Game crashes on startup;cant play

I bought Civ5 the other day, installed it and everything, but everytime I try to play it, it wont work. Once I select the DirectX version to use, I'm met with a black/gray window and then an error message saying the game isnt responding, windows has exited the program etc. I've unsuccessfully searched the internet for solutions, but havent found anything that works. I have tried:

selecting both directx9 and 11, neither work
reinstalled directx
reinstalled vcredist_86 and D3D11 files within steam
verified the game cache
reinstalled the entire game twice
restarted the computer
set the game to skip the intro movie
set the game to run in fullscreen and then back to windowed
even changed the graphics resolution(although it was already had the right one)
even ran a systems scan to loook for problems with my computer; came up clean
tried launching the game directly from the .exe file

Nothing has worked. I'm pretty sure the computer is perfectly capable of running it. Its got Windows 7 Home Premium and Intel Core Quad q8300 2.5 gHz processor, and 8 GB RAM, so it should be fine. It runs Civ4 without any probelms.

Does anyone know what the problem might be or something I could try to fix it? I dont know enough about computers to fix it myself, and I dont want to have to return the game lol. Thx for the help!

Your graphics card would be important to know.

I'd be interested in knowing what OS you have and what you mean by reinstalling DirectX. In any case, if running Win 7, I would suggest installing the latest DirectX 9.0c end-user runtime if that is not exactly what you have done previously. I would do this first because it's easiest but I think the problem is more likely to be with your installation of either .Net Framework 4 or Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable. You should repair these in the order listed to see if this fixes the problem which I suspect it might. The easiest way to repair is to download the latest installation package relevant to you and select the repair option when prompted. I'm afraid I would need more details on your system to be more specific.

I installed .Net Framework 4, but i still cant get the game to play. I already had the latest DirectX 9.0c end-user runtime and Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable, and I repaired it.

graphics - Intel(R) G33/G31 Express Chipset Family
OS - Windows 7 64-bit Version 6.1 (Build7601: Service Pack 1)

Does that information help?

I'm afraid I have bad news man, Civ 5 requires your GPU to support what is known as Hardware T&L 3, which yours does not. If your system is a laptop then you're in trouble but if it's have a desktop then you could install a discrete graphics card to replace the inbuilt one, which is terrible. Sorry I don't have better news man.

ok, it is a desktop. will i just have to buy a better graphics card?

Yeah you will. Fortunately, with a desktop it is normally a simple procedure to upgrade. The first thing you would need to ascertain is the make/madel of your motherboard and what kind of discrete GPU it will support, although PCI-E is most likely. At the moment you are using a simplified chipset built into the Motherboard itself which will need to be disabled via the BIOS when your new card arrives. I would recommend using CPU-Z to find your make/model, although there are plenty of other tools available. Once you've determined this you should check the various specialised hardware sites on the net (such as Tom's Hardware) for an up to date list of what graphics cards perform well at their price level. Do not rely on simply picking up a newish looking model, the numbering system used by both AMD and nVidia is deliberately misleading. That said I would have no hesitation in recommending either of Radeon's 6870 or nVidia's GTX 560 as excellent models at a reasonable price. If you want to spend more you can, of course, get better.

Other things you should double check are that your PSU has enough power and the correct cabling to feed your card and, if your case is small, that the card itself will actually fit inside. Some of them are pretty chunky. In any case, best of luck man.

If you can still find an Nvidea GT 430 around, they were engineered the year the game came out, and the game is advertised on the box. It is not the top of the line, but will allow you to play the game ok. It is PCI express.