1BC Civ Forums / Civilization III Discussion / I need help! / PC Tech Issues

blank screen on vista

rayjohn79 — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 15:01:34 GMT

cive 3 gold edition loaded fine on my vista upgrade but when i start the game the screen goes blank, you can here the music playing so i know the game is running but i cant figure out why the screen is blank. any ideas?

conquests wont run on my xp pro machines but does xp homes and ME machines

Mountain — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:10:42 GMT

I can get conquests to run on any of my ME or xp home machines, but I cannot get it to run on any xp pro machine.... It will run through the intro videao just fine but when it gets to the start or load game main screen it the monitor goes into standbye mode and the picture goes black.... the music plays in the background and you can click the mouse and you still get mouse clicks and what not everthing is running fine just no picture because the game shuts of the monitor..... some of these xp pro machines doing this ran the game well when they were Win ME machines but now that I have changed to xp pro they do this....all the xphome machines I have play the the game well with no problems..... but every xp pro machine I have tried does this black screen while the game goes on in background, I have tried every accelerator function and everything I can think of but nothing makes a difference so far in the past I have always just given up and not played the game anymore but I am getting tired of that because I really enjoy playing this game...... anyone got a clue what is going on??? Please let me know if you come up with anything....

This folder is for Civ3 tech issues only

Sean — Sun, 16 Oct 2005 18:59:57 GMT

Please use http://www.1bcciv.com/Forum62-1.aspx for non-Civ related tech issues.

If you had a post here, that's not anymore, check the new forum. :)

Thanks!

dsetup.dll not found

Connotate — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 11:23:42 GMT

I've just been given Civ III as a present. When I try to load it it keeps coming up with 'can't find dsetup.dll' and thereafter shuts down!

Seems to be a right bummer to me! Any suggestions people?

Diplomacy screen problems

oi0i — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:50:17 GMT

I can run Civ 3 in vista (by using the XP sp2 compatibility option) but I have problems in the diplomacy screen. I cant click on some of the icons and my response text is really difficult to read. Some of the options are also off the bottom of the screen. I've tried everything I can think of - has anyone else experienced this? I dont think its my graphics card I have a NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT. Please help!

Can't start game on Vista

Darth Malus — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 23:21:49 GMT

I cannot start the game I receive a message that reads:
Font Error
Error loading font (Error code 28)!!
The game will now exit

And that is it.

I have a brand new laptop with Vista SP1. I installed Civ3 Complete once, and am thinking about removing it to reinstall it. I have also tried to run it in XP SP2.

Thanx for your time.

Game Crashes to Desktop when trying to host multiplayer

yayyy — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:03:28 GMT

I've tried to host a game online from the LAN and Internet menu's, however, once I select the Host button the game crashes to the desktop. I have the latest patch, latest video driver and all that. Any suggestions?

reloading a saved multiplayer game?

rgndvo — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:56:36 GMT

I havent played civ3 multiplayer much but gave it a go with friends the other day. We saved the game before we stopped and now want to pick it up where we left off.

Under multiplayer though, I dont see an option to start from a saved game. Does anyone know the process to do this in civ3 v1.22?

Civ3 will not install

jtpaul — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 02:39:22 GMT

I purchased Civ 3 gold edition

When I try to install, I am asked for Disk 2

There is no Disk 2

CPTW Killed by updates!

BigWilhelm — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:37:23 GMT

SID MEIER'S CIVILIZATION III Play The World V1.27 will not launch since WINDOWS UPDATES :w00t:

Sept 10 XP Updates

KB890830

KB938464

KB954154

were installed. Anyone have any ideas? Or someplace where I can go for help?

I have tried reinstalling.

Hey all

Grishnak01 — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:19:18 GMT

Hey all.. I know it's been a while.. But the changeover to Civ IV left me hanging. I still only have III. One of these years, I'll pick up IV.

Anyway.. I have a question about III. I keep running out of time before I've finished the game and am forced to retire. This last time that I played, I hadn't even made it to Radio before I was forced to retire.

Is there a selection I can select/unselect to shut the danged time limit off?

Windows Vista issue...

WickedWoz — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:06:23 GMT

Hi everyone :)

I just bought CIV3 yesterday after waiting so long. I installed it a bit earlier, and that was a success, however when I load my game my screen goes blank and I get a message saying "SIGNAL OUT OF REACH" or something along those lines. It scrolls around the screen constantly, and I can't get rid of it!

My monitor is the right size for it (1024x768), but it still won't work. I've played another one of Sid Meiers games (Simgolf lol :P) and that works perfectly.

It really has put me in a bad mood, I don't want to take it back. Could anyone help?

