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Trouble-Shooting and Reference Guide
GL Hexen Additional Requirements
NOTE: Hexen II uses Microsoft DirectX 3a
technology, and requires that your system have the most updated drivers that fully support
DirectX.
In order to play Hexen II for Windows 95, the CD must be in your CD-ROM drive at all
times.
Hexen II may have trouble working with some 1993 or earlier Matsushita CD-ROM drives.
These CD-ROM drives have trouble reading beyond 63 minutes on CDs, and Hexen II uses the
full CD. These drives were sold under the names of Panasonic, JVC, Reveal, Creative Labs
and Plextor. Gameplay may occasionally slow down and the CD-ROM drive will be accessed
constantly. We highly recommend that you upgrade to a newer CD-ROM drive to avoid problems
with other programs in the future.
To install Hexen II on your system, insert the game CD into your CD-ROM drive and:
• Double-click on Setup.exe at the root level of the CD, or
• Go to Run… in your Start Menu and type d:\Setup.exe (substitute your CD-ROM’s drive letter if different from "d:")
When the installer splash screen appears, click on the Install button. For online help, uninstall, and credits, click the More button.
Note: You can return to this splash screen any time without affecting your installed game.
In the Main menu, you can start a new single-player game by selecting the Single Player option (press Enter), then selecting New Game and choosing a player class.
You can play any of four different characters in Hexen II, each with his or her own special set of weapons, abilities, and attributes. Each character will be able to combat enemies and solve puzzles with varying degrees of difficulty. For instance, the Paladin may be a strong fighter but lacks magical powers, while the Assassin can kill easily but can be killed just as easily.
Playing each character requires slightly different gameplay styles, but that’s the fun of Hexen II. Experiment and explore. You’ll be surprised with the variety between the characters. For more information on each of the characters, refer to the Chronicle of Deeds.
The goals in Hexen II are simple: stay alive, solve the puzzles, and defeat your enemies. Ultimately, you will face your greatest enemy, Eidolon, but your journey along the way will be far from easy.
Staying Alive
Walking: Using the up and down arrow keys will move you forward or backward at a steady pace. Turn left or right with the left or right arrow keys or by sliding the mouse in the desired direction.
Running: Hold down the shift key while pressing the arrow keys to increase your speed.
Jumping: Press the space bar to jump. You jump farther if you’re moving forward and you jump higher if you’re moving up a slope. You’ll be surprised at the spots you can reach in a jump. You can even avoid some attacks this way.
Swimming: When underwater, aim yourself in the direction you wish to go and press the forward (up arrow) key. You have full three-dimensional freedom, so use your look-up and look-down keys to swim up and down. As in real life, you may lose your bearings while underwater. Use the jump (space) key to kick straight up toward the surface.
Once on the surface, tread water by holding down the jump key. To get out of the water, swim toward the shore and use the jump key to hop out. If you’re down a well or can’t get a grip, you may not be able to climb out. There is always another way out, but you may have to submerge to find it.
Crouching: Press the apostrophe key (‘) to squeeze into tight areas or small openings.
Flying: Certain powerups allow you to fly. In addition to your normal movement keys, use the ‘D’ key to fly up and the ‘C’ key to fly down.
Shooting: Press the Ctrl key or the left mouse button to fire. Hold shoot down to keep firing.
Use: The Hexen II key has an automatic "use" function. To push a button or open a door, walk up to it, or, in some cases, shoot at it. Remember, some walls can be pushed or pulled. To move these blocks, simply walk up to them and push in the desired direction. If a door won’t open or a platform won’t work, you may need to do something special to activate it.
Picking up Items: To pick up items, weapons, power-ups, or armor, simply walk over them. If you can’t pick something up, it means you already have the maximum number of that item possible.
Inventory: Throughout the game, you will pick up various powerups and inventory items. To use an item in your inventory, use your bracket keys ([ and ]) to toggle between your items and then press the Enter key to use the selected item.
Solving Puzzles
Inventory: Throughout the game, you will pick up various puzzle pieces key to advancing through the game. When you hit the TAB key, you see small icons of any puzzle pieces you have picked up along the way and are still carrying. If you need a more detailed description of your inventory, hit the Q key to show the icons with descriptions.
Buttons and Floorplates: Buttons activate with a touch, and floorplates must be stepped on. If you see a distinctive looking button in a spot you cannot reach, it’s probably a shootable button.
Hints: Throughout the game, there are books, plaques, and signs that can help you with puzzles. To read these items, simply walk up to them and read the text that appears on-screen.
Doors: Most doors open at your approach. If one doesn’t, seek a button, floorplate, key, or inventory item.
Secret Doors: Some doors are camouflaged. Look for irregularities in the walls, protruding edges, cracks along the walls, etc. Most walls can be pushed, shot, or triggered with a nearby switch. Likewise, a switch may be more obvious than the secret door.
The Secret of Secrets: All secrets in Hexen II are indicated by clues. Don’t waste your time hacking at every wall. It’s much more productive (and fun) to use your brain and your eyes. Look up. An angled texture, a light shining under a wall, a strange sound, anything might be a clue. Something prominent in a room may be a decoration, or it might be a clue.
Defeating your Enemies
There are a wide variety of enemies in Hexen II that attack in many ways. Some fly, some crawl, some just swing at you with their stubby arms, but each requires a slightly different attack to defeat it. If you can’t hit it with your hands, come back later and defeat it with a projectile weapon. If you can’t get near it, shoot it from afar. And when you meet the Four Horsemen and the last of the Serpent Riders, be sure to have plenty of ammo and health saved up. You’ll need it!
The Screen
The large upper area of the screen is the
view area. You can adjust the size of this view area by hitting the ‘-’ or
‘+’ keys. Increasing or decreasing your view area will have a direct effect on
game performance.
The Status Bar
Immediately below the view area is the
Status Bar. Press the Tab key at any time during the game, and the status bar pops up to
reveal much more information.
The Hub Level System
Hexen II uses a non-linear hub level
system. Each hub consists of several levels. When you enter a hub, you will solve the
various puzzles and defeat the enemies that lead you to the Hub Room. From this room, you
access any of several teleporters that take you to other levels of the hub. Solve those
levels and return to the Hub Room. Once all the levels in a hub are complete, you can move
on to the next hub.
Keyboard Commands
Press F1 (the Help key) or select the Help option from the Main Menu to get a list of keyboard commands.
By using the key configuration option from the Main menu, you can customize the keyboard to suit your fancy, except for the function keys, the Escape key, and the ~ (tilde) key.
Function Keys
| F1= Help | F6 = Quicksave |
| F2 = Save | F9 = Quickload |
| F3 = Load | F11 = Zoom |
| F4 = Options | F12 = Screenshot |
| F5 = Multiplayer |
Weapons
| Key | Paladin | Crusader | Necromancer | Assassin |
| 1 | Gauntlets | War Hammer | Sickle | Katar |
| 2 | Vorpal Sword | Ice Mace | Magic Missiles | Grenades |
| 3 | Axe | Meteor Staff | Bone Shards | Crossbow |
| 4 | Purifier | Light Bringer | Raven Staff | Staff of Set |
Movement
| Move | Arrow Keys |
| Turn | Mouse Left and Right |
| Jump/Swim | Space Bar |
| Run | Shift |
| Sidestep Left | . or > |
| Sidestep Right | , or < |
| Strafe | * Alt |
| Swim Up | D |
| Swim Down | C |
| Inventory Toggle | '[' or ']' (bracket keys) |
| Inventory Use | Enter |
| Crouch | ‘ (apostrophe) |
Other Controls
| Main Menu | Escape |
| Console | ~ (tilde) |
| Look Up | A or PgDn |
| Look Down | Z or Del |
| Center View | X or End |
| Mouse Look ** | \ or center mouse button |
| Keyboard Look *** | Ins |
* With the Strafe key pressed, your turning keys or mouse movements move you sideways rather change the direction you’re facing.
