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Return to Castle Wolfenstein

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Revision as of 17:06, 16 January 2020 by Keith (talk | contribs) (Undo revision 930055 by Fbiawaufblikawfmkgkg (talk))
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Return to Castle Wolfenstein cover
Developers
Gray Matter Interactive
id Software
Multiplayer Nerve Software
Multiplayer Splash Damage
Mac OS (Classic) Westlake Interactive[1]
macOS (OS X) Westlake Interactive[1]
Publishers
Activision
Mac OS Aspyr Media
Engines
id Tech 3
Release dates
Windows November 19, 2001
Linux March 16, 2002
Mac OS (Classic) April 29, 2002
macOS (OS X) April 29, 2002
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Return to Castle Wolfenstein guide on StrategyWiki
Return to Castle Wolfenstein on MobyGames
Return to Castle Wolfenstein on Wikipedia
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⤏ Go to series page
Castle Wolfenstein 1981
Beyond Castle Wolfenstein 1984
Wolfenstein 3D 1992
Spear of Destiny 1992
Return to Castle Wolfenstein 2001
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory 2003
Wolfenstein 2009
Wolfram (unofficial game) 2012
Wolfenstein: The New Order 2014
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood 2015
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus 2017
Wolfenstein: Youngblood 2019
Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot 2019
RealRTCW (unofficial mod) 2020

Key points

Master servers for the multiplayer were shut down in February 2012. A mod, S4NDMoD, solves this problem by making the game use fans' master server.

General information

Official Wolfenstein series site
Wolfenstein Wiki - A detailed wiki for every Wolfenstein game made.
GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
GOG.com Support Page
Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
CD key
Windows
Mac OS
Amazon.com
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Windows
Bethesda.net
Bethesda.net Launcher
Windows
GOG.com
DRM-free
 Not available for purchase in Germany.[2]
Windows
Green Man Gaming
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Windows
Humble Store
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Windows
Steam
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 Not available for purchase in Germany.
Windows

DLC and expansion packs

A standalone follow-up, Enemy Territory, is available as freeware.
The PS2/XBox port of the game included a prequel mission, Cursed Sands. Additionally the Xbox port featured DLC maps. Currently, there is no known way to play this content on the PC version. See here for more info.
Name Notes
GOTY Map Pack Sold with the Game of The Year Edition or downloadable as freeware.
Not officially packaged for Mac, though can still be used on it by manually installing PK3 files.
Windows
Linux

Essential improvements

Source ports

Name Notes
iortcw Adds modern features like VOIP and OpenAL, whilst being faithful to traditional gameplay.
Unofficial Patch by Knightmare Fixes various crashes and adds native widescreen support.
RtCW Mac OS X Designed to get around the fact that the original game was PowerPC only and would not run on OS X 10.7 "Lion" or later due to the removal of Rosetta.
Bibendovsky's RtCW Source port for all RtCW games (single-player, multiplayer, Enemy Territory).

Skip intro videos

Edit wolfconfig.cfg[3]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open wolfconfig.cfg.
  3. Set seta com_introplayed "1".

Modernizing Mods (iortcw)

Venom Mod and HD Texture Pack (RealRtCW) - updates textures and shaders. Minor overlap in content but fills out each others missing pieces.
Remade Weapons and Realistic Sound Mod - adds much needed realism to weapons.
Remade Icons and Remade Hints - updates UI.

Game data

In-game HUD settings.
In-game HUD settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\Main\[Note 1]
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\RTCW\main\
Mac OS (Classic)
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/9010/pfx/[Note 2]
wolfconfig.cfg contains single player settings.
wolfconfig_mp.cfg contains multiplayer settings.
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
Windows <path-to-game>\Main\save\[Note 1]
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\RTCW\main\save\
Mac OS (Classic)
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/9010/pfx/[Note 2]

Save game cloud syncing

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

Video settings

In-game general video settings.
In-game general video settings.
In-game advanced video settings.
In-game advanced video settings.

Template:Video settings

Widescreen resolution

Set with iortcw[3]
  1. Install iortcw.
  2. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  3. Open wolfconfig.cfg.
  4. Set seta r_mode "-2".
  5. Set seta cg_fixedAspect "2".
Edit the configuration file
This solution is Vert- (FOV will need to be increased to compensate), but does not require downloading an external program.
  1. Launch the game at least once then close it.
  2. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  3. Open wolfconfig.cfg with a text editor.
  4. Change the following lines to set the resolution.
    • seta r_customaspect "1"
    • seta r_customheight "XXXX" (where XXXX is your desired vertical resolution)
    • seta r_customwidth "XXXX" (where XXXX is your desired horizontal resolution)
  5. Change the following line to this value.
    • seta r_mode "-1"

Field of view (FOV)

Set with iortcw[3]
  1. Install iortcw.
  2. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  3. Open wolfconfig.cfg.
  4. Set seta cg_fixedAspectFOV "0".
  5. Set seta cg_fov "110".
Edit the configuration file
This solution does not affect the weapon model FOV, but does not require downloading an external program.
  1. Launch the game at least once then close it.
  2. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  3. Open wolfconfig.cfg with a text editor.
  4. Change the following line to set the FOV.
    • seta cg_fov "XX" (where XX is your desired FOV)
  5. Add +set sv_cheats 1 to the game's launch options to prevent the custom FOV from being overwritten on a new level load.

