Patch Causing Game Not To Load?

from GalCiv2 Forums
Hello all, just bought the game today on very high recommendation, and quite looking forward to playing it as I have been craving an original strategy game for a while and was a fan of the old Space Empires series from Malfador Machinations. Anyway, after bypassing a bug right off the bat with the Loader (game would simply not run, fixed it by running the program from the GalCiv2.exe - after which it got to the main screen with no problems), I downloaded the 1.1 patch and proceeded to run it. That all went well, save for that now my GalCiv2.exe can't load the game due to a missing Lib3D file, and the only option left in the root folder is to run GC2Launch.exe, which will take me straight into a "GC2Launch.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close," et cetera. I send them anyway just to be a good citizen.
Anyway, the essence of the issue is that the game loaded before the patch, and doesn't now. I don't know if the fact that some of the files that were in the original directory for the game are no longer there is important or not.

Here's the debug.err! Yay!

Debug Message: Version v1.0 last updated on: Mon Feb 6 12:52:05 2006
Debug Message: Could not find a TGN Serial No.
Debug Message: *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 6/7/2006, 15:15:46
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Machine Name: ONDOLINDE
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: INTEL_
System Model: PRODUCT3
BIOS: BIOS Date: 03/31/05 22:15:04 Ver: 08.00.09
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.60GHz (2 CPUs)
Physical Memory: 1022MB RAM
Page File: 459MB used, 2001MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS


Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: NVIDIA GeForce 6200
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce 6200
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_00F3&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_A2
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (75Hz)
Monitor Name: SyncMaster 193P,SyncMaster Magic CX910P (Digital)
Monitor Max Resolution: 1280,1024
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.8421
Driver Date: 3/9/2006 15:29:00
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes



Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: SB Live! Audio [B400]
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0002&SUBSYS_80611102&REV_07
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: ctaud2k.sys
Provider: Creative
Driver Version: 5.12.0001.0252
Driver Date: 7/19/2002 11:47:52
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 multilsample setting: D3DMULTISAMPLE_4_SAMPLES
Debug Message: Game Resolution: 1024 x 768
Debug Message: Running fullscreen.
Debug Message: HAL (hw vp): NVIDIA GeForce 6200
Debug Message: D3DPRESENT_INTERVAL_DEFAULT
Debug Message: Refresh rate: 60
Debug Message: Bit Depth: 32 bit.
Debug Message: *********Checking D3DDevice Caps***********************
Debug Message: A full-color cursor is supported in hardware at high resolution modes.
Debug Message: RGB in format 6:6:6, Masks reported as ff0000:ff00:ff
Debug Message: Now Fullscreen
Debug Message: Shell initialization complete
Debug Message: ***** Initializing Game *****
Debug Message: Timer Frequency is 0 9aa27ca0
Debug Message: Initializing sound card.
Debug Message: initailizing bink
Debug Message: Create setup screens.
Debug Message: Clear galaxy settings.
Debug Message: Clear influence.
Debug Message: Clear up laws.
Debug Message: Clear first time events.
Debug Message: Clear wonders and trade goods.
Debug Message: Clear sector mapper.
Debug Message: Set mouse.
Debug Message: Set update timer.
Debug Message: Clear data definitions.
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Lil Phil\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\*.StarSystems
*DEBUG ERROR: ***Unable to find required tech ImpossibleTech for PirateShip. ***
*DEBUG ERROR: ***Unable to find required tech ImpossibleTech for Starbase. ***
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Lil Phil\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships\*.shipclass
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Lil Phil\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships\*.shipcfg
Debug Message: Reading Star Names
Debug Message: Reading Star Names... Done
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Lil Phil\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\Dread Lords Campaign\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Lil Phil\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\Logos\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Lil Phil\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\Metaverse\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Lil Phil\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\Mods\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Lil Phil\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\Portraits\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Lil Phil\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships\*.sav
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Lil Phil\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\temp\*.sav
Debug Message: TitleWnd: Quit Button.
Debug Message: Posting WM_CLOSE message.
Debug Message: WM_CLOSE message received.
Debug Message: GameUninitialize start
Debug Message: Killing Galaxy
Debug Message: Killing threads.
Debug Message: Kiling civs.
Debug Message: Killing ships.
Debug Message: Killing rallypoints.
Debug Message: Killing misc objects.
Debug Message: Killing stars.
Debug Message: Killing anomalies.
Debug Message: Killing space resources.
Debug Message: Killing colonies and planets.
Debug Message: killing scenario.
Debug Message: Clear galaxy settings.
Debug Message: Clear influence.
Debug Message: Clear up laws.
Debug Message: Clear first time events.
Debug Message: Clear wonders and trade goods.
Debug Message: Clear sector mapper.
Debug Message: Clear data definitions.
Debug Message: Killing Galaxy: Completed
Debug Message: GameUninitialize end
Debug Message: Device not cleared. 1 counts left.
Debug Message: D3D not cleared. 1 counts left.
Debug Message: Destroying Window.
Debug Message: Main Shell terminating normally

