Illegible text?

[FORTHEWIN]

I installed Civ V with no problems earlier this morning and started it up to find that I could read absolutely nothing. The text was completely illegible, it looked like gibberish and... well... I have no idea what to do. My graphics card just barely makes it past the minimum requirements and I can only run the game on minimum settings but even so, that shouldn't make the text unreadable, right? Has anyone else had this problem? Should I try to reinstall it and hope for the best?

I took a few screenshots, as well. Anybody have any ideas how to fix it?

http://i51.tinypic.com/2wrg0ar.jpg
http://i54.tinypic.com/23tksp0.jpg
http://i52.tinypic.com/vd1qoy.jpg

[kybrdwzrd]

I'm having the same issue too. Everything else in the game appears to work just fine, but it's kind of hard to play if I can't read anything. Does anyone know what to do here? I haven't been able to get through to support all day...

[Tech Ian]

Get the latest drivers, change the resolution of the desktop or the game etc and see if anything like this makes any difference. Windowed mode may also change it.

[kybrdwzrd]

Well, I updated my drivers and everything seems to look better, which is nice...but I still can't read a damn thing. Well, a few words are decipherable. Other than that, though, I may as well be be reading Cuneiform.

[SilentTrouble]

The fix for this is to go into video options and change your video reso/refresh...
mine was defaulted to 1680x1050 74hz my monitor only supports 60hz so I changed it to 1680x1050 59hz and all is better now same problem.

[Kerae217]

I have the exact same text image problem. I already sent in a support email asking about this...

I have fully updated drivers and all that. I tried the resizing resolution, window vs full screen, used steams validation tool as has been suggested on several threads and am still not able to solve the problem. I have uninstalled and installed and reinstalled several times now. Basically I have wasted the past 3+ hours trouble shooting with no effect.

The validation tool recently has said it is unable to validate a file and it will have to be reacquired...whatever that means. I am going to reinstall yet again and retry that to be sure that isn't part of the problem, however this text problem occurred before Steam yelled at me for it.

I also can't seem to run it in Directx 10/11 mode. The game doesn't even load, it just crashes. I am running Vista Home Premium SP 2 (32bit) on a Toshiba Satellite L305 with system specs well over the minimums but lacking the 4GB RAM recommended. I have the Mobile Intel(R) 965 Chipset with 2007 drivers. I ran a tool from intel to update them and it said they were fully up to date as are my Directx drivers (DX 11 is installed).

I would really

[FORTHEWIN]

I've tried all of the solutions suggested and nothing has happened. The game would be playable if I could just read everything. I don't have any other problems when I start a game besides not knowing what's going on. Any other help would be great.

[Tech JohnT]

The Intel(R) 965 Chipset is below the minimum requirements to run Civilization V.The only intel graphic chipset to work is Core i3 or better intergrated graphic.

[natk]

I had the same problem at the beginning. After updating bunch of softwares, drivers, now it finally worked.

Here is my hardware details.

Machine: Laptop HP Pavilion dv6500
OS: Windows Vista
Video Card: Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family

Steps got it fixed.

1. updated windows vista to service pack 2 (it still did not fix the problem)
2. installed directx 11 for windows x38 system (it still did not fix the problem)
3. went to intel website and updated the latest driver for the video card
4. load the game through DirectX 10 & 11

Now, I am able to see all the text without any problem and everything seems fine now. Will see if it will crash later, finger crossed.

[Tech JohnT]

FORTHEWIN

Can you confirm what video card you are using and also the driver version.
Easiest way if from the dxdiag to do this:
Click on Start
Click on Run (In Vista/7 just type dxdiag in the search field)
Type in: dxdiag Hit Enter or OK

[FORTHEWIN]

My video card is the Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family.

