About
Heretic II is a 1998 game by Raven Software. Heretic2R is a reverse-engineered, from-scratch source port of Heretic II that requires the original game's data files to run. It adds widescreen support, a render framerate decoupled from network updates, OGG music playback, faster map loading, and numerous bugfixes; singleplayer is well-tested and fully completable, while co-op/multiplayer works but is only lightly tested.
How it differs from the original
As a from-scratch reimplementation, Heretic2R is not compatible with the original's savegames, renderers, sound backends, or gameplay-logic libraries due to API changes, and some original-era features like GameSpy online multiplayer, gamepad support, and HiDPI aren't implemented yet, while others like an OpenGL 3 renderer and OpenAL audio are only planned.
Getting started
You need a legally owned copy of Heretic II patched to version 1.06, either overwriting its binaries with Heretic2R's files or copying its base data folder over; for music, rip the original game's CD audio tracks to OGG files and place them in the game's music folder.
Known limitations
- compatibility: Coop/multiplayer works but is practically untested.
- compatibility: GameSpy online multiplayer logic is not implemented.
- compatibility: Gamepad support is currently not implemented.
- compatibility: HiDPI support is currently not implemented.
- compatibility: Framerates above 60 FPS are not tested.
- compatibility: Screen resolutions above FullHD are not tested.
Additional notes
- Technical note
- You can check whether your Heretic II copy is already patched to the required v1.06 by looking for specific tornado-related model and texture files in its data folder.