Gal Civ 2 Gold - No Video when starting game!

Please go to C:\Program Files\Stardock\Totalgaming\GalCiv2 (or wherever you installed the game at), open the debug.err file you find there in notepad, and copy/paste the contents into a post here. If this is a DA report, you'll find the debug in C:\Program Files\Stardock\Totalgaming\GalCiv2\DarkAvatar instead. This will give us some technical information that can help troubleshoot your problem.

Come to find out, my video card was bad! It was displaying 2D just fine, but when I went to fire up SWAT 4, it had a similar issue. Actually, kinda strange, because I got some wireframe stuff, but nothing else. I am borrowing another video card from another PC until I can get this one replaced. This temp video card displays just fine.

Thanks for the response though!

I have the same problem, and the same graphics card. I recently upgraded my processor and motherboard, and this is the second game I've tried to play on it (the first, Civilization 4, had similar issues). Maybe it's a compatibility problem?

I've got a eVGA GeForce 6600 GTS and an Asus A8V-MX motherboard. My debug info is below. Thanks!

Debug Message: Version v1.5 last updated on: Thu Jan 11 13:39:19 2007
Debug Message: Can't find TGN or GalCiv2 serial number.
Debug Message: GalCiv2 is activated.
Debug Message: Checking DX Version.
Debug Message: *********DXDiag info follows.*********
System Info
Time: 2/21/2007, 19:12:15
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Machine Name: KATANA
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Languages: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System Product Name
BIOS: BIOS Date: 11/09/05 11:45:49 Ver: 08.00.12
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 FX-55 Processor, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.6GHz
Physical Memory: 1024MB RAM
Page File: 381MB used, 2078MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS


Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce 6600 GT
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_00F1&SUBSYS_A3503842&REV_A2
Display Memory: 128.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1600 x 1200 (32 bit) (75Hz)
Monitor Name: Samsung SyncMaster 900NF(T)
Monitor Max Resolution: 2048,1536
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.9147
Driver Date: 8/11/2006 20:42:52
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes



Sound info
Sound device 1:
Description: Realtek AC97 Audio
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_1106&DEV_3059&SUBSYS_81B91043&REV_70
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Driver Name: ALCXWDM.SYS
Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Driver Version: 5.10.0000.5890
Driver Date: 7/26/2005 11:03:22
Type: WDM
Other Drivers:
Acceleration Level: 3
Cap Flags: 0
Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0



Debug Message: *********END dxdiag info.*********
Debug Message: Entering WinMain
Debug Message: ******* Starting Game Shell *******
Debug Message: Going Fullscreen
Debug Message: Preparing to change display settings.
Debug Message: Using multilsample setting: D3DMULTISAMPLE_4_SAMPLES
Debug Message: Game Resolution: 1024 x 768
Debug Message: Running fullscreen.
Debug Message: HAL (hw vp): NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT
Debug Message: D3DPRESENT_INTERVAL_DEFAULT
Debug Message: Refresh rate: 75
Debug Message: Bit Depth: 32 bit.
Debug Message: *********Checking D3DDevice Caps***********************
Debug Message: A full-color cursor is supported in hardware at high resolution modes.
Debug Message: RGB in format 6:6:6, Masks reported as ff0000:ff00:ff
Debug Message: Now Fullscreen
Debug Message: Shell initialization complete
Debug Message: ***** Initializing Game *****
Debug Message: Timer Frequency is 0 369e99
Debug Message: Initializing sound card.
Debug Message: initailizing bink
Debug Message: Create setup screens.
Debug Message: Clear galaxy settings.
Debug Message: Clear influence.
Debug Message: Clear up laws.
Debug Message: Clear first time events.
Debug Message: Clear wonders and trade goods.
Debug Message: Clear sector mapper.
Debug Message: * Collectors Edition *
Debug Message: Set mouse.
Debug Message: Set update timer.
Debug Message: Clear data definitions.
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Shane Ryoo\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships\*.xml
Debug Message: No files found matching mask C:\Documents and Settings\Shane Ryoo\My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2\ships\*.shipcfg
Debug Message: Reading Star Names
Debug Message: Reading Star Names... Done
Debug Message: WM_CLOSE message received.
Debug Message: GameUninitialize start
Debug Message: Killing Galaxy
Debug Message: Killing threads.
Debug Message: Kiling civs.
Debug Message: Killing ships.
Debug Message: Killing rallypoints.
Debug Message: Killing misc objects.
Debug Message: Killing stars.
Debug Message: Killing anomalies.
Debug Message: Killing space resources.
Debug Message: Killing colonies and planets.
Debug Message: killing scenario.
Debug Message: Clearing Turn Event Log
Debug Message: Clear galaxy settings.
Debug Message: Clear influence.
Debug Message: Clear up laws.
Debug Message: Clear first time events.
Debug Message: Clear wonders and trade goods.
Debug Message: Clear sector mapper.
Debug Message: Clear data definitions.
Debug Message: Killing Galaxy: Completed
Debug Message: Shutting down sound system.
Debug Message: Clearing sound and music handles.
Debug Message: GameUninitialize end
Debug Message: Device not cleared. 1 counts left.
Debug Message: D3D not cleared. 1 counts left.
Debug Message: Destroying Window.
Debug Message: Main Shell terminating normally

I forgot that I had regressed my video driver to try to fix things. I went to the most recent set and tried again (without success). Here's the display info for the most recent run.

Display Info
Display device 1:
Device Name: \\.\DISPLAY1
Card Name: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce 6600 GT
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Key Device: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_00F1&SUBSYS_A3503842&REV_A2
Display Memory: 128.0 MB
Current Display Mode: 1600 x 1200 (32 bit) (75Hz)
Monitor Name: Samsung SyncMaster 900NF(T)
Monitor Max Resolution: 2048,1536
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.9371
Driver Date: 10/22/2006 12:22:00
DirectX Acceleration Enabled: Yes

Shane,

Your debug doesn't seem to indicate any issues. You may want to try running in windowed mode though if you are having display issues: Go to My Documents\My Games\GalCiv2, open the file prefs.ini, and change Fullscreen=1 to Fullscreen=0. Then save the file and start the game.

If that eliminates your issue, you can also change the DisplayHeight and DisplayWidth lines in prefs.ini to match your desktop resolution and make the game appear to be fullscreen.

I already tried windowed mode with no luck, unfortunately. I'm going to downgrade to a GeForce 4xxx series and see if that works.

I downgraded to a GeForce 4200 and the game gets to the main menu, at least. I checked the Asus web page and other people have issues with the GeForce 6600 with this motherboard. (This is the last time I buy a VIA chipset; three strikes in a row.) Thanks for the fast response.