Sid Meier's Civilization IV
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| Developers | |
|---|---|
| Firaxis Games | |
| macOS (OS X) | Aspyr Media |
| Publishers | |
| 2K Games | |
| OS X | Aspyr Media |
| Engines | |
| Gamebryo | |
| Release dates | |
| Windows | October 25, 2005 |
| macOS (OS X) | June 30, 2006 |
| Reception | |
| Metacritic | 94 |
| Taxonomy | |
| Monetization | One-time game purchase, Expansion pack |
| Modes | Singleplayer, Multiplayer |
| Pacing | Turn-based |
| Perspectives | Bird's-eye view |
| Controls | Point and select |
| Genres | 4X, TBS |
| Themes | Historical |
| Series | Civilization |
 |
|
| ⤏ Go to series page | |
| Sid Meier's Civilization | 1991 |
| Freeciv (unofficial) | 1996 |
| Sid Meier's Civilization II | 1996 |
| Civilization II: Test of Time | 1999 |
| Sid Meier's Civilization III | 2001 |
| Sid Meier's Civilization IV | 2005 |
| CivCity: Rome | 2006 |
| Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization | 2008 |
| Sid Meier's Civilization V | 2010 |
| Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth | 2014 |
| Sid Meier's Civilization VI | 2016 |
Warnings
- The macOS (OS X) version of this game does not work on macOS Catalina (version 10.15) or later due to the removal of support for 32-bit-only apps.
Sid Meier's Civilization IV is a singleplayer and multiplayer bird's-eye view 4X and TBS game in the Civilization series.
The game received two expansion packs: Warlords in July 2006, and Beyond the Sword in July 2007. Both expansions included a range of new units, mechanics, game modes and scenarios. Multiple patches were released for all versions.
In 2014, the Steam release was updated to replace the GameSpy multiplayer infrastructure with that of Steamworks and removed LAN, but it can be downgraded to the older version through a beta branch to re-enable compatibility with retail and GOG.com releases.
The game has no notable issues with running on modern systems as of August 2023.
General information
- Official Downloads page (patches, SDK, etc.)
- Civilization Wiki - A detailed wiki for all Civilization games and their spin offs
- Civilization Fanatics' Civilization IV section
- Civilization Fanatics' Civilization IV Forums
- GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
- GOG.com Support Page
- Steam Community Discussions
Availability
| Source | DRM | Notes | Keys | OS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail | |
The Complete Edition is DRM-free. Individual versions of the game include SafeDisc v4 DRM[Note 1], but it can be removed for Beyond the Sword and Colonization through patches. | |
|
| GamersGate | |
Complete Edition also available. | |
|
 |
|
Complete Edition also available. | |
|
| GOG.com | |
Complete Edition. Includes Civilization IV: Colonization. | |
|
| Green Man Gaming | |
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| Humble Store | |
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| Steam | |
Complete Edition also available. Default version uses Steamworks multiplayer, with a beta branch that restores the GameSpy/LAN version.[3] Windows and OS X builds appear separately in the library. | |
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| Amazon.com (unavailable) | |
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| Games for Windows Marketplace (unavailable) | |
[4] | |
|
| Mac App Store (unavailable) | |
|
- SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).
- Civilization IV Steam key exchanging services was discontinued on June 4, 2017.[5]
- Free demos are available from GameFront: base game (Windows), base game (OS X), Beyond the Sword "Final Frontier" scenario, Beyond the Sword "Charlemagne" scenario.
Monetization
| Type | Notes |
|---|---|
| Expansion pack | Expansion packs include multiple civilizations, mechanics, and improvements. |
| One-time game purchase | The game requires an upfront purchase to access. |
DLC and expansion packs
| Name | Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Warlords | |
|
| Beyond the Sword | |
Version differences
Retail DVD version
- Civilization IV: Gold contains the base game and Warlords.
- Civilization IV: Complete contains the base game, Warlords, and Beyond the Sword, and was released before Colonization.
- The similarly named Civilization IV: 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.
Steam version
The tutorial for the game is only available through the base game installation, and the Warlords expansion contains exclusive scenarios which are only available through its installation. All other gameplay contents and features are included in Beyond The Sword; if you do not need the base game tutorial and Warlords scenarios, you may uninstall them respectively. Colonization is a standalone game which does not overlap with Beyond The Sword.
Essential improvements
Patches
Detailed installation steps
A very thorough set of instructions on how to install Civilization IV and its expansions are available here.
Skip intro videos
| Instructions[6] |
|---|
|
Game data
In-game general settings.
In-game gameplay settings.
