Downloaded Civ 5 - and won't start...

[playingwithdust]

Hi there - just downloaded a copy of Civ 5, and it refuses to start using both DirectX 9 and 11 on a machine running Windows 7, 6GB of RAM.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated...

[Satoru]

Try running steam as an administrator. When you say it doesn't start what happens once you click to launch either the dx9 or dx11 executable

[playingwithdust]

I get the menu to start it either in dx9 or 11 - and then precisely nothing happens.

[samuellee29]

I am having the exact same problem, and running steam as an admin did not help.
The trouble shooting guide just has like a hundred things to try, but that is not very helpful.
If I had known I would not be able to play the game and would be out $50 bucks I would not have bought it.
The game will show up in Task manager, but will be "not responding" all I have seen of it is the black screen. This seems strange, since the demo I downloaded from steam worked fine.

This issue seems to be happening to a large number of people, so any help anyone can give will be appreciated. I also have a "question" in with steam support about it.
Thanks.

[BDK]

1) Delete everything in the assets\terrain\pieces\ folder
2) Open the Steam library and verify files for Civ 5
3) When it tells you that it's done, start Civ 5 again

It should work now.

[JustJeff722]

I am having a problem with Civ5 also. When I run in 9 it doesn't work after the first turn. When I run in 11 it says not responding every time. Can anyone help with this? I did make sure I have a good updated copy of directx on my pc. Thanks

[samuellee29]

Thank you TheBDK, for your quick response. I tried doing what you said, but nothing changed. After verifying the files it just downloaded them again.

I've restarted, tried safe modes, tried running it as admin, and still all I get to is a blank black screen. I'm trying not to let it ruin my day, but its hard when I know I will be spending many more hours trying to fix it so I can play.

[Staryn]

Do you have the newest video drivers?

[JustJeff722]

Yes if you are talking to me.

[Satoru]

Post a full dxdiag.

[JustJeff722]

How do I do that?

[Satoru]

In steam go to Help->System information

Post EVERYTHIGN up to the "Intalled Software" section

[samuellee29]

Here is my dxdiag. Thanks for the help.

Processor Information:
Vendor: GenuineIntel
Speed: 1795 Mhz
2 logical processors
2 physical processors
HyperThreading: Unsupported
FCMOV: Supported
SSE2: Supported
SSE3: Supported
SSSE3: Supported
SSE4a: Unsupported
SSE41: Unsupported
SSE42: Unsupported

Network Information:
Network Speed:

Operating System Version:
Windows Vista (32 bit)
NTFS: Supported
Crypto Provider Codes: Supported 311 0x0 0x0 0x0

Video Card:
Driver: NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS

DirectX Driver Name: nvd3dum.dll
Driver Version: 9.18.13.1106
DirectX Driver Version: 9.18.13.1106
Driver Date: 26 Feb 2013
Desktop Color Depth: 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Refresh Rate: 59 Hz
DirectX Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS
VendorID: 0x10de
DeviceID: 0x10c3
Number of Monitors: 1
Number of Logical Video Cards: 1
No SLI or Crossfire Detected
Primary Display Resolution: 1680 x 1050
Desktop Resolution: 1680 x 1050
Primary Display Size: 23.35" x 14.57" (27.48" diag)
59.3cm x 37.0cm (69.8cm diag)
Primary Bus Type Not Detected
Primary VRAM: 1024 MB
Supported MSAA Modes Not Detected

Sound card:
Audio device: Speakers (Realtek High Definiti

Memory:
RAM: 3324 Mb

Miscellaneous:
UI Language: English
Microphone: Not set
Media Type: DVD
Total Hard Disk Space Available: 152625 Mb
Largest Free Hard Disk Block: 5260 Mb
OS Install Date: Sep 01 2007
Game Controller: None detected

[Satoru]

Are you absolutely postively fully patched on Vista. This is a very common issue because for some reaons Vista users have some incredible aversion to service packs.

[Staryn]

That computer is below the system requirements. For some reason it isn't saying what the processor is, but it's 1.8 GHz. As it's an Intel, you will need to have a Core 2 Duo or better.

Your graphics card (GeForce 8400) isn't strong enough, and your RAM is barely enough.

[samuellee29]

Hey thanks for the advice guys, I finally fixed it by rolling back my video driver to before my last windows update. After hours of tinkering with it I thought of that, lol. I finally got to play!
thanks