If I were to go ahead and pre-order the Civ V (from any number of pre-order websites), how many different installs could I do? I am running a mac pro (tower), so I would like to do one install using Bootcamp (so it starts up ONLY in windows), another install on Parallels Desktop (since Civ IV seemed to work using Parallels), and in the future, it would be nice to also install the game on a mac laptop (with the same parameters as above.

Whatchu guys be thinkin'?

Since you have to use Steam, you can install it as many times as you want, and in as many computers as you want, just bear in mind that your Steam account can only be "online" in one machine at a time.

With steam I think you get unlimited installs. As long as you're only playing on one machine there's no problem. I think...

I don't know about multiple operating systems, I haven't followed that.

But you can have as many installs as you like on different machines, as long as you are only using one at a time.

Regarding Mac, Steam does support Mac natively now, but of course their Mac catalogue isn't as big as their PC catalogue.

When I bought CIV from Steam, they included later on the Mac versions, so, technically, I could play them on a Mac if I had one. If they ever release a Mac version for CiV, then you should be able to run it on a Mac withour trouble, the question there is if you'd have to purchase it again.

well I have GTA IV downloaded from steam installed on two partitions of my hard drive, and they both work fine (Works slightly better in vista though because my copy of Windows XP is 32 bit, whereas my copy of windows 7 is 64-bit). I assume that it's the same for every other steam game, including Civ V

I think I read somewhere that you can only install it once. Ever. If you need to install it again at any point you aren't even allowed to buy a new copy because they have a one copy per customer policy. Instead they tell you to call their tech support, but they won't actually help you, they just want to laugh at you and tell you that you shouldn't have bought that new computer. And that tech support line costs $5 per minute which is a total ripoff, clearly. Firaxis and 2K are such jerks. I'm definitely cancelling my preorder.

Please don't spread false information, and more importantly, calling anyone a "jerk" is not something that we will tolerate.

That last statement is wrong, the first answer from hunhau is right.

Couldn't help it :mischief:
We do not tolerate trolling on the forums, this is the first and only warning

Couldn't help it :mischief:

Not bad, but there's a bit of a plot hole there. You're implying that my parents buy me my civ game, but that I myself will cancel the preorder. Even more preposterous is the fact that I bought a new computer all by myself. Please revise.

I think I read somewhere that you can only install it once. Ever. If you need to install it again at any point you aren't even allowed to buy a new copy because they have a one copy per customer policy. Instead they tell you to call their tech support, but they won't actually help you, they just want to laugh at you and tell you that you shouldn't have bought that new computer. And that tech support line costs $5 per minute which is a total ripoff, clearly. Firaxis and 2K are such jerks. I'm definitely cancelling my preorder.

1. Thats not true

2. where did you read such BS?

the question there is if you'd have to purchase it again.

I want to say you don't have to purchase it again because when Steam for Mac launched, I think I remember one of the things they were touting was that if you had a game you bought for Windows, you can re-download it for your Mac for free.

http://mashable.com/2010/05/12/steam-mac-available/

"Steam Play lets customers who have purchased a game on one platform play it on all Steam-supported platforms."

I think I read somewhere that you can only install it once. Ever. If you need to install it again at any point you aren't even allowed to buy a new copy because they have a one copy per customer policy. Instead they tell you to call their tech support, but they won't actually help you, they just want to laugh at you and tell you that you shouldn't have bought that new computer. And that tech support line costs $5 per minute which is a total ripoff, clearly. Firaxis and 2K are such jerks. I'm definitely cancelling my preorder.

This post just needs to be deleted to prevent false information spreading.

It's not false information. I checked.

I want to say you don't have to purchase it again because when Steam for Mac launched, I think I remember one of the things they were touting was that if you had a game you bought for Windows, you can re-download it for your Mac for free.

http://mashable.com/2010/05/12/steam-mac-available/

"Steam Play lets customers who have purchased a game on one platform play it on all Steam-supported platforms."

I think that might be up to the publisher (2k in this case), but yeah, quite possibly you don't have to buy it again. That's the case for CIV at least.

I want to say you don't have to purchase it again because when Steam for Mac launched, I think I remember one of the things they were touting was that if you had a game you bought for Windows, you can re-download it for your Mac for free.

So sorry, that is only a guaranty from Valve, where it is true -- I can play HalfLife 2 and Portal on my Mac natively for free since I bought them for Windows. Really nice. Blizzard has the same deal ...

... which is why I'll be royally upset if 2K pulls a greedy one and tries to get me to pay separately a second time for the Mac version. That's not 21st century industry standard, thanks to Valve and Blizzard. Consumers are used to a different level of service now: If I paid for the Windows version, I expect the Mac version to be free. Isn't competition wonderful?

Anyway, OP: You can install it as many times as you like (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=373076). It's official.

Please let me know how it works out with Parallels. I'll be using VirtualBox until we know more about the Mac version -- Civ V will be my last Windows-only game, and I'd like to completely get rid of dual-booting on my Linux machine instead of installing Boot Camp on my MacBook Pro. So far, it looks like tough luck for us.

Must you use Steam to play LAN based games, and if so do you only need one copy of Civ 5 to play on both computers?

Must you use Steam to play LAN based games, and if so do you only need one copy of Civ 5 to play on both computers?

