Gal. Civ II: Ultimate Edition won't start

from Stardock Forums

Everything installs fine, but the game won't start. I can click on "Play The Game" from the initial starting screen that shows up when you open the game from the shortcut.

All that ever happens is the game goes to start up and all I see is a black box (takes up roughly 2/3 of my 22" monitor) that appears from the upper left corner down towards the lower right center.

Nothing happens after that. I've walked away from the computer for 5 or 6 minutes to see if the game just takes a while to load, yet still nothing happens.

I've been able to install just the regular Gal Civ II game without any problems. I gave that copy to my little brother after I picked up the Ultimate Edition last week.

So, anyone able to shed any light on the problem or anyone have a solution?

3,991 views 7 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

I figure I would mention a few other things, too.

I have uninstalled and then deleted all files that pertain to Gal. Civ. II and the Ultimate Edition version I have. I've ran two different registry cleaner programs and I then restarted my computer.

After that I re-installed the Ultimate Edition, but I still keep coming up with the same outcome...the game just won't start.

Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Please open your debug.err file in notepad, and copy/paste the contents into a post here. This will give us some technical information that can help troubleshoot your problem. The location you'll find the debug.err in varies depending on which game you're playing:

Dread Lords: My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2
Dark Avatar: My Documents\My Games\GC2DarkAvatar
Twilight of the Arnor: My Documents\My Games\GC2TwilightArnor

Older versions may store the debug directly in the location the game is installed at.

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.

ObjectDock - Access shortcuts and frequently used applications from an animated dock.
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

Here's my debug info:

Debug Message:  Version v2.02 Twilight of the Arnor last updated on: Tue Dec  9 11:44:40 2008
Debug Message:  Checking DX Version.
Debug Message:  *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 2/19/2009, 20:05:21
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Machine Name: REDS-COMPUTER
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.080814-1236)
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 5600+,  MMX,  3DNow (2 CPUs), ~3.1GHz
Physical Memory: 3326MB RAM
Page File: 541MB used, 4668MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS


Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce 8800 GTS 512
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0600&SUBSYS_C8423842&REV_A2
Display Memory: 512.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1680 x 1050 (32 bit) (59Hz)
Monitor Name: SyncMaster 226CW(Digital)
Monitor Max Resolution: 1680,1050
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0011.8122
Driver Date: 1/15/2009 08:19:00
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes
 


Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: SB Live! 24-bit
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0007&SUBSYS_100A1102&REV_00
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: P17.sys
Provider: CREATIVE
Driver Version: 5.12.0001.0512
Driver Date: 7/7/2005 02:14:30
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:  Attempting to create D3DDevice at resolution 1024 x 768, Windowed: 0, Multisample: 4
Debug Message:  Could not create the render device using default format. Switching to 16bit
Debug Message:  Using hardware vertex processing
Debug Message:  Using multilsample setting: D3DMULTISAMPLE_NONE
Debug Message:  Attempting to create D3DDevice at resolution 1024 x 768, Windowed: 0, Multisample: 0
Debug Message:  Could not create the render device.
Debug Message:  InitializeDirect3D Failed.
Debug Message:  Now Fullscreen
Debug Message:  Shell initialization complete
Debug Message:  GalCiv2 is activated.
Debug Message:  WM_CLOSE message received.
Debug Message:  GameUninitialize start

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

I can start the game windowed (changed FullScreen=0), but the mouse cursor doesn't line up correctly with buttons. I have to drag the cursor just a tad under the button I want to click on....

I also tried setting the default resolution (before I set fullscreen=0) to my native resolution of 1650x1080, but that didn't help either.

Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Quoting Kyle, reply 5
Other 3D applications work fine right now?
End of Kyle's quote

Other games work just fine - Mostly been playing Fallout 3 - which has it's slew of bugs and random crashes just like Oblivion did.

FarCry 2 works just fine, STALKER: Clear Sky works fine, Neverwinter Nights 2 works fine and my Half Life 2 games works fine....even older games like Dungeon Siege and Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 works fine.

Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top

You guys may or may not believe this, but things seem to be working fine now. I turned off my SLI (this was my last resort thing to try, I tried everything else) and started the game and things booted right up!