Is it worth buying Civ 4 in 2022

[Noble Zarkon]

As a professional software engineer who keeps up with industry trends let me tell you there are futures out there that frighten me.

As a professional IT Consultant who keeps up with industry trends I agree there are some frightening things out there but there will always be people who have a bigger vision for openness and creativity.

 

[Noble Zarkon]

When you upgrade your computer, put the old one away in a safe place, so that if the day comes that you can't run CIV on the current hardware or OS, you can set up the old computer and still play.

Indeed, I have an old Windows 7 box with Civ IV installed (and no network connection) - I would counsel you to boot such a box a couple of times of year just to check all is ok.

 

[elmurcis]

There are 28 years till time victory left anyways - should have enough of old machinery around for Civ IV to survive

 

[Caleb of Hebron]

Personally I play from my workhorse laptop - it's old, runs on windows 8.1 and I can do my research and writing just fine. Plus I get to take coffee breaks with Civ IV.

Frell, I'm getting old....

 

[PPQ_Purple]

Indeed, I have an old Windows 7 box with Civ IV installed (and no network connection) - I would counsel you to boot such a box a couple of times of year just to check all is ok.

This. I used to have an old Windows XP machine running the same way but it died. Hardware just wears out like we all do.

 

[JohnCarterOfMars]

This. I used to have an old Windows XP machine running the same way but it died. Hardware just wears out like we all do.

I still have an old Dell XPS Gen2 with Windows XP. I keep it because it's the only computer I have that still has a 3.5" floppy reader.

 

[PPQ_Purple]

I still have an old Dell XPS Gen2 with Windows XP. I keep it because it's the only computer I have that still has a 3.5" floppy reader.

God I miss floppies. They were just better than USB sticks in every way including the fact they were too large to misplace. And I especially miss the days when everything fit on one.

 

[s.bernbaum]

I have an older comp with an old OS that I keep operational and start up now and then to access things that I have on floppy. I then use my local broadcast intranet to move the files to the current machine. I use the same system in reverse, if I want to store data on a floppy.

 

[Quintillus]

It's definitely still worth buying Civ4. Arguably the best game in the series, and it runs great on modern systems, no fiddling around required. And that's even before you get into community mods; IIRC Civ4 has the greatest modding potential of any of the Civ games, and it's been out long enough for a lot of potential to be realized.

I had two older laptops running XP, but the newer one had its motherboard die last year. The older one still works. But I don't actually need them for Civ4.

My main computer still has a 27-year-old internal floppy drive. The trick is to buy a USB to floppy adapter device, and a USB-header-to-single-USB-port adapter, then you can slide a 3.5" floppy drive into a 3.5 or 5.25 inch bay, and connect it up to your motherboard's USB headers internally, making it fully integrated into your desktop. Probably won't help much for storing Civ4 saves, but if you need some authentic floppy drive sounds every so often, or just to read data from old floppies, it works well.

 

[salty mud]

I would go so far as to say it's the only Civ game worth buying in 2022.

 

[PPQ_Purple]

I would go so far as to say it's the only Civ game worth buying in 2022.

You can make a good case for CIV3 and SMAC as well. In fact definitively pick up SMAC on GOG if you can. The mechanics are outdated but the lore will hook you and keep you on the hook.

 

[need my speed]

You can make a good case for CIV3 and SMAC as well. In fact definitively pick up SMAC on GOG if you can. The mechanics are outdated but the lore will hook you and keep you on the hook.

Honestly, I would >love< to play SMAC, but each time I tried, the mechanics were too outdated for me. I know a Civilization IV mod exists for SMAC, but I find it to lack the feeling of SMAC. I think SMAC with Civilization III's improvement would be perfect, but alas.

 

[gavenkoa]

In reality we don't know what direction the field of home computing is going and several of those on offer lead to paths where old games become unplayable

In that case (when commercial deploys would not be available due to incompatible hardware) community might come up with re-implementation of game rules on modern platform.

Like FreeCiv is for Civ 2.

 

[PPQ_Purple]

In that case (when commercial deploys would not be available due to incompatible hardware) community might come up with re-implementation of game rules on modern platform.

Like FreeCiv is for Civ 2.

True, there is always that. But the life of CIV4 is in the mods. And I don't think we can easily make those cross compatible if at all with such an implementation.
Plus what happens if the darkest of all options come true and we go back to the age of thin clients with all the actual computing done on the cloud such as microsoft was trying to push a few years back. Than you can't install and run anything they don't let you.

And please don't bring up desctop linux. I know you wouldn't mean it but some people might not get the joke and take it seriously.

 

[gavenkoa]

But the life of CIV4 is in the mods

BUG/BULL are quality-of-life mods. Better AI, K-mod fix AI and game mechanic.

Other mods, like PlanetFall/Realism:Invictus are abandoned by authors & players.

I haven't played Fall from Heaven II or like to comment on importance...

 

[aieeegrunt]

BUG/BULL are quality-of-life mods. Better AI, K-mod fix AI and game mechanic.

Other mods, like PlanetFall/Realism:Invictus are abandoned by authors & players.

I haven't played Fall from Heaven II or like to comment on importance...

Realism Invictus is far from abandoned. I had a question about the mod and the author replied the same day

Bonus points for it being a dumb question and the author being helpful and civil about it

To the OP’s question; yes, yes, a thousand times yes. This is the best Civ title, and it only gets better because it can be extensively modded

I bought the game through steam and have had zero issues.

Get Realism Invictus, the mod is amazing