Aliens: Colonial Marines

Alien
Aliens: A Comic Book Adventure	1995
Alien Trilogy	1996
Aliens Online	1998
Aliens versus Predator (series)
Aliens: Colonial Marines	2013
Alien: Isolation	2014
Aliens: Fireteam Elite	2021
Aliens: Dark Descent	2023

Aliens: Colonial Marines is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person FPS game in the Alien series.

The game is notable for its gameplay issues; see Essential improvements for fixes.

General information

Steam Community Discussions

Forums at AvPGalaxy.net non PC-specific.

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail
Humble Store
Steam

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Bug Hunt DLC
Reconnaissanse DLC
Movie Map Pack
Stasis Interrupted
Limited Edition Pack
Collector's Edition Pack
SHARP Sticks
Sawed-off Double Barrel Shotgun

Essential improvements

ACM Overhaul

Comprehensive overhaul mod that fixes AI, balancing, textures, and more.

ACM Overhaul does not contain all possible graphic corrections and corrections in aliens AI. If you want such fixes, download this file, and combine with TemplarGFX's ACM Overhaul Mod Crash Fix and Patrxgt Ultra Config Fix

Skip intro videos

Method 1: Edit PecanEngine.ini^[1]

Edit %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Aliens Colonial Marines\PecanGame\Config\PecanEngine.ini with a text editor.
Change each instance of StartupMovies= to //StartupMovies=
Save the changes and close the file.

Notes

This method still leaves the legal screen.

Method 2: Run the game with the -nomovie command line argument.

Notes

This method skips the legal screen as well, but also the in-game intro movies.

Improved Xenomorph AI

This results in improved wall and ceiling climbing for the xenomorphs.

The fix is also included in ACM Overhaul.

Edit two spelling mistakes on a line in DefaultEngine.ini^[2]

Edit <path-to-game>\PecanGame\Config\DefaultEngine.ini with a text editor.

Find

ClassRemapping=PecanGAme.PecanSeqAct_AttachXenoToTether -> PecanGame.PecanSeqAct_AttachPawnToTeather

and change it to

ClassRemapping=PecanGame.PecanSeqAct_AttachXenoToTether -> PecanGame.PecanSeqAct_AttachPawnToTether

Save the changes and close the file.

Notes

The config line includes two spelling mistakes that the above fixes:

PecanGAme instead of PecanGame
AttachPawnToTeather instead of AttachPawnToTether

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Aliens Colonial Marines\PecanGame\Config\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/49540/pfx/^{[Note 1]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<Steam-folder>\userdata\<user-id>\49540\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/49540/pfx/^{[Note 1]}

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud		Save file and key bindings.

Video

Video settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor		See the WSGF entry.
Ultra-widescreen		Image is Vert-. FOV can be increased to compensate. For a conversion from 16:9 to 21:9, increasing the FOV slider by 3 notches gives the closest approximation of a 1:1 Hor+ increase. See the WSGF entry.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)	Slider in menu. For additional values, see Field of view (FOV).
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed	Is called 'Full Window' in window mode settings.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	Referred to as "Texture Detail" in Video settings.
Anti-aliasing (AA)	Only features FXAA. Forcing other AA can lead to problems.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS
120+ FPS	Capped at 62 FPS. See High frame rate.
High dynamic range display (HDR)	See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Field of view (FOV)

A slider is included, but no specific values are viewable.

Further manual FOV adjustment by editing FOVOffset^{[citation needed]}

Note: FOVOffset is not the FOV, but the offset from default value. See screenshots for details.

Edit %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Aliens Colonial Marines\PecanGame\Config\PecanEngine.ini with a text editor.
Locate the line FOVOffset=XX in [SystemSettings] section and change XX to the desired value.
Save the changes.

Default FOV
FOV slider to the max: offset 30
Custom offset: 40

High frame rate

Disable frame rate smoothing^{[citation needed]}
Edit `%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Aliens Colonial Marines\PecanGame\Config\PecanEngine.ini` with a text editor. Locate line `bSmoothFrameRate` in `[Engine.Engine]` section and change `TRUE` to `FALSE` Save the changes.

Input

Controls settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
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

Support for Logitech G15 keyboard display. Shows current objective or challenge.

Audio

Audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English				RU version may need a workaround to play in English.
French
German
Hungarian				Fan translation.
Italian
Polish
Russian				Only available in Russia.
Spanish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Players	Notes
Local play	4	Use Nucleus Co-op.
LAN play	Multiplayer requires creating an online lobby. If a connection to Steam is lost, players will be disconnected from host.
Online play	10	Versus, Co-op Co-op supports 4 players.

