Civilization IV

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Sid Meier's Civilization IV
Sid Meier's Civilization IV cover
Developers
Firaxis Games
macOS (OS X) Aspyr Media
Publishers
2K Games
OS X Aspyr Media
Engines
Gamebryo
Release dates
Windows October 25, 2005
OS X June 30, 2006
 
 
 
 
Civilization
Civilization 1991
Civilization II 1996
Civilization III 2001
Civilization IV 2005
CivCity: Rome 2006
Civilization IV: Colonization 2008
Civilization V 2010
Civilization: Beyond Earth 2014
Civilization VI 2016

Key points

Mod friendly.
Active community.
If you own retail version, you have to request multiplayer patch.[1]
Steam version online multiplayer has been transitioned to Steamworks.[2]

General information

Official Downloads page (patches, SDK, etc.)
GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
GOG.com Support Page
Steam Community Discussions
Steam Users' Forums for game series

Availability[edit]

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
 
 The Complete Edition contains no DRM. Individual versions of the game include DRM, but it can be removed through patches.
 
 
Gamesplanet
 
 Published by 2K
 
 
Gamesplanet
 
 Published by Aspyr
 
 
GOG.com
 
 Complete Edition. Includes Civilization IV: Colonization.
 
Mac App Store
 
 
Steam
 
 All versions available, including Complete Edition.
 
 
Retail version owners can contact 2K Support for Steam product keys.[2]

Downloadable content (DLC) and expansions

Name Notes
Civilization IV: Warlords
 
 
Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword
 
 

Version differences[edit]

The Complete Edition[edit]

The Complete Edition contains the base game, Warlords, Beyond the Sword, and Colonization on a single DVD. It contains an updated DirectX installer and contains no DRM. The individual games still require patches to the current version.

Essential improvements[edit]

Patches[edit]

Detailed installation steps[edit]

A very thorough set of instructions on how to install Civilization IV and its expansions are available here.

Skip intro videos[edit]

Instructions[citation needed]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open CivilizationIV.ini.
  3. Change 'NoIntroMovie' from 0 to 1.

Game data[edit]

In-game general settings.
In-game general settings.
In-game gameplay settings.
In-game gameplay settings.

Configuration file(s) location[edit]

System Location
Windows %APPDATA%\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4
macOS (OS X)
Steam %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Save game data location[edit]

System Location
Windows %APPDATA%\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Saves
macOS (OS X)
Steam %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization IV\Saves\single

Save game cloud syncing[edit]

System Native Notes
Steam Cloud

Video settings[edit]

Video settings.
Video settings.
Graphics option Option WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
 
Multi-monitor
 
 See the WSGF page for a fix.
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
No option, but can be forced with external utilities. See Borderless fullscreen windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS
120+ FPS

Input settings[edit]

Keyboard and mouse Native Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support

Audio settings[edit]

Audio settings.
Audio settings.
Audio options Native Notes
Separate volume controls
Music, Sound Effects, Speech, Ambience, Interface.
Surround sound
Up to 8.1.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost

Localizations

Language UI Audio CC Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Spanish

Network[edit]

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
Local play
6 Hot seat
LAN play
Online play
Non-Steam versions require a GameSpy ID.
Asynchronous multiplayer

Connection types

Type Native Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP
Removed from the Steam version.[2] Install the beta to regain access.[3]

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP (outbound) 2033, 2056, 3783, 6500, 6667, 28900, 29900, 29001
UDP (outbound) 2302-2400, 6500, 6515, 13139, 27900

Issues fixed[edit]

DirectX issues[edit]

To ensure the original game and its expansions run properly, install the latest DirectX End-User Runtimes. This is not a problem with the Complete Edition, which installs the correct DirectX version automatically.

Failed Initializing Python[edit]

Caused by discontinued support for Python 2.3 in OS X Yosemite 10.10.
Copy Python 2.3 back into OS X[4]
  1. Download BTS YosemitePython Fix.7z.
  2. Copy the folders '2.3' and '2.5' to /Library/Python/. Enter your administrator password.
  3. Go to /System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/ and delete the alises for '2.3' and '2.5' and copy in the '2.3' and '2.5' folders from the BTS Yosemite Python Fix.

Other information[edit]

API[edit]

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9
OpenGL Unknown macOS/OS X only.
Shader Model support 3 [citation needed]
64-bit executable

Middleware[edit]

Middleware Notes
Audio Miles Sound System
Interface Scaleform
Cutscenes Bink Video
Multiplayer GameSpy, Steamworks

System requirements[edit]

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 2000 XP, Vista, 7, 8
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium IV 1.2 GHz
AMD Athlon 1.2 GHz		 Intel Pentium IV 1.8 GHz
AMD Athlon 1.8 GHz
System memory (RAM) 256 MB 1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 1.7 GB 3.8 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce 2
ATI Radeon 7500
64 MB of VRAM
DirectX 9.0c compatible 		128 MB of VRAM
OS X
Minimum
Operating system (OS) 10.7.5
Processor (CPU) Intel 2.0 GHz
System memory (RAM) 512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 3.5 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce FX 5200
ATI Radeon 9600
128 MB of VRAM

References

  1. ↑ multiplayer patch request
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2K Online Server Migration from GameSpy Technology – 2K Support
  3. ↑ Direct IP and Installing Pre-Steamworks Civilization IV (Unsupported) on Steam – 2K Support
  4. ↑ http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=530804