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Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Unfortunate Support

Written by EG from Dallas

Aug 20, 2007

Here is my quick take after spending the 50 bucks:
1. The company uses reseller websites, so support is wierd.
2. Multiplayer capabilities are not streamlined.
3. The 'check for updates' feature doesn't work properly (downloads the data but fails to install. where the heck is it?
4. It's a great game if you like to play alone. I'm an extravert darnit!

27 of 43 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Crashes frequently

Written by DS from Elk Grove

Aug 18, 2007

I love the game, I just hate what it does to my Mac. This thing crashes back to a blue screen. It reminded me of the bad old days on a Windows system. The support page says that the game's requirements are too high for the machines that are crashing. I've got a new aluminum iMac with a 2.4 GHz processor, and a 256 Meg video card; what part of that is too low? Aspyr's support page also says to shut off all sound and drop the graphics to the lowest level. What good is a game with no sound and lousy graphics? I hope Aspyr fixes the bugs. Until then, I do NOT recommend this game.

37 of 52 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Where is the MBP-specific software update from Apple?

Written by CT from Sterling

Aug 16, 2007

In response to one of the reviews that reads:

"Just wanted to let everyone know that one of the MBP-specific software updates from Apple fixes the issues that I (and everyone else, it seems) had on our latest gen MacBook Pros. Game now runs without any problems."

I'm having the same problem with my MacBook Pro. I did the Aspyr update, but that doesn't seem to help.

Anyone have any other patches or updates that might help.

This is my favorite game when it works. Guess I'll just play Civ III until it does.

20 of 30 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Worked on latest Macbook Pro and then just stopped

Written by JV from Wilton

Aug 14, 2007

Does not work on New Macbook Pro with all the latest software installed. SO no.... Game does not work on the new Macbook Pro. It worked earlier but I rebooted somewhere after installing new software and since then.. completely crashed..

However the time it did work.. it was an excellent and challenging game.. thoroughly enjoyable.

23 of 32 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Boring

Written by WB from Boise

Aug 12, 2007

Beautiful, but boring. Why anyone thinks it's a good time to wait 90 turns for a building to be created or a unit to be built (units vary depending on type and era) I'll never understand. Depending on the era that's 90 to 2, 200 representative years to make a single city improvemet. And, if it's a Wonder, well lets just say if the Pyramids took as long to build in the real world we would still be building them. Visually, however, it is really quite stunning. I enjoyed the feature in Civ 3 that allowed for accelerated production in a custom game. Too bad they didn't think to leave that in Civ 4. This game is just not my idea of a good time.

14 of 35 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Atrocious

Written by IH from Mississauga

Aug 11, 2007

I love Civilization and have played every version from the original. I have even played Civ IV on the my old PC and it is great. I have recently upgraded to a Mac Pro and bought this game and it is truly horrible. Crashes every 10 min or so. Screen corruption during the game. The thing also runs way to slow for a system with the Mac Pro specs. Complete waste of money, if I could return it I would. I beleive Firaxis makes great games but I will never buy an Aspyr port without doing some research first. Aspyr should be ashamed of this port. It obviously was not tested before being released. If I could give it no start I wouldn't. Wasted $100 buying this and the Warlords expansion. Neither work.

21 of 26 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

works on mbp 2.16ghz not on new 2.4 ghz imac

Written by RG from Bloomington

Aug 9, 2007

I'm confused. Game is great when it works. And works well on MBP with 2.16 ghz chip. BUT WILL NOT WORK ON new 24 inch iMac i picked up this week with 2.4 ghz with 2gb ram. Then I bought Civ iv warlords, installed, and that didn't help things - same problem - screen blacks randomly and rapidly, then shuts down. I'm more than unhappy. This is the main game (only game?) I play. I'm really hoping for a fix soon!

20 of 23 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Apple should really warn customers

Written by BB from Stanford

Aug 7, 2007

I bought this product with a MacBook Pro over 6 weeks ago, and there is still no fix from Aspyr. If the company thinks it is so low priority to make their hardware compatible with new Apple machines, then maybe Apple shouldn't carry this product in it's stores. At the very least, there should be a notice online and at physical stores that neither civ iv nor warlords works on the new MacBook Pros. Civilization IV is a great game, but there are serious reliability issues with the company that is porting it from PC to Mac.

15 of 17 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Does work on new MBP, after update

Written by DK from San Francisco

Aug 4, 2007

Just wanted to let everyone know that one of the MBP-specific software updates from Apple fixes the issues that I (and everyone else, it seems) had on our latest gen MacBook Pros. Game now runs without any problems.

