Text Issues & Random Crashing (Vista)

Please go to C:\Program Files\Stardock\Totalgaming\GalCiv2 (or wherever you installed the game at), open the debug.err file you find there in notepad, and copy/paste the contents into a post here. If this is a DA report, you'll find the debug in C:\Program Files\Stardock\Totalgaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar instead. This will give us some technical information that can help troubleshoot your problem.

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.

I'm also running Vista and though I'm not having the crashing problem, the text is sometimes blurred and unreadable as well as the graphics in the tech tree. Sometimes the text identifying ships and planets on the main screen is also blurred as well as ship graphics in the control panel. Here is the Debug Log:
System Info
Time: 4/12/2007, 11:34:03
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
Machine Name: ROB-PC
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Basic (6.0, Build 6000) (6000.vista_rtm.061101-2205)
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Gateway
System Model: NX570S
BIOS: Rev 1.0
Processor: Intel(R) Celeron(R) M CPU 430 @ 1.73GHz, ~1.7GHz
Physical Memory: 502MB RAM
Page File: 564MB used, 931MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows


Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Chip Type: Intel(R) GMA 950
DAC Type: Internal
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_27A2&SUBSYS_0366107B&REV_03
Display Memory: 64 MB
Current Display Mode: 1280 x 800 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor
Monitor Max Resolution:
Driver Name: igdumd32.dll
Driver Version: 7.14.0010.1147
Driver Date: 12/11/2006 21:50:10
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes



Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: Speakers (SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC)
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_8384&DEV_7634&SUBSYS_107B0366&REV_1001
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: stwrt.sys
Provider: SigmaTel
Driver Version: 6.10.5337.0000
Driver Date: 1/2/2007 03:44:30
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: Multisample Type chosen in prefs not supported. Disabling multisampling.
Debug Message: Using multilsample setting: D3DMULTISAMPLE_NONE
Debug Message: Game Resolution: 1024 x 768
Debug Message: Running fullscreen.
Debug Message: HAL (sw vp): Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family
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: ***** Initializing Game *****
Debug Message: Timer Frequency is 0 da7a64
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: * Collectors Edition *
Debug Message: Set mouse.
Debug Message: Set update timer.
Debug Message: Clear data definitions.
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\Rob\Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships\*.xml
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\Rob\Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships\*.shipcfg
Debug Message: Reading Star Names
Debug Message: Reading Star Names... Done
Debug Message: Error loading mission 16 from C:\Program Files\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\./Data/English/Campaigns/Dread Lords Campaign.gc2campaign
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\Rob\Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\Dread Lords Campaign\*.sav
Debug Message: Error loading mission 16 from C:\Program Files\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\./Data/English/Campaigns/Dread Lords Campaign.gc2campaign
Debug Message: Creating 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 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: ./Data/English/Campaigns\An Unexpected Visitor.gc2map (0 x 111122847)
Debug Message: Num Anomalies: 7
Debug Message: Setting Game Options
Debug Message: Creating Civs
Debug Message: Terran Alliance: Intellence -> 40
Debug Message: Drengin Empire: Intellence -> 30
Debug Message: Altarian Republic: Intellence -> 100
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: UIBeginGameHelper: New Campaign Game Started: Dread Lords Campaign
Debug Message: UIBeginGameHelper: Mods are Disabled
Debug Message: setting size 16 x 0
Debug Message: setting size 16 x 0
Debug Message: setting size 16 x 0
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Drengin Empire (1): Researching: Xeno Research
Debug Message: Altarian Republic (2): Researching: Xeno Research
Debug Message: Pirates! (26): Researching: Galactic Warfare
Debug Message: Destroying ship Jafo. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Altarian Republic (2): Researching: Planetary Improvements
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: First contact: Scout Ship M0-1 4 at position 1650.000000,1050.000000 rotation 4.712389
Debug Message: First contact: Scout Ship M0-1 4 at position 1650.000000,1050.000000 rotation 4.712389
Debug Message: First contact: Scout Ship M0-1 4 at position 1650.000000,1050.000000 rotation 4.712389
Debug Message: Cannot find texture
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Altarian Republic (2): Researching: Galactic Warfare
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Altarian Republic (2): Researching: Research Centers
Debug Message: Destroying ship Altarian Colony Ship M0-1 5. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Drengin Empire (1): Researching: New Propulsion Techniques
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Destroying ship Altarian Colony Ship M0-1 7. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: First contact: Pain Finder at position 2250.000000,2150.000000 rotation 3.141593
Debug Message: First contact: Pain Finder at position 2250.000000,2150.000000 rotation 3.141593
Debug Message: Destroying ship Scout 6. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Destroying ship Altarian Colony Ship M0-1 8. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Drengin Empire (1): Researching: Space Militarization
Debug Message: CampaignVictoryWnd: Cannot find OBJID Campaign_Status_Title
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Yearly Status Dialog
Debug Message: Yearly Status Dialog 0a
Debug Message: Saving game C:\Users\Rob\Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\Dread Lords Campaign\AutoSave.sav
Debug Message: Num Sectors Across: 3
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\Rob\Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships\*.shipcfg
Debug Message: Saving: Game mode is campaign.
Debug Message: Save game finished.
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Altarian Republic (2): Researching: Space Militarization
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Altarian Republic (2): Researching: Space Weapons
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Drengin Empire (1): Researching: Planetary Improvements
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Yearly Status Dialog
Debug Message: Yearly Status Dialog default
Debug Message: Saving game C:\Users\Rob\Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\Dread Lords Campaign\AutoSave.sav
Debug Message: Num Sectors Across: 3
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\Rob\Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships\*.shipcfg
Debug Message: Saving: Game mode is campaign.
Debug Message: Save game finished.
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Yearly Status Dialog
Debug Message: Yearly Status Dialog: 2
Debug Message: Yearly Status Dialog 2c
Debug Message: Saving game C:\Users\Rob\Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\Dread Lords Campaign\AutoSave.sav
Debug Message: Num Sectors Across: 3
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\Rob\Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships\*.shipcfg
Debug Message: Saving: Game mode is campaign.
Debug Message: Save game finished.
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Drengin Empire (1): Researching: Starship Defenses
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Altarian Republic (2): Researching: Beam Weapon Theory
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Altarian Republic (2): Researching: New Propulsion Techniques
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Altarian Republic (2): Researching: Laser
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Drengin Empire (1): Researching: Ion Drive
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Altarian Republic (2): Researching: Xeno Economics
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Destroying ship Altarian Constructor M0-1 15. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Yearly Status Dialog
Debug Message: Yearly Status Dialog 8d
Debug Message: Saving game C:\Users\Rob\Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\Dread Lords Campaign\AutoSave.sav
Debug Message: Num Sectors Across: 3
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\Rob\Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships\*.shipcfg
Debug Message: Saving: Game mode is campaign.
Debug Message: Save game finished.
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Altarian Republic (2): Researching: Laser II
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Destroying ship Altarian Constructor M0-1 16. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Drengin Empire (1): Researching: Armor Theory
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Altarian Republic (2): Researching: Laser III
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Destroying ship Altarian Constructor M0-1 17. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Altarian Republic (2): Researching: Soil Enhancement
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Destroying ship Altarian Constructor M0-1 18. Orbiting: 0
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Yearly Status Dialog
Debug Message: Yearly Status Dialog 1
Debug Message: Saving game C:\Users\Rob\Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\Dread Lords Campaign\AutoSave.sav
Debug Message: Num Sectors Across: 3
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\Rob\Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships\*.shipcfg
Debug Message: Saving: Game mode is campaign.
Debug Message: Save game finished.
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Drengin Empire (1): Researching: Basic Logistics
Debug Message: Altarian Republic (2): Researching: Habitat Improvement
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Random Event: End
Debug Message: Updating ZOC.
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\Rob\Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\Logos\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\Rob\Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\Metaverse\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\Rob\Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\Portraits\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\Rob\Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\Rob\Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\temp\*.sav
Debug Message: Saving game C:\Users\Rob\Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\Dread Lords Campaign\QuickSave.sav
Debug Message: Num Sectors Across: 3
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\Rob\Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships\*.shipcfg
Debug Message: Saving: Game mode is campaign.
Debug Message: Save game finished.
Debug Message: OptionsWnd: Quit Btn
Debug Message: Posting WM_CLOSE message.
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 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 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. 10 counts left.
Debug Message: D3D not cleared. 1 counts left.
Debug Message: Destroying Window.
Debug Message: Main Shell terminating normally

rfkmichman, try running the game at the same resolution as your desktop.
You may need to manually edit the Prefs.ini file (located in My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2(\DarkAvatar)).
Set these lines to read:

[Video]
DisplayWidth=1280
DisplayHeight=800
ColorDepth=32
Fullscreen=1

Tried it...didn't fix the problem

If your laptop came with a cd, you might see if there is a driver for your monitor on it. Right now a generic PnP driver is installed, and that can have an effect on image quality.

