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The Settlers 7 - Path to a Kingdom

Can I play?

I just bought a new iMac less than a month ago, and purchased Settlers 7. The game plays incredibly choppy? Anyone know if my machine, or any Mac for that matter, can actually play this game smoothly?

I tried turning graphics all the way down, with no luck.

Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac10,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 3.06 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07
GHzChipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce 9400
Type: GPU
Bus: PCI
VRAM (Total): 256 MB
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x0869
Revision ID: 0x00b1
ROM Revision: 3454
 
Any luck solving your issue? I am having the same problem!

I have the 27" iMac
3.06ghz
4gb ram
ATI Radeon HD 4670 w/ 256 dedicated mem
1tb hd

I turned every single option down to the minimum and it is soo choppy I can't even bear to play it. Even the music in the simple menu skips out. I was really looking forward to this game but it's unplayable in its current state.
 
No server available

I've had the game about a week now. I had to wait till I had installed OS 10.6.3 or whatever it wanted, but then the game "worked"... Well, something happened. Since installing, I've automatically received three updates - one of these has made the opening nonsense more interesting: when I first got it, there was just a static town picture; now I get darkened landscape, gradually growing lighter and the view sweeps towards the town, plus all sorts of option panels and icons appear. Oh, and there's music.

Of course, none of this does any good. Every time, whether like now at 4 pm or at six in the morning, the message is always the same: NO SERVER AVAILABLE. So what is this? A big con? Have I just paid money for nothing?
 
FidelC said:
I'm so retarded. It was the loading that was causing all these sound problems, just put down my resolution a couple of notches and it worked. I had 2560x1440 or whatever the max resolution is on the 27".

Cheers anyways.
Click to expand...

I too have had this problem. What setting do you have it set to? I have lowered mine a few notches as well and I'm still having the delay and audio problem here and there. I am running it on a iMac 27' as well. Plenty of power to run it too.
 
This game recently received dishonorable mention in PC Gamer due to onerous DRM, active internet connection required to play (as in all the time). Other Ubi titles included with the same DRM are: Assassin's Creed2, Silent Hunter 5, and Splinter Cell: Conviction.
 
Huntn said:
This game recently received dishonorable mention in PC Gamer due to onerous DRM, active internet connection required to play (as in all the time). Other Ubi titles included with the same DRM are: Assassin's Creed2, Silent Hunter 5, and Splinter Cell: Conviction.
Click to expand...

I recently reviewed the Mac version of this game and advise NOT buying it. Here is a quote:
But taking a mediocre game, and killing performance with an unoptimized Cider wrapper and leaving the entire thing too buggy, then overlaying an abusive DRM system makes for an intolerable situation.
Click to expand...
 
I wish people would stop paying for cider wrapped games so developers would stop seeing it as a viable way to selling their games for the mac platform.

On a side note, yeah, most of us have an always on internet connection, but really, what game is worth owning that requires it for single-player modes? I flat out refuse to buy these craptastic games that try so hard and fail to stop piracy that it inconveniences me.

Needing a CD/DVD is one thing, it's acceptable if the publisher will reissue a new disc for a beat up one that doesn't work, but needing internet? What about people on laptops that don't want/have a 3G connection and aren't at a hotel room? It's just unreasonable and yet people vote for it with their money. :confused:
 
deadwulfe said:
I wish people would stop paying for cider wrapped games so developers would stop seeing it as a viable way to selling their games for the mac platform.
Click to expand...

In case it wasn't clear ... I did not pay for my review copy, it was given by publisher. I will not buy ANYTHING by Ubisoft due to this DRM.
 
I have Assassin's Creed 2, and it's a very good game – but I would not have it if I hadn't gotten it free (legally). Came with my Core i7 930 in a promotion Newegg was running a few weeks back. I wish Conviction didn't have their new DRM… I'd buy it in a heartbeat if it didn't.
 
deadwulfe said:
I wish people would stop paying for cider wrapped games so developers would stop seeing it as a viable way to selling their games for the mac platform.
Click to expand...

I love it, a couple of years ago Cider was being hailed as finally bringing modern games to the Mac platform.
 
Hurray!

