How to play Civilization V without internet

rayres2007

Chieftain
Joined
Mar 17, 2011
Messages
3
I bought the retail version of Civilization V. How do I play it without access to the internet? I can't find where the .exe file is, nor under program files. It isn't under Firaxis Games, and there is no 2k games folder under my start menu.

Also, I seem to have trouble with the Help section not always updating properly when I click on a new topic. I set the refresh rate the same as my monitor, 1024x768 and 60 Hz. I have a 512 meg video card. Is a 512 meg video card insufficient, or is it my monitor? I have 2 gigs of ram as well.

Thanks.

Rob
 
I believe that even with the retail version, you still have to activate it through Steam.

I bought the retail version of Civilization V. How do I play it without access to the internet? I can't find where the .exe file is, nor under program files. It isn't under Firaxis Games, and there is no 2k games folder under my start menu.

Also, I seem to have trouble with the Help section not always updating properly when I click on a new topic. I set the refresh rate the same as my monitor, 1024x768 and 60 Hz. I have a 512 meg video card. Is a 512 meg video card insufficient, or is it my monitor? I have 2 gigs of ram as well.

Thanks.

Rob
 
You need an internet connection for the initial setup and installation.

Once that's done, you can play the game in offline mode.
 
Which is ridiculous, There has been a crack out for CIV5 since the release... with all updates to 217. With these cracks you don't need to go online to activate it -_-. They should not have these restrictions. Buy game --> Install game --> Put in serial --> PLAY OFFLINE IF YOU PLEASE.

The EXE is located in Steam/steamapps

Minimum System Requirements

Operating System: Windows® XP SP3/ Windows® Vista SP2/ Windows® 7
Processor: Dual Core CPU
Memory: 2GB RAM
Hard Disk Space: 8 GB Free
DVD-ROM Drive: Required for disc-based installation
Video: 256 MB ATI HD2600 XT or better, 256 MB nVidia 7900 GS or better, or Core i3 or better integrated graphics
Sound: DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound card
DirectX®: DirectX® version 9.0c
 
Steam can be a real pain if you have no internet or bad internet.

For instance, when I bought Dawn of War II (requires steam) and went online to activate it with my mobile broadband (very expensive low bandwidth) - i was living away from home - steam would not let me play until it downloaded a 150MB patch. I was already near my limit and downloading that patch just so I could play the game I bought cost me something like $20.

This is no longer a problem for me with my new place and internet for Civ V luckily.

Steam really needs to fix this system - not to mention that Steam does nothing to combat piracy any more. EVERY Steam game now has a pirated cracked version on release.

Should be in Steam/Steamapps/common/sid mier's civilization V

So yeah you should be aware steam will not ask you to download patches (if you set it to dont download patches and then accidentally go on steam while the internet is connected it will reset it to automatic updates) and once and update is started you can't play till it's finished. But you will probably have to download a couple hundred MB in patches before you start anyway.

To be fair to Firaxis etc, an internet connection is mention in the system requirements on the box. Also you should have waited and bought the GOTY edition coming soon which will include all the DLC.
 
Pre-emptive: Moderator Action: We don't have any tolerance for piracy here. Discussion about cracks and how to circumvent the DRM are not allowed here.

So, there's no way to play without the internet. At the installation you have to activate the game via Steam, and it will then already download the first patch, which you can't abort, which is also necessary to make the game playable.
There's no legal other way.

Other note: Moderator Action: If this thread takes the wrong direction then i'll close it.
 
Before this gets closed, I've a quick noob question...

Am I correct if I understand that the first time you install the game you have to activate it using the internet to connect to Stream but after that you don't need to be connected to play the game?

I've a retail copy that I was going to take with me on "vacation" (if you can call it that) next week, and I probably won't have internet access. It's going to be a long week if I don't at least have Civ.
 
Just make sure you tell steam to go into "offline mode" then your fine with no internet.

Okay cool.

Is the only point of being connected to Steam after the first install for the achievements or are there other benefits to being connected to Steam?

Thanks
 
How did you get on the forum if you don't have internet?? :p
 
Steam offers some MP features, you need to connect to Steam for MP at all, and you can only get Patches via Steam.
You can also buy DLC via Steam, and you can always redownload the game on any computer you want, you just need your account data.

And if you want a list of disadvantages, i have a quite longer one here...
 
How did you get on the forum if you don't have internet??

Oh I've got the net now (at work and at home) but I won't have it next week on my so called vacation


And if you want a list of disadvantages, i have a quite longer one here...

Thanks for the info. Sounds like I can probably survive just fine without connecting to Steam for about 98% of my games.
 
Be aware that when you first install the game from a retail disc version, it's likely that a decent-sized patch (probably in the hundreds of MB range) will be needed before you can play.
 
There actually might be a legal way, at least this worked with some Steam games some years ago. Install and activate on a computer that has Internet, then use Steam's backup feature to write the game to a DVD. Then use the backup disk created to install Steam + game files on the main machine. But am not entirely sure the method is still available.
 
There actually might be a legal way, at least this worked with some Steam games some years ago. Install and activate on a computer that has Internet, then use Steam's backup feature to write the game to a DVD. Then use the backup disk created to install Steam + game files on the main machine. But am not entirely sure the method is still available.

This would be nice, activate once and only once.
 
There actually might be a legal way, at least this worked with some Steam games some years ago. Install and activate on a computer that has Internet, then use Steam's backup feature to write the game to a DVD. Then use the backup disk created to install Steam + game files on the main machine. But am not entirely sure the method is still available.

Pretty sure that is not possible.
 
Wait a second -- how are you on civfanatics!?

Internet from work/school probably - assuming you were talking about the OP.

The other guy says a few posts above yours says he has home/work access but is going away, so wanted to make sure he could play offline once it was installed.
 
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