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Myth 2: Soulblighter FAQ
Last Updated on: 2000-09-16 01:43:22

This is where you will find useful information about Myth 2: Soulblighter. There are answers to the frequently asked questions which may answer some of your questions.

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 In what environment does the game run? Does it run in X or from the console with SVGALIB?
• 2.4 Can the game be played on all distributions of Linux?
• 2.5 Can I play Myth II on FreeBSD with Linux emulation?
• 2.6 Will you be offering support for PPC and Alpha platforms?
• 2.7 Does the game support Esound?
• 2.8 Does the game fully support X-Windows? Would I be able to run the Linux game using an X-term on a Windows machine?
• 2.9 Does the game run from the CD?

3. Interoperability

• 3.1 Can I play multiplayer under Linux against users playing Myth II for Windows?
• 3.2 Would it be technically possible to use the Windows Myth 2 CD and then download the Linux binaries?

4. Demo

• 4.1 Where can I get the Myth 2 demo version?
• 4.2 How do I install the demo?

5. Installation

• 5.1 Do I have to be logged in as root to install the game?
• 5.2 What is the difference between the three install sizes?
• 5.3 The install script gives me an error that it can't find the executables.
• 5.4 How do I install custom maps?
• 5.5 After I install the game, it won't start, and gives me a 'Segmentation Fault' error. I can't run the game at all.
• 5.6 I can't get it to install on my glibc 2.2 distribution! (RH 7.x, Mandrake 8, SuSE 7.1, Debian unstable)

6. Updates

• 6.1 Where can I download the update patches?
• 6.2 What issues are addressed in the patches?

7. Display

• 7.1 The in-game dialogs and overlay bars are shown in funny colors, and they are in the wrong places. What can I do?
• 7.2 Can I use the Glide renderer with XFree86 4.0.x?

8. Networking

• 8.1 How do I chat in a network game?
• 8.2 How do I logon to Bungie.net?
• 8.3 I'm having difficulty registering at bungie.net! Help!

9. Miscellaneous

• 9.1 Video Memory Protecting
• 9.2 I have a Voodoo3/Banshee card and the game crashes after every mission.
• 9.3 When I try to start Myth II, it hangs immediately.
• 9.4 I think my tag files may be corrupted. How can I check them?
• 9.5 I think my patch may be corrupt. What can I do?

10. Contact

• 10.1 How do I report a bug?
• 10.2 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 2.0.x or 2.2.x 
     GNU C Libraries (glibc) 2.x 
     Pentium 133 MHz or PowerPC 133MHz 
     4-speed CD-ROM drive 
     32 MB RAM 
     80 MB swap 
     400 MB free disk space 
     XFree86 3.3.x 
     16-bit color 
     Network card (for net play) 
     Internet connection (for Internet play) 
     OSS compatible sound card (for sound) 
  

  
  
• 2.2 Does the game use 3D acceleration?
  
  
  Yes, but it is not required. Myth II for Linux uses the Glide library to support all 3Dfx graphics accelerator cards (Voodoo, Voodoo2, Voodoo3, Banshee). At the moment, Myth II for Linux does not include support for 3D acceleration on other cards (such as TNT, TNT2, etc.). If your graphics accelerator card is not supported or if you do not have a graphics accelerator card, Myth II also has a software-rendering mode.
  
  
• 2.3 In what environment does the game run? Does it run in X or from the console with SVGALIB?
  
  
  The Linux version ships with support for X11R6. We may support SVGALIB in the future and possibly GGI and MGL as well. If so, a free upgrade will be available for download.
  
  
• 2.4 Can the game be played on all distributions of Linux?
  
  
  We have spent a significant amount of development time ensuring that Myth II works properly with all major distributions.
  
  
• 2.5 Can I play Myth II on FreeBSD with Linux emulation?
  
  
  This is not an officially supported platform. We have not heard any specific results regarding Myth II, but it has been done with some of our other products (ie: Quake III Arena).
  