Configuration file(s) location
| System | Location |
|---|---|
| Windows | %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization IV %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Warlords %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Beyond the Sword |
| macOS (OS X) | |
| GOG.com | %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Civ4 |
| Steam | %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization IV\ |
| Steam Play (Linux) | <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/3900/pfx/[Note 2] |
Save game data location
| System | Location |
|---|---|
| Windows | %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization IV\Saves %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Warlords\Saves %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Beyond the Sword\Saves |
| macOS (OS X) | |
| GOG.com | %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Civ4\Saves |
| Steam | %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization IV\Saves |
| Steam Play (Linux) | <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/3900/pfx/[Note 2] |
Save game cloud syncing
| System | Native | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| GOG Galaxy | ||
| OneDrive | Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers. | |
| Steam Cloud |
Video
Video settings.
| Graphics feature | State | WSGF | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Widescreen resolution | |||
| Multi-monitor | See the WSGF page for a fix. | ||
| Ultra-widescreen | |||
| 4K Ultra HD | UI does not scale with resolution and is extremely small in 4K. | ||
| Field of view (FOV) | |||
| Windowed | |||
| Borderless fullscreen windowed | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
| Anisotropic filtering (AF) | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
| Anti-aliasing (AA) | |||
| Vertical sync (Vsync) | |||
| 60 FPS and 120+ FPS | |||
| High dynamic range display (HDR) | See the glossary page for potential alternatives. | ||
Input
| Keyboard and mouse | State | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Remapping | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | |
| Mouse acceleration | ||
| Mouse sensitivity | ||
| Mouse input in menus | ||
| Mouse Y-axis inversion | ||
| Controller | ||
| Controller support |
Audio
Audio settings.
| Audio feature | State | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Separate volume controls | Music, Sound Effects, Speech, Ambience, Interface. | |
| Surround sound | Up to 8.1. | |
| Subtitles | ||
| Closed captions | ||
| Mute on focus lost | ||
| EAX support | EAX 4.0. | |
| Royalty free audio | Uses various licensed performances of works from Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart, and artists still under copyright. |
Localizations
| Language | UI | Audio | Sub | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| French | ||||
| German | ||||
| Italian | ||||
| Japanese | Retail only | |||
| Polish | Retail only | |||
| Russian | Retail only | |||
| Spanish |
Network
Multiplayer types
| Type | Native | Players | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local play | 18 | Hot seat |
||
| LAN play | 18 | Removed from Steam version after the Steamworks update. | ||
| Online play | 18 | The official GameSpy service has been shut down; Steam version has been updated with Steamworks support. Steamworks version has a limit of 4 human players. |
||
| Asynchronous multiplayer | Play via email | |||
Connection types
| Type | Native | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Matchmaking | ||
| Peer-to-peer | ||
| Dedicated | ||
| Self-hosting | ||
| Direct IP | Removed from the Steam version.[3] Install the beta to regain access.[7] |
Ports
| Protocol | Port(s) and/or port range(s) |
|---|---|
| TCP | 2033, 2056, 3783, 6500, 6667, 28900, 29900, 29001 |
| UDP | 2302-2400, 6500, 6515, 13139, 27900 |
- Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.
Issues fixed
DirectX issues
- 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
- Caused by discontinued support for Python 2.3 in OS X Yosemite 10.10.
| Copy Python 2.3 back into OS X[8] |
|---|
|
Other information
API
| Technical specs | Supported | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Direct3D | 9.0c | |
| OpenGL | macOS/OS X only. | |
| Shader Model support | 3 | [citation needed] |
| Executable | PPC | 32-bit | 64-bit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows | ||||
| macOS (OS X) | 32-bit only.[9] Colonization does not support PowerPC processors. |
Middleware
| Middleware | Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Audio | Miles Sound System | |
| Interface | Scaleform | |
| Cutscenes | Bink Video | |
| Multiplayer | GameSpy, Steamworks |
System requirements
| Windows | ||
|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Recommended | |
| Operating system (OS) | 2000 | XP |
| Processor (CPU) | Intel Pentium 4 1.2 GHz AMD Athlon 1.2 GHz |
Intel Pentium 4 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 |
| macOS (OS X) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Recommended | |
| Operating system (OS) | 10.3.9 | 10.4.7 or later |
| Processor (CPU) | PowerPC G5 (970) 1.8 GHz Intel 2.0 GHz |
PowerPC G5 (970FX or 970MP) 2.0 GHz Intel 2.0 GHz |
| System memory (RAM) | 512 MB | 1 GB |
| Hard disk drive (HDD) | 3.5 GB | |
| Video card (GPU) | Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 ATI Radeon 9600 64 MB of VRAM | Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL ATI X800 XT Mac Edition 128 MB of VRAM |
| Other | Intel integrated video chipsets (GMA 950) are not supported. | This game is not supported on volumes formatted as Mac OS X Extended (Case Sensitive). |
Notes
- ↑ SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.[2]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in
~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/3900/in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (3900) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.
References
- ↑ Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
- ↑ Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 2K Online Server Migration from GameSpy Technology – 2K Support
- ↑ Welcome to Games for Windows Marketplace - Games for Windows - last accessed on 19 August 2022
- ↑ support.2k.com - last accessed on 9 June 2023
- ↑ Verified by User:Plok on 2022-03-31
- ↑ Direct IP and Installing Pre-Steamworks Civilization IV (Unsupported) on Steam – 2K Support - last accessed on 9 June 2023
- ↑ http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=530804
- ↑ MacOS Catalina, 64-bit, 32-bit, and related Questions – Aspyr Support - last accessed on 9 June 2023