Heretic II

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

Warnings

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

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail

The game is not available digitally.

A demo is available, but the single-player portion cannot initially be played due to a date delimiter that does not allow it to run after November 1, 1998;^[1] there is a patch that fixes this.

Owners of the Loki Software Linux port of the game should consider using the installer from LIfLG, if you wish to run the game on a newer system. It is currently in beta.

An Amiga version is also confirmed to exist, released in 2000.

Essential improvements

Patches

Enhancement Pack v1.06 is the latest official patch of the game, with changes to gameplay and several fixes. However, the framerate is capped at 30 FPS with this patch.

Enhancement Pack v1.07 is a community patch that includes Enhancement Pack v1.06, restores the framerate to 60 FPS, includes support for widescreen resolutions and other changes.

Skip intro videos

Delete/rename Bumper.smk^[2]
Go to `<path-to-game>\base\VIDEO\`. Delete or rename `Bumper.smk`.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\user\^{[Note 1]}
Mac OS (Classic)
Linux	~\.loki\heretic2

This game does not follow the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux.

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\user\save\^{[Note 1]}
Mac OS (Classic)
Linux	~\.loki\heretic2\save\

Video

Video settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution		See Widescreen resolution. FMVs, HUD and menus are stretched out when playing in widescreen.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen		See Widescreen resolution.
4K Ultra HD		See Widescreen resolution.
Field of view (FOV)	See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	Apply Enhancement Pack v1.07. Anisotropic filtering level can be hacked through video card settings.
Anti-aliasing (AA)	Anti-aliasing can be hacked through video card settings.
Vertical sync (Vsync)	Use the command `set gl_swapinterval 0` in the console to disable Vsync.
60 FPS	v1.00 of the game runs at 60 FPS, but Enhancement Pack v1.06 caps the framerate to 30 FPS; apply Enhancement Pack v1.07 instead.
120+ FPS	Apply Enhancement Pack v1.07 and use command `cl_maxfps` in the console^{[Note 2]}.
High dynamic range display (HDR)	See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Widescreen resolution

Use H2Resolution.exe^[2]
Install Enhancement Pack v1.07 into `<path-to-game>`. Open `H2Resolution.exe`. Enter your resolution into the Width and Height fields and press OK. Launch the game. Either open the console with `~` and type in `set vid_mode 3`, or select the 640 x 480 resolution in the Video Settings menu.

Field of view (FOV)

Change FOV manually^[2]

Install Enhancement Pack v1.07 into <path-to-game>.
Launch the game.
Open the console with ~.
Type in either fov X in Enhancement Pack v1.07 and enter, with X being your FOV of choice.

Alternatively, with Enhancement Pack v1.07 installed:

Go to the configuration file(s) location.
Open config.cfg with a text editor.
Find set fov and enter your chosen FOV.

Input

General settings, including categorised inputs.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers

PlayStation controllers

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

Audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Only a sound slider and a music toggle option.
Surround sound
Subtitles		Under setting "Captioning" in Options > More Options; only toggles in-game cutscene captions.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		A3D 2.0,^[3] EAX 1.0 (patch 1.04 or higher is required).
Red Book CD audio		On Windows, CD music might not play correctly; see the troubleshooting guide for solutions.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		8	Co-op, Versus
Online play		8	Co-op, Versus GameSpy services have been shut down;^[4] see GameSpy for workarounds.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
vorpX		G3D User created game profile, see vorpx forum profile introduction.

Issues fixed

Windows 7/8/10

Cannot install from CD

Drag and drop install file^[2]
Insert the Heretic II CD. Go to the `bin` folder on the CD. Drag `H2_Setup.dbd` onto `demo32.EXE`. Install as normal.

Nothing happens after "DemoShield" splash screen or Enhancement Pack won't install

Install from Safe Mode
Open Windows Settings Click "Update & Security" > "Recovery" Under "Advanced start-up", click "Restart now" Click "Troubleshoot" > "Advanced Options" > "Startup Settings" Click "Restart" Press "4" on your keyboard Run the installer again Restart the computer

Close non-Windows processes
Open the Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) Click "More Details" Click the "Name" heading to sort processes by name Right click any non-Windows processes and select "End Task" Run the installer again

Music does not loop

Use _inmm.dll^[5]
Install _inmm.dll. Rip the music from the Heretic II CD as MP3 files. Drag `quake2.dll` from `<path-to-game>` onto `_inmmcnf.exe` in _inmm.dll's install folder to patch it. Run `_inmmcnf.exe`. Set Default to DirectShow on the Method tab. Go to the _inmm.ini tab and add the BGM tracks. Save the `_inmm.ini` file to `<path-to-game>` and click `Apply`.

Linux

No sound

This happens due to the fact the game uses OSS for sound output only.

General^{[citation needed]}

The software is not updated frequently.

Install the osspd package (Some distros like ArchLinux refers the package as ossp) and enable/start the osspd/osspd.service service.

If using PulseAudio^{[citation needed]}
Run the game with `padsp` command (It is included with main PulseAudio package, if not, look for pulseaudio-utils)

If using ALSA^{[citation needed]}

Install alsa-oss package
Load the following kernel modules as root with modprobe command:

snd-seq-oss
snd-pcm-oss
snd-mixer-oss

Run the game with aoss -32 (On 32 bit system just use aoss)

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	6
OpenGL
Glide	2.53
Software renderer

Executable	PPC	16-bit	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
Linux
Mac OS (Classic)

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	OSS	OSS is Linux only
Interface	SDL	SDL is Linux only
Cutscenes	Smacker Video Technology
Multiplayer	GameSpy

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95	95, 98
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 166 MHz with 3D hardware accelerator	Intel Pentium 233 MHz
System memory (RAM)	32 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	250 MB	350 MB
Video card (GPU)	SVGA DirectX-compatible video card 2 MB of VRAM

Mac OS
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	8.6	9.2.2
Processor (CPU)	PowerPC 7xx 233 MHz PowerPC G3 233 MHz
System memory (RAM)	64 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)

Linux
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	2.2.x Linux kernel
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 233 MHz	Intel Pentium 166 MHz
System memory (RAM)	32 MB	64 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	260 MB
Video card (GPU)		3dfx Compatible
Other	OSS compatible sound and glibc-2.1

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).
↑ Setting a cap higher than 60 FPS has an affect on the jumping animations.

References

↑ Heretic II: Surviving the Demo - GameSpot
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 Verified by User:SonicWind149 on 2019-10-19
↑ Tech Help: Heretic II - Vortex of Sound (retrieved)
↑ Pricing | GameSpy Technology
↑ Fix CD audio looping in Windows 7 with certain games. - The Next Level

[gamedir-3] 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).

[.22FPSAnimations.22-4] Setting a cap higher than 60 FPS has an affect on the jumping animations.

[1] Heretic II: Surviving the Demo - GameSpot

[sonicwind-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 Verified by User:SonicWind149 on 2019-10-19

[5] Tech Help: Heretic II - Vortex of Sound (retrieved)

[6] Pricing | GameSpy Technology

[7] Fix CD audio looping in Windows 7 with certain games. - The Next Level

[1]

[2]

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

Developers

	Raven Software
Linux	Loki Software
Mac OS (Classic)	MacPlay
Publishers
	Activision
Engines
	id Tech 2
Release dates
Windows	November 24, 1998
Linux	December 6, 1999
Mac OS (Classic)	November 22, 2002
Taxonomy
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, TPS
Themes	Fantasy
Series	Heretic