Connection types

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

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision		Use Helix Mod: Aliens Colonial Marines - 3D Vision fix.
vorpX		G3D, DirectVR Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list

Issues fixed

Failed to start game (app already running) error

There is no universal fix, however these are confirmed to work for some users.

Delete appcache folder^[3]
Go to the Steam installation folder. Delete the `appcache` folder. Restart Steam, game should update itself.

Set Steam language to the same language as the game^[4]

If that does not work, try changing also operating system language^[5]

Failed to start game (Russian release does not work when English language is selected)

This solution is probably applicable to other non-English releases.

The game crashes to desktop after trademark screen, shows one of the error messages from previous issues.

Copy INT subfolders from Russian version into international version^[6]

Set game language to Russian (within Steam, select game Properties -> Language -> Русский(Russian))
Wait until the game downloads localization files.
Locate <path-to-game>\PecanGame\Localization and <path-to-game>\Engine\Localization folders and copy their contents somewhere safe (only INT subfolders are needed, they contain different files).
Set the game language to English.
Wait until the game file changes complete (said INT folders will be removed).
Copy both INT subfolders saved earlier back to <path-to-game>\PecanGame\Localization and <path-to-game>\Engine\Localization accordingly.

Blue screen on AMD CPU

There seems to be a problem with game running on AMD FX processors where game crashes to BSOD or freezes the system. The issue is similar to Borderlands 2 BSOD and fix also works with Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Update BIOS^[7]
Additional information can be found at AMD knowledge base library. Update procedure varies and can cause motherboard to malfunction if the update is interrupted or applied incorrectly. Carefully read the documentation and on-screen instructions for the used motherboard before proceeding. Information about Borderlands 2 BSOD issue can be found at the Gearbox Software Support page.

No textures

Forcing anti-aliasing via drivers on Nvidia GeForce cards will result in missing textures and black game scene.

Disable anti-aliasing in graphics adapter^[8]

Game Freezes / Crashes during Session

Due a memory restriction (x86 build), the game is limited to work with a maximum of 2 GB of VRAM. Try either:

Lower VRAM-intensive graphics settings such as resolution^[9]

Play in Full Window mode instead of Fullscreen^[9]

GPU detection fix

The game has problems with detecting some graphic adapters - mainly mobile GPUs and new graphics. Because of this, game can select wrong settings profile for the system.

1. Checking GPU detection^[10]

Open %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Aliens Colonial Marines\PecanGame\Logs\Launch.log with a text editor.
Locate line [000X.XX] Log: Machine detected compatibility level: Composite: X. CPU: Y. GPU: Z. where X,Y and Z values are assigned grade of the system. Value of 5 is the highest grade for high end hardware.

If using a powerful hardware and grades are not high enough, follow the guide in the next fixbox. Otherwise, no changes are needed.

2. Adding the GPU to the hardware list^[10]

In Launch.log, locate these lines:

[000X.XX] Log: GPU stats:
[000X.XX] Log: 	VendorID: 0000YYYY
[000X.XX] Log: 	DeviceID: 0000XXXX
[000X.XX] Log: 	DriverVersion: <numbers>
[000X.XX] Log: 	DeviceName: <GPU name>

Edit %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Aliens Colonial Marines\PecanGame\Config\PecanCompat.ini with a text editor.
Locate section for the used vendor - search for VendorName= value.

Add line into the vendor section for the used graphics adapter. Use information from Launch.log file like so: 0xYYYY=G,<GPU name>

where:
YYYY        -  last four digits from VendorID
G           -  desired hardware grade - 1 lowest, 5 highest
<GPU name>  -  string from DeviceName

Example 1:

[000X.XX] Log: GPU stats:
[000X.XX] Log: DeviceID: 00001244 
[000X.XX] Log: DeviceName: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti

will result in 0x1244=5,NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti

Example 2:

[000X.XX] Log: GPU stats:
[000X.XX] Log: 	VendorID: 00001002
[000X.XX] Log: 	DeviceID: 00006738
[000X.XX] Log: 	DriverVersion: 8.17.10.1169
[000X.XX] Log: 	DeviceName: AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series

0x6738=5,AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series

3. Additional graphic enhancements for high-end hardware^[10]

This step is optional. It will force maximum quality level of detail for grade 5 hardware.

Edit %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Aliens Colonial Marines\PecanGame\Config\PecanCompat.ini with a text editor.

In the [AppCompatBucket5] section, search for these lines:

TEXTUREGROUP_World=(LODBias=1)
TEXTUREGROUP_WorldNormalMap=(LODBias=1)
TEXTUREGROUP_WorldSpecular=(LODBias=1)

Change ones to zeros and save the file. Tweaking other options in this section is optional.

