Problems running the game first time

I just installed the game earlier today and have not yet gotten it to work. When I select the game from my start menu, the initial menu with "play the game" "manual" etc comes up fine, but when I choose play the game the screen goes dark and nothing happens at all.

The first time I tried I got some sort of error stating my DirectX or video card drivers weren't up to date or something, so I got DirectX 10. As for the drivers, they were recently updated when I installed DoW:Soulstorm a few weeks ago.

I read a similar post and tried the solution offered there, going into the "Prefs.ini" file and setting it to match the monitor resolution. It was already set to the correct resolution. Colors for the monitor are set to 32 bit, not 16 bit (I think I read that caused problems too.)

Thinking perhaps I could get a repeat of the error message, I tried running the first expansion instead. It gave me a whole different error message stating that it didn't detect 32 MB of RAM and that I might not have the ability to run the game. This is ridiculous, as I have 2 GB of RAM and easily run high end graphics games like Mask of the Betrayor and Dawn of War, Soulstorm. I think my Specs should be fine.

My OS is Microsoft XP Home edition with Service pack 2.

Any ideas on what to try to fix this thing?

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What version of the game are you running? Did you every install it before? Did you run the betas?

I'm not sure what your issue is just yet. Can you tell us your video card specs? Did you try reinstalling the game? I know that is a major pain, but it just might fix it if you have some corrupt/missing files.

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I just downloaded and installed it for the first time today, never run the betas. I don't know my video card specs (though I know they must be fairly good to run some of my more recent games), how would I look those up?

I have not tried re-installing because as you say, downloading the thing was a real pain in the neck.

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You need to post your debug.err info.

If you are playing Dread Lords it should be in C:\Program Files\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2.
Dark Avatar and Twilight each have their own in their respective folders.

That will give info as to which version you are playing, and what the problem might be.

Copy and paste the file's info from Notepad into the reply, which will give us info on your system specs and game version, as well as the crash point (if you do it right after the crash).

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Debug Message: Version v1.5 last updated on: Thu Jan 11 13:39:19 2007
Debug Message: GalCiv2 is activated.
Debug Message: Checking DX Version.
Debug Message: *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 5/12/2008, 23:14:13
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Machine Name: BLARG
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.070227-2254)
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: INTEL_
System Model: D945PVS_
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz (2 CPUs)
Physical Memory: 2046MB RAM
Page File: 292MB used, 3646MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS.0

Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name:
Manufacturer:
Chip Type:
DAC Type:
Key Device: Enum\
Display Memory: n/a
Current Display Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (1Hz)
Monitor Name:
Monitor Max Resolution:
Driver Name: vga.dll
Driver Version: 5.01.2600.0000
Driver Date: 8/29/2002 05:00:00
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes

Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: SigmaTel Audio
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_8384&DEV_7681&SUBSYS_80860707&REV_1032
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: sthda.sys
Provider: SigmaTel
Driver Version: 5.10.4487.0000
Driver Date: 4/27/2005 10:45:08
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: No compatible devices found.
Debug Message: InitializeDirect3D Failed.
Debug Message: Now Fullscreen
Debug Message: Shell initialization complete
Debug Message: WM_CLOSE message received.
Debug Message: GameUninitialize start

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It gave me a whole different error message stating that it didn't detect 32 MB of RAM and that I might not have the ability to run the game. This is ridiculous, as I have 2 GB of RAM

The 32MB refers to the RAM on the video card, not the RAM of the computer

8/29/2002 05:00:00

Do you know that your video drivers are 6 years old? That is the problem.

so I got DirectX 10. As for the drivers, they were recently updated when I installed DoW:Soulstorm a few weeks ago.

Looks like something went wrong.

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The 32MB refers to the RAM on the video card, not the RAM of the computer

That was my thought as well. Could be an integrated card sharing system RAM that is not configured properly.

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