game won't launch

from GalCiv2 Forums
I recently reinstalled GalCivII after some time of it not being on my computer, I have the retail version. The game installed fine, and I downloaded the update. However when I go to play the game it just goes to a black screen and nothing ever happens. I also still see the windows bar at bottom of the screen. my resolution is 1920 x 1200 running a Nvidia 7900GS graphics card. P4 3.4 ghz, 1gig ram

1,261 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Open Prefs.ini (located in My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2 - or GalCiv2\DarkAvatar, as the case may be) and set these lines to:

[Video]
DisplayWidth=1920
DisplayHeight=1200
ColorDepth=32
Fullscreen=1
HardwareMouseCursor=1

See if that helps.

If not, paste into the reply your full debug.err file (located in C:\Program Files\Stardock\TotalGaming\GalCiv2 (or GalCiv2\DarkAvatar)) which can be opened with Notepad (Select-All, Copy, then Paste into the reply box).
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
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: 4/3/2007, 10:11:57
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Machine Name: KEITHS
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.061219-0316)
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Dimension XPS
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A07
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.40GHz (2 CPUs)
Physical Memory: 1022MB RAM
Page File: 371MB used, 2088MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS


Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce 7900 GS
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0292&SUBSYS_0429196E&REV_A1
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1600 x 1200 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Resolution: 1600,1200
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.9371
Driver Date: 10/22/2006 13:22:00
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes



Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: SB Audigy Audio [CCC0]
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_1102&DEV_0004&SUBSYS_10031102&REV_04
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: ctaud2k.sys
Provider: Creative
Driver Version: 5.12.0001.0328
Driver Date: 3/26/2003 16:33:58
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
Siege of Centauri
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Try setting the fullscreen line in prefs.ini to 0.