Wierd planet screen glitch

from GalCiv2 Forums
I looked through a page or two of this forum and I didn't see anything like it. Like the title says whenever I go the planet screen and try to do something (99% it is the automatic home planet screen when I first start a game or load one, every once in a while I get past it but then it does it on the next one) the screen goes grainy and I can't click anything. Then my monitor just spontaneously goes black, and a message pops up saying 'no input' or something to that effect. Some of the time I have to press Ctrl-Alt-Del, in which case it does the same thing. I then have to restart my computer.

Now last night I downloaded Dark Avatar here after buying it at my other house thinking, "Maybe since DA is newer it will work better on my new computer here." And for the first few hours it did. I rejoiced. But when I tried to play again the next day, the same thing started happening.

My computer was a Christmas gift from my Dad, and we bought all these custom parts and assembled it ourselves, as you can imagine the potentially weird combination of technology can cause problems. I'll post the debug.err thing for Dark Avatar.

By the way, I'm 99.9% sure I have the latest drivers. And according to Stardock Central I have the latest versions of both games. If you need anymore info I'll post it if I can. Thanks in advance.

Debug Message: Version v1.6 beta 6 Dark Avatar last updated on: Wed May 30 11:32:44 2007
Debug Message: Checking DX Version.
Debug Message: *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 6/6/2007, 21:18:54
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Machine Name: ERIC-AMD64X2
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.070227-2254)
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System Product Name
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+, MMX, 3DNow (2 CPUs), ~2.6GHz
Physical Memory: 2046MB RAM
Page File: 407MB used, 3531MB available
Windows Dir: D:\WINDOWS


Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce 7900 GS
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0292&SUBSYS_22181682&REV_A1
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1680 x 1050 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Resolution: 1600,1200
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.9371
Driver Date: 10/22/2006 13:22:00
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes



Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: SoundMAX HD Audio
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_11D4&DEV_198B&SUBSYS_104381F6&REV_1002
Manufacturer ID: 65535
Product ID: 65535
Driver Name: ADIHdAud.sys
Provider: AnalogDevices
Driver Version: 5.10.0001.4530
Driver Date: 5/2/2006 02:12:06
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: Using hardware vertex processing
Debug Message: Using multilsample setting: D3DMULTISAMPLE_4_SAMPLES
Debug Message: Game Resolution: 1024 x 768
Debug Message: Running fullscreen.
Debug Message: HAL (hw vp): NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS
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 D:\Documents and Settings\Eric.ERIC-AMD64X2\My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\Gfx\Movies\*.bik
Debug Message: No files found matching mask D:\Documents and Settings\Eric.ERIC-AMD64X2\My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\sfx\*.wav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask D:\Documents and Settings\Eric.ERIC-AMD64X2\My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\Music\*.mp3
Debug Message: No files found matching mask D:\Documents and Settings\Eric.ERIC-AMD64X2\My 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: Popup Manager Update: Updating window with ID=0
Debug Message: Popup Manager Update: Unhiding FullscreenBink
Debug Message: Clear data definitions.
Debug Message: Killing ship styles:
Debug Message: No files found matching mask D:\Documents and Settings\Eric.ERIC-AMD64X2\My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\ships\*.xml
Debug Message: No files found matching mask D:\Documents and Settings\Eric.ERIC-AMD64X2\My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\shiptemplates\*.xml
Debug Message: No files found matching mask D:\Documents and Settings\Eric.ERIC-AMD64X2\My 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 D:\Documents and Settings\Eric.ERIC-AMD64X2\My 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: Popup Manager Update: Updating window with ID=1
Debug Message: No files found matching mask D:\Documents and Settings\Eric.ERIC-AMD64X2\My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\Dark Avatar\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask D:\Documents and Settings\Eric.ERIC-AMD64X2\My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\Gfx\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask D:\Documents and Settings\Eric.ERIC-AMD64X2\My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\Metaverse\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask D:\Documents and Settings\Eric.ERIC-AMD64X2\My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\SandboxGames\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask D:\Documents and Settings\Eric.ERIC-AMD64X2\My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\ships\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask D:\Documents and Settings\Eric.ERIC-AMD64X2\My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\ShipStyles\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask D:\Documents and Settings\Eric.ERIC-AMD64X2\My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\shiptemplates\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask D:\Documents and Settings\Eric.ERIC-AMD64X2\My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\Story Logs\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask D:\Documents and Settings\Eric.ERIC-AMD64X2\My 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 = 4
Debug Message: UIBeginGameHelper: New Game Started
Debug Message: UIBeginGameHelper: Mods are Disabled
Debug Message: Popup Manager Update: Updating window with ID=20
Debug Message: Popup Manager Update: Unhiding QuarterlyWnd
Debug Message: Popup Manager Update: Updating window with ID=16
Debug Message: Game Screen: Setting mode to 2
Debug Message: Popup Manager Update: Unhiding ResearchWnd
Debug Message: Game Screen: Setting mode to 9
Debug Message: Game Screen: Setting mode to 0
2,822 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Sounds like either an overheating video card or a mismatch between the video output and monitor.