** Sliding your mouse forward and back looks up and down while the Mouse Look key is pressed.
*** When the keyboard Look key is pressed, the walk forward/ backpedal arrows will let you look up.
More Advanced Commands: Impulses
Although you can easily customize your controls, some players prefer to set key bindings manually. There are hundreds more commands available in the console. Some of the new items to Hexen II are:
| Detailed Inventory Description (Single Player) Toggle Frag Count (Multiplayer) |
+showdm |
| Crouch | +crouch |
| Lift Object | impulse 13 |
| Inventory Toggle Left | invleft |
| Inventory Toggle Right | invright |
| Use Inventory Item | invuse |
| Drop Inventory Item | impulse 44 |
| Status Bar | +showinfo |
| Frag Count | +showdm |
| Toggle Frags | toggle_dm |
| Torch | impulse 100 |
| Quartz Flask | impulse 101 |
| Mystic Urn | impulse 102 |
| Krater of Might | impulse 103 |
| Chaos Device | impulse 104 |
| Tome of Power | impulse 105 |
| Summoning Stone | impulse 106 |
| Invisibility Sphere | impulse 107 |
| Glyph of The Ancients | impulse 108 |
| Boots of Speed | impulse 109 |
| Disk of Repulsion | impulse 110 |
| Seal of the Ovinmancer | impulse 111 |
| Ring of Flight | impulse 112 |
| Force Cube | impulse 113 |
| Icon of the Defender | impulse 114 |
Customize Controls
Your keyboard commands are highly customizable. To change the default commands at any time, go to Main Menu> Options>>Customize Controls. Use your up and down arrow keys to toggle between the various choices. Press Enter to activate your choice, and then press the key or mouse button you wish to bind to the command. Your configuration is automatically saved.
Menu
The Menu system can be accessed at any time during a game. Simply press the Esc key to activate the menu during the game.
Use the arrow keys to move the Hexen Glyph up and down the menu. Place Hexen II the glyph before the desired option, and tap the Enter key. To return to Hexen II the Main Menu, tap the Esc key again. To exit the menu and return to the game, press the Esc key when you are in the Main menu.
SINGLE PLAYER:
NEW GAME: Discards the game being played, and starts anew.
CLASS: Choose one of the four character classes (see the Chronicle of Deeds for more detailed information):
Class Key Attributes
Paladin Strong fighter Crusader Fighter, some magic Necromancer Strong magician Assassin Stealth, kills easily, but physically weaker
DIFFICULTY: Choose one of four difficulty levels.
LOAD: Highlight the desired slot, and press the Enter key.
SAVE: Highlight the desired slot, and press the Enter key. Each saved game is identified by the level's name, plus the proportion of kills achieved so far in that game.
MULTIPLAYER: Controls multiplayer game starting and details.
JOIN A GAME: Join a pre-existing network game.
IPX and TCP/IP: Both network protocols share the same options below. IPX works better on Local Area Networks and TCP/IP is used for internet play.
Address: Your network address. This is automatically entered.
Port: The port at which you will connect to the server. This is automatically entered.
Search for Local Games: Trolls the network for Hexen II servers.
Join a Game At: If you know the name of a server on the network, type it in here.
New Game: Launching a new game will make you a host. Be sure your Setup options (see below) are correct before launching a new game.
IPX and TCP/IP: Both network protocols share the same options below. IPX works better on Local Area Networks and TCP/IP is used for internet play.
Address: Your network address. This is automatically entered.
Port: The port at which you will connect to the server. This is automatically entered.
OK
Begin Game: Starts a multiplayer game.
Max Players: The maximum number of players in a game. The Max allowed in any game is four unless you are running a dedicated server from a command line.
Game Type: Deathmatch (you against your buddies) or Cooperative (everyone works together to get through the level).
Teamplay: Determines if your teammates’ health is affected when you shoot them.
Skill: Choose one of four difficulty levels.
Frag Limit: Maximum number of kills one player can get in one level.
Time Limit: Maximum amount of time of a game; zero to 60 minutes.
Episode: Selects the hub in which you start unleashing your fury.
Level: Selects the level within the hub.
Setup: Establishes the parameters that identify you and/or your server.
Host Name: The name of your server.
Your Name: Your name or nickname.
Character: The character class (see above) you wish to play as.
Shirt Color: Pick the color of your shirt.
Pants Color: Ditto.
OPTIONS: Miscellaneous game options.
Configure Keys: Permits you to customize Hexen II so every action is linked to the button or key that you prefer. First, move the cursor (via the arrow keys) to the action you wish to change. Then press the Enter key. Now press the key or button you want to bind to that action. For instance, if you wish to use the Alt key for Jump, move the cursor to Jump/Swim, press the Enter key, then press the Alt key.
Each action can have two different keys assigned to it. If you already have two keys in an entry, you cannot add more from this menu. To clear the keys bound to an action, move the cursor to that action and press Backspace or Delete instead of Enter. This will clear the keys formerly bound to that action, leaving it blank.
You can bind any key to an action except Function keys, the Escape key, and the ~ (tilde) key. “Weird” keys such as Scroll Lock, Print Screen, etc. may or may not work, depending on your machine, but why bother?
For a list of impulses and manual commands, go to the Impulses section.
Attack: Fires your weapon.
Change Weapon: Switches the next weapon in your inventory.
Jump/Swim Up: If you're on land, jumps. If you’re underwater, kicks you towards the surface. If you’re right at the water’s edge, pops you up out of the water, if you combine it with forward movement.
Walk Forward
Backpedal
Turn Left
Turn Right
Run: Press this while moving, and you move at double speed.
Step Left: Sidesteps left.
Step Right: Sidesteps right.
Sidestep: Press this when using turn left or turn right and you sidestep (strafe) instead.
Crouch: Lets you fit into tight places.
Look Up: Lets you angle your view upward. Your view returns to horizontal when you start walking forward.
Look Down: Lets you angle your view downward. Your view returns to horizontal when you start walking forward.
Center View: If you're looking up or down, returns your view to dead center.
Mouse Look: Press this to allow your mouse to look up or down (by sliding it forward and back), and to remain looking up or down even if you move forward.
Keyboard Look: Press this to use your movement keys to look up or down.
Swim Up: Use to swim up toward the surface of the water (also used to fly up).
Swim Down: Use to swim down (also used to fly down).
Lift Object: Pick objects up.
Use Inv Item: Use an item in your inventory.
Drop Inv Item: Drop an item in your inventory. Most useful in Coop games where you can share resources.
Full Inventory: Pressing this key will bring up the status bar.
Frag Count: In multiplayer modes, this key will display the score.
Toggle Frags: Will turn frag counting on or off.
Inv Move Left: Pressing this key will toggle inventory items left.
Inv Move Right: Pressing this key will toggle inventory items right.
Torch: Lights your way in dark places.
Quartz Flask: gives you a health boost.
Mystic Urn: completely replenishes your health.
Krater: The Krater of Might replenishes your Mana.
Chaos Device: Teleports you out of trouble. Where you respawn, no one knows.
Tome of Power: Imparts special powers on your weapons.
Summoning Stone: Summons some help from a giant imp.
Invisibility:
Glyph: The Glyph of Ancients is a magical item used differently by each character class.
Boots: The Boots of Haste double your speed.
Disk of Repulsion: Provides a modicum of protection.
Bo Peep: The Seal of the Ovinmancer. One word: Lambination.
Flight: Ring of Flight provides momentary weightlessness.
Force Cube: Attacks your enemies for you.
Icon of the Defender: Provides invincibility.
Go To Console: Brings down the Console. Also possible by pressing the ~ (tilde) key.
Reset To Defaults: Everything you've changed in the options menu is reset by this option. Consider it an "Oops" key.
