I just got Civ 4 for Christmas, and want to start playing. I've always hated having America as one of the civs, but I remember that it caused problems in Civ 3 if you deleted a civ. What's the simplest way of deleting the Americans in Civ 4?

The simplest way, as far as I know, is to change their name in the file of the map you are playing. I know this isn't quite clear, but if you can state if you play on random maps or on a previously created map by one of the Civvers I will be able to help you further;)

Here is a solution: always play as the Americans, but change their name to something else at the start of your game. Naming your cities will be easy ... Not-Washington, Not-New York, Not-Boston ...

The simplest way, as far as I know, is to change their name in the file of the map you are playing. I know this isn't quite clear, but if you can state if you play on random maps or on a previously created map by one of the Civvers I will be able to help you further;)

Random maps. Thanks for any help you can give!

Here is the deal: You will have to alter the
'Assets\XML\Civilizations/CIV4CivilizationInfos' file. The first Civ, change the following values to '0':
<bPlayable>1</bPlayable>
<bAIPlayable>1</bAIPlayable>
To
<bPlayable>0</bPlayable>
<bAIPlayable>0</bAIPlayable>
Here is the file if you don't wish to get your files messed up:;)
109713

Cool! Thanks.