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Syndicate

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games

This page is for the original 1993 game. For the first-person shooter reboot, see Syndicate (2012).

Syndicate
Syndicate cover
Developers
Bullfrog Productions
Publishers
Electronic Arts
Release dates
DOS June 6, 1993
Mac OS (Classic) 1994
Windows (DOSBox) January 19, 2012[1]
macOS (OS X) (DOSBox) October 18, 2012[2]
Reception
IGDB 69
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase, Expansion pack, Subscription gaming service
Microtransactions None
Modes Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives Bird's-eye view, Isometric
Genres Action, Strategy
Themes Cyberpunk
Series Syndicate
Syndicate on HowLongToBeat
Syndicate on IGDB
Syndicate guide on StrategyWiki
Syndicate on MobyGames
Syndicate on Wikipedia
Syndicate
Syndicate 1993
Syndicate Wars 1996
Syndicate (2012) 2012

Syndicate is a singleplayer and multiplayer bird's-eye view and isometric action and strategy game in the Syndicate series.

General information

Syndicate Wiki
Syndicate Unofficial Fan Site - A fan site for the series
GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
GOG.com Support Page

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
DRM-free
Use DOSBox.
DOS
Mac OS
GOG.com
DRM-free
Syndicate Plus. Pre-packaged with DOSBox.[3]
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Origin
Origin
Syndicate Plus. Pre-packaged with DOSBox.
Included with EA Play.
Windows
A free demo version is available from Archive.org.

Version differences

Syndicate Plus is a complete edition which includes the base game and American Revolt expansion.

Monetization

Type Notes
Expansion pack The expansion pack includes new weapons and missions, as well as multiplayer support.
One-time game purchase The game requires an upfront purchase to access.
Subscription gaming service Available via EA Play.

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
American Revolt
DOS

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Delete/rename INTRO.EXE[citation needed]
  1. Go to the installation folder.
  2. Delete or rename INTRO.EXE.
The title screen will still be shown.

FreeSynd

FreeSynd is a cross-platform, open-source re-implementation that allows for playing the game natively rather than in the DOSBox emulator.

Set up FreeSynd
  1. Download FreeSynd and extract it.
  2. Copy Syndicate's data files from either SYNDICAT\DATA (Syndicate Plus) or DATA (original Syndicate) to FreeSynd's bin\data folder. There should be 439 or 450 files.
  3. For Syndicate Plus installations, apply this patch; otherwise, FreeSynd will crash upon launch.
  4. Optionally, open <path-to-game>\bin\freesynd.ini and change fullscreen to true or else the game will run in a 640x400 window.
FreeSynd requires the game's original files.
The main download button retrieves an old version (0.7.1). Download version 0.7.5 from the folder view instead.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
DOS
Windows <path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)[Note 1]
Mac OS (Classic)
macOS (OS X) <path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)[Note 1]

Save game data location

System Location
DOS <path-to-game>\SAVE\
<path-to-game>\SAVE2\
Windows <path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)[Note 1]
Mac OS (Classic)
macOS (OS X) <path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)[Note 1]
American Revolt saves are in <path-to-game>\SAVE2\

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
GOG Galaxy
Origin

Video

Graphics feature State Notes
Widescreen resolution
640x480 only.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
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)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Vertical sync (Vsync)
For DOSBox use an unofficial build (see the glossary page for other workarounds).
60 FPS
120+ FPS

Input

Keyboard and mouse State Notes
Remapping
For DOSBox use the DOSBox Mapper (see the glossary page for other workarounds).
Mouse acceleration
Native DOS cursor.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
For DOSBox use the DOSBox Mapper (see the glossary page for other workarounds).
Controller types

Audio

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
For DOSBox change the priority background value in the DOSBox configuration file.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Retail only.
Polish
Retail only.
Spanish

Network

Multiplayer requires the American Revolt expansion (Syndicate Plus includes the expansion)

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
LAN play
8
Online play
For DOSBox use DOSBox IPX/modem emulation.

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
DOS video modes VGA, SVGA

System requirements

DOS
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 3.0 (Original release)
5.0 (CD release)
Processor (CPU) Intel 386 33 MHz
System memory (RAM) 4 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 50 MB
Video card (GPU) VGA, SVGA
Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) XP, Vista, 7
Processor (CPU) 1.8 GHz
System memory (RAM) 512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 2 GB
Video card (GPU) DirectX 7 compatible
macOS (OS X)
Minimum
Operating system (OS) 10.6.8
Processor (CPU) Intel Core Duo 2 GHz
System memory (RAM) 1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 2 GB
Video card (GPU) 64 MB of VRAM


Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 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).

References

  1. New Release: Syndicate ● GOG.com - last accessed on 9 June 2023
  2. GOG.com goes Mac ● GOG.com - last accessed on 9 June 2023
  3. List of GOG games using DOSBox, page 1 - Forum - GOG.com - last accessed on 17 May 2023