Screen Size: A slider which enlarges or shrinks your view area. All of the sliders use the right and left arrow keys.
Brightness: Pretty much self-explanatory. Choose a brightness which doesn't strain your eyes.
Mouse Speed: Adjusts mouse sensitivity. The farther you set the slider to the right, the quicker your mouse reacts.
Music Volume: Self-explanatory.
Sound Effects Volume: Self-explanatory.
Always Run: When this is selected, you do not need the Run key—you are always at double speed.
Invert Mouse Up/Down: This gives your mouse “airplane-style” controls. This means that pushing the mouse forward “noses down” and pulling it back “noses up.” Some people prefer this control technique.
Lookspring: Returns your view immediately to straight ahead when you release the look up/down key. Otherwise, you must move forward for a step or two before your view snaps back. Lookspring does not work while you are underwater.
Lookstrafe: If you are using the look up/down key, then this option causes you to sidestep instead of turn when you try to move left or right.
Video Options: This screen allows you to change the resolution of your screen while playing Hexen II. Resolution has the greatest impact on game performance.
Use Mouse: This option is available only when you are in a Windowed mode (see Video Options above). When turned on, Use Mouse allows you to use your mouse as an input device in the game itself (to turn left or right, for instance). However, you will not be able use your mouse to control your cursor in this mode. Turning Use Mouse off lets you use your mouse in Windows, but not in Hexen II.
HELP: An abbreviated, in-game version of this document.
QUIT: Exits Hexen II at once.
Console
The console is a command line interface that gives you access to many functions in the game engine. Although it is not necessary to access the Console to play Hexen II, many environmental and gameplay settings can be configured through this interface. To access the console, press the tilde (~) key or go to Main menu>Options>>Go To Console. For a complete list of console commands, please refer to the online documentation installed with Hexen II.
Equally as much fun as the single player game is the multiplayer environment. Whether on a LAN or on the Internet, there are several types of multiplayer action available.
Cooperative
In a co-op game, you and your friends work together to finish each level. Each player can play any of the four character classes, and combining the strengths of each class can substantially enhance puzzle-solving ability.
Save Cooperative Game
If you are running a listen server, you can save your current game as you would
any single player game. Simply access the Save Menu under Multiplayer options in the menu
system to save a game (or hit F5). NOTE: Only the server can save a cooperative
multiplayer game; players attached to the server will not be able to access the save
option.
Loading a Cooperative Game
Please note that loading a cooperative multiplayer game has some basic rules that
you must follow.
Deathmatch
In this all-out melee, the sole object is to stay alive long enough to kill everyone else. The player with the most kills wins. No enemies exist in Deathmatch mode, just your so-called friends. Each player starts in a random spot in the level, and various weapons and power-ups are randomly spawned throughout. Items and player re-spawn points are randomized in Hexen II to allow an even playing field.
Team Games
Similar to Deathmatch, Team mode allows players to band against each other in groups. The team with the most kills wins.
Multiplayer Detailed Information
A comprehensive guide to multiplayer action is provided in the online documentation installed with Hexen II.
Console
The console is a command line interface that gives you access to many functions in the game engine. Although it is not necessary to access the console to play Hexen II, many environmental and gameplay settings can be configured through this interface. To access the console, press the tilde (~) key or go to Main menu>Options>>Go To Console. For a complete list of console commands, please refer to the online documentation installed with Hexen II.
HEXEN II SOFTWARE ENGINE
Trouble-Shooting and Reference Guide
The Engine
Hexen II (H2) is based on the WinQuake, the a native Win32 application, and will
run on either Win95 or Windows NT 4.0 or later. Note that this engine is different from
the GL version, "Glh2.exe," included with this game, and that the references in
this section of the Tech Help document do not apply to Glh2.
H2 is designed to take advantage of whatever enhanced video, sound, and input capabilities (such as DirectX or VESA VBE video modes) are present, but has fallback functionality so it can run on any Win95 or NT 4.0 or later system, even if neither DirectX nor VESA VBE is available. You may experience problems running H2 on some systems, because video driver and operating-system support for game functionality are not yet mature under Win32, and many bugs and incompatibilities remain in those components. If you encounter what seems to be a bug, first please check through the list of known problems, below, and check to see that your problem is not covered in this manual. If your problem doesn't appear in this documentation, please contact Activision’s customer support at http://www.activision.com/.
Hexen II Modes
Hexen II supports several modes. Double clicking the H2.exe icon will launch the
game in normal mode. To launch the game in a special mode, you need to execute a batch
file called "H2B.bat" found in the Hexen II directory from a MS-DOS prompt. To
do this, go to your Start Menu, open the Programs folder, and select the MS-DOS Prompt
icon. Switch directories ("cd.." to go up a level, "cd hexeni~1" to go
into the Hexen II folder [DOS truncates the folder name to 8 characters with the
"~1"]) to the Hexen II folder, and type any of the commands below.
The first special mode Hexen II supports is
H2B fast
(The "b" stands for Batch) This is the same as typing "h2"; this runs Hexen II in an aggressive configuration that is likely to yield the best performance if it runs successfully on your system, but which has a risk of causing Hexen II or even your system to crash if there are bugs or incompatibilities in your video or sound drivers. Alternatively, you can use
H2B safe
to run Hexen II in a conservative configuration, likely to run on almost all machines with no problems, but possibly with slower graphics, fewer high-resolution modes, and delayed sound. Or you can run
H2B verysafe
to run Hexen II in a very conservative configuration that is pretty much guaranteed to run, but will probably have slow performance, and will have no sound. Two other options are
H2B fastvid
which has maximum video performance, but greater sound latency (delay until the sound is heard), and
H2B fastsnd
which uses more conservative video modes, but low-latency sound.
(One odd note is that DirectSound has much lower-latency sound than wave sound, but is currently quite a bit slower overall. Thus you may find that "H2B fastvid" is actually faster, by as much as 5-10%, than "H2B fast"; however, it may not feel faster, because the sound will lag.)
Finally, you can use
H2B max
which is the same as H2B fast, but turns on DirectInput, which provides more responsive mouse control, but does not work properly on all systems.
By default, Hexen II will install DirectX 3a on your system. Note, however, that DirectX is not required for H2 to run, but H2 will automatically take advantage of DirectSound and DirectDraw if they are present. If DirectSound is no longer present for some reason, there will generally be considerable sound latency (sound will become audible several hundred milliseconds after the event that caused it). Note also that there are currently no true DirectSound drivers for Windows NT, so H2 will always run using wave output on NT, and will consequently have lagged sound. See below for information about obtaining DirectX if you do not have it.
Note that VESA VBE modes aren't required for H2 to run, but H2 will automatically make VESA modes available if they're present. Your BIOS may already have VESA VBE 2.0 support built in, but most BIOSes don't. Worse, some BIOSes do have VESA VBE 2.0 built-in, but have buggy implementations, which may prevent you from being able to run the faster configurations of H2.
Heapsize (Memory Allocation)
Hexen II normally uses half the physical memory in your system for its heap, but
not less than 12 Mb and not more than 22 Mb. You can override this with "-heapsize
n", where n is the amount of memory to allocate for the heap, in Kb. For instance, you would type "-heapsize
16000" to use 16 Mb of RAM.
Joysticks
To use the joystick, you must bring down the console by pressing the tilde ('~')
key, and type "joystick 1<enter>"; you can disable the joystick with
"joystick 0<enter>" at any time. The joystick setting remains in effect
for subsequent Hexen II sessions until changed, so you only need to do joystick 1 once to
enable the joystick. If the joystick somehow causes problems that keep you from being able
to run Hexen II at all, you can start Hexen II -nojoy to complete disable the joystick for
that session.
