Witchaven

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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.^[1]

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

Demos

July 1995 Witchaven Demos

These two releases feature the first three levels and are nearly identical to each other. Capstone released a patch for these demos based on user feedback.

Witchaven 3 Level Interactive Preview

This demo features the first three levels and the intro cinematic 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, 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. They can be still be modified with a hex editor. EGwhaven ameliorates this by instituting a proper .CFG file.

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>\HMISET.CFG 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.

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
120+ FPS

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity		Can be configured during gameplay by pressing F12 and the arrow keys.
Mouse input in menus		Witchaven Setup utility supports mouse. Sound card configuration program does 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		Can be changed during gameplay by pressing F9 and the arrow keys.
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.
The sound card configuration program.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	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.

API

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

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	HMI Sound Operating System	Sound Library for producing digital sounds and MIDI playback.
Cutscenes	Smacker Video Technology	256 color video format.
Multiplayer	DWANGO	Defunct paid matchmaking service. 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

References

↑ https://lesbird.github.io/capstone/index.html

[1] ttps://lesbird.github.io/capstone/index.html

[1]

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