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Great game, bad testing.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 17 / 19
Date: September 19, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Any time a strategy game comes out with as many complexities as Settlers IV, you have to applaud the imagination and thought that inspired the creation of such a game. However, when you can't play this game because of incessant crashing, needs for multiple patches, and a latent fear to play because you're not sure if the save function is working today, you put that game back on the shelf, and wait for the game producers to come out with a working game. Did I mention one of their patches needed a patch? That's a first for me, a patch to get the patch to work, think about that for a moment, and contemplate the frustration you'll feel, and the time you'll waste. Save your money.

Spend your money on another game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 19 / 23
Date: September 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Although I am a fullhearted settlers-fan since long ago, I really can't find myself recommending my favourite game. First, what is positive: The settlers are cuter than ever, the introduction of the Dark Tribe is great and the archers are a valuable adding to the soldiers. Also, I very much like the way you have to use gold to make the strongest soldiers and to build eyecatchers. But none of this help much when your computer keeps crashing with one fatal error after the other. After three or four patches/fixes, nothing much has changed, old errors disappear, new ones come along. One of the really cool things with SIV was supposed to be the possibility to play the game online with other players, but multiplayer doesn't work. The LAN functions don't work and the lagging is horrible. Worse off are you if you have a computer with the combination Win ME and Nvidia videocard, then it gets almost impossible. And there is little or no help to get from the internet helpline. Most emails are simply ignored. I bought my game back in april, qualifying for all the recommended requirements, and i still haven't been able to play the game properly. And also, if you want the map-editor to make your own gamemaps, you have to buy the "expansion" pack that is coming in a while. Sorry guys, but it is tumb-down from me...

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!

Should be called V3.5

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 15 / 17
Date: April 21, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Waitng for the US version, I found the UK copy in one shop and bought it. The graphics look improved as they say. The animations look a little better and the buildings seem to be designed from scratch. They are very colorful and they look good.

But the gameplay hasnt improved much compared to settlers 3. If you played the Settlers 3 then you will see that there are no major improvements in the game. It is more like a good expansion. The soldiers are a little difficult to control. For example you have to try very hard when retreating. The computer looks good so far. The software is a little buggy, it crashes often so be sure to save your game constantly. Also it seems there is a problem with the 3D support. When i turn on the 3D support. The game slows down and the mouse pointer slows down too. There are already a few patches on the site but the game still freezes.

But nevertheless the game is fun to play at least for a while. If you liked the S3 then probably youll like this one too but dont expect too much. If you havent played S3 then i certainly recommend it.

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 -

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.

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 :)

Fun but crashes often

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: January 17, 2002
Author: Amazon User

The crashes always seem to happen at the worst moment. I haven't downloaded any fixes so maybe this is already fixed. Rather simple game but amazingly fun. Battle is too simple and trying to get your soldiers to do what you ask is impossible. They will not retreat when you try to get them too. The thieves are even worse. They'll walk up to foreign soldiers to commit suicide. And, there's no such thing as repeat. I sent them to steal an opponents gold and it's not like they went back until the supply was gone. No, they walked across the border and waited for the foreign soldiers to get rid of them. Yuck!

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 :)

Very Fun, But FULL of bugs

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: November 23, 2001
Author: Amazon User

There is a million bugs in this game. It's a very good game, and at its price now it is a good buy. Still hoping the bugs are fixed and Ubisoft decides it will provide tech support....

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