Common Problems and Workarounds
General
Playdemo fails across multiple levels
Alt-Tab fullscreen only works sometimes
System with Packard Bell sound card III crashes on CapsLock
Dedicated server runs very slowly while typing at console
H2 crashes while switching modes or Alt-Tabbing
Many fast Alt-Tabs on Win95 sometimes disable H2 input
In-game message boxes "stick" on screen
Video Modes
How do I select fullscreen or windowed H2 operation?
Gee, I wish I could use a mouse to play H2 with in a window
H2 sometimes runs pretty slowly fullscreen
The color black doesn't change with palette flashes sometimes
Sometimes Permedia boards crash unless -nowindirect is used
H2 doesn’t work in a window in 16-color mode
Some DirectDraw modes flicker badly and look wrong
My default mode is windowed, but H2 goes fullscreen first
Palette goes bad periodically on #9 Imagine card
Windows95 & Environment
Problems can result if Office shortcut bar is running
H2 doesn't have quite the right colors when it’s not the active app
Desktop is weird colors when H2 runs windowed
Right-click on H2 button in task bar to close doesn’t work as expected
Screen saver never kicks in when running H2 fullscreen
Can't minimize window while mouse active
Mouse sometimes vanishes in system menu on Win95
H2 behaves oddly if Scandisk starts defragmenting
MS-DOS windows get scrunched on Alt-Tab
The Windows key doesn't do anything fullscreen on Win95
Right-click doesn't work right on minimized WinQuake
The screen briefly blanks when you exit H2
Desktop doesn't reset to proper resolution on H2 exit
Dvorak keyboard mapping ignored
Cursor messed up after running H2
Windows NT
Problems running H2 on NT 3.51
Window controls don't work on NT when mouse enabled
H2 runs very slowly when it has the focus under NT
Ctrl-Alt-Del on NT sometimes doesn't allow return to H2
Sound
Sound breaks up or gets choppy, especially in menus
Other apps fail to play sound while Hexen II is running
Hang reported with zero sound volume
Joysticks
Joystick worked fine with earlier versions of Quake but not with Hexen II
H2 crashes or won't run
If H2 refuses to run or crashes on your system, try running it using "H2
safe" or "H2 verysafe". Or you can use command-line switches:
H2 -nodirectdraw -nowindirect -wavonly
This will almost certainly solve your problem; however, it may result in lagged sound (a long delay from action to hearing the sound), may result in fewer or slower high-res video modes, and the mouse may be somewhat less responsive. If this does work, you can try removing each of the command-line switches until you identify the one that fixes the problem, thereby sacrificing as little functionality as possible.
If the above command line does not fix your problems, try:
H2 -dibonly -nosound
which forces H2 into silent operation with bare-bones video support and no use of DirectInput for mouse input (the normal Windows mouse APIs are used instead). Again, if this works, try removing switches until you identify the needed one.
Both of the above command lines are quick fixes. Often, the problem is caused by incompatible or buggy DirectX drivers or code (later installations of DirectX could cause this), and can frequently be fixed completely simply by reinstalling the supplied version of Microsoft DirectX 3a which can be found on your game CD in the DirectX folder. Also, you can find these drivers on the Microsoft's DirectX website, although the availability and location of the DirectX file changes periodically; note that at last check, this is a 3.4 Mb file. (Be aware, though, that sometimes Microsoft's DirectX drivers don't support features that the manufacturers' drivers do support, such as display refresh rate control.) For more information on DirectX 3a, click here.
One known problem of this sort involves the current SB16 drivers from Creative Labs, which cause H2 to crash on some machines. The DirectSound drivers from Microsoft, available via the above-mentioned URL, fix this problem.
It can also sometimes help to get the latest Windows drivers for your video adapter or sound card (although as the SB16 example indicates, this is not always a good idea), and for video boards that have flash BIOSes, it can sometimes help to get the latest BIOS upgrade.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
In-game message boxes "stick" on screen
There are many text messages throughout the game that provide hints or story
fragments. From time to time, especially in co-op, these boxes will "stick" to
your screen and not disappear. This is a known bug that we are working on, but you can
easily make the message box disappear by bumping up against the trigger.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Serial/modem menu
is missing
H2 currently does not support direct connect serial or modem play.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
How
do I select fullscreen or windowed H2 operation?
H2’s video options are accessible from the Options menu. There are two
types of modes listed, windowed and fullscreen. You can make any of these modes the
current and/or default mode. If you make a windowed mode the default, H2 will still
briefly start up in fullscreen mode, then switch to windowed; if this is a problem, use
the -startwindowed command-line switch. More complete video control is available through
the console, as described in the "A bit about how H2 video works" section, below.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Gee, I wish I could use a mouse to play H2 with in a window
You can! While in a windowed mode, go to the Options menu. At the bottom,
you'll find a new selection that lets you choose to have the mouse active when you're in a
window. Of course, if you do this, you'll have to use the keyboard (Alt-Tab, the Windows
key, Ctrl-Esc, Alt-Esc, or Shift-Alt-Tab) to switch away from H2.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Problems running
H2 on NT 3.51
NT 3.51 isn't supported by H2.
Back to Common Problems
and Work Arounds
H2
crashes while switching modes or Alt-Tabbing
So far, all cases of this seem to be tied to Creative Lab's SB16 sound
drivers, and have been fixed by getting the latest DirectX drivers, as described above.
Alternatively, you should be able to fix this either by not switching modes or
Alt-Tabbing, or by running -wavonly to disable DirectSound support.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
H2
sometimes runs pretty slowly fullscreen
There are several possible reasons for this, starting with "You have a
slow computer." Assuming that's not the case, you can sometimes get a faster 320x200
mode on Win95 by doing vid_describemodes, then using vid_mode to select a non-VGA 320x200
mode, as described in the "A bit about how H2 video works" section.
You can also try using a primary sound buffer on Win95 (this doesn't work on NT) by using the -primarysound command-line switch; this can improve performance by several percent, but does not work on all systems, and can result in odd sound effects on some systems when minimizing H2 or switching the focus away from it. Finally, you can use -wavonly to select wave sound; this will increase your sound latency (sounds will be heard later than they should), but allows H2 to run 5-10% faster on some systems. That's about all you can do to speed up fullscreen H2 on Win95, other than shrinking the active area of the screen with the screen size control in the Options menu.
NT 4.0 comes with DirectX installed, but doesn't have any resolutions lower than 640x480. In order to support a lower-resolution 320x240 mode, H2 has NT double each pixel in both directions to get enough pixels for 640x480. The extra stretching costs some performance, the result being that NT can seem sluggish on all but high-end Pentiums and Pentium Pros. (In fact, depending on the quality of your driver's stretching code, it can sometimes be faster to run H2 at 640x480 than 320x240-stretched on NT.) One thing that can help on NT is switching to 640x480, then using the Options menu to shrink the active area of the screen.
A common cause of slowness running in a window is having the desktop run in 16- or 32-bpp mode. H2 is an 8-bpp application, and it slows things down if pixels have to be translated from 8-bpp to 16- or 32-bpp. (Note that this is generally a problem only when running in a window; fullscreen apps rarely suffer from this.)
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Sound is sluggish on NT
NT doesn't have any real DirectSound drivers yet, so there's no way to do
quick-response sound on NT. When DirectSound drivers for NT appear, H2's sound should
automatically be snappier.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Sound
breaks up or gets choppy, especially in menus
This is generally a sign that H2's frame rate is too low on your system. Try
reducing resolution or shrinking the active area of the screen. In some circumstances, it
may help to set the console variable _snd_mixahead to a larger value.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
The color black doesn't change with palette flashes sometimes
Normally, DirectDraw lets H2 change all 256 colors, so when a palette flash
happens, we can change all the colors, including black. However, on NT DirectDraw
currently doesn't allow changing black; likewise, on both NT and Win95, black can't be
changed in a window, either a normal window or fullscreen. Consequently, in some modes and
in a window, some parts of the H2 screen stay black when the palette flashes. There is no
workaround.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Problems
can result if Office shortcut bar is running
Various odd behaviors, especially with sound, have been reported if the
Office shortcut bar is running while H2 is running. If you experience odd problems, you
might try shutting down the Office shortcut bar and see if that fixes anything.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Other
apps fail to play sound while Hexen II is running
The sound hardware is currently not a fully shareable resource on Win32.
Consequently, while H2 is running, it always has the sound hardware allocated to itself,
to make sure that sound is never lost to another app. This means that normally (when H2 is
using DirectSound), apps that use wave sound (most non-game apps) will not be able to play
sound while H2 is running, even if H2 is minimized or not the active app, although other
DirectSound apps will be able to play sound when H2 is not the active app. If H2 is using
wave sound rather than DirectSound (either because -wavonly is used on the command line,
or because there is no DirectSound driver, as is always the case on NT), then no other app
will be able to play any sound while H2 is running, period.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
H2 doesn't have quite the right colors when it’s not the
active app
We're working on fixing this. But H2 puts everything back again as soon as it
is reactivated, and anyway, when it’s not active, you can’t actually do anything
in H2, so it doesn’t really matter anyway, right?
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Desktop
is weird colors when H2 runs windowed
H2 needs all 256 colors to look right and run fast, which causes it to have
to change some of the 20 colors used to draw the desktop.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Sometimes Permedia boards crash unless -nowindirect is used
It looks like this is probably a Permedia driver bug, so it might help if you
get the most recent drivers.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Right-click on H2 button in task bar to close doesn’t work as
expected
In some modes, right-clicking on the H2 task bar button doesn't work the way
you'd expect. We're trying to fix this, but if it's a problem, don't right-click.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Screen
saver never kicks in when running H2 fullscreen
It does work windowed, but when Hexen II is fullscreen, it completely owns
the screen and doesn't share it with anyone, even the screensaver. If you use Alt-Tab to
minimize H2, the screensaver will then be enabled, so Alt-Tab away from H2 if you're
leaving your computer alone for a while and want the screensaver to be able to kick in.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
H2
doesn’t work in a window in 16-color mode
That’s 16 *colors*, not 16-bpp. If you’re still running a 16-color
desktop, run H2 fullscreen.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Can't
minimize window while mouse active
When running in a window with the mouse active as a H2 input device, there is
no easy way to minimize the window, because the system menu can't be brought up from the
keyboard (because some of you use Alt and Spacebar for playing the game), and the mouse
can't be used to manipulate the window because it's controlling H2. To minimize, you can
disable the mouse for H2 and use it to minimize the window. Or on Win95 you can Alt-Tab
away from H2, then use the mouse to minimize (this doesn't work on NT, where clicking on
the window controls just reactivates H2). Or you can bind a key to the vid_minimize
command, as in
bind m "vid_minimize"
and press that key to minimize the window.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Window
controls don't work on NT when mouse enabled
When running in a window on NT with the mouse enabled (so you can use the
mouse to play H2), if you Alt-Tab away from H2, then use the mouse to click on the H2
system menu control, or the minimize, maximize, or close controls, the controls are
ignored and H2 just reactivates.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Mouse
sometimes vanishes in system menu on Win95
On Win95, if H2 is running in a window with the mouse enabled (so you can use
the mouse to play H2), if you Alt-Tab away, then click on the system menu, the menu comes
up, but the mouse vanishes. However, you can still use the keyboard to select system menu
items, or to exit the system menu.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
H2
behaves oddly if Scandisk starts defragmenting
If H2 is running fullscreen on Win95 when Scandisk starts an automatic
defragging, H2 is forced to minimize, and when it is brought back up, may either be in a
strange mode where it runs one frame for each keystroke (in which case Alt-Tab generally
fixes things), or may hang the system. We don't know what the problem is right now, but
you may want to make sure you don't leave H2 sitting there fullscreen overnight if you
have automatic defragging.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Hang
reported with zero sound volume
When sound is turned all the way down via the H2 menus, hangs have been
reported.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Joystick worked fine with earlier versions of Quake but not with
Hexen II
The joystick was enabled by default in earlier versions of WinQuake (the
engine Hexen II is based upon), but quite a few people reported serious problems that
forced them to disable the joystick--even some people who didn't have a joystick attached.
Since most people don't have joysticks, we've decided to disable the joystick by default,
and let people who do want to use it set joystick 1 in the console (Hexen II remembers
this setting, so this only needs to be done once).
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
H2
runs very slowly when it has the focus under NT
In one case, H2 ran very slowly when it had the focus, but fast when it
didn't (obviously this is only visible in windowed modes). The problem turned out to be
that NT had a Sidewinder 3D Pro joystick driver installed; when the driver was removed,
things were fine. If you see a similar problem, check whether H2 is detecting that your
system has a joystick when you don't think it should; if so, try doing "joystick
0", or -nojoy on the command line, and see if that fixes it. If so, there's something
flaky in your system joystick setup.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Joystick
doesn't seem calibrated properly
H2 relies on the information about your joystick stored in the system
registry. If the joystick seems miscalibrated, run the joystick applet and recalibrate and
see if that fixes things.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Playdemo
fails across multiple levels
If "record" is used to record a client-side demo, bad things will
happen on playback via playdemo if a level change is recorded. (Timedemo works fine.) This
is unfortunate, but Hexen II internals make this not fixable without a good chance of
breaking something more important, so it'll have to stay this way.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Alt-Tab
fullscreen only works sometimes
I know it seems that way, but actually the trick is that on Win95 it only
works if you let go of Tab before you let go of Alt. This is due to a Windows quirk
involving what key sequences are passed along, so you'll have to work around it by
remembering to let go of Tab first.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
MS-DOS
windows get scrunched on Alt-Tab
This is a quirk of Windows; when you run Hexen II in a low-res mode,
sometimes when you exit Hexen II or Alt-Tab back to the desktop, any open MS-DOS windows
will be scrunched down to the size of the low-res mode. There is no known workaround.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Dprint in progs
doesn't work
Dprint means "developer print," so it only works if the developer
console variable is set to 1. It was a bug in earlier versions that it worked even when
developer was set to 0.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
The
Windows key doesn't do anything fullscreen on Win95
True. This is a minor bug we haven't figured out how to fix yet. You'll have
to use Ctrl-Esc, Alt-Tab, or Alt-Esc to switch away.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
My default mode is windowed, but H2 goes fullscreen first
For internal reasons, H2 has to pick a single mode to always initialize when
it starts up, before it sets whatever default you've selected. We've chosen fullscreen
mode, because that's the way most people will play. If this is a problem for you, however,
you can run H2 with the -startwindowed command-line parameter.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Some high-resolution video modes flicker or fail to initialize
We think these problems are all fixed, but if not, they have to do with
triple-buffering in some modes on some DirectDraw drivers. If you encounter this problem,
either don't use the problem modes or try using the -notriplebuf command-line parameter to
turn off triple buffering. Note, though, that turning off triple-buffering can reduce
performance in some modes, so do this only if needed.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Right-click
doesn't work right on minimized WinQuake
If you right-click on minimized Hexen II on the task bar, the Close selection
in the right-click menu doesn't work; you have to restore H2 before you can exit it. Also,
the cursor vanishes over the right-click menu, although it still works.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
The
screen briefly blanks when you exit H2
We're trying to fix this, but it's not harmful, just a mite ugly.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
QBENCH doesn't work
with H2
We've had a report that QBENCH doesn't work with H2, but haven't had a chance
to look into it yet.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
MWAVE sound loses focus
We've had a report that on a ThinkPad with MWAVE sound, H2 loses sound focus
(and thus sound) every few seconds.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Desktop
doesn't reset to proper resolution on H2 exit
We've had a report that on exiting H2, the desktop didn't reset to the proper
dimensions. This may be a bug with the Matrox drivers, but we're not sure. If it's a
problem and newer drivers don't fix it, you can run -dibonly, which solves the problem but
can cost some performance.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Palette
goes bad periodically on #9 Imagine card
There's only one report of this, so maybe it's a flaky board, or maybe it's a
driver bug. Newer drivers might help.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
System with Packard Bell sound card III crashes on CapsLock
This appears to be the result of buggy DirectSound drivers; -wavonly makes
the problem go away.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Dvorak keyboard
mapping ignored
H2 is hardwired for QWERTY.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Cursor messed
up after running H2
This is a Windows driver bug; the driver isn't restoring the cursor properly
on return from fullscreen H2 to the desktop. Try newer drivers.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Dedicated server runs very slowly while typing at console
When you type at a dedicated server's console, the game runs very slowly for
everyone who's connected.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Ctrl-Alt-Del
on NT sometimes doesn't allow return to H2
This happens on some machines while running H2 fullscreen. If you experience
this problem, the only workaround is not to press Ctrl-Alt-Del while fullscreen; Alt-Tab
away first.
