How to Setup instructions

Various things you may want to set up before playing the game.

Installation

Simple installation process. To insure that you're installing a correct version of the patch for your game, remember that TFE and TSE stand for games (The First Encounter and The Second Encounter respectively), while 1.05 and 1.07 stand for engine versions.

1. Download desired version of the patch (TFE1.05_<date>.zip or TSE1.07_<date>.zip for Steam).
2. Navigate to the game folder and extract contents of the ZIP archive into it.
3. Agree to replace existing files (original game files, such as DLL files, are included with an _OG suffix at the end of their names).
4. (Optional) Download SE1_RevResources.gro and put it in the game folder if you intend on playing Revolution levels without mounting Revolution itself to The Second Encounter, which is a very rare and specific case.

Standalone binaries

Serious Sam Classics Patch supports the ability to run the game from its own Bin folder to not interfere with vanilla libraries or possibly replace them. All you have to do is rename the Bin folder inside of the downloaded build and extract it into the game folder.

But, since this patch depends on the vanilla engine, you cannot immediately run any of the executables because some libraries are missing. You can simply copy them from the vanilla Bin directory into your own depending on the application you intend to run:

• All executables: Engine.dll, mfc42.dll and MSVCRT.DLL.
  • The first library is Serious Engine itself, while mfc42.dll provides graphical user interface for Serious Editor and MSVCRT.DLL makes all applications run on your system in the first place.
  • Note that mfc42.dll and MSVCRT.DLL libraries might already be installed on your machine from previous applications, including Visual Studio. In which case they aren't required to be in the same folder for the applications to run.
• DedicatedServer_Custom.exe: No extra libraries are needed to run the servers.
• SeriousSam_Custom.exe, SeriousEditor_Custom.exe: ogg.dll, vorbis.dll and vorbisfile.dll.
  • All of these libraries provide support for OGG music playback.

Configuration file

Serious Sam Classics Patch includes features that can only be customized before launching the game. For that, you can create a special config file at Data/ClassicsPatch/Config.ini within the game directory and add properties to it that will be used upon starting any application.

These properties can also be customized in-game under Options -> Classics Patch -> Config properties and automatically resaved into the file upon applying to be used the next time the game starts.

Config file rules

Rules of these config files are of a typical INI file. The specifics of this format are listed below.

• Key-value pairs are contained on single lines separated by an assignment operator, like this: key = "value".
  • Quotes can only be optionally used on values, in case you need to append spaces on either end of the string, otherwise all whitespaces are stripped from both keys and values.
• If the assignment operator is missing or the line is otherwise invalid, it will be skipped.
• Key-value pairs can be separated into "sections" that are defined by a line enclosed in square brackets, like this: [section].
  • If no section is specified before any key-value pairs, they're added into an "unnamed" section. [] section is equal to it.
• If it's a boolean switch, i.e. a value that can only be true or false, the values must meet the following criteria (case insensitive):
  • Strings starting with t, y, 1 or on are true.
  • Strings starting with f, n, 0 or of are false.
  • Any other string will be ignored and a hardcoded default value will be used.

Global properties

These properties are set under an "unnamed" section and are usable in builds for any game.

Key	Description	Example
CustomMod	Overrides custom library loading. If not disabled, it will use Entities, Game and GameGUI libraries with a _Custom suffix in the base game and mods without custom DLL files.	CustomMod = 0
DebugPatcher	Display actions of the function patcher in the log file (e.g. SeriousSam_Custom.log) for debugging purposes.	DebugPatcher = 1
DPIAware	Can be used to disable DPI awareness of the game window, making it scale according to the Windows setting for a monitor.	DPIAware = 0
ExtendedFileSystem	Can be used to disable extensions to the file system, e.g. content loading from other directories.	ExtendedFileSystem = 0
ExtendedInput	Can be used to disable extensions to the input system, e.g. proper support of game controllers and Mouse Button 4 & 5.	ExtendedInput = 0
ForceSeasonalEvent	Forces a specific seasonal event based on the specified index. The value of -1 lets the patch determine the current season automatically based on the current date. The value of 0 disables all seasonal events.	ForceSeasonalEvent = 4 for the Christmas event
FullAppIntegration	Enables full integration of patch functionality into tool applications, i.e. file system extensions and 64-bit system support. Works with both vanilla tools and Steam-patched ones.	FullAppIntegration = 1
NotifyAboutUpdates	Toggles notifications about new patch versions upon starting the game.	NotifyAboutUpdates = 0
MountSSRWorkshop	Allows to load content from Steam workshop of Serious Sam Classics: Revolution using a path from SSRWorkshop.	MountSSRWorkshop = 1
SSRWorkshop	Specifies a path to Steam workshop of Serious Sam Classics: Revolution for loading its content.	SSRWorkshop = "D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\workshop\content\227780"

The Second Encounter properties

These properties are set under an "unnamed" section and are only usable in builds for The Second Encounter.

