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Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Best Civ yet - But not for slower macs

Written by MH from Thornton

Feb 20, 2008

Absolutely amazing game - fixes everything wrong with Civ3 - and adds in a slew of new features that work flawlessly to create the most immersive civilization experience yet.

I run this on an Intel Core Duo iMac 1.83GHz, with 1GB of RAM and an ATI X1600 graphics card. It runs amazingly well in Tiger, OSX v10.4, and I would assume runs just as well or better in Leopard. Although the game suggests at least a gig of RAM, I highly suggest that you have at least 1.5GB, and the minimum requirements are indeed minimum requirements. If you'll be running this on a laptop, don't even consider it, unless you have a dedicated graphics card, like what is on a Macbook Pro. Towards the end of a long game, the program itself slows down and takes longer to process turns, i.e. it lags. This is entirely forgivable, noting the sheer amount of actions taking place every turn, and that I usually play with seven computer-controlled civilizations on a HUGE map. Knowing that, the game runs exceedingly well within the hardware parameters I have available, but is obviously functioning at the limit of what my computer can process.

Before the release of an update, there were some odd glitches which caused the face of a computer-controlled opponent to be displayed on the globe-view instead of regular terrain features. The mini-map would also often display a strange swatch of colors, instead of the visible and fog-of-war views which it normally shows. A recent update seems to have fixed these bugs.

Aside from these quirky, graphics-related bugs, and the fact that this game really does require more than the suggested minimum operating requirements, this has to be one of the best strategy games I've ever played. It reminds me of the social-control and science styles of Alpha Centauri mixed in with Civilization 3 and a bunch of new features thrown in for good measure.

Enjoy.

154 of 236 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

An Amazing game!

Written by JG from Pambrun

Feb 7, 2008

Played Civ IV on the PC, bought the Mac version when I migrated. An amazing implementation of a great game. Easily the most polished, interesting version of Civilization yet.

For fans of turn-based strategy. Takes time to learn... but worthi it.

135 of 217 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

This game blows.

Written by JM from Santa Ana

Jan 30, 2008

I spent 50 bucks at the MAC store. NOT WORTH IT!

I can't stand that you have to END your turn. I spent 1 hour just clicking on [return]

I think the best game is Pharaoh. Too bad they didn't make it for MAC.

114 of 385 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Almost perfect

Written by JJ from Lafayette

Jan 11, 2008

I love this game. the graphics are great and game play is the best it has ever been for a Civ game. My only problem is a tendency toward video artifacts (at around the 6th hour of play at the earliest) and a tendency towards crashing after 10 hours. Most people will probably not run into these problems as most probably won't play for that many straight hours.

Looking forward to the Beyond The Sword expansion pack

82 of 124 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

I donno

Written by DM from New York

Jan 7, 2008

I have a PowerBook G4, and the game barely stops.
Great Game.
The expansion pack, even better.

40 of 92 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Terrible Programming

Written by JL from Canton

Jan 5, 2008

Save your money. Find another game.

The basic idea of CIV is a good one, but this is a very bad implementation. The game played poorly on my G4 and will not start at all on my Intel dual core. Their tech support also can't/won't help. Seriously, the animation in this game is not that impressive yet eat absolutely eats up resources.

46 of 104 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

good

Written by AC

Dec 26, 2007

this game is good.

26 of 73 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Civ IV is one of the best games ever

Written by CW from Norman

Dec 26, 2007

I have played every version of Civ since the original version I played on my Amiga. Civ IV is the best. I can play this game for days in a row. It is engrossing and the new units/technologies/rules for Civ IV continue to expand on the great gameplay of the prior versions. That being said, the performance is less than ideal and even on a top of the line Mac expect pauses and waits. It certainly does not have "Teh Snappy." It is also fairly buggy with occasional crashes -- save often (note that the PC version is just as buggy as I had it before the Mac version was released). Even with the performance and stability issues the fact that this is such an enjoyable, addictive game make me overlook the problems and give it five stars on the fact that I have so much fun playing it.

53 of 71 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Better than on PC

Written by PC from Regina

Dec 3, 2007

Always been a big Civ fan, I have Civ IV on both PC and my Mac. I did have an issue the first few times on the Mac but it now runs well and very fast. PC is another story, sometimes had to wait 5 minutes to load a game, not with the Mac. Now I just need to get Warlord pack and hopefully the other new pack will be on Mac soon (Beyond the Sword). I spend a lot of hours on this game and enjoy it a lot. Call to Power was my fav until I found Civilization.

39 of 70 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Runs OK on My MacBook w/Mac OS X 10.5.1 w/out game card!

Written by MT from San Francisco

Nov 29, 2007

I bought this game about the same time I bought my new MacBook w/2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo w/2 GB RAM and then using system OS X 10.4. I also DO NOT have a game accelerator card. Although on boot-up it says that I do not have the hardware that can run the software, if I click on that window, I had no problem playing in single mode. I have not tried multi-player/online. I had an occasional unexpected quit, but I found that if you create a saved game early on, then it didn't seem to crash, at least not that I can remember. I upgraded to system 10.5.1 recently and had an unexpected quit in Civ IV, but then I saved a game in progress and it did not crash. I'm going to try to open the saved game and try playing it for a few hours. I also have version 1.74 of the game. If you have a lower version there is an upgrade patch to 1.74. I noticed that under advanced settings you can set the same to no war, so for those of us who are pacifists, we can still play and not have to kill our neighbors.

