Crysis Warhead

Crysis Warhead

Developers
	Crytek Budapest
Publishers
	Electronic Arts
Engines
	CryEngine 2
Release dates
Windows	September 17, 2008
Reception
Metacritic	84
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, FPS, Shooter
Vehicles	Automobile, Flight, Helicopter, Hovercraft, Naval/watercraft, Tank, Transport, Truck
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Asia, Sci-fi
Series	Crysis

Crysis
Crysis	2007
Crysis Warhead	2008
Crysis 2	2011
Crysis 3	2013
Crysis Remastered	2020
Crysis 2 Remastered	2021
Crysis 3 Remastered	2021
Crysis 4	TBA

Warnings

GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).

Crysis Warhead is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person action, FPS and shooter game in the Crysis series.

Key points

Very taxing, even on modern computers, due to limited threading capabilities.

Crysis Warhead is the single player campaign while Crysis Wars is the multiplayer portion of the game.

General information

Crysis Website

MyCrysis Forums

GOG.com Community Discussions - For the Crysis series.

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM v7 and SecuROM PA DRM, 50 machine limit. A De-Authorization Tool is available. Custom DRM code may sabotage the game by changing all ammunition to chickens which deal no damage.
GOG.com
Origin		SecuROM PA DRM, 50 machine limit. A De-Authorization Tool is available. Can be launched and played without Origin running.[citation needed]
Steam		DRM-free when launched directly from the 64-bit executable.

Steam key can be activated on Origin/EA App and will include Crysis Wars as a downloadable add-on.

Essential improvements

Patches

The latest game version for Crysis Warhead is 1.1, which can be found here. The latest game version for Crysis Wars is 1.5, which can be found here.

Improved executables for Crysis Wars

cw-launcher project is an open-source replacement of the Crysis Wars executables. See this Steam guide for instructions.

Skip intro videos

Skip company logos
Go to <path-to-game>\Game\Localized\Video\. Move, delete, or rename the following files: CryTek.sfd Trailer_Crytek.sfd Trailer_CrytekC.sfd Trailer_DemoLegal.sfd Trailer_EA.sfd Trailer_Intel.sfd Trailer_NVidia.sfd Trailer_PEGI.sfd Trailer_Rating_Full.sfd Trailer_Rating_Logo.sfd

Game data

In-game general settings.

In-game general settings (Crysis Wars).

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Crysis_WARHEAD\game.cfg
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/17330/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Crysis_WARHEAD\SaveGames\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/17330/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Origin
OneDrive		Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers.
Steam Cloud

Video

In-game general video settings.

In-game advanced video settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen			Black bars in cutscenes do not fill ultrawide display. See Disable black bars in cutscenes.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		Default is 60° vertical. See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See Anisotropic filtering (AF).
Anti-aliasing (AA)		FSAA (enabled by default with the "gamer" and "enthusiast" shaders quality options) or MSAA. Enabling MSAA automatically disables FSAA. Only FSAA has an effect on foliage.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		No frame rate cap.[citation needed] See also Game uses incorrect refresh rate.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

• 

  In-game general video settings (Crysis Wars).

• 

  In-game graphics settings (Crysis Wars).

• 

  In-game advanced video settings (Crysis Wars).

Field of view (FOV)

This game uses vertical FOV. See FOV Calculator for help.

Edit configuration files[citation needed]
Create a System.cfg file in <path-to-game> with a text editor. Add the lines con_restricted = 0 and cl_fov = followed by the desired FOV value.

Anisotropic filtering (AF)

Crysis Warhead disables AF by default as the engine does not support using anisotropic filtering with parallax occlusion mapping. This mod allows the engine to use AF and POM simultaneously.

Install the POM+AF mod to allow anisotropic filtering

Download the POM+AF mod from here. Open the zz_GlobalAmbientLighting_POMAf.pak file using WinRAR or an equivalent tool. Inside the zz_GlobalAmbientLighting_POMAf.pak file, navigate to Shaders\HWScripts\CryFX and extract the fragLib.cfi file somewhere. Go to <path-to-game>\Game\. Open the Shaders.pak file using WinRAR or an equivalent tool. Inside the Shaders.pak file, navigate to Shaders\HWScripts\CryFX and drop the previously extracted fragLib.cfi file into the CryFX folder. Force anisotropic filtering in the graphics card control panel.

Anti-aliasing (AA)

Disable FSAA[citation needed]
Create a System.cfg file in <path-to-game> with a text editor. Add the lines con_restricted = 0 and r_UseEdgeAA = 0 to it.

Depth of field

Disable depth of field[citation needed]
Create a System.cfg file in <path-to-game> with a text editor. Add the lines con_restricted = 0 and r_depthoffield = 0 to it.

Disable black bars in cutscenes

Disable black bars in cutscenes for a better ultrawide experience
Create a System.cfg file in <path-to-game> with a text editor. Add the line con_restricted = 0 and hud_panoramicHeight = 0 to it.

Input

In-game keyboard/mouse settings.

In-game gamepad settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Firing the right-hand weapon while dual-wielding is hardcoded to the right mouse button. See Remapping dual wielding secondary fire.
Mouse acceleration		Disabled by default. See Mouse acceleration.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		XInput controllers only.
Full controller support
Controller remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts		Xbox 360 icons.
Impulse Trigger vibration

PlayStation controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Generic/other controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback		Listed as force feedback.
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

• 

  In-game keyboard/mouse settings (Crysis Wars).

• 

  In-game gamepad settings (Crysis Wars).

Mouse acceleration

Enable mouse acceleration[citation needed]
Open the console with the tilde (~) key. Enter con_restricted = 0 to enable all console commands. Enter i_mouse_accel = 1 to enable mouse acceleration. Enter i_mouse_accel_max = XXX with XXX being a number bigger than 0 to control the acceleration amount (the default value is 100).

Hold to aim

Modify config files

Open the following file in a text editor: %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Crysis_WARHEAD\Profiles\default\actionmaps.xml Find the zoom action. Replace mouse2 with a key that is not needed. <action name="zoom" onPress="1" onRelease="1"> <key name="mouse2"/> - change mouse2 to 9 or something else that's out of the way. Navigate to the xi_zoom action. Put the mouse2 key here. <action name="xi_zoom" onPress="1" onRelease="1"> <key name="mouse2"/> Save the changes. Make a backup first if desired. Create a file named System.cfg in <path-to-game>. Add the following lines to it: con_restricted = 0 hud_ctrlzoommode = 1 Save the file.

Toggle crouch

Modify config files[citation needed]
Open the console with the tilde (~) key. Enter con_restricted = 0 to enable all console commands. Enter cl_crouchToggle = 1 to enable crouch toggle.

Audio

In-game audio settings.

In-game audio settings (Crysis Wars).

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound		Up to 7.1 output.[citation needed]
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		See Enable 3D audio mixing. Alternatively, DirectSound can be restored with Creative Alchemy and Game Mode - set XP SP2 compatibility mode and admin rights, then 3D positional audio can be restored by CMSS3D.
Royalty free audio

Enable 3D audio mixing

Use DSOAL with modifications to System.cfg

Extract DSOAL to <path-to-game>\Bin32\ or <path-to-game>\Bin64\ according to the executable of choice and configure the INI files as desired. If using the 64-bit executable, extract the files contained within the included 64-bit.zip file to <path-to-game>\Bin64\ as well, overwriting any files. Open the System.cfg file in <path-to-game> with a text editor. Copy and paste these commands into the file: con_restricted = 0 s_HRTF_DSP = 1 s_SoundMoodsDSP = 1 s_reverbtype = 1 Save the file and launch the game. Notes Windows 10 users additionally may have to tweak a registry setting as described in this guide for DSOAL to work.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Traditional Chinese				GOG version only.
Czech
French
German
Hungarian
Italian
Japanese				GOG version only.
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese				Fan translation, download.
Russian
Spanish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		32
Online play		32	GameSpy services have been discontinued. See Improved executables for Crysis Wars for an alternative.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting		Dedicated server software is available for Windows and Linux.
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	80, 443, 6667, 28910, 29900-29901
UDP	27900-27901, 29910, 64087

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

3D modes	State	GG3D	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision
TriDef 3D
iZ3D

Devices
3RD Space Gaming Vest

Issues fixed

TweakGuides has created a comprehensive guide for fixing issues with the game.

Hangs on startup

Run the 64-bit version of the game[citation needed]
Go to <path-to-game>\Bin64\. Launch the crysis64.exe file to play the 64-bit version of the game. If the game still doesn't work, run it in Vista SP2 compatibility mode.

Stop antivirus services or add the game to its exceptions

Crashes on systems with AMD CPUs

Replace CrySystem.dll with a fixed version (32-bit)
Download a fixed CrySystem.dll and extract it. Move it to <path-to-game>\Bin32\ and override the existing file. Makes the game use SSE/MMX code paths instead of the deprecated 3D Now! instruction paths.

Run the 64-bit version of the game
If the 64-bit version crashes, run it in Vista SP2 compatibility mode.

Remapping dual wielding secondary fire to other keys

By default, mouse2 (mouse right-click) is permanently mapped to the dual wielding secondary fire command regardless of what mouse2 is actually mapped to in-game, the only way to remap the command being manually editing the profile key map file.

Remapping the dual wielding secondary fire command[citation needed]
Go to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Crysis_WARHEAD\Profiles\<user-id>\. Open the actionmaps.xml file with Notepad. Go to the lines with <action name="attack2" onPress="1" onRelease="1"> <key name="mouse2" /> . Set the key name variable to another key, e.g. <key name="mouse3" /> . Save the file and launch the game.

Game uses incorrect refresh rate

The game may set the monitor's refresh rate to its lowest supported refresh rate when in fullscreen mode, resulting in a lowered frame rate when Vsync is on, and screen tearing or stuttering even if the frame rate is high.

Use Crysis Warhead refresh rate fix
Download a fix and extract it to <path-to-game>.

Crash to desktop when using MSI Afterburner's On Screen Display

Config file edit
Open the MSI On-Screen Display Server program (RivaTuner Statistics Server). Click the plus sign (or newly "add" button), navigate to <path-to-game> and add Crysis64.exe. Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\RivaTuner Statistics Server\Profiles. Edit the Crysis64.exe.cfg file. Change EnableDynamicOffsetDetection=0 to EnableDynamicOffsetDetection=1. Change HookDirectDraw=0 to HookDirectDraw=1.

Crashes when saving, loading, or starting a level

Lower the graphics settings or resolution.[citation needed]

Low performance (Linux)

Steam Play/Proton

By default, Proton will use ESync to synchronize game threads. This does not work well with Crysis Warhead.

Disable ESync
Add as a Launch option PROTON_NO_ESYNC=1 %command%.

Lutris/Wine

By default, Lutris Wine builds will use ESync to synchronize game threads. This does not work well with Crysis Warhead.

Disable ESync
Open up the game configuration dialog. Navigate to Runner Options. Turn Enable Esync to off.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c, 10	DX10 by default. Use the -dx9 command line argument to change the API.
Shader Model support	3, 4

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows			64-bit executable can be found under <path-to-game>\Bin64\.

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	FMOD
Multiplayer	GameSpy	Use Crysis Wars Multiplayer Mod[citation needed] to replace the discontinued GameSpy services.
Anti-cheat	PunkBuster

Installation of PunkBuster and other additional software can be canceled or skipped without issues.

Console commands

The console can be opened with the tilde (~) key, but the available commands are limited. This limitation can be bypassed by the con_restricted = 0 command or by adding -devmode to the game's shortcut. A thorough list of console commands can be found here.

Instead of re-entering console commands every time the game starts, a System.cfg file can be created in <path-to-game> to apply console commands automatically. The commands need to be formatted differently in the file, using an equal sign instead of a space. For example, to change the FOV to 80, cl_fov = 80 has to be used rather than "cl_fov 80" like in the console.

Persistent corpses

By default, dead enemy bodies disappear after a short amount of time.

Increase corpse persistence time
Enable all console commands by adding con_restricted = 0 command to the System.cfg file in <path-to-game>. Set higher g_ragdollmintime = value, such as g_ragdollmintime = 10000.

Weapon carry limit

By default, it is possible to carry two guns in the assault category.

Disable the limitation
Start the game in developer mode by adding -devmode command line argument. Enable all console commands by adding con_restricted = 0 command to the System.cfg file in <path-to-game>. Add line i_noweaponlimit = 1.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP SP2, Vista
Processor (CPU)	2.8 GHz (XP) 3.2 GHz (Vista)
System memory (RAM)	1.0 GB (XP) 1.5 GB (Vista)
Hard disk drive (HDD)	15 GB
Video card (GPU)	256 MB of VRAM	Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS/640

Supported Processors: Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz (3.2 GHz for Vista) or faster, Intel Core 2.0 GHz (2.2 GHz for Vista) or faster, AMD Athlon 2800+ (3200+ for Vista) or faster.

Supported chipsets: Nvidia GeForce 6800 GT or greater; ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (Radeon X800 Pro for Vista) or greater. Laptop versions of these chipsets may work but are not supported. Integrated chipsets are not supported. Updating the video and sound card drivers may be required.