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Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Soulstorm

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games

"Soulstorm" redirects here. For the Oddworld game, see Oddworld: Soulstorm.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Soulstorm
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Soulstorm cover
Developers
Relic Entertainment
Iron Lore Entertainment
GOG.com General Arcade[1]
Publishers
2008-2013 THQ
2013-present Sega
Release dates
Windows March 4, 2008
Reception
Metacritic 73
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase
Modes Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing Real-time, Turn-based
Perspectives Bird's-eye view
Controls Multiple select, Point and select
Genres RTS, TBS
Themes Sci-fi
Series Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Soulstorm on HowLongToBeat
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Soulstorm on IGDB
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Soulstorm guide on StrategyWiki
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Soulstorm on MobyGames
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Soulstorm on Wikipedia
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War
Subseries of Warhammer 40,000
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2004
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Dark Crusade 2006
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Soulstorm 2008
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II 2009
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising 2010
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution 2011
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III 2017

Warnings

GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Soulstorm is the third expansion pack for the 2004 real-time strategy game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, and the second one which is standalone. It includes a turn-based campaign on multiple planets, as well as two new playable factions - the Sisters of Battle and the Dark Eldar. Development was originally outsourced to Iron Lore Entertainment, but as the company closed right before the game shipped due to financial issues,[2] Relic Entertainment took over the game's completion and post-launch support.

Despite the main content being standalone, in order to play as the original playable factions (Space Marines, Chaos Space Marines, Eldar, Orks) in multiplayer, the base game needs to be installed on the same machine (if using retail versions) or owned on the same Steam account. The same is valid for playing factions introduced in Winter Assault (Imperial Guard) and Dark Crusade (Necrons and Tau) - these expansions need to be additionally owned.

The game received two patches in its original support cycle.

On May 22, 2014, Dawn of War and its expansions were migrated from GameSpy to Steamworks-based multiplayer servers, but lost LAN functionality in the process.[3] The GOG.com release from May 25, 2023 uses GOG Galaxy for multiplayer, but is not cross-compatible with Steam users.

Modifications and saved games can be used across the fully patched retail, Steam and GOG.com versions.

While Soulstorm has more reported gameplay bugs than its predecessors, community mods exist to fix many of them.

General information

Lexicanum - A huge wiki for the Warhammer 40,000 series
Dawn of War Wiki
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)
CD key
SecuROM 7 DRM.
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Gamesplanet logo.svg
Icon overlay.png
Master Collection.
Windows
GOG.com
DRM-free
Master Collection; bundled with Game of the Year Edition, Winter Assault, and Dark Crusade.
Windows
Humble Store
Icon overlay.png
Master Collection also available.
Windows
Steam
Icon overlay.png
Master Collection also available.
Windows
A free demo version is available from GameFront.
Owners of retail copies can request a free Steam key from SEGA's UK support service.[4]
To unlock the original races for multiplayer, previous expansions must be installed to prompt unlocking (retail version) or merely owned on the same Steam account (Steam version). Alternatively, see this tool.
In the GOG.com version, all races are unlocked in multiplayer by default.

Essential improvements

Patches

Patch 1.20 is the latest official patch for the retail version of the game, and requires patch 1.10 to be installed first.
The Steam and GOG.com versions are on version 1.30, which is equivalent to 1.20 in terms of balance and gameplay - the only difference being Steamworks/Galaxy multiplayer used instead of GameSpy and LAN options.

Skip intro videos

Use the -nomovies command line argument.

