I got Civilization IV. Looks like a great game. Too bad it causes my computer to lock up every hour or more often and I have to run it in the lowest resolution possible in a window rather than full screen. Oh, and I can’t have the music playing either or it starts popping horribly before disappearing on its own. So much for having a speedy CPU, the latest OS, more than enough RAM and the best graphics card available. Fat lot of good it does me to have the game specs or better. It still plays like crap. To say I am disappointed to have spent $50 on a game that is only going to annoy me by forcing me to unplug my computer to restart it multiple times an hour or watching as it just vanishes leaving me staring at my desktop would be a grand understatement.
I guess I’ll hold onto it for a while and see if they come out with another patch (been reading message boards), but I really wish I would have gotten the Harvest Moon game. I read a lot of reviews and message boards before we bought Civ IV, and after the patch they released this summer, the majority of Mac users had it up and running with full graphics rendering and sound and few, if no, problems. Not me! Definitely should have bought Harvest Moon: It’s A Wonderful Life. At least I wouldn’t be sitting here griping about a game not working and would, you know, actually be playing a game I spent a load of money to buy. Yup, I am not a happy camper. :puh:
What really makes me angry and sad is that Civ IV is a fantastically awesome game, but it’s just damn hard to play an intense strategy game when you have to keep rebooting your computer and starting over from the last auto-save some 40 or so years previous to where you were when it crashed. I’m going to go pout now. I finally thought I would buy a computer game since I finally had a computer that was powerful enough to play one, and yet again, I get screwed. So much for world domination. :(
Here are the system requirements for the Mac version of Civ IV:
Sid Meier’s Civilization® IV
Platforms: MAC
Genre: Strategy/Simulation
ESRB: Everyone 10+
MAC Release Date: June 2006
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later
CPU Processor: PowerPC G5 or Intel chipset
CPU Speed: 1.8 GHz or faster
Memory: 512 MB or higher
Hard Disk Space: 3.5 GB free disk space
Video Card (ATI): Radeon 9600 or better
Video Card (NVidia): GeForce FX 5200 or better
Video Memory (VRam): 64 MB or higher
Multiplayer: Internet (TCP/IP) and LAN (TCP/IP) play supported. Internet play requires broadband connection.
Media Required: DVD Drive
Supported Video cards:
NVIDIA GeForce 5200, 6600, 6800, 7800
ATI Radeon 9600, 9650, 9700, 9800, X600, X800, X850, X1600
Recommended System Requirements:
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4.6 or later
CPU Processor: PowerPC G5 or Intel chipset
CPU Speed: 2.0 GHz or faster
Video RAM: 128 MB
My computer:
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4.8
CPU Processor: Intel Chipset Core Duo
CPU Speed: 2.0 GHz
Video Card: ATI X1600
Video Ram: 256 MB
Memory: 1 GB
Hard Drive: 175 GB Free Space
Media Drive: DVD Superdrive
So, I ask … why the hell won’t this game run on my computer? Because it’s coded like crap would be my guess, and like every other piece of software I run across that’s new and supposedly cool and costs a ton of money, it’s been pushed out to the stores well before it was properly debugged on the systems they intended it to run on. Sure, there’s a patch, but the DVD I have sitting right beside me IS the patched version, and it still runs like crap. Well, screw them. I’m pissed off, and I think once I get my chores done tomorrow, I’m writing them a nasty email to let them know just how pissed off I am.
What’s the support answer from Aspyr on this issue? Turn all the bells and whistles off. No really, go read what they suggest in order to make the game run? NO movies. NO sound. NO animations. NO full-screen play. Well then how about I don’t have to pay full price when I am only getting a third of the game for my money?! It’s bullshit, I tell you! Absolute bullshit that a computer that meets and in some ways exceeds the system requirements for the game can’t freaking play the game … even with everything turned off. Can you tell the more I whine about this the more pissed off I am getting!!!
Thank heavens the Playstation 3 is coming out soon. Just wish I hadn’t wasted fifty damn dollars on this game that won’t play. That money could have gone toward getting a new game box … or Harvest Moon. :mad:
So take the frickin game back and get your money back! I am really surprised they let a game get out for the mac that wasnt fully debugged and running. I thought only the PC world screwed you like that!
(I personally think that Civ IV is a waste of time anyway and you’d be better off playing with your two new kittens and fixing dinner for Lin, Doing some neat new art….)
Don’t know what world you live in, but in mine, you can’t return opened software. Exchange for the same thing? Yes. Return, not on your life.
I finally got it mostly working (without sound), but I haven’t spent much time playing it. Too busy cooking, cleaning, and doting on the new babies. Which are things I really enjoy anyway. OK, not so much enjoy the house cleaning, but I like what the place looks like afterwards. :)