The best way to play multiplayer RI?

[Colonel_Butthurt]

My recommendation is to use some virtual LAN like ZeroTier (I personally use ZeroTier for that, but I'm certain there are others as well; free version is enough for playing Civ: https://www.zerotier.com/pricing/), after which you can do a Direct IP connection to the hosting player's ZeroTier IP. It is a bit of a hassle to set up initially, but after that, it requires no further effort.

I apologize for this somewhat of a necro post, but is there any step-by-step guide available on setting up LAN games with ZeroTier (or other software) specifically for Civ4? I've never played a LAN game in my life, even without additional software, so despite research and due diligence on my part (reading stuff and watching videos for other games), trying to make it all work remains arcane technology to me.

I'm planning on playing with one friend of mine, and I've managed to create a ZT network with my friend joining it, so now my network has 2 authorized members. But how does that translate into him (my friend) joining my lobby? Thank you for your time, any help is much appreciated!

 

[Walter Hawkwood]

You did almost everything already. Now that you have him on your network, he can join the games you host via direct IP connection using a virtual IP address ZeroTier assigned to you.