Can I get Civ5 without Steam?

[misterhamtastic]

My internet connection is horrible. This is why Empire:Total War is on a shelf, untried. I can't get it to do the initial connection properly(some ginormous download). I don't want to miss out on Civ5, but why bother buying it, knowing that steam and I don't get along?

Any solutions would be appreciated.

 

[Agent327]

No. You need it to start up CiV.

 

[Tremonti]

All official Civ V versions require Steam.

The inofficial versions are free of Steam.

 

[Maniacal]

If his internet connection is really THAT bad, a pirated version wouldn't help anyways and is wrong.

I highly recommend trying to get a better internet package from your ISP, or consider switching to another one. Heck, even just call them and check to see if they can upgrade it for free or to the newer version (for example TELUS here in BC will improve a package, but not inform or automatically upgrade existing customers of that package, but if you call them they will update it for free. Or they did a couple of years ago).

Failing that, install the game, the patches for Civ5 so far are not very big and you can disable automatic patching (right click on the game's name in the list and select preferences). Sometimes Steam will try to download the game instead of installing from the disc, if that happens stop it immediately and try putting the disc in with and/or without Steam running.

Empire: Total War, by the way, works great now, but it has at least 5 patches. Might want to give it a try and leave it downloading when you're not using the net (you can pause...).

 

[Lord Cain]

I wouldn't myself buy it because I don't want software which anytime I install requires I connect to a server to verify.

Theres also the question of security, what if steam program on your pc has holes a hacker can exploit? You have it load on bootup..its active... just like MS OS if theres a hole...it might get exploited and a way in your PC...

If steam the company shutdowns... your games gone and once it needs "call home" and no answer....no game

Your game purchase use is at mercy of some other party.

I prefer games I get from other companys that use like Digital River for download and selling... you get a serial number must use to install and patch... So I'm at no mercy of any outside party if I need to install my game...legitimate...

If steam is whats needed for online playing it should be an option...
installed if need it for that, otherwise for mere installing... should use a solution less intrusive.

I still can install my Civ 2, Civ 3 and Civ 4 anytime without need verify it.. to some other party...but this move to be at mercy of a outside party... what occurs 2 years from now if one wants to install Civ 5 on a new PC and Steams closed up or dropped supporting civ 5?

As for it a method of preventing pirating... my observation
over 25 years using PC's is every type of CP scheme is defeated
eventually by those who really want to and have the PC savvy...
so it only really messes up us legitimate owners use of our
purchases.

 

[Mercade]

My internet connection is horrible. This is why Empire:Total War is on a shelf, untried. I can't get it to do the initial connection properly(some ginormous download). I don't want to miss out on Civ5, but why bother buying it, knowing that steam and I don't get along?

Any solutions would be appreciated.

To answer the OP, it is required that you connect to the internet at least once to validate your key against the steam server. At this time it will also download the first patch, but if you installed from game from the DVD, that isn't too big (10s of MB) but for your internet connection may still be too much.

The good news is that after you validated it once, you can put Steam into off-line mode and play without ever connecting to the internet again.

For the first validation, if you're playing on a modern laptop (meets specs and all that) you might take it to an internet cafe. For a desktop, my only suggestion would be to take it to a friend's house (vague acquaintance, library, whatever) where you can do this first time validation and then take it back home.

 

[Maniacal]

I wouldn't myself buy it because I don't want software which anytime I install requires I connect to a server to verify.

You likely won't be installing it very many times, and this is becoming pretty standard for many games now, including non-Steam games.

Theres also the question of security, what if steam program on your pc has holes a hacker can exploit? You have it load on bootup..its active... just like MS OS if theres a hole...it might get exploited and a way in your PC...

So can a LOT of things you have on your computer, your web-browser(s), Live Messenger, banner ads on websites (every once in a blue moon an infected ad slips through the nets, CFC has dealt with them before). Highly unlikely and unlikely to be a risk, heck I've never heard of it happening.

If steam the company shutdowns... your games gone and once it needs "call home" and no answer....no game

A problem with all digital distributions and any game that needs to be activated. However, VALVe (the makers of Steam) have claimed they have a plan in place if they go under. Whether that works out or not who knows, but they are doing very very good buisness with Steam and are not going down anytime soon.

Your game purchase use is at mercy of some other party.

Never had VALVe stop me from playing my games.

I prefer games I get from other companys that use like Digital River for download and selling... you get a serial number must use to install and patch... So I'm at no mercy of any outside party if I need to install my game...legitimate...

Never heard of Digital River but I think I get your point. Paradox Interactive does something like that, you need the serial key to add it to your forum account so you can access certain sub-forums like tech-support. Other than that there is no DRM. They do, however, also sell their games on Steam (as well as GamersGate which they own and in stores).

If steam is whats needed for online playing it should be an option...
installed if need it for that, otherwise for mere installing... should use a solution less intrusive.