Borderless fullscreen windowed

Set with iortcw[3]
  1. Install iortcw.
  2. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  3. Open wolfconfig.cfg.
  4. Set seta r_mode "-2".
  5. Set seta r_noborder "1".
  6. Set seta r_fullscreen "0".

Anisotropic filtering (AF)

Set with iortcw[3]
  1. Install iortcw.
  2. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  3. Open wolfconfig.cfg.
  4. Set seta r_ext_texture_filter_anisotropic "1".
  5. Set seta r_ext_max_anisotropy "16".

Anti-aliasing (AA)

Set with iortcw[3]
  1. Install iortcw.
  2. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  3. Open wolfconfig.cfg.
  4. Set seta r_ext_multisample "4".
  5. Set seta r_ext_framebuffer_multisample "4".
MSAA values can range from 1 to 16. Going above 16 won't give any noticeable improvements.
Nvidia users can achieve SGSSAA using the "enhance" mode.

Frame rate (FPS)

Stamina and weapon overheating bars logic are tied to FPS.
Set with iortcw[3]
  1. Install iortcw.
  2. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  3. Open wolfconfig.cfg.
  4. Set seta com_maxfps "0".
  5. Set seta com_maxfpsUnfocused "0".
  6. Set seta com_maxfpsMinimized "0".

Vertical sync (Vsync)

Set with iortcw[3]
  1. Install iortcw.
  2. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  3. Open wolfconfig.cfg.
  4. Set seta r_swapInterval "1".

Input settings

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

Template:Input settings

Toggle crouch

Edit autoexec.cfg[4]
  1. Go to <path-to-game>\Main\
  2. Open autoexec.cfg with a text editor.
  3. Add the following lines (change c to whatever you want).
set duck "+movedown; set crouchToggle vstr stand; echo ^3Crouching...^7"
set stand "-movedown; set crouchToggle vstr duck; echo ^2Standing...^7"
set crouchToggle "vstr duck"
bind c "vstr crouchToggle"

Audio settings

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

Template:Audio settings

Mute on focus lost

Set with iortcw[3]
  1. Install iortcw.
  2. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  3. Open wolfconfig.cfg.
  4. Set seta s_muteWhenMinimized "1".
  5. Set seta s_muteWhenUnfocused "1".

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
French
German
Hungarian
Fan translation.
Italian
Russian
Unofficial translation by «Fargus Multimedia». Download: text, sound.
Spanish
Retail version, download.

VR support

3D modes State Notes
vorpX
G3D, DirectVR
Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type Native Notes
LAN play
Online play
Use rtcwcoop for co-op.

Connection types

Type Native Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP
Use connect [IP address here] in the console.

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP 28960
UDP 27960
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

Issues fixed

Enlarged upper left corner of screen

Increasing the game resolution above 800x600 causes the upper left corner of the game to take up the entire screen. One reason is that game detects a 3dfx driver (possibly caused by nGlide).
Edit wolfconfig.cfg[5]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open wolfconfig.cfg.
  3. Change seta r_glIgnoreWicked3D "0" to seta r_glIgnoreWicked3D "1".

Frame rate drops on modern machines

This game is not coded/optimized to run on modern graphics cards, resulting in frame rate drops on some modern machines. This fix changes the method used to submit rendering draw calls.[6]
Edit wolfconfig.cfg[3]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open wolfconfig.cfg.
  3. Set seta r_primitives "2".

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
OpenGL 1.1
Glide 2
ExecutablePPC16-bit 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
Use iortcw.
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Mac OS (Classic)

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Anti-cheat PunkBuster [citation needed]

Disable view bob

Edit wolfconfig.cfg[3]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open wolfconfig.cfg.
  3. Change seta cg_bobup "0.005" to seta cg_bobup "0.000".
  4. Change seta cg_bobpitch "0.002" to seta cg_bobpitch "0.000".
  5. Change seta cg_bobroll "0.002" to seta cg_bobroll "0.000".

Mods

S4NDMoD

S4NDMoD is a mod that focuses on fixing exploits and adding necessary features to RTCW multiplayer. A list of features can be found here. Due to the master server being down, this mod is the best solution to make server browser work again.

RealRTCW

RealRTCW is a SP mod based on iortcw. New weapons, improved sounds and visuals, rebalanced gameplay, new difficulty system.

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 95 OSR2 NT 4.0 SP6, 98, ME, 2000, XP
Processor (CPU) AMD Athlon
Intel Pentium II 400 MHz
System memory (RAM) 128 MB 256 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 1.1 GB
Video card (GPU) 16 MB of VRAM
DirectX 8.0a compatible
Supported chipsets: 3dfx Voodoo 3 or higher, ATI Rage 128/128 Pro, ATI Radeon, Matrox G400, Nvidia Riva TNT and TNT2, all Nvidia GeForce chips

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>/9010/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (9010) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References