And that's all I can give you without directed interrogatives. Thank you, and godspeed!
3,099 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I can't get this to show up in the forum that I thought it would be in, but c'est la vie.
Also, I now have a nifty "Activate.exe" program shaped like a key that can be clicked many times yet produces no clear effect.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Please uninstall the game, and then reinstall the game, and then the patch. It sounds like some files were missing (like Lib3d.dll)

The GC2Launch.exe problem you describe is usually caused by Mcaffee VirusScan thinking that the launch program script is a virus. If you have this (or another virus scan program), try disabling the virus scan or telling it to ignore gc2launch.exe.

The activate.exe program won't do anything once you've already activated your product, so it seems your product is already activated.
Multiplicity - Control multiple PCs using one keyboard and mouse
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Ok! After wading through some issues brought up with Norton after attempting to follow your advice, here's what the situation is:
After uninstalling and re-installing and updating the game yesterday, it ran fine. Then, I restarted, and suddenly I was back to the same problem I had before, with the GalCiv2.exe missing from the directory, and left with only the GC2Launcher.exe to attempt to run the game. I tried using this to run the game under several conditions: When all Norton products had been uninstalled from my computer, When they had all been re-installed and were fully updated with both the firewall and the virus protection off, and alternately on and off. I added GC2Launch.exe to my firewall safe programs, but could not find a way to do something similar with Antivirus. Every time, in every circumstance, GC2Launcher.exe will think for about a second, and then I get the Windows notification that has encountered a problem and needs to close. Exact same as before.
Perhaps running the game without the patch? Any ideas on why the restart seems to shuffle/remove files?
Thanks again for your time.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Also, now that I've uninstalled and re-installed the game a couple times, perhaps it is worth noting that each time, once the installation seems finished (right after the step where they ask you to create a shortcut, veiw readme), it seems to crash and I get this message: "GC2LAU~1.EXE has encountered a problem and needs to close."
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Are you instaling from a downloaded file or the CD?
And sometimes the problem with the launcher program is an old or bad install of Windows Script. You don't include the full error message so it is hard to tell if that might be the problem. But one user the other day fixed his problem that way.

Your audio drivers are very old, by the way. You should update them.

If you are using a downloaded file to install it could be corrupt. You could try redownloading it to get a fresh copy.

Here is the link for Windows Script. Try reinstalling it and see if it helps if working with your virus software doesn't help.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c717d943-7e4b-4622-86eb-95a22b832caa&DisplayLang=en
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It's installing from a CD, recently purchased. What more do you need from the error messages? They're quite reliable in normalcy, so I'd be happy to transcribe whatever you needed.
The script update did not allow the launcher to run properly, there was no change. Thanks for the link anyway, though. I know the drivers are old, it's just about the cheapest sound card I could find. Do you think that's an issue? It would be an excuse to go spend 20-30 dollars for one that maybe gets it's drivers updated more often that once every 5 years.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Creative are decent about keeping the drivers up to date. I am pretty sureyou cound find newer drivers on the soundblaster site.

Have you installed it with your virus scanner shut down, or is it running during the install?
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Well, while I'm installing the Bonus Pack (is that the patch, or am I missing something?) so that I can uninstall the game, here's some more observations.
Neither Autorun.exe nor GC2Launch.exe will work from the CD, with antivirus on or off. They both result in the windows little screen telling me it has a problem and needs to close.
On the other hand, directly running Setup.exe from the disc results in the CD drive reading the disk to itself for about 5 minutes while the rest of the system shows no sign of change or disturbance, and then the installation begins as normal as anything. Excepting that same error message I get at the end of each installation about GC2LAU~1.EXE.

I installed it on a different hard drive, just for kicks. Nothing changed. Then I installed the Bonus Pack, again nothing different. All the same errors in all the same places. All of this with the anitvirus off, mind you, since I uninstalled the previous iteration of the game from my machine.

Ho-ho! However, after a restart, the files are no longer shuffled/removed from their directory (after I installed the Bonus Pack), theoretically allowing me to continue to use GalCiv2.exe to run the program, bypassing the nastyness with the launcher. Who knows how long it will last, though, espcially considering that the drive it's on now is *technically* corrupted. So, any further insights that could be shed would still be much appreciated.
Thanks for your time!