Finally, at last, after all the waiting and moaning, I got to PLAY Settlers 7 today. How? Well, I'm sure you like me have received several game updates already - they all take quite a while to install and at the end of it the game still doesn't work, but TODAY it did. Great excitement: I have built a quarry. Wow! At this rate, I'd better keep a check on my heart rate.
 
Huntn said:
Thanks for the link!
Click to expand...
Definitely agree, thanks for the heads up and the link. Settlers is my absolutely favorite game but definitely thankful everyone's taken the time to post these problems. I was planning on going out to get this afternoon but will definitely not be doing so now.
 
Not that bad

Ok, before this game gets completely destroyed by bad press....

I purchased a few days ago and installed on latest gen 21" iMac. I am currently on the 5th campaign level. Using the recommended gfx settings, no sound, and somewhat reduced resolution (1440x900 i think)

The game plays and looks good, moving around the screen is snappy. I have a stable permanent connection to internet on my machine so the DRM has not caused any problems yet. Game crashed 3 times so far, during loading next level.

I turned off the sound because as others have reported it is skipping. Doesn't bother me bec I listen to CDs anyway. (Not the kind of game where sound is critical :) That said it is amazing to me that this is a problem. The movies between levels also skip. Now, I am not a programmer but playing a quicktime file with sound properly must be a lot easier than generating a whole 3d world in real time??
 
kxs said:
Ok, before this game gets completely destroyed by bad press....
Click to expand...

So the game crashes tons (I have played Dragon Age 3 times on PC and 1 time on Mac and had fewer crashes than you!), is unstable to the point of forcing you to shut down systems, and continues to have the WORST DRM EVER ... and it 'isn't that bad'? You must like abuse is all I can say ... :D

Um ... it DESERVES to be destroyed by the bad press!
 
txa1265 said:
So the game crashes tons (I have played Dragon Age 3 times on PC and 1 time on Mac and had fewer crashes than you!), is unstable to the point of forcing you to shut down systems, and continues to have the WORST DRM EVER ... and it 'isn't that bad'? You must like abuse is all I can say ... :D

Um ... it DESERVES to be destroyed by the bad press!
Click to expand...


Eh, have you run the game updates? OSX updates? Repaired your file permissions? I have only experienced 1 more crash since my post 3 days ago. And the levels are getting pretty big and densely populated. Again, not playing on max graphical settings, but still looks pretty.

Worst DRM? A fricking floppy disk that needed to be inserted to play the game, and then stopped working after 10 games, that's BAD DRM :)
 
kxs said:
Eh, have you run the game updates? OSX updates? Repaired your file permissions? I have only experienced 1 more crash since my post 3 days ago. And the levels are getting pretty big and densely populated. Again, not playing on max graphical settings, but still looks pretty.
Click to expand...
I was referring to your post. I personally didn't have any crashes when I played for my review of the game, but did have some stuttering and found it to be fairly un-optimized.

kxs said:
Worst DRM? A fricking floppy disk that needed to be inserted to play the game, and then stopped working after 10 games, that's BAD DRM :)
Click to expand...
Thing is - you can duplicate your floppy, and most of us did so, rarely playing from the original game. And yeah, that was crappy as well. But requiring a full-on net connection for an offline game in a way that was broken so that only honest customers have to deal with the pain is *not* customer friendly - it is customer hostile. Whether it is 'the worst ever' or not doesn't matter - it is the worst right now.
 
Given the history of UbiSoft and their approach to gaming business, this is not a surprising news.

I recall Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor (RoMD) released by the same company back in 2001 which employed the same if not similarly controversial DRM technology. The game suffered from numerous problems, most of which were severe performance/stability issues such as the game frequently locking/rebooting PCs. There was one especially vocal individual who claimed that his PC was rendered inoperable by the viral nature of RoMD and threatened to sue the company for the damage. UbiSoft's RoMD forum was so flooded with endless bad reviews/complaints from angry customers, the company had to temporarily shut it down. It was an absolute PR nightmare for them.

It appears that the company's approach to marketing tactics and product quality have changed very little over the last decade (with a few exceptions such as Assassin's Creed). As long as people continue to buy their products, UbiSoft won't change the way they do business.

Given the overall quality (rather lack of) of Settlers 7, I won't be buying it.
 
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