SiN

This page is for the original 1998 version. For the upcoming remaster, see SiN: Reloaded.

SiN

Developers
	Ritual Entertainment
Expansion	2015 Inc.
Mac OS (Classic)	Contraband Entertainment
macOS (OS X)	Contraband Entertainment
Linux	Hyperion Entertainment
2020 updates	Nightdive Studios
Publishers
Retail	Activision
Mac OS, OS X	MacPlay
2020-present	Nightdive Studios
Engines
	id Tech 2
Release dates
Windows	November 9, 1998
Linux	November 2000
Mac OS (Classic)	December 12, 2000
macOS (OS X)	September 6, 2002
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, Expansion pack
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, FPS, Shooter, Stealth
Art styles	Stylized
Themes	Sci-fi
Series	SiN

SiN
SiN	1998
SiN Episodes: Emergence	2006
SiN: Reloaded	TBA

Warnings

The macOS (OS X) version of this game does not work on macOS Catalina (version 10.15) or later due to the removal of support for 32-bit-only apps.

SiN is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person action, FPS, shooter and stealth game in the SiN series.

The game received the Wages of SiN expansion in June 1999, with a new campaign, weapons, enemies, and multiplayer modes. The two would soon be bundled in the SiN Gold compilation.

The 2006 Steam version was initially sold only as a bundle with SiN Episodes: Emergence, running the unique version 1.12 that replaced several copyrighted assets, but also censored some others, and omitted the Wages of SiN expansion. It also had a separate library entry for multiplayer. The 2014 GOG.com release, however, was the original and uncensored v1.11 build of SiN Gold. Both versions had issues with setting higher resolutions and even properly starting up on some systems.

On March 18, 2020, Nightdive Studios updated both digital releases of the game to version 1.13, containing compatibility fixes and native widescreen support. The Steam version would become uncensored, was made purchasable separately from Emergence and received the Wages of SiN expansion that it was missing. The retail version would never receive an equivalent update, however.

General information

Ritualistic Forums for SiN, SiN Steam & Wages of Sin

FAQ from developer

GOG.com Community Discussions

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Disc check removed in patch 1.04.
Retail		Sold as part of SiN Episodes: Emergence. Only as part of its serial key redeeming; formerly also bundled in direct digital purchases prior to the 1.13 update.
GOG.com		SiN Gold.
Steam		SiN Gold.

A demo is available.

Not available in Germany.

Version differences

SiN Gold includes the base game and the Wages of SiN expansion pack.

A remade installer exists for the Linux version; it requires the SiN Linux CD to install.

As of 2020, the digital releases are updated to version 1.13 for improved compatibility. Censored textures specific to the original Steam release have been restored to their uncensored counterparts. The Steam version also received the Wages of SiN expansion that it was previously missing.

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Wages of SiN	Already included with SiN Gold.

Essential improvements

Patches

Patches are available for retail versions of SiN and Wages of SiN.

Source ports

Name	Description
Dominatrix	A port of the engine that allows SiN to be easily played on modern Windows and Linux, focused on bug fixes and improvements.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\base\players\<user-id>\config.cfg <path-to-game>\2015\players\<user-id>\config.cfg %APPDATA%\dominatrix\base\config.cfg %APPDATA%\dominatrix\2015\config.cfg
Mac OS (Classic)
macOS (OS X)
Linux	$HOME/.hyperion/Sin/players/<user-id>/config.cfg
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1313/pfx/

This game does not follow the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux.

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\base\players\<user-id>\save\ <path-to-game>\2015\players\<user-id>\save\ %APPDATA%\dominatrix\base\save\ %APPDATA%\dominatrix\2015\save\
Mac OS (Classic)
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1313/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

General settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			Native support in version 1.13. See Widescreen resolution for earlier versions.
Multi-monitor			See Widescreen resolution.
Ultra-widescreen			See Widescreen resolution.
4K Ultra HD			See Widescreen resolution.
Field of view (FOV)		Default is 90°. See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Open the console and type gl_swapinterval 0 to toggle Vsync off, 1 enables Vsync. The sync every frame setting found in Advanced Video Control Options reduces input lag when Vsync is turned on by making the engine wait for OpenGL calls to finish at each frame.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		SiN Gold is capped at 200 FPS (cl_maxfps 200).
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Widescreen resolution

Note that both options result in a Vert- image, and thus the FOV has to be increased for a Hor+ image.

Use a Sin Patcher

Download a Sin Patcher for either 1.11 retail. Move it to the installation folder and run it. Type in the desired resolution values and click Apply resolution. Start a game and select 1152x864 resolution in game's options. Notes If the game still does not run at the desired resolution after following these steps, rename the main executable sin.exe to quake2.exe, and set the renderer to Default OpenGL. This tricks Windows and graphics card drivers into loading compatibility profiles for Quake II.