Not very constructive, But Vista sucks, get XP.

Was the game being stretched to fill your display before you changed it, or shown letterboxed? If the display is not being stretched, see if a screenshot shows the issue (if so, upload it to imageshack.us and post the link here).

To take a screenshot, press the printscreen key on your keyboard then exit or switch out of the game and paste it in a graphics program.

I dont see the debug.err file in my GalCiv directory.

Any ideas?

I don't know how relevent this is, but the game starts out fine. All text and graphics are as they should be. At some point, the graphics start getting a little messed up, and then get progressively worse as I play. So I'm pretty sure its not a driver issue. I think its a Vista issue as my roomate installed the game and it plays fine on his much older, yet XP driven, laptop. But I will indeed print a screen of the problem---or several.

You may need to run under an administrator account in order for the game to be able to write the file, if you're running as a limited user.

Then it is likely a hardware problem. It really sounds like the video chip is overheating.

I don't think its a hardware problem. Curiously, when I maximized the game after I had minimized it to paste the screenshot requested above (took about thirty seconds), the text was back to 100% and lasted longer than it usually did before deteriorating again. If it was the chip overheating, the thirty seconds I didn't have the game running wouldn't have been nearly long enough for it to cool down. Plus it was fine for a long time after I maximized it. Like i said, this seems to only be a problem on machines running the Vista OS (curse microsoft). I'll post the link to the screen later tonight (not on my machine right now).

PS> It does the same thing with the graphics on minimum. The minimum requirements certainly shouldn't overheat the VidChip on my machine.

30 seconds is plenty of time for hot chips to cool enough. As soon as the load is lightened the chips start to cool down. And it could be a general heat problem, not one confined to just the video chip.

The more you say about it, the more it sounds like a hardware issue.

There is a way to check. It will run a bit slower, but if you run it on battery power instead of AC it should run a bit cooler since the cpu is usually throttled down when on the battery.

No...It does the same thing on battery power. And after It "cooled" for thirty seconds, I maximized it and played the game LONGER than usual before it started messing up (if it cooled down "just enough," it should have reverted to the screwed up text much quicker as the chip heated up again). I also left my computer in a car where the temperature was around 45 degrees. I started the computer up and the problem occured earlier than usual. The computer was still cold when the text started to become illegible.

I have the graphics on what it defaulted to (pretty high) and it doesn't run slow on AC or battery. I put the graphics all the way down, and the problem still occurs in roughly the same timeframe (theoretically, it should take much longer for the problem to occur on the lowest graphics setting if it was a chip heat problem)

http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/7863/screenqw8.jpg

Physical Memory: 502MB RAM
Page File: 564MB used, 931MB available

Have you increased your swap file yet?

You have very little ram, so you need a lot of swap space. And if your video is sharing system ram it will make things even worse. You should set it to be a static file of at least 2GB in size.

That picture looks like corrupted graphics memory. So if it is not an actual hardware problem it could be lack of memory. And according to your debug, just starting the game puts you into the swap file by 62MB. It won't be long before that other 931MB is gone - especially in a gigantic galaxy size. My mem usage can hit 2.5GB pretty easily playing a gigantic galaxy.

Hmmm...My roommate is running it on an older XP laptop and doesn't have any problems. Could that be because Vista uses so much more memory just to run?

Well, I increased my virtual memory file to 3 GB, but i'm to tired to try it tonight...i'll post tomorrow to see how it went. If it doesn't help, i'll just have to revert to the ole' desktop with a "real" graphics card with dedicated memory...thanks for the suggestions so far!

This still hasn't been changed? I wrote about this back when Vista was still in beta. The debug file should go under the user's directory instead of being written to the same directory as the executable.

The only time an application should write to the program files directory is to update itself.