Space Empires IV Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

1. When I click in the solar-system view (the view of all the planets belonging to a given star), if I click on the empty space between the planets, my computer screen goes black and I have to hit the reset button. Ctrl-alt-del will not do anything. Some video cards have trouble in 32-bit color mode. The game should work fine if you change your color resolution to 24bit or 16bit color.

2. Sometimes when I try to load my Autosave games, it says cannot load file. I recently loaded MSN Messenger to my system. Space Empires IV seems to have a problem with MSN Messenger. We suggest that you reinstall the game, or disable MSN Messenger. We are looking into the problem.

3. When I try to run the game, it crashes with an error message. I am using an ATIRage video card.

The problem will be solved by downloading the latest drivers from ATI. Problems will sometimes only occur if you are running in 32bit color.

4. In the Demo, I sometimes get an error message when starting a new game which says "Cannot load picture XXX.bmp". The game continues normally after that. Don't worry about this. The game is trying to load some pictures that are only available in the Full version. Just continue on and ignore it.

5. When I change my screen resolution, the game doesn't resize. If you make any changes to your screen size or color depth, you need to restart Space Empires IV.

6. The game seems to be running really slowly. What can I do?
Try each of the following steps and see if they have an effect on your performance:

1. Turn off CD Music. From the Main Window, select Game Menu then select Options. On the Machine Options window, turn off the selection for "CD Music".

2. Turn off Movement Animations. From the Main Window, select Game Menu then select Options. On the Machine Options window, turn off the selections for "Animate ship movement in system window" and "Animate ship movement in combat".

3. Turn off Ship Movement Lines. From the Main Window, select Game Menu then select Options. On the Machine Options window, turn off the selection for "Display Ship Movement Lines".

4. Change your color resolution to 24bit or 16bit. Right click on the background of your Windows environment. On the little menu, select Properties. In the Display Properties window, select Settings. Under Color Palette, select 16bit color or 24bit color. Press OK.

5. Uninstall the game completely from your Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs. Reinstall the game with the full package.

7. When I start the game, it loads up to 4% and then just hangs the entire computer. I have to Control - Alt - Delete to restart my computer.
Solution 1:

In the latest version 1.19 of Space Empires IV, there is a field called "Allow CD Music" in the Settings.txt file (in the Data directory). Edit this file (using notepad) and set the field to be FALSE. This will allow you to run the program without the CD music.

Solution 2:

Some machines seem to be having a problem with playing the CD for music. There are two ways to turn this off.

1. In the game, select the Game Menu, then select Options. There will be a check box for CD Music. Turn this off.

2. If you can't even get the game to run, the you'll need to turn off this setting in the registry. Here's how to do it:

From the Start Menu, select Run. Type in the name RegEdit and hit OK. When the Registry Editor comes up, select Edit, Find. In the Find box type Malfador Machinations and hit OK. When it finds the entry, click on the plus next to the name Malfador Machinations. Then select Space Empires IV. You'll see a bunch of items in the list. Find the one that says Play CD Music, double click on it, and enter a value of zero, then hit OK. Close the Registry Editor. Run SE4 again.

If you continue to have problems, please email us at support@malfador.com.

Solution 3 (from a player):

I got a better solution to this problem. I encountered it when I tried to play SE4 after playing a game of Full Throttle. The quickest fix is to shut down SE4 by the task manager in windows. Then eject the CD and start the game. The error is caused when SE4 looks for CD music on older games and does not find it. When that happens, SE4 just freezes what it is doing.

8. My game from the demo version will not load into the full version (1.02). Demo games will not work in the full version. The full version has many more tech levels than the demo game and so are incompatible.

9. Everytime I put the SE4 CD into my CDROM drive, the install program launches and ask if I want to install. How do I prevent this? Holding down the <shift> key while closing your CDROM drive will bypass the auto-run.
OR

Among other ways one can use TweakUI to disable automatic data/audio CDs. Do a search at www.winfiles.com for the file.

OR

If you want to permanantly disable Autorun, right-click on My Computer. Go to Properties, click the Device Manager Tab. Open up the CDROM section and double-click on the drive you want to do this to. This should open the properties for the drive. Go to the Settings Tab and turn off the "Auto Insert Notification".

10. The GOLD Demo game fails to start and I get a window box:

Application Error
Exception EsockError in module SE$.EXE at 00061AF6
Initialization of windows socket failed.
My WIN98 was not loaded with the (optional) communications package. By installing/removing DIAL-UP NETWORKING I can make the problem go/return.

DIAL_UP NETWORKING check box location:
1. ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS
2. TAB: Windows Setup
3. Highlight COMMUNICATIONS selection
a. Choose description
4. Dail-up Networking check box is here.

Your system has to have TCP/IP installed (you need the TCP/IP protocol on your machine). For Windows 98, this protocol will be installed with Direct Connect. On Windows 95, you need to manually add it.

I hope you find this information helpful.
Thanks War Dad!