As for my drivers,

Main Driver: igdumd32.dll
Version: 7.14.0010. 1409 (English)
Date: 3/6/2008 3:58:12 AM
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
DDI Version: 9Ex

[natk]

Here you go

System Tab:

Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium (6.0, Build 6002)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacture: Hewlet-Packard
System Model: HP Pavilion dv6500 Notebook PC
BIOS: Ver 1.00ARTTBL
Processer: Intel(R) COre(TM)2 Duo CPU T5250 @ 1.5GHz (2 CPUs), ~ 1.5GHz
Memory: 2038MB RAM
Page File 2751MB Used, 1564MB available
DirectX Version: DirectX 11

[natk]

Display Tab:

Name: Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family
Manufacture: Intel Corporation
Chip Type: Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family
DAC Type: Internal
Approx. Total Memory: 358 MB
Current Display Model: 1280 x 800 (32 bits) (60 Hz)
Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor

Drivers

Main Driver: igdumdx32.dll,igd10umd32.dll
Version: 7.15.0010. 1666 (English)
Date: 2/26/2009 12:34:14 PM
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
DDI Version: 10

DirectX Feature

DirectDraw Acceleration: Enabled
Direct3D Acceleration: Enabled
AGP Texture Acceleration: Enabled

[Tech JohnT]

FORTHEWIN

You could try what natk suggested , not sure how he got the game to work as most calls we have had even with the latest drivers it will just crash even with the 4 series chipset.
We are unable to guarantee the game work on your system.

[agaldor]

Download the latest drivers for your graphics card! I was having the same problem with my laptop (Intel Mobile 965) and the newest drivers made it work perfectly.

[Kerae217]

I had the same problem at the beginning. After updating bunch of softwares, drivers, now it finally worked.

Here is my hardware details.

Machine: Laptop HP Pavilion dv6500
OS: Windows Vista
Video Card: Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family

Steps got it fixed.

1. updated windows vista to service pack 2 (it still did not fix the problem)
2. installed directx 11 for windows x38 system (it still did not fix the problem)
3. went to intel website and updated the latest driver for the video card
4. load the game through DirectX 10 & 11

Now, I am able to see all the text without any problem and everything seems fine now. Will see if it will crash later, finger crossed.

So if I can just get it to run on dx 10/11 mode it works? That's great news. What is the latest driver for the 965 which allowed you to get it working?

[McMillis]

how do you get it to launch using dx10? When I mouse over it it says I need an update and can't click it, but I'm pretty sure I have the newest drivers.

[natk]

So if I can just get it to run on dx 10/11 mode it works? That's great news. What is the latest driver for the 965 which allowed you to get it working?

See my comment in #13, it contains the details of the driver. I basically just went to Intel website and it has a feature to check if there is new driver available for your computer.

Actually, what it made directX 10 & 11 working was the service pack 2 for vista and installing directX11 of course.

[natk]

how do you get it to launch using dx10? When I mouse over it it says I need an update and can't click it, but I'm pretty sure I have the newest drivers.

I wasn't able to play with dx10 until I patched my vista to service pack 2 and installed DirectX11. So i guess you need to do both. If still not working, you probably should try to update your graphic card driver.

[Helvetica Jones]

See my comment in #13, it contains the details of the driver. I basically just went to Intel website and it has a feature to check if there is new driver available for your computer.

Actually, what it made directX 10 & 11 working was the service pack 2 for vista and installing directX11 of course.

Alright, so I updated my Intel graphics driver, installed service pack 2 and DirectX11. Trying to launch the game with directx 9 still causes the text issue and launching it with directx 10 & 11 makes the game crash immediately. Is there anything else I can try?

I completely understand that the graphics card is below system requirements for the game, and as such I don't really have the right to expect the game to work. The thing that frustrates me is that the game itself runs completely fine, aside from this holdup with the text. It's slow, but I plan on playing in Strategic View anyway, which I thought was partly implemented as a solution for those with weaker machines.

[Tech Ian]

Alright, so I updated my Intel graphics driver, installed service pack 2 and DirectX11. Trying to launch the game with directx 9 still causes the text issue and launching it with directx 10 & 11 makes the game crash immediately. Is there anything else I can try?

