Official Civilization V Steamworks FAQ

So Steam gets installed from a boxed copy. Nice service for those who don't have it installed yet.
A question on that: when steam is installed from a boxed copy, will it invite the installer to create a Steam user account in order to activate the game? I mean somewhere during the installation process of the game. I'm asking because I'd like to know how easy/hard it will be to activate my game.

Yes, the installer will prompt you to either log in with an existing Steam account, or guide you through creating a new one.
 
I don't think I've ever said that. Your assumption is correct, however, that if you restored from a backup, Steam would require the game to be patched to the latest version after the restore.

The reason people backup the game files to an archive is so that they can reinstall the game (after an OS reinstall, or when moving to a new computer, or what have you) without having to download the whole thing again.
Thanks for the FAQ. It answers many major questions.
I need a bit of clarification, of what is probably a mis-conception of mine.
As I understand backups of any program, it saves off the necessary files as they exist on that computer. It is my understanding that this will reload onto the same computer just fine, but I have allways thought that moving this to any other computer was impossible due to the unique nature of the way the target computer was configured. I was under the impression that to load on a different computer would require the pre-install files which then install.
Is this just generally wrong? or does steam backup work differently than other backups?
If I can do as you say I can, using steam backup, you have a sold customer.
 
One more Steam question, and this one is prolly really simple, but I want to know for sure and be one hundred percent on this.

Will I as European be able to download Civilization 5 from Steam and activate it to play on the North American release date although the European release is set at a later date?

I need to know this for sure because I have actually saved a week from my summer vacation at work just for Civ's release in September, and I need to know what date to tell my boss I'll go on Civ leave! :D
 
This is completely incorrect. I can guarantee 100% that if that option is set to "do not update", then it will not update, regardless if you're online or not. :)

Dale, your 100% wrong, sorry :). Regardless of how other steam games act or don't act, Gregs statement is true, and is how I figured patching would work.

If you put the game into no auto update, then go offline, or just go offline for that matter, the game can't and won't update. If you put the game into no auto update and stay online, as long as you don't try to play the game no update will occur. The second you click the .exe, and while online, steam will update, regardless. In order to keep my copy, your copy, everyones copy the same it will force this. This way mp will always be compatible, and everyones game is the same. So it's true that it won't update, until you "choose" to update. But "choosing" is as simple as trying to play the game. So if you don't want an update, you either can't play while online when an update is released(and you can't go into offline mode until the games updated and "ready"), or stay in offline mode asap and don't leave it. It's a bummer I know, but we'll live another day!
 
Dale, your 100% wrong, sorry :). Regardless of how other steam games act or don't act, Gregs statement is true, and is how I figured patching would work.

If you put the game into no auto update, then go offline, or just go offline for that matter, the game can't and won't update. If you put the game into no auto update and stay online, as long as you don't try to play the game no update will occur. The second you click the .exe, and while online, steam will update, regardless. In order to keep my copy, your copy, everyones copy the same it will force this. This way mp will always be compatible, and everyones game is the same. So it's true that it won't update, until you "choose" to update. But "choosing" is as simple as trying to play the game. So if you don't want an update, you either can't play while online when an update is released(and you can't go into offline mode until the games updated and "ready"), or stay in offline mode asap and don't leave it. It's a bummer I know, but we'll live another day!

Ok, "if" I accept your answer explain how I can keep Steam online (I've many other games in Steam set to auto-update also) yet this one game I can keep at an old version by telling it NOT to update. ;)

If you can provide a convincing answer as to why I have been able to do just that for the last year, then I'll email you a cookie. :)

EDIT: I realise that some Steam games DO work that way, but the blanket statement that Steam will always update your game when online regardless of that setting, is incorrect. Since Civ is predominantly a single player game, and to keep mod compatibility between patches, I would be extremely disappointed if Civ5 forced an update. That means every mod will break as soon as a new update is released, rather than having control over when you install the patch. This is unacceptable to me as a modder.
 
Well you should brace yourself to be disappointed.
2K Greg said:
Q. Is it possible to stop Steam from automatically patching Civilization V?
A. The only way to ensure your game is not updated is to play in offline mode. If you are in online mode your game will be automatically updated.
 
Q. Will things like the steam community be fully integrated into the game's interface or will you be relying on the overlay to provide functionality like chat and friends lists?
A. The in-game browser, friend list, friend invites, and some other features are embedded within the Steam overlay. However, the mod library and in-game chat during multiplayer matches are integrated directly in to the game.

I posted this in the 2k Forums, but for the sake of discussion I will cross post it here.

Thanks for the FAQ Greg, but I have a question I'm hoping you can get clarification on, it relates to what is in the steam overlay and what is in the game interface.

Over at CivPlayers we are having a discussion on the issue of players changing names, and whether or not you can tell exactly who is joining your game.

