Warzone 2100

Homepage of the Warzone 2100 Project

Origins

Warzone 2100, released in 1999 and developed by Pumpkin Studios, is a ground-breaking and innovative 3D real-time strategy game.

In 2004 Eidos, in collaboration with Pumpkin Studios, decided to release the source for the game under the terms of the GNU GPL, including everything but the music and in-game video sequences, which were released later.

State of the game

After the liberation of the Warzone 2100 source-code on December 6th, 2004, all proprietary technologies have been replaced with open-source counterparts.

Currently, the supported platforms are Linux, Windows, and macOS. There are reports that Warzone 2100 is also working on BSD.

Installation

Visit https://wz2100.net for the latest stable release for Windows, macOS and Ubuntu.

Note for videos in Ubuntu: For important information during the game, download the videos manually. Assuming the game is installed in the standard ~/.local/share/ folder, use these commands:

mkdir ~/.local/share/warzone2100
wget https://github.com/Warzone2100/wz-sequences/releases/download/v3/standard-quality-en-sequences.wz -O ~/.local/share/warzone2100/sequences.wz

Latest development builds

Windows

How to get the latest Windows development builds:

1. View the latest successful Windows builds.
2. Select the latest workflow run in the table / list. This should display a list of Artifacts from the run.
3. Download the warzone2100_win_x86_portable or warzone2100_win_x86_installer artifact (depending on whether you want the portable build or the full / regular installer).

Note: A free GitHub account is currently required to download the artifacts.

macOS

How to get the latest macOS development builds:

1. View the latest successful macOS builds.
2. Select the latest workflow run in the table / list. This should display a list of Artifacts from the run.
3. Download the warzone2100_macOS_universal or warzone2100_macOS_universal_novideos artifact (depending on whether you want the full app bundle or not).

Note: A free GitHub account is currently required to download the artifacts.

Ubuntu

How to get the latest Ubuntu development builds:

1. View the latest successful Ubuntu builds.
2. Select the latest workflow run in the table / list. This should display a list of Artifacts from the run.
3. Download the appropriate warzone2100_ubuntu<version>_amd64_deb artifact.
   • If you are running Ubuntu 20.04: warzone2100_ubuntu20.04_amd64_deb
   • If you are running Ubuntu 22.04: warzone2100_ubuntu22.04_amd64_deb

Note: A free GitHub account is currently required to download the artifacts.

4. Extract the contents of the downloaded .zip (warzone2100_ubuntu<version>_amd64.deb) to your Desktop.
5. Execute the following commands in Terminal:

cd ~/Desktop
sudo apt install ./warzone2100_ubuntu<version>_amd64.deb

6. Download the video for crucial information during the game, for more see "Videos" section. Assuming the game is installed in the standard ~/.local/share/ folder, use this command (update warzone2100-<version>):

wget https://github.com/Warzone2100/wz-sequences/releases/download/v3/standard-quality-en-sequences.wz -O ~/.local/share/warzone2100-<version>/sequences.wz

Linux (from source)

Clone this Git repo and build, following the instructions under: How to Build

Development builds are a snapshot of the current state of development, from the latest (successfully-built) commit. Help testing these builds is always welcomed, but they should be considered a work-in-progress.

Videos

You can download videos from here, or here. You will need to rename the downloaded file to sequences.wz, and place it into your Warzone 2100 directory, as described above. Note that .wz files are just .zip in disguise, you can rename it and extract the content if wish to inspect them.

Reporting bugs

This game still has bugs and if you run into one, please use the GitHub bugtracker (https://github.com/Warzone2100/warzone2100/issues) to report the bug. In order to fix those bugs more quickly, we require that you follow these rules:

1. If the game crashes you may save a memory dump. Please do so and upload it when reporting the bug. (Linux locates that file at /tmp/warzone2100.gdmp, Windows at /Program Files/Warzone 2100/warzone2100.RPT, macOS by clicking "Details" in the crash error message) A self created backtrace is just as useful.
2. Give as much information about what you were doing before the crash/bug occurred.
3. Try to reproduce the bug and add a description of the process to your bug report.
4. You may even upload save files. These consist of one or two file(s) and one folder. All two/three are named after your savegame (e.g. MySaveGame.es, MySaveGame.gam and the folder MySaveGame).
5. Bug reports are not submit-and-forget. It may be that you forgot some information or forgot to upload a file. So it is also in your interest to watch the bug-report after it has been submitted. Additionally, you can enable e-mails of comments to your bug report.

Configuration

Warzone 2100 uses its own subdirectory in a user's home directory to save configuration data, save files and certain other things. Additionally you can use this directory to place custom maps and mods so the game can find them. The location of this directory depends on the operating system.

Warzone 2100 directory under GNU/Linux

Under GNU/Linux, Warzone 2100 conforms to the XDG base directory spec.

