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- ========
- Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic
- Subject: Re: CIV 2 Troubleshooting Guide
- From: Brian Reynolds <100105.2142@CompuServe.COM>
- Date: 22 Apr 1996 17:51:48 GMT
-
- Here are some of the most frequent problems people have been
- encountering with Civ2, and the solutions to them. I'll try
- to repost this from time to time.
-
- Brian Reynolds
- Civ II Designer
-
-
- ========================================================
- Civilization II -- Frequently Asked Questions (2-Apr-96)
- ========================================================
-
- Q: Where can I get the latest patch for Civ2?
-
- A: The latest patch (currently version 1.06) is now available
- for download. If you're having problems and you haven't
- downloaded the latest patch yet, DO IT! The patch can be
- found on our ftp site (ftp.microprose.com, under "new
- versions"), our web site (www.microprose.com, under CivII,
- "latest"), or on Compuserve or AOL.
-
-
- Q: I can't hear music, even though the CD is in the drive.
-
- A: The music in the game is straight redbook CD audio. This means that you
- can put the Civ2 CD into any CD player, and the music should play just like
- any regular music CD (except for track 1). In order to hear the CD audio
- music, you must have the following:
-
- 1) The Civ2 CD in the CD drive.
- 2) The proper (and up-to-date) Windows MCI CD audio drivers for your
- soundcard loaded.
- 3) A CD audio cable connecting your CD drive to your soundcard. This last
- is part of the standard system configuration and is probably present
- unless you installed your sound card or CDROM drive yourself.
-
- If these conditions are satisfied, the music will play. If you do not have
- recent soundcard drivers, you should contact your soundcard manufacturer for
- an update. Also, there have been reports of other CD programs (e.g.
- Microsoft FlexiCD) causing a conflict with the game. In this case,
- disabling these other programs should fix the problem.
-
- If you're having problems w/ the music, you may want to check if you can
- play a regular audio CD on your CDROM drive. Once you can do that, you
- should be able to hear music with Civ2.
-
-
- Q: I am getting a lot of GPFs in the game.
-
- A: There are several possible causes of this problem:
-
- 1) The initially shipped version of Civilization II turns out to -require-
- a sound card in order to run properly. If you don't have a sound card,
- you'll need to download the patched version.
-
- 2) The next most likely problem is a lack of global memory space. Even
- when you have the required amount of physical memory, it is possible
- for other applications, or disk cache programs, to drain these resources.
- a) Usually the best solution is to increase the amount of virtual
- memory swap space you have available: Go to Control Panel, 386
- Enhanced, Virtual Memory and increase your swap memory to 32+megs.
- You'll need to make sure you have enough disk space to accomodate
- the swap file, of course.
- b) If you're running Windows 95, it will usually manage your virtual
- memory for you correctly. However, you must have enough disk space
- available for Win95 to create and use a swap file.
- c) The above will usually eliminate the GPF's, but you may also be
- able to improve performance by freeing up physical memory,
- particularly by reducing the size of your disk cache if you have
- a large one.
-
- 3) We are aware of problems with certain models of "Cirrus Logic" and
- "Diamond" brand video cards. In most cases, these problems can be solved
- by updating the Windows video drivers. If you have a Cirrus Logic card,
- new drivers can be found at "ftp.cirrus.com". If you are using any other
- brand video card, we recommend checking your drivers to make sure they
- are up-to-date. If you are using older (buggy) drivers, they can cause
- problems. Generally speaking, most GPFs can be solved by updating your
- Windows video, sound, etc drivers!
-
- 4) If you're receiving a GPF in "WING.DLL", it probably means you
- are using some kind of "RAM Doubling" software (e.g. RAM Doubler,
- SoftRAM), which seems to cause a conflict. To fix the problem,
- you must disable these programs before starting the game. We have
- also noticed conflicts with some CD-ROM accelerator programs.
-
- 5) If you've tried all of the above and you're still having GPF's whenever
- you discover a new technology, try renaming/deleting the file
- GET_INFO.EXE from your Civ2 directory. You won't get the fancy
- civilopedia, but you will get the beta civilopedia. In this case,
- the problem is some conflict with the Authorware package we used
- to do the hypertext Civilopedia.
-
-
-
- Q: The game tells me to run "VFWFIX.BAT" on the CD but I cannot find it!
-
- A: Actually, the file is "VFWFIX.REG" and you can still run the file. If you
- double-click on the file in the File Manager (Win3.1) or "My Computer"
- (Win95), the information in the file will be added to the Windows registry
- and the problem should be fixed. Sorry for the confusion.
-
-
- Q: The "Civilopedia" causes a black screen.
-
- A: This will happen if you have Win95, and did not install the pedia files to
- the hard drive, and are playing with the CD. You'll simply need to download
- the latest patched version.
-
-
-
- Q: The text in the game is unreadable, or I receive a Truetype font error.
-
- A: Make sure that truetype fonts are enabled on the Control Panel.
- Also, Adobe Type Manager has a known incompatibility with the Authorware
- tool we used for the hypertext Civilopedia. You'll need to disable
- ATM, and tell it to use resident fonts.
-
-
- Q: I am having problems running the videos in the game.
- (Particularly if they always show up as black squares).
-
- A: Try reinstalling the "WinG" and "Video for Windows" programs (these
- programs can be found in the appropriate subdirectories on the CD).
- When re-installing, make sure that you agree to all the licensing
- questions and you should restart windows so that the changes take effect.
-
-
- Q: The heralds appear but they aren't animating (Win 95 machines only).
-
- A: You are probably using the 32-bit Indeo driver. You can check this by
- looking for a file called IR41_32.DLL in your C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory.
- If this is the case, you can either uninstall the 32-bit version and install
- the Video for Windows on the Civ 2 CD, or you can wait for a patch which we
- hope will be ready soon.
-
-
-
- Q: I received a "Can't find WinG" error message.
-
- A: Some computers have their Windows System directory write-protected.
- To fix it you need to change this attribute and reinstall both WinG
- and Video for Windows.
-
-
- Q: The game can't find the CD after I have been playing for a while.
-
- A: If you open the CD-ROM drive during the course of gameplay, the game will
- stop recognizing the presence of the CD. For now, the only fix is to not
- to open the CD-ROM drive during the course of gameplay. We are working on
- improving the game's recognition of the CD for the version 1.07 patch.
-
-
-
-