Please help, major problems!

[CheeseVendor]

I am having major problems with Medieval II total war. I have the required amount of free disk space, ram, and the latest Nvidia drivers, but it still crashes! while playing on the battle map, the terain and buildings will turn black, or transperant, and the units will stretch across the screen. I have set the graphics to low, turned off antianalizing, and Vsync, but they do nothing, i have downloaded version 1.01, 1.02, 1.03 and none of them work. i do not know what "unpacking" is and have never done it, i have manually uninstalled it a few times, but that has only exacerbated things. At the least, i need to know how to fully wipe this game from my computer and perhaps totaly start from scratch with all the drivers and stuff, i realy need some help and it will be extremely appreciated!!!

[irishron]

What are your computer specs as in memory, cpu, video card/chip and dedicated memory, operating system, monitior, battle resolution, and unit size?

[CheeseVendor]

Memory: 1022MB RAM
Processor: Intel Pentium D CPU 2.66GHz (2 CPUs)
Vido chip: NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS
Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
Battle resolution: lowest on all
Unit size: small
Operating System: windows XP Professionsal (5.1, build 2600)

and im not sure what dedicated memory is, but Approx. Total Memory of my video chip is 256 MB, and my main driver is: nv4_disp.dll and i have over 11 gigs of uncompressed free hard disk space. i hope this helps!

Also, whenever installing the game, it prompts me to uninstall, which installs it, or install, which uninstalls it

[irishron]

Leave your posts over here. Yours is not the same.

When was the last time you ran Windows Update manually installing all the optional software?
Have you updated your Nvidia drivers?

Your ram is minimum. Have you tried Gamebooster to get more ram to play with?

Did you uninstall it first? Did you delete the Sega folder? Did you run a registry cleaner? You're not reinstalling until you do.

[CheeseVendor]

I have all the latest Nvidia drivers as of 3 days ago, and im not sure about Windows Update. I will try Gamebooster and have resolved the uninstall-install problem, just some left over folders. im still having major graphics problems, could unpacking help?

[irishron]

Unpacking will not help because the game reads those first.
Battles are hard on a computer. Sieges are worse as thet try to draw the walls in real time.

I only have three recommendations that will help.

Run Windows Update manually and install all the optional software it comes up with. You can be surpirised by what's out there.

Get Game Booster to free some ram. And it's free.

The one that costs money, install another gig of ram. Your computer will love you for it.

[PoleCat]

And for future reference - don't bother with the 1.01 patch. It was made obsolete by the 1.02 patch. Just follow this: Clean install -> 1.02 -> 1.03 and you should be good to go. Good luck!

[CheeseVendor]

I ran a Uniblue registrybooster scan on my computer and it recorded 354 registry errors and stated that the damage level was high, and my computer "health" was low, i would have to buy the software required to fix these registry errors, but would it help with my problem at all?

Installing the optional software didn't seem to help, there was one hardware update, for a NVIDIA dirver, but when i installed it, it turned all the graphics settings on my computer to the lowest settings, including resolution, which would not go over 600 X 800 and i had to resort to system restore, because it would not open any other programs. And last, where would be a good, secure place to download another gig?

[irishron]

Do you have a computer shop in your town? That would be a good place to get another gig of memory.

Try Eusing Free Registry Cleaner to clean your registry. It's good and it's free.

As far as Nvidia drivers, leave them, then. Some updates do more harm than good.

[CheeseVendor]

Ok, thanks for the advice.

[CheeseVendor]

I forgot to mention, i was able to run Medieval 2 perfectly a while ago, buy my computer was experienceing tech problems so i had someone come help me fix it, and he pretty much just deleted everything off the computer, drivers, BIOs, everything. It says all my drivers are up to date, but this is when my Medieval 2 stoped working correctly. what could i do to help this? Also, i think my friend may have tried unpacking it at around that same time, but i have manually uninstalled it and reinstalled it a few times so that shouldnt be an issue right?

how do i see what version of medieval 2 is installed ex 1.02, 1.03

[CheeseVendor]

And for future reference - don't bother with the 1.01 patch. It was made obsolete by the 1.02 patch. Just follow this: Clean install -> 1.02 -> 1.03 and you should be good to go. Good luck!

how do i download the other patches? and clean install means i just install it regularly i assume.

