from seeing it all.

It really looks like it is the age of your card and/or drivers. Is there any way you can try a different driver or two?
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
the reason i didnt post the whole .err file again is because the rest is exactly the same as the first time i posted it.. accept for the version number and i thought id keep the thread easy to read.

ive tried a couple drivers... these work better than all the others and the others give me the same error so i guess ill stay with the ones im using.

i heard of a program called 3DAnalyze which can emulate some stuff that new accelerators do and make it possible to play newer games with an old card... it crashes on me though too

oh well i guess i just cant play untill i get a new(er) card... thanks for the help @ everybody though
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Okay, well at least there are really cheap cards available that will run this game.