Thanks in advance.

Ripped Off ! ?

more bad news — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:12:03 GMT

I just got civ3 ( 1 cd ) a legendary experience at my local target store today and to my horror there was no instruction manual , so now i am expected to print a 269 page book with pdf ! ?

And worst then that when i try to play your game all i keep getting is " Please insert complete play disk into cd drive " ! ? Whats with that i assume that everything needed is on that one cd and now it seems i ll need to use this complete play cd every time i play ?

Whats this all about and how do i get this fixed, i guess i need some free patchs or what every ! What Now ! ? H E L P: sick:

Conquests not installing on Vista Home prem

wjohnsoniv — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:41:01 GMT

Any suggestions on installing Conquests on a Vista Home prem manchine?

It gets part of the way, then fails to install. I can still install using the same CD on an XP machine so it is not the CD.

Civ III and Play the World installed easily and both work.

I have no plans to switch to Civ IV. Maybe Civ V if they give casual players what they took from us in IV.

Unable to load game on vista

BigC — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:02:57 GMT

In recently trying to load Civ3 (I've been able to play it before on this same computer), my computer gives the error message "Please login with administrator priveliges and try again." Any idea how to circumvent this issue?

civ 4 and windows vista

2soon2quit — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 02:36:01 GMT

i've had Civ 4 for a while now, which has been on my old laptop. i recently bought a wondows vista laptop and downloaded the game on the laptop and try running it but a window pops up and says i have compatibility issues. is there any patches or solutions i could do to make the game run...

thank you:)

Civilization III on Vista

TheDuck — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 22:16:08 GMT

Does anyone know if someone may someday write a patch to make Civilization III run on Vista? I have a new HP notebook with Vista...Civ IV works fine; but, I would like to also run Civ III. It almost works, but it looks like a patch is needed.

CVC: First production of Knights ends game patch reqd

Opawa — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 18:35:32 GMT

When playing with the Civ 3 Conquests exandsion pack when a civ in the game produces its first KNights unt the games ends. Where do I find th patch for this?

cant load civ3 conquest

Warrenpeace — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:19:09 GMT

i havr tried 2 load patch 1.29 and still not workig help

C3 Complete v1.22 crashes after winning game

Gordon Brown — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 22:58:17 GMT

Running C3 Complete v1.22 (2K version)

On completion of the actual game, it displays the Leaders screen, the Summary replay screen, the Top 5 cities screen, and the Victory status screen. I then pauses briefly and displays the Microsoft error message (in the standard blue box):-

Civ3Complete has encountered a problem and needs to

close. We are sorry for any inconvenience.

...

(at the bottom of the blue box the two buttons)

Send error report. & Don't send.

Also, it there is no record in the Hall Of Fame of the winning game.

Why ??

Mysterious crash on running C3C or PTW

Comedy Dave — Fri, 02 Apr 2004 01:41:12 GMT

Hey Everyone,Sorry if I sound like a right duffer, but here's my problem.I recently bought Civ 3 gold edition and C3C in the same package. After eagerly installing onto my computer I've found that neither PTW or C3C wants to run.When I run either program, I get the small graphic that appears, the screen res changes and the screen goes black - as if something's about to happen. but then I just get chucked back to windows with not even an error message to let me know what's happened.I'm running windows XP, have the latests graphics and sound drivers, and have directX 9.0b. As far as I know my computer fills all required specs.I also have Civ3 original from when it first came out, and the funny thing is the game will load with this disc and I can play it. But running PTW or C3C with the required disc in the drive won't work.I've tried with and without patches, so I'm really at a loose end. Has anyone else had a similar problem? Hope someone can help. :confused: Dave

Install Issues

TAZ — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 11:38:19 GMT

I have all needed system requirements, running XP home.

The program seems to have installed correctly.

I already followed the "just in case the desktop icon doesn't work" info in the PDF users guide.

I already uninstalled and reinstalled (twice).

I already installed the CD to hard drive.

Ideas?

Vista Run Problems

fnbush4210 — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 03:36:58 GMT

I am running Vista Home premium on my dell computer. I loaded the game with no problem - it installed ok. However, when trying to run it, no text appears on the screens next to the little radio buttons on the menu - when I select one at random, a game will appear to begin to load, and then the program crashes stating something about video memory. There is an nVidia 6600 PCIe card in the machine, 256mb memory.

I have tried setting the program to run in XP Home SP2 compatibility mode, but no go.

How can I go about getting the program to run in Vista. Likely this question has been asked and answered many times here, but I can't come up with the right search terms I guess. Also, the "official" game page has no support / troubleshooting section.

Please help me get this game to run.