  
• 2.6 Will you be offering support for PPC and Alpha platforms?
  
  
  The release CD contains binaries and data files for both i386 and PPC systems. As soon as we have a patch available for Alpha systems, we will post it here on our website.
  
  
• 2.7 Does the game support Esound?
  
  
  Yes.
  
  
• 2.8 Does the game fully support X-Windows? Would I be able to run the Linux game using an X-term on a Windows machine?
  
  
  Some people have been able to do this, but it tends to be slow and requires a very fast network connection between the two machines. It is an unsupported configuration.
  
  
• 2.9 Does the game run from the CD?
  
  
  Yes. To do this, choose the minimal install. It will put approximately 10 MB worth of program files on your hard drive, and the rest will run from the CD. On machines with slower CD drives, this will cause the game to be slow as well.
  
  

3. Interoperability

• 3.1 Can I play multiplayer under Linux against users playing Myth II for Windows?
  
  
  Absolutely! The game is designed to be fully compatible with other platforms both for regular network play and for games on Bungie.net.
  
  
• 3.2 Would it be technically possible to use the Windows Myth 2 CD and then download the Linux binaries?
  
  
  The data files for Myth II are platform-independent, but due to the way our licensing agreement works, we will not be offering any kind of downloadable "upgrade patch" to provide Linux binaries.
  
  

4. Demo

• 4.1 Where can I get the Myth 2 demo version?
  
  
  The Myth 2 demo is available through our Demo Launcher (http://www.lokigames.com/products/demos.php3).

  Note that the demo includes the OpenGL renderer, but not the Glide renderer.

  
  
• 4.2 How do I install the demo?
  
  
  1. Pull down the myth2-demo.run archive from one of our mirrors
  2. Go to the directory in which you would like to install the demo. Make sure that you have write permissions to the directory. (ex. cd /usr/local/games)
  3. Run the script with "sh myth2-demo.run". A new "myth2_demo" directory should have been created.
  4. To run the game, just go to the new game directory and type "./myth2_demo" (or create symbolic links, or add the myth2_demo directory to your path).
  
  

5. Installation

• 5.1 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 install the game). If you want the installer to place a link in /usr/bin to make startup easier, you'll need write permissions to that directory as well.
  
  
• 5.2 What is the difference between the three install sizes?
  
  

  Minimal Install	This installs only the executables allowing you to play the game from the CD. NOTE: This may cause lag in the game on machines with slow CD drives.
  Large Install	This install includes everything that is necessary to play the game but does not include the movies.
  Full Install	This install is the whole shebang.

  
  
• 5.3 The install script gives me an error that it can't find the executables.
  
  
  There is a slight bug in the install script that only affects systems using a SuSE distribution. The bug causes the script to miscalculate the path to the files when using the GUI installer. This can be worked around one of two ways.

  First, you can use the text-based installer with the following:

  1. Open an X terminal.
  2. Unset your DISPLAY environment variable. In bash, this is done with unset DISPLAY.
  3. Launch the installer with sh setup.

  Once the installer finishes, you can start Myth II by typing myth2 if the link to Myth II was placed in a directory that is in your path. (You can see what is in your path by typing echo $PATH) Otherwise you'll need to specify the location of the link.

  Or second, you can simply copy the appropriate file (myth2_x11 or myth2_glide) from the CD's bin/x86/glibc-2.1 directory to your Myth 2 installation directory.

  
  
• 5.4 How do I install custom maps?
  
  
  A good example of a custom map is the WWII Recon plugin from Santa's Head.

  1. Download the zip file
  2. Extract it using the `unzip` command
  3. Place the map file (not the copyright message) in: /usr/local/games/myth2/plugins (if you want anyone on the machine to be able to use it) or ~/.loki/myth2/plugins (if you will be the only person using it)
  4. Fire up Myth II and select Multi-Player Game
  5. Host a game and select options to change maps
  6. Select one of the WWII Recon maps at the top of your map list, and off you go
  
  
• 5.5 After I install the game, it won't start, and gives me a 'Segmentation Fault' error. I can't run the game at all.
  
