Difference between revisions of "Postal III"
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{{Fixbox|description=Use the Postal 3 NoDRM patch|fix= | {{Fixbox|description=Use the Postal 3 NoDRM patch|fix= | ||
Use [https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/858-postal-3-nodrm/ Postal 3 NoDRM]. | Use [https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file/858-postal-3-nodrm/ Postal 3 NoDRM]. | ||
− | {{--}} Various game mechanics such as throwing items using human shields can crash the game with the NoDRM fix. | + | {{--}} Various game mechanics such as throwing items and using human shields can crash the game with the NoDRM fix. |
{{++}} Some of the crashing issues caused by the patch are now fixed with the current Steam version and ZOOM Platform v1.2 update<ref name="Postal3ZoomPlatform2023"/> and is preferably recommended to use those versions rather than this patch. | {{++}} Some of the crashing issues caused by the patch are now fixed with the current Steam version and ZOOM Platform v1.2 update<ref name="Postal3ZoomPlatform2023"/> and is preferably recommended to use those versions rather than this patch. | ||
}} | }} |
Revision as of 11:50, 14 October 2023
Developers | |
---|---|
Trashmasters | |
Publishers | |
Akella | |
Retail (Japan) | CYBERFRONT Corporation |
Engines | |
Source | |
Release dates | |
Windows | November 23, 2011 |
Reception | |
Metacritic | 24 |
Taxonomy | |
Monetization | One-time game purchase |
Microtransactions | None |
Modes | Singleplayer |
Pacing | Real-time |
Perspectives | Third-person |
Controls | Direct control |
Genres | Action, FPS, Shooter |
Art styles | Cartoon |
Themes | Comedy, North America |
Series | Postal |
Postal | |
---|---|
Postal | 1997 |
Postal² | 2003 |
Postal III | 2011 |
Postal Redux | 2016 |
Postal 4: No Regerts | 2022 |
Postal: Brain Damaged | 2022 |
Poostall Royale | 2023 |
Postal III is a singleplayer third-person action, FPS and shooter game in the Postal series.
The game is known for its instability and poor optimization, to the point of being officially disavowed by series creator, Running With Scissors.[1] It was delisted off Steam in November of 2022 due to problems related to the DRM. On September 26, 2023, 11 years after the last update, the ZOOM Platform version received the Fart Gun DLC and a set of fixes for multiple long-standing issues, including crashes when throwing items or grabbing a human shield.[2] Few weeks later, on October 13, 2023, the game returned back to Steam with the DRM removed and the bug fixes from the ZOOM Platform release.[3][4]
Versions outside of the original Russian retail release and the DRM-free releases require a workaround to bypass the ActControl DRM; see Use the updated Starforce domain for ActControl DRM activation.
General information
Availability
Source | DRM | Notes | Keys | OS |
---|---|---|---|---|
Retail | StarForce 5 DRM Orignal Russian release. | |||
Retail | All other releases. | |||
Steam | Not available in Germany. | |||
ZOOM Platform | ||||
GamersGate (unavailable) | ||||
Developer website (unavailable) | Sold by series creator, Running with Scissors. Choice of a key, physical base game copy, Collector's Edition in pink box, or the XX 20th Anniversary Pack. |
- ActControl DRM[5] was removed from the Steam release on October 13th, 2023.
- Retail disc copies released outside of Russia no longer install on Steam via the CD/DVD installer feature, requiring you to download it through Steam itself, or extract it manually.
Version differences
- Russia received 3 different special edition versions. The Deluxe Edition includes the base game, a soundtrack CD, a "making of" DVD, a map of Catharsis, and a magnetic Krotchy. The Collector's Edition, in either a big black or pink box, includes the same as the Deluxe Edition but now has an added copy of the Postal movie, an artbook, and a Krotchy plush doll.[6] The Gama-Gama exclusive Гама-edition has the soundtrack, "making of" movie, map of Catharsis, and artbook now in digital form, but also includes other bonuses like a cardboard pattern, the Fart Gun DLC, early access to playing the game, and +1622 bonuses added to your Gama-Gama account.[7]
- Japan received a Special edition which includes the game alongside a pink Krotchy mousepad.[8]
- The game received 3 more updates under Akella's control. Official patch notes (alongside a translated version) here.