By the way, could it be my computer is too new or something? :)

Civ 3 no install ...

herr — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 22:54:14 GMT

Hey guys

When I put the CD in, it auto runs, but I do not get an install option.
I get the play, uninstall, readme and reinstall options.

When I press reinstall, it goes over my PC finding the old civ 3 files and uninstalling them, then a window pops up saying it was succesfull, so I press finish. Thats that.
Still get the same options, and still tries to uninstall last installed version on PC, without succes and then finishing.

I hand removed the civ 3 files, but still same problem.

If I press play button, nothing launches or works either.

Can someone help please ?

Thanks

Regards

Herr

Trouble reinstalling Civ3

Jerimy240 — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 18:46:41 GMT

I had trouble installing Civ3, so I attempted the reinstall option on the startup menu screen in Civ3. When I tried this a window comes up asking if I want to remove Civ3 and all of its components. I click yes and a maintenance complete window comes up and says the repair is complied with. When I go to play the game an error saying by bink32w.dll file is missing. I went to the Add/Remove programs in the Control Panel and the maintenance repair process repeats itself. I've deleted all the civ3 files I could find and I am still unable to install the game. Can anyone hook a brother up?

So I'm an idiot, but anyways...

Weigraas — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 03:10:17 GMT

Was having probs w/ Civ3 (not complete, PTW, conquests, or any other versions, just the basic civilization 3.) so I DL'd the v1.29f patch. Now it asks for the CD to be inserted even though it's already in the drive. I've read the threads and only thing that might apply to this PC would be the wrong patch version for my CD key, though I don't have a typed CD key anywhere with it and never needed one to install it on my nor gf's PCs. I can't seem to find any other versions of v1.29f patch either no matter where I look and bout 1/2 the sites to DL it from aren't even working atm or possibly anymore... Now both our PC's can't run it since I've DL'd the patch on both as I've gotten in the 1900s and then I get error msgs when trying to load the game >.<

Any help would be much appreciated =o)

Can't Install Civ III

snowman_737 — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 23:39:47 GMT

I have installed Civ III on this computer before, but the computer crashed a few months ago. I tried to install it tonight. Disc 1 installed fine, but when I put disc 2 in, the computer tries to read it for a few minutes and then it asks for disc 2 again (no files are loaded from the disc). The CD does not have scratches.

Please help!!!

Lock Up

chickenmum — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 15:29:36 GMT

Okay. I bought this Civilization 3 game, not the fancy conquest or anything like that, and on the box it says that ©2001 Infogrames. ANYHOW. I have 896 (????!!!!!) megs of ram... and this fantastic computer... and the game runs fine... most of the time. BUT it crashes unexpectedly (and generally when I'm doing very well... and for random events, nothing is going on... just makin' workers or temples or just traisping about the countryside.. ). It doesn't give me an "view event" or anythign like that, just has that stupid microsucks message that says "send error report". That's all. SO... what do I do?

I have a 19 in widescreen monitor and already I can't get this sucker to fit it properly (we lose a little on one edge, annoying, but seems to be fine)... and otherwise, the only thing I can think I've done is make a boat.. but I've made boats before and it's fine. Even when I reload the game back a few "turns" ... it's like it's headed for disaster no matter what I do differently...

Anyone have any ideas?

Shannon

Crash to desktop on spaceship launch

Angus — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 21:23:57 GMT

I've completed the space ship, and so I'm shown the spacship screen wherein the only option is to push launch. Unfortunately, when I do, I get a crash to desktop.
I've tried reinstalling Civ (and reapplying the 1.29f patch) and also tried installing that "Rad" video thing, which is supposed to fix the problem, but it still happens. What do I try next?

Problem with Diplomatic sreen

Wolverinus — Sat, 19 May 2007 11:21:07 GMT

Hi,
I have reinstalled Civ3on my 98SE PC. But even with patches I still have this problem:
The answer I could choice from are misplaced. They doesn't appear in the box, but at the bottom of the screen. There they overlay every other option, so that I can't even leave the diplomatic screen
Could anybody help?
Any idea, why that happen?
How could change it?

CIV3 & PTW crash on startup

MCHamster — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 23:11:31 GMT

Whenever I start The game(I run Vista), after a short wait, maybe 15 secs or less, the game abrubtly stops and crashes to the desktop. I have found no way to fix this, though I have run it smooth before. I just checked the event viewer, and I came up with this:

Log Name: Application
Source: Application Error
Date: 4/25/2007 10:30:01 PM
Event ID: 1000
Task Category: (100)
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: acer-PC
Description:
Faulting application Civilization3X.exe, version 0.0.0.0, time stamp 0x3daf2a79, faulting module Civilization3X.exe, version 0.0.0.0, time stamp 0x3daf2a79, exception code 0xc0000005, fault offset 0x001e6b62, process id 0xe74, application start time 0x01c787aac50923c2.

