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Red Faction

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Revision as of 03:49, 23 June 2022 by 156.57.96.88 (talk) (I don't think this qualifies as a "key point" for the PC gaming wiki. Perhaps the lack of bots and split screen local MP when compared to the PS2 version could be mentioned as an aside in the network section, but it doesn't seem like a "key point" to me.)
Red Faction
Red Faction cover
Developers
Volition
Publishers
Original THQ
Current Nordic Games
Mac OS, OS X Graphsim Entertainment
Engines
Geo-Mod 1.0
Release dates
Windows September 17, 2001
Mac OS (Classic) November 28, 2001[1]
macOS (OS X) January 4, 2002[2]
Reception
Metacritic 78
IGDB 70
Taxonomy
Microtransactions None
Modes Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Perspectives First-person
Controls Direct control
Genres Action, Shooter
Themes Sci-fi
Series Red Faction
Red Faction on HowLongToBeat
Red Faction on IGDB
Red Faction guide on StrategyWiki
Red Faction on MobyGames
Red Faction on Wikipedia
Red Faction
Red Faction 2001
Red Faction II 2003
Red Faction: Guerrilla 2009
Red Faction: Armageddon 2011
Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered 2018

Warnings

The Mac OS X version of this game does not work on Mac OS X Lion (version 10.7) or later due to the removal of support for PowerPC apps.

Key points

Suffers from severe bugs and compatibility issues, especially on modern hardware and versions of Windows, in both single player and multiplayer.
The Dash Faction v1.7.0 unofficial patch fixes most known bugs and virtually all known compatibility issues, plus adds many new features and enhancements. This patch is open source, actively supported, and the de facto standard within the game's community.

General information

Red Faction Community Discord - Active community Discord for the Red Faction games and universe, and the hub where virtually all activity within the community is organized
Red Faction Wiki - A wiki for the Red Faction series games and universe
Red Faction Wiki (Wikia) - A Wikia-hosted wiki for the Red Faction universe
Faction Files Community Forums & File Host
GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
GOG.com Support Page
Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
2 CDs, disc 2 is used for check. OS X installer is also available alongside with an upgrade patch.[3] Use Dash Faction to disable the disc check.
Windows
Mac OS
macOS (OS X)
Retail
Icon overlay.png
Steam key provided as part of the Red Faction Complete box set.
Windows
GOG.com
DRM-free
Windows
Humble Store
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Steam
Icon overlay.png
Windows
GamersGate (unavailable)
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Gamesplanet logo.svg (unavailable)
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Green Man Gaming (unavailable)
Icon overlay.png
Windows

Essential improvements

Dash Faction

Dash Faction is an unofficial open source patch for Red Faction. You can view the differences between the official version, Pure Faction, and Dash Faction here.
Find an in-depth installation guide with screenshots on the Red Faction Wiki
If your game version is 1.00 or 1.10, the Dash installer will automatically apply the latest retail patch (1.20).
If your edition is not NA or you are using the Steam/GoG version, the Dash installer will prompt you to automatically apply the required patches. Full explanation of how this works is available on the Red Faction Wiki Installation Guide.
Recommend installing additional fixes: Fixed Full Envirosuit Pickup Model, Extended Riot Stick Taser Sound, Use Key Patch for MedLabs Stealth Section, Missing Resources Error Fix, RED Bug Fix (last one is only needed for mod developers)

Game data

In-game general settings.
In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Volition\Red Faction
<path-to-game>\players.cfg[Note 1]
Mac OS (Classic) <path-to-game>/players.cfg
macOS (OS X) <path-to-game>/players_osx.cfg
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/20530/pfx/[Note 2]

Save game data location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\savegame\[Note 1]
Mac OS (Classic) <path-to-game>/savegame/
macOS (OS X) <path-to-game>/savegame/
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/20530/pfx/[Note 2]

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud
Syncs save games and settings.

Video

Launcher video settings.
Launcher video settings.
In-game video settings.
In-game video settings.

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
Max supported resolution is 1280x1024. Use Dash Faction for high/widescreen resolutions.
Multi-monitor
Use Dash Faction.
Ultra-widescreen
Use Dash Faction.
4K Ultra HD
Use Dash Faction. Additionally, since DF 1.5.0, an option has been available to use a properly-scaled HUD for high resolutions.
Field of view (FOV)
Default FOV is 90° for 4:3. See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed
Use Dash Faction.
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Use Dash Faction.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Use Dash Faction.
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Use Dash Faction for up to 8x MSAA. Nvidia users can enhance to SGSSAA.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS
120+ FPS
Exceeding 60 FPS introduces crippling bugs. Use Dash Faction to allow for frame rates above 60 without crippling issues, and for configurable frame rate cap (up to 240 FPS).
High dynamic range display (HDR)
See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Field of view (FOV)

Dash Faction by default automatically scales FOV for other aspect ratios based on the standard of 90° at 4:3.
Custom FOV with Dash Faction[4]
  1. Install Dash Faction.
  2. Open the console.
  3. Use the fov <value> command to change world FOV.
  4. Use fpgun_fov_scale <value> to change viewmodel FOV.

Input

In-game control settings.
In-game control settings.

Keyboard and mouse State Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Install Dash Faction to set via numeric values (in console via ms # command). Base game allows you to edit mouse sensitivity only via slider.
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Controller types

Audio

Launcher audio settings.
Launcher audio settings.
In-game audio settings.
In-game audio settings.

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Install Dash Faction to control level ambient sound volume separate from other sound effects.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Subtitles for PA announcements and character speech are not presented, despite existing in data files. Only direct radio is displayed. Subtitles show on high resolutions only with Dash Faction.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support
Works only with a small number of specific sound cards. Install Dash Faction for proper EAX support on all systems.