- Latest Steam version is slightly different compared to v1.12, most notably being compiled at a later date (January 24 2012) and the cat upgrade icons for certain weapons not showing up.
- The ZOOM Platform 1.2 version includes the Fart Gun DLC weapon and multiple bug fixes, most notably fixing the main issues caused by the No DRM patch, throwing items and taking human shields crashing the game.[2]
- The Steam update from October 13th, 2023 includes the bug fixes from the ZOOM Platform 1.2 version but does not include any of the bonus material, including the Fart Gun.
Monetization
DLC and expansion packs
Name | Notes | |
---|---|---|
Fart Gun / Гамамет | An exclusive bonus weapon that was for sale from the Russian digital game key store Gama-Gama, either for pre-ordering Postal III Гама-edition[9] or by buying it individually.[10] The weapon is also available in the retail copies released outside Russia, with an official UI translation into English. Added to the ZOOM Platform version on September 26, 2023.[2] |
- A free remake of the addon with both the English and Russian UI translations are available here.
- Doesn't work on every version of the game, it was officially accessible to the player in the v1.10 update if the files were installed.
Essential improvements
Skip intro videos
Delete or rename files[11] |
---|
Delete or rename |
Official Update Files
- Updates released periodically after the original retail release from Russia, previously hosted on both Akella's and Running with Scissors' websites.[12]
- Unnecessary if playing off the Steam or ZOOM Platform release, as those are already updated to the most recent patch.
- Requires an activation key for the Russian version for the DRM, which makes it incompatible with every other version.
Postal III Unofficial Patch 1.13
- This unofficial patch fixes many mission script issues and bugs, re-balances some weapons and missions, adds extra unused and new voice lines for Postal Dude, as well as missing sound effects for weapons and unused loading screens for several missions.
- Beta Mod Pack and Improvement Mod are incompatible with this patch.
POSTAL III Improvement Mod
- Effectively an unofficial patch of sorts; fixes many of the game's issues whilst also re-implementing some of the game's missing features/beta content.
Beta Mod Pack
- Alternative to the Improvement Mod.
- Fixes various game issues, while focusing on the restoration of beta content.
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | <path-to-game>\p3\cfg\[Note 1] |
Steam Play (Linux) | <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/10220/pfx/[Note 2] |
Save game data location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | <path-to-game>\p3\SAVE\[Note 1] |
Steam Play (Linux) | <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/10220/pfx/[Note 2] |
Save game cloud syncing
System | Native | Notes |
---|---|---|
Steam Cloud |
Video
Graphics feature | State | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|
Widescreen resolution | |||
Multi-monitor | |||
Ultra-widescreen | |||
4K Ultra HD | Interface scales poorly. | ||
Field of view (FOV) | |||
Windowed | |||
Borderless fullscreen windowed | Launch the game with -window -noborder parameter. |
||
Anisotropic filtering (AF) | Up to 16x. | ||
Anti-aliasing (AA) | Up to 8x MSAA and 16xQ CSAA for Nvidia GPUs. | ||
Vertical sync (Vsync) | |||
60 FPS and 120+ FPS | Capped to 60FPS by default in ZOOM Platform version in the zoom_p3_fix.cfg config file. |
||
High dynamic range display (HDR) | Rendered image uses SDR color space. In-game HDR option refers only to HDR Rendering. |
Input
Keyboard and mouse | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Remapping | ||
Mouse acceleration | ||
Mouse sensitivity | ||
Mouse input in menus | ||
Mouse Y-axis inversion | ||
Controller | ||
Controller support | Go to the configuration file(s) location, open config.cfg and change joystick "0" to joystick "1" . |
|
Full controller support | You need Mouse and Keyboard to navigate through menus, but you can map Quick Save/Quick Load to any controller button you want. |
|
Controller remapping | ||
Controller sensitivity | ||
Controller Y-axis inversion |
Controller types |
---|
XInput-compatible controllers | Go to the configuration file(s) location, open config.cfg and change joystick "0" to joystick "1" . |
|
---|---|---|
