In order to install the BlueByte Game Channel software (required for Internet play), place cabinet.dll in Wine's windows/system32 directory (normally ~/.wine/drive_c/windows/system32). Then start winecfg and add a dll override for cabinet.
If the game runs slowly, use a Wine version prior to 0.9.16. Then you'll have to follow the instructions below; newer Wine versions run this game out of the box
Instructions for old Wine versions
If Settlers IV crashes when starting a game, edit 'Config/GameSettings.cfg' in the directory where you installed the game, and set 'LandscapeHardware' to 0.
Add a DLL override (this can be done with winecfg) for 'Exe/S4_Main.exe', so that it uses 'native' 'msvcrt' (msvcrt is installed with the game)
It is recommended to upgrade to the latest version, as you may have copy-protection problems otherwise.
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
The game runs slowly
Try switching to 16 bit colour depth. Use your distribution's program for changing display/graphics settings, or change DefaultDepth in /etc/X11/xorg.conf
