hello,
i purchased my copy of civ4 complete yesterday and today having played various times its evident that my copy has a problem ,i have placed a thread in the bug section and awaitting some advice or solution, in the meantime i would like to know wether my game is useless or not and what does a customer do in such a case since its the first time i have such a problem with a pc game,
amin

Most bugs are playable as long as they don't make your game crash. It sounds like your game is playable (Kinda). I would get a new one though. I don't know if you can get a refund but it's possible.
While you wait, you might want to try always peace. :D

If you game is actually brocken, i am sure you can get it replaced. (Dont know what the customer policies are where you are from, but i am sure if you go to the store where you bought it and ask there, they will tell you how to proceed (or just replace the copy right away.))

However from your Bug-Report i think that there is nothing wrong with you copy of the game - the chance that a - say damaged CD - gives you that kind of specific and consistent misbehaviour is... none.

I think you are missing some basic game mechanic. Can't tell you for sure what, as the information you provided is very limited. Posting a save or screenshots here, so others can look at it and verify a problem or - more likely - point you to what you are missing might be a good idea.