Syndicate

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

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		Use DOSBox.
GOG.com		Syndicate Plus. Pre-packaged with DOSBox.^[3]
Origin		Syndicate Plus. Pre-packaged with DOSBox. Included with EA Play.

Version differences

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

Demo

A free demo version is available from Archive.org.

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

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Delete/rename INTRO.EXE^{[citation needed]}
Go to the installation folder. 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

Download FreeSynd and extract it.
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.
For Syndicate Plus installations, apply this patch; otherwise, FreeSynd will crash upon launch.
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)	6.22
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	1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	2 GB
Video card (GPU)	DirectX 7 compatible	DirectX 9 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

↑ ^1.0 ^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

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

[DOSBox_mounted-4] 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).

[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

[1]

[2]

[3]

[Note 1]

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