10 of 15 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Complete failure on new MBP

Written by RO from Amsterdam

Aug 3, 2007

Sadly, I have to confirm what so many others have stated: on new MBPs (the ones with NVidia graphics card) the game crashes every 5 minutes or so. Unplayable. If you can, return it to the store immediately. It is truly a shame.

10 of 15 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Civ 4

Written by CE from Granby

Aug 2, 2007

this is one of the best games to buy by far. i have had problems with the game shutting down by itself though not as much as others have reported. often the game will run for a couple of hours and i wil shut it down myself with no problems. ive learned that if you do NOT use the Worldbuilder feature on the game it will crash much less often.

7 of 12 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

One of the best stratagy games ever

Written by JS from White Bear Township

Jun 28, 2007

This is the best stratagy game I've ever played, and it's probably one of the best made.
The game has great graphics, realistic territories, worriers, and buildings. Civilization IV allows you to trade, fight, or even go to war (yes this is a feature) with real leaders of the past and present. I would definnatly get suggest this game to any Mac user. It worth what you pay for.

11 of 21 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Bought New Apple Laptop & Civ IV (Yesterday) Completely Fails

Written by BH from Berkeley

Jun 27, 2007

I, unfortunately have to add my name to the chorus of disgruntled purchasers. Yesterday, I drove down to the Bay St. Apple store in Emeryville and bought it, immediately after my new MacBook Pro arrived. I then excitedly began the tutorial. It crashes every time. I play for a little while, say 7 minutes or so then bang, it's all over.

I expected much better.

(MacBook Pro 2.4 ghz, 2 gigs ram.)

Bummer. I hope this doesn't become a hassle. I've heard so many great things about this game!

22 of 30 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Doesn't work on MacBook Pro

Written by BT from Memphis

Jun 27, 2007

Crashes all the time on brand new, top of the line MacBook Pro. Dido previous review:

"I love this game, but Aspyr (the company who ported Civ to the Mac) has done a terrible job of keeping up with Apple's hardware. Civ IV invariably crashes within 10 minutes of launching on a new MacBook Pro (with the GeForce video cards). Aspyr claim... Read more >s that the new MacBooks are not supported, though that bit of information is entirely absent from their packaging and website, to say nothing of the Apple Store where I bought them both.

Many people, like myself, have purchased the new MacBook Pro specifically because of its more-powerful graphics chipset. For a major Macintosh game developer to not support the latest Mac hardware is absurd. Surely they had developer-access to the new laptops before they were released."

Get it together, Aspyr.

17 of 23 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Doesn't like my new MacBook Pro - at all.

Written by JD from Minneapolis

Jun 25, 2007

I just upgraded to a MacBook Pro and bought Civ IV as an added treat. The graphics are very cool, but the game quits on me, without fail, every time I play it. It might be in ten minute intervals, might only be eight. I've ended up going back to playing Civ III. Worst part is my brother has Civ IV and it works flawlessly on his PC. Major disappointment.

17 of 20 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Not good on the Mac Book Pro

Written by BL from Everett

Jun 24, 2007

Used to play Civ IV on my old powerbook G4 1.5 Ghz. Man was it slow. Great game though. Bought the new MBP 2.4 Ghz Duo and was so psyched to play it as it was supposed to be played! Darn thing crashes all the time. Pretty much unplayable. Great while it works though! Everything I read points to it being an unsupported video card... that just sucks!

13 of 21 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

Awful Hardware Support

Written by SU from Jamaica Plain

Jun 16, 2007

I love this game, but Aspyr (the company who ported Civ to the Mac) has done a terrible job of keeping up with Apple's hardware. Civ IV invariably crashes within 10 minutes of launching on a new MacBook Pro (with the GeForce video cards). Aspyr claims that the new MacBooks are not supported, though that bit of information is entirely absent from their packaging and website, to say nothing of the Apple Store where I bought them both.

Many people, like myself, have purchased the new MacBook Pro specifically because of its more-powerful graphics chipset. For a major Macintosh game developer to not support the latest Mac hardware is absurd. Surely they had developer-access to the new laptops before they were released.

26 of 32 people found this useful

Sid Meier's Civilization IV

runs perfect on intel macbook pro

Written by AW from Chicago

Apr 27, 2007

just wanted to make sure the previous posts didn't scare away some intel customers. i have a macbook pro and the games runs perfectly. also, the two finger scroll integrates into the game perfectly by working the zoom. everything works great and i love the game.

17 of 26 people found this useful