Hello All,

Today i bought myself oldschool Settlers 3 in the Sale because i have good memories of this game :)

Downloaded the game... Installed the game... Play the game... ehh not.. huge error on my Screen :O

The error is as following : ' DirectDraw Error DDERR_CANTLOCKSURFACE occured at CSurface::DDLock '

Of course me and my friend Google tried to find a solution... no succes so far.
I've tried a few things : Different settings in the setup menu. (shadows, Vertical Blank, Fading, Intro)

So here are my specs :

Hardware :

CPU : Intel Core i7 920
Motherboard : Gigabyte EX58-UD5
RAM : 12Gb Kingston (Kingston ValueRAM KVR1333D3N9K3)
GPU : Club3D Radeon HD 7870 XT JokerCard (Tahiti LE)
SSD : Samsung 830 series 256GB
Monitor : HP w2448h (1920x1200

Software :

OS : Windows 7 Ultimate (x64) Versie 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601
Version Driverpackage : 13.251-131206a-166389C-ATI
Catalyst-version : 13.12
Direct3D-version : 9.14.10.01001
OpenGL-version : 6.14.10.12618
DirectX Version : 11


I really hope someone knows the issue and maybe even better, knows how to fix it :D

If you want more info or need me to try something, please let me know.

Thx all, !!!

Ok i will just post my whole Lan Setup Error Workover which usually solves all common Problems:
Its been in use for a not GOG.com Version of Settler 3 Gold.

General Issues:
Sound on "Low" (settings)
monochrome Mouse (settings)
only points when placing buildings (Settings)
Standard Shadow (Settings)

If game does crash on Startup:
Compatibility -> Win xp sp3 or sp 2 (try both eventually)
Always Start in Admin mode (even when you are logged in as Admin its a bug!!!!)
Deactivate Desktop

Theres also a compatibility patch which very often helps.
Google it up its for Version 1.60

I have the same problem. It worked fine the first day I played it - stopped working once I changed the resolution (because with the lowest of the 3 available settings, I didn't really see anything). Whenever I change something in the setups3.exe, I get a notice upon exiting, telling me that setups3.exe hasn't been installed correctly. Is that what's causing the problem?

Try to set the mouse setting in S3SETTINGS.EXE to either to monochrome or color, because:
-setting it to color on NVIDIA graphic cards usually ends in a S3 startup error...
-setting it to monochrome on AMD/ATI graphic cards usually ends in a S3 startup error...

I reolved this problem today on a newly installed Windows XP by installing the latest compatible graphics card driver.

(My specific graphics card: ATI HD5450)