The Operative: No One Lives Forever

The Operative: No One Lives Forever

Developers
	Monolith Productions
GOTY Edition	Third Law Interactive
macOS (OS X)	MumboJumbo
Publishers
	Fox Interactive
	Sierra Entertainment
OS X	MacPlay
Engines
	LithTech 2.2
Release dates
Windows	November 9, 2000
macOS (OS X)	November 21, 2002
Reception
Metacritic	91
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, FPS, Shooter, Stealth
Vehicles	Motorcycle, Off-roading
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Cold War, Comedy, Europe, Africa, Space
Series	No One Lives Forever

No One Lives Forever
The Operative: No One Lives Forever	2000
No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way	2002
Contract J.A.C.K.	2003

Warnings

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see Availability for affected versions).

The Mac OS X version of this game does not work on Mac OS X Lion (version 10.7) or later due to the removal of support for PowerPC apps.

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

The Operative: No One Lives Forever is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person action, FPS, shooter and stealth game in the No One Lives Forever series.

The game was re-released with the Game of the Year Edition in October 2001, featuring an additional mission added at the end of the campaign, new multiplayer maps and skins, and the 1.004 patch streamlined. The same year, the source code was made available alongside a host of official modding tools.

A 2002 PlayStation 2 port included a unique prequel mission which was never ported to the PC.

The game remains unavailable for purchase due to licensing issues between Activision Blizzard (as successors of Sierra Entertainment) and WB Games (as current owners of developer Monolith Productions). The game's compatibility with newer systems has worsened over the years, most notably with Intel's integrated GPUs having severe display issues (e.g. water bodies flicker on the outside and display as black when submerged, rendering some missions unplayable), and exceeding 60 FPS introduces various issues of its own. The community fix known as the NOLF Modernizer resolves most such issues, and is a required installation on modern systems.

General information

Official website (Game of the Year Edition)

UnityHQ - A fansite for the series

Spawnsite.net - A fansite for the game with updated custom map packs

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc v2 DRM for both original and GOTY versions.

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).

A demo is available.

Version differences

The Game of the Year Edition comes with its unique version 1.004 and includes new multiplayer maps and a unique singleplayer mission that takes place after the main campaign. The original release can be patched to be compatible with the GOTY release online, and its multiplayer maps were officially released as a download, but the singleplayer mission remains an exclusive.

The 2002 PlayStation 2 release contains its own unique mission which was never ported to the PC.

Essential improvements

Patches

• Official patch 1.003 is available at pcgamingwiki.com and at soggi.org.
• Official patch 1.004 is available at pcgamingwiki.com and at soggi.org.
• The GOTY edition is already patched.
• Official Map Pack #1, Map Pack #2 and GOTY Multiplayer Maps are available at soggi.org.

NOLF Modernizer

Fixes some long standing bugs and updates some more outdated features of the game.

For multilingual version, see here.

Multilingual version may be required even while running the game with the NOLF Modernizer fan patch in English, especially on installations of Windows with additional keyboards or language packs installed.

Skip intro videos

Delete/rename Movies folder
Go to the installation folder. Delete or rename Movies.

Skip launcher, intro videos and CD-check

Use a custom shortcut[citation needed]
Create a shortcut to <path-to-game>\lithtech.exe. In shortcut properties add these command line parameters: -rez NOLF.rez -rez NOLF2.rez -rez nolfu003.rez -rez NOLFCRES003.rez -rez NOLFGOTY.rez +DisableMovies 1 If using NOLF Modernizer, it will be ignored by the new shortcut. To prevent this, also add the command line parameter: -rez custom\MODERNIZER.rez

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\autoexec.cfg
macOS (OS X)

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Save\
macOS (OS X)

Video

Video settings.

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. Menus, text, HUD and UI don't scale well. Use dgVoodoo 2 to scale them.
Field of view (FOV)		See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed		Use +windowed 1 in the command line options.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Use NOLF Modernizer.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
High-fidelity upscaling		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
60 FPS
120+ FPS		Exceeding 60 FPS introduces various issues.
High dynamic range display (HDR)

Widescreen resolution

Natively the game stretches on widescreen while the menu and interface are pixel-based.

Proper widescreen fixes[citation needed]
Install NOLF Modernizer for Hor+ screen change. Open autoexec.cfg in the game folder. Add or modify "UIScale" "1.0" to increase size of some UI elements.

Field of view (FOV)

Use a command-line parameter[citation needed]

Start NOLF.exe and click on Advanced. In Command-Line field, type in: +FovX "value" to set the horizontal FOV to another value. You may need to set the vertical FOV with +FovY "value" as well. Use https://dinex86.github.io/FOV-Calculator/ to find the correct ratios. Make sure Always specify these command line parameters is enabled. If using NOLF Modernizer, the scope overlay does not fill the entire active screen area for bigger than default value.

