Galactic Civ III appears in task manager then disappears

from GalCiv3 Forums

I'm having a problem getting the program to start.  I haven't played in a long while but it did previously start.  Since then, I upgraded to windows 10 and when I tried to start the game, it updated steam and the game (so I'm not sure if one of these may have caused the problem)

 

However, when I press play, nothing happens.  The program appears in task manager for a few seconds, then disappears.  Afterwards, pressing play leads to the program appearing in task manager and almost immediately disappearing.  Note that during the time it is in task manager, 127 mb are used of memory, but no cpu usage and no disk usage.

 

I have tried the following: Reinstalled the game, renamed the folder in my games, changed compatibility settings, updated graphics driver, checked that path contains system32, fiddled with the compatibility settings, disabled anti-virus

 

Of note, every time I do validate on the local files, 7 files are invalid and need to be re-downloaded.

 

Here is my debug.err:

Debug Message:  Version 1.41, Build #299, last updated on: 12-04-2015 21:17
Debug Message:  Steam Build
Debug Message:  Initializing data directories
Debug Message:  Loading options binary
Debug Message:  Initialize Prefs
Debug Message:  Loading core binary

 

 

6,187 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I am having same issue, started after I updated windows 10 to build 1511 and updated my AMD graphics driver.  I start the game and steam says it's running, but it doesn't do anything.  Hopefully they find a fix for this soon.

Reply #2 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

@entropy9

Can you try the opt-in build to see if that addresses your problem?   Here are the instructions:

  • Select Galactic Civilization III in your Steam Library list
  • Right-click and select Properties
  • Select the BETAS tab
  • From the dropdown, select opt-in and click Close (if you don't see this option, restart Steam)

Steam should pull down the changed files; if you ever want to go back, do the same as above but select default

Thanks

Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I am using the opt-in build; the only difference from what was stated above is: in the development build, the splash screen appears, whereas in the stable build, no splash screen appears.

Reply #4 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Whats a splash screen

Reply #6 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting entropy9, reply 3

I am using the opt-in build; the only difference from what was stated above is: in the development build, the splash screen appears, whereas in the stable build, no splash screen appears.
End of entropy9's quote

We had made some fixes and I had hoped that would have addressed your problem.  Can you submit a ticket (https://esupport.stardock.com/index.php?/Tickets/Submit)  so we can gather more information and take a look?  Thank you.  

Reply #7 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I simultaneously submitted a ticket when I made this post.  I mentioned the splash screen.

 

   Ticket ID: KJB-194-10939
   Subject: Galactic Civ III appears in task manager then disappears
   Department: GalCiv III - SDGame
   Type: Issue
   Status: Open

 

Reply #8 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Quoting entropy9, reply 7

I simultaneously submitted a ticket when I made this post.  I mentioned the splash screen.

 

   Ticket ID: KJB-194-10939
   Subject: Galactic Civ III appears in task manager then disappears
   Department: GalCiv III - SDGame
   Type: Issue
   Status: Open

 
End of entropy9's quote

Thank you

Reply #9 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

Upgrading to AMD's newest beta driver fixed it for me.  No more crashing.

Reply #10 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I have an acer v15 nitro - intel I7 and geforce 860m;  I think the graphics drivers are up to date because "NVidia gefore experience" is set to autoupdate.  By the way, I forgot to mention one of the things I have tried is deleting the galciv3 directory under "my games" - this also had no effect (also tried deleting just the prefs.ini as suggested by stardock support after I submitted the support tool data).

Reply #11 from GalCiv3 Forums Top

I forgot to mention another of the things I tried: I installed the game onto a windows 7 virtual machine (in the same computer) but had the same results.  Also, I should mention that stardock support is being very responsive and aggressive in trying to solve my problem.