How to start a private multiplayer game

rspeer

Spearman
Joined
Apr 5, 2006
Messages
101
Suppose you want to play MP against friends. There's a "private game" option, but how do your friends actually join it? I couldn't find this information anywhere, but through trial and error I found out, and I thought I'd let CivFanatics know.

Here's what you do:
  • In Steam, add the people you want to play against as friends. They should likewise add you as friends. (I don't know which direction makes the difference.)
  • Go to Steam's Friends menu and "sign into Friends". (Steam may have done this automatically.)
  • Did you ever turn off Steam's in-game overlay because it was annoying you when you started the game? Time to turn it back on, you'll need it.
  • Go back to Civ 5 and start your private game.
  • If you haven't hosted a Civ 5 game before, Windows Firewall is probably screaming at you right now, except you can't tell because you're inside Civ. Alt-Tab out of Civ and check for that window. If it's there, allow Civ 5 to talk to the Internet.
  • In your hosted game, you should see a player list that contains just you, and in this state nobody will be able to join. Click the green buttons next to the empty slots until you have the right number of players, including AIs.
  • Now your friends should press SHIFT+TAB inside Civ 5. This brings up the Steam overlay, where they should see an option to join your game.
  • As they join your game, the AIs will turn into them. (Note: AIs that stay as AIs will play weaker than they usually do -- hard as it is to believe -- and they will suck at diplomacy.)
  • Start the game. Enjoy. Do not hit alt+tab from this point forward, it'll kick you out.
 
Thank you SO MUCH for this. I'm going to try it out tonight. Last night was my first attempt at a MP game, and we wanted to set it up in Private, but couldn't figure it out. I was just about to post a thread on the issue, actually :)

I'll report back either my success or failure.
 
You can do this easily also from your standard friends list in Steam, just click on the hosts name to join a game. Or if private the host has to invite you by clicking on your name. Civ5 is all coded around steam so you have to understand the way steam works and then things become easier. You can also get games this way from a player list in a steam chat room like Civplayers Chat at http://steamcommunity.com/groups/civplayers

steam://friends/joinchat/103582791431089902

Works the same way

CS
 
Or if private the host has to invite you by clicking on your name.

In our games, if server invited the player it "broke" the Private Server setting. Normal players have to connect server (thru Steam friend) for Private Server to work.

Steam sucks. Give us normal multiplayer IP to IP.

(ver. ...0.20)
 
is there a way to reconnect to a game you have been disconnected from? for example, I was playing an online game (not lan) with 5 people, and was disconnected. I recieved an invite from a friend of mine in the game, but it gives me an error when attempting to rejoin. Is it even possible to rejoin a game or is the join soley for when you are hosting a game?
 
If you get an error I would just restart civ5 from scratch and when it is launched, fine one of the players that is in the game on your Steam Friends list, click on their name and click Join Game. That should work, if there still is an error send your friend a message in steam asking them to save and reload the game in the staging room.

Using your friends list/chat room player list does work we use it as our default method at CivPlayers to avoid the dumb regional steam games list.

CS
 
On Steam how long do games last in multiplayer? how much time, on average, do players have to finish their move and hit "next turn"
 
Additionally, if you are steam friends, their is an invite button at the bottom of the screen (the civ selection screen I mean) to quickly and easily invite people.
 
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