Company of Heroes

Company of Heroes
Company of Heroes	2006
Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts	2007
Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor	2009
Company of Heroes 2	2013
Company of Heroes 2: The Western Front Armies	2014
Company of Heroes 2: Ardennes Assault	2014
Company of Heroes 2: The British Forces	2015
Armor of Heroes	2020
Company of Heroes 3	2023

Company of Heroes is a singleplayer and multiplayer bird's-eye view RTS game in the Company of Heroes series.

Key points

Online multiplayer for non-Steam versions stopped working in December 2013, due to Quazal services being shut down.^[1]

Steam and retail (Legacy Edition) mods are not mutually compatible.

General information

Official forum

Steam Community Discussions - Legacy Edition

Steam Community Discussions - New Steam Version

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Requires SecuROM 7 DRM disc check or persistent internet connection (later versions). This DRM was briefly patched out of the game, with 1.71 (no expansions) being the last version to require neither internet, nor a disk to play.
		Opposing Fronts, Tales of Valor, and Complete Pack also available.
Humble Store		Opposing Fronts, Tales of Valor, and Complete Pack also available.
Steam		Base game; includes both the Legacy Edition and New Steam Version. Opposing Fronts, Tales of Valor, and Complete Pack also available.
Mac App Store (unavailable)		Company of Heroes Complete: Campaign Edition

Soundtrack is available for free here.

Free demo versions are available from GameFront.

Version differences

New Steam Version vs. Legacy Edition

The New Steam Version (included alongside the original THQ release, now referred to as the Legacy Edition) has all the multiplayer components modified to use Steamworks, as the original multiplayer servers are no longer available. Opposing Fronts and Tales of Valor count as DLC and do not require any extra downloads.

They are purchased together on Steam, as the Legacy Edition was kept to maintain compatibility with classic mods.

Company of Heroes Complete: Campaign Edition

The OS X release of the game, it includes the Opposing Fronts and Tales of Valor expansions.

Note that multiplayer is not included.

Monetization

Type

Notes

Expansion pack

The expansion packs are advertised as standalone releases that are mutually compatible online with the base game and each other. In reality, they are the same game with different segments available to the player, but with all files on all players' computers. Full access to all content requires a valid respective serial key (retail versions/Legacy Edition) or ownership on the player's Steam account.

One-time game purchase

The game requires an upfront purchase to access. The base game includes multiplayer access to the United States and Wehrmacht factions, as well as singleplayer campaigns.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Opposing Fronts	Standalone on Windows. Includes the Panzer Elite and United Kingdom factions, as well as new campaigns. Content added with the 2.100 patch.
Tales of Valor	Standalone on Windows. Includes 3 new campaigns, game modes, and replacement units for existing factions. Content added with the 2.500 patch. If a player owns only this version, all 4 armies in skirmish and multiplayer are available, but not all campaigns.

Essential improvements

Patches

Patches for the retail version of the game can be found the official site's archive (requires a torrent client), Patches-Scrolls or GameFront (retail only). Most of them are incremental, and need to be run in order.

Skip intro videos

Apply `-nomovies` command line argument^[2]

Game data

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Company of Heroes\.ini %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Company of Heroes\.lua %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Company of Heroes\*.txt
macOS (OS X)
Steam	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Company of Heroes Relaunch\.ini %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Company of Heroes Relaunch\.lua %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Company of Heroes Relaunch\*.txt
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/4560/pfx/^{[Note 1]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Company of Heroes\Savegames\
macOS (OS X)
Steam	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Company of Heroes Relaunch\Savegames\
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/4560/pfx/^{[Note 1]}

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
OneDrive		Requires enabling backup of the Documents* folder in OneDrive on all computers.*
Steam Cloud		Syncs save games.

Video

In-game video settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen		HUD is stretched.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed	Launch the game with the `-window` parameter.
Borderless fullscreen windowed	Works using usual borderless fullscreen methods. Tested using GameCompanion.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)	Introduced via patches. Up to 8x MSAA.
Vertical sync (Vsync)	Launch the game with the `-novsync` parameter to disable Vsync.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS	See Game chooses incorrect refresh rate.
High dynamic range display (HDR)	See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Download Gridkeys
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity		For scroll speed.
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound		Up to 8.1^[3]
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Traditional Chinese
Czech
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Polish
Russian
Spanish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		8	Versus Retail/Legacy Edition only.
Online play		8	Versus The official Quazal service has been shut down (retail/Legacy Edition); Steam version has been updated with Steamworks support.

Connection types

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

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
UDP	6112, 30260, 9100

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

3D modes	Native	Notes
vorpX		G3D (Taken from the Anthology).User created game profile, `Delete spDx10.dll in game directory` see vorpx forum.`Note:`Profile should work with Opposing Front and Tales of Valor as well.