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
Many
fast Alt-Tabs on Win95 sometimes disable H2 input
If you Alt-Tab fast lots of times on Win95 with H2 running fullscreen,
sometimes you end up in fullscreen H2, with the game not accepting any keyboard input (so
there's no way to exit). The only workaround is to not do lots of fast Alt-Tabs (why you'd
want to, I'm not sure).
Back to
Common Problems and Work Arounds
A bit about how H2 video works
H2 has the built-in ability to draw into windows (both normal, framed desktop windows and fullscreen, borderless windows). It also has built- in support for VGA 320x200 graphics, and supports DirectDraw, VESA VBE 2.0 and VESA VBE/AF (Accelerator Functions) graphics modes, if those are available.
H2 does not require VESA VBE, but in order for VESA VBE modes to be available, your graphics card must be VESA VBE 2.0 or VBE/AF compliant; a VESA driver can either be built into the BIOS of your graphics card, or loadable via software. Contact the original manufacturer of your video card to obtain software updates containing these drivers.
Video modes supported in Win95
What all this means is that on Win95, H2 will always be able to run in the
following modes:
1) in a window
2) fullscreen 320x200 VGA mode 0x13
3) fullscreen high-resolution of some sort
Category #3 can be any of several configurations. On Win95, if either DirectDraw or VESA VBE modes are available, then all the DirectDraw and VESA modes will be presented as high-res choices. (320x200 will always default to VGA mode 0x13.) In the case that a given resolution is supported by both DirectDraw and VESA, the VESA mode will be used. (However, the command-line switch -nowindirect can turn off VESA modes entirely.) If neither DirectDraw nor VESA modes are available, then high-resolution modes will be provided by using fullscreen, borderless windows in whatever resolutions the Windows driver supports, usually starting at 640x480 and going up.
Video Modes Supported in Windows NT
NT is similar but not identical, because neither VESA VBE modes nor VGA mode 0x13
are available. On NT, H2 will always be able to run in the following modes:
1) in a window
2) fullscreen high-resolution of some sort
On NT, category #2 can be one of two configurations. If DirectDraw modes are available, then those will be the high-res choices; otherwise, fullscreen, borderless windows will be used in whatever resolutions the driver supports, usually starting at 640x480 and going up. Because there is normally no low-resolution mode such as 320x200 or 320x240 on NT, a pseudo low-res mode is created by rendering at 320x240, then stretching the image by doubling it in each direction while copying it to a 640x480 screen. However, stretching performance depends on the driver, and can be slow, so sometimes 640x480 is actually faster than 320x240 on NT.
The bottom line here is that you can generally just use the Video menu and pick one of the modes and be happy. In some cases, though, you may need to use command-line switches (described next) to get the types of modes you want. One useful tip is to go into the console and do vid_describemodes, which lists all the modes H2 makes available on your machine given the command-line switches you've used. Each mode is followed by the name of the internal H2 driver that supports it, so you can tell which modes are DirectDraw, VESA, and so on, as follows:
WINDOWED: H2 runs in a normal window
FULLSCREEN DIB: fullscreen borderless window
FULLSCREEN VGA8.DRV: VGA 320x200 mode
FULLSCREEN DDRAW8.DRV: DirectDraw mode
FULLSCREEN LINEAR8.DRV: VESA VBE 2.0+ mode
FULLSCREEN ACCEL8.DRV: VESA VBE/AF (Accelerator Functions) mode
(note that H2 does not take advantage of VBE/AF acceleration; so far as H2 is concerned VBE/AF is the same as normal VBE)
You can use vid_mode from the console to set any of these modes. So, for example, if you see that there are two 320x200 modes (such as one VGA mode 0x13, normally mode 3, and one VESA mode, normally mode 4), you can choose the VESA mode, which will often be faster, with vid_mode 4. (You can make it the default by setting _vid_default_mode_win to the mode number.)
There's more to the windowed modes than you might think. 320x240 is just what you’d expect, but 640x480 is actually rendered at 320x240 and stretched up to 640x480, because most machines can’t handle the performance demands of real 640x480 rendering. Likewise, 800x600 is a stretched 400x300. Actually, though, vid_mode 2 (the 800x600 mode) is a user-configurable mode. By setting the following console variables, you can change the characteristics of vid_mode 2:
vid_config_x: width of mode 2 window
vid_config_y: height of mode 2 window
vid_stretch_by_2: whether to render at half-resolution in each direction and stretch up to the specified size in mode 2, or render at full resolution.
After setting these variables in the console, do a vid_forcemode 2, and you’ll have the window you specified. Note that after making these changes, the new resolution will show up as the third windowed mode in the Video menu.
You can turn off page flipping by setting the console variable vid_nopageflip to 1, then setting a new mode. (Note that the vid_nopageflip setting does not take effect until the next mode set.) Some systems run faster with page flipping turned off; also, page flipping does not work properly on some adapters, and vid_nopageflip is a workaround for this. Note that vid_nopageflip is a persistent variable; it retains its setting until it is explicitly changed again, even across multiple Hexen II sessions.
The vid_forcemode console command sets the specified mode, even if it's the same as the current mode (normally the mode set only happens if the new mode differs from the current mode). This is generally useful only if you've modified the characteristics of video mode 2 (the configurable window) while you're in mode 2, and want to force the new characteristics to take effect.
Whenever you switch to running Hexen II in a window, the window is placed at the same location it was in the last time Hexen II ran in a window. You can reset the window position to the upper left by using the -resetwinpos command-line switch. The window position is stored in the vid_window_x and vid_window_y console variables.
Video command-line switches
The full list of video-related command-line switches
is:
-dibonly: H2 will use only windows (both normal, framed windows on the desktop and fullscreen, borderless windows), not any direct hardware access modes such as DirectDraw or VESA modes, or even VGA 320x200 mode. This is the closest thing to a guaranteed-to-run fullscreen mode H2 has.
-nowindirect: H2 will not try to use VESA VBE 2.0 modes, or VBE/AF 1.0 or later modes. Note that if there are both DirectDraw and VESA modes for a given resolution, H2 will normally use the VESA mode; -nowindirect allows DirectDraw modes to be the preferred choice for all resolutions except 320x200. This can be useful if H2 is crashing because of a buggy VESA driver.
-nodirectdraw: H2 will not try to use DirectDraw modes. This can be useful if H2 is crashing because of a buggy DirectDraw driver.
-novbeaf: H2 will not try to use VBE/AF 1.0 or later modes.
-startwindowed: H2 will come up in a windowed mode, without going fullscreen even during initialization.
