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.
shadyman