  
  Chances are, you're running a Soundblaster Live! card with older drivers from Creative Labs. Please update your drivers from Creative's Linux sound driver page.
  
  
• 5.6 I can't get it to install on my glibc 2.2 distribution! (RH 7.x, Mandrake 8, SuSE 7.1, Debian unstable)
  
  
  We are aware of some installation issues with Myth 2 and newer distributions. This is addressed by a downloadable installer/patcher (which will install straight from the CD, and patch up to the current version, 1.3e.) You can find this installer at ftp://ftp.lokigames.com/pub/installers/myth2/.
  
  

6. Updates

• 6.1 Where can I download the update patches?
  
  
  The 1.3e patch (for x86 and PPC) and Chimera add-on are available through loki_update (http://updates.lokigames.com/).
  
  
• 6.2 What issues are addressed in the patches?
  
  
  1.3e:

  • Added an OpenGL driver, which complements the existing X11 driver. Please note that some OpenGL implementations (i.e. Utah-GLX) don't support fog correctly, in which case it can just be disabled in the preferences dialog.
  • Added complementary support for the Chimera plugin credits.
  • Fixed 32 bpp problems.
  • Added support for gamma correction in non-Glide drivers.
  • Memory allocation fixes.
  • Cheat codes should be working again.
  • Fullscreen/windowed modes have been cleaned up ; they are now consistent and the last setting is saved for further sessions.
  • The AAlib driver for SDL is no longer included in the official binaries. If you want to use it, you will have to install the dynamic version of this patch and compile in support for AAlib in your SDL library.

  1.3d:

  • Fixed corrupted dialog boxes in software 32 bit modes
  • The game should now start if no sound card is configured on the system.
  • The game has been changed internally to link with the newest SDL and SMPEG libraries. This provides overall better performance.
  • Framebuffer console target on Intel systems (not on PPC).
  • AAlib target (play Myth II in ASCII art!). Use it on the console, or enable it explicitly by setting the SDL_VIDEODRIVER environment variable to 'aalib'.
  • Proper CDROM detection on systems using supermount (Mandrake)
  • Much better X11 fullscreen support, and fullscreen is now enabled by default. You can switch at any time between fullscreen and windowed mode by using the Alt-Enter hotkey.
  • Support for DMA sound for cards that support it, and better ESD support. To enable DMA sound, type the following command in your shell:

          export SDL_AUDIODRIVER=dma
    

  • If you own a 3Dfx card, we strongly recommend you to upgrade your Glide driver to the latest version, especially for Voodoo3 users. A bug present in older Glide versions was causing Myth II to crash on the second level played with the Glide driver enabled. You can get the latest Glide releases for Linux at http://linux.3dfx.com/open_source/drivers.htm

  1.3c:

  • The Glide version works now with X servers set to a bit depth different than 16 bit.
  • Restarting a game in Glide mode no longer crashes.
  • The -f command-line option now works and enables fullscreen thru the XFree86 VidMode extension, which does not require root privileges. For this to work correctly, you need to have the 640x480 mode set up in your XF86Config file. DGA is not required anymore (but should still work).
  • Y2K bugfix.

  1.3b:

  • Making the executable setuid-root now works correctly.
  • Workaround for compatibility with the SB!Live drivers. To enable this workaround, you need to set the SDL_SBLIVE_HACK environment variable to 1 (i.e. "export SDL_SBLIVE_HACK=1").
  • Fear bugfixes.

  1.3a:

  • Fixed linking problem that prevented the Glide binary from running on SuSE 6.2 and Debian (Slink).
  • Many compatibility fixes for various window managers
  • Various networking / Bungie.net fixes.
  • Keyboard bugfixes. The correct key names now appear in the keybindings configuration panel.
  • Improved cut and paste support with other X11 applications.
  
