Civilization 5 PC players are experiencing errors like Error 53, RunTime Error, Version Mismatch error, crashes, stuttering, and more. Here we will discuss all of the errors and issues that players are experiencing with the game along with their fixes and workarounds.
Civilization 5 Crash, Stuttering, And Fixes
It’s been almost a decade since Civilization V launched. The game is still going strong with a healthy player base. However, the Civilization 5 PC version is still facing errors like Error 53, RunTime Error, disk write error, Version Mismatch error, and more.
The following are the errors and issues that players are experiencing along with their fixes and workarounds.
Error 53 Fix
Some Civilization 5 players are reporting that when they launch the game, they get the Error 53 and are unable to play the game.
One reason for this error could be the anti-virus, temporarily disable your anti-virus and the game should work just fine. If the error still persists, then change the download location for Civilization V and Error 53 will be fixed.
Crash Fix
According to players, the game crashes randomly while playing. Some players have reported that there is a certain point on the map, if too many troops pass through there, the game just crashes.
If you are getting this issue then chances are you are playing an older version of the game. Update Civilization 5 and it won’t crash again. To do that, go to your Steam library > right-click the game > properties > Updates tab > select “Always keep this game up to date”. Steam will then update the Civilization V and the issue will be resolved.
RunTime Error Fix
Civilization 5 players are reporting the runtime error when they launch the game. The following is the error they are experiencing.
Runtime Error! …… DX11.exe
This application has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way. Please contact the application’s support team for more information.
To fix this, go to Steam\steamapps\common\Steamworks Shared. Install both x64 and x86 versions of vcredist and also install DirectX. This should fix the problem.
If you are still getting the Runtime Error, then you save files are corrupt. The only thing you can do now is starting a new game and disable cloud synchronization so that your new save files won’t get corrupt. Go to your Steam library > right-click the game > properties > Updates tab > uncheck “Enable Steam Cloud synchronization”.
Version Mismatch Fix
Mac users are reporting that they are getting the Version Mismatch error. This error is due to the latest update for the game. To fix this, Mac users need to roll back to the previous version of the game. Here is how to fix the Version Mismatch error. Also, this fix will only work for 32 bits Mac OS users, not 64 bit.
Type in “steam://open/console” in your browser. Click on “Open link” and a console will open in your Steam app. Now type in the following commands in the console and press enter after each command.
download_depot 8930 34481 5711972141799136814
download_depot 8930 34482 293951968877529027
download_depot 8930 34483 3910588445040143320
download_depot 8930 34484 9131316072741390333
download_depot 8930 34485 1865183405869601470
download_depot 8930 34486 6971270737631976614
download_depot 8930 34487 4966216658623765073
download_depot 8930 34490 606994205662565075
download_depot 8930 34491 2047815699880579752
download_depot 8930 34492 3311842813097187638
download_depot 8930 34493 1148476131207894920
download_depot 8930 34494 893561351379836699
download_depot 8930 34495 576095814009008786
download_depot 8930 34496 4022289502817061773
download_depot 8930 34497 8892530755683233694
download_depot 8930 34498 2865804471296023531
download_depot 8930 102000 1870263936259062326
download_depot 8930 102001 9221941862915432283
download_depot 8930 102002 965961373928029358
download_depot 8930 102003 4151764525658255518
download_depot 8930 210450 6264361000315827028
download_depot 8930 210451 2973148354856561592
download_depot 8930 235582 1533069807487939850
download_depot 8930 235583 7031001621577176910
download_depot 8930 235587 6614670000834743471
download_depot 8930 235588 2007573375151766257
download_depot 8930 266721 929701703085505943
Once the download is complete, it’s time to locate the Civilization 5 folder and the folder where the previous version has been downloaded.
Go to your Steam folder and navigate to “Steam/steamapps/common/Sid Meier’s Civilization V”, this is the game’s folder. Go to “Steam/Steam.AppBundle/Steam/Contents/MacOS/steamapps/content/app_8930”, this is the downloaded version of the game.