No weapon

Switch between weapons^[11]

Unresponsive controls

Problem with controls where in-game camera is always rotating and in menu cursor is always moving down. Demonstrated here.

Unplug all USB game controllers, alternatively disable them in Device manager^[12]

.ini edit^[12]
Open `%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Aliens Colonial Marines\PecanGame\Config\PecanEngine.ini` Locate line `AllowJoystickInput=1` in `[WinDrv.WindowsClient]` section and change 1 to 0.

Crash upon starting the "Stasis Interrupted" DLC

The game can freeze during the first cutscene on some systems.

Disable SSAO and lower the graphics settings^[13]
After the cutscene has finished playing, return the graphics settings to their original values.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	PhysX	2.8.4.6
Audio	OpenAL, XAudio2
Cutscenes	Bink Video	1.99p

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP SP3	Vista, 7
Processor (CPU)	Intel Dual Core 2 GHz	Intel Quad Core 2.3 GHz
System memory (RAM)	2 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	20 GB
Video card (GPU)	ATI Radeon HD 2600 Nvidia GeForce 8500 256 MB of VRAM	ATI Radeon HD 5850 Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 512 MB of VRAM

Although developer recommends 20 GB of free space, download size is around 6 GB. With all DLC available the download size is 14 GB.

Notes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1
Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/49540/.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (49540) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

References

↑ Steam Community :: Guide :: ACM custom settings.. (v1.11c) - last accessed on May 2023
↑ The biggest BUG in the game is just one letter long - TemplarGFX's ACM Overhaul mod for Aliens: Colonial Marines - Mod DB - last accessed on May 2023
↑ Got Eror after Logos (app already running) :: Steam community discussions - last accessed on May 2023
↑ Got Eror after Logos (app already running) :: Steam community discussions - last accessed on May 2023
↑ "Failed to start game (app already running)" error after exiting the game :: Steam community discussions - last accessed on May 2023
↑ Crash at starting Game - The Gearbox Software Forums - last accessed on May 2023
↑ Crash or Bluescreen on launch :: Steam community discussions - last accessed on May 2023
↑ No Textures? :: Steam community discussions - last accessed on May 2023
↑ ^9.0 ^9.1 Game keeps crashing? :: Aliens: Colonial Marines General Discussions
↑ ^10.0 ^10.1 ^10.2 GPU Detection Fix /Graphics boost :: Steam community discussions
↑ No gun Glitch. - The Gearbox Software Forums - last accessed on May 2023
↑ ^12.0 ^12.1 PC version launches but with Xbox control options ?? - The Gearbox Software Forums
↑ Verified by User:Radishface on 2024-01-12

[Proton_path_note-3] 1.0 ^1.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/49540/.
Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
The app ID (49540) may differ in some cases.
Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[2] File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.

[3] Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/49540/.

[4] Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.

[5] The app ID (49540) may differ in some cases.

[6] Treat backslashes as forward slashes.

[7] See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[1] Steam Community :: Guide :: ACM custom settings.. (v1.11c) - last accessed on May 2023

[2] The biggest BUG in the game is just one letter long - TemplarGFX's ACM Overhaul mod for Aliens: Colonial Marines - Mod DB - last accessed on May 2023

[4] Got Eror after Logos (app already running) :: Steam community discussions - last accessed on May 2023

[5] Got Eror after Logos (app already running) :: Steam community discussions - last accessed on May 2023

[6] "Failed to start game (app already running)" error after exiting the game :: Steam community discussions - last accessed on May 2023

[7] Crash at starting Game - The Gearbox Software Forums - last accessed on May 2023

[8] Crash or Bluescreen on launch :: Steam community discussions - last accessed on May 2023

[9] No Textures? :: Steam community discussions - last accessed on May 2023

[crash-freeze_fix-10] 9.0 ^9.1 Game keeps crashing? :: Aliens: Colonial Marines General Discussions

[GPUfix-11] 10.0 ^10.1 ^10.2 GPU Detection Fix /Graphics boost :: Steam community discussions

[12] No gun Glitch. - The Gearbox Software Forums - last accessed on May 2023

[controllerusb-13] 12.0 ^12.1 PC version launches but with Xbox control options ?? - The Gearbox Software Forums

[14] Verified by User:Radishface on 2024-01-12

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[13]

Developers

	Gearbox Software
	Demiurge Studios
	Nerve Software
	TimeGate Studios
Publishers
	Sega
Russia	1C-SoftClub
Engines
	Unreal Engine 3
Release dates
Windows	February 12, 2013
Reception
Metacritic	45
IGDB	45
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, DLC
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	FPS
Themes	Sci-fi, Horror
Series	Alien