Windowed version problem

You should change to 16-bit colors. It's a fixed thing, doesnt work otherwise.

~SDC~

I have the same problem. There should be a debug.err file in your GalCiv directory. I was going to wait awhile before asking about it. I figured the Stardock folk had enough to worry about with the launch of the game. Alt-Tab seems to work alright. In any event, I assume Stardock will need the err file. Hope this helps.

~SDC~

I had those problems but I solved them. My newest one is that the game starts, with intro video, in a small window but once I pass that it's back to full screen mode. Works fine but not at all windowed.

Any ideas?????

BTW, all my video's skip to the point of uselessness which bothers me almost zero but since we're asking. I have turned off background loading so that's not it. I am using an ho pavillion ze5170 computer. It's a 2ghz machine with 512 ddr ram, 40 gig hd drive and a radion mobility card.

~SDC~

I changed my display settings 16-bit, but the same thing happens (except it takes longer.) Any ideas?

P.S. The debug.err says:
Debug Message: !!!!!! Video mode is not in 16 bit mode. !!!!!
Debug Message:
Debug Message: Canvas Initialization failed.
Debug Message: Now windowed.
etc., etc.

Axxon:

If you're running in 1024 x 768 the game will appear to not be windowed.

Not sure about the skipping...do you have problems with other games that use Bink? Also, it's actually a pc and not a laptop, correct?

Quayczar:

What operating system are you running?

Bear in mind, the windowed version is not supported. DirectX games in windowed mode are iffy on some configs. That's why few games offer windowed builds.

~SDC~

1) I tried 800*600 today but no window. I am still in rhis mode as the game does look better to me like this. Maybe it's a placebo but it does look better

2) It's a laptop not a desktop and I've had bink problems with a lot ( but not all ) of games. Usually, and unfortunately, these problems kinda solve themselves.

I know, I know but consider this. I tried the "non windowed" version of this game this morning and for once was able to see the opening video without a studder. This was a first. OK, then the mode must be the problem. This has happened before with games.

Well, next time I tried no dice. Stutter city. Nothing works right. I am solely a lap top guy now so if that's the problem I'll understand but it's the sometimes it's ok, sometimes it's not that makes me believe my problem is more solvable.

Also, since I basically reinstalled last night that shouldn't be an issue. Do I need directx 9???

It's not a biggie and I'll admit I'm asking you guys for more than you're responisble for, but any help will be greatly appreciated.

~SDC~

XP Pro.

This is my debug.err:
Debug Message: ******* Starting Game Shell *******
Debug Message: Preparing to change display settings.
Debug Message: Border size reported as 6 by 32
Debug Message:
Debug Message: !!!!!! Video mode is not in 16 bit mode. !!!!!
Debug Message:
Debug Message: Canvas Initialization failed.
Debug Message: Now windowed.
Debug Message: Shell initialization complete
Debug Message: Main Shell terminating normally
Debug Message: Unallocated Mem: 1024 bytes of memory from line 188 of G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\PALETTE.CPP
Debug Message: Not all memory has been freed from memory system Palette.
Debug Message: 1024 bytes of memory still allocated.
Debug Message: Unallocated Mem: 299 bytes of memory from line 149 of G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\LIBRARY.CPP
Debug Message: Unallocated Mem: 299 bytes of memory from line 149 of G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\LIBRARY.CPP
Debug Message: Not all memory has been freed from memory system Library.
Debug Message: 598 bytes of memory still allocated.
Debug Message: Unallocated Mem: 206 bytes of memory from line 559 of G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\SPRMAN.CPP
Debug Message: Unallocated Mem: 200 bytes of memory from line 546 of G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\SPRMAN.CPP
Debug Message: Unallocated Mem: 512 bytes of memory from line 320 of G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\SPRMAN.CPP
Debug Message: Unallocated Mem: 2048 bytes of memory from line 319 of G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\SPRMAN.CPP
Debug Message: Unallocated Mem: 1024 bytes of memory from line 318 of G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\SPRMAN.CPP
Debug Message: Unallocated Mem: 1024 bytes of memory from line 317 of G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\SPRMAN.CPP
Debug Message: Unallocated Mem: 1024 bytes of memory from line 316 of G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\SPRMAN.CPP
Debug Message: Unallocated Mem: 1024 bytes of memory from line 315 of G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\SPRMAN.CPP
Debug Message: Unallocated Mem: 1024 bytes of memory from line 314 of G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\SPRMAN.CPP
Debug Message: Unallocated Mem: 1024 bytes of memory from line 313 of G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\SPRMAN.CPP
Debug Message: Unallocated Mem: 5120 bytes of memory from line 188 of G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\DATAMAN.CPP
Debug Message: Unallocated Mem: 1024 bytes of memory from line 187 of G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\DATAMAN.CPP
Debug Message: Unallocated Mem: 1024 bytes of memory from line 186 of G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\DATAMAN.CPP
Debug Message: Unallocated Mem: 1024 bytes of memory from line 185 of G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\DATAMAN.CPP
Debug Message: Unallocated Mem: 256 bytes of memory from line 184 of G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\DATAMAN.CPP
Debug Message: Unallocated Mem: 512 bytes of memory from line 183 of G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\DATAMAN.CPP
Debug Message: Unallocated Mem: 256 bytes of memory from line 182 of G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\DATAMAN.CPP
Debug Message: Unallocated Mem: 5120 bytes of memory from line 181 of G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\DATAMAN.CPP
Debug Message: Not all memory has been freed from memory system DataMan.
Debug Message: 23446 bytes of memory still allocated.
Debug Message: MemMan: Unable to find pointer in GetBlockInfo. Memory system: Palette
ASSERT ERROR in file G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\MEMMAN.CPP at line 579.
Debug Message: MemMan: Trying to free memory that has not been allocated. Memory System Palette
ASSERT ERROR in file G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\MEMMAN.CPP at line 361.
Debug Message: MemMan: Unable to find pointer in GetBlockInfo. Memory system: Palette
ASSERT ERROR in file G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\MEMMAN.CPP at line 579.
Debug Message: MemMan: Trying to free memory that has not been allocated. Memory System Palette
ASSERT ERROR in file G:\PROJECTS\pear\SOURCE\MEMMAN.CPP at line 361.

The minimum would be 1024x768 x 16bit color. But to use reaonsably you would need to run at 1280x1024x16bit color.

I don't know what to tell you, your system is not in 16bit mode or at least the game doesn't seem to think you are.

~SDC~

Do you by any chance have dual monitors?

~SDC~

Axxon:

Yeah, my laptop doesn't run the binks perfectly, but it sounds like I run a lot better than you and I have less RAM. Might just be the different hard drives, and I also have a Geforce2go, which is great for gaming on a laptop.

Quayczar, if you were on Win 98, I'd think that you needed to reboot after changing your color mode...

Did you recently install any old games /dvd players that might have corrupted your directx or graphic drivers?

LOL, Win98 isn't THAT primitive. But I do think that somehow it didn't change modes.

~SDC~

I fixed it!
The program i'm using to increase the gamma level, PowerStrip, i've also set it up to switch to 16-bit before GalCiv runs. I did reboot and it still didn't work without PowerStrip.

Good job.

~SDC~