By default, the directory warzone2100-<version> can be found in your home directory under the path ~/.local/share/. (If the XDG_DATA_HOME environment variable is defined, the Warzone 2100 folder will be located within $XDG_DATA_HOME.)

The leading dot in the .local part of the path indicates that it is a hidden directory, so depending on your configuration you may not be able to see it. However, you can still access it by typing the path into your address bar.

Warzone 2100 directory under Windows

The directory Warzone 2100 Project\Warzone 2100 <version> is located under the %APPDATA% folder.

Typical %APPDATA% paths:

• Windows XP: \Documents and Settings\$USER$\Application Data
• Windows Vista+: \Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming

Hence, the default path for the Warzone 2100 configuration data on Windows Vista+ would be: C:\Users\$USER$\AppData\Roaming\Warzone 2100 Project\Warzone 2100 <version>\

By default, the %APPDATA% folder is hidden. Entering: %APPDATA%\Warzone 2100 Project\ into the address bar of Windows Explorer will browse to your Warzone 2100 directory.

Warzone 2100 directory under macOS

The directory Warzone 2100 <version> can be found in your home directory at: ~/Library/Application Support/

By default, recent version of macOS hide your account's Library folder. To view it in Finder, hold down the Option (⌥) key while clicking the Go menu, and your Library folder will appear as a menu choice.

Configuration file

The configuration file is just called 'config' and contains several configuration options, some of them can be changed by using command-line options or using the in-game menus, others can only be changed by editing the file manually.

If at any point you did something wrong, you can delete the old configuration file and just restart Warzone 2100. Then the game will regenerate a new configuration file with default values.

Command-line options

Warzone 2100 can be started with different options and arguments. For a list of these options, run the game with the --help option.

Notes: These options all have two dashes (--), not one dash only (-). Also, if the option has an argument, you need to separate the option and its argument with a '=' sign - spaces do not work.

Note: Some options have corresponding entries in the configuration file and will persist from one start of Warzone 2100 to the next.

Multiplaying via internet

There are two methods to start a multiplayer game via the internet: using the host's IP or using the lobby server. Make sure you are able to communicate on TCP ports 2100 and 9999. Note that for port forwarding, you only need to configure your router to forward port 2100.

You can choose whether to connect via Lobby or IP:

• If you choose IP, Warzone 2100 asks you for the IP address of the host and will try to connect to that IP.
• If you choose Lobby, Warzone 2100 will connect to the lobby server, as long as the lobby-server-address in your config file has not been changed.

You will see a list of games from which you can select.

You can kick unwanted players out of a game before it begins by clicking left on them while holding the right mouse button.

When you are hosting a game it will automatically be listed on the lobby server. If you do not want your games to be listed on the lobby-server, you should change the entry "masterserver_name=lobby.wz2100.net" in your config to some- thing invalid, for example: "nomasterserverplease".

If you then want to see the games that are listed on the lobby server you may enter "lobby.wz2100.net" when prompted to enter the host's IP or change the entry in the config file back. You will have to restart Warzone 2100 in order for config changes to take effect.

Cheats

Like many other games, Warzone 2100 features a certain set of cheats that can be used to have an advantage in the singleplayer-campaign and skirmish-games, or to just help mod-makers and map-makers with testing. Cheats do not work in multiplayer, unless all players agree to it.

Cheats are likely to contain or trigger bugs, so use with care, especially during campaign.

Entering cheat mode

To be able cheats while in-game, press shift and backspace simultaneously. An on-screen message should appear telling you that cheat mode has been enabled. You can disable it using the same key combination again.

Pressing ctrl+o opens up the debug menu, which is useful for inspecting the game state, or just messing around.

Cheat commands

After activating cheat mode, cheats can be entered using the normal chat- function. Cheats are ordered by their use and where they can be used.

There are many cheat commands. Some examples:

• biffer baker - Your units do more damage and are stronger
• double up - Your units are twice as strong
• give all - Allows you to build and research everything
• work harder - All currently active research topics are instantly researched
• research all - Everything is researched instantly
• let me win - You win the current campaign mission
• superpower - Gives you maximum power
• teach us - Gives experience to selected units
• makemehero - Makes selected units Heroes
• clone wars - Clones selected units (x10)
• clone wars! - Clones selected units (x40)
• clone wars!! - Clones selected units (x135)
• kill - Kills selected object
• john kettley - Toggles weather conditions
• get off my land - Kills all enemy units and structures
• showfps - Shows average FPS
• reload me - Reloads selected weapon instantly
• damage me - Selected object takes 20% damage
• showunits - Displays unit count information
• showorders - Displays unit order/action state
• droidinfo - Shows unit stats

All available commands can be found in this file: https://github.com/Warzone2100/warzone2100/blob/master/src/cheat.cpp

Modding information

Warzone 2100 AI, maps and campaign can be scripted using JavaScript.