To do that, you need to close both Civilization V and Steam. Open the X11 terminal or any other terminal you prefer and type in the following.
rsync -av ~/Library/Application\ Support/Steam/Steam.AppBundle/Steam/Contents/MacOS/steamapps/content/app_8930/dep*/Civilization\ V.app/* ~/Library/Application\ Support/Steam/steamapps/common/Sid\ Meier\’s\ Civilization\ V/Civilization\ V.app/
Note: the folder paths will be different for different users. Just replace the folder path in the command with your system’s folder path.
Of course, you now need to stop the game from automatically updating the newer version and cause the error again. To do that, go to “Steam/steamapps/appmanifest_8930.acf”, open the file in an editor and change StateFlags” parameter to “4”. This will fix the Version Mismatch error for Civilization 5.
Crash At Startup, Game Not Launching Fix
PC video games often face the crash at startup or game not launching issue and Civilization 5 is no exception. Here are a few fixes and workarounds to fix the issue so that players can enjoy the game.
PC games often crash if they don’t have administrative rights. Right-click the game’s exe > Properties > Compatibility tab > check “run this program as administrator”. Apply the change, launch Civ 5 and the issue will be fixed.
Your anti-virus software or Windows Defender might be blocking the exe file by falsely detecting it as a Trojan. Either disable the anti-virus or exclude the game’s folder from it. This will fix the crash at the launch issue.
Using third-party software like MSI Afterburner or GeForce Experience can also cause the game to crash. Disable any third-party utility you are using and the game won’t crash.
If you are using MSI Afterburner and disabling it hasn’t fixed the issue then follow the steps below.
- Open RivaTuner Statistics Server(RTSS).
- Click the Add button and navigate to the game’s folder.
- Add Civilization 5’s exe under Application profile properties.
- Set Application detection level to None for the game application.
- Close RivaTuner Statistics Server.
Disk Write Error Fix
According to players, they are unable to download the game or update the game on Steam as they get the Disk Write Error.
Lack of Administrative rights can cause this error. Right-click on Steam.exe and select “Properties”. Go to the “Compatibility” tab and check “Run this program as an administrator”. Apply the setting and error should be resolved.
In case the error is still occurring, open CMD and run it as an administrator. Type the following commands and press enter after each command.
diskpart
list disk
select disk # (# is the number of the hard drive in which the game is installed)
attributes disk clear readonly
If the above fixes haven’t done the job then go to “Steam/logs/content_log”. Scroll down and look for “failed to write”. Open the file and it has paths to some corrupted files. Follow the path and delete the corrupted files.
Low FPS, Stuttering Fix
Performance issues are bound to pop up given that there so many PC configurations out there. Here I will note down the fixes for stuttering, low FPS, and random FPS drops.
First, make sure you have installed the latest GPU drivers and there is no background process using too much of your CPU, GPU, or HDD.
For the laptop users, make sure the game is running on the dedicated GPU instead of the integrated. Some times, games don’t switch to the dedicated GPU which results in performance issues.
For Nvidia users, open open Nvidia Control Panel > Manage 3D Settings > Program Settings > select the game. Select the non-integrated GPU option.
As for the AMD GPU users, open Device Manager and disable the integrated graphics under Display Adapters.
If you aren’t playing Civilization 5 on a laptop and is still facing stuttering and other performance issues then Nvidia users, open Nvidia Control Panel > Manage 3D Settings > Program Settings > select the game. Set Vertical Sync to “ON”, set “Power Management Mode” to “Prefer Maximum Performance”, and change Texture Filtering- Quality” to “High Performance”.
Start the game, disable in-game v.sync and the performance issues will be fixed. If not, then follow the steps mentioned above but set Vertical Sync to “Fast”.
Updating Error Fix
Some players have reported that they are receiving the “An error has occurred when updating game” message and are unable to update the game. This can be fixed by changing the game’s download location.
That is all for our Civilization 5 fixes for errors like Error 53, the game not launching, version mismatch error, Runtime Error, and more. If you are facing errors and issues with other PC games or your PC then also see our hub for commonly occuring PC errors and their fixes.