Big problems with GalCiv II :-(

It sounds like a known issue, though I've never heard of it being so severe. Basically, all 2D acceleration was removed in Vista so the minimap redrawing causes the game to tank. This is fixed in DA, but the fix for DL is still in the works. For the moment, the only workaround for it is to minimize the main panel (the little down-arrow on top of the minimap) when you need to scroll around.

Hi kryo,
thanks a lot for your reply! I really like this game a lot and couldn't resist to buy the AddOn some minutes ago. GC2 reminds me of Heroes 3 and Alpha Centauri, two of my alltime favourite games. The music, the videos and the gameplay seem to be excellent.
Unfortunately the problem still occurs in Dark Avatar. It does not happen so often and only for some seconds, but the bug is still there.   

Is there any hope that this problem with Vista will be solved with a future patch?

Did you get it from us directly? If you have the latest version of DA, it shouldn't have that problem (make sure you're actually playing DA too, not DL--the launcher gives you access to both). If you are running DA 1.6 or better then it might be something else.

Yes, I got it directly via download. I'm definitely playing DA (v1.61). But I have to say that the problem did not occur during my last game. So there's hope it will not occur too often... I'll post again here, when I have played the game for a longer time and can assess more competently if there still is a serious problem with my system.

Kryo,
after playing some games now I can tell you that the problem still occurs in Dark Avatar on my computer: From time to time the game suddenly stops, the screen goes black and then reappears after a short time (no crash). But it occurs not as often and for a shorter time (ca. 5 seconds) compared to Dread Lords.

I'm still hoping for a patch that will solve this problem with Vista, because I really like your game a lot.

Another question: I activated Anti Aliasing with the Nvidia control panel. Do I still have to activate AA within the game options?

Can you post a fresh debug.err right after playing and experiencing this issue again? With the latest DA, you'll find the debug in My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar instead of the previous location.

You should have anti-aliasing set to application controlled in the NVidia control panel, as you tend to get better performance that way. 

Also, uncheck the Fullscreen option from the video menu then restart DA.  That should help reduce that problem, but it will still appear fullscreen because you're running the game at the same resolution as your monitor.

Finally, check the website for your monitor's manufacturer (Dell, Samsung, etc) to make sure that you have the latest Vista drivers.  If you're running with a generic driver, it might not be doing as good a job as it needs.

Hello CariElf,
thanks for your help! I'll try this out!

I tried it out and it didn't help. Game crashes as often as before. Maybe it's of interest for you what exactly happens when this bug appears:
1. Some colored flashes suddenly appear for a split second, mostly while scrolling. (This is not always but very often the case.)
2. The game freezes and then the screen goes black for about 5-10 seconds. You can hear a lot of harddisk activity at this time.
3. After this the game reappears and can be played further on. It's not a total game crash.

Maybe the next patch for DA will solve this problem with Vista?

BTW: In your thread "GalCiv2/ Dark Avatar on Vista" you write "Version 1.6 of GalCiv II: Dark Avatar should have no problems at all on Vista at this point as long as your NVidia video card drivers are version 158.24 or higher."
I think this is not true - maybe you should correct this remark.

------------------------------------------------
This is the last debug.err (game again in fullscreen, it was scrolling very choppy windowed):

Debug Message: Version v1.61 Dark Avatar last updated on: Wed Jun 13 14:10:36 2007
Debug Message: Checking DX Version.
Debug Message: *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 10/14/2007, 15:55:16
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
Machine Name: XXX-PC
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6000) (6000.vista_gdr.070627-1500)
Languages: German (Regional Setting: German)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Dell DXP061
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 2.4.2
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Physical Memory: 2046MB RAM
Page File: 744MB used, 3562MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows


Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce 8600 GTS
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0400&SUBSYS_043810DE&REV_A1
Display Memory: 256 MB
Current Display Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (100Hz)
Monitor Name: Philips 109B6
Monitor Max Resolution:
Driver Name: nvd3dum.dll,nvwgf2um.dll
Driver Version: 7.15.0011.6369
Driver Date: 9/11/2007 22:28:00
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes



Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: Lautsprecher (Creative SB X-Fi)
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0005&SUBSYS_10031102&REV_00
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: ctaud2k.sys
Provider: Creative
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.1302
Driver Date: 5/11/2007 11:27:00
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 1
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0

Sound device 1:
Description: SPDIF Out (Creative SB X-Fi)
Default Sound Playback: No
Default Voice Playback: No
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0005&SUBSYS_10031102&REV_00
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: ctaud2k.sys
Provider: Creative
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.1302
Driver Date: 5/11/2007 11:27:00
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: Game Resolution: 1024 x 768
Debug Message: Running fullscreen.
Debug Message: HAL (hw vp): NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS
Debug Message: D3DPRESENT_INTERVAL_DEFAULT
Debug Message: Refresh rate: 100
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 da7a64
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\XXX\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\Gfx\Movies\*.bik
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\XXX\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\sfx\*.wav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\XXX\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\Music\*.mp3
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\XXX\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 C:\Users\XXX\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\ships\*.xml
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\XXX\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\shiptemplates\*.xml
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\XXX\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\XXX\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 C:\Users\XXX\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\Dark Avatar\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\XXX\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\Dread Lords Campaign\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\XXX\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\Gfx\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\XXX\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\Metaverse\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\XXX\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\SandboxGames\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\XXX\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\ships\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\XXX\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\ShipStyles\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\XXX\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\shiptemplates\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\XXX\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\Story Logs\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Users\XXX\Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar\temp\*.sav
Debug Message: Popup Manager Update: Updating window with ID=35
Debug Message: Error loading mission 16 from C:\Program Files\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2/./Data/English/Campaigns/Dread Lords Campaign.gc2campaign
Debug Message: Popup Manager Update: Unhiding CampaignWnd
Debug Message: Error loading mission 10 from C:\Program Files\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar\./Data/English/Campaigns/Dark Avatar.gc2campaign
Debug Message: Error loading mission 16 from C:\Program Files\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2/./Data/English/Campaigns/Dread Lords Campaign.gc2campaign
Debug Message: Popup Manager Update: Updating window with ID=1
Debug Message: Popup Manager Update: Updating window with ID=19
Debug Message: Popup Manager Update: Unhiding OptionsWnd
Debug Message: Popup Manager Update: Updating window with ID=1
Debug Message: Popup Manager Update: Updating window with ID=19
Debug Message: Popup Manager Update: Unhiding OptionsWnd
Debug Message: Popup Manager Update: Updating window with ID=1
Debug Message: TitleWnd: Quit Button.
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 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: GameUninitialize end
Debug Message: Device not cleared. 1 counts left.
Debug Message: D3D not cleared. 1 counts left.
Debug Message: Destroying Window.
Debug Message: Main Shell terminating normally

Or it might be just your computer; lets not jump to conclusions too fast. Anyway good luck with your problem.

Have you tried removing the game and installing it fresh with updates? It certainly can't hurt.

Also, are you still getting that yellow warning you described in the original post?

Can you make sure to send in the debug.err for right after this happens?  It sounds like you're running into a device error and that it's managing to recover.  It was getting a device error in the first debug.err, which is why I suggested that you run in windowed mode.