Steam isn't very intrusive, a bit forced for those who have not or rarely used it, but fine for others. Both the mods and multiplayer use gamespy or p2p though
However, the in-game Steam Community features are great and some people will really enjoy Steam Cloud.

I still can install my Civ 2, Civ 3 and Civ 4 anytime without need verify it.. to some other party...but this move to be at mercy of a outside party... what occurs 2 years from now if one wants to install Civ 5 on a new PC and Steams closed up or dropped supporting civ 5?

Highly, highly unlikely as I already said. Steam has been around for 6 or 7 years and is only growing in popularity.

As for it a method of preventing pirating... my observation
over 25 years using PC's is every type of CP scheme is defeated
eventually by those who really want to and have the PC savvy...
so it only really messes up us legitimate owners use of our
purchases.

Nobody, even VALVe, believes Steam is the answer to piracy. Civ5 was cracked on Day 1.

 

[Lord Cain]

Never heard of Digital River but I think I get your point.

Nobody, even VALVe, believes Steam is the answer to piracy. Civ5 was cracked on Day 1.

DR is used by a company that puts out many war games
(matrixgames) and other game companys.. Only thing when install game or a patch is
need put in a serial number. You DL all via digital river (and buy through) Get a Serial number when buy... They also have a option for a few dollars extra at purchase time so you can re-download many months later no charge.... otherwise have 30 days from buying to DL

It is a far less intrusive thing then connect to server to verify types..


As to the last
Proves my point... DRM/CP schemes do nothing to stop pirates, they just annoy us legitimate buyers and more intrusive= less sell-able in my view...

With Steam, Civ 5 lost me as a buyer... plenty of good games to buy with less intrusion..

 

[Maniacal]

Ah I checked their site, seems they provide for EA's Digital Store too. EA LIMITS how many times you can download the game you bought from its store. Some have as few as 5! They also include DRM with some of them

So I suppose its how the individual company uses it, but with Steam you can download it as many times as you want for FREE. Same with GamersGate and Good Old Games.

 

[blind biker]

All official Civ V versions require Steam.

The inofficial versions are free of Steam.

Those unofficial versions are also a bit cheaper.

 

[Maniacal]

Those unofficial versions are also a bit cheaper.

And are illegal and only encourage publishers/developers to seek getting stricter DRM for their games.

 

[The_J]

Moderator Action: No comments about this anymore. There's no way to play Civ5 without Steam, point.

 

[Archullus]

Civ V?
maybe
Steam?
No thanks.
Civ V + Steam?
Not a chance.
Bump

 

[Teperi Blaze]

Steam made me wait for a while, it downloaded the whole frigging version twice on my crappy server, took me 6 days!!!!

Bought and legit hard copy.

But after that it runs smoothly, it dl patches nicely in the background and I don't even notice it until the "download complete" appears.

So it's not that bad.

 

[Maniacal]

Next time you install it from the disc and it tries to download it stop the download, right click on it in Steam and "Delete local content" and try to install from the disc again. However, glad its working for you now

 

[shanebelrose]

I just recieved Civ 5 as a gift. Never heard of STEAM before and hope I never do again. This is the worst thing I have run into in years. Any company that uses them is likely not going to be seeing me as a customer.
I find them over bearing and controling.
Just about at the point of uninstall the whole thing.
The game was paid for and now we cant use it because of the "BIG BROTHER". My worst wishes to everyone that works for this company and their families.

 

[DrCruel]

I don't know who I hate more, the greedy suits at Valve STEAM or their fanatic, abusive fanboys. STEAM isn't about fighting piracy - it's about getting as much control as possible over intellectual property, and about extracting the maximum amount of cash from game hobbyists for the smallest amount of effort and value.

Not that this matters, for as many STEAM fan boys point out, intrusive Internet-dependant DRM is here to stay. Even indie game publishers are finding out the hard way that the only means of getting theri product out is through one of these new DRM companies (most often STEAM). It's slowly become the industry standard.

I won't buy or use pirated games, so I've been more or less screwed out of my hobby. For those who do, I don't have anything negative to say. STEAM has deliberately compromised my ownership rights to new games, so complaints about pirates taking away value from these multi-million dollar corporate thieves falls on deaf ears. Practically every new game coming out requires STEAM to run, which means now I need to ask permission every time I want to play any new game I buy (and I simply won't buy them under these conditions), so what difference does it make to me if it's DRM crooks or hacker pirates that finally finish off the PC game industry?

A pox on all their houses.

 

[Camikaze]

Moderator Action: The original issue was been sufficiently addressed, and this isn't the venue for a discussion about the (de)merits of Steam, so thread closed.

Please note the following from our 'Versions' page:

All versions, no matter if digital or bought as DVD in a shop, are bound to the digital distribution platform Steam.

The only exception is the the "Campaign edition", which is a Mac version and only available via Apples AppStore. This edition lacks multiplayer support and does not support achievements.