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Heretic 2 FAQ
Last Updated on: 2000-09-16 01:42:54

This is where you will find useful information about Heretic 2. The following are answers to some frequently asked questions about this game. Please read these before e-mailing Loki Technical Support - Chances are your question is answered here too!

1. Introduction

• 1.1 How to use this FAQ
• 1.2 Authors

2. Demo

• 2.1 Where can I get the Heretic 2 demo?
• 2.2 Does the Heretic 2 demo include the option for hardware acceleration?

3. Installation

• 3.1 How do I install the game?
• 3.2 I'm running XFree86 4.0.x, is there anything special I should do during installation?
• 3.3 I've just installed Heretic 2, and it keeps exiting with the error "Warning: currently only R5G6B5 mode supported".
• 3.4 I can't get it to install on my glibc 2.2-based distribution!

4. Updates

• 4.1 Where can I download the update patches?
• 4.2 Is the expansion pack available under Linux?
• 4.3 Are there any other extras available for Heretic 2 for Linux?

5. Display

• 5.1 How do I tell Heretic 2 which libGL to use?
• 5.2 How can I run Heretic 2 in 3D hardware-accelerated mode?
• 5.3 Why is the game running very, very slowly, and the mouse is very choppy, when running with hardware acceleration?
• 5.4 Why does the mouse cursor disappear in the menus? Is something wrong with my installation?

6. Contact

• 6.1 How do I report a bug?
• 6.2 How can I receive technical support?

1. Introduction

• 1.1 How to use this FAQ
  
  
  This FAQ allows you to navigate through the answers by category, or individually, or to view the entire FAQ at once. The full view is also suitable for printing.

  This FAQ is modelled on the Linux HOWTO documents for consistency and ease of navigation.

  
  
• 1.2 Authors
  
  
  The maintainers of the FAQ can be reached by e-mailing faqs@lokigames.com. Please send all correspondance directly related to the FAQlist tool to that address.
  
  

2. Demo

• 2.1 Where can I get the Heretic 2 demo?
  
  
  The Heretic 2 demo is available through our Demo Launcher (http://www.lokigames.com/products/demos.php3).
  
  
• 2.2 Does the Heretic 2 demo include the option for hardware acceleration?
  
  
  Yes. The command to launch in hardware acceleration is the same, too. Please see the answer to "How can I run Heretic 2 in 3D hardware-accelerated mode?" for more details.
  
  

3. Installation

• 3.1 How do I install the game?
  
  
  If you are on a recent distribution or have upgraded to glibc2.2 you will want to use our downloadable installer as discussed here.

  Otherwise you may follow these instructions:

  1. Mount the CD-ROM using the "mount" command. If you are unsure how this works, please check the documentation for your Linux distribution. Generally, the format for mounting a CD-ROM under Linux is similar to:

         mount -t iso9660 -r /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
     

  2. Under X11, enter the command "sh [Mounted CD-ROM Path]/setup.sh". Be sure to replace the [Mounted CD-ROM Path] portion of this command with the correct path for the mounted CD-ROM. In the example above, the command would be:

         sh /mnt/cdrom/setup.sh
     

  3. Under "Global Options":
     • Enter the directory into which the game should be installed in the Install path: box. In the box labeled "Binary directory", enter a directory in your $PATH where a symbolic link for the binary should be set up. Make sure you have write permissions in both of these directories.
  4. Under "Install Options":
     • You must install "Base Install" (the basic game files). You may choose to leave the movies on the CD. If you wish to write these MPEG files to your hard drive, click in the corresponding box.
     • Below the Install Options, the installer will display how much space is left on your partition, and how much the game will use per the options selected (270 MB just for the base install, 324M for everything).
     • Check in the box for KDE/Gnome menu items if you would like them installed.
  5. You may view the game README at this point if you wish, by clicking on "View Readme". Otherwise, click on "Begin Install" to begin the copying of files.
  6. When the game has finished installing, you may choose either to launch it directly (click on "Play!") or to simply exit and run the game from the console.
  7. To run the game generally, just type "heretic2" from the console (you shouldn't have to enter the complete path). If you chose to install desktop icons, and you are running one of the desktops, you will be able to launch the game from the installed icons.
  
  
• 3.2 I'm running XFree86 4.0.x, is there anything special I should do during installation?
  
  
  Please do not install any of the 3D drivers that are on the Heretic 2 CD. They were compiled specifically for 3.3.6, and they will interfere with getting the game running under XFree86 4.0.x.
  
  
• 3.3 I've just installed Heretic 2, and it keeps exiting with the error "Warning: currently only R5G6B5 mode supported".
  
