Praetorians

This page is for the original release. For the HD Remaster, see Praetorians HD Remaster.

Praetorians
Praetorians	2003
Praetorians HD Remaster	2020

Warnings

GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).

Praetorians is a singleplayer and multiplayer bird's-eye view RTS and strategy game in the Praetorians series.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM DRM SafeDisc 3 DRM^{[Note 1]} (Sold Out Software release)
GamersGate
GOG.com
Green Man Gaming
Steam
ZOOM Platform

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

Demo

A free demo is available from Archive.org.

Essential improvements

Patches

The latest official patch is 1.04, available from Patches-Scrolls.

Unofficial patch

The unofficial 1.05 patch is available from Patches-Scrolls.

Skip intro videos

Move, rename or delete file
Go to `<path-to-game>\DATA\VIDEOS`. Move, rename or delete `LOGOS.bik`.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Praetorians\Profiles\*.usr
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/277460/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Praetorians\Savegame
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/277460/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
OneDrive		Requires enabling backup of the Documents* folder in OneDrive on all computers.*
Steam Cloud

Video

Video settings.

Advanced video settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution		1024x768 is maximum by default; see Widescreen resolution. Hor+
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen		See Widescreen resolution.
4K Ultra HD		See Widescreen resolution.
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
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.
High-fidelity upscaling	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS
120+ FPS	Framerate is capped at about 64 FPS.
High dynamic range display (HDR)
Color blind mode	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Widescreen resolution

Replace files with modified versions^[3]
Download the package for the appropriate version of the game here Extract the files belonging to the desired resolution to `<path-to-game>` and overwrite existing files.

Input

Game settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Mouse sensitivity		Scroll speed only.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse input in menus
Keyboard and mouse prompts
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support

Audio

Sound settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Master, music, effects, ambient, voice, interface.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Czech				Retail only (Level 149 covermount)
German				Retail only; download for digital releases.
Slovak				Fan translation; download.
Spanish				Retail only; download for digital releases.
Brazilian Portuguese				Fan translation by GameVicio; download.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play
LAN play		8
Online play		The official GameSpy service has been shut down.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	7

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Cutscenes	Bink Video	1.5s
Multiplayer	GameSpy

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	98, ME	2000, XP
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium III 500 MHz	Intel Pentium III 800 MHz
System memory (RAM)	128 MB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	500 MB	256 MB
Video card (GPU)	16 MB of VRAM DirectX 8 compatible	Nvidia GeForce 2 32 MB of VRAM DirectX 8.1 compatible

Notes

↑ This version of SafeDisc DRM does not work on Windows 10^[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.^[2]
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1
Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (277460) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

References

↑ Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
↑ Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16
↑ Praetorians | WSGF - last accessed on [unknown]

[3] This version of SafeDisc DRM does not work on Windows 10^[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.^[2]

[Proton_path_note-4] 2.0 ^2.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
The app ID (277460) may differ in some cases.
Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[3] File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.

[4] Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.

[5] The app ID (277460) may differ in some cases.

[6] Treat backslashes as forward slashes.

[7] See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[1] Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16

[2] Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16

[5] Praetorians | WSGF - last accessed on [unknown]

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[3]

[1]

[2]

Developers

	Pyro Studios
Publishers
Retail	Eidos Interactive
First digital	Merge Games
Second digital	Kalypso Media Digital
Re-release	Sold Out Software
Release dates
Windows	February 28, 2003
Reception
Metacritic	78
IGDB	84
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Bird's-eye view
Controls	Multiple select, Point and select
Genres	RTS, Strategy
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Classical, Europe, Historical
Series	Praetorians