On a Windows 11 laptop with Intel integrated Xe graphics, CivIV Beyond the Sword launches, starts loading then stops running and closes at the moment when it would start loading the welcome screen. GOG's website says CivIV is compatible with Windows 11. Would any one have ideas about how to get CivIV to work with Windows 11?

Thank you for any suggestions that could help!

Did you manually install DirectX 9.0c?

Thank you for the helpful suggestion! I just manually installed DirectX 9c from Microsoft then enabled DirectPlay in Windows 11, and now Civ4 works!

To get DirectX 9c, I downloaded from it from Microsoft.com under the name "DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010)".

I clicked the download to extract the files to the folder of your choice, then clicked the DXSETUP.exe to install it in Windows 11. Then I went to the Control Panel -> Programs and Features -> Windows Features -> Legacy Components to turn on Direct Play.

The above steps come from DOS Gamers' helpful step-by-step installation guide to manually installing DirectX9c.

It turns out a few more configuration steps are necessary for CivIV to work in Windows 11. Here's what worked for me for the Gog.com version of CivIV.

Find the program executable "Civ4BeyondSword.exe" wherever Gog.com stores your programs. (the .exe file of the program not the shortcut). I had to go through several levels of CivIV folders to find CivIV Beyond the Sword's .exe file. Right click the Civ4BeyondSword.exe file. A menu will appear. Click "show more options," then a longer menu with appear. Click "Properties." Then click the "Compatibility" tab then make three changes:

1. Enable "Run program in compatibility mode" and select the "WindowsXP Service Pack 2" option. Select this option manually and don't let Windows 11 choose the compatibility option.
2. Enable "disable full screen optimizations."
3. Enable "run as administrator."

After that I manually installed DirectX 9c downloaded directly from Microsoft. Then the Gog.com version of CivIV Beyond the Sword worked perfectly.