Sid Meier's Civilization V

Key points

Game is actively maintained by Firaxis, with periodic updates.

Patches tend to introduce severe bugs into the game.

The Mac version is outsourced to a third party, causing periodic conflict and incompatibility between PC and Mac versions.

General information

2K Games Forum - Official Civilization V Forum.

Steam Forum - Older Steam forum for Civilization series.

Steam Civilization V Discussion - New Community Discussions for Civilization V (Steam account required).

Steam Forum Troubleshooting Thread - Troubleshooting Guide for PC Steam versions.

CivFanatics very large Civilization community.

Availability

All retails and digital versions of Civilization V and its DLC require Steam, and redeem on Windows and Mac.

There is a version sold in the Mac App Store called Campaign Edition. This is not compatible with retail or Steam DLC or expansions, and lacks online multiplayer.

Gold Edition

This is the recommended version of Civilization V, as it contains all current DLC.

Gold Edition Upgrade

If one has Civilization V base game in the Steam account, then one can upgrade to Gold at a reduced price.

The upgrade is not a store item, it can only be found on the Civilization V Steam Store page.

Game of The Year Edition

Some outlets are still selling the less desirable Game of the Year Edition, which is a less complete package than the Gold Edition.

Included DLC	Not included DLC
Civilization and Scenario Pack: Mongolia (Free) Explorer's Map Pack Civilization and Scenario Pack: Denmark - The Vikings Civilization and Scenario Pack: Polynesia Double Civilization and Scenario Pack: Spain and Inca Cradle of Civilization: Mesopotamia Cradle of Civilization: Americas Cradle of Civilization: Asia Cradle of Civilization: Mediterranean Babylon	Gods and Kings expansion Korea Wonders of The Ancient World DLC.

Improvements

Mods

Steam Workshop and subscriptions

The easiest way to find mods is to browse Steam Workshop.

Instructions

Manual mod installation

Mods from other sources than Steam Workshop can be installed.

CivFanatics is a good place to find mods not listed on Steam Workshop.

Instructions

Activating mods

Instructions

Miscellaneous

Improving waiting time between turns

Instructions

Increasing zoom level

Instructions

Game data

Steam cloud

Civilization V supports Steam Cloud storage for saved games.

PC and Mac saves

Save games for PC and Mac versions of Civ V use the same format but the filenames are different. To use a PC save on Mac, or a Mac save on PC, you must rename the save file.

Video settings

Supported resolutions

Civilization V requires 1024x768 or greater resolution. Any resolution above this will work (widescreen or full screen).

The game interface will not display properly at 720p.

Borderless fullscreen windowed

Functioning using Borderless Windowed.

Mouse offset may be 15px off vertically.

Instructions

Issues and fixes

Issues with Gods and Kings

The issues with Gods and Kings are usually also present in the original game. The issues and fixes on this page apply for all versions of Civilization V, including Gods and Kings.

Issues with latest patches (July 2013)

Graphics Bugs

The last several patches require current video drivers. Many problems can be fixed with driver updates.

Reported bugs

The following bugs have been reported since the Fall patch (1.0.2.13, November 1, 2012):

A list of current bugs may be found here: http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread.php?247526-New-patch-problems-%28July-2013%29-List

For problems with the diplomacy screens or cursor, see this thread: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=12568296&postcount=1

For problems with hotseat saves, see this post: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=12568152&postcount=256

• The game may crash when playing saved games from before the Fall patch.

• Captured/recaptured Workers are unable to complete tile improvements - (documented in LAN multiplayer, untested in single player)

• Workers may not be able to build improvements near captured cities.

• Peace treaties may not expire.

• Without Gods and Kings, pillaging still states you will heal 25 HP, yet no healing occurs.

Basic troubleshooting

Many problems with the game can be fixed with these steps:

Instructions

Secondary installers

If Civilization V doesn't launch after installation, make sure the following programs are installed:

Instructions

Unable to run DirectX 11

If the DirectX 11 option is unavailable, try the following.

Ensure Steam is not running in Compatibility Mode.

Instructions

This may also be caused by out of date drivers.

DirectX 10/11 Mode will not work on XP.

Not all video cards are capable of running DirectX 10 or 11, even with Windows 7. Intel Core i3 integrated graphics do not support DirectX 11 Mode in Civilization V.

Steam Workshop issues

Mods may disappear, or subscribed mods will not download. Deleting the mods database can resolve this.

Instructions

DLC troubleshooting

DLC may not be available or installed after purchase.

Instructions

Map Packs are not listed on the DLC menu or standard setup menu. To use the new maps, you need to go to advanced setup.

Game corruption

If for any reason, the game will not work and the other fixes here do not help, you have strange behavior in the game (such as a damaged interface/no interface), or the game suddenly begins crashing on loading a game, you may have problems with the database files, user settings, corrupted saves, or other damaged data files. These are stored in %USERPROFILE%\My Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 5. Everything in this folder can be deleted, and will be regenerated the next time the game is run, using the original factory settings for the game, with the following exceptions:

1. Saved games, logs, replays, or other user created data will be deleted unless a backup is made. This does not apply to Steam Cloud saves.
2. User settings (config.ini, GraphicsSettingsDX11.ini or equivalent, UserSettings.ini) will be removed and replaced with the default settings. All preferences, including screen resolution, will be reset and need to be changed.
3. All mods will be deleted. Steam Workshop mods will be redownloaded automatically, however mods from other sources will have to be reacquired.

