Heretic

Heretic
Heretic	1994
Hexen: Beyond Heretic	1995
Hexen II	1997
Heretic II	1998

Key points

The game's source code was released on January 6, 1999, by Raven software. Its license was changed to GNU GPL v2 on September 2, 2008.

General information

Doom Wiki

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

[https://forum.zdoom.org/ the majority of mods are first announced and released here

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail
GOG.com		Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders. Configured to run under DOSBox.
Steam		Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders. Configured to run under DOSBox. Not available in Germany.
Bethesda.net (unavailable)		Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders.

Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders is the retail release of the game, adding two extra episodes.

The Steam version is not available in Germany, but the GOG and Bethesda Store versions are.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
H!ZONE	Although mostly just a shovelware map compilation pack (also containing maps for Hexen), it does contain some original commercial episodes for Heretic (9 single player and 3 multi). The levels include both new enemies (in truth they're just a reskin of existing ones) and textures. They also converted some of these original levels, "the top 95", to Hexen, though minus the artwork and no longer in episode format (individual levels). This add-on is considered unofficial.

Note that H!ZONE is not compatible with source ports or modern computers due to it using a DOS program to overwrite the base game's data rather than loading as a WAD file; it overwrites episode 3. A fan made remake of the addon for zdoom and derivative is available at this thread.

Essential improvements

Patches

Patch 1.2 - Retail and shareware edition have different patches

Mouse-look hack

Disable mouse in settings then run this. Source for hack available here.^[2]

Source ports

Since the release of the engine's source code, various source ports have been released. See the link above for details and recommendations.

Roland SC-55 music packs

Soundtrack for Heretic recorded on an authentic SC-55 for use with a ZDoom based engine. Choose either OGG or FLAC; MP3 does not support proper looping.

Roland SC-D70 music packs

Soundtrack for Heretic recorded on an authentic Roland SC-D70 for use with a ZDoom based engine. Choose either OGG or FLAC; MP3 does not support proper looping.

Useful wads

The following wads are designed to fix some game data bugs or feature shortcomings of the game. They do not add any levels/change play style and thus are generally compatible with most user addons.

Minor Sprite Fixing Project - Repairs bad sprite offsets and other graphical errors normally encountered when viewing the player and npc sprites. Vanilla (DOS) executable compatible!

Widescreen fix - Repairs sprite cutoffs that occur when using certain weapons. Ideal for source ports.

Content

A freely redistributable replacement of Heretic-like assets is available at Blasphemer, forming a completely free and open source game. Art assets from the original game such as the levels, sounds, textures, etc., remain under copyright. They can be purchased from Steam or copied from an original game disk.

Game data

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
DOS
Windows	<path-to-game>\base\^{[Note 1]}<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)^{[Note 2]}
Microsoft Store
Mac OS (Classic)
Linux
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/2390/pfx/^{[Note 3]}

It's unknown whether this game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux. Please fill in this information.

Save game data location

System	Location
DOS
Windows	<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)^{[Note 2]}
Microsoft Store
Mac OS (Classic)
Linux
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/2390/pfx/^{[Note 3]}

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

In-game video/audio settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution		See Source ports.
Multi-monitor		Supported by GZDoom.^[3] See Source ports.
Ultra-widescreen		See Source ports.
4K Ultra HD		See Source ports.
Field of view (FOV)	See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed	Toggle with `Alt`+`↵ Enter` in DOSBox or its source ports, if supported.
Borderless fullscreen windowed	See Borderless fullscreen windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	See Source ports.
Anti-aliasing (AA)	See Source ports.
Vertical sync (Vsync)	See Source ports.
60 FPS	Capped at 35 FPS;^[4] for 60+ FPS, see Source ports.
120+ FPS	See Source ports.
High dynamic range display (HDR)	For GZDoom, use `vid_hdr` console variable.^[5]

Field of view (FOV)

Depending on your choice of engine, you can usually change the field of view with a console command, or even in the options. Try fov <1-179> or gr_fov <1-179>.

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Set in setup.
Mouse acceleration		A source port is required. See Source ports.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus		A source port is required. See Source ports.
Mouse Y-axis inversion		A source port is required. See Source ports.
Controller
Controller support		Set in setup.
Full controller support
Controller remapping		Set in setup.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion		A source port is required. See Source ports.

