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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Civilization IV | 4/5 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization_IV | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T13:24:21.863631+00:00 | kb-cron |
Earth – This is the world map of the game, based on the Robinson projection of the Earth in order to optimize its size. 124x68 tiles large, it features just 9 ancient civilizations. An 18 civilizations version of this mod was later released which won the first prize at a GameFlood modding contest. Earth Ice Age – This map is set in the world during the last ice age (20,000 years before present), with 11 randomly picked civilizations. Greek World – To reenact the classical Mediterranean, a special map was made, based on Hecataeus' map of the world as it was known by the Greeks. Extra detail was also borrowed from other ancient sources such as Homer, Ptolemy, and Herodotus. Rhye's and Fall of Civilization – This mod changes much of the core settings of the game as an attempt at maintaining a sense of historical realism into the game. In order to do this, it introduces other features such as plagues and congresses. Fall from Heaven - a total conversion mod that reimagines the game in a dark fantasy setting, built by Derek Paxton. Its sequel Fall from Heaven II became the most downloaded mod on CivFanatics.
=== Civilization Anonymous === The game had a viral marketing campaign, revolving around a fictitious self-help organization known as Civilization Anonymous (shortened to CivAnon), the intention being to satirise how addictive the game was. With the slogan "No More Turns", the premise was the following: "Rumors have begun to circulate that the newest edition of the "One More Turn" franchise is on its way. STAY AWAY from this game at all costs. You will likely be powerless to its extreme addictive properties once exposed". Various characters were created, and their scenarios were included in various trailers showing the "inside [of] a Civanon meeting for [Civilization] addicts," the first of which being played during E3 2005 once an hour at the 2K Games booth. These "video testimonials of supposedly recovering Civilization addicts" also featured cameos by Sid Meier. In addition to this, an "official" website was created by 2K Games with extra content. The Civilization Anonymous campaign was brought back for the following game Civilization V. Break described the campaign as "hilarious", while Kotaku described it as a "great promotional campaign" that "comes across as terrifyingly realistic". Destructoid shared this view, saying the support group campaign is "a clever marketing tool", but wishing it existed as "we all know there really are people who suffer from one-more-turn-itis". VantureBeat said the campaign was "incredibly clever and funny", adding "what made it so powerful was not the near-flawless execution and fine detail; it was the fact that it could have been real". 'Ctrl-Alt-Play: Essays on Control in Video Gaming' noted the spoof highlighted the series' "hyper-addictive turn-based gameplay". As part of the Civilization V version of the campaign, 2K Games asked Civilization addicts to submit stories via video in order to win $2,500 and a "framed, limited edition Civilization Anonymous poster signed by Firaxis Games". The 2010 version was "updated for modern concerns, like the franchise's broader audience and iPhone editions of the game acting as a gateway drug."
=== Release === Civilization IV was published for the Windows and Mac OS X platforms. Aspyr released the Mac OS X version on June 26, 2006, and a Mac digital version was released January 2010 on gameagent.com. Users who quickly purchased the game after initial release reported having problems playing the game on particular sets of video drivers, which were later resolved by a Firaxis patch, according to GameSpy. By the end of March 2008, the game sold over three million units. Firaxis Games has also published two expansion packs for Civilization IV, entitled Civilization IV: Warlords and Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword. A remake of the original 1994 Sid Meier's Colonization, rebuilt with Civilization IV's game engine and titled Civilization IV: Colonization, was released for Mac and PC as a standalone game and later bundled with the two expansions as Civilization IV: The Complete Edition.
== Reception ==
=== Sales === Civilization IV was a commercial success, and sold more than 1 million units by mid-March 2006. By that time, it had held a top-10 position on every weekly computer game sales chart released by The NPD Group since the game's launch. NPD declared Civilization IV the 11th-best-selling computer game of 2005, and it rose to ninth place on the firm's annual computer game sales chart for the following year. It returned to NPD's year-end top 20 in 2008 with a 13th-place finish. The game also received a "Silver" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom. According to Take-Two Interactive, sales of Civilization IV surpassed 3 million units by March 2008.
=== Critical reviews ===