[irishron]

When you start the game, look on the options page for which version you have.

For starters, when you bought your computer, and someone else has tried to fix it, did it come with a disc for the motherboard? If so try to run it first to get your motherboard up to speed.

The build number for XP looks up to date but it would not hurt run it manually and install all the optional software it has.

The first things I do when I get a new or a used/refurbished computer or even a new harddrive.
Uninstall the game with the uninstaller.
Delete the Sega folder.
Run a registry cleaner.
Put the dvd in and install the game.

That is a clean install. Start a campaign.

If it works, install the 1.2 patch, then the 1.3 patch.

If it works, you're good to go.

[CheeseVendor]

how do i install the 1.2 patch? or the 1.3 patch? "The build number for XP looks up to date but it would not hurt run it manually and install all the optional software it has" run what?


I have also been considering restoring my computer to an earlier time, and maybe even doing a total system restore. I was wondering how to manually set my computer back to its earliest settings? Any advice on this? I think I may have damaged my registry trying to uninstall or install M2TW, I don’t see any other reason for such odd graphics influxes. they aren’t game crashing glitches, just to severe to see the battle map and campaign map.

[irishron]

how do i install the 1.2 patch? or the 1.3 patch? "The build number for XP looks up to date but it would not hurt run it manually and install all the optional software it has" run what?

Run Windows Update. When the screen comes up after it runs a optional software tooltiip with a number on the right side if it finds any click it and install them.

XP only affects your screen if you have their .Net framework, Windows Media Player, directx9.0c up to date along with Nvidia's drivers, whichever version works best for your card.

I have also been considering restoring my computer to an earlier time, and maybe even doing a total system restore. I was wondering how to manually set my computer back to its earliest settings? Any advice on this? I think I may have damaged my registry trying to uninstall or install M2TW, I don’t see any other reason for such odd graphics influxes. they aren’t game crashing glitches, just to severe to see the battle map and campaign map.

If you want go back all the way, put your XP disc in the drive and reboot. If you do decide on such an extreme measure, you will need your disc for your motherboard drivers, your original Nvidia disc, and after you activate your copy of XP, be ready for a lot of updating and don't skip any thinking you're done. To make Microft Update work right you have to do it yourself. It is only automatic enough to keep the law off their backs. The rest is up to the consumer.

[CheeseVendor]

Im still having trouble finding the download for the 1.2 and 1.3 patch. would it be ok if i only downloaded the 1.3 patch? where can i find the downloads for both patches?

[irishron]

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=314850. Stickied right on top of this forum.

[CheeseVendor]

Ok, so i have some information that might be helpful. I experienced another graphics crash, but this time it popped up with an error reading "The nv4_disp display driver has stopped working normally. Save your work & reboot the system to restor full display functionality. The next time you reboot the machine a dialog will be displayed giving you a chance to upload data about this failure to Microsoft" i rebooted the system and there was no dialog box. What does this error mean? I noticed that the glitches get worse over time, could it be a heat problem? if so, how can i fix it? I also have the most trouble with Seige assults and campaign battles, custom field battles work better for longer, but inevitable crash eventually.

[irishron]

Many computers will not do sieges good if at all because of the wall textures for stone forts.

This may help sieges:http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...=city+textures.

An error like that can be heat related especially if you had been playing for a long time. This game creates heat in a big way. The best way to minimze it is keep the inside of your case clean, keep the vents clean and unblocked, and make sure the fans keep working. After that it costs money

[CheeseVendor]

I only play about 2-3 minutes before this happens. How can i clean my case and how do i know if all my fans are woking? do you think this might be why im having these problems, and have you ever encounterd anyone else having these issues?

Also, if it was a heat issue, wouldnt my computer have problems doing other things, and like i said, the graphics glitches are very strange, and not like im having a problem processing them, but more like they are damaged and stretch themselves across the screen. sometimes, it will look like a hunk of multi-colored triangles sitting ontop of a perfect horse with cavalry, or the unit flags will stretch far into the sky. could this be a script error?