• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.

unmerged(174201)

Recruit
1 Badges
Oct 19, 2009
3
0
  • Rome Gold
Hi, I'm playing as Macedonia and the game crashes (freezes, need to alt-ctl-del) 2-4 months after loading. The current save I'm working with is in year 563.1.1. I've checked for NoCultureGroup and also tried deleting the BAR entries, nothing seems to change the outcome. I'm including my DXDIAG results. Please help, I love this game and can't play it!

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 10/26/2009, 21:25:51
Machine name: FRED
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_qfe.090804-1456)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Dell DV051
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A04
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2038MB RAM
Page File: 549MB used, 3383MB available
Windows Dir: F:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
DirectX Files Tab: The file joy.cpl is missing! You should reinstall DirectX to get the latest version.
Display Tab 1: No problems found. DirectDraw test results: All tests were successful. Direct3D 7 test results: All tests were successful. Direct3D 8 test results: All tests were successful. Direct3D 9 test results: All tests were successful.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Music Tab: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.
Network Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (n/a)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: ATI Radeon HD 4350
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: ATI Radeon Graphics Processor (0x954F)
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_954F&SUBSYS_20081787&REV_00
Display Memory: 512.0 MB
Current Mode: 1440 x 900 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6973 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 7/2/2009 13:24:44, 335872 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: n/a
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
VDD: n/a
Mini VDD: ati2mtag.sys
Mini VDD Date: 7/2/2009 13:49:32, 4125696 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71EE2-D60F-11CF-0A6F-0200A1C2CB35}
Vendor ID: 0x1002
Device ID: 0x954F
SubSys ID: 0x20081787
Revision ID: 0x0000
Revision ID: 0x0000
Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D
Deinterlace Caps: {6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
{6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,UYVY) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
{3C5323C1-6FB7-44F5-9081-056BF2EE449D}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{552C0DAD-CCBC-420B-83C8-74943CF9F1A6}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,2) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{6E8329FF-B642-418B-BCF0-BCB6591E255F}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,1) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
Registry: OK
DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Enabled
DDraw Test Result: All tests were successful.
D3D7 Test Result: All tests were successful.
D3D8 Test Result: All tests were successful.
D3D9 Test Result: All tests were successful.
 
The BAR bug is only relevant to pre-VV Rome, so don't bother checking for that. But your problem does sound exactly like the NoCultureGroup thing; how confident are you that you checked for that properly?
DirectX Files Tab: The file joy.cpl is missing! You should reinstall DirectX to get the latest version.
This is also a bit of a worry, can you install the DX9.0c update from the thread in the main Rome forum please?
 
Thanks for looking into this, I did reinstall DirectX from the link provided in the other thread, and it said that all of my files were up to date, but that file you pointed out is still missing... the game ran fine for days leading up to this (occasional crashes but nothing bad).

I have checked the NoCultureGroup thing, at least I think I have. I open my save game file and do a search for that exact phrase and nothing comes up.
 
If you did a case-sensitive search you will have missed it; I capitalised it like that for easy reading, but I think it actually reads noculturegroup . It's also just part of the army name so something like ARMY_NAME_noculturegroup
 
The search wasn't case sensitive but I did it again just to be certain, no luck. Is there any more info i can provide that would be helpful? My computer is generally a good performer and seems to run games that are more resource intensive (not that I really know that). Would the save file itself be useful?
 
There's a somewhat newer video driver you could try http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx?p=xp/radeonx-xp

Having re-read your OP, are you saying that no matter what point you start at, how fast you play, whether it's a new or saved game, the crash happens after 2-4 months of play? If so you may have an overheating problem. Please report CPU and Video temperatures 1/ before you start playing and 2/ after 20 minutes' play. If you have no way of reading temperatures, Google for and install SPEEDFAN.

Also with the DirectX thing, you say "it said that all of my files were up to date" ... does that mean you couldn't actually install the DX 9 update, that is that it didn't actually do anything? If so, try this:
download the installer (dxwebsetup.exe), save it to a local directory, and then run it.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...38-db71-4c1b-bc6a-9b6652cd92a3&DisplayLang=en