THE SETTLERS IV GOLD Important Information (ReadMe) This file offers you information about the game that

was too new to be added to the manual, as well as a reference to the additional goodies we placed on the CD . The Settlers IV - Mini Games During the installation of The Settlers, two extra fun-guarantors are also insta lled: "Smack-A-Thief" and "The Dark Side". If you did not remove these two optio ns in the customized setup, you can start them by selecting the respective entry in the windows start menu under: Programs/BlueByte/The Settlers IV. News The directory called "News" on the CD contains information about the latest Ubi Soft releases and some demo versions of current games. Simply choose the option News from the Autostart menu of THE SETTLERS IV. Take some time and have a look! Goodies on the CD To browse THE SETTLERS IV GOLD CD's contents, just right click on the icon repres enting your CD-ROM drive and choose "Open". Technical notes Internet By choosing the option "Internet" the new BLUE BYTE GAME CHANNEL-Software is lau nched. This software is installed automatically on your system during the instal lation of THE SETTLERS IV GOLD and enables you to log in to the BLUE BYTE GAME CH ANNEL. Just enter your nickname and your password. If you do not have a user profile yet, you can easily create one with the help o f this little program. Multiplayer LAN games If you use a network controller with the Realtek 8029 chipset, please be sure to use the latest drivers available (03.02.2000). The generic drivers shipped with Windows 95 or Windows 98 are defective! If a single player uses these defective drivers in a multiplayer game, the perfo rmance of the whole multiplayer game deteriorates dramatically and the game migh t become too slow to be playable at all. Please ensure that everybody always use s the latest drivers. Sound cards Some older sound cards might cause problems, if another application uses the sou nd card while THE SETTLERS IV GOLD is running (e.g. MP3-Players). Please close al l other applications to properly run THE SETTLERS IV GOLD. Graphics engine The graphics engine of THE SETTLERS IV supports 3D accelerator cards to achieve a better quality and speed of display. The hardware support is divided into two m odules: Hardware support for drawing the landscape: If this option is enabled, the video card takes responsibility for drawing the l andscape and thus considerably enhances the graphic speed. In this mode, the tex ture maps have to be present in the memory of the video card. Therefore some of the video memory is reserved and cannot be used. For some boards with only 8 or 16 MB this means, that they cannot display all available resolutions anymore. I f you own such a video card and want to have higher resolutions without renounci ng the hardware acceleration, you might want to choose the option "Low Texture Q uality". This option reduces the amount of memory used by the texture maps. Depe

nding on your system configuration, some higher resolutions may become available again. Hardware support for drawing objects: If this feature is enabled, the video card takes responsibility for drawing all objects in the world of THE SETTLERS. All shadows and effects are generated in t he alpha mode, which allows to display transparency. This results in more realis tic and more beautiful graphics. Also bi-linear filtering may be enabled, if you r video card supports this feature. This creates a smoother display rather than raw pixels when zooming in. Minimum configuration of the video card: When THE SETTLERS IV GOLD uses the software rendering mode, there are only a few minimum demands: 4 MB video memory DirectX support Certain basic features like colorkeying and blitting

In order to use the hardware landscape renderer, you need at least: 8 MB video memory 3D accelerator card DirectX 7

In order to use the hardware object renderer, you need at least: memory 3D accelerator card DirectX 7 Supported texture size of at least 512 pixels (Being tested by S4. Nowadays ther e are only a few boards, that do not support this feature. The most popular repr esentatives are the 3dfx Voodoo-boards up to version 3000) Known problems with certain graphic boards / chipsets: In our test lab we tested a lot of graphic boards and drivers for compatibility with THE SETTLERS IV. But due to the endless number of different manufacturers, driver versions and operating systems, no testing procedure can cover all possib le configurations. Another problem is that some popular manufacturers, like S3 f or example, do not exist anymore and therefore cannot give any support. Please e xcuse, that not all features are available for some problematic board and driver combinations. But in most cases the software rendering mode is available as a f ast and efficient alternative. 1.) Most cards of the S3-Series (mainly by Diamond: Savage, ViperII, Stealth and others): The drivers for these boards contain a bug for the rendering mode used by THE SETTLERS IV GOLD. The software rendering mode should be problem-free, though. 2.) Vodoo5500: THE SETTLERS IV GOLD with hardware support runs best, if the board is being operated in "SingleChip" mode. Using full screen antialiasing in connection with S4 unfortunately is not possible. 3.) ATI: Nearly all ATI boards work properly with THE SETTLERS IV GOLD. But t here are some older driver versions, which might cause system crashes and graphi c errors (for example a snow-white ground). These problems have been solved with the latest driver versions. 16 MB video memory or 8 MB video memory for an AGP board with support for system