  

7. Display

• 7.1 The in-game dialogs and overlay bars are shown in funny colors, and they are in the wrong places. What can I do?
  
  
  This is a symptom of running in 32bpp with the 1.3c or 1.3d patches and using the software renderer. You can switch X to 16bpp, which will work around the issue, or you can switch to the Glide renderer (if you have a 3dfx card).

  This issue has been addressed in the 1.3e patch.

  
  
• 7.2 Can I use the Glide renderer with XFree86 4.0.x?
  
  
  The short answer is no. The Glide renderer was written specifically for Glide 2, which is only supported under XFree86 3.3.x.

  The 1.3e patch added an OpenGL renderer, which allows 3D-accelerated cards to work under XFree86 4.0.x.

  Some users have reported success with running Myth 2 suid root, with the old libraries and the new version of X. This is primarily used with Voodoo 1 and Voodoo 2 cards, and it is an unsupported configuration.

  
  

8. Networking

• 8.1 How do I chat in a network game?
  
  
  There are two ways to communicate in a multi-player game. You can "whisper" to your teammates, and you can "yell" to everyone in the game. To yell, press SHIFT-Y or click the "Yell" button in the lower left-hand corner. Then type your message and hit enter. To whisper, press Y or click the "Whisper" button in the lower left of the screen. Then type your message and hit enter.
  
  
• 8.2 How do I logon to Bungie.net?
  
  
  In order to play on Bungie.net, you have to first register the game. When you register, you also set up your Bungie.net login name and password. Once you have registered, start up Myth II. Select "Multi-Player Game" and select the Bungie.net option. Enter the username and password you set up when you registered. Then click "Login" and be whisked away to the battlefields of Muirthemne.
  
  
• 8.3 I'm having difficulty registering at bungie.net! Help!
  
  
  From the admins at Bungie:

  There is a workaround, of sorts, and that is to create a web only account
  at http://www.bungie.net/preferences/login?new_user=1 and then go modify
  it, by adding a serial number via
  http://www.bungie.net/bin/account.pl?do=modify, thus making yuour web
  account playable. It's sloppy, and there are even reports of this not
  working 100% of the time, but it's the best we've got right now.
  

  
  

9. Miscellaneous

• 9.1 Video Memory Protecting
  
  
  This isn't really an error. The X Direct Graphics Access drivers are just verbose about resetting the graphics modes, which it does just to be safe even if they haven't changed.
  
  
• 9.2 I have a Voodoo3/Banshee card and the game crashes after every mission.
  
  
  Myth II exposes a bug in the early versions of the Voodoo3/Banshee drivers. Recent versions of these drivers correct the problem and can be downloaded from linux.3dfx.com.
  
  
• 9.3 When I try to start Myth II, it hangs immediately.
  
  
  There is a bug in the libpthread library in some of the newer glibc2.1-based distributions (particularly SuSE 6.1 & SuSE 6.2). We have included a workaround for this in our 1.3a patch. You can download the 1.3a patch (and the rest of them) from the Myth II update page.
  
  
• 9.4 I think my tag files may be corrupted. How can I check them?
  
  
  Here are md5sums for the tag files:

  International Large Install	63de591595aba9521667b57120092b3e
  International Small Install	31d0cec54ed75a0fb49ebfc43aaef0da
  Large Install	6c473476d80e9f6fd069468d4b45be40
  Medium Install	5335a2d28f60f1b60fcb8745534484ac
  Small Install	c390941fe0693503a841ed85961b54d8

  
  
• 9.5 I think my patch may be corrupt. What can I do?
  
  
  Here are md5sums for the patches:

  Patch 1.2	6077fe46828cd8b3c1c5f65c01e5c20d
  Patch 1.3	0170db7795a2bbb95e7ddcff142db87f

  
  

10. Contact

• 10.1 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.
  
  
• 10.2 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.