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SiN

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games

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

SiN
SiN cover
Developers
Ritual Entertainment
Expansion 2015 Inc.
Mac OS (Classic) Contraband Entertainment[1]
macOS (OS X) Contraband Entertainment[1]
Linux Hyperion Entertainment[2]
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[3]
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 on HowLongToBeat
SiN on IGDB
SiN guide on StrategyWiki
SiN on MobyGames
SiN on Wikipedia
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 (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
Disc check removed in patch 1.04.
Windows
Linux
Retail
Icon overlay.png
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.
Windows
GOG.com
DRM-free
SiN Gold.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Steam
Icon overlay.png
SiN Gold.
Windows
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.
Windows

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.
Windows
Linux

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\base\players\<user-id>\config.cfg[Note 1][Note 2]
<path-to-game>\2015\players\<user-id>\config.cfg[Note 3][Note 2]
%APPDATA%\dominatrix\base\config.cfg[Note 4]
%APPDATA%\dominatrix\2015\config.cfg[Note 5]
Mac OS (Classic)
macOS (OS X)
Linux $HOME/.hyperion/Sin/players/<user-id>/config.cfg
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1313/pfx/[Note 6]
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\[Note 7][Note 2]
<path-to-game>\2015\players\<user-id>\save\[Note 8][Note 2]
%APPDATA%\dominatrix\base\save\[Note 9]
%APPDATA%\dominatrix\2015\save\[Note 10]
Mac OS (Classic)
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1313/pfx/[Note 6]

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

General settings.
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[4]
  1. Download a Sin Patcher for either 1.11 retail.
  2. Move it to the installation folder and run it.
  3. Type in the desired resolution values and click Apply resolution.
  4. 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.[5]
Use the Dominatrix source port[6]

Field of view (FOV)

Field of view (FOV)[7]
  1. After the level loads, enter the console with ~.
  2. 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

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[8]
  • 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 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).[9] EAX 1[10]
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]
  1. Go to the installlation folder.
  2. Open runme.dat with a text editor.
  3. Change sin -steam to sin.
  4. 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]
  1. Open console with ~ after loading saves or level.
  2. 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[11]
  1. Open the in-game console.
  2. Type cl_predict 0 into the opened console.
  3. 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
ExecutablePPC16-bit 32-bit 64-bitARM 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
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 95, 98, NT 4.0 (Service Pack 3)
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium 166 MHz
System memory (RAM) 32 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
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)


Notes

  1. Default for the base game
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 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).
  3. Default for the Wages of SiN expansion
  4. Default for the base game when using the Dominatrix source port
  5. Default for the Wages of SiN expansion when using the Dominatrix source port
  6. 6.0 6.1 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>/1313/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (1313) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.
  7. Default for the base game
  8. Default for the Wages of SiN expansion
  9. Default for the base game when using the Dominatrix source port
  10. Default for the Wages of SiN expansion when using the Dominatrix source port

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 GAMES (retrieved) - last accessed on 2023-12-04
  2. Hyperion Entertainment - Games - last accessed on May 2023
  3. MACPLAY SHIPS MAJESTY, SIN GOLD (retrieved) - last accessed on 2023-12-09
  4. Verified by User:AlphaYellow on 2023-11-10
  5. If you're having trouble running Sin try: (retrieved) - last accessed on May 2023
  6. Verified by User:AlphaYellow on 2024-02-08
  7. Verified by User:AlphaYellow on 2023-11-10
  8. The MarkC Windows 10 + 8.1 + 8 + 7 Mouse Acceleration Fix - last accessed on May 2023
  9. Tech help: SiN - Vortex of Sound (retrieved) - last accessed on May 2023
  10. EAX.CREATIVE games list - EAX.com (retrieved) - last accessed on May 2023
  11. Verified by User:Skacikpl on 2023-07-03