I completely understand that the graphics card is below system requirements for the game, and as such I don't really have the right to expect the game to work. The thing that frustrates me is that the game itself runs completely fine, aside from this holdup with the text. It's slow, but I plan on playing in Strategic View anyway, which I thought was partly implemented as a solution for those with weaker machines.

As opposed to thinking outside the box, try to simplify it.

Intel chipset shares system memory yeah, so reduce what the system is doing accross the board and it may improve performance.

Get msconfig up and knock off the background apps from the startup tab, restart and the bring up Task Manager and have a look at Processes.
Anything you can't identify in there, regardless of its current usage, you should Google the exe, see what it is.

[McMillis]

The thing that frustrates me is that the game itself runs completely fine, aside from this holdup with the text. It's slow, but I plan on playing in Strategic View anyway, which I thought was partly implemented as a solution for those with weaker machines.

I'm right there with ya, admittedly my video card is below specs, but the visuals look fine, the opening sequence looked great, and I've even been playing, in regular view mode with text broken, for over an hour. Besides a tiny bit of chop in the animations, it works just fine!

Is is possible that what we need isn't a video card upgrade but a text card upgrade? All kidding aside it seems like it would be something to try to make a patch for, of course free of guarantees that will game will work properly, but just fixing that darn text!

I've tried downloading all manner of drivers and updates, still jibberish here...

[Kerae217]

Display Tab:

Name: Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family
Manufacture: Intel Corporation
Chip Type: Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family
DAC Type: Internal
Approx. Total Memory: 358 MB
Current Display Model: 1280 x 800 (32 bits) (60 Hz)
Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor

Drivers

Main Driver: igdumdx32.dll,igd10umd32.dll
Version: 7.15.0010. 1666 (English)
Date: 2/26/2009 12:34:14 PM
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
DDI Version: 10

DirectX Feature

DirectDraw Acceleration: Enabled
Direct3D Acceleration: Enabled
AGP Texture Acceleration: Enabled

I had to delete the drivers already saved on my computer before they would update. But now that I have the same driver set as suggested, DX10/11 mode works and the text is fixed! Yay I don't have to return the game!

If you are still having the problem go to the intel site to check it your drivers with their automatic online tool. If it says you have the most up to date drivers, try removing the drivers you have already on your computer. I have a Toshiba laptop and the Intel updater couldn't update because Toshiba's driver is considered "custom" and Vista's update tool said it was the most up to date even though it was three years old.

[supahbeel]

I completely understand that the graphics card is below system requirements for the game, and as such I don't really have the right to expect the game to work. The thing that frustrates me is that the game itself runs completely fine, aside from this holdup with the text.

Tell me about it. I've played for hours and the only issue I've had is the damn text. It's incredibly frustrating. Most of my friends play on their work laptops and this Intel chipset is incredibly common and still very much in-use. I'm floored that the minimum specs weren't modified to support it (and I'm a Software Product Manager, so I know there are trade-offs, but I think someone may not have done their homework on this one).

I bought two copies of the game. One for my home computer and one for my work laptop (you know, the one that gets the most use - lets me play Civ in the living room while my wife watches TV, play multiplayer with my son, etc.).

I'm using a Dell. Not only does Dell have out-of-date drivers for my laptop (Dell Lattitude D630), but when I get the newest ones from Intel they won't install (instead telling me to get the latest from Dell!).

Anyone have suggestions? Is there a way to fake the computer into thinking it got the drivers from Dell? Deleting the old drivers is something I hesitate to do on a work computer.

Supahbeel

[Helvetica Jones]

I had to delete the drivers already saved on my computer before they would update. But now that I have the same driver set as suggested, DX10/11 mode works and the text is fixed! Yay I don't have to return the game!

If you are still having the problem go to the intel site to check it your drivers with their automatic online tool. If it says you have the most up to date drivers, try removing the drivers you have already on your computer. I have a Toshiba laptop and the Intel updater couldn't update because Toshiba's driver is considered "custom" and Vista's update tool said it was the most up to date even though it was three years old.