1. When I click in the solar-system view (the view of all the planets belonging to a given star), if I click on the empty space between the planets, my computer screen goes black and I have to hit the reset button. Ctrl-alt-del will not do anything.	Some video cards have trouble in 32-bit color mode. The game should work fine if you change your color resolution to 24bit or 16bit color.
2. Sometimes when I try to load my Autosave games, it says cannot load file. I recently loaded MSN Messenger to my system.	Space Empires IV seems to have a problem with MSN Messenger. We suggest that you reinstall the game, or disable MSN Messenger. We are looking into the problem.
3. When I try to run the game, it crashes with an error message. I am using an ATIRage video card.	The problem will be solved by downloading the latest drivers from ATI. Problems will sometimes only occur if you are running in 32bit color.
4. In the Demo, I sometimes get an error message when starting a new game which says "Cannot load picture XXX.bmp". The game continues normally after that.	Don't worry about this. The game is trying to load some pictures that are only available in the Full version. Just continue on and ignore it.
5. When I change my screen resolution, the game doesn't resize.	If you make any changes to your screen size or color depth, you need to restart Space Empires IV.
6. The game seems to be running really slowly. What can I do?	Try each of the following steps and see if they have an effect on your performance: 1. Turn off CD Music. From the Main Window, select Game Menu then select Options. On the Machine Options window, turn off the selection for "CD Music". 2. Turn off Movement Animations. From the Main Window, select Game Menu then select Options. On the Machine Options window, turn off the selections for "Animate ship movement in system window" and "Animate ship movement in combat". 3. Turn off Ship Movement Lines. From the Main Window, select Game Menu then select Options. On the Machine Options window, turn off the selection for "Display Ship Movement Lines". 4. Change your color resolution to 24bit or 16bit. Right click on the background of your Windows environment. On the little menu, select Properties. In the Display Properties window, select Settings. Under Color Palette, select 16bit color or 24bit color. Press OK. 5. Uninstall the game completely from your Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs. Reinstall the game with the full package.
7. When I start the game, it loads up to 4% and then just hangs the entire computer. I have to Control - Alt - Delete to restart my computer.	Solution 1: In the latest version 1.19 of Space Empires IV, there is a field called "Allow CD Music" in the Settings.txt file (in the Data directory). Edit this file (using notepad) and set the field to be FALSE. This will allow you to run the program without the CD music.
	Solution 2: Some machines seem to be having a problem with playing the CD for music. There are two ways to turn this off. 1. In the game, select the Game Menu, then select Options. There will be a check box for CD Music. Turn this off. 2. If you can't even get the game to run, the you'll need to turn off this setting in the registry. Here's how to do it: From the Start Menu, select Run. Type in the name RegEdit and hit OK. When the Registry Editor comes up, select Edit, Find. In the Find box type Malfador Machinations and hit OK. When it finds the entry, click on the plus next to the name Malfador Machinations. Then select Space Empires IV. You'll see a bunch of items in the list. Find the one that says Play CD Music, double click on it, and enter a value of zero, then hit OK. Close the Registry Editor. Run SE4 again. If you continue to have problems, please email us at support@malfador.com.
	Solution 3 (from a player): I got a better solution to this problem. I encountered it when I tried to play SE4 after playing a game of Full Throttle. The quickest fix is to shut down SE4 by the task manager in windows. Then eject the CD and start the game. The error is caused when SE4 looks for CD music on older games and does not find it. When that happens, SE4 just freezes what it is doing.
8. My game from the demo version will not load into the full version (1.02).	Demo games will not work in the full version. The full version has many more tech levels than the demo game and so are incompatible.
9. Everytime I put the SE4 CD into my CDROM drive, the install program launches and ask if I want to install. How do I prevent this?	Holding down the <shift> key while closing your CDROM drive will bypass the auto-run. OR Among other ways one can use TweakUI to disable automatic data/audio CDs. Do a search at www.winfiles.com for the file. OR If you want to permanantly disable Autorun, right-click on My Computer. Go to Properties, click the Device Manager Tab. Open up the CDROM section and double-click on the drive you want to do this to. This should open the properties for the drive. Go to the Settings Tab and turn off the "Auto Insert Notification".
10. The GOLD Demo game fails to start and I get a window box: Application Error Exception EsockError in module SE$.EXE at 00061AF6 Initialization of windows socket failed.	My WIN98 was not loaded with the (optional) communications package. By installing/removing DIAL-UP NETWORKING I can make the problem go/return. DIAL_UP NETWORKING check box location: 1. ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS 2. TAB: Windows Setup 3. Highlight COMMUNICATIONS selection a. Choose description 4. Dail-up Networking check box is here. Your system has to have TCP/IP installed (you need the TCP/IP protocol on your machine). For Windows 98, this protocol will be installed with Direct Connect. On Windows 95, you need to manually add it. I hope you find this information helpful. Thanks War Dad!