FAQ

 

 

This page lists some of the more frequently asked questions regarding the games. If you can't find what you're looking for from here, you are naturally always welcome to ask whatever you're wondering about on the forums!

 

 

 

 

Questions

 

The Shattered Kingdom

The Peasants Rebellion

 

 

 

 

The Shattered Kingdom

 

Who developed Knights and Merchants: The Shattered Kingdom?

Knights and Merchants: The Shattered Kingdom was developed by Joymania Entertainment GmbH. It was the first game developed by the start-up company and the game was mostly funded by the developers themselves.

 

What happened to TopWare Interactive AG?

TopWare Interactive AG filed for bankruptcy in February 2001 and was eventually bought by ZuXXeZ Entertainment AG. In 2005, the label TopWare Interactive was eventually resurrected as a company operating with the name TopWare Interactive, Inc. was formed in the United States as a sister company to ZuXXeZ Entertainment AG. Later on, in 2011 ZuXXeZ Entertainment AG officially renamed themselves to TopWare Interactive AG, and the ZuXXeZ Entertainment label was abandoned.

 

When was this game released?

The game was initially released in late August 1998 in Germany. During September it was also released in the United Kingdom and it was eventually released in the United States during October.

 

From where can I purchase the game?

The game can still be purchased from CDAccess. You might also be able to find used copies on eBay or Amazon.

 

What is the most recent patch? From where can I get it?

The most recent patch for this game is version 1.32. Many releases of the game are already patched to this version and you can check which version your game is from the upper corner in the main menu. If your game is at an older version, you can find the 1.32 patch from the downloads section for the English, German and Polish versions of the game.

 

How do I take screenshots of the game?

You can take screenshots of the game simply by pressing F11. The screenshots will be saved in the main game folder as shotxxx.pcx. Alternatively you can also visit the advanced downloads section to download the Print Screen fix which will allow you to take screenshots of the game simply by pressing Print Screen.

 

I'm running a Linux or a Mac. Is there a port of Knights and Merchants available for me?

As a matter of fact, the game has been ported to Mac OS, Mac OS X (PowerPC), Mac OS X (Intel), MorphOS and Linux. You can find more information regarding the Linux port from here and information regarding the Mac OS X (Intel) port from here. You might be able to find the MorphOS and the original Mac OS port on eBay. The original Mac OS port can be patched to be compatible with PowerPC Mac OS X with a patch you can find from the other platforms downloads section.

 

The game keeps telling me to put my CD into the CD-drive, but it's already there?

The first thing you should check is that your game CD is in your primary CD drive. Your primary drive is the drive with the lowest letter number and the game will only detect the CD if it is in your primary drive. Another thing you might want to try is to reinstall your game, as there are some registry entries which might have gotten corrupted causing the message to appear in error. Finally you might also want to check out the CD itself and see if it looks dirty and if it does, take a soft cloth and clean it.

 

Can I create my own missions for the game?

Yes you can! Even though most mission creation tools have been primarily designed for The Peasants Rebellion, they will also work in creating missions for The Shattered Kingdom. You can find tools for doing this from the downloads section. Recommended tools are Lewin's mission editor and Krom's terrain editor. Both tools are needed since the missions consists of two separate files and each tool is primarily capable of only editing the other one.

 

Is there a demo version available?

There is indeed! From the downloads section you will be able to find the most recent English demo version of the game. Alternatively there are also German, Polish and Russian demo versions available of the game. You can find these from the archived downloads section.

 

When I start the game I get an error message saying DINPUT.DLL was not found! From where can I get it?

This error message indicates that you do not have DirectX 5.0 or later installed. You can find DirectX 5.0 on the game CD, though I highly recommend installing a more modern version of DirectX by downloading it directly from Microsoft's website.

 

When I start the game the screen turns black and then I return back to the desktop with a MMSYSTEM296 error message?

This error message indicates that there is some problem with video playback on your computer. To fix this problem, visit the advanced downloads section and download the AVI Video fix.

 

Does this game run under Windows 2000 or Windows XP?

The compatibility of this game with modern operating systems is quite bad. From experience it seems that the game tends to crash more if any compatibility modes are applied so you might have better luck without using these. If nothing else works, the Windows Vista & 7 fix available from the advanced downloads section could work, though it is quite unstable with certain versions of The Shattered Kingdom.

 

Does this game run under Windows Vista or Windows 7?

Compatibility with Windows Vista and Windows 7 has improved so that the game is more likely to start under these operating systems. However, you will most likely experience palette corruption and sluggish game play when using these operating systems. The palette corruption can be eliminated by killing the explorer.exe process using Ctrl+Alt+Del (the process can be restarted after quitting the game) and the sluggishness can be minimized by running the game with 800x600 resolution. You can also try installing the Windows Vista & 7 fix from the advanced downloads section, though it is known to be unstable with certain versions of the game.

 

Does this game run under Windows 8 or 8.1?

As Windows 8 has dropped native support for DirectDraw applications and instead relies on emulation, the game functions without any problems whatsoever if using Windows 8 or 8.1. The only problem that might occur is that movies will still not work correctly and they will be skipped.

 

Does this game run on 64-bit (x64) operating systems?