Xbox button prompts | ||
Impulse Trigger vibration |
PlayStation controllers |
---|
Generic/other controllers |
---|
Additional information | ||
---|---|---|
Controller hotplugging | ||
Haptic feedback | ||
Digital movement supported | ||
Simultaneous controller+KB/M |
Audio
Audio feature | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Separate volume controls | ||
Surround sound | ||
Subtitles | Certain languages (such as German) only have subtitles in the FMV cutscenes. | |
Closed captions | ||
Mute on focus lost | ||
Royalty free audio | Licensed music is used throughout the game, but can be disabled by muting the music through options and skipping the FMV cutscenes. |
Localizations
Language | UI | Audio | Sub | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
English | All translations (except Russian) use English as a base, so they will have English audio and UI assets. | |||
Brazilian Portuguese | Fan translation, download. | |||
French | Fan translation, download. | |||
German | ||||
Italian | Fan translation, download. | |||
Japanese | Fan translation, download. The official Japanese localization is currently lost, and is not in any version, despite official media showing it was translated.[13] | |||
Polish | Fan translation, download. To fix the characters, follow this guide. | |||
Russian | ||||
Simplified Chinese | Fan translation, download. |
- The ZOOM Platform version as of v1.2 has removed all the extra Source Engine localization files from the game, leaving only the English and Russian localization files. In order to use other languages, you would need to get them from another Source Engine-related project, such as a game or the official SDK, and copy them over to
<path-to-game>\p3\resource
.
Issues fixed
Game doesn't launch
- Postal III has issues with it’s DRM, which has been one of the main suspected reasons for its removal from Steam.
- Doesn’t apply for the current Steam and ZOOM Platform versions.
Use the updated Starforce domain for ActControl DRM activation |
---|
|
Use the Postal 3 NoDRM patch |
---|
Use Postal 3 NoDRM.
|
FPS is unstable/game is laggy
Edit the autoexec.cfg[14][15] |
---|
|
Other information
API
Technical specs | Supported | Notes |
---|---|---|
Direct3D | 9.0c | |
Shader Model support | 2.0, 2.0b, 3.0 |
Executable | 32-bit | 64-bit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Windows |
Middleware
Middleware | Notes | |
---|---|---|
Physics | Havok, PhysX, APEX | Heavily modified variant, 2.8.4.6, 1.0.0.1 |
Audio | Miles Sound System | 6.6a |
Cutscenes | Bink Video | 1.8w |
Mods
Postal 3 First Person Mod
- Allows you to play the game in first person mode. Paste the script in your autoexec.cfg.
System requirements
Windows | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | Recommended | |
Operating system (OS) | XP | Vista, 7 |
Processor (CPU) | Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz Dual Core 2.0 GHz | |
System memory (RAM) | 1 GB | 2 GB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 13.5 GB | |
Video card (GPU) | Support for Pixel Shaders 128 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible |
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below
%PROGRAMFILES%
,%PROGRAMDATA%
, or%WINDIR%
might be redirected to%LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore
on Windows Vista and later (more details). - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (10220) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.
References
- ↑ Postal III - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Zoom Platform - Postal III, I'm filled with glee! - last accessed on 2023-09-26
- ↑ Postal 3 · Postal III Packages · SteamDB - last accessed on 2023-10-13
- ↑ Running With Scissors on X - last accessed on 2023-10-13
- ↑ http://actcontrol.net/
- ↑ Gamer.ru - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ Gamer.ru - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ 4gamer.net - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ Gama-Gama - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ Gama-Gama - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ Verified by User:Mars icecream on 2017-9
- ↑ Postal III - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ Postal III Japanese Trailer - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=650247633
- ↑ yuanpaper.blogspot.com - last accessed on May 2023