Is it really AVX2 preventing launch?

[KirasNote]

As many of you are, I've been a long time Civ fan for decades. Alas with the early access granted via Founder's Edition, I've been unable to play for over 2 days now.

Attempting to start the game in either DX 12 or Vulkan will result in a launch sequence that can be seen via task manager, but will crash before any splash screen or notification.

I've heard mumblings that it could be AVX2 support is required on the CPU. Though I hope there are workarounds as this is launching on so many platforms.

Has anyone heard of other possibilities or a potential timeline for a fix?

I'm running on:

OS: Windows 10 Enterprise
CPU: i7-2600K (that I've tried at both stock or overclocked)
RAM: 16GB
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti

Thank you for your time.

[schmonz]

Thats quite archaic hardware. You should think about an upgrade.

[KirasNote]

Originally posted by schmonz:

Thats quite archaic hardware. You should think about an upgrade.

I appreciate the concern, but I can still play Beat Saber, No Man's Sky, or various other things in VR with 90+ FPS. Plenty smooth to prevent issues or nausea.

Otherwise most games on mid-max settings just fine with a minimum of 60 FPS. I'm not competing in E-Sports, I'm just having fun.

I personally don't have a reason to seek higher performance. Especially since my CPU can overclock to a stable 4.8GHz with hyperthreading.

I'd find it silly if AVX2 support for Civ 7 was a valid reason to upgrade. That said, I might change my mind if Monster Hunter Wilds ends up being too much for my rig.

[Mountain Man]

Only Firaxis knows if that's the problem, and they haven't said a word about it. Personally, I took the opportunity to finally replace my ancient PC with one with components released within the last year, and now Civ 7 works.

[AngelofScript]

I am not able to play either and I was supposed to have the advanced access with the version I bought...

[ez]

AVX2 support seems the most likely explanation, doesn't it? I can't see any other reason your CPU wouldn't be able to handle it, the 2600k was a beast, and equivalent to the i5-4690 listed in the minimum specs for the game.
If it is that then it's unlikely to ever change.
It'll either be a requirement baked into their game engine, or something silly like a requirement of the video decoder library used to play the intro video that everyone skips, but changing it would be too much work.
Maybe not though!

[jarlof1974]

Originally posted by Mountain Man:

Only Firaxis knows if that's the problem, and they haven't said a word about it. Personally, I took the opportunity to finally replace my ancient PC with one with components released within the last year, and now Civ 7 works.

I upgraded to a Surface Laptop with snapdragon gpu and I cant get the game to even start.

Device name SurfaceLaptop
Processor Snapdragon(R) X 12-core X1E80100 @ 3.40 GHz 3.42 GHz
Installed RAM 32.0 GB (31.6 GB usable)
System type 64-bit operating system, ARM-based processor
Pen and touch Touch support with 10 touch points

[Angel]

Originally posted by Mountain Man:

Only Firaxis knows if that's the problem, and they haven't said a word about it. Personally, I took the opportunity to finally replace my ancient PC with one with components released within the last year, and now Civ 7 works.

So, you finally got rid of that good old potato computer? Good for you.

[Arvid]

I got an answer to my ticket today. In it I asked about the AVX2 problem.
Unfortunately they couldn't or didn't want to give me an answer.
They're just very sorry ;)

AVX2 is needed for multiplatform development!
So that CIV7 can also run on consoles etc.!

I don't think a patch is worth it for us guys with 10-year-old computers!

[Many-Named]

You should upgrade your computer before buying super expensive games 😆

[Thane_Ragnar]

Originally posted by jarlof1974:

Originally posted by Mountain Man:

Only Firaxis knows if that's the problem, and they haven't said a word about it. Personally, I took the opportunity to finally replace my ancient PC with one with components released within the last year, and now Civ 7 works.

I upgraded to a Surface Laptop with snapdragon gpu and I cant get the game to even start.

Device name SurfaceLaptop
Processor Snapdragon(R) X 12-core X1E80100 @ 3.40 GHz 3.42 GHz
Installed RAM 32.0 GB (31.6 GB usable)
System type 64-bit operating system, ARM-based processor
Pen and touch Touch support with 10 touch points

From what I understand an ARM Processor can't work with AVX2 out of the Box. You need something called Microsoft Prism installed which emulates a real X86-64 Environment for a Snapdragon CPU. Needs WIndows 11 24h2 I think. All provided that AVX2 is the culprit in the End.

[Tech Enthusiast]

Damn, that is an old system.
But yeah, at some point you will run into a reason to upgrade. Can't keep games running on ancient hardware like that forever. People want the new shiny and the new shiny needs the "new" features. New being... not older than 10 years.

[Arvid]

I'm not so sad now ;)
I have €130 more and will buy it sometime
when I have a new computer and CIV7 is mature and has mods.

Because that's what I want!

[Mountain Man]

Originally posted by Angel:

Originally posted by Mountain Man:

Only Firaxis knows if that's the problem, and they haven't said a word about it. Personally, I took the opportunity to finally replace my ancient PC with one with components released within the last year, and now Civ 7 works.

So, you finally got rid of that good old potato computer? Good for you.

My old computer wasn't actually a potato and could run even modern graphic intensive games like Starfield on medium settings with good frame rates. But, yes, I was long overdue for an upgrade.

[Xenu]

Oh...

Have the same problem with an AVX2-less i7-4930K, which name-wise is within the stated minimum specs, while being the "Extreme Edition" of Ivy Bridge (3rd generation, no AVX2) launched around the same time as base Haswell (4th generation, introduced AVX2), sharing the same 4th generation digit in the name...

Looks like we are up ♥♥♥♥ creek here.

[Tech Enthusiast]

Well, guess you guys have a reason to finally upgrade then.
You will be amazed at how far CPUs came along since the 2xxx and 4xxx lines. Get a current gen AMD system and you will hit yourself for not upgrading sooner hehe