Game Lockup After last victory screen

rgrmrdth — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 21:12:54 GMT

I own CIIIC and I have finshed the first two conquests. However, each game remains at the last turn because my game locks up when I click on the 'X' on the final Victory screen.

I am running windows XP SP2 and I receive an error message, which I promptly send at it request.

Anybody else have a simular problem or know how I can solve mine.

I have a tech ?

lfu1527478 — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 22:32:58 GMT

I am an Civ addict who recently replaced her computer and the new one has Vista. Does anyone know if there is hope on the horizon? :crying:

Linda

Game can't find the CD

shadostar2000 — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 15:23:24 GMT

I just bought Civ 3. It installed fine, and I meet or beat all the system requirements. But when I start the game, I get the gray box asking me to please insert the Civ 3 disc into the drive. Since the disc is already in the drive (have tried different drives as well), is there a issue I need to know about? Anyone seen this before? Please help and thanks in advance.

Can't Play unless on Admistrator Account

Gen. white — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 08:10:13 GMT

I have Civ3 installed into the adminstrator account of my computer and i can play it perfectly fine on that account but when i want to play it on my account of the computer I cant play it. It always says "Error Files May be Corrupt". I can make it onto the Title screen but i cant play, load or start a game. I have tried just installing it into mine but then a box comes up and says "You do not have sufficent privilges to do this action" and it kicks me out of the install screen. So I have to install into the Adminstrator account but how do i make it so that any account can play? or just my account and the adminstrator?

Cant install.

Gen. white — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 15:15:16 GMT

So i got a new computer (Dells are awesome) anywho, I want to install Civ3c on it and i cant. It keeps saying "Error 1305.Error reading from file c:/ProgramFiles/Atari/Civilazation III Complete/Art/Flics/LZ_C02.flc. Verify that the File exists and that you can access it." It also gives me two options, "Retry" and "Cancel". Anyway i dont know what to do i hv tried to cancel and then install again, didnt work. Also i tried restarting my computer, didnt work. So if you can help me please do.

Civ3 Conquests screen VIBRATES

bearcat222 — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 09:06:21 GMT

First, my specs:

Gateway 500 C computer, upgraded.

Nvidia GeForce FX 5500 PCI (not PCI express) 128 MB

Pentium 4 1.5 MHz

1280 MB RAM

Civ3 loaded. Civ 3 Conquests loaded. Installed Conquests patches 1.22 and 1.27f.

PROBLEM-- When opening Conquests, the screen blinks to black for two seconds, then blinks to a view of the desktop....except it is shrunk 75% and pushed into the upper left hand corner of the screen...all the icons look blurry, and the whole screen is vibrating.....screen blinks to black, then to the "Samurai looking at the castle" screen, which looks blurry and is vibrating....then to game options, also blurry, also vibrating.....

Drivers have been updated. Antivirus says I am clean.

Crash!...

drt_t1gg3r — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 12:19:00 GMT

I don't know what version of CIV III I have, it was a $9.99 special at WALMART. Most games I get from there seem to work fine, but lately I seem to have bad luck with them. The jacket says copyright 2005 Take Two Interactive Software.

Anyways most of the time when it crashes, I can just get the sims to do something different and that saves the crash but I finally hit a crash that no matter what I do with any civ, as soon as the turn is over, it crashes.

I am playing a quick game set up with alexander. I am only at 1040 AD. But I have had this problem with any set up I use. I have downloaded both patches but that only cause the game to not find the CD on start up even though the CD is in. That caused me to uninstall and clean the register, check for viruses, defrag, restart, re-installed. I can't remember if I installed 1.29 patch or the other one, but I am leaning more towards 1.29.

anyway here is my system stuff and the error info. [url=http://64digits.com/users/drt_t1gg3r/DxDiag.txt][b]My System Info[/b][/url]
[url=http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=3607046][b]Screen Shot of My Error INFO[/b][/url]
Hope you can help

VGA not supported

kindeller — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 11:32:09 GMT

I get this message from my screen not my computer, is there anyway to change this before the game is run so i can see what im doing (i can hear the music and watch the video's everything else is blank with a "VGA not supported" message)

Game crashes after spaceship launch

NurDas — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 14:58:10 GMT

The game crashes after I click the spaceship 'launch' button. The screen goes black and the cinematic doesn't begin.

I have the version 1.07f (no expansions and no patches I'm afraid) and Windows XP.

Does anyone know a solution to this problem?