Links to further information

• Scripting
• Model format
• Animation

How to build

Getting the Source

To properly build the game, either:

• Download a release tar.xz, which contains all the source code and revision information.

  OR

• Clone the Git repo:

  git clone https://github.com/Warzone2100/warzone2100.git
  cd warzone2100
  git fetch --tags
  git submodule update --init --recursive

  Note: Initializing submodules is required.

Do not use GitHub's "Download Zip" option, as it does not contain submodules or the Git-based autorevision information.

Linux

• Prerequisites
  • Compiling tools (ex. CMake, GCC/G++/Clang, ninja-build)
  • Archiving tools (ex. zip, p7zip)
  • Various libraries:
    • SDL ≥ 2.0.5 (strongly recommended: ≥ 2.0.20)
    • PhysicsFS ≥ 2.0.3-3 (strongly recommended: ≥ 3.0.2)
    • libpng ≥ 1.2
    • libtheora
    • libvorbis
    • libogg
    • opus
    • Freetype (strongly recommended: ≥ 2.10.4)
    • Harfbuzz ≥ 1.0 (strongly recommended: ≥ 3.3.0)
    • fribidi
    • OpenAL-Soft
    • libcurl (strongly recommended: ≥ 7.58.0)
    • libsodium ≥ 1.0.14
    • SQLite ≥ 3.14
  • For language support: Gettext
  • To generate documentation: Asciidoctor ≥ 1.5.3
  • To build with Vulkan support: the full Vulkan SDK (strongly recommended: ≥ 1.2.148.1)
• Installing prerequisites:

  • Using get-dependencies_linux.sh:

    1. Specify one of the linux distros supported by the script: (ubuntu, fedora, alpine, archlinux, opensuse-tumbleweed) REQUIRED
    2. Specify a mode: (build-all (default), build-dependencies) OPTIONAL

    Example:

    sudo ./get-dependencies_linux.sh ubuntu build-dependencies

• Building from the command-line:
  1. Starting from the parent directory of the warzone2100 source code (which is assumed to be in a folder named warzone2100), create a sibling build directory:

     mkdir build

  2. Change directory into the sibling build directory:

     cd build

  3. Run CMake configure to generate the build files:

     cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH=~/wz/install -GNinja ../warzone2100

     • Modify the CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX parameter value as desired to configure the base installation path.
     • The ../warzone2100 path at the end should point to the warzone2100 source directory.

  4. Run CMake build:

     cmake --build . --target install

Windows using MSVC

• Prerequisites
  • Visual Studio 2022 (Visual Studio 2017-2019 may work, but 2022+ is strongly encouraged)
    • If you do not already have Visual Studio installed, you can download the free Visual Studio Community from: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads
    • IMPORTANT: You need the fully-featured Visual Studio IDE. “Visual Studio Code” does not include the necessary support for building C++ Windows apps.
  • CMake 3.20+ (https://cmake.org/)
  • Git (if not building from a release source archive)
  • 7-Zip (https://www.7-zip.org)
  • Vulkan SDK 1.2.148.1+ (https://vulkan.lunarg.com/sdk/home)
    • Required only if you want to build with Vulkan support.
• Preparing to build: Build dependencies are provided via vcpkg from Microsoft.
  • Run the get-dependencies_win.ps1 script from powershell in order to download and build the dependencies.
• Building from the command-line:
  • Change directory to the warzone2100 repo directory
  • Configure
    • Visual Studio 2022: cmake -H. -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=vcpkg\scripts\buildsystems\vcpkg.cmake -Bbuild -G "Visual Studio 17 2022"
    • Visual Studio 2019: cmake -H. -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=vcpkg\scripts\buildsystems\vcpkg.cmake -Bbuild -G "Visual Studio 16 2019"
    • Visual Studio 2017: cmake -H. -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=vcpkg\scripts\buildsystems\vcpkg.cmake -Bbuild -G "Visual Studio 15 2017"
  • Build
    • Release: cmake --build build --config Release
    • Debug: cmake --build build --config Debug
• Building using Visual Studio:
  1. Open Visual Studio
  2. Open the warzone2100 folder using File > Open > Folder...
     • Allow Visual Studio some time to load the project and retrieve information from CMake.
  3. Create a VS CMake settings JSON file using CMake > Change CMake settings. You can also reach this dialog by clicking "Manage Configurations" in the configuration dropdown in the toolbar. Make sure the CMake components in Visual Studio are installed (by running the Visual Studio Installer).
     • This creates CMakeSettings.json
  4. Add the following variables to CMakeSettings.json:
     • To cmakeCommandArgs, add: -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=vcpkg\scripts\buildsystems\vcpkg.cmake
     • Note: Visual Studio automatically escapes and turns each \ into \\
  5. After letting Visual Studio re-run CMake configure with the new settings, you can build using the CMake menu.

macOS

See macosx/README.md

Licensing

Warzone 2100 is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

More information: COPYING.README, COPYING.NONGPL