Tech Support FAQs

[ainwood]

Index:

1. Where can I find the manual?
2. What are the Minimum System Requirements?
3. How do i skip the opening video?
4. Where can i find the newest graphics drivers and DirectX?
5. "Please provide a Dxdiag." What does this mean, how do i do that?
6. Where can i see what version i'm running, what patch do i have?
7. I am playing using DirectX 9. Why can't I run with Anti-Aliasing?
8. Mods are downloaded from the in-game mod hub, but won't install.
9. I have Civ5 on a DVD, but it still wants to download!
10. I am running Windows Vista and i have set everything to high including anti-aliasing and my game still looks ugly!
11. My graphics are partially gray!
12. I am running Windows 7 and the button for DirectX 11 is messed up, i can't start with DirectX 11
13. My text is completely messed up, what can i do?
14. I can't take any screenshots, everything is black!
15. How can i install Civilizatin 5 at a different place? I don't want to have it on C:!
16. Steam: "This game is currently not available", how do i fix that?
17. I have problems with d3d11.dll on DirectX10/11, what could that be?
18. I can't load any mods! How do i get around this?
19. Modbuddy refuses to launch, what can i do?
20. Civ5 suddenly doesn't want to start anymore / The save button is greyed out, what can i do?
21. I can't start the game, but i heard that enabling windowed mode could help. How do i do that?
22. As soon as I select the DirectX version, the game crashes.
23. My game crashes when i meet a certain leader! What can i do?
24. My "Hall Of Fame" is empty. What can i do?

Q.) Where can I find the manual?

A.) The manual is available for download as a .PDF from the Civilization 5 website: >> Click to download HERE.
English Version
French Version
German Version
Italian Version
Spanish Version


Q.) What are the Minimum System Requirements?

A.) You can get them from this thread (2K games) or the Civfanatics thread in this very forum, here.

You can also try the Can You Run It? website, which supports Civ5. This downloads a small applet that analyzes your specific system, so make sure you allow it. I had problems getting it to work with firefox, but worked fine on Internet Explorer. Also what the site says is not always accurate, so if you are not sure, please ask in the above mentioned thread.

 

[The_J]

Q.) How do i skip the opening video?

A.) Go to "My Documents\My Games\Sid Meiers Civilization 5\" and open usersettings.ini in Notepad. About 15 lines down you will find "SkipIntroVideo = 0". Make this value 1 (to skip the intro movie)

source.



Q.) Where can i find the newest graphics drivers and DirectX?

ATI (Radeon) drivers

Nvidia (Geforce) drivers

DirectX

Intel


Q.) "Please provide a Dxdiag." What does this mean, how do i do that?

Hit the "Windows key" and "R", type in Dxdiag, hit enter. A menu will appear, with a save option at the right bottom. Do this, save it as a file and attach it here. We are able to see what system and drivers you have with this file.


Q.) Where can i see what version i'm running, what patch do i have?

Please take a look at this screenshot, the version is in the main menu.

Thanks to Furiey for providing the screenshot.

 

[ainwood]

Q.) I am playing using DirectX 9. Why can't I run with Anti-Aliasing?

A.) Anti-Aliasing is not available for Civ5 in DirectX 9 via the program itself. You can "Force" anti-aliasing via your video card.

To do this for a NVIDIA card:
1.) Right-click on your desktop and choose "NVIDIA control Panel"
2.) On the list on the left, click on "Manage 3D settings" under "3D settings".
3.) Click on the "Add" button, and navigate to the following location:
Windowx XP / Vista 32 C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\sid meier's civilization v\CivilizationV.exe
Vista | Windows 7 x64 C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\sid meier's civilization v\CivilizationV.exe
4.) Set "Anti-Aliasing mode" to "Over-ride the application setting".
5.) Set the "Anti-Aliasing setting" to whichever value (the higher the number, the better the graphics, but the slower your graphics (frames / second) will run)

 

[ainwood]

Q.) Mods are downloaded from the in-game mod hub, but won't install.

A.) Read my post in THIS THREAD. It might help.

 

[The_J]

Q.) I have Civ5 on a DVD, but it still wants to download!

A.) Please cancel the installation and try it directly again, it should install then from DVD.
Better advice can be found here.

Q.) I am running Windows Vista and i have set everything to high including anti-aliasing and my game still looks ugly!

A.) Please set the leader graphics only to medium.
Explanation can be found here.


Q.) My graphics are partially gray!

A.) Go to "My Documents\My Games\Sid Meiers Civilization 5\" and set the mode for the game to windowed.
(works only partially, further fixes pending)

Another suggestion which works on some systems (stronger systems are needed) can be found here.


Q.) I am running Windows 7 and the button for DirectX 11 is messed up, i can't start with DirectX 11

A.) Please check, if the Steam.exe has not accidentially been installed in Vista compatibility mode (rightclick, properties, check for compatibility).
If is is, please deselect it.
If not, try additionally first activating it, then close the menu, and then deselect it again.


Q.) My text is completely messed up, what can i do?

A.) Your graphics card does probably not meet the minimum requirements .
For a workaround please see here.
If you are not sure if this applies to you, then please ask here.


Q.) I can't take any screenshots, everything is black!

Normally copy and paste to an image program does not work, but with Alt+Print it does work.
If you hit the print button, please look into the screenshots folder under "My Documents\My Games\Civilization 5", there will the normal screenshots be saved.
On a Mac, you can take screenshots with fn-shift-F11.


Q.) How can i install Civilizatin 5 at a different place? I don't want to have it on C:!

A.) Civilization 5 has to be installed in the Steam subfolders. If you want it at a different place, Steam itself has to be moved. You don't need to reinstall Steam, you can just move the whole Steam folder to a different partition or hard drive.

There is also a programm available, which can move some of your games to another drive without moving the complete steam folder, it's called steammover, see here.
Thanks to Mark Havel for the hint .


Q.) Steam: "This game is currently not available", how do i fix that?

Please look here.


Q.) I have problems with d3d11.dll on DirectX10/11, what could that be?

Please look, if this here (ASUS GForce 9800GT) can help you. Related thread at CivFanatics is here.


Q.) I can't load any mods! How do i get around this?

Since the patch 1.0.0.20, you should be able to load mods in any configuration.
If you downloaded a mod before, then please delete the mod you can't load manually, it should be located in My Documents\My Games\Civ5\Mods, and redownload it again.


Q.) Modbuddy refuses to launch, what can i do?

Modbuddy requires the "Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Shell (Isolated) Redistributable Package" to be installed before.


Q.) Civ5 suddenly doesn't want to start anymore / The save button is greyed out, what can i do?

Go to My Documents\My Games\Civ5\Cache, and delete every file in there, then try it again.


Q.) I can't start the game, but i heard that enabling windowed mode could help. How do i do that?

In My Documents\My Games\Civ5, find GraphicsSettingsDX11.ini (or something similar if running DX9). In that file, locate the entry FullScreen = 1 and change it to FullScreen = 0. Save this and try to start Civ5.

 

[ainwood]

Q.) As soon as I select the DirectX version, the game crashes.

A.) Try the fix in This Thread


Q.) My game crashes when i meet a certain leader! What can i do?

A.) In case you are running Civilization 5 with DirectX11 (needs Windows 7 and a DX11 compatible graphics card), then please take a look here.


Q.) My "Hall Of Fame" is empty. What can i do?
The problem is a corruption of the underlying database. It can be fixed, you have to follow the description posted in this thread.