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
French
Retail only; download for digital versions.
German
Retail and GOG.com only; download for Steam version.
Russian
Distributed via bootleg distributions, primarily within Russia.
Spanish
Fan translation, download.

Network

Launcher network settings.
Launcher network settings.

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
LAN play
32
Online play
32

Connection types

Type Native Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
See dedicated_server.txt in the installation folder or use Dedicated Server Config.
Direct IP
Use Add Server button in server browser. Install Dash Faction to allow usage of rf://IP:PORT protocol handler.

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP 7755
UDP 7755
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status can be hacked for this game: Dash Faction installation is required.

Issues fixed

Game does not launch

Many potential causes exist for this issue - so many that compiling a full list wouldn't be feasible. The fix provided below resolves all known causes.
Install Dash Faction[5]

At least 8 MB of video memory is required error

Encountered when launching Red Faction without standard Dash Faction patch on a computer with > 2GiB available video memory.
Install Dash Faction[5]

Unable to initialize DirectX 8.0 error

Install Dash Faction[5]

Notes

If it's not fixed, run the game in Windowed or Stretched display modes.

Stuttering/Glitching/Crashing

Caused by Red Faction's native incompatibility with modern versions of Windows.
Install Dash Faction[citation needed]

Sub explodes when it hits water

A bug that occurs at high frame rates (ie. > 60), which causes the submarine to explode when being dropped by the crane, immediately after destroying the Geothermal Power Plant.
Install Dash Faction[5]

Unresponsive, and always on top

A bug that occurs if you click on another window after launching Red Faction but before the game screen appears.
Install Dash Faction to prevent this issue from occurring. If bug has already occurred, follow below instructions to end game task, then install Dash Faction to prevent reoccurance.[5]
End game task[citation needed]
  1. Press Win+R, type in cmd and press Enter.
  2. Blind-type taskkill /f /im RF.exe

Other common issues

  • See the community-maintained Red Faction FAQ for additional common issues and fixes.

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 8 Stock game is Direct3D 8, Direct3D 9 is supported (and default) in standard Dash Faction patch as of version 1.6.0.
OpenGL 1.2.1 Mac OS and OS X only.
ExecutablePPC16-bit 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Mac OS (Classic)

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Cutscenes Bink Video 1.0x

Mods

Faction Files community file hosting site containing a huge number of mods. A small selection of these mods are listed below
Please note that many mods will expect you to have the Dash Faction patch installed, and may not function correctly without it.

Single Player Campaigns

Kava: a Red Faction Prequel

Full-length expansion campaign. Prequel to the main game storyline.

Red Faction N-Gage Remake

Recreation of the entire Red Faction N-Gage campaign.

Bearskinner

Custom campaign inspired by a German fairy tale.

Red Faction Fighter

Prequel mini campaign to the main game storyline.

PS2 Demo

Port of the mini campaign in the Red Faction PS2 demo. Contains levels cut from the final release of the game.

Total Conversion Mods

Red Faction Classic

Mod that aims to make Red Faction PC play and look as close to the original PS2 version as possible (plus minor improvements).

All Geo

Mod that removes limitations on where Geo-Mod can be used, allowing for full destruction of all levels.

Iron Sun Mod: Complete Edition

Arcade realism-focused multiplayer mod inspired by Counter-Strike.

Snow'd Out 2: Out Cold Edition

Wintery snowball fight multiplayer mod.

AQuest Speedrun Edition

Epic fantasy/RPG-style single player mod.

Enhancements

AI Upscale Textures

4x AI upscaled pack (ESRGAN and 4x_NMKD-Superscale-SP_170000_G.pth) for base game textures.

Goober's RF Retexturing Project Pack 01

Project to recreate Red Faction textures from scratch, resulting in higher quality assets than the AI Upscale Textures. Currently in it's infancy so only contains some wall decals.
Can be combined with AI Upscale Textures by opening it's .vpp file with Descent Manager Toolkit, highlighting the contained .tga files and pressing "Extract" to export them, then opening AI Upscale Textures' .vpp and pressing "Add" and selecting the previous exported .tga files followed by pressing save (floppy symbol).

Deblurred Textures

Lower end alternative to above packs.

60 FPS Cinematics

60 FPS versions of in-game cinematics (e.g. the campaign intro video).

HD Music Mod

High quality 44KHz versions of most music tracks played throughout the game.

HD Music Mod Update

Addon for HD Music Mod that contains high quality 44KHz of the rest of the music tracks in the game. (Use this alongside the HD Music Mod)

Improved Health Pack and Armor

High Poly versions of the health and envirosuit pickups.

Map Packs

PS2 Map Ports

Map pack containing authentic ports of all multiplayer maps from the PS2 version of Red Faction.

N-Gage Map Ports

Map pack containing faithful recreations of all multiplayer maps from the N-Gage version of Red Faction, included in the N-Gage Remake campaign.

Red Faction Unite Map Packs

All editions of the Red Faction Unite community level design project.

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 95
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium II 400 MHz
AMD K6-2 400 MHz
System memory (RAM) 64 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 1.02 GB
Video card (GPU) 8 MB of VRAM
DirectX 8.0 compatible
Other 4x CD-ROM drive
Mac OS
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 8.6
Processor (CPU) 300 MHz PowerPC G3
300 MHz PowerPC G4
System memory (RAM) 64 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 1.02
Video card (GPU) ATI Rage Pro/128
ATI Radeon 7000 series
Nvidia GeForce2 series
6 MB of VRAM
OpenGL 1.2.1 compatible
Other 8x CD-ROM drive or DVD drive


Notes

  1. 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. 2.0 2.1 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>/20530/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (20530) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References