Rise of the Triad: Dark War

Rise of the Triad
Rise of the Triad: Dark War	1995
Return of the Triad	2011
Rise of the Triad	2013
Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition	2023

Key points

Source code has been made available^[4] and unofficially ported to various platforms

General information

Official website

Hardcore Gaming 101 - Comprehensive feature on the series

ROTT in Hell - In-depth article including developer interviews and game trivia (archived)

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Floppy and CD-ROM version. Originally released as shareware titled Rise of the Triad: The HUNT Begins. See: Version differences.
Official website		Pre-packaged with DOSBox. Also available in 3D Realms Arcade Collection.
GOG.com		Includes 'Extreme Rise of the Triad'. Pre-packaged with DOSBox.^[5]
Steam		Includes 'Extreme Rise of the Triad'. Pre-packaged with DOSBox.^[6] Also sold as part of The Apogee Throwback Pack. Not available in Germany.

Version differences

Rise of the Triad: The HUNT Begins is an exclusive episode released as shareware in 1994. It is included in Rise of the Triad CD-ROM version. It was also included in the Triad Powerpack, a commercial expansion for the floppy version.

Rise of the Triad: The HUNT Begins Deluxe Edition was a commercial re-release of The HUNT Begins with 6 exclusive levels. These levels were later offered for free download and are also included in the digital versions.

Rise of the Triad: Dark War is the full game. The CD-ROM version (also called Super Triad) adds 10 multiplayer maps and a random level generator. It also includes the shareware episode The HUNT Begins.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Triad Powerpack	Commercial expansion for the original floppy version, bringing it on a par with the CD-ROM version. Included with all digital versions of the game.
Extreme Rise of the Triad	Available for free. Included with all digital versions of the game. Can also be downloaded from the official website.

Essential improvements

Patches

v1.3 is the latest version.

Level Editors, etc.

All downloads for the game can be found on official game site.

Ports

Name	System	Renderer	Description
WinROTTAPI	Windows	GDI	A 64-bit port based on WinROTT by the same developer. Uses native Windows API.
WinROTTGL	Windows	OpenGL	A successor to WinROTT using OpenGL. Includes further fixes and improvements, supports up to 1920x1080 resolutions, texture filtering and sharpening, transparency, mp3 music and parametric reverb. Requires GLgraphics.zip found on the same page.
WinROTT	Windows	DirectDraw	A source port developed for Windows XP. It includes bug fixes, supports up to 1024x768 resolutions, mouselook with crosshair, and adds bots to multiplayer. May have issues with modern systems, since development stopped in 2005.
SDLROTT	Windows, Mac OS X, Linux		An SDL port of ROTT which includes 64-bit support and features/fixes from WinROTT. Linux and Mac users need to manually compile or look through the distribution's repository, although a (slightly dated) OS X build is available here. The Windows binary files are based on the Development version and requires SDL.dll and SDL_mixer.dll in order to run.
ElOscuro	Windows, Mac OS X, Linux		An "enhanced" version of the earlier SDL port.
rottexpr	Windows, Mac OS X, Linux		Fork of the SDL port with "additional gameplay options and more...". Includes widescreen.

Texture pack

Rehab Project texture pack contains 71 enhanced textures. Requires WinROTTGL.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
DOS	<path-to-game>\CONFIG.ROT <path-to-game>\SOUND.ROT <path-to-game>\BATTLE.ROT
Windows	<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)^{[Note 2]}
macOS (OS X)	<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)^{[Note 2]}
Linux	<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)^{[Note 2]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/358410/pfx/^{[Note 3]}

Configuration files are CONFIG.ROT (options), SOUND.ROT (sound) and BATTLE.ROT (multiplayer).

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	<path-to-game>\ROTTGAM*.ROT <path-to-game>\SCORES.ROT
Windows	<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)^{[Note 2]}
macOS (OS X)	<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)^{[Note 2]}
Linux	<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)^{[Note 2]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/358410/pfx/^{[Note 3]}

Savegames are labelled ROTTGAM*.ROT. High scores are saved in SCORES.ROT.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video settings

In-game general settings.

Detail settings.

Violence settings.

300px

Graphics settings (GOG.com version)

Template:Video settings

Input settings

Template:Input settings

In-game control settings.
In-game key map settings.
In-game mouse button map settings.
In-game joystick button map settings.

Audio settings

Template:Audio settings

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		11	Co-op, Versus
Online play		10	Co-op, Versus Use WinROTT.

Connection types

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

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Software renderer
DOS video modes	VGA	320x200

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows			For 64-bit use WinROTTAPI or SDLROTT.

System requirements

DOS
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	5.0	6.2
Processor (CPU)	AMD 386DX 40 MHz	Intel 486DX2 66 MHz
System memory (RAM)	4 MB	8 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	20 MB
Video card (GPU)	VGA

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP, Vista	7
Processor (CPU)	1.8 GHz
System memory (RAM)	512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	100 MB
Video card (GPU)	DirectX compatible

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	10.6.8 or later
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core Duo 2 GHz+
System memory (RAM)	1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	100 MB
Video card (GPU)	64 MB of VRAM

Notes

↑ The shareware release was December 21, 1994. This date refers to the full retail release.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 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>/358410/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (358410) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References

[sharewarerelease-1] The shareware release was December 21, 1994. This date refers to the full retail release.

[DOSBox_mounted-8] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 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-9] 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>/358410/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (358410) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

[2] New release: Rise of the Triad: Dark War - GOG.com

[3] Mac Game Update: 10 New Classic Additions - GOG.com

[4] GOG.com Now Supports Linux! - GOG.com

[5] Detailed release timeline - 3D Realms

[6] List of GOG games using DOSBox, page 1 - Forum - GOG.com

[7] Rise of the Triad: Dark War · AppID: 358410 · Steam Database

[Note 1]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[Note 2]

[Note 3]

Developers

	Apogee Software
Engines
Heavily modified version of the engine, design similar to Raven engine	Wolfenstein 3D engine
Release dates
DOS	February 17, 1995^{[Note 1]}
Windows (DOSBox)	March 3, 2009^[1]
macOS (OS X) (DOSBox)	May 9, 2013^[2]
Linux (DOSBox)	July 24, 2014^[3]