Missing Planet & Ship images + graphics oddities

Can you submit a ticket (https://esupport.stardock.com/index.php?/Tickets/Submit) so we help you out?  Thank you.  

I am having this issue as well have you heard anything about how to fix it?

Same thing here, stopped playing because there is no point. I also opened a ticket and sent debug file. You should also do the same, with more inputs maybe the solution will come faster

We are tracking down some leads on this but haven't found the source problem yet.  If anyone else sees this problem, please submit a ticket so we can get more information.  

I have the same issue and have submitted a ticket. Support says it has been forwarded to the developers.

Same problem here, is there any news on a fix for this?

Missing planet pics, making a new ship produces no image, no ship images when defending planets/starbase etc.

We're still looking into this.  Please submit a ticket so we can get more info.  Thanks

https://esupport.stardock.com/index.php?/Tickets/Submit

I will submit a ticket but this error will not show up in a saved game file as the program is assigning the graphics correctly (see proof of conjecture below.)

To save some time, I looked into it myself a little. The issue is with the way the *.png files are saved.

The icons are saved as they are generated to Documents/Games/Gal Civ 3/Designs (for ships) folder.

The image is not being saved correctly. To test this;

I replaced the image of a ship I built with a previously designed (pre 1.4) ship icon, and immediately it appeared in-game for the previous ;missing' icon.

It's the same for planets, the icon for a newly colonized planet shows up for a micro-second but then disappears as the *.png file is saved incorrectly (typically files are 140 bytes instead of 7kb for example.)

In addition, the brightness/contrast does not function correctly, graphics are marginally blurred and there is no horizontal and/or vertical sync (if selected) resulting in flickering outlines, grids, borders etc. In addition, some of the graphics are not displayed correctly (black holes for example are... well, black holes and not visible.. which although probably realistic are not exactly useful when trying to play. Also, everything is so dark that it is sometimes indistinguishable from the background.

Regards as always,

AOD.

Alienware i7 2.7GHz (8 CPUs) 1920x1200 DxDiag 6.01.7601.17514

Hi pshaw,

Ticket number is #CEC-330-50794

I included the save files for the ships (as they were generated0 the save game (turn 2) and my DxDiag files.

As you seem to be having issues identifying the source, I thought it may be prudent to mention that I have the ship designers toolbox installed as a DLC but that these issues appeared before I installed it (did the entire test/reinstall cycle recommended) so it is unlikely that this is the cause.

Regards as always,

AOD

hmmm... sorry for yet another post, but on reflection, didn't this exact same issue happen for some people about 9 or 10 years ago with a GalCiv II update?

I seem to recall missing ship and planet icons being an issue before.

let me search the forum archives quickly.....

OK, here is a similar post (DirectX 9.0C) from June 2006

https://forums.stardock.com/118200/page/1/

Kind regards,

AOD.

In that post, the problem was a language setting (some languages use commas instead of periods for decimal places).  We fixed this for GC3 in our last patch and it appears that your language settings are set to English so it shouldn't be a problem for you. 

Your theory that the images are not being saved correctly is likely correct. The trick is finding out WHY they're not saving out correctly.  Most people aren't having this problem so its matter to trying to figure out what is specific to your case that is causing the problem.    Its important to us to fix this problem for you and any information your can provide is appreciated.  Thanks!

Hi pshaw,

As there were no patch notes for the last update (December 4, 2015,) just a quick post for closure in case anyone else with the same problem (above) is subscribed to the thread.

Whatever was changed yesterday has rectified all of the major game issues and all of the gfx display issues.

 No more invisible ships flying around.

(Black Holes still don't show, and one star (huge galaxy size) did not show even after being explored, it remained a 'dot', but those kind of minor glitches don't break the game and I can live with them indefinitely.)

I would be interested to know what caused the problem when/if you get a chance to post again, but it's no hardship.

Anyway, thank the guys for the fix, and thanks to you for engaging in the thread, that was sincerely appreciated.

Now... back to conquering the Galaxy.

Regards as always,

AOD.

You mean the v1.5 opt-in? The changelog for that is here.

I've only looked briefly at a new game, but I confirm I can see planet icons in the right-hand panel.

