How to get Civ4:BTS working on El Capitan and Sierra

[kalkas]

I have played Beyond the Sword on Yosemite using Steam without problem. However, after updating my mac to OS X El Capitan, the game cannot be played. It starts and opens the menu, but afterwards it does not work. I cannot start a game from the menu. Has someone else had luck to play the game on el capitan using Steam?

 

[FNP]

Xyth

Thanks very much for the "fix". Just updated my OS to El Capitan from Mavericks and installed your "patch". Works great, no problems.

 

[deity]

So if I've got a new Mac with El Capitan I presume I should buy the Steam version of Civ 4/BTS (which is pretty cheap now) and it will work OK?

Maybe less hassle than trying to install from disc and applying the above fix.

Thanks for the fixes Xyth. All works brilliantly on my Yosemite Mac

 

[Xyth]

So if I've got a new Mac with El Capitan I presume I should buy the Steam version of Civ 4/BTS (which is pretty cheap now) and it will work OK?

Maybe less hassle than trying to install from disc and applying the above fix.

I don't have the Steam version myself, but my understanding is that it should work fine. Probably the best option if you're willing to pay again and install Steam. You'll no longer have to worry about the disc and you'll also get the Windows version should you ever need it.

 

[deity]

Thanks Xyth. Yep, think I'll get the Steam version. Appreciate your help.

 

[perez8179]

Hey Xyth, I bought Civilization IV from Amazon (digital download) and I installed it but when I try opening it, it says "You can't use this version of the application 'Civilization IV' with this version of OS X. You have 'Civilization IV' 1.74" I have El Capitan 10.11.1 Any suggestions??

 

[Xyth]

Hey Xyth, I bought Civilization IV from Amazon (digital download) and I installed it but when I try opening it, it says "You can't use this version of the application 'Civilization IV' with this version of OS X. You have 'Civilization IV' 1.74" I have El Capitan 10.11.1 Any suggestions??

Vanilla Civ4 is just too old. It won't run on Yosemite either, possibly Mavericks too. I'm not sure which was the one that broke it. You need to install Beyond the Sword 3.19 as well, apply the fix in this thread, and run that.

 

[doremus_j]

Hey Xyth, I bought Civilization IV from Amazon (digital download) and I installed it but when I try opening it, it says "You can't use this version of the application 'Civilization IV' with this version of OS X. You have 'Civilization IV' 1.74" I have El Capitan 10.11.1 Any suggestions??

Last summer, I bought Civ 4 from Amazon when I switched from a pc to mac, and it wouldn't work for me. I didn't try any fixes -- I just emailed Amazon and asked for a refund, which they gave me without any hassles. If you try for a refund, you might want to point out that the Civ 4 page just says you need "OS version [X] or later", which I thought suggested that it would work with yosemite, etc.

 

[dem0n]

Xyth,
Great info. Following these steps got the base game running for me, but Warlords and BTS are still telling me "The package...is not compatible with this version of OS X" when I try to install them. I'm installing from disc and running El Capitan 10.11.3 on a mid-2011 iMac. Any thoughts?

 

[s.bernbaum]

dem0n: The message that you are getting is due to the way the computer compatibility check is done by the game. Rather than looking at any processor, memory, etc., it compares your computer ID to a list that was put together when the game was new. Newer computers are not on the list, so you get the message, which is meaningless for you. You can go into your CivilizationIV.ini file (load it into any text processor) and find the line that gives the message and change the "= 0" part to "= 1". The game will then stop making the unnecessary check.

Specifically, what you are looking for is:

; Don't show minimum specification warnings
HideMinSpecWarning = 0

 

[dem0n]

dem0n: The message that you are getting is due to the way the computer compatibility check is done by the game. Rather than looking at any processor, memory, etc., it compares your computer ID to a list that was put together when the game was new. Newer computers are not on the list, so you get the message, which is meaningless for you. You can go into your CivilizationIV.ini file (load it into any text processor) and find the line that gives the message and change the "= 0" part to "= 1". The game will then stop making the unnecessary check.

Specifically, what you are looking for is:

; Don't show minimum specification warnings
HideMinSpecWarning = 0

Thanks! A little anticlimactic, just changing a 0 to a 1, but worked like a charm. You smart folk keep up the good work!

 

[FGS13]

I found this and changed the 0 to a 1 but I am still getting the same message.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[s.bernbaum]

I found this and changed the 0 to a 1 but I am still getting the same message.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

There are three files called "CivilizationIV.ini". One each in the original CIV, Warlords, and BTS subfolders, in the Documents folder. Are you certain that you changed the one for whichever of the three you are playing?

 

[FGS13]

I have Civ IV Gold installed which includes Civ IV & Warlords. I found those .ini files and changed them but I don't one for BTS. I am installing BTS from a separate DVD.

 

[FGS13]

I found the BTS.ini files. But I am not finding that line. I found it in the other files just not BTS.

 

[AlanH]

Are you sure you have the latest version of BtS? It should be version 3.19. Right click the Civ4BeyondSword.exe file and select Properties. Select the Details tab and look for File Version. It should say 3.1.9.0.

In case you are looking in the wrong area of the .ini file, here are the lines including that entry in my Documents\My Games\Beyond the Sword\CivilizationIV.ini file in Windows:

; Allow Camera Flying
AllowFlying = 0

; Don't show minimum specification warnings
HideMinSpecWarning = 0

; Random seed for map generation, or '0' for default
MapRandSeed = 0

If this line is definitely not included in your copy you could copy and paste it from here - changing the 0 to 1. Alternatively, delete the file and let BtS recreate it when you start it up next time, and then edit it.

 

[FGS13]

Tried everything...can't get it to work. Thank you for the information.

 

[AlanH]

Are you saying you still can't insert that line in the .ini file, or when you do, the game still says your computer is not good enough?

 

[FGS13]

Yes. But in that .ini file there are none of those lines you mention. I deleted the file and let them get recreated but still the same. I pasted that line in anyway but it did not work.

I checked what version and it is 3.17. I downloaded a patch but that did nothing.

I tried to do a manual installation with pacifist as suggested above, I still could not get it to work.

I have another Mac that I have not upgraded the operating system on and there were problems there too. I didn't have time to look at what was wrong there.

 

[AlanH]

Yes. But in that .ini file there are none of those lines you mention. I deleted the file and let them get recreated but still the same. I pasted that line in anyway but it did not work.

That is crazy. Are you sure you are looking at Documents\My Games\Beyond the Sword\CivilizationIV.ini?

Please copy and paste the contents of the file you are trying to edit into a post here.