Problems with files in the user folder are not checked by other troubleshooting means, for instance, verifying the game cache will overlook these files. Deleting the contents of this folder may correct many problems with the game. It should be done as a last resort, however.

You could also try deleting the contents of the %USERPROFILE%\My Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 5\cache folder first, followed by the .ini files listed above, if you wish to preserve your data.

Complete reinstallation

If none of the above work, do the following to reinstall the game:

Instructions

Video and graphics issues

Driver issues

Many game problems are caused by outdated drivers. The latest patches are optimized around the newest drivers, and may not work with old drivers.

NVIDIA users may need to update to version 306.97 to correct glitches and crashes.

The latest NVIDIA driver may cause unusual leader textures.

Users of Intel HD graphics may have issues with the latest patch. Updating their drivers may resolve these. If you are using an HP computer, get your Intel driver from them, not from Intel.

Issues with opening movies

If the game crashes to desktop or loads to a black screen, then there may be an incompatibility with the video files. Deleting the WMV video files from the Civilization V folder may allow the game to run, as the expense of losing the opening movies.

The video files for Civilization V are located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\sid meier's civilization v. If you have Gods and Kings, you will also need to delete the videos from C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\sid meier's civilization v\Assets\DLC\Expansion

"N" Versions of Windows may not be compatible with the opening videos.

Issues with resolution (screen cutoff)

Sometimes after installing the game, the game resolution will be larger than the screen and parts of the game will be cut off. To fix this, go into options and change the game resolution. If you are unable to access the options, manually edit GraphicsSettingsDX9.ini or GraphicsSettingsDX11.ini (depending on which DirectX mode you use) in %USERPROFILE%\My Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 5 to the correct resolution (1024x768 Minimum).

Checkerboard patterns

This can be caused by insufficient video memory. Try the following:

Instructions

Instructions

Gray Tiles/Tiles Not Loading

In recent patches, the way tiles were loaded during scrolling was changed. This can lead to slow loading times or an abundance of gray tiles on the screen after scrolling.

Instructions

Black Squares

The screen may contain a number of black squares (not gray).

Instructions

Disappearing cursor

Enabling pointer trails in Windows may cause the cursor to disappear or act strangely. Disable this feature while playing.

Black screen (anti aliasing issue)

Enabling anti-aliasing on DirectX 11 mode may cause the game to turn black. It is recommended that you enabled anti-aliasing through your graphics software, and not the game. If antialiasing is enabled and this issue is present (causing the screen to be black), you can edit GraphicsSettingsDX11.ini to fix this.

Error Messages

Nebuchadnezzar icon missing and error messages (Babylon DLC)

The Babylon DLC might cause error messages to appear when selecting the civilization you wish to play with. Nebuchadnezzar's icon's will appear as red squares. To fix this issue, do the following:

Instructions

Texture errors

If you are getting several error messages saying "Terrain texture error" and "Texture load failed!" that mention a file with cerro_de_potosi in the name, this is caused by some old files from a previous version.

Instructions

Performance and crashing

Crash After Starting a New Game

The game may crash after starting a new game.

Instructions

Can't select units or end turn (EnableGameCoreThreading)

If you have a delay in units responding, or the end turn button does not work, try the following:

Instructions

This has been improved in the latest patch, but the problem still exists.

Turning down graphics settings may also correct this.

Leaderhead crash

The game may crash when meeting other leaders.

Instructions

Instructions

Multiplayer

The latest patch resolves most of the reported multiplayer bugs.

Miscellaneous issues

Achievements not unlocking

To unlock achievements, you must be playing single player with no mods enabled.

Some achievements can only be unlocked in scenarios.

Overheating

Civilization V has been connected to overheating of graphics cards on some computers (especially high end graphics cards).

Overheating symptoms include increased fan noise, graphical corruption, and computer freezes/automatic shutdowns. While there is no official fix, there are a few workaround for the issue.

Instructions

Instructions

Instructions

Issues and fixes (Mac)

Multiplayer

Mac and PC version mismatch

The Mac version is not handled by Firaxis or 2K Games, so they only develop patches for PC. Another company (Aspyr) handles the Mac version of the patches, after they have been released on PC. As a result, Mac patches are released later than PC patches. You cannot play multiplayer unless the versions match, so after a PC update, you cannot play online against a Mac. There is no solution to this, other than waiting for the Mac patch.

Mods (Mac)

Mods and Mac

The Mac version of Civilization V does not officially support Mods or Steam Workshop. You may be able to manually install a mod, but it is complicated to do so, and has varying results. There is a tutorial on the Steam Forums at http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2917532 that shows how to manually install mods on Mac.

At this time, it is not possible to use Steam Workshop on a Mac.