Yeah, you'll have to be in online mode to play in a LAN - it's not really playing in a LAN, you'll need an outside internet connection to communicate with Steam. Though, this is based on previous Steam games, there is much we don't know about Civ V. I highly doubt you can LAN with just a single copy. Few games let you do that, really. Support Firaxis and buy your other account it's own legit copy! :)

Must you use Steam to play LAN based games, and if so do you only need one copy of Civ 5 to play on both computers?

One copy per player online simultenously.

Yeah, you'll have to be in online mode to play in a LAN - it's not really playing in a LAN, you'll need an outside internet connection to communicate with Steam. Though, this is based on previous Steam games, there is much we don't know about Civ V. I highly doubt you can LAN with just a single copy. Few games let you do that, really. Support Firaxis and buy your other account it's own legit copy! :)

Are you sure about this? I don't have a tremendous amount of experience with Steam, but every game I've ever had with it has allowed offline LAN play, and even allowed quite a few people to LAN using a single person's account. Granted, most of the games I've played with Steam have been older FPS games like CS, CS:S, Day of Defeat, HL . . . but for all of them I've played on a LAN with no internet access and ~10 people per account.

I was under the impression that offline LAN account sharing was by default allowed with Steam for most of their games, though again I'm only moderately experienced with Steam.

Are you sure about this? I don't have a tremendous amount of experience with Steam, but every game I've ever had with it has allowed offline LAN play, and even allowed quite a few people to LAN using a single person's account. Granted, most of the games I've played with Steam have been older FPS games like CS, CS:S, Day of Defeat, HL . . . but for all of them I've played on a LAN with no internet access and ~10 people per account.

I was under the impression that offline LAN account sharing was by default allowed with Steam for most of their games, though again I'm only moderately experienced with Steam.

It depends on how they (Firaxis) setup multiplayer - its likely that Steam ID would be brodcasted to other players and game wont allow same user to be connected more then once at the same time.

Support Firaxis and buy your other account it's own legit copy! :)

If I have to, of course I'll buy it. But since I'll be playing most of the time on offline LAN I may as well save me some $$s.

Who still installs software more than once using Steam? All you need to do is copy your games folder over to your other computer/partition/whatever.

Actually, same is true with World of Warcraft. I didn't install mine when I bought a new computer. I just copied the entire folder from my old computer.

Are you sure about this? I don't have a tremendous amount of experience with Steam, but every game I've ever had with it has allowed offline LAN play, and even allowed quite a few people to LAN using a single person's account. Granted, most of the games I've played with Steam have been older FPS games like CS, CS:S, Day of Defeat, HL . . . but for all of them I've played on a LAN with no internet access and ~10 people per account.

I was under the impression that offline LAN account sharing was by default allowed with Steam for most of their games, though again I'm only moderately experienced with Steam.

I believe there will be a way, just like how there is a way to play L4D on LAN with two accounts, however, I will see, it is just a giant pain in the butt to get that kind of setup running. I would rather go spend another $50 than set it up like that. (Well, depending on how Fraxis sets up online play. Hell, with Civ IV, you could play online without even owning a real copy of the game, by today's standards, that practice is long gone.)

I think I read somewhere that you can only install it once. Ever. If you need to install it again at any point you aren't even allowed to buy a new copy because they have a one copy per customer policy. Instead they tell you to call their tech support, but they won't actually help you, they just want to laugh at you and tell you that you shouldn't have bought that new computer. And that tech support line costs $5 per minute which is a total ripoff, clearly. Firaxis and 2K are such jerks. I'm definitely cancelling my preorder.

absolutely not true.

If I were to go ahead and pre-order the Civ V (from any number of pre-order websites), how many different installs could I do? I am running a mac pro (tower), so I would like to do one install using Bootcamp (so it starts up ONLY in windows), another install on Parallels Desktop (since Civ IV seemed to work using Parallels), and in the future, it would be nice to also install the game on a mac laptop (with the same parameters as above.

Whatchu guys be thinkin'?

You can install on all of them, but I recommend playing on the Mac Pro (good GPU+Good CPU)

There is no limit to the downloads, however only one can be online at any given time

Must you use Steam to play LAN based games, and if so do you only need one copy of Civ 5 to play on both computers?

Yeah, you'll have to be in online mode to play in a LAN - it's not really playing in a LAN, you'll need an outside internet connection to communicate with Steam. Though, this is based on previous Steam games, there is much we don't know about Civ V. I highly doubt you can LAN with just a single copy. Few games let you do that, really. Support Firaxis and buy your other account it's own legit copy! :)

Sigh...At the top of this subforum's front page is a stickied thread entitled "Official Civilization V Steamworks FAQ".
Many Steam questions are answered in the first post of that thread.
This is what 2KGreg says about LAN play:

Q. Will it be possible to play multiplayer via LAN when running Steam in offline mode?
A. Yes, LAN play will function when in offline mode.

Just a few posts further down the thread you will find the following exchange:

Yes, this was very similar to my original question. My wife and I often play Civ IV together on our LAN at home. Are we going to need two Steam accounts for this to work? And, if so, does that mean that we need to purchase two copies of Civ V? That would be quite unfortunate...

Da RabbitIn order for two people to play Civilization V simultaneously, you will need two copies of the game.

Although...later in the thread there is further discussion about whether this is actually enforced and the answers are "morally rigid" but technically ambiguous. :crazyeye: