Warnings
- GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).
Key points
- Master servers for multiplayer were shut down on December 19, 2012. See FEAR Combat Community.
- The multiplayer component (F.E.A.R. Combat) is free to download and continues to be supported by the community.
- Features an in-game benchmarking system. (It is not accurate to in game performance)
- Potential performance issues, use the DirectInput FPS Fix (If this doesn't work for you, disable soft shadows. With soft shadows enabled RTX 2080 dips to 45FPS, disabled 180-310FPS).
- Potential graphics issues, use the Vulkan wrapping.
General information
- Official manual
- GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
- GOG.com Support Page
- Steam Community Discussions
- Steam Community Discussions (Extraction Point)
- Unofficial Wiki for game series
- F.E.A.R. Combat Community
Availability
- The GOG.com and Steam releases include both F.E.A.R. Extraction Point and F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate
- The GOG install removes securom, gamespy, punkbuster. GOG is 15.6GB[136 files], Steam is 16.5GB[161 files]. [2]
DLC and expansion packs
Name |
Notes |
|
Extraction Point |
|
|
Perseus Mandate |
Standalone, work without original game. |
|
Essential improvements
Patches
Latest version is 1.08.
The FEAR multiplayer master server was shut down on December 19, 2012. The community has developed an unofficial patch for the game and is offering new FEAR Combat CD keys for free. The latest version of the community-supported FEAR Combat client and new CD keys can be obtained from the Fear Combat Community website.
Skip intro videos
Skip intro videos[citation needed]
|
- Go to the configuration file(s) location.
- Open
settings.cfg .
- Add a new line:
"DisableMovies" "1"
Notes
- This doesn't skip the first splash screen which acts as a loading screen.
|
Game data
In-game general settings.
Configuration file(s) location
- Key bindings are stored in
%PUBLIC%\Documents\Monolith Productions\FEAR\Profiles\Profile000.gdb
and %PUBLIC%\Documents\TimeGate Studios\FEARXP\Profiles\Profile000.gdb
Save game data location
System |
Location |
Windows |
%PUBLIC%\Documents\Monolith Productions\FEAR\Save\Profile000\SinglePlayer %PUBLIC%\Documents\TimeGate Studios\FEARXP\Save\Profile000\SinglePlayer |
Steam Play (Linux) |
<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/21090/pfx/[Note 1] |
- F.E.A.R. has 10 save slots, plus 1 quicksave slot and 1 autosave slot. Additional save slots can be made by creating a new player profile. There is no ability to replay completed levels other than loading a manual save.
Video settings
In-game general video settings.
In-game advanced video settings (for CPU).
In-game advanced video settings (for GPU, 1/2).
In-game advanced video settings (for GPU, 2/2).
Template:Video settings
- Widescreen fix is required for the Extraction Point expansion only.
Set custom resolution[citation needed]
|
- Go to
%PUBLIC%\Documents\TimeGate Studios\FEARXP
- Open
settings.cfg with a text editor.
- Change the
"ScreenWidth" "640" and "ScreenHeight" "480" lines to match your resolution.
- Save your changes and set the file to read-only.
|
- In-game FSAA setting must be set to Off before enabling 4K resolution, otherwise you will be stuck in a black screen. If this happens, reset resolution via
settings.cfg
. If you need AA at 4K, see Anti-aliasing (AA).
- F.E.A.R maintains 1:1 HUD scaling at all resolutions (i.e. there is no HUD scaling). This has the benefit of keeping HUD elements sharp, but they also may become very small on high-density monitors, such as 4K monitors sized below 30".
- This game uses vertical FOV. See FOV Calculator for help.
Set custom FOV[3]
|
- Go to the game's directory:
- Base game:
\FEAR
- Extraction Point:
\FEARXP
- Create a file named
autoexec.cfg with a text editor.
- If using a widescreen resolution add this line:
"FovYWidescreen" "XX.00" where XX is the vertical FOV value. If using a non-widescreen resolution use "FovY" "XX.00"
|
- FSAA is unavailable in windowed mode. See Anti-aliasing (AA) for an alternative.
Set windowed mode[citation needed]
|
- Go to the game's directory:
- Base game:
\FEAR
- Extraction Point:
\FEARXP
- Create a file named
autoexec.cfg with a text editor.
- Add
"Windowed" "1" on a new line.
|
- The Soft Shadows option will have no effect if the FSAA option is enabled.
MSAA solution (Nvidia only)[4]
|
- Open the game and disable the FSAA option.
- Download and run Nvidia Profile Inspector.
- Search and open the game profile.
- Set Antialiasing Compatibility to
0x004000C1 .
- Set Antialiasing Mode to Override any application setting.
- Set Antialiasing Setting to 8x Multisampling or your desired level of MSAA/CSAA.
- Apply changes. Do the same for the Extraction Point expansion.
Notes
- May have a very negative performance impact even on modern systems.
- Alternatively, SMAA is available through an injector.
|
Input settings
In-game key map settings.
In-game joystick axis map settings.
Template:Input settings
Audio settings
Template:Audio settings
Localizations
Language |
UI |
Audio |
Sub |
Notes |
English |
|
|
|
|
French |
|
|
|
|
Italian |
|
|
|
Italian language is only available in the retail version. See here for the Steam version translation. |
Hungarian |
|
|
|
Only available in the retail version, which is called Gold Edition and includes Extraction Point. Language files available here. |
Brazilian Portuguese |
|
|
|
Fan translation, download. Fan translation for Extraction Point, download. |
Russian |
|
|
|
Retail only. Patch for digital release here. |
VR support
3D modes |
State |
Notes |
Nvidia 3D Vision |
| Disable game crosshair by turning the transparency all the way down and then enable 3DVision 3D crosshair (Ctrl+F12). Any depth adjustments must be done via KB shortcuts, as the Nvidia pyramid's scroll wheel will not work. |
Network
Multiplayer types
Connection types
Issues fixed
- TweakGuides has created a comprehensive guide for fixing issues in this game. It can be found here.
Slow loading level and aero disabling
- Occurs only on Windows Vista and Windows 7, because of the special graphic stack WDDM.
Fix slow load level and spontaneous shutdown aero interface
|
- Install game and addons only on Windows XP, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10.[5]
- Also you can use 4gb_patch for game and addons Extraction Point, Perseus Mandate.[6]
Notes
- Using Windows 8.1 or 10 significantly reduces the launch time of the level, perhaps this is due to improvements in the WDDM graphics stack.[7]
- Despite the fact that this patch increases the limit of used memory from 2GB to 4GB, the game doesn't need this much, but it does noticeably increase the launch speed of the level.
- This patch is not compatible with the original game from Steam and F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin.
|
Control key settings are not assigned
- Keyboard settings reset to unassigned when you restart the game
Control key settings are not assigned fix
|
- Need run game as Administrator
|
Flickering textures on modern systems
Broken shadow rendering on Nvidia graphics
Fix shadow corruption[8]
|
- Download this: registry tweak.
- Run
ON_DisableVidMemVBs.reg before you start playing F.E.A.R. to fix shadow corruption.
- Run
OFF_DisableVidMemVBs.reg after playing F.E.A.R. to disable the tweak. This is needed because this tweak has an extremely negative performance effect for other games. If you don't care about performance in other games, you can leave it on constantly.
|
Soft Shadows doesn't work combined with FSAA
Use alternative AA solution[4]
|
- This is due to the features of the engine and the artificial limitation of the simultaneous use of anti-aliasing with soft shadows, since they can cause graphic artifacts on the shadows.
|
Small subtitles
- Turning on large subtitles for non-4:3 resolutions has no effect.
Small subtitles[9]
|
- Download this patch.
- Extract
FEARL_1920.Arch00 into the installation folder.
- Open
Default.archcfg in Notepad and add FEARL_1920.Arch00 at the end of the file as a new line.
- For Extraction Point navigate to FEARXP sub-folder and add
../FEARL_1920.Arch00 to Default.archcfg under ; FEAR XP ARCHIVES .
|
Black screen on ATI/AMD video cards
Black screen on ATI/AMD video cards[citation needed]
|
- If 'Soft Shadows' and 'Pixel Doubling' are enabled this will result in black screen, on some ATI/AMD videocards. Disable said graphical options to fix the problem.
|
Can't hear any dialogue
Enable/install Windows Media Player[citation needed]
|
- Windows XP or N/KN versions: install Windows Media Player.
- Relaunch the game. If problems persist, ensure Windows Media Player is enabled:
- Vista and later: open the Start screen/Start menu, type
OptionalFeatures.exe and press ↵ Enter.
- Windows XP: press ⊞ Win+R, type
appwiz.cpl and press ↵ Enter, choose Add/Remove Windows Components.
|
No Torch Glitch
No Torch Glitch[citation needed]
|
- At the beginning of
Interval 03 - Escalation - Infiltration , the player must wait until they have control of the character before changing maps with the maphole command otherwise the torch will not be carried through for the rest of the game.
|
Can't hear any gunshots
Low frame rate
- Frame rate may drop to around 20-30 FPS after a few minutes of play. This is especially common with people using Logitech devices.
Use low frame rate fix[citation needed]
|
Use the DirectInput FPS Fix.
Notes
- Not compatible with Extraction Point expansion natively.[10] Copying the dinput8.dll of the DirectInput FPS Fix into the extraction point folder (
<path-to-game>\FEARXP ) also solves the framerate issue in the expansion
|
If you don't own a Logitech, are still having frame rate issues and don't want to use any extra files.
- Additionally, you can also install a more recent set of libraries used by the game.
Compatibility mode[citation needed]
|
Running the game in compatibility mode for Windows XP (Service Pack 2) may help
|
Crashes
Game won't start/maps not loading[11]
|
- When hosting a LAN game as a Listen server the game may hang at the map loading screen with the progress bar stuck at 0%. This can be resolved by hosting the game as a dedicated server and then joining with the FEAR Combat client.
|
Startup Crash on Windows 10[citation needed]
|
- Set game's compatibility mode to Windows XP (Service Pack 2). If it doesn't help try "Disable display scaling on high DPI settings" also.
|
Other information
API
Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
Direct3D |
8, 9 |
|
Shader Model support |
1.1, 2 |
|
Executable |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
Windows |
|
|
|
Middleware
Official SDK
- The Steam version includes the SDK with the game.[12] Make sure you read instructions
DevMode
DevMode gives the ability to use the debug keys and to load any map, including a few demo levels.
Dynamic flashlight
Makes the light cast from the flashlight dynamic[citation needed]
|
- Download the mod here.
- Open
Default.archcfg
- Add the line
LC_FlashlightMod_WIDE.Arch00 or LC_FlashlightMod.Arch00 to the end of the list.
- Check the file as read only.
Notes
- Does not work on both expansions.
|
System requirements
Windows |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
2000 |
XP |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel Pentium 4 1.7 GHz AMD Athlon XP 1600+ |
Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz AMD Athlon 64 3000+ |
System memory (RAM) |
512 MB |
1 GB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
17 GB | |
Video card (GPU) |
Nvidia GeForce Ti 4200 ATI Radeon 8500 64 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 1.1 support |
Nvidia GeForce 6600 ATI Radeon 9800 256 MB of VRAM Shader model 2.0 support |
Sound (audio device) |
16-bit DirectX compliant sound |
Sound Blaster X-Fi series sound card |
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
References