Thanks, Kerae - this ended up fixing it for me. Dell has their own set of Intel driver updates, and it wouldn't recognize Intel's own more recent updates with those installed. I had to go into the display driver controls and manually uninstall the dell driver so that the newest Intel update would take. With the newest update actually installed, the game runs perfectly in dx10/11.

edit: Supahbeel, I'm also with Dell, and I've read that their own driver updates block a lot of features to maximize compatibility with Dell programs (something like that). Removing the driver is not all that intrusive as you can backup the files and re-install it fairly easily if any issues come up with the Intel update. I understand if you don't want to mess around with that on a work computer, but I'm fairly convinced that without the update, the game won't work (as it's a Dell-blocking-functionality issue more than anything on civ's side). Anyway, to remove Dell's update, open the Start menu, right click on Computer and go to properties (this is assuming you're using Vista). Then open the Device Manager (I think that's what it's called, I'm not at my computer at the moment - top option on the left bar). Click on "Display Drivers" and the menu should expand to show your current graphics chipset. Open that, click on the Drivers tab, then choose Uninstall at the bottom. Once that's done you can either just run the Intell driver update that Dell was blocking before, or choose Update (Upgrade?) from the same menu and choose to browse your computer manually for the update file. That should do it.

[supahbeel]

Thanks, Kerae - this ended up fixing it for me. Dell has their own set of Intel driver updates, and it wouldn't recognize Intel's own more recent updates with those installed. I had to go into the display driver controls and manually uninstall the dell driver so that the newest Intel update would take. With the newest update actually installed, the game runs perfectly in dx10/11.

Ok...I'm gonna trust you and give this a try. Do you have a phone number I can call you at for help if I end up screwing it up?

[supahbeel]

Ok...I'm gonna trust you and give this a try. Do you have a phone number I can call you at for help if I end up screwing it up?

Ok. How'd you do it? I tried to uninstall from the Device Manager and when I restart it automatically reinstalls the old drivers.

Plus, when I beat Windows to reinstalling the drivers, the Intel driver package still fails and won't let me install the latest version...

[Helvetica Jones]

I'll have to wait until I'm home from work to recheck exactly what I did, but I don't remember having to restart my machine after I uninstalled the driver. Rather, I did restart my machine at one point, saw that the driver was still there, and uninstalled it again. At that point the "Display Drivers" option was entirely removed from the Device Manager list (and no restart required). I ran the Intel driver setup .exe file and that's when it let me run the set-up for that without Dell blocking it.

Which version of the Dell chipset are you trying to remove?

[supahbeel]

No worries. I figured it out. I was stupidly using the driver executable. I just had to get the zip version and update the drivers the old fashioned way with 'Have Disk'.

Unfortunately, it appears not to have worked for me. I've got the latest Driver installed properly now, and I've still got the text issue.

Oh well...that's $50 back in my pocket, I suppose.

EDIT: Ok. Haven't given up yet, but I'm getting close. I was looking at some of the details for the guys who manage to get this working. It appears to me (feel free to tell me I'm wrong) that the updated Intel 965 drivers will not do the trick for folks on a Windows XP system. But, if you're running Vista on a machine with a 965 Express, it looks like the latest drivers will get it working for you...

[SJag]

I have this problem as well.

HP Pavilion 6675us
Windows Vista Ultimate Service Pack 2
Nvidia GeForce 8400M GS with latest drivers

[Silmaauki]

Has anyone solved this issue for XP?

[Augwich]

No - I think the problem is that you need to update the drivers to version 15, but Intel only has v14 for XP - so I think you need to have Vista. Also, it looks like DirectX9 might not work - you might get it to work for XP if you use DirX10, but I know that 11 doesn't work for XP, so that might be a problem because it sounds like you need 10 or 11 as well.

I have this same problem, so rest assured that I'll be trying everything I can to get it to work for XP. I'll keep letting you guys know.

