# My Civ 3 Game Crashed **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 11, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-civ-3-game-crashed/294028 "2005-03-11T14:50:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-civ-3-game-crashed/294028/1 "2005-03-11T14:50:52Z")
So the year is 2025. Protected by a shield of ICBMs and Modern Armor, I built the spaceship. I launched it. The victory movie played! The parrot got excited. Then the thing crashed. No score on the Hall of Fame, no little guy with a sledgehammer, no list of top cities. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-civ-3-game-crashed/294028/2 "2005-03-11T14:53:24Z")
Just reload your last turn from the auto-save and launch it again. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-civ-3-game-crashed/294028/3 "2005-03-11T15:33:11Z")
I did that. It crashes every time. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-civ-3-game-crashed/294028/4 "2005-03-11T15:35:02Z")
It’s not the same. When you get all of that after two milenia (hours) of ruling and raising you civilzation, when you started with a hut a shovel and a dream and you build and fight and learn all there is to learn, where there were mountains you laid roads, when there was ignorance, you built schools, where there were Russians, you conquered, where there was unhappiness you built wonders, then and only then can you sit back and watch your name be written above all others. Getting that after 10 seconds just isn’t the same. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-civ-3-game-crashed/294028/5 "2005-03-11T16:26:15Z")
Can you go for a different type of victory and see if it’ll work? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-civ-3-game-crashed/294028/6 "2005-03-11T16:50:02Z")
OOOOH, so close to perfection there. > [@Zebra](#): > > where there were mountains you laid roads, when there was ignorance, you built schools, where there were Russians, you conquered I’d’ve said “where there were Russians, you left corpses” or some other combination of verb and noun, in keeping with the established pattern. Ahem. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-civ-3-game-crashed/294028/7 "2005-03-11T16:52:44Z")
In situations such as that, I throw my hands up and unload my entire nuclear arsenal on any remaining nations. It’s very cathartic. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-civ-3-game-crashed/294028/8 "2005-03-11T17:51:07Z")
My CIV II did rthat when I first got it. I forget the patch it needed. How is III? I’ve been leery of buying it beacuse of the thousands of hours (or so it seemed) I’ve spent playing Civ, Civ II and Call to Power. I need to have a life and I fear. For you young 'ens, the original Civ came on floppies. I played it on my 386 Wang. ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-civ-3-game-crashed/294028/9 "2005-03-11T17:57:31Z")
> [@Mr. Goob](#): > > I played it on my 386 Wang. And we all know how painful _that_ can be… ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-civ-3-game-crashed/294028/10 "2005-03-11T18:57:38Z")
> [@](#): > > How is III? I’ve been leery of buying it beacuse of the thousands of hours (or so it seemed) I’ve spent playing Civ, Civ II and Call to Power. I need to have a life and I fear. Good: The graphics are nice, the culture thing is neat. Bad: OTOH, the corruption is ungodly and can take a majority of your civ’s production and wealth, AI sucks both for and against you, and the combat is screwed to hell. Ugly: The advisor’s comments and videos in Civ 2 were so cool! And its all gone! Secondly, it would have been nice to geta game where they kept the techngoing, sort of a civ and centauri game in one deal. I’ve had some real problem games where I had a vast empire and no coal, rubber, or iron at all. Uranium is all over the place, weirdly. If you get it, spring for the full package. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-civ-3-game-crashed/294028/11 "2005-03-11T20:36:19Z")
For special resources there is one instance of each resource for every faction in the game. So if you have 7 opponents there will be 8 irons somewhere on the map, 8 horses, 8 coal, 8 aluminum, 8 rubber, 8 saltpeter, 8 uranium. Since uranium doesn’t appear until the late game, and by the late game a player has usually conquered a huge land mass, the odds of not getting a uranium resource are pretty slim. However, in the early game it is easy to miss getting a horse or iron while your neighbor has two or three. The answer of course is to attack them and take the resources yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-civ-3-game-crashed/294028/12 "2005-03-11T22:45:33Z")
2025? That’s pretty late to be winning. I usually win in the 1800’s. You’ll win sooner if you play at a higher level. Or just get wiped out. > [@Zebra](#): > > It’s not the same. When you get all of that after two milenia (hours) of ruling and raising you civilzation, when you started with a hut a shovel and a dream and you build and fight and learn all there is to learn, where there were mountains you laid roads, when there was ignorance, you built schools, where there were Russians, you conquered, where there was unhappiness you built wonders, then and only then can you sit back and watch your name be written above all others. > > Getting that after 10 seconds just isn’t the same. So you play the entirety of your Civ games from beginning to end with no breaks? How do you go for so long with no sleep? That was pretty cynical wasn’t it? Oh well. It sucks that it keeps crashing. There might be a patch to help. If there is it will probably be [here](http://www.civ3.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-civ-3-game-crashed/294028/13 "2005-03-11T23:42:17Z")
:: fires a blast from an oddly new-looking 1920s Style Death Ray in **Strinka** ’s direction :: ---
**Author:** ![jkirkman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@jkirkman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jkirkman)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-civ-3-game-crashed/294028/14 "2005-03-12T01:45:46Z")
> [@Mr. Goob](#): > > How is III? I’ve been leery of buying it beacuse of the thousands of hours (or so it seemed) I’ve spent playing Civ, Civ II and Call to Power. I need to have a life and I fear. As mentioned by others get the whole Civ3/PTW/Conquests Enchilada if you go for it. Then, come Christmas, you can get Civ4, and that should take you through until spring! –jack life? what is this life of which you speak? ---
**Author:** ![Lilacs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Lilacs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lilacs)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2005, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-civ-3-game-crashed/294028/15 "2005-03-12T02:59:27Z")
Civ4? really? There’s not enough happy smilies in the world. I can’t wait. As for the OP, I’ve had it happen too. Every time I tried to attack the damn Romans, it’d crash. And that was one of the better games I’d had… Has anyone here ever have the game declare you the victor after one turn??? (A random game, not a conquest or a civcontent.) I was elected. Without the UN. I got 6050 points. :eek: I was unable to duplicate it later, though. ---
**Author:** ![jkirkman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@jkirkman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jkirkman)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-civ-3-game-crashed/294028/16 "2005-03-12T04:31:00Z")
> [@Lilacs](#): > > Civ4? really? There’s not enough happy smilies in the world. I can’t wait. [http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product\_id=646074](http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=646074) Probably not a bad ship date estimate. I am unable to comment further. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![midget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@midget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/midget)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2005, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-civ-3-game-crashed/294028/17 "2005-03-12T05:41:15Z")
Hasn’t been addressed, so it’s worth a shot: Do you have all the latest patches installed? If not, that might provide a solution. Be wary, however, that many RTS game patches can wipe out your save games (or make them invalid). If you go this route, check the readme before installing. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-civ-3-game-crashed/294028/18 "2005-03-12T15:51:26Z")
[Civ 4 info](http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?threadid=117133) > [@jkirkman](#): > > I am unable to comment further. 🙂 The hell you’re not! Who are you and what do you know? You’re name’s not Sid is it (or Soren)? ---
**Author:** ![Hamish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Hamish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamish)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-civ-3-game-crashed/294028/19 "2005-03-12T16:05:37Z")
**Paul in Saudi** , I had exactly the same problem – it was something to do with the sound. I can’t remember what I did to fix it, exactly (maybe just turning off the sound – did that work?), but I remember I wound up with a soundless victory. (I launched the Egyptians into space, for that extra Mysteries-of-the-Unknown quality)