CIV IV 20th Anniversary Planning/Plans Thread (Oct. 25th, 2025)

[Plains-Cow]

Hello, civfanatics!

In about one month from today, on October 25th (a Saturday), Civilization IV will officially be 20 years old! It's hard to imagine two decades have passed since its release, considering how impactful of an entry in the Civilization series CIV IV still continues to be. From players using their favorite mods and mod-mods, to just plain ol' good stock civ-ing, loads of us still boot up CIV IV for "just one more turn." We tune in to streamers and YouTube archives to watch or re-live some of our favorite CIV IV moments. We post online about our greatest CIV IV triumphs and blunders. We make and share memes that transcend generations with each new CIV IV adoptee. However, what will "we" have done in celebration of CIV IV's 20th anniversary?

That's what this thread is for!

While I don't have any grandiose group plans, I want to make a space here on the forum for people to share their ideas (and maybe set up something fun!) Regardless if you want to host an event, plan a follow-along game, or just share your top-rated CIV IV moments over the years, this is place to converse and conspire with your fellow players. At the vert least, I plan on having a small celebration game (with a surprise dessert!) in honor of my longest-standing favorite CIV title. Hopefully I'll also be able to join in on some of the other stuff people have cooked up.

What will YOU do this October 25th?

Save the date, spread the word (links to this planning thread wouldn't hurt), and share your ideas!

 

[Noble Zarkon]

I think a special Hall of fame gauntlet is called for!!

 

[Plains-Cow]

@Sullla will be posting "25 reports in 25 days" as a sort of dev-diary about the pre-release testing and leadup to CIV IV starting October 1st:

Civ4 Pre Release

 

[AcaMetis]

Huh . Assuming I don't forget any dates, NC 390 with Ragnar is scheduled for Oct. 27th, which could be pushed to the 25th easily enough. I've no zero ideas as to anything "special" that could be done with it though, bar some kind of rare/unusual map setting.

 

[Sullla]

Yes, I'm posting a whole bunch of testing reports that I've sat on for 20 years at a rate of one per day. Have fun trying to top that!

 

[Thrasybulos]

Huh . Assuming I don't forget any dates, NC 390 with Ragnar is scheduled for Oct. 27th, which could be pushed to the 25th easily enough. I've no zero ideas as to anything "special" that could be done with it though, bar some kind of rare/unusual map setting.

Archipelago map with exactly 20 isles?
Change the name of the AI leaders to the various Civ franchise lead designers?

 

[AcaMetis]

Change the name of the AI leaders to the various Civ franchise lead designers?

I probably could do that, not sure if I want to do that when the player is playing as Ragnar though .

 

[Sirian]

Have fun trying to top that!

Well... I could post a new map script. "Right Angles". You know. In honor of Civ7 maps.

 

[Qactus]

My humble suggestion would be @Fippy, @LowtherCastle and everybody else each getting their respective band back together for an epic return of SGOTM after a 5 year hiatus

Spoiler :

 

[Fippy]

My humble suggestion would be @Fippy, @LowtherCastle and everybody else each getting their respective band back together for an epic return of SGOTM after a 5 year hiatus

I would still play that now..but there are several other parts missing
Map maker / scenario & game master.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

 

[danjuno]

I'll mark it on my Calendar!

 

[dariusII]

Oh, wow - I've already done something to celebrate CIV IV's 20th anniversary without even realizing it - I bought the game. I bought the Complete Edition a month ago and it finally arrived a week ago in the mail (in fact, just a few hours before Canada Post workers went on strike). I had already started watching some videos to see what the game play is like, but I'll have to do so in earnest now that I've got it installed.

It's like I've gone back 23 years in time when I first got CIV III and had no clue what I was doing.

 

[ThERat]

what could stage a rally in front of Firaxis headquarter to tell them we demand a Civ 4 anniversary remake with new graphics and stuff. I am sure many of us would buy that edition in an instant

 

[CivLuvah]

In about one month from today, on October 25th (a Saturday), Civilization IV will officially be 20 years old!

Wow, thank you for making me feel old lol

 

[Genghis the Barbarian]

Unrelated but also very related - the Civ 4 anniversary also happens to be my parents anniversary (will be 28 years on 10/25).

 

[Plains-Cow]

One week left until the anniversary!

 

[DynamicSpirit]

I would still play that now..but there are several other parts missing
Map maker / scenario & game master.

We could try doing a celebratory Civ4 SGOTM. I could offer to be the mapmaker for that. But I wonder if there are still enough active players to get at least 2 teams together to play it? May require contacting some of the old (retired) players to see if they'd want to come back.

Also there are a lot of SGOTM-related pages on the GOTM website which I'd have to fix up to be able to support running an SGOTM. And since my only involvement with SGOTMs was playing one-and-a-bit games a long time ago, I'd be doing a lot of learning-on-the-job how to manage them (and actually, learning on the job what all the supporting pages actually do - though it would be a good way to figure out what that part of the GOTM website does so I can get it working again ).

What that means is I could probably announce the SGOTM on 25th, but I doubt anyone would be able to start playing it until maybe a month later.

 

[Harv]

Hmm, I just fired up the game, taking a break from other games and stumbled upon this gem. I am an uncurable Earth18 fanatic. So maybe I will start a 20th Anniversary world tour. However, I do not plan to add 2 Civs to the scenario, because the map is too crowded as it is.

 

[Fippy]

We could try doing a celebratory Civ4 SGOTM. I could offer to be the mapmaker for that. But I wonder if there are still enough active players to get at least 2 teams together to play it? May require contacting some of the old (retired) players to see if they'd want to come back.

Hmm i will just say it without sugarcoating what has happened..
we did an "advertising campaign" back then.
Peoples were ready to play again but suddenly there was no reply or progress anymore.

I think potential players (or team formers) would want 99% clarity now before going active again.
Any preparation time should be fine (even several months), as long as communication stays up.
But i could be wrong..anyways, i doubt we would have problems forming Phoenix Rising.