Higher resolution models

These enhancements are significantly more performance intensive. Ensure that the system is significantly more powerful than the recommended system specifications to ensure there is no loss of performance. Also note that this will not work for some people, while it works for others. This is completely at random and cannot be fixed.[citation needed]
Full resolution models[citation needed]
  1. Open <path-to-game>\Local.ini
  2. Add the following line to the file: fullres_teamcolour=1
  3. Save and close the file.
Use the -forcehighpoly command line argument.[citation needed]

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\Local.ini[Note 1]
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/9450/pfx/[Note 2]

Save game data location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\Profiles\Profile*\dxp2\Singleplayer\SaveGames\[Note 1]
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/9450/pfx/[Note 2]

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

Graphics settings
Graphics settings

Field of view (FOV)

This fix will greatly enhance zoom capabilities.
Field of view (FOV)[citation needed]
  1. Download Camera Zoom Mod.
  2. Copy the .lua file to <path-to-game>\Engine\Data\

Vertical sync (Vsync)

Disable vertical sync (Vsync)[citation needed]
  1. Run game at least once to generate the .ini file.
  2. Go to <path-to-game>
  3. Open Local.ini.
  4. Change screennovsync=0 to screennovsync=1.

Anti-aliasing (AA)

Forcing AA will render fonts blurry and harder to read.
Forcing AA via graphics driver will result in greater AA. INI fix is probably only 2x AA.
Anti-aliasing (AA)[citation needed]
  1. Run game at least once to generate the .ini file.
  2. Go to <path-to-game>
  3. Open Local.ini.
  4. Change screenantialias=0 to screenantialias=1.

Input

Control settings
Control settings

Keyboard and mouse State Notes
Remapping
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Can adjust scroll speed.
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Can adjust panning directions.
Controller
Controller support
Controller types

Audio

Audio settings
Audio settings

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Ambient, effects, voice, music
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Fan translation.
Polish
Local retail version only.
Russian
Local retail version only.
Spanish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
LAN play
8 Versus
Removed from the Steam and GOG.com versions.[5]
Online play
8 Versus
The official GameSpy service has been shut down; Steam version has been updated with Steamworks support, while GOG.com uses Galaxy multiplayer. Steam and GOG Galaxy users can see each other, but not join each other's games.

Connection types

Type Native Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP
Removed from the Steam and GOG.com versions.[5]

Issues fixed

More than one player can't join host's multiplayer lobby

Have the second player leave in order for the third player to be able to join
  1. Have the second player connect to the host's lobby
  2. Have the third player try to connect.
  3. When that fails, have the second player leave. The third player should now be able to join.
  4. Once the third player has joined, the second may now also join.
Untested on more than three players.

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9.0b
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Multiplayer GameSpy, Steamworks, GOG Galaxy GameSpy in non-Steam versions only.

Mods

Dawn of War has a "Game Manager", enabling switching between mods very easy.
In general, mods work for both the patched retail (1.2) and Steam (1.3) versions of the game.
It is possible to run multiple modifications at once. For instructions, see here.

Bug fix modification

ModDB page.
This mod intends to fix a majority of obvious bugs (such as upgrades doing less damage than their originals, Sisters of Battle chainsaw audio spam) and implements advanced skirmish AI.
Highly recommended for those who play singleplayer (skirmish/campaign).
No longer updated, as its developer merged newer fixes with the Unification mod (which has a different scope and changes the game considerably).
This mod breaks campaign movies (fix provided on mod download page).

Fixed models

ModDB page
Fixes for errors in official unit models.

Persistent campaign bases

ModDB page
Restores the mechanic from Dark Crusade where buildings built in previous missions are present for the next mission on the same map.

Dawn of War Professional

ModDB page
Gameplay and balance mod which significantly changes the game
Restores upgrades that were removed in expansions and includes additional content created by the community. All units are designed to play a role until late game.

Unification mod

ModDB page
Intended to serve as a baseline for further modifications, with additions being modular and mutually compatible
Includes the changes from the Bug fix modification, along with further tweaks
Considerably changes the gameplay, with default additions being new races, units, art, AI improvements, game modes, victory conditions.

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 98, 2000, ME, XP
Processor (CPU) 1.4 GHz Intel Pentium III or AMD Athlon XP
System memory (RAM) 256 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 4.5 GB
Video card (GPU) 32 MB of VRAM
DirectX 9.0b compatible


Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 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).
  2. 2.0 2.1 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>/9450/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (9450) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References