In Options/Video, make sure 'Throttle Framerate' is turned on.

It would be a good idea to install the correct monitor driver. The standard Plug n Play driver may not be dealing well with your big widescreen. Your monitor should have come with a cd, and the driver will be on it.

And finally, try playing the game at your desktop resolution of 1680x1050.
You will need to edit the Prefs.ini file (located in My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2 for Dread Lords), setting these lines to read:

[Video]
DisplayWidth=1680
DisplayHeight=1050
ColorDepth=32
Fullscreen=1
HardwareMouseCursor=1

I believe DA has its own Prefs.ini in its own folder, as well. So make sure you check for both.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
THANK YOU!!!!!!! It worked!! I named a class 18 planet I colonized after you and monuments have been dedicated in your name all over the Confederacy : )

And if anyone happens to look in one this thread with the same problem, it was playing the game at my desktop resolution of 1680x1050 and altering the pres files that did it.

thanks again : )
Start11 - Customize the Start Menu and Taskbar in Windows 10/11.
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Wow, I have never had a planet named after me before.
I am honored.

Glad it worked.  

P.S. If you want to be authentic, my home planet is Moose Lodge.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
You have to be kidding me...I just downloaded all the updates, and it's doing it again. This time from totally random screens. My prefs.ini files are still the way you said, and the game is still set to 1680x1050, and throttle frame rate is turned on. Since they just released it I should have guessed there would be problems.

Is there a way to revert to the beta version?
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
How long did you play the beta for? Longer than any other session you'd previously played without getting the problem?

The problem you describe is almost certainly a hardware issue of some sort--the worst a software or driver issue could cause would be a bluescreen or simple crash. But if the video is flaking out and outright shutting down, overheating or internal failure seems most likely.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Really? Well after I downloaded the non-beta version I played a few turns, then I hailed the Altarians, tried to offer something, and the screen went grainy. I restarted my computer, loaded the game again, and it happened almost instantly after the game had fully loaded.

The thing is, once I did what Moosetek13 suggested the game ran for hours with no problem at all. And before then it would flake out really quickly as well, like a minute or two into the game play. Could it still be overheating?

I've never had this problem for any other game, ever. And I have some pretty graphics intensive games. Might it somehow be a combination of the two? I'm not very technically savvy.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce 7900 GS
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0292&SUBSYS_22181682&REV_A1
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1680 x 1050 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Resolution: 1600,1200
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.9371
Driver Date: 10/22/2006 13:22:00
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes

Notice the 2 lines in bold, as there is a mismatch. In this case, the Max Res line should equal the Current Display Mode, and definitely not greater than the Native (vertical) resolution of the monitor. Current is Widescreen aspect ration, and the Max reported is Standard PC aspect ratio of 4:3. 1200 is greater than the native 1050.
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It would be a good idea to install the correct monitor driver. The standard Plug n Play driver may not be dealing well with your big widescreen. Your monitor should have come with a cd, and the driver will be on it.

At the risk of repeating myself...

Cosamaru, did you do this as well?

And it is always a good idea to start a new game whenever the program is updated - just in case you loaded a saved game from a previous version. Even minor updates have been known to have problems with the previous versions saved games.