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Rune

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Rune
Rune cover
Developers
Human Head Studios
Mac OS (Classic) Westlake Interactive
Linux Loki Software
Publishers
Gathering of Developers
Mac OS Terminal Reality
Linux Loki Software
Engines
Unreal Engine 1
Release dates
Windows October 27, 2000
Mac OS (Classic) December 4, 2000
Linux June 21, 2001
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase, Expansion pack
Microtransactions None
Modes Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives Third-person
Controls Direct control
Genres Action, Adventure, Hack and slash
Art styles Realistic
Themes Fantasy
Series Rune
Rune on HowLongToBeat
Rune on MobyGames
Rune on Wikipedia
Rune
Rune 2000
Rune II 2019

Warnings

GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).

Rune is a third-person hack and slash game developed by Human Head Studios and published by Gathering of Developers. The game uses a modified version of Unreal Engine 1 designed for third-person melee-oriented combat.

The game was originally released for PC on October 27, 2000. A stand-alone expansion pack, Halls of Valhalla, was released in 2001 that expands on the game's multiplayer components. Rune was ported to Mac OS on December 4, 2000 and Linux on June 21, 2001. It was later re-released on PC with its expansion pack as Rune Gold on October 18, 2001. A port for the PlayStation 2, subtitled Viking Warlords, was also released in 2001, which featured a few new enemies and levels but is otherwise a straight port. An updated version was released through GOG.com and Steam as Rune Classic in 2012, which added the new enemies from the PlayStation 2 port, a streamlined and reworked single player campaign, and a modified soundtrack, however, unlike the original release, it does not support third-party renderers, which can cause performance issues with Windows 8/8.1 users just like the original game's stock Direct3D 7 renderer.

The game's GameSpy online server browser has stopped working due to GameSpy services being shut down.[1] See manual server replacement to replace the GameSpy servers. Rune Classic's multiplayer is also compatible with previous versions of Rune. An update for Rune Classic was released that added support for DirectX 11 and Windows 10 - unfortunately, the GOG version never received this update, but can be manually applied with this package.

General information

Official game site
GOG.com Community Discussions
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)
Regular or Rune Gold; the latter was released on 2 CDs.
SafeDisc DRM[Note 1]; see Run without the CD.
Windows
Mac OS
Linux
GOG.com
DRM-free
Rune Classic. Also bundled with Rune Gold.
Windows
Steam
Icon overlay.png
Rune Classic. Not available in Germany.
Windows
SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).
A free demo version is available from Archive.org.

Version differences

Rune Gold is the base game along with the Halls of Valhalla expansion.
Rune Classic is an updated version of Rune Gold that includes enemies from the PlayStation 2 version, Steam achievements, a modified soundtrack, and a reworked single-player campaign (levels have been either removed or rebalanced). The cut levels can still be played separately or restored using Rune Extended.
The GOG version of Rune Classic has not received the v1.11 update that the Steam version has received.[4][5] Can be updated manually to v1.11 with this patch.

Monetization

Type Notes
Expansion pack Expansion pack content has been incorporated into the Rune Gold and Rune Classic re-releases.
One-time game purchase The game requires an upfront purchase to access.

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
Halls of Valhalla Stand-alone multiplayer expansion pack that adds new multiplayer modes and skins.
Windows
Mac OS
Linux

Essential improvements

dgVoodoo 2

Alternative DirectX graphics API wrapper. Converts old DirectX API to best available one.
Allows user to tweak anti-aliasing and anistropic filtering. Also improves performance.
Improves gamma correction, making the game less dark. Also fixes brightness controls in the Options menu.
Does not improve UI scaling.
dgVoodoo 2 installation
  1. Download dgVoodoo 2.
  2. Extract dgVoodooCpl.exe, as well as the contents of the MS\x86 subfolder to <path-to-game>\System.
  3. Run dgVoodooCpl.exe, and in the "DirectX" tab, disable the "dgVoodoo Watermark" option.

Peixoto's patch

Forced resolution allows high resolution without affecting the UI. Supports the OpenGL and D3D7 renderers. SSAA is also possible and the brightness control is fixed in the D3D7 renderer.

Alternative renderers

These renders are only supported in the original releases of Rune and Rune Gold, and do not work with Rune Classic.

Unreal Engine Direct3D 9 Renderer

The Unreal Engine Direct3D 9 renderer is a renderer for Unreal Tournament, Deus Ex, and Rune that allow these games to have better compatibility on modern operating system. It also has some extra graphical enhancement options such as anti-aliasing, anisotropic filtering, fullscreen gamma correction, and V-sync.
Colors are incorrect compared to the default Direct3D 7 and Direct3D 10 renderers, and support has been abandoned.

