HG2 FAQ Index   |     HG2 Full (Regular) view   |     FAQ Home

Heavy Gear 2 FAQ
Last Updated on: 2000-09-16 01:43:06

This is where you will find useful information about Heavy Gear 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. Requirements

• 2.1 What are the system requirements for the game?
• 2.2 Does the game use 3D acceleration?
• 2.3 Does HG2 really require hardware acceleration?

3. Demo

• 3.1 Where can I get the HG2 demo version?
• 3.2 The demo complains about a missing libttf.so. Where can I get that?
• 3.3 The demo complains about a missing libesd.so. Where can I get that?

4. Installation

• 4.1 How do I install the game?
• 4.2 I'm running XFree86 4.0.x, is there anything special I should do during installation?
• 4.3 Do I have to be logged in as root to install the game?
• 4.4 The game complains about a missing libttf.so. Where can I get that?
• 4.5 The game complains about a missing libesd.so. Where can I get that?

5. Updates

• 5.1 Where can I download the update patches?
• 5.2 What issues are addressed in the patches?

6. Display

• 6.1 How do I tell Heavy Gear 2 which libGL to use?
• 6.2 Why is the game running very, very slowly, and the mouse is very choppy?
• 6.3 How do I enable OpenGL fog in the game?
• 6.4 I'm getting "hg2: FATAL: error code BadMatch (invalid parameter attributes)" after patching to 1.0b.
• 6.5 I heard that it always crashes on nVidia cards. Is this true? Is a fix planned?

7. Contact

• 7.1 How do I report a bug?
• 7.2 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. Requirements

• 2.1 What are the system requirements for the game?
  
  

  Minimum system requirements:
  Linux kernel version 2.2.X Pentium 233 with 3D accelerator card 64 mb RAM required (128 MB recommended) CD-ROM driver		Video card capable of 640x480 resolution XFree86 version 3.3.5 or newer at 16bpp OSS compatible sound card Hard disk drive with at least 450 mb of space

  
  
• 2.2 Does the game use 3D acceleration?
  
  
  Yes. In fact, the game is practically unplayable without hardware acceleration.
  
  
• 2.3 Does HG2 really require hardware acceleration?
  
  
  Yes. There is no software renderer included, and MesaGL, while solid in software mode, simply cannot render the game fast enough. Think of it as "seconds per frame" instead of "frames per second".
  
  

3. Demo

• 3.1 Where can I get the HG2 demo version?
  
  
  The Descent 3 demo is available through our Demo Launcher (http://www.lokigames.com/products/demos.php3).
  
  
• 3.2 The demo complains about a missing libttf.so. Where can I get that?
  
  
  libttf.so is part of FreeType. You can download the project's files from http://www.freetype.org/. 1.3 is a good version, you do not need the (currently in heavy development) 2.x.
  
  
• 3.3 The demo complains about a missing libesd.so. Where can I get that?
  
  
  libesd.so is part of EsounD. You can download the project's files from http://www.tux.org/~ricdude/EsounD.html. You do not have to have the esd service running to play the game, but the library does need to be present in order to run the game.
  
  

4. Installation

• 4.1 How do I install the game?
  
  
  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 are running XFree86 3.3.x and you need a pre-built accelerated libGL.so, you may choose one here.
     • 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 (340 MB just for the base install, 495 MB 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 "hg2" 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.
  
  
• 4.2 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 Heavy Gear 2 CD. They were compiled specifically for 3.3.6, and they might interfere with getting the game running under XFree86 4.0.x.
  
  
• 4.3 Do I have to be logged in as root to install the game?
  
  
  No, but you do have to have write privileges to /usr/local/games (or wherever you choose to install the game).
  
  
• 4.4 The game complains about a missing libttf.so. Where can I get that?
  
  
  libttf.so is part of FreeType. You can download the project's files from http://freetype.sourceforge.net/. 1.3 is a good version, you do not need the (currently in heavy development) 2.x.
  
  
• 4.5 The game complains about a missing libesd.so. Where can I get that?
  
  
  libesd.so is part of EsounD. You can download the project's files from http://www.tux.org/~ricdude/EsounD.html. You do not have to have the esd service running to play the game, but the library does need to be present in order to run the game.
  
  

5. Updates

• 5.1 Where can I download the update patches?
  
  
  The 1.0b patch is available through loki_update (http://updates.lokigames.com/).
  
  
• 5.2 What issues are addressed in the patches?
  
  
  1.0b:

  • Fixed bug regarding mixer settings at exit
  • Fixed assertion bug

  1.0a:

  • Fixed vertex fog (-x) to fog buildings and other objects
  • Added multitexturing to show mech damage
  • Allowed selection of Ammo Fuel Containment
  • Fixed bug with binding keys to SHIFT + key
  • Space Mission no longer is fogged with OpenGL fog (-g)
  • Updated libraries (SDL, OpenAL, SDL_mixer)
  • Other misc bugfixes
  
  

6. Display

• 6.1 How do I tell Heavy Gear 2 which libGL to use?
  
  
  Launch Heavy Gear 2 with the following command-line:

      hg2 -o /path/to/your/preferred/libGL.so
  

  (specifying the correct path in place of the placeholder, of course)
  
  
• 6.2 Why is the game running very, very slowly, and the mouse is very choppy?
  
  
  You are probably running the game using software GL rendering. You must have your 3D card configured for hardware accelerated rendering. Updated information on supported 3D cards and drivers is available at: 3ddriverandopenglassistfaq.html
  
  
• 6.3 How do I enable OpenGL fog in the game?
  
  
  Start Heavy Gear 2 with the following command-line:

      hg2 -g
  

  Note that not all OpenGL drivers correctly support fog. If it looks noticably incorrect, please try

      hg2 -x
  

  instead. That will provide you with the "vertex-fogging" hack, which simulates the in-game fog reasonably well.
  
  
• 6.4 I'm getting "hg2: FATAL: error code BadMatch (invalid parameter attributes)" after patching to 1.0b.
  
  
  On some video cards and driver configurations (it's been reported with GeForce 2 chips and the nVidia 0.9-5 drivers), the drivers report but do not support the Xvideo extension as being available. If the SDL library provided with HG2 (or one located elsewhere on your system) attempts to use this extension, you may see the error listed, above.

  To disable the use of the Xvideo extension, try launching HG2 with:

      export SDL_VIDEO_YUV_HWACCEL=0
      hg2
  

  
  
• 6.5 I heard that it always crashes on nVidia cards. Is this true? Is a fix planned?
  
  
  The 0.9-5 release of the nVidia drivers (http://www.nvidia.com/) frequently crashed when exiting the 3D portion of the game and returning to the 2D portion of the game.

  This has been resolved with the new 0.9-6 (and 0.9-767) drivers (and did not occur with the 0.9-4 drivers). So, if you are experiencing this problem, please upgrade to the latest version of the drivers.

  If the new drivers do not correct the situation, you can turn of Detail Textures in the video settings in the game. This typically fixes any remaining issues on nVidia cards.

  In a small number of cases, this does not fix the crash. If this is the case, try switching to the twm window manager to see if it is a window manager conflict.

  
  

7. Contact

• 7.1 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.
  
  
• 7.2 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.