So now I downloaded 1.5 opt-in and my main map is completely gone.  The rest of the UI is present.  Albeit the above quoted items are still bugged (with the addition that I noticed after the original post that the ships in the fleet have no icons so selected in the correct one is a real pain the Ar$e-which essentially make it unplayable).  Well that is until the entire gam emap disappears, then it is really unplayable.

When I go select opt out in steam (back to 1.4) my main map returns (albeit with the aforementioned graphics bugs again) - either way, at this point unplayable.

So how is it that 1.5 makes the main map graphics disappear. Oddly i can still see my cursor and hover over items as if they were there.  The little tags popup on cursor, but whole map screen is black.   The rest of the UI is present, albiet without the planet or ship icons.

I thought 1.5 would improve the quality of the game.

When i was playing 1.3 everything was working great.  Updated to 1.4 and lost graphic icons.  (Cannot very well select ships in fleets when cannot see them).  However ships could still be seen on main map.

When updated to 5.1, lost all view of main map.

Any help is appreciated.

Kinda sucky paying money for a game that worked for a few weeks and then stopped working due to some patch upgrades (but broke the game).

Thanks in advance for help.

Hi Bechiir,

Guanathor's post is not relevant (albeit he/she was trying to help.)

The issues were as a direct consequence of the 1.4 update and lost functionality which appears to have been restored.

I (for one,) wasn't even subscribed to the 1.5 opt-in so any changes introduced in that update are not connected in any way to the original problem or the current issues. Director's post (above) also confirm that the fix has had a positive effect although he/she has admittedly only looked briefly at a new game.

The patch I referred to above was the unannounced Dec 4 hot-fix not the 1.5 opt-in and on reflection I should have been clearer and said "fix" instead of "patch."

Having said that, I have also encountered a missing main map when I loaded a previous save game after the fix. When I started a new game, everything worked perfectly... well, almost perfectly (per my post.) The strange thing is, that if I quit out of that game (to main menu,) and start a new game, the main map does not show again. I have to completely exit the game and re-launch it. When I do that, everything works fine again.

I don't know the cause of the original/ongoing issues because pshaw hasn't had a chance to respond as yet but I strongly suspect that it has something to do with the local cache (the way that the game handles image/skin load/saves) and the way some graphics cards handle/output these files. Some cards (including mine) can not handle this transition solely using DX11 64 bit (even though Windows on my PC is configured (Alienware factory settings) to run with DX11 64 bit and this in turn fully supports DX10.)

I strongly suspect that it is this conflict that is causing issues for the developers. If I am correct, and I admit that I am speculating here, this would mean that unless you have a Tier 4 graphics card...

 ...or better (which I don't - GTX 620) then this issue could 'potentially' be encountered (dependent on other things in individual configs as well of course which is possibly why it is taking the developers so long to track down the issues.)

Anyway this is the config that works for me after the fix, I hope it helps. (DirectX 11 version 6.01.7601.17514) and (NVidia Driver version 341.9215)

Kind regards,

AOD.

Thanks for the help.

I will try to boot up and go straight to a new game and not load a save (if i understood you correctly) and see if that works.

It is quite odd though that everything work perfectly in 1.3.  No issues there at all (although i cannot revert back to 1.3 anymore).  My issue started in 1.4 and worsened in 1.5.

I just tried as you suggested.  No avail.   Still black map screen With 5.1.

When i revert back to 1.4 (opt out of 1.5).  Then my map comes back.  However, planet icons and ships in fleets not showing up along with other graphic issues.  

1.5 is not playable at all for me.

1.4 barely playable but extremely frustrating with missing gfaphics and other graphic anomolies

Bechiir,

Sorry that you've had trouble.  I responded to your other posting.  I'll re-post my comments from the other thread.

Sorry that you are having trouble.   We haven't made any changes that should have cause your map to disappear.  Can you submit a ticket (https://esupport.stardock.com/index.php?/Tickets/Submit)  so we can collect some more information and get this fixed for you?  Please be sure to include a link to this post in the ticket.

Thank you.  

https://forums.galciv3.com/473913/page/1/#3607092

I already submitted a ticket the other day.  

When i opt in it occurs.  When i opt out.  The map comes back.  Albeit still the lingering problems from 1.4 missing items. 

Forgot to aks.  Should i submit a new ticket?

If you got an email from me (be sure to check your spam folder), then no.