Unreal Engine Direct3D 10 Renderer

The Unreal Engine Direct3D 10 Renderer is a renderer for Unreal, Unreal Tournament, Deus Ex and Rune that aims to provide a good, consistent looking and future-proof renderer for these games. The focus is not on fancy effects; the idea is to have something that will allow these games to perform well and look good on modern systems. A Direct3D 11 port is also available, however its features are largely the same as the Direct3D 10 renderer.

OpenAL Soft for Rune Classic

Fixes broken surround sound implementation with proper reverb and occlusion.
Fixes game crashes during certain cutscenes.

Run without the CD

Remove CD check from configuration file[6]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open Rune.ini and Default.ini with a text editor.
  3. Comment out or delete the CDPath= line and save the changes.

Notes

Not needed for digital releases (Steam and GOG).

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\System[Note 2]
Mac OS (Classic)
Linux $HOME/.loki/rune
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/210950/pfx/[Note 3]
Rune.ini is used for the game's general settings such as video, audio, network settings, and controller sensitivity.
User.ini stores keybindings and gameplay-related settings.
Default.ini and DefUser.ini are used in case the aforementioned files are deleted and their default settings can be restored.
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>\Save[Note 2]
Mac OS (Classic)
Linux
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/210950/pfx/[Note 3]
Save*.usa files are used for the single-player campaign. Files 0-8 are used for the game's nine save slots; Save9.usa is used to restart at the beginning of a level; Save10.usa is used for Rune Classic's checkpoints.

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

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

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
Native support in Rune Classic. For more info and methods for other releases, see the WSGF entry.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
See the WSGF entry.
4K Ultra HD
Higher than 1920x1080 is not possible.
Field of view (FOV)
See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed
See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
See Anisotropic filtering (AF).
Anti-aliasing (AA)
See Anti-aliasing (AA).
Vertical sync (Vsync)
See Vertical sync (Vsync).
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
For Windows 8 and 8.1 in the retail version, see here.
No frame rate cap.[7]
High dynamic range display (HDR)
See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Field of view (FOV)

Set default FOV[8]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open User.ini.
  3. Change DesiredFOV and DefaultFOV to match the desired FOV.
    • For 16:10 resolutions, set the values to 85.3.
    • For 16:9 resolutions, set the values to 91.3.
  4. Save the file and launch the game.

Windowed

Can be toggled with Alt+ Enter or using the console command ToggleFullscreen.
Launch in windowed mode
  1. Go to Options, Game options, then Advanced Options menu & under Display.
  2. Set StartFullscreen to False.

Anisotropic filtering (AF)

Use dgVoodoo 2
Install alternative Unreal Engine DirectX renderers
Only works with the original releases of Rune and Rune Gold.
Doesn't work with Rune Classic (Steam and GOG releases).

Notes

Anisotropic filtering can also be forced through video card settings.

Anti-aliasing (AA)

Use dgVoodoo 2
Install alternative Unreal Engine DirectX renderers
Only works with the original releases of Rune and Rune Gold.
Doesn't work with Rune Classic (Steam and GOG releases).

Notes

Anti-aliasing can also be forced through video card settings.

Vertical sync (Vsync)

Enable Vsync[citation needed]
  • Go to Options, Game options, then Advanced Options menu & under Rendering.
    • For the Direct3D and Direct3D 10 renderer, set "UseVSync" to True.
    • For the Direct3D 9 renderer, set "SwapInterval" value from -1 to 1.

Input

In-game key map settings.
In-game key map settings.
In-game general control settings.
In-game general control settings.

Keyboard and mouse State Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Only mouse smoothing; amount can be adjusted in User.ini
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Disabled by default. Uses DirectInput. See Controller support.
Full controller support
Menus requires interaction from mouse.
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
See Controller sensitivity.
Controller Y-axis inversion
See Controller Y-axis inversion.
Controller types
XInput-compatible controllers
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
PlayStation controllers
Generic/other controllers
Button prompts
Additional information
Button prompts Input settings icon - Generic Controller.svg Controller buttons in the Options menu are referred to as "Joy1", "Joy2", and so forth.
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Controller support

Some controllers may require this fix.
Controller fix[9]
  1. Go to Options, Game options, then Advanced Options menu & under the "Joystick" section.
  2. Set DeadZoneRUV to True.

Controller sensitivity

Adjust sensitivity[9]
  1. Go to Options, Game options, then Advanced Options menu and open the "Joystick" section.
  2. Adjust the ScaleXYZ and ScaleRUV values to desired amount.

Controller Y-axis inversion

Change Axis aLookUp speed value[9]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open User.ini.
  3. Search for Axis aLookUp speed on the assigned axis and set this value to an opposite number (e.g. if the value -3 has normal vertical look, set this value to 3).

