Populous: The Beginning

Populous: The Beginning

Developers
	Bullfrog Productions
Publishers
	Electronic Arts
Re-release	Sold Out Software
Engines
	Magic Carpet
Release dates
Windows	November 17, 1998
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, Expansion pack
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Bird's-eye view
Controls	Multiple select, Point and select
Genres	RTS
Themes	Fantasy
Series	Populous

Populous
Populous	1989
Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods	1991
Populous: The Beginning	1998

Populous: The Beginning is a singleplayer and multiplayer bird's-eye view RTS game in the Populous series.

General information

Populous Wiki - A small wiki for the Populous series

Populous: Reincarnated - A fan site dedicated to Populous: The Beginning

Populous: Reincarnated Wiki - A wiki for Populous: The Beginning

The Beginning - A fan site which provide news and mods to Populous: The Beginning

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM DRM.
GOG.com		Includes The Undiscovered Worlds. Pre-packaged with custom DirectDraw wrapper.
Origin		Includes The Undiscovered Worlds. Not available in all regions.
Steam		Includes The Undiscovered Worlds. Pre-packaged with DDrawCompat. Included with EA Play (Steam).

Free demo versions are available from Archive.org: smaller web version, CD version.

Monetization

Type	Notes
Expansion pack	The expansion pack includes new singleplayer missions.
One-time game purchase	The game requires an upfront purchase to access.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Undiscovered Worlds

Essential improvements

Patches

The latest official retail patch available is 1.01. The GOG.com version comes with this pre-installed.

The Undiscovered Worlds expansion did not receive any patches.

Unofficial patches

Collective Populous Patch

The unofficial Collective Populous Patch includes 1.01 fixes as well as a network hosting bug fix. It also removes the CD check and adds a restore tool.

This patch will update the game to the US version.

Game data

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/2616430/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Save
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/2616430/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Origin
Steam Cloud

Video

In-game video settings.

In-game Direct3D settings (only when running the game with hardware acceleration).

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		Supports up to 1280x800; run the game with the -allres parameter.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed		Use dgVoodoo 2.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Use dgVoodoo 2.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Use dgVoodoo 2.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS

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

In-game audio settings.

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

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
German				Retail only; download for GOG.com version.
Japanese

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		4
Online play		4	Official servers have been shut down. Use the Populous Reincarnated Matchmaker.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking		Original matchmaking service is no longer available. Use the Populous Reincarnated Matchmaker.
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
UDP	7575

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

This is the default port used. It can be changed in-game by the user

Populous Reincarnated Matchmaker

A custom multiplayer client which allow to matchmaking with other player, provided by Populous Reincarnated.

Can work with the base game and expansion. Also work with the Collective Populous Patch (1.03) and the Enhanced Edition mod.

Issues fixed

Game crashes on startup (AMD/ATI GPUs)

This will also fix any rainbow colour issues

This will also enable the usage of the Direct3D executable on modern systems

Game will suffer from mouse drift on multi-monitor setups

Use dgVoodoo 2

Download and setup dgVoodoo 2. Once the initial setup is done, copy D3DImm.dll and DDraw.dll files from the MS\x86 subfolder and paste them into <path-to-game>. Update the game's atiumdag.dll file. See Graphics card not detected for AMD/ATI GPUs for full instructions. Enable the following compatibility settings for the D3DPopTB.exe and PopTB.exe files (located in <path-to-game>): Compatibility mode (Windows XP (Service Pack 2)) and Run this program as an administrator. Run the game (D3DPopTB.exe for hardware mode, PopTB.exe for software mode).

Game lag

Add parameter to game
Force Vsync off. Add /frameratemouse as a parameter to D3DPopTB.exe or PopTB.exe. Notes May cause some slight screen tearing.

Graphics card not detected for AMD/ATI GPUs

Replacing the outdated atiumdag.dll file[citation needed]
Download the updated atiumdag.dll file. Move the new file into the installation folder, replacing the existing file when prompted. The game can now be run in hardware mode with ATI/AMD cards.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	5
Software renderer

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	QSound

Populous: Enhanced Edition

Populous: Enhanced Edition is a massive QoL enhancement mods that add new features, improvements and fixes beyond the developer scope.

Also known as Populous TB:1.5. Serve as an alternative to the Collective Populous Patch.

Add four new tribes, a Two-Player cooperative campaign, rebalanced multiplayer and more.

Higher resolution support without graphical glitches.

Only work for the base game with no FMV.

Displacements Patch

The unofficial Displacements Patch improves all landscape textures.

This patchs affects both the base game and its expansion.

Compatible with the Collective Populous Patch.

Multiverse Launcher

Multiverse Launcher is a client specifically designed for Populous: The Beginning, through which Populous fans can play the game with numerous fixes, improvements and new features.

Can be used to play both official and unofficial campaigns with the Campaign Manager, allowing to play them without overwriting files.

Come pre-packaged with additional mods that can be toggled anytime.

Discord integration; which displays what campaign, level and even tribe you're playing on Discord.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95	98
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 133 MHz	Intel Pentium 200 MHz
System memory (RAM)	16 MB	32 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	100 MB	110 MB
Video card (GPU)	32 MB of VRAM DirectX 6 compatible