Civ 3 Editor not Working

[snivithefox]

I'm surprised that when I open the Civ3ConquestsEdit application it displays the error "Could not locate Civilization III: Play the World. Please make sure the game has been properly installed and try again." Wonder what I can do...

[arvedui78]

I was having the same problem, but I found out what was wrong: if you have just reinstalled the game, you need to run it at least once before using the editor. I hope this helps.

[snivithefox]

yeah, that was all I needed. I made a pretty cool scenario, too!

[Schiavona]

**bump** Yep, same issue. I've uninstalled and reinstalled a number of times, to no avail. There was also a lot of missing Art in the Conquests\Art folder from the basic Art folder that was giving error messages, but once I copied the art from Civ III basic and Play the World into Conquests\Art, it stopped giving those error messages.

[ExcaliberDG11]

Run the game as administrator

[B.O.B.]

I know this is an old thread, but this is mostly to remind myself in the future if I have this problem again.

My fix was that several registry settings were missing. When I manually created them, the errors went away and I was able to launch the editor.

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Infogrames\Civ3PTW
Install_Path="C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete\civ3PTW\"

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Infogrames\Conquests
Install_Path="C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete\Conquests\"

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Infogrames Interactive\Civilization III
Install_Path="C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete\civ3PTW\"

Note that these keys are for a 64 bit OS - for a 32 bit OS, drop "WOW6432Node" folder from the folder path (IE, "Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\\Infogrames\Conquests".

Also note that the "Install_Path" is a "String Value" entry inside of the folder mentioned. Additionally, the value in the above examples should be for the default Steam library folder. If you have a different Steam library folder, adjust the Install_Path values to the correct location.

[Lankayylas]

Bumping up an old thread, sorry guys. However...

Originally posted by B.O.B.:

I know this is an old thread, but this is mostly to remind myself in the future if I have this problem again.

My fix was that several registry settings were missing. When I manually created them, the errors went away and I was able to launch the editor.

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Infogrames\Civ3PTW
Install_Path="C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete\civ3PTW\"

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Infogrames\Conquests
Install_Path="C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete\Conquests\"

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Infogrames Interactive\Civilization III
Install_Path="C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete\civ3PTW\"

Note that these keys are for a 64 bit OS - for a 32 bit OS, drop "WOW6432Node" folder from the folder path (IE, "Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\\Infogrames\Conquests".

Also note that the "Install_Path" is a "String Value" entry inside of the folder mentioned. Additionally, the value in the above examples should be for the default Steam library folder. If you have a different Steam library folder, adjust the Install_Path values to the correct location.

Thank you very much for this comprehensive help note! I felt really sad when I started getting this error with an editor after switching to Win10 and failed with other fixing suggestions. Dunno how much time I'd spend figuring out the right way to get this working again. And after applying your steps everyting is running, finally. Much appreciate.

[Gary Childress]

Hi, I'm having the same problem. I went into the Registry Editor, unfortunately, I'm not sure what I'm doing. The information above is a bit cryptic to a novice like me. When I click New String, I'm not sure what to put where.

Thanks for any help you can give!

[B.O.B.]

Hi Gary,

The first step to figuring out what to put for the new string value is figuring out where you have Civ 3 installed:

1. Open your Steam Library.

2. Right click on the Civ 3 game and select 'Manage -> Browse Local Files'.

3. This will launch Windows Explorer with the folder where the game is installed to.

4. In the address bar of Windows Explorer, it should have text like "> This PC > Local Disk (C:) > Program Files (x86) > Steam > steamapps > common > Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete >".

This is if you have it installed to the default. Most likely you do.

5. Using your mouse, click to the right of the last '>' in the address bar and the address bar will change to a text box with the text selected. The newly selected text will be (if you have the default install path): "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete"

6. With that text selected, right click on the selected text and click the 'Copy' menu option.

You now have the starting text you need for the new string value entries.

7. In the Civ3PTW folder in the registry (Computer > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > WOW6432Node > Infogrames > Civ3PTW), right click in the right pane and select 'New > String Value'.

8. In the new entry that gets made, for the 'Name' column value put "Install_Path" (no double quotes).

9. In the Data column of the new entry paste in the text you copied from the Windows Explorer address.

10. At the end of this new text add "\civ3PTW\" - again no double quotes. The two backslashes are important.

11. In the same Infogrames folder in the registry there should also be a 'Conquests' folder. Open this folder and add in a new 'Install_Path' string value as well.

12. Again paste in the text from the Windows Explorer address bar into the Data column.

13. For this entry add "\Conquests\" to the end (no double quotes).

14. Last, the next folder in the list after the 'Infogrames' folder should be a 'Infogrames Interactive' folder.

15. Open this folder and open the 'Civilization III' folder underneath it.

16. In this folder, repeat the same steps as before: a new string value entry with a name of 'Install_Path'.

17. Finally paste in the text from the Windows Explorer address bar into this last entry and you are done. This last entry does not need any extra text added to the end.

Please let me know if this clears things up for you.

[Gary Childress]

Thank you, B.O.B. I appreciate your help. Unfortunately, it's not fixing the error.

Stranger still, I went to GOG games and purchased Civ IIII there, thinking it might work but again, when I double click on the editor I get an error message saying that it could not locate PTW or Conquets. It's very odd. I'm at a loss as to what it is. I tried opening as administrator and that didn't work either.

Is no one else having this issue at the moment?

[Gary Childress]

The problem started Thursday night 9/26/2024.