With the Civilization V Mac release upon us
(tomorrow!), we wanted to publish one final Civ V Mac FAQs post to answer any lingering questions about the game. Obviously, the BIG question was about whether or not Civilization V Mac would support SteamPlay. As mentioned before, we’ve been having intense, internal discussions on the matter, and we even opened the subject to comments from any and all fans of Aspyr, GameAgent, and the Civilization series.
We want to take a quick moment to first thank everyone that dropped us a line to let us know your thoughts and expectations. Again, we’ve been absolutely thrilled to have such passionate followers and fans. Many, many of you had excellent, well-written, thought-out posts, and we took all of your comments into consideration when coming to a final decision. To say the least, you guys spoke, and we listened. And with that, I won’t waste any more of your time—let’s get to the FAQs!
So, what’s the deal—is Civilization V Mac supporting SteamPlay or not?
Yes! Civilization V Mac will indeed support SteamPlay, meaning that anyone that purchases the Mac version will also have access to the PC version. This also means if you have already purchased the PC version, you will now have access to the Mac version.
From the comments that poured in, it seemed clear that many of you had purchased the PC version, even though it was the Mac version that you really wanted, and either expected that Civ V Mac would support SteamPlay or that Civ V Mac would not even be released for some time. Obviously there was a lack of communication on our part, and, quite frankly, we don’t want you guys to have to pay for our mistakes. So for those of you to whom we failed to communicate properly, and those hold outs that just waited anyway, PLEASE ENJOY THE GAME! And if you like your Mac version then please consider purchasing Mac DLC when it becomes available!
And keep talking to us. We love it.
Does that mean the game will be sold via Steam, too?
Yes, you will be able to purchase Civilization V Mac from the Steam Store when the game launches, November 23, 2010.
That being said, we want to reiterate that your origin of purchase will not affect the way the game operates and plays. No matter if you buy the game from GameAgent, the MacGameStore, Apple stores, or Steam, digital or disc, it is all the same product. The game will use SteamWorks to manage DRM, achievement tracking, etc, no matter where you purchase the game.
[Update 11/23] What about other retailers? Can I find the game in brick and mortar stores?
The game should also be available at your local brick and mortar retailer that sells Mac software, such as the Apple Store.
Will the Mac version use SteamCloud for saving?
Our dev team is working hard to release a patch that will enable SteamCloud saves soon after the Civilization V Mac release. However, the feature will not be available at launch.
Will these game saves be accessible by the PC version?
Save games won’t be accessible between platforms because of the issues raised with incompatible save game files in the case where the PC version is a later version than the Mac client. The files will need to have different names. This issue is something we are discussing for future patches.
[Update 11/23] Will existing DLC for the PC version work with my Mac version?
Any DLC that has been or will be released specifically for the PC version of Civilization V is not supported for the Mac version. Existing DLC packs and others will officially be available for the Mac version in the future. Once we have set dates, you guys will be the first to know!
What about mods? Will there be access to a complete set of SDK tools and/or 100% mod compatibility?
Unfortunately, user-created mods are not a component of the Mac version of Civilization V. User mods would require us to build custom versions of the full application ourselves in order to support a limited number of specific mods and still leave others unsupported. Similarly, modding tools are implemented with Microsoft .NET, and would present a significant porting challenge involving total rewrites. Bottom line: There is no way to create a Mac experience that allows for a good end-user experience for user-created mods. Believe us—we tried.
What about a demo?
As previously mentioned, there are currently no plans to offer a demo for Civilization V Mac. However, we will revisit this issue some time after the New Year.
Okay, so what are the final system requirements?
These are the minimum system requirements for playing the game without experiencing any performance issues:
Operating System: 10.6.4 (Snow Leopard)
CPU Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo (Dual-Core)
CPU Speed: 2.4 GHz
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Hard Disk Space: 8 GB
Video Card (ATI): Radeon HD2600
Video Card (NVidia): Geforce 8600
Video Memory (VRam): 256 MB
Media Required: DVD-ROM (Physical, boxed copies only)
Peripherals: Macintosh mouse and keyboard
Other Requirements: Initial installation requires one-time Internet connection for Steam authentication; software installations required (included with the game) include Steam Client.
Internet Connection and acceptance of Steam™ Subscriber Agreement required for activation. See
www.steampowered.com/agreement for details.
[Update 11/23] Recommended System Requirements
CPU Processor: Intel Quad Core
CPU Speed: 2.6 GHz
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Video Memory (VRam): 512MB
*Apple original CPU’s only, CPU upgrades not supported.
Supported Video Cards:
NVIDIA GeForce® 8600, 8800, 9600M, GT 120, 320M
ATI Radeon HD 2600, HD 3870, HD 4670, HD 4850, HD 5670, HD 5750
NOTICE: Apple Intel Chipsets only. Power PC Processors (G4 and G5) are not supported.
NOTICE: Intel(r) integrated video chipsets are not supported.
NOTICE: This game is not supported on volumes formatted as Mac OS Extended (Case Sensitive)
Thanks for the system requirements! But I still don’t know if my machine will be able to play Civ V Mac…
Between the near-incomprehensible naming conventions of video cards and other computing parts and the fact that some of you are just missing a minimum requirement, we totally understand that it may still not be clear whether your machine will support the game.
To help out, we are currently in the process of updating our GameAgent application for the Mac. This application will look at all of your system specs and help you determine whether or not you’ll be able to play Civ V Mac on your machine. Though we don’t have a set date for Civ V Mac compatibility, this app works for our other games available on GameAgent.com, so check it out if you haven’t already!
You can also check in with our support folks on their Twitter feed at
http://twitter.com/Aspyr_Support.
[Update 11/23] So I got the game installed, but I’m having some technical difficulties. Can I get some help?!?
If you run into any problems with the game running properly, we want to direct you to our excellent support staff. You can open a help ticket at
http://support.aspyr.com, or, as mentioned above, you can hit them up on Twitter (@Aspyr_Support).
Anything else?
Just a HUGE thanks to everyone for their patience in waiting for the answers to all these burning questions! If you still have questions, we first want to direct you to our previous two blog entries, Civ V Mac FAQs and Civ V Mac FAQs, V2. If your question still hasn’t been answered, let us know! You can leave a comment, drop a line on our Facebook page, tweet @gameagentstore or @Civ5Mac, or shoot us an email at
gameagent@aspyr.com.
