Witchaven

This page is a stub: it lacks content and/or basic article components. You can help to expand this page by adding an image or additional information.

Witchaven

Developers
	Capstone Software
Publishers
United States	IntraCorp
Europe	U.S. Gold
Engines
	Build
Release dates
DOS	September 20, 1995
Taxonomy
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, FPS
Art styles	Digitized, Realistic
Themes	Fantasy
Series	Witchaven

Witchaven
Witchaven	1995
Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance	1996

Witchaven is a 1995 sword & sorcery fantasy FPS game with a heavy focus on melee combat. It features light RPG mechanics and blends fast-paced first-person combat with a rudimentary experience and leveling system. It is the first game licensed to use the Build engine, and as such uses an earlier version than Duke Nukem 3D.

Witchaven shipped in a buggy state and after official patches remains this way. It is known for hazardous map triggers and game physics that cause haphazard player movement, sudden deaths, and faulty hit detection. The game's source code has been made available as of 2006 by a former developer.

General information

ETTiNGRiNDER's Witchaven Shrine Fanpage that catalogues much of Witchaven's content & bugs.

Witchaven entry at RTCM Lots of information & patches relating to Witchaven.

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail

Shareware Demos

July 1995 Witchaven Demos

Identical demos containing the first three levels of the game but with different enemy placement and game mechanics. Capstone released a patch for them based on user feedback.

Witchaven 3 Level Interactive Preview

Features the first three levels of the final game and the cinematic intro by Animation Factory.

Essential improvements

EGwhaven A bugfix/enhancement patch to the original executable. Improves mod-ability, player movement, and adds a config file.

ETTiNGRiNDER's Unofficial Witchaven level patches Fixes issues for two maps.

Source ports

Name	Description
BuildGDX	Reverse-engineered gameplay-accurate port written in Java. Adds high resolutions support, OpenGL renderer, modern controller support and improved mouse control. Fixes most issues with the game.

Game data

Most of Witchaven's settings are stored in non-human-readable .DAT files. It is possible to modify them with a hex editor.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
DOS	<path-to-game>\PREF.DAT config for values changeable ingame. <path-to-game>\SETUP.DAT config for values changeable by setup utility. <path-to-game>\Setup.ini audio config for HMI sound system.

Save game data location

System	Location
DOS	<path-to-game>\SVGM*.MAP stores map data. <path-to-game>\SVGN*.DAT stores player data

Video

Witchaven's video settings screen. Different resolutions are detected based on the computer's setup.

Certain parts of Witchaven's gamelogic were written to be dependent on framerate. It begins to malfunction at 30FPS and up.

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution
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

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity		During gameplay press F12 and then use the arrow keys to adjust the X and Y values of mouse sensitivity. Press F12 again to confirm.
Mouse input in menus		The Witchaven Setup utility supports mouse use. The ingame menu and sound card configuration program do not.
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		Patch 1.1(a) by Capstone adds support for more joysticks.
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

• 

  Keyboard configuration screen.

• 

  Mouse configuration screen.

• 

  Joystick/controller configuration screen.

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		During gameplay press F9 and then use the arrow keys to adjust music and sound effects volume. Press F9 again to confirm.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		For DOSBox change the priority background value in the DOSBox configuration file.

• 

  Witchaven's audio settings screen.

• 

  Witchaven's sound card setup.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play
LAN play		16	Versus, Co-op
Online play		16	Versus, Co-op IPX

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Self-hosting		IPX

Other information

Texture packs

• Witchaven upscale texture pack by Phredeeke Original Witchaven textures refined using a generalized adversarial network. Designed for BuildGDX.

VR Support

VR Hardware	Supported	Notes
VFX1	hackable	Supported via a patch by Capstone.
Cybermaxx 2.0	hackable	Supported via a patch by Capstone.
I-Glasses	hackable	Supported via a patch by Capstone.

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Software renderer
DOS video modes	SVGA, SVGA (VESA), VGA

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	HMI Sound Operating System	Configured by editing HMISET.CFG, PATCHES.INI, and SETUP.INI.
Cutscenes	Smacker Video Technology
Multiplayer	DWANGO	Support was added by Capstone via a patch

System requirements

DOS
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	5.0
Processor (CPU)	Intel 486DX/33 MHz	Pentium 100
System memory (RAM)	8 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	5 MB
Video card (GPU)	SuperVGA, VESA, VGA