I cannot figure out how to get Direct IP to work. I am unable to get my two laptops to talk or read each other. I've tried with my wirless router and I've tried using an ethernet cable between them. Is there something I need to configure to make them recognize each other? I am eagerly awaiting to play this way using the two laptops. They both run Windows XP too. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks for your time!

What the heck am I doing wrong or not doing? HELP!!!

If they aren't already you need to add them to the same network. Default is Workgroup.

Windows XP is pretty good at setting up a basic home network with dynamic IP addresses is you dont need anything special.

From the start menu go to control panel and run the netwok setup wizard.

You might check the XP firewall settings and (at least when figuring out what is wrong) disabling the firewall entirely. With the firewall disabled, see if you can ping one laptop IP address from the other laptop. If you can't do that, the problem is with your network settings on one, the other, or both. If you can do that but DirectIP Civ4 still doesn't work, then it is a Civ4 problem rather than your laptop networking.