I really wanted to see if I could get BtS running under Crossover games. I hate jumping into Bootcamp just to get a gaming fix, and I don't know about you guys but Civ4 + Parallels brings my machine to it's knees. I won't even discuss the Aspyr option.

With Crossover, I could have just forked over the money for the Steam version, but the last thing I wanted to do was buy even more Civ4 software, so my objective here was to use my existing PC versions.

The good news is that after about 3 hours of messing around I have the retail version of BTS working on my MacBook Pro using Crossover Games. Graphics, sound, movies all work great and gameplay is more responsive than running it under parallels. I'd definitely recommend this over the Aspyr version of BtS! *snark*

Now, it does take a little juggling. I had to install the directx 9.0c version that solves the shader loading problem, and of course BTS exe's copy protection won't work on a Mac - you are on your own working around that problem.

I don't know about Multiplayer yet, someone else can followup on it if they'd like.

I couldn't get to first base. If I try to create a new 'bottle' in Crossover I get a fatal error to do with not being able to execute a basic 'sh' command, which has no problem running from my own Terminal window. I tried contacting Crossover support, and they just came back with "we only support Civ4 under Steam". I pointed out that my problem occurs before I even get to the point of trying to install Civ4, but they've ignored me :(

would just copying an existing bottle to a new directory work? Might be worth a try...

Where would I get an existing bottle?

I think Crossover Games made me a bottle by default, I'm pretty sure I didn't have to make one to get started...

update: The guys on the IRC channel were really helpful to me, you might try hitting them up

I've already spent more time on it than it's worth. I have Parallels if I need to run BtS, but I don't actually play it, so I can live with the odd missing leaderhead features.

Okay, so I've gotten Civ IV BTS to work fine after a bit of tinkering.
Tried to install fresh but it kept installing Vanilla/Warlords/BTS in different folders for some strange reason. Fixed it by simply copying my installed BTS version from bootcamp to the c_drive/program_files/firaxis_games/ and voila, works perfectly. Unfortunately, I have an issue. For some strange reason, Blue Marble terrain graphics are not showing up. I tried a reinstallation but still no luck.

Any ideas?

I was wondering if someone could give me some pointers on how you guys managed to get Civ iv going in Crossover games. I've alread installed Civilization iv complete (patched up to the newest Bts) into my bootcamp partition.

For crossover games, I've tried installing from the CD, then copying the contents from the civilization iv complete directory over the top of the c_drive/program_files/firaxis_games directory.

I've also tried just installing directx 9 and then copying the civilization iv complete directory into the c_drive/program_files directory.

Each time, I get the following error:

"caught unhandled exception creating xml parser object current XML file is:" (there is no filename mentioned after the ":"

Would anyone be so helpful on the steps that they took to get Civ iv going? (I own PC game and I've disabled the dvd check).

After some messing around, I've gotten it all working quite well in cx games 7.1.1 with Civilization iv Complete PC DVD. I'll include the steps below to get Beyond the Sword working for others who need help in the future.

1) Install Crossover games.

2) Start Crossover games. If Crossover games doesn't automatically detect the disc and give you the option, select to install an unsupported game.

3) Be patient. There are times that it looks like the installer has hung (about 2/3 of the way through the progress bar) but actually it is working.

4) Download the official patch for Beyond the Sword. From Crossover games, install the patch into the same bottle from step 2.

6) Download and install into the same bottle "Install Microsoft XML Parser (MSXML) 3.0 Service Pack 7 (SP7)".

You will also need to deal with the DVD check but you'll have to find your own way around that.

I haven't played it much but it seems to work very well for me. The movies show fine and leader head graphics show correctly.

For anyone who wants to try Crossover, either with or without the Steam versions of Civ4, you may be interested to know that the Crossover products will be free for one day on 28th October.

Apparently, this follows Codeweavers Inc's challenge (http://lameduck.codeweavers.com/) to George W. Bush earlier this year. He (inadvertently) made good on his part of the deal, as the price of gas/petrol in the US has dropped to $2.79. So Codeweavers are honoring their promise.

Will it be just a trial/demo version or the actual full software?

Trials are normally free every day. This is for real. Follow the link I gave, but you'd better be quick, it's only available today!

Okay, so I've gotten Civ IV BTS to work fine after a bit of tinkering.
Tried to install fresh but it kept installing Vanilla/Warlords/BTS in different folders for some strange reason. Fixed it by simply copying my installed BTS version from bootcamp to the c_drive/program_files/firaxis_games/ and voila, works perfectly.

I got it to load using this method. Unfortunately it hard-locks after a few turns.

Same here. Also some odd graphical glitches with leader heads and unit animations vanishing or getting totally distorted. Can anyone point to a good guide to getting this working?

Same here. Also some odd graphical glitches with leader heads and unit animations vanishing or getting totally distorted. Can anyone point to a good guide to getting this working?

The crossover site has Civ4 listed as "Bronze," i.e. "barely working."

*sigh*

I've managed to play it through with a standard sized vanilla game. There are some minor glitches but nothing as major as leaderheads or distortions. I didn't ever have a lockup.

