When the dusk fights back
The 4th Coming is a classic from 2003 — a few tweaks make it run perfectly on modern Windows. Here are the fixes for everything new players hit. Most are one file copy away.
Don't have the client yet?
Download the pre-configured Gloom client — the realm address is already set.
I can't connect / "Server is not online"
- Make sure Gloom is selected in the realm dropdown at the login screen.
- Check the live realm status on the home page — if it shows Offline, the server is down for maintenance.
- Your firewall must allow
t4c.exeto use UDP port 11677 outbound. - If your account is fresh, confirm you created it here first — the website login is your game login.
Black screen or crash in fullscreen
DirectDraw is deprecated on modern Windows. Apply the included DDrawCompat fix:
- Open the
T4C Fixes\DDrawCompat - Graphics (fullscreen + DPI)folder in your client. - Copy
ddraw.dllinto the same folder ast4c.exe. - Relaunch the game.
Still black? Run t4cconfig.exe and switch to a windowed mode or a lower resolution.
No sound, or the music stutters
Use the included DSOAL audio fix:
- Open
T4C Fixes\DSOAL - Audio (music + sounds). - Copy
dsound.dllanddsoal-aldrv.dllnext tot4c.exe. - Relaunch.
Prefer silence? Open t4cconfig.exe and turn music off — it removes the stutter entirely.
"msvcr… missing" or it won't start at all
The game needs the 2008 Visual C++ runtime. Run the bundled installer once:
- Open the
_Redistfolder in your client. - Run
vcredist_x86_2008sp1atl.exeand follow the prompts. - Reboot if asked, then launch
t4c.exe.
Wrong resolution or the window is tiny / huge
Run t4cconfig.exe (next to t4c.exe) to set your resolution, windowed/fullscreen mode, and audio before launching the game.
"Account already logged on"
Your previous session is still held by the server (a crash or hard-close). Wait 1–2 minutes for it to time out, then log in again. If it persists, contact a staff member to clear your session.
My antivirus flags t4c.exe
This is a false positive — the 2003-era executable uses an old packer that some scanners dislike. The client is the official 1.72 build. Add an exception for the client folder, or restore the file if it was quarantined, then relaunch.
The patcher fails or nothing happens on launch
- Right-click
t4c.exe→ Run as administrator. - Don't run it from inside the ZIP — extract the whole folder first (e.g. to
C:\Gloom). - Avoid system-protected paths like
C:\Program Files; a normal folder works best.
How do I change or add a realm?
Realms live in iplist.txt in the client folder, one per line as Name#host:port. Yours already contains:
Gloom#play.gloomonline.net:11677— the realm.