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Populous: The Beginning

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Revision as of 10:19, 16 June 2019 by Garrbot (talk | contribs) (→‎API: updated template usage)
Populous: The Beginning
Populous: The Beginning cover
Developers
Bullfrog Productions
Publishers
Electronic Arts
Engines
Magic Carpet
Release dates
Windows September 15, 1998
Icon overlay.png
Populous: The Beginning on Wikipedia
Icon overlay.png
Populous
Populous 1989
Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods 1991
Populous: The Beginning 1998

Key points

Poor compatibility with modern systems.

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
GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
GOG.com Support Page

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
 SecuROM DRM.
Windows
GOG.com
DRM-free
 Updated for compatibility with modern systems.
Windows
Origin
Origin
Windows
The GOG.com and Origin versions include the Undiscovered Worlds expansion.[1]

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
Populous: The Beginning - Undiscovered Worlds
Windows

Essential improvements

Patches

The latest official retail patch available is Patch 1.01. The GOG.com version comes with this pre-installed.
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 along with an update tool. This patch will update the game to the US version.
The unofficial PopEnhance contains a fix for graphics corruption bug in d3d mode, options for changing resolution and many other options for cheats and enhancements.

Displacements Patch

The unofficial Displacements Patch improves all landscape textures. This affects both the base game and its expansion.

Higher Resolution

Normally the game only allows for resolutions up to 800x600.

Add parameter to game[2]

Add -allres as a parameter to D3DPopTB.exe or PopTB.exe.

Notes

May cause some graphical glitches.

Game data

In-game general settings.
In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows

Save game data location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\Save[Note 1]

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
GOG Galaxy
Origin

Video settings

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

Template:Video settings

Input settings

Template:Input settings

Audio settings

In-game audio settings.
In-game audio settings.

Template:Audio settings

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English

Network

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
LAN play
4
Online play
4 Official servers have been shut down.

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

Issues fixed

Game crashes on startup (AMD/ATI GPUs)

This will also fix any rainbow colour issues
Game will suffer from mouse drift on multi-monitor setups
Use dgVoodoo 2[citation needed]
  1. Download and setup dgVoodoo 2.
  2. Once the initial setup is done, go to the MS subfolder.
  3. Copy the D3DImm.dll and DDraw.dll files and paste them into <path-to-game>.
  4. Update the game's atiumdag.dll file. See Graphics card not detected for AMD/ATI GPUs for full instructions.
  5. 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.
  6. Run the game (D3DPopTB.exe for hardware mode, PopTB.exe for software mode).

Game lag

Add parameter to game[3]
  1. Force vsync off.
  2. 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]
  1. Download the updated atiumdag.dll file.
  2. Move the new file into the installation folder, replacing the existing file when prompted.
  3. The game can now be run in hardware mode with ATI/AMD cards.

Graphics Problem - Windows 7

See Rainbow color problems in older games for solutions.

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 6
Software renderer
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Audio QSound

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 95 98, ME, 2000, XP
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium 133 MHz 600 MHz
System memory (RAM) 16 MB 128 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 100 MB 250 MB
Video card (GPU) 32 MB of VRAM
DirectX 6 compatible

Notes

  1. ↑ When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

References