  
  The default renderer for Heretic 2 is the software renderer, which only works when your X server is running at 16bpp. If you are running at 8 bpp or 24 bpp, you will see the error described, and the trace will look something like:

  Initializing VID module
  Initialize software renderer
  Setting mode x11 for device mouse
  Initialized 1024x768 16bit display
  Shutting down sound.
  Shutting down input handling
  Shutting down sound.
  Warning: currently only R5G6B5 mode supported
  
  Exiting Heretic II...
  recursive shutdown
  

  You will either need to launch your X server at 16 bpp mode (which can be done from the command-line with a command such as 'startx -- -bpp 16' for XFree86 3.3.x, or 'startx -- -depth 16' for XFree86 4.0.x), or by changing the defaults in your X configuration.

  However, you also have the option of running the game in 3D accelerated mode. To do so, follow the instructions in the README.more file on the Heretic 2 CD.

  
  
• 3.4 I can't get it to install on my glibc 2.2-based distribution!
  
  
  We have released a downloadable installer (available from ftp://ftp.lokigames.com/pub/installers/heretic2/) which will install the game from the Heretic 2 for Linux retail CD. This installer correctly handles more recent distributions (e.g. Mandrake 8, Red Hat 7.x, SuSe 7.x, Debian unstable, etc.), and it also patches the install to Heretic 2 1.06b during the installation.
  
  

4. Updates

• 4.1 Where can I download the update patches?
  
  
  The 1.06b patch is available through loki_update (http://updates.lokigames.com/). The Heretic 2 patch requires loki_update 1.0.10 or later.

  This patch also includes localization support, so the game can be converted (through loki_update) from any of the supported languages to any of the supported languages: English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish.

  
  
• 4.2 Is the expansion pack available under Linux?
  
  
  The expansion pack added some skins and player models for multi-player mode, and it was originally released after the retail release of Heretic 2 for Windows. However, since it had already been released by the time we ported Heretic 2, we included the expansion pack as part of the retail release of Heretic 2 for Linux.

  So, there is no need to download the expansion pack, it's already part of the game!

  
  
• 4.3 Are there any other extras available for Heretic 2 for Linux?
  
  
  Yes, we also released a map pack containing some of the most popular DeathMatch maps. You can fetch the map pack from http://www.lokigames.com/products/heretic2/addons.php3.

  Make certain you are already in the Heretic 2 install directory before unpacking. The installer will not prompt you for this information.

  
  

5. Display

• 5.1 How do I tell Heretic 2 which libGL to use?
  
  
  Launch Heretic 2 with the following command-line:

      heretic2 +set vid_ref glx +set gl_driver /path/to/your/preferred/libGL.so
  

  (specifying the correct path in place of the placeholder, of course)
  
  
• 5.2 How can I run Heretic 2 in 3D hardware-accelerated mode?
  
  
  This is described in the file README.more on the Heretic 2 CD. In short, you will need to have 3D drivers already configured for your setup (as described elsewhere in our OpenGL FAQs). You will also need to know the location of the correct, accelerated libGL.so or equivalent.

  The command-line to launch the game with OpenGL acceleration is:

      heretic2 +set vid_ref glx +set gl_driver /path/to/your/preferred/libGL.so
  

  (specifying the correct path in place of the placeholder, of course)

  You may also specify a video mode, by adding '+set vid_mode X' to the end of the command-line, with X being a number from this table:

        0           320 x  240
        1           400 x  300
        2           512 x  384
        3           640 x  480
        4           800 x  600
        5           960 x  720
        6          1024 x  768
        7          1280 x 1024
        8          1600 x 1200
  

  Not all 3D cards support all resolutions.

  Please consult README.more for more detail.

  
  
• 5.3 Why is the game running very, very slowly, and the mouse is very choppy, when running with hardware acceleration?
  
  
  You are probably running the game using software GL rendering (which is distinct from the built-in software renderer). You must have your 3D card configured for hardware accelerated rendering. Updated information on supported 3D cards and drivers is available at: 3ddriverandopenglassistfaq.html
  
  
• 5.4 Why does the mouse cursor disappear in the menus? Is something wrong with my installation?
  
  
  Nothing is wrong with your installation. The game does not support using the mouse in the menu, you will need to use the arrow keys to navigate, and the ENTER key to select your option.

  This is identical behavior to the Windows version of the game, and it is not expected to change.

  
  

6. Contact

• 6.1 How do I report a bug?
  
  
  Please visit our publicly accessible bug database (http://fenris.lokigames.com/) and post a bug report. Be sure to first check the list of known bugs and fixes/patches.
  
  
• 6.2 How can I receive technical support?
  
  
  We support our products by e-mail (preferred) and phone. Phone support is available by calling (714) 508-2140 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time) Monday through Friday, except holidays.