I've detailed how I installed it in a prior post. Also, I run the game at medium detail, not sure if that helps. Also, make sure you have the latest Directx 9.0c is installed in the bottle.

I'm trying to get Civ4 Colonization to run in Crossover. It installed and opened up to run, but a CD check through up a road block. Some others suggested getting a nocd crack, but I'm disinclined to go that route.

I'm assuming there is an issue preventing Crossover from identifying the CD, because the CD is there. Any ideas?

Crossover has problems with DVD copy protection on all Civ4 games. That's why they only support the Steam versions.

I have run Colonization - DVD version - in Parallels with no problem, except for the usual cosmetic problems with leaderheads, and fog display arriving late sometimes.

hi guys! i've installed civ4 e warlords, but bts doesn't install. someone helps me? (sorry for my bad english!)

I have the solution! install civ4 and all expansions on windows xp (through virtualbox), then copy The "Firaxis Games" folder in a crossover games' bottle. Launch Crossover, then "run program", search Civ4BeyondSword.exe.. and enjoy! :)

I just bought Civ Gold + BTS for Windows, but I'm having a bit of a problem installing it. There appears to be some sort of Corrupt data on the second disk, because Crossover Games conks out about 1/2 the way down with the second disk. I get an error, the installer stops and nothing goes onto my computer.

I tried copying the file in disk 2 onto my Desktop, and it stops at about the same point as the Installer does, saying there is corrupt data. Again, nothing goes onto my computer.

Here is the error I get once the Installer stops: (I could post the log here if needed, but it is very large and I would need to try to reinstall so I can get the log back.)

No one, huh. :(
Does anyone at least have some info on 'not ready' errors? Its seems like it can't read the drive, but I've no idea why.

No one, huh. :(
Does anyone at least have some info on 'not ready' errors? Its seems like it can't read the drive, but I've no idea why.

Sorry, I didn't have this problem when I was installing. One thing you could try, is to image the CD using an application like Daemon Tools and installing from the ISO. The copy protection check is performed only when the game starts up so you should be able to finish the installation.

Thanks for the idea, but I can't even create an iso without it crapping out at the same spot. I don't get why the data is corrupted...

Do you have Civ Gold? Anyway can you make an iso? I used DMG Converter (http://sunsky3s.s41.xrea.com/dmgconverter/download.html)

I thought I'd post my experiences here....

I have a January/09 UMBP 17 currently running 10.5.7. I have Parallels 4.0.something running Win XP Pro. Civ IV/Warlords/Beyond the Sword is installed and working just fine inside of Parallels. This is using the 9400 graphics. I copied the Firaxis folder over to the shared home folder, quit Windows and then installed Crossover Game 7.2(?). Created a bottle and then moved the Civ IV folder over to the bottle.

I then ran BTS, adding in one DX file, the June 2007 DirectX 9.0c, and MSX parser(?)

Running the game right from the desktop has the following effects :)

1) If the game is set to full screen the MBP monitor and the external monitor I've got hooked up stay blank. If I power down, disconnect the external monitor, restart and then load the game, same thing....blank screen.

2) If I alter the Civ IV.ini to fullscreen=0, the game starts just fine, in a window. And using the advanced options I can resize it. Gmae works perfectly though with *no* lag or artifacts. Movies, sound, voice, etc all work perfectly.

But here's the rub; the game *always* starts on my external monitor. I don't want that, I want it to start on my MBP screen. Is there something simple I am overlooking?

thanks for any ideas.

Tom

One problem solved. I rearranged the setup of my internal UMBP 17 display and my external monitor such that my primary monitor is to the left of the external. Civ IV BTS now starts up on the internal display. No graphical glitches so far other than city population growth (turns till pop increase) display does not show on the map. I can hover the mouse over a city and find out, so no big deal.

Only issue remaining is that I can not get the game to display full screen. I've got my internal screen set to 1680X1050, and if I select that, partof the Civ IV screens are obscured by the menu bar at the bottom. So I set my dock to autohide, and that issue is taken care of. But I still see the menu bar at top.

Any way to run it full screen using Crossover games?

thanks

Tom

Under /Users/tdavie7/Documents/My Games/Beyond the Sword is CivilizationIV.ini. I edited that with textedit to rem out the line fullscreen=0, which had been mentioned on the Codeweavers forum to include when you were setting up the non steam game under CrossOver games.

FWIW, tdavie7 is my user name on my OSX setup. I made sure that fullscreen was selected under the advanced options of Beyond The Sword, and now all works as it should, without me having to set the dock to autohide. I am currently playing BTS at a 1600x1200 resolution.

Hope this helps someone.

Tom

Ok, I'm still having trouble with this. :( I just obtained Vanilla Civ (not Gold Version), and the install won't work. I can get through the install process just fine (also with BTS), but the game won't load. Upon further inspection I can't find anything installed into the Documents/MyGames/ directory, which is weird because when I installed Colonization all the things that belong in the Documents area are there. My C: drive seemed to install fine, but BTS won't launch, so I'm guessing its because it can't find things that belong in the MyGames path. (And neither can I!)