Issues fixed

Stuttering when playing with DX9 or High Shader Quality

Performance friendly.

Disable Tripple Buffering^{[citation needed]}
Launch the game with the `-notriplebuffer` parameter.

Game chooses incorrect refresh rate

The game may not choose the highest refresh rate supported by the screen.

Set refresh rate manually^{[citation needed]}
Launch the game with the `-refresh 120` parameter (where `120` is the screen refresh rate).

Steam version start-up crash

The latest Steam version of this game won't start on some systems, crashing back to the desktop immediately.

Use old XThread.dll^[4]
Download XThread.dll. Extract into the installation folder, replacing the existing file. If the game is in German after this fix, open `Locale.ini` in the installation folder. Change `lang=` to the language you want (for English use `lang=English`). Save your changes and run the game again.

Crash when loading into a map

The game will crash when loading into any map. This is possibly caused by SLI/Crossfire cards.

Set the graphics settings to high instead of ultra, or use borderless windowed^{[citation needed]}
Set the graphics settings to `high`. If it still crashes, use borderless windowed with `ultra` settings.

Second monitor blacking out

When launching the game on a dual screen setup, the secondary monitor will often be blacked out.

Press `Alt`+`↵ Enter` twice.

Cinematics and ingame cutscenes run at low FPS

Run the game in compatibility mode for Windows 7, optionally with disabled fullscreen optimizations.^[5]

Installer is no longer responding

When installing the retail version of the game a message may pop up repeatedly saying the installer is no longer responding.

Pressing the retry button each time this message occurs will eventually finish the installation process.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c, 10
Shader Model support	1.1, 4

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok
Audio	Miles Sound System
Cutscenes	DivX Video
Multiplayer	Quazal, Steamworks	Steamworks support is only available in the New Steam Version.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP, Vista
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 4 2.0 GHz AMD Athlon XP	Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	512 MB	1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	6.5 GB	9 GB
Video card (GPU)	64 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 1.1 support	Nvidia GeForce 6800 series 256 MB of VRAM
Sound (audio device)	DirectX 9.0c compatible 16-bit sound card

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	10.6.6
Processor (CPU)	2.4 GHz	2.6 GHz
System memory (RAM)	2 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	13 GB
Video card (GPU)	ATI Radeon HD 2600 Nvidia GeForce 8600 256 MB of VRAM	512 MB of VRAM

Supported ATI chipsets: Radeon 9500 series, Radeon 9600 series, Radeon 9700 series, Radeon 9800 series, Radeon X300 series, Radeon X550 series, Radeon X600 series, Radeon X700 series, Radeon X800 series, Radeon X1000 series, Radeon X1100 series, Radeon X1300 series, Radeon X1600 series, Radeon X1800 series, Radeon X1900 series, Radeon HD 2400 series, Radeon HD 2600 series, Radeon HD 2900 series

Supported Nvidia chipsets: GeForce3/Ti series, GeForce4/Ti (excluding the GeForce4MX series), GeForce FX 5700 series, GeForce FX 5800 series, GeForce FX 5900 series, GeForce 6200 series, GeForce 6600 series, GeForce 6800 series, GeForce 7300 series, GeForce 7600 series, GeForce 7800 series, GeForce 7900 series, GeForce 8400 series, GeForce 8500 series, GeForce 8600 series, GeForce 8700 series, GeForce 8800 series

Notes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 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>/4560/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (4560) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References

↑ Steam Community :: Group Announcements :: Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor - last accessed on May 2023
↑ Verified by User:Drat on 2019-05-17
↑ Company of Heroes Review - NGOHQ.com (retrieved)
↑ Xthread.dll error - How to fix. - Steam Users' Forums (retrieved)
↑ How To Fix Company of Heroes Cutscene/Main Menu Lag

[Proton_path_note-3] 1.0 ^1.1 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>/4560/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (4560) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

[1] Steam Community :: Group Announcements :: Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor - last accessed on May 2023

[2] Verified by User:Drat on 2019-05-17

[4] Company of Heroes Review - NGOHQ.com (retrieved)

[5] Xthread.dll error - How to fix. - Steam Users' Forums (retrieved)

[6] How To Fix Company of Heroes Cutscene/Main Menu Lag

[1]

[2]

[Note 1]

[3]

[4]

[5]

Developers

	Relic Entertainment
macOS (OS X)	Aspyr Media
Publishers
2006-2013	THQ
2013-present	Sega
Engines
	Essence Engine 1.0
Release dates
Windows	September 12, 2006
macOS (OS X)	March 1, 2012
Reception
Metacritic	93
IGDB	95
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, Expansion pack
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Bird's-eye view
Controls	Multiple select, Point and select
Genres	RTS
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Europe, Historical, World War II
Series	Company of Heroes