-noforcevga: normally, H2 uses VGA mode 0x13 for the default 320x200 mode, even if a DirectDraw or VESA 320x200 mode exists. However, DirectDraw and VESA modes can be considerably faster than mode 0x13, because they can set up a linear framebuffer with higher memory bandwidth. If you specify -noforcevga, the default 320x200 mode in the menu will be a DirectDraw or VESA mode if one exists. This has no effect on modes selected via the console variable vid_mode, and if 320x200 is already your video mode, -noforcevga doesn't do anything until you use the menu to select another mode, then select 320x200 again. (So if your default mode is 320x200 and you then specify -noforcevga, switch away to some other mode and then back to 320x200 to get the potentially faster 320x200 mode.) The downside to this switch is that DirectDraw and VESA modes can cause problems in some systems, due to driver bugs or hardware incompatibilities; if you experience problems with this switch, don't use it.
-noautostretch: don't stretch windowed modes selected with -startwindowed to double resolution.
-nofulldib: don't use fullscreen, borderless windows, even if there are no DirectDraw or VESA modes available.
-allow360: allow listing of 360-wide modes in the video mode menu. These are normally filtered out to make sure the menu doesn't get too full, which could cause high-res modes not to be displayed.
A bit about how H2 sound works
H2 can use either DirectSound or Windows wave output
to generate sound. If DirectSound is available, it is used; if not, if wave sound is
available it is used; and if neither is available, there is no sound. DirectSound results
in the best sound quality, and also the lowest-latency sound; use it if you can, because
you will be happier with the results. (Note, though, that no NT sound drivers yet support
DirectSound.) Wave sound will often have high latency, lagging the events that generate
sound by hundreds of milliseconds on some machines.
You can tell what kind of sound H2 uses on your system by looking at the startup portion of the console; you will see either "DirectSound initialized" or "Wave sound initialized" (neither message is printed if there's no sound). Any sound failure messages will also be printed in the startup portion of the console.
Note that H2 generates sound only when it is the active app, the one with the input focus.
Sound command-line switches
The full list of sound-related command-line switches
is:
-wavonly: don’t use DirectSound, but use wave sound if available. Note that wave sound is generally faster than DirectSound, but has considerably greater latency. This switch is redundant on NT, because all sound output on current NT drivers is wave sound.
-nosound: don’t output any sound.
-primarysound: use DirectSound primary buffer output. This is generally faster than normal secondary buffer output, but does not work in some systems, and produces odd sound glitches on minimization and focus switching in other systems. Use it at your own risk, and please do not report sound bugs if you're using this switch.
-snoforceformat: H2 will not try to force the sound hardware to 11 KHz, 16 bits per sample. This may be useful if DirectSound is failing for no apparent reason, but generally H2 will produce better sound and better performance if this switch is not used.
Notes on networking
The winsock TCP/IP driver will not cause a dial-up
internet connection to automatically start up when Quake is started. If you start Quake
with it inactive, the connection will be activated when you either try to connect to a
server or search for local servers.
The local IP address will not always be known at startup. If it is currently unknown the menu will display "INADDR_ANY". This will be replaced with the real address when it is known. The IP address will become known when you try to connect to a server, you search for local servers, or you start a server.
For multi-homed machines (machines with more than one network adapter and IP adress), you can force Hexen II to bind to a specific IP address. There is a command line option "-ip" that takes an IP address as its parameter.
Notes on the mouse
If DirectInput is installed and functioning, Hexen II can use it for mouse input, but does
not do so automatically because DirectInput does not work properly on all systems.
DirectInput can be enabled via the command-line switch -dinput. If DirectInput is not
available or is not enabled, Hexen II uses the normal Windows mouse APIs instead.
DirectInput provides slightly smoother motion; also, it tends to be more responsive to
fast spinning motions, and we recommend that you use it if it works properly on your
system. You can determine if H2 uses DirectInput on your system when you use -dinput by
checking for "DirectInput initialized" in the startup console text. If not, you
might try installing DirectX 3 (note, though, that as I write this there is no released
DirectInput support for Windows NT, only Win95).
Special thanks
Special thanks for help with WinQuake to:
Michael Abrash, John Carmack, James Barnes, Kendall Bennett, Raymond Chen, John Colleran, Andrew Goossen, Mike Harrington, Chris Hecker, Todd Laney, Scott Ludwig
...and all the beta testers!
HEXEN II 3D ACCELERATED ENGINE
3D ACCELERATORS
The hardware world is changing so fast that it is impossible for us to test, or even list, every 3D accelerator card with GLHexen. While some cards work extremely well, we cannot guarantee that your card will work as expected.
How GL Works:
The executable relies on the OpenGL library created
by 3Dfx to support their Voodoo graphics cards. If you have a non-Voodoo graphics board
that fully supports OpenGL, you can try removing the file Opengl32.dll from the Hexen II
directory. This will force the program to use the GL library installed with your card's
drivers. However, there are no guarantees that this will work.
If you are using a Voodoo graphics board and are still having trouble getting GLHexen working, we suggest reinstalling your manufacturer's run-time Glide drivers (not the Direct3D drivers if there is an option between the two). Click here to go to the 3Dfx driver page. Other popular manufacturer's driver pages are Diamond Multimedia's driver page, and Orchid's driver page.
Special thanks to Gary McTaggart at 3Dfx for helping us write GLHexen!
Upon completion of the Hexen II setup, the installation process
will continue by determining if Microsoft DirectX 3a needs to be installed on your
computer. If so, the Microsoft DirectX 3a setup program will install the appropriate files
on your computer. If you choose not to install DirectX 3a, and you find that later you
need to install DirectX 3a, follow these directions. With the Hexen II disc in your CD-ROM
drive, install Microsoft DirectX 3a by right mouse clicking on the Hexen II CD icon to get
the Context menu. From that menu, select Install DirectX.
Who makes DirectX and how can I contact them?
Microsoft created DirectX. If the answer to the
question you are looking for is not found on this page, you may want to contact Microsoft
via mail at:
Microsoft Customer Sales and Service
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052-6399, USA
Microsoft can also be reached in the USA at (800) 426-9400, or internationally at +1(206)
882-8080.
What is DirectX and why do I need it?
Microsoft's DirectX 3a is an API (Application Programming Interface) set that
increases the speed at which games play under the Windows 95 operating system. These APIs
allow direct access to the enhanced features of hardware under Windows 95. With DirectX
3a, a program has instant access to the hardware, allowing for great advances in graphics,
sound, video, 3-D, and network capabilities of games.
Since Windows 95 and DirectX 3a are relatively new in the computer world and have not
achieved compatibility with some older video cards, many manufacturers are releasing
updated drivers for Windows 95 to meet the DirectX standard. If you are not sure about
your video card's compatibility, consult the company that makes your video card.
If the Microsoft DirectX Installer does not detect DirectX 3a on your computer, it can
install DirectX 3a for you. After installation is complete, you will need to restart your
computer in order for DirectX 3a to take effect.
If you have other Windows 95 games on your computer, chances are you already have an
earlier version of DirectX installed on your computer. In this case, the Microsoft
Installer will overwrite that version with DirectX 3a. The DirectX installation process
will then be complete. You will need to restart your computer for the changes to take
effect.
If you already have DirectX 3a installed on your computer, the Microsoft DirectX 3a
installer will detect it and not overwrite any DirectX 3a files. You will not need to
restart your computer after installation in order to run Hexen II.
DirectX 3a should not affect any titles designed for the original version of DirectX.
Should you encounter difficulties with DirectX 3a, please contact Microsoft for further
information.
How do I check to see if my computer supports DirectX?
1. Place the disc in the CD-ROM drive and exit from any AutoPlay screens.
2. Double-click on "My Computer".
3. Right-click on your CD-ROM drive and choose Install DirectX.
If any of the components of DirectX are not certified, please call your hardware
manufacturer for the updated drivers that support DirectX.
I am having problems with running Hexen II and think it might be related to my
Direct X installation. What should I do?
If you experience problems running Hexen II, try turning off the "Enable 3D
Acceleration" option in the DirectX setup program. To disable 3D Acceleration, double
click on the dxsetup icon located in Program Files\DirectX\Setup. Uncheck the option for
3D acceleration in the middle of the DXSetup window.
