Serious Sam 2

Serious Sam 2

Developers
	Croteam
Maintenance	Alligator Pit
Publishers
Former	2K Games
Current	Devolver Digital
Re-release	Sold Out Software
Engines
	Serious Engine 2
Release dates
Windows	October 11, 2005
Reception
Metacritic	74
IGDB	78
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person, Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Shooter
Vehicles	Flight, Helicopter, Hovercraft
Art styles	Stylized
Themes	Comedy, Sci-fi, Space
Series	Serious Sam

Warnings

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

Key points

Steam version has been continually updated to fix bugs, add features for modern systems such as built-in widescreen and controller support, and also change the online multiplayer servers to Steamworks.

General information

Bug Tracker

Seriously! Forums

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM 7 DRM disc check. 4 CDs or 1 DVD.
Steam
Humble Store
Amazon.com (unavailable)
GamersGate (unavailable)

A free demo version is available from Archive.org.

Essential improvements

Patches

Serious Sam II Patch 2.070. Do not install this if you have the German version as it can cause various problems due to the game's copy protection. The Steam version also doesn't need this patch as it's already updated past this.

Unofficial Linux installer

flibitijibibo has made an unofficial installer that simplifies installation of the game on Linux. If you own the game, download the installer at http://www.flibitijibibo.com/fedora/installers/flibitSam2_2070b.tar.gz.

Running the game in Linux

To run the game, just run serioussam2 in the installation folder. You may have to chmod +x it first.

Serious Editor

To run the editor, just run serioussam2-editor in the installation folder. You may have to chmod +x it first.

Getting audio to work

To get audio working, move to the root of the Serious Sam 2 installation and make a symlink to your 32-bit libopenal.so. For Fedora, it looks like

ln -s /usr/lib/libopenal.so.1 libopenal.so.0

Game data

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Content\SeriousSam2\Sam2.ini
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/204340/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Content\SeriousSam2\PlayerProfiles\
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/204340/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud

Video

In-game general video settings.

In-game advanced video settings (1/2).

In-game advanced video settings (2/2).

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			See Widescreen resolution.
Multi-monitor			See Widescreen resolution.
Ultra-widescreen			See Widescreen resolution.
4K Ultra HD			See Widescreen resolution.
Field of view (FOV)		See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Up to 16 samples.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Up to 8x MSAA.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS		Menu frame rate is capped at 33 FPS. Cutscenes are prerendered at 30 FPS.
120+ FPS		At high frame rates above 200fps physics and scripts break. See High FPS Issues.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		In-game HDR option refers only to HDR Rendering

Widescreen resolution

Steam version has fixed aspect ratio support. Non-standard resolutions still need to be edited manually and can't be selected in-game, but aspect ratio or FOV do not need to be adjusted for Hor+ ultrawide gameplay.

Fix widescreen support (Retail)
Edit <path-to-game>\Content\SeriousSam2\Sam2.ini. Locate the lines gfx_pixResWidth and gfx_pixResHeight. Set the values to the desired resolution width and height, respectively. Locate the line gfx_fAspectRatio. Set the value to the desired aspect ratio. Use 1.6 for 16:10, 1.777 for 16:9, 2.333 for 21:9. Save the file. Make sure "Wide Screen" option is enabled in-game.

Field of view (FOV)

Steam version has fixed widescreen FOV (and weapon FOV).

Set custom FOV
Edit <path-to-game>\Content\SeriousSam2\Sam2.ini. Locate the line [Sam2Game]. Add this line underneath it: plr_fFOVOverride = X;. Replace X with the desired FOV. Default is 80 and maximum is 135. Use 90.4 for 16:10 or 96.4 for 16:9. Save the file and set it to read only to prevent the game from changing it back.

Input

In-game general control settings.

In-game key map settings.

In-game gamepad settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity		Goes by percentage.
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		XInput support only available in the Steam version.
Full controller support		Launch the game in Big Picture mode.
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity		Uses the same sensitivity meter as mouse sensitivity.
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

DualShock 4 controllers

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Button prompts
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Mouse smoothing

Fix mouse smoothing
Fixes mouse stuttering Edit <path-to-game>\Content\SeriousSam2\Sam2.ini. Locate the line inp_bMouseSmoothing = 1;. Replace with inp_bMouseSmoothing = 0;.

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Croatian				Fan translation, download.
Italian				Only available in the retail release.
Brazilian Portuguese				Unofficial translation; download.
Russian				Retail version, download.
Spanish				Fan translation, download.
Turkish				Fan translation, download.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play		4	Co-op, Versus Use Nucleus Co-op.
LAN play		16	Co-op, Versus 6 players max for Co-op.
Online play		16	Co-op, Versus 6 players max for Co-op. To play online with non-Steam versions apply the Master Server Patch.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP		Listed as "Specify server".

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	25600-25616
UDP	25600-25616

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

Issues fixed

Graphics problems or crashes

Set OpenGL renderer
Edit <path-to-game>\Content\SeriousSam2\Sam2.ini. Locate the line gfx_iAPI = 2;. Replace with gfx_iAPI = 1;.

Very low FPS when activating Vsync in the game

The game may lock itself to 32 FPS on modern operating systems due to broken 3D audio compatibility.

Use DirectSound 3D restoration software

Physics and scripts that break preventing the game from continuing

At high frame rates above 200fps physics and scripts break

Limit the Framerate to 60FPS[citation needed]
See Frame rate capping.

Enable Vsync in the Video Options and set refresh rate on 60hz[citation needed]

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9
OpenGL	2.1
Shader Model support	1.1, 2

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	DirectSound, OpenAL
Multiplayer	GameSpy, Steamworks

Console commands

Open the console (~ by default)

• sam_iEnableCheats=1 - Enable Cheats
  • Press Esc and F1 to open the cheats window
• hud_bShowPing = 1
• hud_iShowBandwidth = 1
• hud_bShowCrosshair = 1
• sam_ctMaxDebris = 20
• sam_bEnableRagdollDeaths = 0
• prf_bShowFPS = 1
• net_strConnectPassword = "password" - used to access password protected multiplayer games

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP or 2000
Processor (CPU)	AMD Athlon XP 1.5 GHz Intel Pentium 4 2.0 GHz	AMD Athlon 64 2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	256 MB	512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	3 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 3 ATI Radeon 8500 S3 DeltaChrome or XGI Volari DirectX 8.0 compatible	Nvidia GeForce 7800 ATI Radeon X850 DirectX 9.0 compatible
Sound (audio device)	DirectSound compatible	DirectSound3D compatible with EAX 2.0+