I just bought Civ4 complete for $6. Off Steam.

[Floating Pants]

Because nearly everyone says BTS is better than V. I played Civ4 (the original) a lot, and enjoyed it very much. The week Civ5 was released, I gave the disk to a friend who was interested in the game, so I haven't been playing Civ4 at all. Lately, I've been taking a break from playing Civ5 due relatively because of slow-running speeds making me restricted to play on strategic view, which I don't like. Honestly, the post-patch game has great features and incredible gameplay, but simple running problems are taking the fun away. I'm playing on a new computer with relatively high specs and Windows 7, so don't blame it on that.

And if you're interested in the buy, it's on a holiday sale that I believe lasts until December 31. BTS expansion alone is $2.

Well, looks like it done installing. Time to go check it out...

[jacypr]

You, Sir, are owning.

[Jazzterisk]

I'm very curious what you'll think of this little thing called Civ IV BTS. I just played IV over the weekend and had to actually hit the CivFanatics boards for strategy help and a little refreashign as it had been a while and the game has many more game play options to consider than Civ V. Not that V is bad but IV can be a little overwhelming if you've never played it or are moving back from V.

[Oerdin]

You got a much better game at a very fair price.

[eobet]

I did the same, actually!

I was hooked on Civ 4 for several weeks before christmas. I finally managed to tear myself away from the game a few days ago.

From turn one, the game is better: Having wild animals chase your scouts sets the atmosphere so perfectly; humans weren't always at the top of the food chain!

I do miss natural wonders, though. That was a great addition!

Guess I'm weird, because I like my board games to be immersive...

[SilentWulf]

@ OP Funny you mentioned that.

I am downloading it right now.

I decided to leave Civ V for at least half a year to see whether it got fixed and improved to be what I expect of a Civ game.

Have fun with Civ IV.

[TokyoZeplin]

Guess I'm weird, because I like my board games to be immersive...

This is one of my big letdowns with V. This whole "The computer players to win" thing just doesn't do it for me.

[jacypr]

I'm very curious what you'll think of this little thing called Civ IV BTS. I just played IV over the weekend and had to actually hit the CivFanatics boards for strategy help and a little refreashign as it had been a while and the game has many more game play options to consider than Civ V. Not that V is bad but IV can be a little overwhelming if you've never played it or are moving back from V.

At least in Civ 4 you have a nice Civilopedia full of relevant and, most importantly, CORRECT information about the game that can get you going right away. If you went on CivFanatics to get stuff that you can get inside the game, it was by your own choice and desire, not because the game forced you to.

[steveg700]

Good catch, Floating Pants. You've made a friend this day.

[Ziwdon]

I actually did the same yesterday and bought the complete edition of Civ4 (with Colonization included) for 6,24€. I also bought the complete edition of Civ3 for 3,34€. Awesome really. I already owned some of the games but not all the expansions and not on steam.
That's why I like steam, they have great promotions.

However, I find it hard now to return to Civ4, after been playing Civ5.

[Heliocon]

Just going to say: Amen for steam :P

[estepor91]

Personally, I have never played any other Civ game. So for all the negative publicity Civ V gets, it at least introduced me to the series.

On the other hand, props to Steam. I will also go ahead and purchase all of Civ IV for $6.50.

[Floating Pants]

It's certainly seeming a lot more difficult, even playing on the same difficulty rating as I did on V. It's still taking me a little while to adapt to protecting all my cities with units, controlling money rather than happiness, and returning to the old combat. That's the one thing I don't like, the combat is clearly better on Civ5.

I keep getting reminded that this game is older and different by the graphics. It's certainly older, but not simpler. I can tell why the BTS fans are always complaining about Civ5 being supposedly "dumbed down." Civ5 isn't very much dumbed down from the original edition of IV (about the same level), but BTS certainly is requiring more thought to play it. Espionage is really confusing (can I have someone explain it to me?).

The music is certainly intriguing. Although not as pretty and melodic as the Civ5 tracks, it seems more cultural, and really keeps me focused on the game.

One final thought, I love Steam. They are one of the most generous game retailers out there, and give you million-dollar games for a dime a dozen. People complain about them on these forums, but I have no idea why.

[steveg700]

"Sid Meyer's Civilization IV is not available on your current platform."

Well, that certainly sucks. Anyone know how to get this running on Windows 7?

[Greywolf22]

Odd running fine on Windows 7 - 64bit without a problem. I did install from the original media (vs Steam) but don't think that should make a difference.

[Floating Pants]

"Sid Meyer's Civilization IV is not available on your current platform."

Well, that certainly sucks. Anyone know how to get this running on Windows 7?

When I downloaded it, it had two files of each game. One displayed that message, and the other just had a "play" button. Did you just download it and only that one is on there at the moment?

[Kevik]

Just remember to not hate puppies or they will start calling you a warmongerer.

[Ziwdon]

When I downloaded it, it had two files of each game. One displayed that message, and the other just had a "play" button. Did you just download it and only that one is on there at the moment?

The same happened to me. I'm running Windows 7 x64.

Just remember to not hate puppies or they will start calling you a warmongerer.

Fortunately Civ4 has a much better diplomacy system.

[Jazzterisk]

"Sid Meyer's Civilization IV is not available on your current platform."

Well, that certainly sucks. Anyone know how to get this running on Windows 7?

I've run the game with no issues on my old laptop with 32 bit 7 and my main computer with 64 bit 7. Windows 7 does a pretty good job of running older programs. There is an option (I don't know if it's only in the professional version of 7 only though) to run a program in compatibility mode (e.g. Windows acts as though it's vista, xp, etc) which seems to alleviate any issues.

[Bantams]

"Sid Meyer's Civilization IV is not available on your current platform."

Well, that certainly sucks. Anyone know how to get this running on Windows 7?

That's the mac version try running the other one for some unknown reason it lists the mac versions and pc versions in the games library

[steveg700]

Thanks, guys. Good info and good advice.