Freeze on Game Start

from GalCiv2 Forums
Hey guys,

I haven't seen this issue listed elsewhere on the forums although I have followed the recommendations for fixing dual-core-related issues just in case. I have the latest version of GalCivII installed as well as expansion beta and this happens with either.

The problem is this: when I start the game the launcher opens normally and I click 'Play Game'. The game begins to load but only gets as far as creating a window-sized black box in the upper left of my screen. That's as far as it gets. It doesn't actually crash from there, but I have to force-quit as it will just sit there.

My system specs are:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+
ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe
2GB PC2-6400
GeForce 7950 GT KO
Sound Blaster X-FI XtremeMusic

I'm running the latest drivers for everything and as I said above have exhausted all fixes suggested in the dual-core thread.

Any ideas? I'm stumped.
2,190 views 7 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Please go to C:\Program Files\Stardock\Totalgaming\GalCiv2 (or wherever you installed the game at), open the debug.err file you find there in notepad, and copy/paste the contents into a post here. This will give us some technical information that can help troubleshoot your problem.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Here ya go. I wasn't sure if that'd be useful since there isn't an actual crash.

Debug Message: Version v1.4x last updated on: Mon Oct 23 17:43:56 2006
Debug Message: GalCiv2 is activated.
Debug Message: Checking DX Version.
Debug Message: *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 12/13/2006, 13:06:13
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Machine Name: ANNEX
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp.050928-1517)
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 4600+, MMX, 3DNow (2 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Physical Memory: 2046MB RAM
Page File: 251MB used, 5733MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS


Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GT
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce 7950 GT
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0295&SUBSYS_C6353842&REV_A1
Display Memory: 512.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: ViewSonic VP930 Series
Monitor Max Resolution: 1280,1024
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.9371
Driver Date: 10/22/2006 12:22:00
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes



Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: SB X-Fi Audio [8C00]
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0005&SUBSYS_00211102&REV_00
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: ctaud2k.sys
Provider: Creative
Driver Version: 5.12.0001.1187
Driver Date: 8/17/2006 11:17:10
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: Could not create the render device using default format. Switching to 16bit
Debug Message: Using multilsample setting: D3DMULTISAMPLE_NONE
Debug Message: Could not create the render device.
Debug Message: InitializeDirect3D Failed.
Debug Message: Now Fullscreen
Debug Message: Shell initialization complete
Debug Message: WM_CLOSE message received.
Debug Message: GameUninitialize start
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Try opening the Prefs.ini file located at My Documents/My Games/GalCiv2, and set the following settings under the [Video] heading:

DisplayWidth=1280
DisplayHeight=1024
ColorDepth=32
Fullscreen=0

Then try running the game.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
That did it!

Thanks for the fast responses. Nothing gives me warm and fuzzies like awesome customer service.

Color me impressed.

Thanks!
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It's gonna be a couple hours before I can come back and check for a response, but I just figured I'd let you know that after a couple minutes of fiddling with those settings you gave me, I've determined that setting the resolution to less than 1280x1024 is what was causing the issue. I was able to set it back to fullscreen mode with no problems.

Any idea why this is happening?
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I've determined that setting the resolution to less than 1280x1024 is what was causing the issue. I was able to set it back to fullscreen mode with no problems.

Any idea why this is happening?


The game doesn't seem to like running in resolutions different than the desktop on some configurations, but there are also other more mysterious causes of the issue you encountered that could cause the game to be unable to initialize in fullscreen at all. So setting both the resolution to match your desktop and fullscreen off was the quickest way to ensure you get the game up and running with no further trouble

FYI, running in windowed mode at your desktop resolution will let you trade a bit of performance in some areas for much faster alt-tab switching with other programs, while it shouldn't look much different (if at all) from fullscreen. This can also be handy if you do other things while playing, or like to take lots of screenshots and don't use a third-party capture program.