[SJag]

No - I think the problem is that you need to update the drivers to version 15, but Intel only has v14 for XP - so I think you need to have Vista. Also, it looks like DirectX9 might not work - you might get it to work for XP if you use DirX10, but I know that 11 doesn't work for XP, so that might be a problem because it sounds like you need 10 or 11 as well.

I have this same problem, so rest assured that I'll be trying everything I can to get it to work for XP. I'll keep letting you guys know.

Everyone on this post seems to be focused on the intel chipsets but i have an NVIDIA 8400M GS (is that below the min btw?) and have the same problem...

[cockedandloaded]

Civ 5 fonts are managed with ggmxl?

[mbsolomon]

Exact same problem. Unreadable text in directx 9, directx 10/11 crash on open.

I'm running a Dell XPS m1330, windows vista 32 Bit, with the 965 chipset as well. I tried to uninstall the Dell driver, and then install the intel one, but it didn't appear to work properly. When i uninstall the dell driver, the video card completely disappears from my device manager.

I tried to then manually install the version 15 from the intel site, as the automatic updater wasn't running. However, i would get an error message each time. Upon restart, it would also reinstall the dell driver. Anyone else figured out how to avoid that?

I actually called Dell to ask if they had another driver that was unreleased. The tech support in India seemed confused. If anyone can help, that would be awesome. I have "played" about 4 hours of the game, but I am really just guessing as I can't read text. Going by my intuition of how civ works and the PDF manual.

[bigden]

Can you possibly link to a screenshot?

[MeanMrMustard]

I didn't take this, but this is also what it looks like on my cpu.

http://i51.tinypic.com/2wrg0ar.jpg

Hope that helps. I'm running with the 965 chipset on XP. I mean, if my cpu can't run it, it can't run it ... but it sure is frustrating that it'll run the game no sweat, I just can't read anything.

[mbsolomon]

that's what my intro screen looks like. in gameplay looks like this:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredi...WHw&feat=email

Operating System: Windows Vista™ Ultimate (6.0, Build 6002) Service Pack 2 (6002.vistasp2_gdr.100608-0458)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: XPS M1330
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A12
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T5750 @ 2.00GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.0GHz
Memory: 2038MB RAM
Page File: 3434MB used, 547MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 7.00.6002.18107 32bit Unicode

Card name: Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Chip type: Mobile Intel(R) 965 Express Chipset Family
DAC type: Internal
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2A02&SUBSYS_02091028&REV_0C
Display Memory: 358 MB
Dedicated Memory: 0 MB
Shared Memory: 358 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 800 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor
Driver Name: igdumd32.dll
Driver Version: 7.14.0010.1409 (English)
DDI Version: 9Ex
BGRA Supported: Yes
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 1/2/2008 16:48:34, 2580480 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp:
Device Identifier: {D7B78E66-6942-11CF-1976-0322ADC2CA35}
Vendor ID: 0x8086
Device ID: 0x2A02
SubSys ID: 0x02091028
Revision ID: 0x000C
Revision ID: 0x000C

[Augwich]

I tried to then manually install the version 15 from the intel site, as the automatic updater wasn't running. However, i would get an error message each time. Upon restart, it would also reinstall the dell driver. Anyone else figured out how to avoid that?

The reason version 15 doesn't work is because it is only for Vista. The highest version available for XP is v14, which I guess doesn't fix the text issue.

I'm going to try downloading DirectX 10 for my computer, and see if that works. But if not, it looks like short of installing Vista, there's no way around the bug for XP (unless someone knows where one might obtain a "cracked" version of v15 for XP).

[reg036]

You know I find this to be ridiculous,

Demo worked fine but the the full version is getting this darn gibberish.

Updated everything, running Win7, but why oh why would you make a game that has such a large target age demographic only playable on latest graphics cards?????????????????

I mean why ignore one of the largest notebook chipsets out there?

I have two laptops in the house 2-3 years old and they both give me the same problem, total aggravation!