4.) NVidia-Chipsets: Boards with these chipsets (TNT1, TNT2, GeForce1+2 and all boards manufactured by third party developers like for example Elsa) are gen erally working fine and fast. If the detonator drivers by NVidia is used, you mi ght encounter flickering objects. The flickering disappears, if the hardware obj ect renderer is used. 5.) Especially old boards, like for example Matrox Millenium 1: Some older b oards unfortunately do not have full support for colorkeying. This causes parts of the screen, that should be transparent, to be displayed solid black. To corre ct this, set the value for the option PureSoftwareMode in the file "video.cfg" t o 1. You can find the file in the directory "cfg" in the installation directory of THE SETTLERS IV GOLD (usually: C:\Blue Byte\The Settlers IV Gold). This option considerably slows down the graphic speed. Hardware support is no longer availa ble. 6.) AGP graphic boards with an AGP-Speed > 1x: For some systems with a mothe rboard supporting higher AGP speeds, THE SETTLERS IV GOLD might cause system cras hes, if the system configuration contains errors. Although other 3D games might run without problems on these machines, the reason for this is a problematic com bination of motherboard and video card. Due to the extremely high demands to the AGP bus, THE SETTLERS IV GOLD is more likely to cause such problems than other g ames. The problem can be solved by reducing the AGP speed to 1x, or disabling th e option "AGP-Fastwrites". This problem is only relevant for the few users, who own one of the very first boards supporting AGP speeds as high as this. In general, you should make sure, that you only use the latest drivers for your video card. For further information about the appropriate drivers for your card, please visit the manufacturers website. If you have further questions about running THE SETTLERS IV GOLD with your video card, you may contact the Blue Byte hotline via telephone or fax. Corrections to the THE SETTLERS IV GOLD manual Agave Farms The Mayans can only grow agaves in the desert. Please take care, that the area o f work is set accordingly. Keyboard/Mouse functions You can view the elapsed playing time by pressing "F7". By pressing "F12", you can accelerate the game speed and jump ahead one minute o f the playing time. Magic The spell called "Shortcut" (available for all nations) does not lower the mount ain, as explained in the manual, but merely melts the snow on it and makes it pa ssable. Tool- and weapon smith In order to have your smith start production, he needs to have a hammer. This en try is missing in the according table in the manual. Vehicle Hall In contrast to what is described in the manual, the vehicle maker only needs a h ammer, he does not need a saw. Additions to THE SETTLERS IV manual Ecosectors An ecosector in THE SETTLERS IV GOLD is a piece of soil, which is surrounded by b order posts. A settlement always consists of at least one ecosector. If you foun

d a new colony with a donkey cart, your settlement consists of two ecosectors. The local and global button found in most of the menus (for example the settlerjob-table and the building menus) indicates the scope the menu covers. This migh t only be the ecosector currently displayed on the map, or the whole settlement with all respective ecosectors on the map. If you order your smiths to produce tools and weapons, or your barracks to start recruiting soldiers, these orders are distributed amongst all relevant building s in the same ecosector. For example, if you request the production of 15 swords, the order is distribute d to all weapon smiths in the same ecosector. If you select another weapon smith in the same ecosector, you will find the same order for 15 swords in its produc tion menu. Hear your own music while playing In the menu Options / Sound you will now find an additional option called "Own M usic". Use this button when you want to listen to your own MP3 files during the game. The music files have to be in the directory Snd/User in the THE SETTLERS IV GOLD installation directory (standard: C:\Bluebyte\The Settlers IV Gold\Snd\User) and will be played in random order. storage area You need a storage area to ensure a smooth and efficient production process. The work inside the buildings will stop as soon as 8 units of a product have been p roduced without being collected by carriers. So it makes sense to build a storag e area and have surplus goods stored there. The production will not be interrupt ed and you have a reserve supply of goods / raw materials at your disposal, in c ase you have an increased demand for those later in the game. Use the context menu of the storage area to set the goods and materials that sho uld be stored as long as they are not needed elsewhere. Recruiting soldiers You need barracks to train a settler to become a soldier. Ensure that you have e nough free settlers and weapons to train the desired number of fighting units. S oldiers of the first level only need a weapon, soldiers in higher ranks need a w eapon and some gold. But keep in mind that higher ranked soldiers are far better fighters. A squad le ader additionally needs an armor besides the sword, which is as well produced by the weapon smith. Soldier level 1 free settler + Soldier level 2 free settler + Soldier level 3 free settler + Squad leader free settler + weapon weapon + 1 gold bar weapon + 2 gold bars armor + sword + 3 gold bars

