Anonymous edits have been disabled on the wiki. If you want to contribute please login or create an account.

Warning for game developers: PCGamingWiki staff members will only ever reach out to you using the official press@pcgamingwiki.com mail address.
Be aware of scammers claiming to be representatives or affiliates of PCGamingWiki who promise a PCGW page for a game key.

Painkiller

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Revision as of 11:57, 29 May 2018 by Mirh (talk | contribs) (Really really thanks to the extremely informative Stephen Chapman channel)
Painkiller
Painkiller cover
Developers
People Can Fly
Publishers
DreamCatcher Interactive
THQ Nordic
Russia Akella
Engines
Pain Engine
Release dates
Windows April 12, 2004
Icon overlay.png
Icon overlay.png
Icon overlay.png
Icon overlay.png
Painkiller guide on StrategyWiki
Painkiller on Wikipedia
Icon overlay.png
Icon overlay.png

Warnings

GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).
Painkiller
Painkiller 2004
Painkiller: Overdose 2007
Painkiller: Resurrection 2009
Painkiller: Redemption 2011
Painkiller: Recurring Evil 2012
Painkiller: Hell & Damnation 2012

Key points

GameSpy online server browser stopped working on May 31, 2014 due to GameSpy services being shut down.

General information

Painkiller Wiki
Painkiller Zone - A fansite for the series
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)
 SafeDisc DRM[Note 1].
Black Edition is DRM-free.
Windows
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
 StarForce 3.04 DRM[Note 2] (Russian copies)
Windows
GamersGate
Error: DRM 'GamersGate' not recognised
Windows
GamersGate
Error: DRM 'GamersGate' not recognised
 Painkiller Universe
Windows
GOG.com
DRM-free
 Painkiller: Black Edition
Windows
Steam
Icon overlay.png
 Painkiller: Black Edition
Windows
SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).
StarForce DRM for this game does not work on modern versions of Windows (see above for affected versions).
Painkiller: Black Edition includes the base game along with the "Battle out of Hell" expansion.
Painkiller Universe includes the base game along with the "Battle out of Hell" expansion and Painkiller: Overdose.

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
Battle out of Hell
Windows

Essential improvements

Randomguy7's Fix Compilation

Install a mod[7]
  1. Download this patch.
  2. Unzip the contents of the "Painkiller Mega Patch" into <path-to-game>.
  3. Run the .bat file.

Notes

Fixes slowdown on dual-core computers, FOV and HUD can be modified, increases draw distance by removing fog among other fixes.
Changes the look and feel of some levels by removing fog, resulting in a different art direction (some levels doesn't look as intended).

Patches

A list of patches for the game and the expansions can be found here.

Skip intro videos

Delete/rename video files[8]
  1. Go to <path-to-game>\Data\Movies\ in the installation folder.
  2. Delete or rename logo-dreamcatcher.bik, logo-nvidia.bik and logo-pcf.bik.

Game data

In-game HUD settings.
In-game HUD settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\Bin\config.ini[Note 3]
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/3200/pfx/[Note 4]

Save game data location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\SaveGames[Note 3]
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/3200/pfx/[Note 4]

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video settings

In-game general video settings.
In-game general video settings.
In-game advanced video settings.
In-game advanced video settings.

Template:Video settings

Input settings

In-game control settings.
In-game control settings.

Template:Input settings

Audio settings

In-game audio settings.
In-game audio settings.

Template:Audio settings

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
French
German
Polish
Retail version only
Russian
Not available in the Steam version
Spanish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
LAN play
16 Versus
Online play
16 Versus
GameSpy services have been shut down;[9] see GameSpy for workarounds.

Connection types

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

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP 3455
UDP 3455
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.
This is the default port used. It can be changed in-game by the user

Issues fixed

Editor asks for CD-ROM

Hex patch executable[10]
  1. Open <path-to-game>\Bin\Editor\PainEditor.exe in a hex editor
  2. Go to offset 36C1
  3. Change 75 0C to EB 0C

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 8, 9
Shader Model support 2, 3 Shader version 3 requires game to be patched to 1.61 (or higher)
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Physics Havok
Audio Miles Sound System 6.6a
Cutscenes Bink Video 1.6g
Multiplayer GameSpy

Unlock all levels

Install "all levels" mod.

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 98 ME, 2000, XP
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium III 1.2 GHz
Intel Pentium 4 1.6 GHz
AMD Athlon 1.2 GHz		 Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz
AMD Athlon XP 2400+
System memory (RAM) 384 MB 512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 2.6 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce2 GTS
ATI Radeon 8500
64 MB of VRAM
DirectX 8.1b compatible 		Nvidia GeForce FX 5700
ATI Radeon 9700
256 MB of VRAM
DirectX 9 compatible

Notes

  1. ↑ SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.[2]
  2. ↑ This version of StarForce DRM does not work on Windows Vista or later.[3][4][5][6] For supported versions of Windows the StarForce driver may need to be updated manually using SFUPDATE.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 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>/3200/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (3200) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References