Witchaven

Witchaven

Developers
	Capstone Software
Publishers
United States	IntraCorp
Europe	U.S. Gold
Engines
	Build
Release dates
DOS	September 20, 1995
Taxonomy
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, FPS
Art styles	Digitized, Realistic
Themes	Fantasy
Series	Witchaven

Witchaven
Witchaven	1995
Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance	1996

Witchaven is a 1995 sword & sorcery fantasy FPS game with a heavy focus on melee combat. It features light RPG mechanics and blends fast-paced first-person combat with a rudimentary experience and leveling system. It is the first game licensed to use the Build engine, and as such uses an earlier version than Duke Nukem 3D. It is known for hazardous map triggers and game physics that cause slippery player movement, sudden deaths, and faulty hit detection. Its singleplayer mode is twenty-five levels long and it has six multiplayer-only maps

Witchaven received a few patches before developer Capstone Software became defunct. The game would receive little attention after 1996 until a former development team member released the game's source code in 2006. After this, EGwhaven and a Dehacker tool would appear that alleviate problems with mouse control and gamelogic issues. Witchaven support was added to BuildGDX in 2018, and is the most accessible way to play this game on modern systems.

For a high-fidelity, accurate, and accessible implementation of the game use BuildGDX. For a bugfixed version of the original DOS executable and game code use EGwhaven inside DOSBox or on a pentium DOS computer.

General information

ETTiNGRiNDER's Witchaven Shrine Fanpage that catalogues much of Witchaven's content & bugs.

Witchaven entry at RTCM Lots of information & patches relating to Witchaven.

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail

Demo

July 1995 Witchaven Demos

Identical shareware demos containing the first three maps of the game. These demos have different enemy placement and game mechanics than retail. Capstone released a patch for them based on player feedback through a Usenet newsgroup.

Witchaven 3 Level Interactive Preview

Features finalized versions of the first three maps. Includes cinematic intro by Animation Factory. Performs disc check.

Essential improvements

EGwhaven A bugfix/enhancement patch to the original executable. Improves mod-ability, player movement, and adds a human-readable config file.

ETTiNGRiNDER's Unofficial Witchaven level patches Fixes issues for two maps.

If all SMK files have been copied to the install folder Witchaven can be set to read these copies and not the game disc's. Use WH LOCAL.

Source ports

Name	Description
BuildGDX	Reverse-engineered gameplay-accurate port written in Java. Adds high resolutions support, OpenGL renderer, modern controller support and improved mouse control. Fixes most issues with the game.

DOSBox

DOS32A

DOS32A is a memory extender for DOS games. It is an open source replacement to DOS4GW which was often used in game development. It can improve both the performance and stability of Witchaven.

Game data

Most of Witchaven's save data and settings are stored in non-human-readable .DAT files. It is possible to modify them with a hex editor.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
DOS	<path-to-game>\PREF.DAT <path-to-game>\SETUP.DAT <path-to-game>\SETUP.INI

PREF.DAT contains values changeable ingame.

SETUP.DAT contains values changeable by setup utility.

SETUP.INI is the main config for the HMI sound system.

Save game data location

System	Location
DOS	<path-to-game>\SVGM*.MAP <path-to-game>\SVGN*.DAT

SVGM*.MAP stores map data. Witchaven uses Build MAP format version 6.

SVGN*.DAT stores player data.

Video

Witchaven's video settings screen.

Certain parts of Witchaven's gamelogic were written to be dependent on framerate. If unmodified it begins to malfunction at 30FPS and up.

EGwhaven remedies this by capping the framerate to 24FPS.

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		See Source ports.
Multi-monitor		See Source ports.
Ultra-widescreen		See Source ports.
4K Ultra HD		See Source ports.
Field of view (FOV)		See Source ports.
Windowed		For DOSBox toggle with Alt+↵ Enter (see the glossary page for other workarounds).
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See Source ports.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		See Source ports.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		For DOSBox use an unofficial build (see the glossary page for other workarounds).
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		See Source ports. See Source ports.

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Using setup.exe.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity		During gameplay press F12 and then use ↑↓ to select between the X and Y axes. Then press ←→ to adjust the sensitivity of your selected axis. Press F12 again to confirm.
Mouse input in menus		The Witchaven Setup Utility supports mouse use. The ingame menu and sound card configuration program do not.
Mouse Y-axis inversion		See the Glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support		Controller must be configured first.
Controller remapping		Using setup.exe.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion		See the Glossary page for potential workarounds.

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

PlayStation controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Tracked motion controllers		The VFX1 cyberpuck is supported via a patch. Controls are configured in VFX1.CFG.
Button/gesture prompts

Generic/other controllers
Button prompts

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

• 

  Keyboard configuration screen.

• 

  Mouse configuration screen.

• 

  Joystick/controller configuration screen.

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		During gameplay press F9 and then use ↑↓ to select between music and sound effects. Then use ←→ to modify volume. Press F9 again to confirm.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		For DOSBox change the priority background value in the DOSBox configuration file.

• 

  Witchaven's audio settings screen.

• 

  Witchaven's sound card setup.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play
LAN play		16	Versus, Co-op
Online play		16	Versus, Co-op IPX

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Self-hosting		IPX

Multiplayer clients

• Classic Gaming Arena is a service for IPX-based multiplayer games running within DOSBox. Runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

VR support

Headset	Native	Notes
Forte VFX1		Supported via a patch by Capstone. Type WH VFX1 to use.
Victormaxx Cybermaxx 2.0		Supported via a patch by Capstone. Type WH CYBER to use.
Virtual i-O I-Glasses		Supported via a patch by Capstone. Type WH IGLASS to use.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Software renderer
DOS video modes	SVGA, SVGA (VESA), VGA

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	HMI Sound Operating System	Configured by editing HMISET.CFG, PATCHES.INI, and SETUP.INI.
Cutscenes	Smacker Video Technology
Multiplayer	DWANGO	Support was added by Capstone via a patch

Modding

Map Editing

• Build editor for Witchaven 1 A modified version of the build editor designed to work with Witchaven. Uses map version 6.

Texture packs

• Witchaven upscale texture pack by Phredeeke Original Witchaven textures refined using a generative adversarial network. Designed for BuildGDX.

System requirements

DOS
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	5.0
Processor (CPU)	Intel 486DX/33 MHz	Pentium 100
System memory (RAM)	8 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	5 MB
Video card (GPU)	SuperVGA, VESA, VGA