Games

Caesar IV – Runtime error on Windows 10

When trying to run the Steam version of Caesar IV on Windows 10, a runtime error will pop up and will close the game.

The Eventlog gives this:

Before immediately going for the refund, there are a few things that can be done to get this working. (this does not have to be done in this specific order, as long as it’s done before running the game again)

  1. In the folder “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Caesar 4\C4” right-click on the file: “RegisterDLL.bat” and select “Run as administrator”
  2. In the same folder, “C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Caesar 4\C4” right-click on the file: “CaesarIV.exe”, click on Properties, there click on the “Compatibility” tab and select: “Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows XP (Service Pack 2)” and “Run this program as administrator” and click the Apply button.

3. Download and install “DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010)” from the Microsoft page: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109

The system does not have to be rebooted.

Note: This was tested on various versions of Windows 10 up to 20H2 fully patched until January 2021.
Updated on the 27th of January 2021

Microsoft Generic

216.146.35.35 & 216.146.36.36 added as primary to your DNS settings

With the update to their client version 5.3.1 for Windows, DynDNS sets the first to entries in your local DNS to 216.146.35.35 and 216.146.36.36. Unfortunately this causes the machine the DynDNS client is installed on to fail to contact any other server within the local network up to giving login issues over RDP if this server is domain joined and requires NLA. The reason is happens is that this update sets the option “Use Dyn Recursive DNS servers on this machine” default.
This can be disabled by opening the client, click Settings, click Preferences and uncheck “Use Dyn Recursive DNS servers on this machine”

Dyn Updater Preferences (not real IP nor account)

Once this option is unchecked, the client will stop hijacking DNS on the machine it’s installed on.