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Hackfix21

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 1, 2011
69
0
Just got my new MBA (the standard 13'' version). All was well until I installed Civ IV from Steam. I've already been running it without problems on my iMac (2009). But on the MBA: first, under its standard settings (graphics: low) as it started up, all the trees on the map were flickering. That seemed odd, so I thought let's play a bit with the graphics settings. I set the graphics to high terrain and medium rendering; it then asked me to restart, and now it's totally bu**ered! Regardless whether I try to load a saved game or start a new one, at the point where it's supposed to start and show the map, it freezes; the sound goes on in the background, but the map never shows.

Since I can't get into the game proper anymore, I can't get back to the options screen to try and undo the graphics settings.

Not cool.

Anyone else experience any problems with Civ IV on the MBA?

I guess I'll have to uninstall it and reinstall from Steam.

But then again, the flickering trees at the start weren't too great to start with. Surely that's not the best the MBA can do with such an old game? Is there something wrong with mine? Or maybe a Lion issue? If my 2009 iMac runs Civ IV without trouble, surely the MBA should?
 

Hackfix21

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 1, 2011
69
0
Ah, just found that I can reset the graphics option also from the initial game menu, so that's ok, but the flickering is still totally weird and doesn't occur at all on the iMac. Anyone else problems with Civ IV?
 

Hackfix21

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 1, 2011
69
0
thanks, though that thread is about Civ 5 rather than 4.

Also, my problem is not with framerates (those seem fine), but with bugs. I've played around with the settings more meanwhile, and pretty much anything other than a plain vanilla game with low graphics settings (for instance also trying to play a mod) results in the game not being able to get beyond the startup screens. Which is a bug in my book.

I'd expect maybe slower framerates if I try something slightly more ambitious, but the game freezing is weird. So just checking whether anyone else is having trouble with Civ IV on the MBA.
 

DustinT

macrumors 68000
Feb 26, 2011
1,556
0
I'd suggest you give another try at your game settings. You can probably adjust the graphics option and make the flicker go away. Otherwise you have to hope for an update to Lion or Civ 4 (unlikely) that fixes this problem.
 

chelseamm

macrumors newbie
Aug 1, 2011
4
0
Civ IV BTS Crashes

I am having the exact same problem with Civ IV BTS - it goes one turn and then quits unexpectedly. I have tried manipulating the graphics settings and it doesn't help. The game ran fine on my previous Macbook (2008) but with my new maxed out Macbook Air it quits every turn or so.

I've tried uninstalling and re-installing but nothing seems to make a difference. Plain Civilization IV runs great, but BTS doesn't work. Has anyone had any success with this issue?
 

Hackfix21

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 1, 2011
69
0
Update on Civ IV issues on 2011 MBA

I've logged my Civ IV issues on the 2011 MBA with Aspyr.

To recap, Civ IV vanilla runs fine with some strange lags on initialisation of a new game and loading a saved game; Civ IV BTS has some bigger issues, most notably in my case that all the trees are flickering and fuzzy (and on anything except low graphics settings it doesn't run at all).

In case of interest - here's Aspyr's reply:

"
The fuzzy trees in Beyond the Sword is a known issue on the Intel HD 3000. Since the game was released before the video card this issue has not yet been addressed. Also, these cards are designed with limited amounts of VRam which are shared between the operating system and the applications run on it. When you play a graphic intensive application, this will stress out the card and cause various errors to occur.
"

On my reply whether an update can be expected in future (I noted that I didn't really see why an older, less graphics intensive game like Civ IV should be buggy when something like Starcraft 2 runs ok):

"
BTS was released in early 2009 while Starcraft 2 was released just last year which allowed Blizzard a wider compatibility check for then released hardware. We continually evaluate potential fixes for issues that arise when new hardware is released. Unfortunately, being a smaller company we have to prioritize where we put our development efforts (ie, OSX updates crashing our newer games vs. minor graphic corruptions). Also, since the majority of our games are ported from PC versions, we also require legal permissions from the original PC developers to make any changes.
"

I would still appreciate if anyone else playing Civ IV could report whether they have similar issues and might have found any fixes.
 

Hackfix21

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 1, 2011
69
0
That's for Civ IV vanilla? Yes, there I've got build 1.7.4.0 as well.

Strange.

Anyway, with Civ IV I can live with it since it plays ok at low settings. BTS I'm not playing on the MBA as it is since I can't stand the tree flickering.

Are you playing BTS at all? Any problems?
 

ZBoater

macrumors G3
Jul 2, 2007
8,497
1,322
Sunny Florida
That's for Civ IV vanilla? Yes, there I've got build 1.7.4.0 as well.

Strange.

Anyway, with Civ IV I can live with it since it plays ok at low settings. BTS I'm not playing on the MBA as it is since I can't stand the tree flickering.

Are you playing BTS at all? Any problems?

I am not sure what flickering you are referring to. I just know opened up a very late game save and the trees look fine to me. 1440x900 max settings.
 

Hackfix21

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 1, 2011
69
0
yes, but your build number refers to Civ IV, not Beyond the Sword. The tree flickering only happens with BTS. Are you playing BTS? If so, I wonder why you're not getting the problem. As the reply from Aspyr indicated, I'm not the only one wiht this problem - they're ascribing it to the HD 3000 graphics card.
 

ZBoater

macrumors G3
Jul 2, 2007
8,497
1,322
Sunny Florida
yes, but your build number refers to Civ IV, not Beyond the Sword. The tree flickering only happens with BTS. Are you playing BTS? If so, I wonder why you're not getting the problem. As the reply from Aspyr indicated, I'm not the only one wiht this problem - they're ascribing it to the HD 3000 graphics card.

Nope, Im playing vanilla Civ4, not BTS.
 

techtaketwo

macrumors newbie
Sep 19, 2011
1
0
You are not imagining it - same problem here!

What's most annoying is that I own MBA160GHZ with NVIDIA card (~6 months old) which has no problems. The Macbook Air that arrived today (the MBA180GHZ aka the sequel with no dedicated graphics card??) won't load any graphics profile but "low" AND the fuzzy trees are in a whole new class of annoying. those fuzzy trees will be the reason this thing ends up on ebay.

I cannot get my head around an upgraded hardware release from Apple that can't load a game released in 1954 (there are 12 computer years in a normal human year). Particularly when the previous hardware incarnation could manage the job just fine.

Pls let me know if anyone finds a fix.

So much money. such high expectations. so little satisfaction...
 

Hackfix21

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 1, 2011
69
0
Glad I'm not the only one, though at least basic Civ IV works ok. I agree with you that it's an Apple problem. Aspyr were reasonably helpful about it and I can sort of understand that they're not going back to reprogram an old game. Not acceptable for Apple and/or Intel to deliver a graphics card that doesn't even have this very basic level of downwards compatibility.
 

Tulx

macrumors newbie
Jan 28, 2012
1
0
win 7?

I know this is an old thread but does anyone know if these problems are present also on Windows 7 when playing BTS on MBA 2011? If these problems are caused by graphics drivers then I should be ok if I install BTS on win 7 via bootcamp?
 

davidwoon

macrumors newbie
Mar 8, 2012
17
7
so what's the verdict?

i have an 11" MBA - will this be able to run Civ IV? i don't wanna pay $20 find out it doesn't..
 

00mmmezzz00

macrumors newbie
Nov 24, 2012
1
0
Ditto BTS

I haven't tried the standard Civ IV version, but I have a brand new MBP and I get the crazy flashing trees on the screen. Can't seem to fix it with settings. But on my desktop iMac (1 year old), it works like a champ, never any problems.
 
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