Audio

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

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Music and sound effects.
Surround sound
Up to 7.0 output with DirectSound3D restoration software. See instructions below for Rune Classic.
Subtitles
Cutscenes only. Combat chatter not subtitled.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support
EAX 2 and A3D 2.0. Broken in Rune Classic release.
Royalty free audio
OpenAL Soft is broken as-is in Rune Classic. Use ALAudio for Rune Classic instead and follow these instructions to fix 3D positional audio, EFX reverb, and occlusion.[10]

Localizations

Language can be changed in-game by going to Options, Game options, then Advanced Options menu & under Drivers, change language.
Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Polish
Fan translation, download.
Russian
Spanish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
LAN play
16 Versus
Online play
16 Versus
The official GameSpy service has been shut down; see manual GameSpy server replacement.

Connection types

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP 7777
UDP 7777
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

Manual server replacement for shut-down GameSpy servers

Edit Rune.ini to replace GameSpy server[11]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open Rune.ini.
  3. Press Ctrl+F and search for instances of master.gamespy.com and master0.gamespy.com and replace them with master.333networks.com.
  4. After replacing all instances of the GameSpy servers in Rune.ini, save the changes (File → Save or Ctrl+S). Now launch the game and go to Multiplayer. The new server should be active for multiplayer modes.

Faster download speed in online multiplayer

Increase download speed settings in Rune.ini and User.ini[12]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open Rune.ini.
  3. Press Ctrl+F and search for NetSpeed and LanSpeed in both files, then change the values of these settings to a higher number (e.g. 50000).
  4. Save the changes.
  5. Repeat for User.ini.
  6. Now try starting or joining a multiplayer game, the download speed should now become faster.

Rune crashes when accessing server list

Replace the expired runegame.com website[13]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open Rune.ini.
  3. Add this code at the bottom of the file:
    [RBrowser.RBrowserUpdateServerLink]
    UpdateServerAddress=er-horde.nl
    NewsUpdateServerAddress=er-horde.nl
  4. Save the changes. The server list should not crash the game anymore.

VR support

3D modes State Notes
vorpX
G3D
User created game profile, (OpenGL) see vorpx forum profile introduction.

Issues unresolved

Weapons cannot be picked up

Under unknown circumstances, a specific weapon type (sword, axe, or mace) will become bugged, and the player will become unable to pick up that type of weapon from the environment.[citation needed]

Issues fixed

Low frame rate on Windows 8 and 8.1

The retail release of Rune uses an old Direct3D 7 renderer that runs poorly in fullscreen on Windows 8 and 8.1 due to poor implementation of older Direct3D support.
This issue however is not present in Windows 10.[14] The Steam versions is not affected by this due to the addition of Direct3D 11 support in 2018.
Use the Unreal Engine Direct3D 9 or 10 renderer[15]
  1. Download the Direct3D 9 or Direct3D 10 renderers from the links provided.
  2. Extract the contents of the zip file into <path-to-game>\System.
  3. Launch the game, go to Video settings, then click Change under Video Driver and restart the game.
  4. At the Video Configuration window, select the Show all devices option, then select either Direct3D9 Support or Direct3D 10 Support, and click Next to finish. The game will restart with the selected renderer.

Notes

This only works on the original versions of Rune and Halls of Valhalla expansion.
Use a modified DDRAW.dll[16]
  1. Download the modified DDRAW.dll.
  2. Extract the appropriate DDRAW.dll from the folder that matches the used operating system into <path-to-game>\System.

Notes

This fix is for Rune Classic as it does not support third-party renderers.
Use Borderless Gaming to force borderless fullscreen windowed mode[17]

Not able to select other resolution than 1024x768 on Rune Classic

Run Rune.exe in compatibility mode for Windows 7 or earlier[18]

Low in-game brightness and broken brightness controls

Use dgVoodoo2

Surround sound is broken

Audio driver in Rune Classic is broken, and can lead to crashes during cutscenes in the Embers of Hrafnborg level.
Install OpenAL for Rune fix[19]
  1. Navigate to <path-to-game>\System;
  2. Open the Rune.ini file (make a backup of it first);
  3. Find and delete the [ALAudio.ALAudioSubsystem] section (renaming it also works), and save the changes;
  4. Download and extract the attached archive OpenAL_v2.4.7_Rune.zip;
  5. Copy and paste all its folder contents in <path-to-game>\System.

Game crashes during cutscenes in Embers of Hrafnborg level

Install OpenAL audio fix
Also fixes surround sound implementation.
Reduce Sound Volume slider in the Options menu to zero[20]
Set the Sound Volume slider back to its previous value after finishing the level.

Depth sorting issues with distant geometry

In some areas of the game, "smearing" artifacts can appear in the distance while panning the camera.
Enable 32bit ZBuffer
  1. Launch the game.
  2. Go to Options > Game > Advanced Options.
  3. In the new window that opens, go to Rendering > Direct3D support.
  4. Set the Use32bitZBuffer property to True.
  5. Close the window and return to the game.

