OK, this is going to be difficult to believe. I had all DLC's for GC3 except Retribution (Ret). There was a sale on Steam for GC3 Gold Bundle. But since I had all DLC's except Ret. I was offered just the Ret. DLC that reflected the Gold Bundle discount. What that means is I got Ret. only from the "bundle" at a discount. So I purchased, downloaded and tried to play.
Now when I try to play a "Created" game in GC3 with the newly acquired Ret, I can start the game, make the selections of what civilization I want to play and make all the other selections. And now I hit the start button. As GC3 is building the universe, BAMB! CRASH!!
I have NO user created mods subscribed to or even downloaded. This is a pristine an install as I could possible do.
Troubleshooting steps I have done already:
1. In Steam, verified the games files.
2. GC3 still crashing.
3. Uninstalled and then reinstalled.
4. Verified the game files.
5. GC3 still crashing.
6. Verified my SSD Drive is working properly (it is).
7. SSD drive is not compressed.
Now, when it does work:
1. When I play the tutorial.
2. When I play the campaign.
Can someone please help? GC3 is one of my most favorite games.