Civilization 3 does not work with windows 10.

[er1023]

The game freezes at the "configuring barbarins.." part even if I use the method posted on the internet. If anyone has solved this problem, please let me know how to fix it.

[REH]

Try Compatibility Mode XP Service Pack 3, works for me.

Find "Civ3Conquests.exe" on your computer
right click "properties",
choose "compatibility",
"Run this program in compatibility mode for:",
"Windows XP (Service Pack 3)"

Hope that helps.

[Khalaq]

Originally posted by REH:

Try Compatibility Mode XP Service Pack 3, works for me.

Find "Civ3Conquests.exe" on your computer
right click "properties",
choose "compatibility",
"Run this program in compatibility mode for:",
"Windows XP (Service Pack 3)"

Hope that helps.

Just tried it. Still froze at "Configuring Barbarians."

[kage1822]

i have no problems running Civ3 on Win10

[B.O.B.]

Are you getting any kind of error messages? Or error logs? I don't know if Civ3 writes any of its own error logs. You can check the Windows Event Viewer - something could be auto-logged there in Windows.

Couple of different things to try:

http://dependencywalker.com/

^ I use this from time to time to figure out why a program is failing when I think it shouldn't. It can sometimes point a missing file, or missing runtime like VC++. Basically download it, run it, point it to the Civ 3 exe file, and the seen what it says.

My Civ 3 Conquests works just fine, but running does fine some missing dependencies (in theory). When you run it, searches sub-dependencies - so I would collapse all the top level DLLs the exe references, and just make sure none of those are missing. Anything under that is just cause it doesn't know where to go to look for the sub DLLs in the Windows install folder, but they aren't relevant now. Here is a list of of the DLLs my Civ 3 Conquests exe references (so you can compare it to yours):

OPENGL32.DLL
BINKW32.DLL
IFC23.DLL
WNMM.DLL
ADVAPI32.DLL
SHELL32.DLL
USER32.DLL
OLE32.DLL
COMDLG32.DLL
KERNEL32.DLL
GDI32.DLL
STEAM_API.DLL
WSOCK32.DLL

^ Not sure about BINKW32 & IFC23, but with the exception of the Steam DLL, the rest are all core Windows DLLs. So if any of those are missing, you need to repair windows. Easiest starting point for that would be to run an elevated command prompt and then run this command:
sfc /scannow

'sfc' is Microsoft's System File Checker tool, which will scan your system for any missing / damaged core Windows files and attempt to repair them.

--------------------------------------

Another one to try is Process Monitor (from Microsoft):
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/procmon

This tool is going to be a bit harder to use and understand, so you might need to read a guide on it. But here is a rough guide:

1. Launch Process Monitor first.
2. In the 'Filter' menu, click the 'Filter...' sub menu item.
3. In the left most drop down that should be starting with 'Architecture', open it and select 'Process Name'.
4. In the next drop down, change it from 'is' to 'is not'.
5. In the textbox, type 'Civ3Conquests.exe' (without the quotes).
6. In the last drop down, change it from 'Include' to 'Exclude.
7. Click 'Add' button.
8. Click 'Ok' button.
9. Launch Civ 3.
10. Do whatever steps you do to get the game to hang.
11. Scroll to the bottom of the output of Process Monitor.
12. Look for failures.

It could be something like 'FILE NOT FOUND', 'NAME NOT FOUND' or something rather. Could be a missing registry entry. Who knows. But it can basically let you know if there was some DLL it tried to call, or some file it tried to open that it couldn't, or some registry value it tried to get and failed, causing the crash (potentially).

Good luck reading it and diagnosing it. Process monitor can save the output to a couple different formats. Not sure what Steam's policy is on file attachments, so not sure if you can share it on here for a 2nd set of eyes.

----------------------------

If all else fails, you could try to do a full purge of Civ 3 from your system, and then reinstall.

Basically: 1) Run the game uninstaller. 2) Make sure to delete the game folder from your local Steam Library. 3) Try following this guide on looking for things in the registry for the game to manually remove (in case the uninstaller doesn't): https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/how-to-really-uninstall-civilization-iii.17184/ 4) Reinstall the game via Steam.

BIG DISCLAIMER: I didn't write that guide, I've never had to do a full purge for Civ 3 so I've never tried that guide - use at your own risk.

[er1023]

I succeeded in getting it to work. Thanks to everyone.

[soup_alex]

Originally posted by er1023:

I succeeded in getting it to work. Thanks to everyone.

could you give more detail about how you got it working? i'm in the same situation you were; locks up at "configuring barbarians" (tried running in xp service pack 2 compatibility mode, got past "barbarians" one time but instead stuck at "assigning player/team colours" or something)

[lp60068]

I have the same problem - locks up at "configuring barbarians". Any help would be appreciated.

[rockingon]

Try changing compatibility to windows 8

[er1023]

Originally posted by soup_alex:

Originally posted by er1023:

I succeeded in getting it to work. Thanks to everyone.

could you give more detail about how you got it working? i'm in the same situation you were; locks up at "configuring barbarians" (tried running in xp service pack 2 compatibility mode, got past "barbarians" one time but instead stuck at "assigning player/team colours" or something)

1. Open the conquests.ini file in the conquests folder with Notepad and add the following text.
KeepRes=1
Video Mode=1280
PlayIntro=0
Refresh=60

2. When running, set the compatibility to XP Service Pack 3 and run with administrator privileges.

I solved it this way. Hope it solved.

[rockingon]

The above may work but when I changed to XP service pack 3 and even tried changing the DPI setting when trying quick start it would freeze in configuring barbarians.So I just ran the compatibility trouble shoot and all it did was change compatibility to windows 8 and has worked ever since

[ima.robot]

KeepRes=1
Video Mode=1280
PlayIntro=0
Refresh=60

Adding this code and it works now. Didnt have to run it in Win 8 or back ,just Win 10 .. Also i loaded it on my other pc that has Win 10 Anniversary edition and it didnt work. But it did work in Win 8 compatibility!

[Lucas (Emperor_Atlantis)]

Hello, this is for anyone who might not tried this specific combination.
I play on a laptop with a fullHD screen and windows 10.
I also started out being able to run the game, then the barb bug came up.
So i looked in these steamdissucsions to help me out:

-I copied the conquests.ini addons, but once I changed it to KeepRes=0 it started to work fine for me. So if it doesnt work try both (KeepRes=1).

-I also changed the DPI settings: "Ignore DPI scaling caused due to the Application.

-I run as administrator.

-For the loading issue where it got stuck in configuring barbarians I used the Windows8 compability modus.

-Also run the file directly from the file forder in Programfiles (x86)-Steam-steamapps-common-SidCiv3jada-Conquests where there is a .exe file that is called Civ3Conquests.

EDIT: Ok I found out something very strange just now: The Barbarian bug shows up ONLY when I turn on the option for culture linked starting positions. It sucks that I cant use that since I always do, but its better then not playing the game I guess.

[Chrisfort]

EDIT: Ok I found out something very strange just now: The Barbarian bug shows up ONLY when I turn on the option for culture linked starting positions. It sucks that I cant use that since I always do, but its better then not playing the game I guess. [/quote]


REPORTING THIS WORKS.
THANKYOU, GREAT WARRIOR