Input

Lacks an option to toggle crouch mode.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		See Remapping.
Mouse acceleration		Doesn't use acceleration.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		Doesn't work well with Xbox 360 Controller.
Full controller support
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers

PlayStation controllers

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Remapping

There is an issue with saving custom keyboard binds on localized Windows version (or on localized keyboard layouts). Manual keys mapping is required.

Mouse buttons and scrolling wheel is not assigned to any action.

Custom remapping[citation needed]

Keyboard Go to the game installation folder. Locate file autoexec.cfg and open it with a text editor. Locate section starting with line enabledevice "##keyboard". In this section keyboard keys are represented as a number: ##xx, change them for your binds. For references which number is which key, see table under this fixbox. Check for duplicities, multiple actions on one key can cause problems. Mouse 1. Launch the game, navigate to the controls menu and assign any action to any mouse button. Mark the name of mouse button. 2. Open autoexec.cfg in the installation folder. 3. Locate section enabledevice "##mouse" and insert these lines: rangebind "##mouse" "Button 0" 0.000000 0.000000 "Fire" rangebind "##mouse" "Button 1" 0.000000 0.000000 "Activate" rangebind "##mouse" "Button 2" 0.000000 0.000000 "Reload" 4. Change Button x to the button name, you've marked in step 1. Alternatively, use these lines: rangebind "##mouse" "##3" 0.000000 0.000000 "Fire" rangebind "##mouse" "##4" 0.000000 0.000000 "Activate" rangebind "##mouse" "##5" 0.000000 0.000000 "Reload"

Note: These numbers are for US keyboard layout (QWERTY layout).
If you defined another layout (e.g. French AZERTY layout), you should perform the transposition yourself.
For example, to bind the 'A' key using the AZERTY keyboard layout, you should use the number ##16 (the 'Q' key in table below).

Key	##		Key	##		Key	##
A	30		Caps Lock	58		[	26
B	48		Backspace	14		]	27
C	46		TAB	15		;	39
D	32		left SHIFT	42		''	40
E	18		right SHIFT	54		,	51
F	33		ENTER	28		.	52
G	34		left CTRL	29		/	53
H	35		right CTRL	59		~	1
I	23		left ALT	56		-	12
J	36		right ALT	58		=	13
K	37		SPACE	57
L	38					1	2
M	50		F1	59		2	3
N	49		F2	60		3	4
O	24		F3	61		4	5
P	25		F4	62		5	6
Q	16		F5	63		6	7
R	19		F6	64		7	8
S	31		F7	65		8	9
T	20		F8	66		9	10
U	22		F9	67		0	11
V	47		F10	68
W	17		F11	69
X	45		F12	70
Y	44
Z	21

Audio

Audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Music and sound effects.
Surround sound
Subtitles		Option is located under Game settings.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

EAX / A3D support information: Even if the libraries for A3D and EAX v1 and 2 are indeed included in the game root, when checking sound logs, there are no 3D sound calls, and the game's settings don't provide any options to enable 3D sound, so their inclusion as libraries is seemingly only for convenience, being a part of the Miles Sound System libraries.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Czech				Fan translation. link #1 or link #2
French
German				Blood and death cries censored, "MoreBloodOption" cheat useless
Italian				Fan translation, download.
Polish				Fan translation download
Spanish				Fan translation, download (From Clan Dlan archives).

Network

Multiplayer types

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

Connection types

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

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	2300-2400, 7000-10000
UDP	27888

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

Issues fixed

Installing the game on a 64-bit OS

The regular version of the game (not the GOTY edition, which is an improved setup and prepatched to 1.4) uses a 16-bit setup executable which will not work on 64-bit operating systems.

Instructions

Use a custom 64-bit compatible installer. One that only works for the English version of the game can be found here. Patch 1.3 is also a 16-bit .exe so it requires a similar workaround. A 64-bit installer for patch 1.3 can also be found there. Patch 1.4 works natively on 64-bit operating systems. Notes Alternatively you can install and patch the game on a real or emulated 32-bit operating system and copy the files over to your 64-bit machine (the game's executables are not 16-bit).

Game Crashes After Logos

On some systems even after modernizer and other patches are applied, the game may crash to desktop after displaying the company logos.

The crash is typically in ucrtbase.dll and may occur with integrated Intel GPU chipsets.

Use dgVoodoo 2

Game runs really fast at unlocked frame rates

Exceeding 60 FPS causes slower animations and faster than normal environmental sounds.