Accommodation / strike You should always make sure that all carriers / free settlers have a place to li ve. In contrast to what is said in the manual, the builders and diggers do not n eed accommodation. The amount of free beds is a global quantity. That means as long as there are en ough free beds, no carrier will go on strike. You also always receive a number of free beds, for which you do not have to buil d a residential building. This basic supply of beds depends on the starting cond itions for the chosen map. Changes in the game General: The building costs for the Vikings, the Mayans and the Romans have been revised. The costs for magic spells and their rising prices have been revised.

 The weapon smith is set to automatic production after being built. 50% swords, 5 0% bows. Eyecatchers now further enhance the fighting power, but they also cost more gold . When all 12 eyecatchers of a nation have been built, you receive a fighting bonu s of about 4%. A menu shows how many settlers are still in their residences. When distributing food, the mines now have a symbol indicating which kind of foo d they prefer and which kind of food makes their work most effective. The bonus of bowmen in towers has been reduced. Bowmen in all three levels now cause less damage. If you hold CTRL and right click on a building in the building menu, the next bu ilding of this kind is selected and the production menu opens if applicable. Thu s you have a faster and more comfortable access to the production in your settle ment. In multiplayer games there is a new option: "Random Nation". It is indicated by a question mark, which is pre-selected for all new players joining the game. The transport priorities have been revised and now have a new order, which makes the game run smoother. The goods statistics have been re-arranged. The magic spell "Shortcut" is more powerful: o Romans can turn swamp into meadows, o Mayans can turn meadows to desert, o Vikings can turn desert to meadows, o and the Trojans can turn meadows to swamp. o All nations can turn dark land green again. The observation screen is only available at a resolution of 1280x1024. Video cards with full screen antialising or drivers, that can emulate this funct ion, may cause color changes and the graphics in the middle of the screen may be distorted while scrolling. This problem arises because of an incompatibility of the scrolling method used in THE SETTLERS IV GOLD and full screen antialiasing; it is not a bug in THE SETTLERS IV GOLD itself. The problem can be solved by disa bling full screen antialising in the driver options. The electronic manual for the mission CD "THE SETTLERS IV: The Trojans and the E lixir of Power" still can only be viewed by choosing the appropriate option in t he start menu. The "Manual" button in the game only displays the manual of the m ain software. After installation of the Mission CD the numbers 1, 2 and 3 on your keyboard ena ble you to choose one of three game speeds additional to the one minute time jum p (F12). The higher the level of the blowgun warrior, the higher his hit percentage. Medics heal 15% less health points in all levels. The axe warrior of the Vikings causes 10% less damage in all levels. Construction costs for large towers have been increased. o Romans: originally: 5 stone + 5 planks / now: 7 stone + 7 plank s o Mayans: originally: 4 stone + 6 planks / now: 7 stone + 6 plank s o Vikings: originally: 4 stone + 6 planks / now: 6 stone + 7 plan ks The host of the game can now assign colors and teams to the AIs of the different nations. Just click on the name of an AI player and change the parameters. Editor: For the user defined object brushes, the set frequency of objects might differ w idely from the frequency really used, when the used objects have different sizes . To avoid this, only use objects with about the same size for one brush (for ex ample only grass, only bushes or only trees). Another possibility is to level ou t the non-linear distribution by making the respective settings. Those objects,

