Civilization V for Mac Now Available

[ABG]

Has anyone tried otherwise?

I caught the Amazon flash sale on the PC version, but I don't have a windows partition terribly handy. I was expecting I'd just be able to go somewhere in Steam and key in the serial # and download the Mac version.

It's worth trying it to see - I bought the PC version and activated it through the Win7 bootcamp partition. I seem to recall it was asking me on steam if I wanted to download the game after putting in the serial number, and it was after then I got it to look at the disc to load it from there instead.

TBH I wasn't paying that much attention and it was a while ago so I may be wrong, but I remember being irritated that it seemed to want me to download the game when I had the disk.

 

[ABG]

What's the verdict?!

Good game? Been considering buying it.

Personally I feel its pretty average. I brings my iMac i7 12Gb Ram to its knees and I much prefer the gameplay of Civ4 BTS. I've turned all the settings to low and set a low res screen in an attempt to finish and game but by 1932 it pretty much crashes each turn on the Mac version. Its so slow I play games on my iPhone to pass the time during its turn.

At least Civ 4 only slowed up at the end - Civ5 solves the late game slow-down by being dog slow from the very first turn. YMMV of course.

 

[forty2j]

It's worth trying it to see - I bought the PC version and activated it through the Win7 bootcamp partition. I seem to recall it was asking me on steam if I wanted to download the game after putting in the serial number, and it was after then I got it to look at the disc to load it from there instead.

TBH I wasn't paying that much attention and it was a while ago so I may be wrong, but I remember being irritated that it seemed to want me to download the game when I had the disk.

I actually did find the place in Steam to type in a CD Key. I'll find out on Monday when the game arrives, but it looks like it will work just fine. Too bad I can't just read the CD key off my Amazon order.

 

[mattspeed3]

What's the verdict?!

Good game? Been considering buying it.

Honestly, so far I prefer Civ 4.

 

[alamein]

Sure it'll work, but I bet it'll be much faster using Bootcamp on Windows.. I really hope that changes soon, because so far all the games released on the Mac don't perform very well.. although If you have a high end mac you'll still be fine, but yeah its still faster on Windows for those of us who have entry level macs..

I wonder why? Video editting on a Power Mac is a breeze. Why wouldn't games perform well? My friend plays WoW with high settings and the thing is smooth as butter

 

[Dr.Pants]

I wonder why? Video editting on a Power Mac is a breeze. Why wouldn't games perform well? My friend plays WoW with high settings and the thing is smooth as butter

Games don't perform well because the drivers for the video cards are considered okay at best, iirc. Windows drivers (using DirectX) are much better.

 

[forty2j]

I actually did find the place in Steam to type in a CD Key. I'll find out on Monday when the game arrives, but it looks like it will work just fine. Too bad I can't just read the CD key off my Amazon order.

Confirmed. Just needed the CD Key off the back of the manual. No need to even remove the DVD of the game from the case.

 

[TheBaconKing]

Quick question... Since it requires a 2.4GHz processor am I unable to play it? (computer stats in sig)

If so I am going to be disappointed. I knew I should have ponied up the extra cash for the 2.4 when I bought the new MBP a year go.

 

[Dr.Pants]

Quick question... Since it requires a 2.4GHz processor am I unable to play it? (computer stats in sig)

It could be the X1600 graphics card in my MBP, but I wasn't able to run it, either.

 

[forty2j]

Quick question... Since it requires a 2.4GHz processor am I unable to play it? (computer stats in sig)

If so I am going to be disappointed. I knew I should have ponied up the extra cash for the 2.4 when I bought the new MBP a year go.

Did you try it? It should still run.

CPU speed impacts late-game performance. You may have a longer-than-normal wait between turns, but the game should still run.

Using certain video cards may prevent the game from running at all. I wouldn't endeavor it if your card isn't on the supported list. (http://blog.gameagent.com/2010/11/22/civilization-v-mac-faqs-v3)

And finally, WoW taught me to never attempt gaming on a Mac with <4GB RAM. So although the minimum listed is 2, I'd ensure you had 4.

My particular iMac model is exactly the minimum spec (save the aftermarket RAM upgrade). I haven't had any issues yet.. but I haven't made it out of the Classical era yet either.