Use the Dominatrix source port

Field of view (FOV)

Field of view (FOV)
After the level loads, enter the console with ~. Enter fov XXX, where XXX is the desired field of view. Notes FOV changes do not affect cutscenes or interactive monitors. For the FOV change to affect all situations, use the Dominatrix source port. To maintain identical vertical FOV to the 4:3 FOV at 16:9 resolutions, use 106. At 21:9 resolutions, use 121, for 32:9 use 139, and for 48:9 use 152).

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		See Mouse acceleration.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		Linux port only.
Full controller support		Use the Dominatrix source port. The Xbox "View"/"Back" button is used to access the in-game menu when using the Dominatrix source port.
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion		When using the Dominatrix source port, the right stick's inversion is bound to the mouse's inversion setting in the game.

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers

PlayStation controllers

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Mouse acceleration

The id Tech 2 engine "ignores" the Enhanced Pointer Precision setting, and uses the Windows acceleration curve it refers to regardless. Since the game offers no option (like raw input) to bypass Windows filtering completely, it is necessary to apply a small registry change to take care of this acceleration.

MarkC Acceleration Fix
The MarkC Fix is a small registry change that modifies this acceleration curve to be linear - this simply means that this function will no longer act as acceleration. Thus, when a game calls for the function, no acceleration will be applied to your mouse input. This also means that this fix is universal, and not exclusive to this game alone.

Audio

Audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles		Under Game Options, listed as Dialog System. Speech from random goons is not subtitled, even if they're unique lines.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		A3D 1.0 and 2.0 (after 1.03 patch). EAX 1
Royalty free audio

Version 1.13 removes A3D and EAX support due to original 3D sound code being unbuildable on modern systems.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		16
Online play		16	The official multiplayer service was shut down.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP		Use connect [IP address here] in the console.

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	22450
UDP	22450

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

Issues fixed

Game shuts down right after running it from Steam library

Use EXE file directly[citation needed]
Go to the installlation folder. Open runme.dat with a text editor. Change sin -steam to sin. Save the changes and close the file.

Stuttering at high frame rates

Game can run at very high frame rates on modern systems, which can be up to 1000 frames per second, which can cause stuttering and input lag.

This problem does not occur with SiN Gold, as the game now caps at 200 frames per second out-of-box.

Set maximum frame rate[citation needed]
Open console with ~ after loading saves or level. Enter cl_maxfps XXX where XXX is your desired frame rate. 60 to 100 is sufficient for most systems.

Mouse movement jumping/skipping

Use the Dominatrix source port

HUD and texts too small at high resolutions

Use the Dominatrix source port

Issues unresolved

Player movement is tied to tickrate

Player movement inertia is tied to id Tech 2's 10Hz tickrate, resulting in "sluggish" or "slippery" movement when touching walls or other entities, which increases in severity with higher framerates. This behavior can be made more "consistent" (as in, not only applicable when colliding with walls/objects) by disabling client-side multiplayer prediction.

Set console variable
Open the in-game console. Type cl_predict 0 into the opened console. Press ↵ Enter. Notes Alternately, the text from Step 2 can be placed in the game's configuration file. Only a partial solution, as not only does it negatively affect the online multiplayer experience, it also leaves the core issue unresolved.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
OpenGL		1.0
Software renderer

Executable	PPC	16-bit	32-bit	64-bit	ARM	Notes
Windows						A source port is required for native 64-bit. See Source ports.
macOS (OS X)						This 32-bit-only macOS game does not work on macOS Catalina (10.15) or later.
Linux						A source port is required for native 64-bit. See Source ports.
Mac OS (Classic)

System requirements

Windows

Mac OS (Classic)

macOS (OS X)

Linux

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95, 98, NT 4.0 (Service Pack 3)
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 166 MHz	Intel Pentium 200 MHz
System memory (RAM)	32 MB	64 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	50 MB
Video card (GPU)	2 MB of VRAM DirectX 6 compatible
Sound (audio device)	Sound Blaster compatible
Other	4X CD-ROM 28.8 Kbps modem for online multiplayer

Mac OS
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	8.6	9.2.2
Processor (CPU)	Power Macintosh G3 233 MHz
System memory (RAM)	64 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	10.1.4
Processor (CPU)	Power Macintosh G3 233 MHz
System memory (RAM)	128 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)

Linux
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	Kernel 2.2
Processor (CPU)	Pentium II 233 MHz 266 MHz 603e - G4
System memory (RAM)	64 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)