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Rise of the Triad: Dark War

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Rise of the Triad: Dark War
Rise of the Triad: Dark War cover
Developers
Apogee Software
Publishers
Apogee Entertainment
Engines
Heavily modified version of the engine, design similar to Raven engine Wolfenstein 3D engine
Release dates
DOS February 17, 1995[Note 1]
Windows (DOSBox) March 3, 2009[1]
macOS (OS X) (DOSBox) May 9, 2013[2]
Linux (DOSBox) July 24, 2014[3]
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase
Modes Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives First-person
Controls Direct control
Genres FPS, Shooter
Series Rise of the Triad
Rise of the Triad: Dark War on HowLongToBeat
Rise of the Triad: Dark War on MobyGames
Rise of the Triad: Dark War on Wikipedia
Rise of the Triad
Rise of the Triad: Dark War 1995
Return of the Triad 2011
Rise of the Triad 2013
Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition 2023

Rise of the Triad: Dark War is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person FPS and shooter game in the Rise of the Triad series.

General information

The source code was released in 2002[4] and unofficially ported to various platforms (see Source Ports).
Hardcore Gaming 101 - Comprehensive feature on the series
ROTT in Hell - In-depth article including developer interviews and game trivia (archived)
GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
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)
Floppy and CD-ROM version. Originally released as shareware titled Rise of the Triad: The HUNT Begins. See: Version differences.
DOS
GOG.com
DRM-free
Includes 'Extreme Rise of the Triad'. Pre-packaged with DOSBox.[5]
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Steam
Icon overlay.png
Includes 'Extreme Rise of the Triad'. Pre-packaged with DOSBox.[6] Also sold as part of The Apogee Throwback Pack.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
ZOOM Platform
DRM-free
Includes 'Extreme Rise of the Triad'. Pre-packaged with DOSBox-staging.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Official website (unavailable)
DRM-free
Pre-packaged with DOSBox. Also available in 3D Realms Arcade Collection.
Windows

Version differences

Rise of the Triad: The HUNT Begins is an exclusive episode released as shareware in 1994. It is included in Rise of the Triad CD-ROM version. It was also included in the Triad Powerpack, a commercial expansion for the floppy version.
Rise of the Triad: The HUNT Begins Deluxe Edition was a commercial re-release of The HUNT Begins with 6 exclusive levels. These levels were later offered for free download and are also included in the digital versions.
Rise of the Triad: Dark War is the full game. The CD-ROM version (also called Super Triad) adds 10 multiplayer maps and a random level generator. It also includes the shareware episode The HUNT Begins.

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
Triad Powerpack Commercial expansion for the original floppy version, bringing it on a par with the CD-ROM version. Included with all digital versions of the game.
DOS
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Extreme Rise of the Triad Available for free. Included with all digital versions of the game. Can also be downloaded from the official website.
DOS
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux

Essential improvements

Patches, level editors etc.

All downloads for the game can be found on the official website.

Source ports

The release of the source code has allowed for source ports that make the game to be playable on modern systems, whilst also fixing bugs and adding other quality-of-life additions.

Name Description
WinROTT A port targeting Windows XP using DirectDraw. It includes bug fixes, supports up to 1024x768 resolutions, mouselook with crosshairs, and adds bots to multiplayer. May have issues running on modern systems, as development stopped in 2005.
Windows
WinROTTGL A successor to WinROTT using OpenGL. Includes further fixes and improvements, supports up to 1920x1080 resolutions, texture filtering and sharpening, color transparency, MP3 music and parametric reverb. Requires GLgraphics.zip found on its website.
Windows
WinROTTAPI A 64-bit port based on WinROTT by the same developer. Uses native Windows API (based on GDI).
Windows
SDLROTT An SDL 1 port of ROTT with 64-bit support and features/fixes from WinROTT. Linux and Mac users need to manually compile or look through the distribution's repository, although a (slightly dated) OS X build is available here. The Windows binary files are based on the Development version and requires SDL.dll and SDL_mixer.dll in order to run. Development has stopped as of 2015.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
rottexpr Fork of the SDLROTT targeting SDL 2 with "additional gameplay options and more...". Includes widescreen and HUD scaling.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
NakedTriad Vanilla source port aiming to merely preserve the game on modern systems.
Windows
Linux
ROTT 94 Port to SDL 2 for mobile platforms
Android
Windows

Texture pack

The Rehab Project texture pack contains 71 enhanced textures.

Requires WinROTTGL.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
DOS <path-to-game>\CONFIG.ROT
<path-to-game>\SOUND.ROT
<path-to-game>\BATTLE.ROT
Windows <path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)[Note 2]
macOS (OS X) <path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)[Note 2]
Linux <path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)[Note 2]
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/358410/pfx/[Note 3]
Configuration files are CONFIG.ROT (options), SOUND.ROT (sound) and BATTLE.ROT (multiplayer).
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
DOS <path-to-game>\ROTTGAM*.ROT
<path-to-game>\SCORES.ROT
Windows <path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)[Note 2]
macOS (OS X) <path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)[Note 2]
Linux <path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)[Note 2]
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/358410/pfx/[Note 3]
Savegames are labelled ROTTGAM*.ROT. High scores are saved in SCORES.ROT.

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

In-game general settings.
In-game general settings.
Detail settings.
Detail settings.
Violence settings.
Violence settings.

Graphics feature State Notes
Widescreen resolution
Use WinROTTGL. Only 1920x1080 supported.
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 and 120+ FPS
Frame rate is capped at 35 FPS.

Input

Audio

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Music and Sound Effects.
Surround sound
Use one of WinROTT Ports.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
For DOSBox change the priority background value in the DOSBox configuration file.
Royalty free audio
General MIDI audio

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English

Network

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
LAN play
11 Co-op, Versus
Online play
10 Co-op, Versus
Use WinROTT.

Connection types

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
DOS video modes VGA 320x200
ExecutablePPC 32-bit 64-bitARM Notes
Windows
For 64-bit use WinROTTAPI or SDLROTT.
Linux
[7]

System requirements

DOS
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 5.0
Processor (CPU) AMD 386DX 40 MHz
System memory (RAM) 4 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 20 MB
Video card (GPU) VGA
Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) XP, Vista
Processor (CPU) 1.8 GHz
System memory (RAM) 512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 100 MB
Video card (GPU) DirectX compatible
macOS (OS X)
Minimum
Operating system (OS) 10.6.8 or later
Processor (CPU) Intel Core Duo 2 GHz+
System memory (RAM) 1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 100 MB
Video card (GPU) 64 MB of VRAM


Notes

  1. The shareware release was December 21, 1994. This date refers to the full retail release.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 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).
  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>/358410/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (358410) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References