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers

PlayStation controllers

Tracked motion 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		A source port is required. See Source ports.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		A source port is required. See Source ports.
EAX support		A3D 1.0 and 2.0 (no wavetracing) on wHeretic source port^[6] Better on jHeretic with EAX 2 and A3D 3.0^[7] (latter removed in 1.7.0)^[8]

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Players	Notes
Local play	Use Doom Legacy.
LAN play	4	Co-op, Versus
Online play	4	Co-op, Versus

A source port is recommended for online play as it adds modern networking support and simplifies the process of finding games. Most major source ports (like Zandronum) also increase the max player limit (for Zandronum, the limit is 64)

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated		Requires source port.
Self-hosting
Direct IP		Possible in source ports.

VR support

Headsets	State	Notes
SteamVR		Use ViveDoom
Oculus VR (LibOVR)		Use ViveDoom
Windows Mixed Reality		This game might be playable with the Revive Compatibility Layer, or Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR.

Devices
Tracked motion controllers
Traditional controller		See Input for details.
Keyboard/Mouse

Play area
Seated
Standing
Room-scale

Issues fixed

Lag/Low FPS (DOSBox)

Modify the heretic.conf file^{[citation needed]}
Go to `<path-to-game>\base\` Open `heretic.conf` with a text editor (ex. Notepad). Set the `fulldouble` variable to `false`. Save the changes made to the file. Launch the game.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D		A source port is required. See Source ports.
OpenGL		A source port is required. See Source ports.
Software renderer
Vulkan		See Source ports.
DOS video modes	VGA

Executable	PPC	16-bit	32-bit	64-bit	ARM	Notes
Windows						A source port is required for 64-bit. See Source ports.
macOS (OS X)						See Source ports.
Linux						See Source ports.
Mac OS (Classic)

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Multiplayer	DWANGO	Defunct paid matchmaking service. Registered shareware & retail versions have support.

System requirements

DOS
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	6.2
Processor (CPU)	Intel 386	Intel 486 33 MHz
System memory (RAM)	4 MB	8 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	10 MB	30 MB
Video card (GPU)	VGA graphics card

Windows
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	7, 8, 10
Processor (CPU)	1.8 GHz
System memory (RAM)	512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	35 MB
Video card (GPU)	DirectX 9 compatible

Mac OS
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	7.5
Processor (CPU)	PowerPC
System memory (RAM)
Hard disk drive (HDD)

Linux
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)
Processor (CPU)
System memory (RAM)
Hard disk drive (HDD)

Notes

↑ 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 File/folder structure within the installation folder reflects the path(s) listed for DOS game data. For the GOG.com release, file changes in DOSBox are redirected to <path-to-game>/cloud_saves/ even if GOG Galaxy is not used (this folder contains all redirected files, so some files in the cloud_saves folder might be temporary files or other files that do not contain saves or settings).
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/2390/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (2390) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References

↑ News - Legendary id Software games now on Steam
↑ https://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/85064-mouselookfreelook-for-vanilla-heretic-hexen-and-strife/
↑ ZDoom 2.5.0 changelog - last accessed on October 11, 2018
↑ VOGONS • View topic - Doom in DOS: Original vs Source Ports - last accessed on December 15, 2017
↑ ZDoom • View topic - GZDoom 3.5.1 Released
↑ wHeretic - News Archive (retrieved)
↑ About: The Doomsday Engine - Doomsday HQ (retrieved)
↑ Doomsday Version History - Doomsday HQ (retrieved)

[gamedir-3] 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).

[DOSBox_mounted-4] 2.0 ^2.1 File/folder structure within the installation folder reflects the path(s) listed for DOS game data. For the GOG.com release, file changes in DOSBox are redirected to <path-to-game>/cloud_saves/ even if GOG Galaxy is not used (this folder contains all redirected files, so some files in the cloud_saves folder might be temporary files or other files that do not contain saves or settings).

[Proton_path_note-5] 3.0 ^3.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/2390/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (2390) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

[1] News - Legendary id Software games now on Steam

[2] ttps://www.doomworld.com/forum/topic/85064-mouselookfreelook-for-vanilla-heretic-hexen-and-strife/

[6] ZDoom 2.5.0 changelog - last accessed on October 11, 2018

[7] VOGONS • View topic - Doom in DOS: Original vs Source Ports - last accessed on December 15, 2017

[8] ZDoom • View topic - GZDoom 3.5.1 Released

[9] wHeretic - News Archive (retrieved)

[10] About: The Doomsday Engine - Doomsday HQ (retrieved)

[11] Doomsday Version History - Doomsday HQ (retrieved)

[1]

[2]

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[Note 3]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

Developers

	Raven Software
Publishers
	id Software
	GT Interactive
Engines
	id Tech 1
Release dates
DOS	December 23, 1994
Mac OS (Classic)	1999
Windows (DOSBox)	August 3, 2007^[1]
macOS (OS X)	Source ports only
Linux	Source ports only
Taxonomy
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, FPS
Themes	Fantasy
Series	Heretic