that are rarely created, need a high setting, while those objects, that are draw n too often need a lower setting. On slower systems you might encounter timing problems, depending on the renderin g method used. Dialogues and menus may only pop up after some seconds or even mi nutes. To solve this, please disable the option "Show Animations" in the "Displa y" menu. The landscape objects will not be animated anymore, but the above menti oned problem will not happen again. For video cards with less than 32 MB on board memory, the memory might be insuff icient for high resolutions. In this case the graphic engine is automatically de activated. You can solve this problem easily by scaling down the editor window, until it is displaying correctly again. Victory conditions: Next to the victory conditions you can determine in the editor, there are fixed victory conditions, that always apply and cannot be overruled: o When all of your enemies have been destroyed, you immediately win, even if there are further conditions set for the victory that were not yet fulfilled, e.g. the production of certain goods or the occupation of certain landmarks. Here is an example to illustrate: You define the following two victory conditions: 1.) Player 1 must survive 60 minutes. 2.) Player 2 must survive 45 minutes. o Lets assume player 2 has been defeated after 50 minutes. The map cannot be won, because there is no way for all victory conditions to be fulfill ed simultaneously (after 45 minutes the second condition is fulfilled, the first one after 60 minutes. But at this time, the second condition does not count as fulfilled anymore, because player 2 has been defeated. The game does not "rememb er" if a condition has been fulfilled or not, they all have to be true at the sa me time). The same applies to all other cases like this. o THE SETTLERS IV GOLD regularly checks, if the victory conditions are fulf illed to determine whether the game was won or not. You only win, if all victory conditions are fulfilled at the same time. If these conditions are fulfilled on e after another but are not true at the same time, you will not win, even if you had fulfilled all necessary conditions in the game. o If you set the victory condition to "defeat player x", you cannot change the teams when starting the game anymore. The option "Alliances changeable at s tart of game" is not available either. o The "Economy Mode" is only selectable, if you previously selected "Confl ict". In the game you may play the conflict-map, that was declared as economy mo de, as an economy map. o When you create a map and define the victory condition "time", the map c an only be exported, if all nations in the team of the player are numbered conse cutively beginning with player slot 2. If you have an enemy in player slot 2, th en you cannot define a survival time for a 3rd nation, which is in your team, be cause in this case the map cannot be exported. Examples: Faction 1 : Human = Team 1 Faction 2 : Computer = Team 1 Faction 3 : Computer = Team 2 >> Victory condition: Faction 2 must survive 10 min. >> Map can be exported! Faction 1 : Human = Team 1

Faction 2 : Computer = Team 2 Faction 3 : Computer = Team 1 >> Victory condition: Faction 3 must survive 10 min. >> Map can NOT be exported! o In order to create a map with the Dark Tribe in the editor that can be w on, the dark mushroom farms of the Dark Temple must not be too close to the Dark Temple itself or the dark fortress. o A river delta can only be added to rivers of size 4 and only, if this ri ver is placed directly at the shore of a pond or the sea. Random map generator: The values that can be selected for the "landmass" option are merely a raw guide line. Divergences are possible and welcome. So if you choose a small value for " landmass" but have a large amount of players, the landmass needed for the player s' settlements is automatically created. That means, the landmass exceeds the gi ven value to ensure playability of the map. The random map key contains the following information: 1. Size of the map 2. Number of players 3. Percentage of landmass 4. Amount of mineral resources and fish 5. Mirror mode 6. Random number All other adjustable parameters are not included in the random map key. Paramete rs like the number of teams, their nationality etc. have to be determined again for every session / every generated map. Support: Service Team - Hotline You have questions regarding our games? You are stuck in one of the missions? Please have a look at our FAQ first, maybe there is already an answer to your qu estion. If you call or mail us, please give us your system configuration (type and speed of processor, RAM, video card, sound card, DirectX version installed, CD-ROM). This information is needed by our support team in order to help you. You can fin d this information either in your windows control panel (System -> Device Manage r) or by running the DxDiag-Tool (e.g. under Programs -> DirectX -> Setup -> DxD iag.exe). Our technical support team is always willing to help you with your technical que stions (installation, etc.). It is available under the following number Mo-Fr from 9:00 - 19:00 h Tel.: +49 (0)01805 - 55 49 38 (0,12 / minute)

Hints and tips: You are stuck at a certain point in the game? Our Hints and Tips Hotline is avai lable every day from 8:00 - 24:00 h: Tel.: +49 (0)190 - 88 24 12 10 (1,86 / minute)