Black & White

Black & White

Developers
	Lionhead Studios
macOS (OS X)	Zonic Limited
Publishers
	Electronic Arts
	Sold Out Software
OS X	Feral Interactive
Release dates
Windows	March 25, 2001
Mac OS (Classic)	February 7, 2002
macOS (OS X)	February 7, 2002
Reception
Metacritic	90
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, Expansion pack
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Bird's-eye view
Controls	Point and select
Genres	Building, Strategy, RPG
Art styles	Cartoon
Themes	Fantasy
Series	Black & White

Black & White
Black & White	2001
Black & White 2	2005

Warnings

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see Availability for affected versions).

The Mac OS X version of this game does not work on Mac OS X Lion (version 10.7) or later due to the removal of support for PowerPC apps.

Black & White is a singleplayer bird's-eye view building, strategy and RPG game in the Black & White series.

General information

Black & White Community - A forum and downloads site for the series

Black & White BaW Patch Dev

Black & White Online - Multiplayer client

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc DRM (Windows)

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).

This game is not available digitally.

Version differences

The Deluxe Edition includes the base game and the Creature Isle expansion.

Monetization

Type	Notes
Expansion pack	The expansion pack includes new creatures, skills, miracles, enemies and improved AI.
One-time game purchase	The game requires an upfront purchase to access.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Creature Isle

Essential improvements

Patches

v1.2 Patch

Is the recommended official patch, includes all fixes from v1.1 Patch.

v1.3 Patch

Is the latest official patch but not recommended.

Only adds support for P5-Glove. Requires P5DLL.dll.

v1.1.1 Mac Patch

Is the latest official patch for OS X.

Unofficial patches

v1.42 Unofficial Fan Patch

Removes SafeDisc DRM, enabling the game to run on Windows Vista and later.

Fixes crashing on display resolutions greater than 1080p or high DPI displays.

Fixes various issues experienced on modern systems, including washed textures and massive draw distance reduction.

Fixes addons like football and villager banter and unlocks all creatures, including the rhino.

Includes fixed setup dialog that allows resolution and windowed mode to be changed easily.

BaW Patch

Fixes various issues experienced on modern systems, including washed textures and massive draw distance reduction.

Fixes addons & extra features not being detected.

Creature Isle Fan Patch 1.24 - only for the expansion

Removes SafeDisc DRM, enabling the game to run on Windows Vista and later.

Fixes crashing on display resolutions greater than 1080p or high DPI displays.

Fixes low resolution textures and landscapes on PCs with high video memory.

Fixes addons such as football addon not activating once installed.

Fixes windowed mode.

Skip intro videos

Move, delete or rename <path-to-game>\Data\logo.bik

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Lionhead Studios Ltd\Black & White\
macOS (OS X)

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Profiles\<user-id>\ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Lionhead Studios Ltd\Black & White\LHMultiplayer
macOS (OS X)

In-game settings and profile data for the Windows version are stored in the registry.

Video

Most video settings have to be changed through the external configuration tool.

Settings launcher.

Advanced settings.

In-game advanced settings.

Black and White Fan Patch Setup Dialog

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			Use 1.42 Unofficial Fan Patch. Set with BWSetup.exe.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD			Use 1.42 Unofficial Fan Patch. Without it, anything above 1080p will crash.
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed		Use 1.42 Unofficial Fan Patch. Set with BWSetup.exe. Fixes Alt+Tab ↹ related crashes.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Input

In-game controls settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		While playing.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support

Controller types

Tracked motion controllers		Supports the Essential Reality P5 with a patch 1.3.0.
Button/gesture prompts

Additional information
Haptic feedback

Audio

In-game audio and video settings.

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

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English				English Language Pack
French
German
Italian
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese				EA Brasil
Spanish
Swedish				Localised version only

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Notes
LAN play
Online play		The official multiplayer servers have been shut down. Online features can be restored with Black & White Resurrection.

Issues fixed

Compatibility problems

Make sure to run the game and the setup launcher as an admin on newer versions of Windows.^{[citation needed]}

P5DLL.dll is missing

Download fixed dll[citation needed]
Download fixed p5dll.dll Copy it to <path-to-game>

Bad textures/landscape

Install an unofficial patch
Make sure 'Maximum Detail' is selected in the graphic options or the fixes will not work.

Missing music

Copy the Audio folder on the CD into <path-to-game>

Missing or malfunctioning add-ons

Install an unofficial patch

Poor framerate on Windows 8

Instructions[citation needed]
Download the following archive. Go to the installation folder, and extract the file.

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
vorpX		2D 2D with dgVoodoo 2 base profile.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	7
DirectDraw	7
OpenGL		Mac OS only.

Executable	PPC	16-bit	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Mac OS (Classic)

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	QSound	5.00 (QMixer.dll)
Cutscenes	Bink Video	1.0w

Misc

Black & White Online Launcher

Streamlined client, makes playing online far easier.

Fairly buggy on more modern operating systems, still in development.

Patch Uninstaller

Useful for either quickly downgrading or reinstalling a certain patch quickly.

Addons

Require either unofficial patch to work.

Villager Banter Add-On

Football Addon

MP3 Addon

Dancing Bear Plug-in - the Dancing Bear plug-in for your WinAmp music program

English Language Pack

Creature Isle English Language Pack

Additional Creatures

Require either unofficial patch to work.

Leopard

Mandrill

Gorilla

Horse

System requirements

Windows

Mac OS (Classic)

macOS (OS X)

Windows
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	95, 98, ME, 2000
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium II 350 MHz
System memory (RAM)	64 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	600 MB
Video card (GPU)	8 MB of VRAM DirectX 7.0a compatible
Other	4X CD-ROM

Mac OS
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	8.6
Processor (CPU)	G3 333 MHz
System memory (RAM)	96 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	600 MB
Video card (GPU)	8 MB of VRAM OpenGL 1.2 compatible