Here is what I did:

I installed Civilization 4 (Vanilla) from the disk, creating a new Bottle. The game automatically installed DirectX for me (which I don't think is the issue.)

I went ahead and installed BTS into the same bottle, which seemed fine as well.

I got the new 3.19 BTS patch and it into the same Bottle again, which also went smoothly.

When I tried to open Civ4BeyondSword.exe, nothing happened. Not even an error or log entry (that I could find). The Civ 4 logs could not be accessed or turned on, because they don't appear to exist. I was wondering if you guys have any ideas on how to get the Documents to show up correctly.

I have had zero success trying to run Civ4 in Crossover, and I get the same effect. It will install OK, but it will not run.

You may be confusing cause and effect.

I'd be surprised if the Colonization installer created the My Games folders before you ran the game. Normally the My Games components will be created by the game software the first time it runs. I'm guessing Civ4 is not getting as far as that when you try to run it.

I've been able to get Civ4 working pretty well in Crossover Games. Crossover doesn't support the CD protection in Civilization, so you will need to acquire the patch to disable the check which matches your version of BtS.

@Alan
That's interesting, I not know that it installs after you run.

@Grigunge
I know about the patch stuff, but 3.19 patch is supposed to get rid of the CD check. It worked for Colonization with the 1.01 patch, but I can't get BTS to load. What version of Civ did you use (e.g. Complete, Vanilla + BTS, Gold + BTS, etc.) I'm using Vanilla (Game of the Year Edition) and BTS.

I've installed twice but I don't know what to change. This is really odd since I don't seem to get any logging even.

*facepalm*

I didn't even realize that BtS 3.19 was out until I read your post. I'm downloading it now. I do know 3.17 works without problems in Crossover. I'll have to see how 3.19 goes...

Well, I seem to be getting closer...
I got the game to start loading (under 3.17) but it crashes at init voice/MP. I got the logging to work since it finally got far enough to create the mygames directory w/ the .ini file. I turned fullscreen to 0 and enabled logging. I got an error in the log saying that it couldn't find a file called crc.dat from the cache. I copied the one from my Colonization cache to my BTS cache, but now the error is the same but it doesn't complain about the missing file.

[30819.054] DBG: CIV Init
[30819.074] VERSION: App: Y:\Library\Application Support\CrossOver Games\Bottles\Beyond the Sword\drive_c\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Beyond the Sword\Civ4BeyondSword.exe
[30819.158] VERSION: Build: Sun May 18 23:20:16 2008
[30819.158] VERSION: 3.1.3.1 (104717)
[30820.225] VERSION: Mod Loaded: none
[30820.300] DBG: FILE Cat Init
[30829.757] DBG: NOT Using XML cache, cur md5=0eef1dfde94ebed344196e139dca085d, cached md5=39e69ff0d1c32577ea16ec1e27998f3e
[30829.761] DBG: Game Init
[30829.767] DBG: Multiplayer Init BEGIN

I've had fairly good luck with it (if you browse the civ forums at codeweavers, I've posted about it there a bit). I haven't gotten updated to 3.19 as I stopped playing in Crossover as I was having OOS errors when hosting Fall From Heaven (I do most of my playing in MP). Very inconsistent but happened more when running in Crossover than on the bootcamp PC.

It's definitely a ton faster than running in a VM, but not faster than native (either boot camp or how I'd expect the Mac side to be...).

With regard to the CRC install errors - I've definitely seen that, my disc does that under windows when I've had to reinstall. Sucks. I usually just polish the disc a bit and keep trying while crossing fingers and toes...

When I install in BootCamp and drag the entire install to my Bottle, however. If I were to update to 3.19, I'd just drag my current 3.19 install over from that partition (this is far easier, but understandably problematic for those who don't have bootcamp or a VM partition..).

One issue that *I* have (oddly) is that it will *only* run in full screen - I can't tab out (alt or Apple), which is problematic at times. I don't think I've tried changing the setting that runs it in a window, however.

I don't think I've seen that last problem, Flintlock :( On thing I had to toy around with was the settings for where My Documents were, but I think that was for finding saves and mods, so I'm not sure that's relevant.

I've just installed this with BTS 3.19 retail (Civ IV Complete) and tried running Rhye's mod. It seems to work just fine. Now for the next step...where do I put Mods I've downloaded? I can't seem to find a Mod folder for Crossover...

nevermind, I just found it (have to go to it from within Crossover and not the Finder). I'll have to play it for a bit to see how stable it actually is, but it seems to be the lifesaver I've been looking for...

So, I keep crashing at about turn 155 playing a mod of Rhye's and Fall (but I was okay until then). This happens with the graphics sliders set both to "high" and "low." That's about what I was finding with Parallels 5. Any ideas on how to get either one to be a bit more stable (settings, etc)?

hm, stability seems to have leveled out. It took me six crashes, but once I'd gone to turn 156 I didn't have another crash (now over 100 turns later).