I seems, sadly, that Steam allows players to change their display name, aka the "persona" in steam lingo. Which would be all fine except that Steam doesn't display the players real profile name or the players steam ID number in the public players profile page. In fact there is even no limit to the names you can use, so you can infact impersonate any other players name.

This may not be an issue for casual gamers, but for all the many MP leagues, and it seems from the amount of hits on google for "how to see a steam 64bit ID number" this has been a huge issue for the organized MP communities that play steam games.

Now I have discovered that it is not hard to use the Steam API hooks to get the players Steam ID for fan sites/leagues etc, and players can even go to sites like Steam ID Finder http://steamidfinder.com/ and look up players profiles. My site webmaster says it is pretty easy to hook into this data and even display a players current status in his league profile etc.

The problem and question I have is this though. Looking up a Steam profile is only a possible solution *if* all players can do that from within the game. In the steam overlay you can ofcourse right click and display a players profile page, which you can then use the above web site to check it. But are the players that join your game listed in a steam overlay that lets us do this, or in a game interface? And if it is the Civ5 interface does the interface give us access to at least the 64bit ID?

I'll be honest if we can't positively identify players in the game, this is a huge hit to organized MP, we will basically have to go back to the Civ3 days of having hosts force all players to login and out of the league site to prove who they are.( or email pw's or IPs to the persons registered league email etc) Not a good way of doing business in 2010!

Thanks for your help in advance Greg

CS
 
One question:

I have a desktop PC and a laptop. If I install my box copy on the desktop, and create a steam account, and I want to install it on my laptop so I can LAN against my brother, a. would that be possible, and b. if so, what would I have to do?
 
One question:

I have a desktop PC and a laptop. If I install my box copy on the desktop, and create a steam account, and I want to install it on my laptop so I can LAN against my brother, a. would that be possible, and b. if so, what would I have to do?
Greg has previously stated that if you want to play in LAN mode against another player in your household, you'll need two licenses to the game. You can install the game from the same DVD, but you and your brother both need a steam account (with different Civilization 5 licenses).

Once the game is installed and you have your steam accounts, you can swap whenever you like (you on the laptop and bro on the desktop versus you on the laptop and bro on the desktop) as long as you don't try to use the same steam account on both PC's at the same time.
 
So will I need two game copies or just two steam accounts?

And if I don't want to LAN can I just install it on both PCs anyway without the need for 2 licence keys?
You can install and play on multiple machines, but only one can be online at a time, per steam account. Offline mode obviously can't prevent you from playing on two computers at once. However, the steam EULA prohibits anyone but the account owner from playing steam games under your account. Each steam account must have it's own licence key/copy of civ.
 
LAN might work anyway as its said it will work in offline mode.

But yes anyway, you can install Steam/Civ5 on as many computers as you like.
 
You can install and play on multiple machines, but only one can be online at a time, per steam account. Offline mode obviously can't prevent you from playing on two computers at once. However, the steam EULA prohibits anyone but the account owner from playing steam games under your account. Each steam account must have it's own licence key/copy of civ.

Can I have multiple accounts / logins for Steam using the same install?
 
in a word - no

each copy of the game will link to an individual steam account, which only 1 person can log into at each time.

however i expect you would be able to install the game on both machines, log into steam and set to offline on both, and play on a lan in offline mode. altho under the terms of the license its probably not allowed in reality its what most people will do

been using steam for years, i dont think its evil. it has got much better than the early days (altho i appreciate it may cause problems for mods)
 
Actually, and don't hang me if I'm wrong, I'd expect that if two users (or account holders) both owned civ5 they would be able to play from the same install. What sense would there be in having multiple installations? That said, it is certain that two separate accounts can not access the game if only one of them owns it. That would effectively be sharing across more than one account.
 
Actually, and don't hang me if I'm wrong, I'd expect that if two users (or account holders) both owned civ5 they would be able to play from the same install. What sense would there be in having multiple installations? That said, it is certain that two separate accounts can not access the game if only one of them owns it. That would effectively be sharing across more than one account.

If you mean that can you have more than one steam account using the same steam application files, then yes.

But I think what he was asking is can you "link" the same copy of civ to more than one Steam account, to which the answer is no.
 
@Dale, ya it sounds crummy for modders out there, but hopefully they work something out.... you'll have to wait and see, I do wish you were right though about updates..... I like chocolate chip by the way ;).

Pouakai, though its been said we can use Lan in offline mode, it doesnt mean 100% that you can do it with the same account. Im sure steams "smart" enough to see the same account, and will ask you to switch one of them to a different account before letting you Lan with your bro. I honestly dont have a problem or conflict with someone in your situation not wanting to spend double for the occasional Lan game with a friend. However to stop a larger group I highly doubt we would be able to do that. Theres always hotseat, I have never played it, but its just you switching back and forth with your brother on one computer. It wont be out right at release, but later patched, and if you need to save some money hopefully that will let you two play in the meantime.
 
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