I have heard DirectX is not compatible with some video cards. What can you tell me
about that?
Windows 95 and DirectX are relatively new in the computer world and have not
achieved compatibility with some older video cards. Many manufacturers are releasing
updated drivers to meet the DirectX standard. If you are not sure about your video card's
compatibility, consult the Vendor List for the company that makes your video card.
If I don't have DirectX, will Hexen II install it for me?
Yes. If the Microsoft DirectX Installer does not detect DirectX on your computer, it will
install DirectX for you. After installation is complete, you will need to restart your
computer in order for DirectX to take effect.
If the DirectX Installer copied over a previous version, will the UnInstaller
remove DirectX 3a? How will this affect my other Windows 95 games?
DirectX 3a will remain on your computer and you will be able to run other Windows 95 games
that use Microsoft’s DirectX libraries. DirectX 3a should not affect any titles
designed for the original version of DirectX. Should you encounter difficulties with
DirectX 3a, please contact Microsoft for further information (address and phone number
listed above).
How do I restore my video and/or audio drivers once DirectX has been installed?
1. Place the disc in the CD-ROM drive and exit from any AutoPlay screens.
2. Double-click on "My Computer".
3. Right-click on your CD-ROM drive and choose Install DirectX.
Choose the button that satisfies your need (e.g. Restore Audio drivers). This process will
install your previous drivers and prompt you to restart Microsoft Windows.
The following manufacturers suggest running DirectX 3a with their products using the
configurations listed below. If you need further assistance, please contact your video
card manufacturer directly.
Diamond Multimedia
Stealth SE
Stealth 64 Graphics 2000
Stealth 64 Video 2000
Stealth 64 Video 3000
Stealth Video 2001
Stealth Video 2001\TV
Stealth Video 2500
Stealth 3D 2000
If problems are encountered with the above Diamond Multimedia video cards, we recommend
that you restore your video card drivers. Instructions are as follows:
1. Place the game disc in the CD-ROM drive and exit from any AutoPlay screens.
2. Double-click on "My Computer".
3. Right-click on your CD-ROM drive and choose Install DirectX.
4. Click on the button labeled “Restore Video drivers.”
STB Powergraph64 with Vision 95
We have experienced numerous problems with STB video cards running the STB Vision 95 set
of display tools. Please uninstall your STB Vision 95 display tools by reinstalling the
STB drivers without the STB Vision 95 display tools if you experience any problems playing
Hexen II.
ATI Mach 64
If you experience problems running with an ATI Mach 64, click on your Start Button and
select Run, then type SYSTEM.INI. Click OK.
Locate the section within the file labeled
[Display]
and add the line STRETCHENGINE=0
Example:
[Display]
STRETCHENGINE=0
Click on File, then choose Save. Click on File then choose Exit to leave your System
Configuration editor. Reboot the system and try playing Hexen II again.
Before contacting customer support, please consult the technical help file. It contains the answers to some of our most frequently asked questions and may quickly and easily provide a solution to your difficulty. If after reviewing the technical help file you are still experiencing problems, please feel free to contact us through any of the services listed.
So that we can better help you, please be at your computer and have the following information ready:
1. Complete product title
2. Exact error message reported (if any) and a brief description of the problem
3. Your computer’s processor type and speed (e.g. 486 DX2/66, Pentium 90)
4. Video and sound card make and model (e.g., Diamond Stealth 64 video, Sound Blaster 16 sound)
Online Services with Activision Forums, E-Mail and File Library Support
• Internet: support@activision.com or http://www.activision.com
• America Online: Use keyword “Activision” to locate the Activision forum.
• CompuServe: 76004,2122 or [GO GAMBPUB]
• Activision BBS: (310) 255-2146 Up to 33,600 Baud; Settings: 8 Bits, No Parity, 1 Stop Bit (8, N, 1)
In the U.S.
Fax (310) 255-2151, 24 hours a day
FaxBack (310) 255-2153, 24 hours a day
Mail Activision, Customer Support, P.O. Box 67713, Los Angeles, CA 90067
Phone Call our 24-hour voice-mail system for answers to our most frequently asked questions at (310) 255-2050. Or contact a customer service representative at the same number between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (Pacific Time) Monday through Friday, except holidays.
In Australia & the U.K.
For Technical Support:
In Australia, please call 1902 962 000.
In the U.K., please call 0990 143 525.
If you have any comments, questions or suggestions about this game, or any other Activision product, you can contact us in the U.K. on 0181 742 9400 between the hours of 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. (U.K. time) Monday through Friday, with the exception of holidays.
For Technical Support and Customer Service in areas not listed, please contact your local distributor or Activision via online. (Please note that online support is available in English only.)
Project Director: Brian Raffel
Programming
Lead Programmer: Rick Johnson
Programmers: Ben Gokey, Bob "The Doctor" Love, Mike Gummelt
Additional Programming: Josh Weier
Design
Lead Design: Eric Biessman
Designers: Brian Raffel, Brian Frank, Tom Odell
Art
Art Director: Brian Pelletier
Artists: Shane Gurno, Jim Sumwalt, Mark Morgan, Kim Lathrop, Ted Halsted, Rebecca Rettenmund, Les Dorscheid
Animators: Mike Werckle, Brian Schubart
Cinematics: Jeff Dewitt, Jeffrey P. Lampo
Audio
Music: Kevin Schilder
Sound: Kevin Schilder, Chia Chin Lee
Producer: Steve Stringer
Localization Producer: Sandi Isaacs
Marketing Product Manager: Henk Hartong
European Marketing Product Director: Janine Johnson
Marketing Associate: Kevin Kraff
Senior Quality Assurance Lead: Tim Vanlaw
Quality Assurance Lead: John Tam
Quality Assurance Team: Steve Rosenthal, Mike Spann, Steve Elwell, Igor Krinitskiy, Ian Stevens, Winnie Lee, Kelly Wand and David Baker
Additional QA and Support: Tony Villalobos, Marilena Wahmann, Jason Sullivan, Kip Stolberg, Dale Son, David Santos, and Daniel McDonald
Documentation: Mike Rivera, Sylvia Orzel, Belinda Vansickle
Chronicle of Deeds written by: Joe Grant Bell
Localization: Nathalie Dove, Lucy Morgan, Alex Wylde, Nicky Kerth
Installer by: Steve Stringer, Adam Goldberg, Tanya Martino, Eric Schmidt, Ronnie Lane
Video Services: Chris Hepburn, Brian Bright, Kenny Ramirez
Art Assistance by: Carey Chico and Franz Boehm
Production Assistance by: Jonathan Eubanks
Special Thanks To: E.H.S., JKay, & Lairdo
BizDev Babe: Jamie Bafus
And...
Deal Guru: Mitch Lasky
Published by:
Id Software, Inc.
The Id Software Technology used under license in Hexen II™ ⌐ 1996, 1997 Id Software, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Hexen II™ ⌐ 1997 Raven Software Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Id Software, Inc. software code contained within Hexen II™ ⌐ 1996 Id Software, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Developed by Raven Software Corporation. Published by Id Software, Inc. Distributed by Activision, Inc. under sublicense. Hexen™, Hexen II™ and the Raven logo are trademarks of Raven Software Corporation. The Id Software name and the id logo are trademarks of Id Software, Inc. Activision« is a registered trademark of Activision, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective companies.
All images contained in this document are the property of Activision, Inc., and may not be used in any form without written consent from Activision, Inc.
SOFTWARE SUBLICENSE AGREEMENT
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| In the U.S. send to: Warranty Replacements |
In Europe send to: Activision |
In Australia send to: Warranty Replacements |
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If you have any questions concerning this sublicense, you may contact Activision at 3100 Ocean Park Boulevard, Santa Monica, California 90405, (310) 255-2000, Attn. Business and Legal Affairs.
