Comanche 4

Comanche
Comanche: Maximum Overkill	1992
Comanche 2	1995
Comanche 3	1997
Comanche Gold	1998
Comanche 4	2001
Comanche	2021

Comanche 4 is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person and third-person vehicle simulator and vehicle combat game developed by NovaLogic. It is part of the Comanche series and the first game built using the Black Hawk Engine.

General information

NovaLogic Support Knowledge Base

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc 2 DRM^{[Note 1]}
GamersGate
Green Man Gaming
Steam

SafeDisc DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected releases).

Demo

A demo is available from gamepressure.com.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\c4.cfg^{[Note 2]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/32750/pfx/^{[Note 3]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\c4plyr.sav^{[Note 2]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/32750/pfx/^{[Note 3]}

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud

Video

In-game video settings

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed		Use dgVoodoo 2.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		See Vertical sync (Vsync).
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
High dynamic range display (HDR)
Color blind mode		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Vertical sync (Vsync)

Modify configuration file to enable Vsync
Go to `<path-to-game>`. Open `c4.cfg` with a text editor. Search for the line containing `vsync`. Set `vsync` value to either of the following: `vsync = 1` or `vsync = 0`. Save the file.

Input

In-game basic controls settings

In-game advanced controls settings

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity		See Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Keyboard and mouse prompts		Tutorial refers to default keyboard prompts.
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		Cannot remap to stick axis.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers		Triggers do not work.
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

PlayStation controllers		DualShock 3, DualShock 4
PlayStation button prompts
Motion sensors support
Light bar support
Adaptive trigger support
DualSense haptic feedback support
Connection modes

Generic/other controllers
Button prompts

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Input prompt override
Haptic feedback		DirectInput Force Feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Mouse sensitivity

Use `mousescale [number]` console command (default is `128`)^[4]

Modify save file^[4]

Go to <path-to-game>.
Open the c4plyr.sav file with a hex editor.
Search and replace all instances of hexadecimal value 80 with your desired mouse sensitivity (converted into hexadecimal value).
Save the file.

Notes

Permanent solution.

Audio

In-game audio settings

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Master, Music, Effects, Dialogue and Rotor Sounds
Surround sound		2.0
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Polish				Only available in local retail release. For Steam release, download the translation file.^[5]
Russian				Only available in local retail release. For Steam release, see the Steam guide.
Slovak				Fan - 1

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		16	Co-op, Versus Co-op limited to 4 players. To connect as client, use `<path-to-game>\c4lan.exe`.^[6]
Online play		16	Co-op, Versus Co-op limited to 4 players.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
UDP	17200

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

Issues fixed

Single Player/ Multiplayer greyed out

Open COMANCHE4 drive\C4SETUP\C4.CD in a text editor to find the letter of the drive the game expects the CD to be in.^[7]

Unable to initialize provider^[8]

Use IPXWrapper

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	8

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows			^[9]

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Cutscenes	Bink Video
Multiplayer	NovaWorld

Command line arguments

Parameter	Description
/?	Shows command line arguments
/m	Enables mono monitor debugging
/d	Reads resources from directory instead of `.pff`
/r	Records demo (single player only)
/p [filename]	Playback demo
/l	Writes errors to `<path-to-game>\errorlog.txt`
/punt.txt	Creates `<path-to-game>\punt.txt`
/s	Enables save scores mode
/sys	Shows system information
/vidtest	Launches video test
/nohud	Disables HUD
/noparticles	Disables particles

Console commands

The console can be opened using the ~ key.

Command	Description
help	Displays keyboard controls
6b28e699	Enables invulnerability
doubledouble, 3bbad868	Enables infinite ammo
8cdd5735	Makes enemies ignore player
resetgames	Fails current mission
showhud	Enables/disables HUD
mousescale [number]	Changes mouse sensitivity (default is `128`)

Cheat codes

Renaming a pilot to WolfBlitz unlocks all missions in Mission Archives.

Extract all Voice, SFX & Music files

Instructions
Download the Dragon UnPACKer from official site or direct link or mirror link and install it. Run the program, press `Ctrl`+`O`, go to `<path-to-game>` and select `c4odata.pff`. Press `Ctrl`+`A` to select all files, right-click, select `Extract files to... Without Convertion` choose the desired directory. This may take some time. Repeat with `c4odata.pff`.

System requirements

Windows^[10]
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95, 98, ME, 2000, XP
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium II 450 MHz
System memory (RAM)	128 MB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	250 MB
Video card (GPU)	16 MB of VRAM DirectX 8.0 compatible	32 MB of VRAM
Other	4X CD-ROM drive

Notes

↑ This version of SafeDisc DRM does not work on Windows 10^[2] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.^[3]
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1
Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (32750) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

References

↑ 3D Engine: Black Hawk engine - last accessed on 2020-03-30
↑ Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
↑ Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Baldo Helps: Mouse Sensitivity in Comanche 4 - last accessed on 2025-06-22
↑ Comanche 4 - dubbingpedia.pl - last accessed on 2025-06-22
↑ Multiplayer - last accessed on 2025-06-25
"Finally, run C4LAN.exe on each client and have them join the LAN server. C4LAN client will only play LAN IP or LAN IPX games. It will not run Single Player or Novaworld multiplayer games."
↑ single player and multiplayer greyed.. - last accessed on 2025-05-10
↑ When I try to host a LAN multiplayer game, I get the error message, "Unable to initialize provider." - last accessed on 2025-06-26
↑ Verified by User:Blisto on 2024-10-06
↑ What are the system requirements for Comanche 4? - last accessed on 2025-06-26

[4] This version of SafeDisc DRM does not work on Windows 10^[2] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.^[3]

[gamedir-5] 2.0 ^2.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

[Proton_path_note-6] 3.0 ^3.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
The app ID (32750) may differ in some cases.
Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[4] File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.

[5] Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.

[6] The app ID (32750) may differ in some cases.

[7] Treat backslashes as forward slashes.

[8] See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[1] 3D Engine: Black Hawk engine - last accessed on 2020-03-30

[2] Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16

[3] Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16

[Baldo_Helps-7] 4.0 ^4.1 Baldo Helps: Mouse Sensitivity in Comanche 4 - last accessed on 2025-06-22

[8] Comanche 4 - dubbingpedia.pl - last accessed on 2025-06-22

[9] Multiplayer - last accessed on 2025-06-25
"Finally, run C4LAN.exe on each client and have them join the LAN server. C4LAN client will only play LAN IP or LAN IPX games. It will not run Single Player or Novaworld multiplayer games."

[10] single player and multiplayer greyed.. - last accessed on 2025-05-10

[11] When I try to host a LAN multiplayer game, I get the error message, "Unable to initialize provider." - last accessed on 2025-06-26

[12] Verified by User:Blisto on 2024-10-06

[13] What are the system requirements for Comanche 4? - last accessed on 2025-06-26

[1]

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[Note 3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[2]

[3]

Developers

	NovaLogic
Publishers
2001-2016	NovaLogic
2016-present	THQ Nordic
Engines
	Black Hawk Engine^[1]
Release dates
Windows	November 15, 2001
Reception
Metacritic	74
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person, Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Vehicle simulator, Vehicle combat
Vehicles	Helicopter
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Contemporary
Series	Comanche