Note: This article was originally published in 2014. Some steps, commands, or software versions may have changed. Check the current Civilization 5 documentation for the latest information.

If you’re encountering this issue, this troubleshooting guide will help you identify the root cause and apply the appropriate fix.

Resolved: Can’t play Multiplayer LAN games on Civilization 5

I had a few friends come by to play Civilization 5 (I know, its the slowest game, but at least we don’t lose against the computer). The problem we had is that one of the computers had issues connecting/creating multiplayer games. It was strange that other computers would work but my main computer was the one having issues. Finally I figured out what was going on: Civilization 5 is not compatible with complex network configuration like networking sharing.

Some background:

As I mentioned Civilization 5 does not work when there are other networking services running like network sharing. In my case I run Hyper-V on my Windows 8, and because I use a wireless network I needed to bridge / share my internet connection between a local network interface for the VMs and my Wireless Network. This is done via the Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) Service which… surprise: Is not compatible with Civilization 5.

Behavior:

You are unable to host a LAN game of Civilzation 5. When you click the Host Game button nothing happens (just the sound you clicked).

Resolution:

  1. Open a command prompt as an Administrator (CMD)
  2. Type: Net Stop SharedAccess
  3. You will receive a confirmation that ICS was stopped: “El servicio de Conexión compartida a Internet (ICS) se detuvo correctamente.” or ‘Internet Connection Sharing -service has been stopped’”

 

  1. Option 2: Open the Services Management Console and find Internet Connection Sharing
  2. Right click the Service and Select Stop.

(http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_h.png?x-id=2d1c68b2-84e6-4070-b637-b26c533be240)](http://www.zemanta.com/?px “Enhanced by Zemanta”)

Summary

This guide covered the common causes and solutions for this Civilization 5 issue. If the problem persists, check the official documentation or system logs for additional diagnostic information.