Key	Description	Example
MountTFE	Allows to load content from Serious Sam Classic: The First Encounter using a path from TFEDir.	MountTFE = 0
MountSSR	Allows to load content from Serious Sam Classics: Revolution using a path from SSRDir.	MountSSR = 1
TFEDir	Specifies a path to Serious Sam Classic: The First Encounter for loading its content.	TFEDir = "C:\SeriousSamTFE"
SSRDir	Specifies a path to Serious Sam Classics: Revolution for loading its content.	SSRDir = "D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Serious Sam Revolution"

Steam properties

These properties are set under a [Steam] section.

Key	Description	Example
Enable	Establishes connection with your Steam client and notifies it that the game is running as if it was launched directly through Steam. If Steam isn't running or the game is unavailable (not owned), this feature is disabled.	Enable = 0
ForServers	Lets dedicated server application initialize and use Steam API, unless Enable is turned off.	ForServers = 1
ForTools	Lets Serious Editor and modeler applications initialize and use Steam API, unless Enable is turned off.	ForTools = 1

Loading extra content

To load extra content in your game, you can specify a list of relative and absolute paths on your hard drive with extra GRO files.

This feature is useful for when you have multiple instances of the game build but don't want to copy the same content across every game folder or when you want to organize the files instead of keeping everything in the root folder.

To do this, create a Data/ContentDir.lst text file within the game folder and add paths to it like this:

Content\
..\Storage\
D:\SeriousSamMaps\

• Content\ - Loads GRO files from the 'Content' directory within the game folder.
• ..\Storage\ - Loads GRO files from a directory next to the game folder.
• D:\SeriousSamMaps\ - Loads GRO files from a directory on some drive.

Loading The First Encounter content

You can play The First Encounter content by mounting it to The Second Encounter.

1. Locate installation directory with Serious Sam Classic: The First Encounter and copy full path to it.
2. Open the aforementioned Data/ClassicsPatch/Config.ini and add a property to it like this: TFEDir = "full path to TFE in quotes".

Note

• If you have a localized version of The First Encounter and the content doesn't seem to be translated, try copying GRO packages with localization (e.g. 1_00_Texts_RUS.gro) into The Second Encounter directory or any extra content directory.

Loading Revolution content

You can play and use Revolution content (including from its workshop) by mounting it to The Second Encounter.

To mount the game:

1. Locate installation directory with Serious Sam Classics: Revolution and copy full path to it.
2. Open the aforementioned Data/ClassicsPatch/Config.ini and add a property to it like this: SSRDir = "full path to SSR in quotes".

To mount workshop:

1. Locate Steam workshop directory with downloaded Revolution content. Relative to the Steam installation directory it should be at (Steam)\steamapps\workshop\content\227780\.
2. Open the aforementioned Data/ClassicsPatch/Config.ini and add a property to it like this: SSRWorkshop = "full path to workshop in quotes".

Note

• If you mount both The First Encounter and Revolution, the latter will take priority, replacing vanilla The First Encounter campaign with the one from Revolution.
• If you only mount Revolution game and leave SSRWorkshop property empty, it will automatically be set to ..\..\workshop\content\227780\ in order to load workshop content relative to the game folder (assuming the game is located inside the same Steam folder as workshop files).

Custom level categories

You can create your own level categories to separate levels from one huge pile.

1. Create Data/ClassicsPatch/LevelCategories folder structure inside the game or the mod folder, if there isn't one already.
2. Create a new text file with a .des extension (e.g. 00_MyMaps.des) and write your category name into it that will be displayed in-game (e.g. MY COOL MAPS).

• You can also add optional description on the second line that will be displayed upon hovering over the category.

3. Create another text file with the same name but with a .lst extension (e.g. 00_MyMaps.lst).
4. Open it with any text editor and fill it with a list of .wld files that the category should contain. For example:

Levels\MyMaps\Map01.wld
Levels\MyMaps\Map02.wld
Levels\MyMaps\Mappack_*.wld
Levels\Development\

Note

• Level category lists support wildcards, e.g. * for matching any text and ? for matching any character in the path to .wld files.
• To list all files under a specific directory, just specify the directory path (like the 4th line in the example).

Adding custom window resolutions

You can create a list of custom resolutions for the game instead of manually typing them in inside the video options menu.

1. Create a Data/ClassicsPatch/Resolutions.lst text file (or copy one from the SE1_ClassicsPatch.gro archive).
2. Open it with any text editor and fill it with resolutions that you wish to use; one per line (e.g. 1440x720 or 1000x1000).

Note

• Resolutions are loaded in the exact same order they are listed in the file.
• If your native screen resolution isn't listed, it is automatically added at the end of the list by the game.