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 7, 11 Support for 11 was added in June 2018 with a patch for Rune Classic only.[21] For the retail version, to add in Direct3D 9 or 10 support, see Unreal Engine Direct3D 9 or Direct3D 10 renderer.
OpenGL
Required for Mac OS and Linux; optional for Windows.
Glide 2.4 Rune Gold only.
Software renderer
ExecutablePPC16-bit 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
Linux
Mac OS (Classic)

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Audio OpenAL
Interface SDL Linux only
Multiplayer GameSpy GameSpy servers were shut down in March 2015.

Rune Extended

Rune Extended is a mod for Rune Classic that re-implements the cut levels into the single-player campaign. It is recommended to back up the Maps folder before applying this mod. Loading a save file from a map that has be replaced can cause issues.

System requirements

Rune, Rune: Halls of Valhalla, and Rune Gold

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000[22]
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium II, Celeron 300 MHz
AMD K6-2 300 MHz
System memory (RAM) 64 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 88 MB
Video card (GPU) 8 MB of VRAM
DirectX 7.0[23] compatible
Sound (audio device) DirectX compatible sound card (EAX and A3D supported)
Other Supported video modes: Direct3D, Glide, OpenGL, S3 MeTal, Software
Mac OS
Minimum
Operating system (OS) 9.0[24]
Processor (CPU) PowerPC G3
System memory (RAM) 128 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 400 MB
Video card (GPU) Hardware accelerated video card with OpenGL support[25]
6 MB of VRAM
Linux
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) Kernel 2.2.x and glibc-2.1
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium II 300 MHz[26]
System memory (RAM) 64 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 700 MB
Video card (GPU) XFree86 3.3.5 (Glide)
8 MB of VRAM
Sound (audio device) 16-bit compatible sound card; OSS compatible
Other Halls of Valhalla expansion pack requires the base game

Rune Classic

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) XP
Processor (CPU) 1 GHz
System memory (RAM) 512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 1 GB
Video card (GPU) DirectX 9.0c compatible


Notes

  1. SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10[2] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.[3]
  2. 2.0 2.1 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).
  3. 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>/210950/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (210950) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References

  1. 2K Online Server Migration from GameSpy Technology – 2K Support - last accessed on October 8, 2016
  2. Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
  3. Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16
  4. Rune Classic - GOG Database - last accessed on 2019-10-26
  5. Where's v1.11 For GOG Version?! - Steam Community Forums - last accessed on 2019-10-26
  6. Verified by User:AmethystViper on 2020-11-02
    Tested on Rune Gold's retail release installed from its discs.
  7. Verified by User:AmethystViper on October 8, 2016
    Measured the frame-rate using the "stat fps" console command without V-sync and frame-rate was above 120 FPS.
  8. WSGF Entry - last accessed on May 2023
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 Verified by User:AmethystViper on 2020-11-02
  10. Rune Classic with 3D spatial sound 🎧 (OpenAL Soft HRTF audio) Instructions in description! - last accessed on 9 June 2023
  11. Manual masterserver fix - The Rune Boards
  12. Verified by User:AmethystViper on May 10, 2016
    Modified the game's setting of 2000 NetSpeed to 50000 and noticed a substantial difference in downloading speed.
  13. FIX Game crashes while loading serverlist - Steam Community Discussions for Rune Classic - last accessed on May 10, 2016
  14. Verified by User:AmethystViper on October 8, 2016
    Ran Rune and Rune Classic on Windows 10 in fullscreen with the orignal Direct3D 7 renderer and frame-rate was not affected unlike Windows 8.1 where it halved its frame-rate.
  15. Verified by User:AmethystViper on August 3, 2015
    Ran Rune on Windows 8.1 in fullscreen with the Direct3D 9 and 10 renderers and frame-rate was not affected.
  16. How to run in 60 FPS on Windows 8.1 Steam Community Guide - last accessed on October 8, 2016
  17. Verified by User:AmethystViper on July 21, 2015
    Used Borderless Gaming on Rune Classic on Windows 8.1 and frame-rate was not affected when in borderless fullscreen windowed.
  18. Rune only 1024x768 res, crashes when changing 3D device Steam discussion thread - last accessed on June 23, 2017
  19. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFRRMqFpJ3A
  20. gog.com - last accessed on 9 June 2023
  21. Rune Classic - Windows 10 Update - Steam Community Discussions for Rune Classic - last accessed on June 27, 2018
  22. Rune Windows manual, page 12
  23. Rune on MobyGames Rune for Windows (2000) Tech Info - MobyGames - last accessed on October 8, 2016
  24. Rune for Macintosh (2000) Tech Info - MobyGames - last accessed on October 8, 2016
  25. Product description of Rune for Macintosh - Amazon - last accessed on October 8, 2016
  26. Rune Overview - Loki Software - last accessed on October 8, 2016