Civ5 and Games for Wndows??

[CanuckSoldier]

I'm going to make the assumption that since this is 2010 that Civ5 will be fully compliant with Games for Windows. Unlike Civ4 which did have some effort put into that area but was made in the late XP era and therefore had all sorts of issues dealing with the Vista/7 User Access Control functions.

Especially when it came to MP mod loading the game had all sorts of issues with players with Vista loading mods that players with XP could not see due to the files not being in the same folder structure or issues with Vista faking a virtual folder to prevent the game from truly writing to the protected system area.

Now I'm not really worried about Civ5 having issues with Vista or 7, what I am worried about is the reverse situaiton. We still have lots of WinXP users that are going to be installing Civ5 in an OS that doesn't understand GfW and it's standards.

Is the MP mod system going to be able to deal with a mixed OS and file installation path enviroment? Of course we still want the great anti-cheat ability that Civ4 had as well, yes we want our cake and eat it too Greg if you could ask the right questions with the guys in Maryland that would be great.

CS

 

[civ_king]

In two years it will probably be a non-issue

 

[CanuckSoldier]

In two years it will probably be a non-issue

Perhaps yes, be I would prefer to avoid two years of pain in the mean time :-/

CS

 

[AriochIV]

I am under the impression that many if not most Windows users are still running XP, and Firaxis must be aware of this. They made specific comments about wanting to make sure the game ran well on a variety of machines.

 

[ledat]

many if not most Windows users are still running XP

For some relevant data, might I point to the steam hardware survey. (the link goes to the Windows section, ignoring Mac for now) Obviously, there is a selection bias here; this only counts people who play games on Steam. However, despite that, it is as reasonable an indicator as any for system configurations among gamers.

As of May 2010, a plurality of users are running 32 bit XP, with 36.81% of users using that OS. The second most common OS is 64 bit Windows 7 at 26.57%. So it is safe to say that XP is still a factor in 2010. Perhaps in 2-4 years this will no longer be the case, but for the moment anyway XP is worthy of consideration for any product that doesn't aim strictly for high end machines.

Since Civ V sounds like it will be playable on somewhat modest systems (but, tbh, I'll believe that when I see it), it almost certainly will play nice with XP.

 

[Commander Bello]

As of May 2010, a plurality of users are running 32 bit XP, with 36.81% of users using that OS. The second most common OS is 64 bit Windows 7 at 26.57%.

Both figures seem to indicate that CS's question is completely justified.

 

[Me,myself,and,I]

It's a moot point. ciV is steam exclusive therefore no games for windows. Thank heavens. It also means windows won't sit there and tell me I can't install a game that I can run perfectly fine because my "Windows experience index" isn't high enough.

 

[Senethro]

MMI, Games for Windows and Games for Windows Live are two different things. GfW is just a bunch of standards and compatibility requirements. GfWL is the DRM. I don't think either are incompatibile with Steam.

Since it is a requirement of GfW that it work with an Xbox360 controller, it may be that Civ5 cannot be GfW or will have a very odd alternative control scheme available!

 

[Mercade]

On the OP, it doesn't seem like Games for Windows is incompatible with what Civ5 offers or what Steam does. As I understand it, Games for Windows seems to be more about ease of installation and parental control than anything else. When it comes to modding and dirs and access rights, the Steam directory structure might be more of an issue putting everything under the Steam main dir.

MMI, Games for Windows and Games for Windows Live are two different things. GfW is just a bunch of standards and compatibility requirements. GfWL is the DRM. I don't think either are incompatibile with Steam.

Since it is a requirement of GfW that it work with an Xbox360 controller, it may be that Civ5 cannot be GfW or will have a very odd alternative control scheme available!

Actually, according to the About Page of Games for Windows, it's only an option to work with an Xbox controller. Nothing therein, or in the Wikipedia page says anything that would be incompatible with what we know of Civ5.

 

[civ_king]

On the OP, it doesn't seem like Games for Windows is incompatible with what Civ5 offers or what Steam does. As I understand it, Games for Windows seems to be more about ease of installation and parental control than anything else. When it comes to modding and dirs and access rights, the Steam directory structure might be more of an issue putting everything under the Steam main dir.