34 of 55 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Does not work (for some).

Written by SW

Nov 19, 2007

Be aware that buying this game is a chancy proposition. I know some people, using machines identical to mine (Macbook Core 2 Duo 2GHz, 2GB RAM) who can play this game. Unfortunately, I can't. It crashes within ten minutes of startup every time and usually causes a kernel panic. This is a horrendous port produced by a company that refused to make a leopard-compatible version despite having a developer's kit available for months. Aspyr doesn't know what it's doing. What else is new.

Purchase at your own peril.

80 of 117 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Great game, better with and expansion pack.

Written by JM from MANHATTAN

Nov 18, 2007

CIV IV is without a dugout a great strategic game. By buying the expansion pack it takes it ten steps further. In adds weather, tsunamis, colonies splitting from the motherland, and space exploration. If you want a good play buy CIV IV. If you want the best, add Beyond the sword to your bill.

25 of 35 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

A step backward.

Written by VV from Fairfax

Oct 17, 2007

I've played all Civ games as well as Alpha Centauri from the same developers. I agree with those who think the graphics aren't all that. Not so much in quality, but in graphic style. I've had the program (as well as the Warlords expansion) ever since it came out. I use a Macbook Pro dual core intel with 1.5 gig ram and 128mb of videocard. The game is buggy but still playable (just remember to save often). Patches seem to add new problems in place of the the ones they solve. The Warlords expansion is more stable. I dislike the fact that there is little in the way of future technologies. Combat odds are still totally unrealistic and badly computed. When the computer tells you that you have a 90-95% percent chance of winning a fight, figure that you really have only a 50-60% chance. Also, like in previous versions, any great leader cannot be airlifted. That's really stupid & unrealistic & it always bugged me. A great man can't catch a plane? Please.
In my book this edition has the least replay value of all civ games so far; after a few months I got really bored with it. I loved Alpha Centauri for the chance to design and build your own units; it would be nice if that feature came back in Sid Meier's future offerings.

57 of 98 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

works on MacBook

Written by JM from Mount Rainier

Sep 25, 2007

The reviews from the MacBook Pro users are pretty alarming, but the game runs fine on my 2.16 GHz, 2 GB MacBook. The Apple salesman couldn't say for sure whether it would work, Aspyr warned the game didn't support my video card, and the game itself told me my hardware was below minimum specs, but it runs anyway. It defaults to low graphics, but medium and high work fine, too. MacBook lovers of Civ should get the faster processor and pick up this game.
That said, I haven't yet played all that much and am still getting used to the changes. It incorporates a lot of great stuff from Alpha Centauri (civics, more flexible diplomacy), religion is an interesting addition, and there really do seem to be more peacable ways to play. All that peace means a different pace and feel to the game, which I'm still getting the hang of.
Highly recommended to all who've loved Civ -- remember Civ I? -- new gamers might find Civ III more straightforward.

33 of 65 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

No problems

Written by KP from Madison

Sep 23, 2007

I have a macbook 2.16ghx/2GB ram with the GMA 950 video card and have had very few problems. The game crashed maybe twice the first week I had it, but since then no problems. When I load the game, there is even a message box that comes up saying my system req.'s are insufficient and it won't run, but then it does. This is a great game so don't be discouraged!

40 of 72 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Good Experience

Written by CA from Bethlehem

Sep 22, 2007

I have a good experience with this game in the two weeks. I have a new powerbook with a 2.2 Ghz processor/1 GB ram and a Nvidia 5400 video card. I'm not sure if people with problems have read the "readme" file but it is pretty clear that if you system does not meet the recommended (not the minimum) requirements your going to have to change a few settings. They give plenty of information ways to make it run smoother.

14 of 17 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Dissapointed

Written by CC from Tampa

Sep 17, 2007

Civ IV itself is actually very mediocre in comparison to "Call to Power". Concepts are limited, units unimaginative and futurism barely present. So much emphasis on Military - takes away from the essence of the original game that so many of us have played consistently over the years. Scoring system also heavily dependent on military action - the pacifist/environmentalist is not recognized for the ingenuity and diplomatic skills required to become a superpower without ever going to war. For the first time ever, I am bored with the game in under 6 weeks of owning it. I will get warlords expansion and hope for a miracle but not optimistic. I had assumed that in an era in which the planetary ecology is in jeapordy as a result of man-made climate change, that the makers of the game would have gone further down that path and perhaps blended some of the concepts from Sim-earth into this latest version. In CIV IV, you don't see global warming until you use nukes. Hoping for a solid expansion soon.

18 of 35 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

This is a good game!

Written by JP from Turlock

Sep 9, 2007

I have owned this game for over a year now. I have played it on the PC and on the Mac. I have had a lot less problems (practically none) with it on my intel imac than on the PC. (after reading some of these reviews, I have no idea what they are talking about) This game works great, and the game play is pretty good too.

If you like turn based strategy games, get this and its expantion sets!
Great game!

18 of 29 people found this useful