BNW Not Loading Through Steam (Mac)

[ferronster]

I pre-purchased the BNW expansion about a month ago on Steam and I have confirmed my payment was accepted, I have the North American license in my account, and the release date for my region (US) was yesterday.

I have tried to download the game but I am running into the following scenario: BNW is in my Steam licenses; BNW is listed on my DLC when I right click Civilization V in Steam; and the game will load with the Civilization V: Brave New World banner on the top of my Mac and show the BNW intro video.

From this point, I receive a G&K loading screen, music, and content. When I look at DLC in my game screen, BNW does not appear.

I have tried the following troubleshooting recommendations with no success:
1. I have tried restarting both Steam and my computer several times. This does not solve the issue.
2. I have tried verifying my content in steam and reloading steam. The content is 100% verified and no additional downloads commence.
3. I have tried uninstalling Civ 5 entirely from Steam and reinstalling. I reach the same point (BNW intro video, G&K content) each time.
4. I have tried launching the game from my desktop icon, from my Steam library, and from the BNW Steam store page where it lists the product as already purchased.

I wanted to know if anyone else had a solution I might try. It appears the status of my game is a fairly common issue but I have tried the above troubleshooting recommendations with no success.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Johnnymo85]

I'm having the exact same problem. I downloaded BNW today, it installed, it says BNW when I start the game, at the top of windowed mode, and when I right-click on the game in the steam library it shows it in the DLC. In the game itself it does not show it in the DLC. I have mone of the new civs, and it looks like gameplay is the same. WTH? I emailed steam, waiting for a reply.

 

[ferronster]

I hope Steam is more helpful to you than they were to me. I just received a two sentence response that my pre-purchase was successful and the title will download when it becomes available. Apparently they couldn't be bothered to actually read my question in the two days they took to respond.

 

[Johnnymo85]

That's pretty ridiculous. I have a US account, so it should be "available" now.

 

[jollysox]

I have been talking to Asypr for two days about this, the issue is Steam not activating the full content of the package but neither Aspyr or Steam has found a solution after two days of trying. It's really a big mess.

I have already started a post about this in the Mac section, I encourage you guys to post there as well as Aspyr seems to be checking that more often. Even better, I encourage you guys to call their technical support at 512-708-8100 and let them know you are having issues as well. The more people contacting them about it, the more pressure they will feel to fix this completely.

I will post an update here if I hear anything more from them or somehow come upon a solution to the problem.

 

[Johnnymo85]

I called Aspyr and they had me update Steam and check that the cache was validated completely, and it still doesn't work. I'm supposed to email them my system profile... This is dumb. If this game doesn't work right, why is it released?

 

[ferronster]

I guess I shouldn't be shocked that this all stems from Steam. They'll have to sort this out soon or start issuing refunds. I have been going back and forth with Aspyr through their email support but they seem to be giving me that same fixes I have tried above (verify game content; update steam).

 

[Johnnymo85]

Found out I didn't have enough ram, I upgraded my ram, same problem. Ohhh brave new world, that has such glitches... In it...

 

[jollysox]

Finally figured out how to fix this:

1) Completely deinstalling Civ 5
2) Creating a new user account with administrator permissions
3) In the new user account, completely dump anything to do with Steam
4) Re-download Steam and install it
5) Install Civ 5
6) Verify the game cache
7) Launch game

I think the initial problem has something to do with Steam not self-updating properly for some Mac users so there's some left over files causing BNW to revert to Gods and Kings, hence starting a brand new account, redownloading steam and reinstalling Civ 5. Obviously this is somewhat of a work around solution for most people, but it's the only way I've been able to get the expansion running.

 

[ferronster]

Thanks Jolly, I'll try that. I just received my second response from Steam and they explained to me how to open a scenario and where to find the new civilizations in a game start up. I don't know if it's that support doesn't bother to actually read the emails or whether they don't have a solution and they are purposely sending me nonsense until they develop a fix. Either way, I have received better customer service from cell phone companies and airlines...

 

[ferronster]

Thanks Jolly! A similar solution worked for me as well. I'll describe it below for everyone else but, given that I'm not much of a techie, I'd probably recommend Jolly's solution.

1) I completely uninstalled Civ 5 in Steam.
2) I deleted all associated files on my Mac.
3) I uninstalled Steam and deleted associated Steam files.
4) I reinstalled Steam.
- Here is where I get into an issue. When I reinstalled Steam, my account still appears but Steam crashes every time I click Library. It continues to do so after you install the game so its your choice - create a separate Mac account or lose Steam Library functionality. I only had one other game and I haven't played it in several years so the choice was easy for me.
5) Click "Play Brave New World" from store screen.
6) Download Civ 5 again and launch from desktop icon. Again, Steam Library no longer works with this fix so be aware.

All content, including my previous DLC, is available. It also appears to have saved my previous games, etc.

Hope this helps any other frustrated souls.

 

[skallben]

I'm on a PC, it refuses to upgrade to BNW. I hate Steam with a passion right now. Tried verifying but it doesnt help. Sat and waited up specifically for the release and now I get facepalmed but faceless system errors. Grr. Complete reinstall, here we go...

Update: Complete reinstallation of Civ was sufficient.

 

[psyciceman]

(Copy and pasted from r/civ, I'm lazy OK)
For the past week (definitely since the pre BNW patch) whenever I've tried tro play Civ 5 it has popped up with a "Completing Installation" window (odd as it is already installed and has been running previously) I wasn't that bothered as I haven't played it since January and I assumed that it needed to complete it for the 6 months of patches (unlikely but whatever).

The issue that arises is that upon completion it spits out a "Steam Servers are too busy (Error 53)" which doesn't sound like a lot but it has been doing it without fail everytime I've tried to play in the past week. "No big deal" I thought, "I'll wait till BNW releases see if that has something to do with it" (again unlikely but whatever, It really didn't bother me at the time). Now it still does it after I've (assumingly) installed BNW and it is really pissing me off.

I've tried everything suggested in the steam support link (Verify files, stop anti-virus software, check for viruses) and still nothing, I've concluded that it must be something on Civ 5's or 2k's end as it and XCOM are the only games doing it (even games that I've just purchased aren't popping up with the "Completing Installation" window which is a bit sus)

Does anyone have any ideas?

Never mind, fixed itself

 

[Metroida]

FYI for Mac users, this is Aspyr's official workaround for the "not launching/loading" issue. They say it works out 99% of the time, & PC users being more affected then Macs. They also say your Library will be intact afterwards. I'm presently doing #4; will repost result soon. BTW, calling them speeded up things.

1) Completely deinstall Civ 5 (right click on Civilization V from Steam and select Delete Local Content)
2) Completely dump anything to do with Steam (Steam App icon from Applications & the Steam folder from Library/Application Support)
3) Re-download Steam and install it (steampowered.com>Install Steam located in the upper right corner
4) Install Civ 5 (Log into Steam>Go to Library>Select Install for Civ 5)
5) Once installed, verify the game cache (right click on Civilization V>Properties>Local Files>Verify integrity of Game Cache)
6) Launch game

Edit: SUCCESS! Everything is running ok! Hope this also helps you out.