Actually, according to the About Page of Games for Windows, it's only an option to work with an Xbox controller. Nothing therein, or in the Wikipedia page says anything that would be incompatible with what we know of Civ5.

Or it might be a boon because everyone has the same structure

 

[CanuckSoldier]

Yes GfW is just a set of standards, one being not writing game saves to the system folder. This was the issue with Civ4, it allowed saves to be in the system folder and Vista and now 7, the OS would redirect those saves to the virtual games folder without Civ4 being the wiser, unmfortunately this caused havoc with the MP mod security routines that couldn't deal properly with this. And not all civers are computer geeks so trying to get everyone to run Civ as an admin was not very practical.

But civking is right, steam will likely eliminate the install folder issues. But it will still be nice to hear from the devs on MP compatability mod issues between new and old OS installs.

CS

 

[largedarryl]

It's a moot point. ciV is steam exclusive therefore no games for windows. Thank heavens. It also means windows won't sit there and tell me I can't install a game that I can run perfectly fine because my "Windows experience index" isn't high enough.

I'm glad someone made this point.

"Games for Windows" is a stupid logo put in place by Microsoft to encourage PC to Xbox360 game compatibility. There are not a lot of Valve games that have "Games for Windows" in their logo.

 

[civ_king]

Yes GfW is just a set of standards, one being not writing game saves to the system folder. This was the issue with Civ4, it allowed saves to be in the system folder and Vista and now 7, the OS would redirect those saves to the virtual games folder without Civ4 being the wiser, unmfortunately this caused havoc with the MP mod security routines that couldn't deal properly with this. And not all civers are computer geeks so trying to get everyone to run Civ as an admin was not very practical.

But civking is right, steam will likely eliminate the install folder issues. But it will still be nice to hear from the devs on MP compatability mod issues between new and old OS installs.

CS

On my Windows XP computer it doesn't save to the System Folder.

OT: The title contains a typo, this can be rectified by placing an i between the w and n

 

[Thoughtful Thug]

I go to a lot of gaming forums since I like a lot of different games. It never amazes me that there are still Window XP Service Pack 3 users out there. God, do like the rest of us and upgrade to 7 or Vista at least!!!

 

[civ_king]

or a least Windows XP 64-Bit

 

[CanuckSoldier]

I'm glad someone made this point.

"Games for Windows" is a stupid logo put in place by Microsoft to encourage PC to Xbox360 game compatibility. There are not a lot of Valve games that have "Games for Windows" in their logo.

You are confusing GfW and GfW Live, the second one is what you are describing, the first is set of standards for games to play nice on windows OS's. GfW is independant of what system digital or otherwise you are buying Civ5 with.

CS

 

[[KC]Bantams]

I go to a lot of gaming forums since I like a lot of different games. It never amazes me that there are still Window XP Service Pack 3 users out there. God, do like the rest of us and upgrade to 7 or Vista at least!!!

Skip vista unless you really want to go back in time to windows ME

 

[ledat]

I go to a lot of gaming forums since I like a lot of different games. It never amazes me that there are still Window XP Service Pack 3 users out there. God, do like the rest of us and upgrade to 7 or Vista at least!!!

My machine is circa 2005; it is running XP. I'm going to be acquiring a new machine either when Civ V is released or at the beginning of next year. That box will certainly have Windows 7. However, what's the point in changing OS between now and then?

It never ceases to amaze me that people instantly buy every OS Microsoft releases. Vista was a debacle and 7 is a glorified service pack for Vista. The only attractive feature is the native 64 bit OS (64 bit XP sorta sucks). Again, why should I update my OS on my old hardware?

 

[12agnar0k]

Yeah I have no intention of upgrading my XP to a vista which didnt work and is ram hungry, and 7 which looks like it all about shaking windows, Xp is simple and useable, and untill I buy a new PC I will keep XP, though when I get a new PC generally you only have a option of getting the latest OS, though when I brought this PC I choose to get XP on it instead of the newly released Vista

 

[CurseUppl]

Yeah, don't ever upgrade to Vista. If you do so, you're an idiot.