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Settlers IV (Virtual:club Review)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 17 / 22
Date: January 19, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Well, as with many games there are always countless add on's, extra features and new versions. Many fail to please the average gamer, but with settlers, the game never seems falls into the ... sequel category. Put bluntly, if you liked Settlers 1,2 or 3 at all. YOU will be amazed and fall in love with 4. Prepare to be cut off from the world for at least a few months when you purchase this game! :)

A Good Buy -

Settlers 4 reveiw

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 53
Date: June 12, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I think everybody who liked the other Settler games should but this. It is much better than the others. I think it has better sounds and graphics. I strongly recomend this game.

Great game, if u like realtime Strategy

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: April 14, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Fantastic game. A must if like realtime Strategy games. More based on economy than settlers 3. Well worth it tho. Online gaming can be a bit laggy at times but still cool. One player mode is great quite a challenge. Plenty of updates once you've acomplished first goals
good buy :)

Very Good Game.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 10
Date: July 07, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I received a copy of the American Version of the game who works for someone that is in the Gaming Industry and the Game is GREAT!!! It almost never crashes and is VERY, VERY FUN!! I would recomend to buy this for anyone who likes games like these.

Great game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 10
Date: August 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

It's the most fun I've had since Age of Empires. Get this game.

Awesome

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: August 16, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game is an awesome simulator of ancient times. The graphics are awesome making it feel like you are acutually there. The game also has up grades, buy it if you have the money!

Settlers 4 is basically Settlers 3 Gold

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: September 10, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Settlers 4 is the same as Settlers 3 with enhancements and changes here and there. If you liked prior versions of Settlers then this one will fit the bill nicely. The game is still enjoyable despite its dated graphics and you can't find games like this anymore. So pick up a copy of you still can.

I would consider this game a fantastic play for the strategy player

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 12
Date: September 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I hope my review will add something to anyone interested in this game, or who is interested in what others have to say about it.

(( At the end of my review is a way to install/play under XP ))

Let me write the review not to compare this to Settlers I, II, or III. This will simply be on how I see the game mechanics.

This game seems to play quite smoothly, and it's graphics, for the time it was made, are not that bad off. True by today's standards it won't win any awards, but it has a novel atmosphere that bodes well with the theme of the game.
When playing the harder of the two difficulties, you will be challenged each mission you play, though after you have lost a few times, you will understand how the opponent will come after you and how best to set up your starting colony. In this sense, the game is a bit onerous.
Adding to the differences are the three races with different style buildings and a few unique features to each which does make it favorable to like one over the other depending on what you enjoy most. Yet I do feel all in all, they are more or less the same.
If I were to rate the music, I would say that it's catchy and you could find yourself humming it in the mudane world, but after a few hours it can be repititious. To offset this, there is a nice in-game feature to allow you to play your own music while playing the game. This is quite good and I do wish more games would offer this.

Now, getting onto how the game operates.
There are some aspects that make this a "less then 10" game:
If you build your houses to create "free settlers" too close to other things, then the settlers you have not asigned will be in the way of a lot of things. There is, sadly, no way to move them around.

Sometimes 'carriers' will not grab the closest resource to them, but will travel to a further away location. I do not see how the logic of the game tells the 'carriers' where to get there items but I do wish it were better. Also in this, if you are a bit short on "carriers" and try to build something, it may take a very long time for it to get the resources it needs.

Combat is frustrating because you cannot tell your troops to retreat if they are close to an enemy. They will walk blindly into battle, even if hopelessly outmatched.

There are a few other minor things but I will not mention them, as they are just personal and not, how I see it, flaws.

Now, about how fun is this game?
Well as some state when they review "Homeworld", the missions are pretty much a one shot deal. Once you know how to win a mission and sucseed, there isn't much point in replaying it, unless you want to show someone how you did certian things.

The "free settler" mode is also good when wanting to try out things or just to see how large and susessful you can make a colony.

There "was" an online features for this game, but Blue Bytes doesn't seem to support the web server any longer. You can still LAN up, I believe. Blue Byte will still offer limmited support for this game which is also nice. (As of August 2005)

Now, I really enjoy this game dispite my little quirks with it. If feel it is a good play and should be in anyone's collection.

This last part of my review will be how to make this game work with XP. it does install and run under XP home, running a 1gig proccessor or less. My laptop has this hardware and the game works just fine on it. However, XP pro, with a faster processor... the game won't even start. I have found one way to make this work with higher end machines:

Install the game fully (as well as any add-on disks) and install the SIV_1516.exe patch. You can do a search for it.
Do a search for Windows Application Compatibility toolkit 3.0 and install this too (it's free). when you run it, do "new database" and "fix". Name "Settlers IV" Vendor "Blue Byte"
Use the program and find the s4_main.exe directory and "Operating System Modes", pick "none". Now after "next", in "compatibilty fixes", do EmulateslowCPU. Install this new file and close out the program. But you're not quite done. Next use the XP compatibilty wizard and select the settlers IV exe file and select "run with windows 98". Now you can run and play Settlers IV. *whew!!* I know it takes some time but it is well worth it!

Cool game, lousy support

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: April 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I became addicted to Settlers, long ago, and have only just purchased Settlers IV, after plaing the demo for a couple weeks. There doesn't seem to be much of a difference between Settlers III and IV. The user interface is still confusing at first, and the battle scenes are nearly impossible to control, but otherwise it is a great game.

I was disappointed to see that the online game server doesn't seem to be up anymore. Perhaps they have just been down for maintenance for the last couple days... The other problem I have is that all of the update links for the game at the (...)web site are broken... But fear not, after much searching, and translating half of UbiSoft's German language website, I finally located the current patch. (...)

---
UPDATE:
Well, unfortunately, Amazon has removed all the web site references to the patches. In order to find them yourself, search on google for them. The most current patch (as of 4/20/04) is 2.50.1516. You will find it eventually. Also, altavista has a great translation site, that does a decent job with all the German web pages you will have to weed through. Look for the link on their main page.

(...) P>The online game site _IS_ still online, but you need to install a new version of the Blue Byte Game Channel (BBCG). I can't remember which site I downloaded this from, so you will have to search for it.

To play online, you also need to apply for a "CD key", since it doesn't come with the game, which you then need to use to register the game online. The procedure on the BBCG says to send an email to what turned out to be a dead address. After trying several variations on it, I gave up. Later, I found that submitting feedback from ubisoft's website got a CD key emailed to me, however they seemed pretty put out by the request.

Since finding that the game channel is still working, and that there is a way to get limited support, I am changing my review from 3 stars to 4, but plan on spending a few hours getting the game to work properly.

Originals

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: March 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Having played the original version of Settlers on the Amiga a long, long time ago... I find myself wanting to try the PC version. I'm amazed that it has reached a 4th version, but thats what happens when you have a good, fun game. This is not for the hardcore straegists out there, but for those who like a easy-going empire-building-and-conquest romp. Can't say how the newer versions play as I've only played the first (which is why I'm looking to buy it on PC! :)
I found the controls quite intuitive and was able to play it without the benefit of a manual (though having one would have been nice, so I could figure out the charts a little better - and quicker).
I highly recommend this to those who would like a more whimsical version of AoE2 - I'd like to see a version with fantasy races :)

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