The game itself is 32-bit and as such will work correctly. However, the installer for the game itself is partly 16-bit and as such will not launch under 64-bit operating systems. You can find an installer fix for this problem in the advanced downloads section together with instructions on how to use it. This will allow you to install the game correctly on 64-bit operating systems.

 

 

 

 

The Peasants Rebellion

 

Who developed Knights and Merchants: The Peasants Rebellion?

Knights and Merchants: The Peasants Rebellion was also developed by Joymania Entertainment.

 

What is ZuXXeZ Entertainment AG?

ZuXXeZ Entertainment AG was the producer of Knights and Merchants: The Peasants Rebellion. As TopWare Interactive AG was acquired by ZuXXeZ Entertainment AG, the rights to the title were transferred over. In 2011 ZuXXeZ Entertainment AG renamed themselves to TopWare Interactive AG.

 

I've never heard of this game. When was it released?

This game was originally released in late November 2001 in Germany and Poland. It was a gold edition of sorts, since it didn't require the base game but included all the missions from it. While the game was released in several other countries in Russia and the Netherlands during 2002 and in Hungary during 2003; it would take until November 2005 for the game to get released in the United States. To date, the game has not seen a physical release on store shelves in most European countries, but it is available worldwide through digital distribution.

 

Is this the same thing as the Mission CD that was talked about back in the day?

Yes it is. Even though the Mission CD was never released, what had been completed was eventually taken and somewhat polished and saw its release as The Peasants Rebellion.

 

What's the difference between this game and The Shattered Kingdom?

The Peasants Rebellion includes a completely new campaign, several new soldiers, some new buildings, a new citizen and a new type of food. For more in depth information, please visit the section regarding the game.

 

From where can I purchase the game?

We highly recommend that you purchase the game from GOG.com. In addition to the game being cheap and DRM free, purchases using our link will support both the hosting of this website and the KaM Remake.

 

What is the most recent patch? From where can I get it?

The most recent patch for the game is version 1.60. You can find this patch from the downloads section.

 

How do I take screenshots of the game?

If your game is at version 1.52 or older, you will be able to take screenshots by simply pressing F11. From the advanced downloads section you can find a fix which allows you to take screenshots by pressing Print Screen. However if using the Windows Vista & 7 fix or the 1.60 patch, you will sadly not be able to take screenshots using this fix.

 

I'm running a Linux or a Mac. Is there a port of Knights and Merchants available for me?

Regrettably there are no ports of The Peasants Rebellion has not been ported to any other platforms. The Shattered Kingdom is available for Linux, Mac and MorphOS. For more information regarding these, please see the same question regarding The Shattered Kingdom.

 

I'm playing multiplayer and me and my friends see completely different things happening in the game?

Sadly there is quite a major bug in the multiplayer component of the game which causes the game to get out of sync quite often. There is apparently no protection against this and as such each player will see their own version of what is going on in the multiplayer game. If you want to play multiplayer, you should play the original The Shattered Kingdom or use the KaM Remake as this problem does not occur in either of these.

 

I'm trying to connect to the Net-Games lobby but it keeps disconnecting me! What's up with that?

The internet lobby has unfortunately been deactivated since it was used quite seldom. If you are looking for multiplayer with a lobby function, it is recommended that you download the KaM Remake.

 

Can I create my own missions for the game?

Yes you can! You can find tools for doing this from the downloads section. Recommended tools are Lewin's mission editor and Krom's terrain editor. Both tools are needed since the missions consists of two separate files and each tool is primarily capable of only editing the other one.

 

Is there a demo version available?

There is indeed! From the downloads section you will be able to find both the English and German versions of the game demo.

 

When I start the game I get an error message saying D3D8.DLL was not found! From where can I get it?

This error message indicates that you do not have DirectX 8.0 or later installed. You can find DirectX 8.0 on the game CD, though I highly recommend installing a more modern version of DirectX by downloading it directly from Microsoft's website.

 

When I start the game the screen turns black and then I return back to the desktop with a MMSYSTEM296 error message?

This error message indicates that there is some problem with video playback on your computer. To fix this problem, visit the advanced downloads section and download the AVI Video fix.

 

Does this game run under Windows 2000 or Windows XP?

This game runs correctly on Windows 2000 out of the box, but under Windows XP random crashes may occur. The problem with random crashing has been fixed in version 1.58 and more recent patches. You can find the most recent patch from the downloads section.

 

Does this game run under Windows Vista or Windows 7?

Under Windows Vista and Windows 7 you will most likely experience palette corruption and sluggish game play. This can be fixed by installing the 1.60 patch or installing the Windows Vista & 7 fix separately from the advanced downloads section. Alternatively the palette corruption can be eliminated by killing the explorer.exe process using Ctrl+Alt+Del (the process can be restarted after quitting the game) and the sluggishness can be minimized by running the game with 800x600 resolution.

 

Does this game run under Windows 8 or 8.1?

As Windows 8 has dropped native support for DirectDraw applications and instead relies on emulation, the game functions without any problems whatsoever if using Windows 8 or 8.1.

 

Does this game run on 64-bit (x64) operating systems?

The game and its installer is fully 32-bit, so both installation and running of the game itself will work correctly on 64-bit systems.