Use NOLF Modernizer to cap the frame rate at 60 FPS

Set monitor on 60 Hz

Game's resolution has 2048 pixel limit

Use NOLF Modernizer

Mouse input is erratic or unresponsive

Use NOLF Modernizer

Use NOLF Mouse Input Fix
Download the modified dinput.dll file and place it in <path-to-game>.

Slowdown with some UI elements

Occurs when picking items up, looking down scope, or switching weapons.

Use NOLF Modernizer

Black screen when underwater

This is due to Intel's onboard graphics not liking Direct3D/DirectX7. This also fixes missing screen effects.

Use NOLF Modernizer
Install NOLF Modernizer. Start the game. Enable Intel HD Graphics Fix in Display options.

Force the game to use a dedicated graphics card

Graphics are glitched and game is practically unplayable

Install the game on your primary drive[citation needed]

Dynamic lighting (flashlights) causes reduction in frame rate

Use dgVoodoo 2.82.3 or newer

Game crashes with Nvidia G-Sync enabled

The game may crash with a Client MFC Application has stopped working error message with Nvidia G-Sync enabled.

Disable G-Sync for the game[citation needed]
Launch the Nvidia Control Panel. Add lithtech.exe under Manage 3D settings -> Program Settings. Set Monitor Technology to Fixed Refresh.

Game runs slow, and text has black boxes around it

Occurs when using Intel integrated graphics.

Force the game to use a dedicated graphics card

Optimize Surfaces is missing from autoexec.cfg
Open autoexec.cfg with a text editor. Add "optimizesurfaces" "1" at the top of the file and save.

Low frame rate on Windows 8 and higher

Use dgVoodoo 2[citation needed]
Download dgVoodoo 2. Copy dgVoodooCpl.exe, as well as D3D8.dll, D3DImm.dll and DDraw.dll from the MS\x86\ folder to <path-to-game>.

(Windows 8 and 8.1 only) Download ddraw.dll and put it in <path-to-game>

(Windows 8 - 10) Use the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit

Download the Microsoft ADK and install the Application Compatibility Toolkit. Run the Compatibility Administrator (32-bit). Select "New Database(1)" and press the Fix button. Enter a name for the fix and point the program file to lithtech.exe in the No One Lives Forever folder. Press Next twice. Select under "Compatibility Fixes" the fix DXPrimaryEmulation. Press the Parameters button. Enter -DisableMaxWindowedMode into "Command line" and press OK. Press Next and Finish. Save, name the database and select a save location. Right click the database and select Install.

See Windowed[citation needed]

Game doesn't load in Windows 11

Enable compatibility mode for Windows XP (Service Pack 2) on NOLF.exe

"ERROR in CInterfaceMgr::Init(): Could not initialize InterfaceResMgr!" dialog box after launching with NOLF Modernizer fan patch installed

Use the Nolf_MultilingualGUI patch

Run Nolf_MultilingualGUI.exe, and select the desired GUI language. Install the NOLF Modernizer fan patch as normal (copy all files from the .7z to the game's install directory). Set NOLF.exe to run as Administrator under the compatibility mode settings. Run NOLF.exe, then enable the Modernizer patch by clicking Advanced > Customize, selecting MODERNIZER.REZ, clicking "Add >" to move it to the right size, clicking "Always load these rez files", and clicking "OK". Notes A PCGamingWiki mirror of the patch file is located here.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	7

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

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	Miles Sound System	6.0i
Cutscenes	Bink Video
Multiplayer	GameSpy

Map packs

• Map Pack 1 - Official map pack.
• Map Pack 2 - Official map pack 2.
• GOTY Map Pack - Game of the Year edition extra maps.
• MP Super Map Pack - Fan made collection of all the non-laggy/buggy multiplayer maps available.
• Nolf_CustomMappack01_2021 - Nolf1 Custom map pack

NOLF ESRGAN Upscale Pack

Upscales game textures using ESRGAN AI neural network 2x or 4x times

Supports both vanilla game, GOTY and Modernizer patch

System requirements

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95, 98, ME, 2000
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium II 300 MHz	Intel Pentium III 500 MHz
System memory (RAM)	64 MB	128 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	400 MB
Video card (GPU)	8 MB of VRAM DirectX 7 compatible	32 MB of VRAM
Sound (audio device)	16-bit DirectX compatible
Other	4X CD-ROM 56K modem for online multiplayer

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	10.1.4
Processor (CPU)	PowerPC 7xx PowerPC G3 350 MHz
System memory (RAM)	128 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	1 GB
Video card (GPU)	3D accelerator 8 MB of VRAM