The Settlers IV

This page is for the original game. For the 2018 re-release, see The Settlers IV - History Edition.

The Settlers IV

Developers
	Blue Byte Software
Publishers
Early prints	Blue Byte Software
	Ubisoft
Release dates
Windows	February 15, 2001
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, Expansion pack
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Bird's-eye view, Isometric
Controls	Point and select, Multiple select
Genres	Building, RTS
Art styles	Cartoon
Themes	Classical, Fantasy, Pre-Columbian Americas
Series	The Settlers

The Settlers IV is a singleplayer and multiplayer bird's-eye view and isometric building and RTS game in the The Settlers series.

The game has compatibility issues with Windows 10 systems and needs a workaround to run. See Issues fixed.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc v2 DRM
GOG.com		Gold Edition.

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

Version differences

The Gold Edition includes the base game, the Mission CD, and The Trojans and the Elixir of Power expansion pack.

The Gold Edition Plus was only ever released in the German-speaking market. Aside from all the content of the Gold Edition, it includes Die Neue Welt expansion pack.

Demo

A free demo version is available from Archive.org.

Monetization

Type	Notes
Expansion pack	The expansion packs includes new campaigns and maps. The Trojans and the Elixir of Power includes a new faction, and Die Neue Welt an exclusive terrain type.
One-time game purchase	The game requires an upfront purchase to access.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Mission CD
The Trojans and the Elixir of Power
Die Neue Welt	Available only in German language before the release of History Edition
Community Pack: Historische Schlachten	Available only in German language before the release of History Edition

Essential improvements

Patches

The latest official patch is 2.50.1516a, available from Ubisoft's patch reporistory, Siedler-Maps.de and Patches-Scrolls. Applies to all language versions. This patch does not remove the CD protection.

Widescreen Fix adds support for FHD, 4k and custom resolutions.

Skip intro videos

Instructions[citation needed]
Go to <path-to-game>\Video Delete or rename BB_logo.bik, S4.bik and UbiSoft_Logo.bik.

Skip all videos

Instructions[citation needed]
Open <path-to-game>\Config\Video.cfg config file with any text editor Set ShowVideos to 0

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Config\GameSettings.cfg

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Save\

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy

Video

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		Use Widescreen Fix or The Settlers 4: Widescreen Tool.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen		Use Widescreen Fix.
4K Ultra HD		Use Widescreen Fix.
Field of view (FOV)		The player can zoom in and out.
Windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Use Nvidia Profile Inspector.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Use Nvidia Profile Inspector.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Use Nvidia Profile Inspector.
60 FPS		Frame rate is capped at 30 FPS by default but can be removed with Widescreen Fix.
120+ FPS		See 60fps notes above
High dynamic range display (HDR)

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support

Controller types

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Czech				Retail only
French				Retail only.
German				Retail only; download for digital release.
Polish
Russian				Unofficial translation by 7 Wolf

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		8
Online play		8	The official multiplayer service has been shut down.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Issues unresolved

Retail version compatibility problems

Many bugs, glitches and crashes in every OS higher than Windows XP. Only the GOG.com version has better support.^{[citation needed]}

Fatal error: Exception 0xc0000005 at 0x00468bd0!

Occurs if something went wrong while using trading routes via ship (but not limited to this). It's a bug in the game itself.

Desynchronization issues

Multiplayer matches tend to end up desynchronized after a while even with stable connections. This is a known issue that has never been addressed.

Issues fixed

"Error initializing Graphic Interface" error (Or black screen / Game not starting)

Use Windows 10 patch (DXwrapper)
Download The Settlers IV Windows 10 patch. Unzip the main fix to the installation folder. Unzip the editor fix to The Settlers IV 'Editor' folder.

You can also use Widescreen Fix which includes a ddraw.dll wrapper, which also fixes this issue.

Music stops when playing as Mayans

When playing as Mayans, the music stops playing after a fight. This is a known bug that has never been fixed officially. A manual workaround is moving the in-game Sound FX slider under Settings > Sound settings to restart the music.

A permanent fix can be found here.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
DirectDraw	7

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	Miles Sound System	6.1c
Cutscenes	Bink Video

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	95 OSR2, 98, 2000, ME, NT 4.0
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium MMX 200 MHz
System memory (RAM)	64 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	250 MB
Video card (GPU)	Resolution of at least 800x600 4 MB of VRAM DirectX 7 compatible