Abuse

Abuse is a singleplayer and multiplayer side view TPS game.

The source code was released in public domain in 1997, allowing third-party ports and modifications.^[6]

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail

A shareware version is available.

Essential improvements

Abuse SDL

Abuse SDL is an updated version of the game ported to SDL2, it allows for modern OS support, higher resolutions, gamepad support, and a multitude of bug fixes and enhancements. Note that there is no support for multiplayer.

For Windows, everything is provided in a single download. For OS X and Linux, the source code for the port needs to be downloaded and compiled manually.

More up-to-date fork of this port can be found here. It includes pre-compiled builds for Windows and Linux (AppImage) as well as support for framerates above 15 FPS, fixed music playback and many QoL improvements.

Abuse 2025

Abuse 2025 is an updated version of the game based on Xenoveritas SDL2 port and antrad's Abuse 1996 project codebases that allows to run the game on modern Windows and macOS versions. It differentiates itself from the Abuse SDL with high resolution widescreen support and working multiplayer mode, although it lacks some of the improvements found in the updated fork of this build.

For Windows and macOS, everything is provided in a single download. For Linux, the source code for the port needs to be downloaded and compiled manually.

FRABS (Free Abuse)

A standalone fan made single player campaign based on the shareware release. Contains levels and assets from the shareware version, as well as fan made assets and over 20 levels. Download available here.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
DOS	<path-to-game>
Mac OS (Classic)
Linux

It's unknown whether this game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux. Please fill in this information.

Save game data location

System	Location
DOS	<path-to-game>
Mac OS (Classic)
Linux

Video

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed		Use Abuse SDL. On by default. Can be toggled using `F10`.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Use Abuse SDL. See Borderless fullscreen windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
High-fidelity upscaling		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Frame generation		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Use Abuse SDL. See Vertical sync (Vsync).
60 FPS		Use Abuse SDL. Note that the game was designed to run at 15 FPS. As such, Abuse SDL by default sets the physics update speed to 65 ms (or 15 FPS) to prevent it from breaking.
120+ FPS		Use Abuse SDL. See the note above.
High dynamic range display (HDR)
Ray tracing (RT)

Borderless fullscreen windowed

These instructions are for Abuse SDL only

Modify config.txt^{[citation needed]}
Go to `<path-to-game>\user`. Open `config.txt`. Change the value of `fullscreen` from `0` to `1`. Save the changes made and launch the game.

Vertical sync (Vsync)

These instructions are for Abuse SDL only

Modify config.txt^{[citation needed]}
Go to `<path-to-game>\user`. Open `config.txt`. Change the value of `vsync` from `0` to `1`. Save the changes made and launch the game.

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Use Abuse SDL. See Remapping.
Mouse sensitivity		For DOSBox set in the DOSBox configuration file.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse input in menus
Keyboard and mouse prompts
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		Use Abuse SDL for XInput support. Can be toggled using `F8`.
Full controller support
Controller remapping		Use Abuse SDL. See Controller remapping.
Controller sensitivity		Use Abuse SDL. See Controller sensitivity.
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers

DirectInput-compatible controllers

PlayStation controllers

Nintendo controllers

Other controller(s)

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Input prompt override
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Remapping

These instructions are for Abuse SDL only

Some keys are hardwired and cannot be changed. See the README.txt file in <path-to-game> for a full list

Modify config.txt^{[citation needed]}
Go to `<path-to-game>\user`. Open `config.txt`. Under the `; Key mappings` header, change the values of the commands to the desired key(s). A list of special keys available can be found in the included `README.txt` file. Save the changes made and launch the game.

Controller remapping

These instructions are for Abuse SDL only

Modify config.txt^{[citation needed]}
Go to `<path-to-game>\user`. Open `config.txt`. Under the `; Button mappings` header, change the values of the commands to the desired button(s). A list of of the button names to be used can be found in the included `README.txt` file in `<path-to-game>`. Save the changes made and launch the game.

Controller sensitivity

These instructions are for Abuse SDL only

Modify config.txt^{[citation needed]}
Go to `<path-to-game>\user`. Open `config.txt`. Change the value of `ctr_rst_s` to the desired sensitivity. Save the changes made and launch the game.

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles		No speech.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		For DOSBox change the `priority` background value in the DOSBox configuration file.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Spanish				Fan translation available here
Galician				Fan translation available here

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		8	Versus
Online play		8	Versus

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
DOS video modes	VGA

Executable	ARM	Notes
Windows		Requires a sourceport. See Abuse SDL.
macOS (OS X)	Requires a sourceport.^[7]
Linux
Mac OS (Classic)

System requirements

DOS
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	5.0	6.22
Processor (CPU)	Intel i486DX 50 MHz	Intel 486DX2 66 MHz
System memory (RAM)	8 MB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	13 MB
Video card (GPU)	VGA 1 MB of VRAM

Mac OS
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	System 7.1
Processor (CPU)	Motorola 68040
System memory (RAM)
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)

Linux
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	Kernel 2.0.x
Processor (CPU)	Intel 386
System memory (RAM)
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)

References

↑ GAMES PAGE - Crack dot Com (retrieved) - last accessed on May 2023
↑ Abuse by Crack dot Com - ORIGIN (retrieved) - last accessed on May 2023
↑ Abuse for Macintosh (retrieved) - last accessed on May 2023
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Crack development platforms and ports (retrieved)
↑ rh40_i386: Games (retrieved) (archived) - last accessed on 1996-12-28
↑ July 12, 1997 - Crack dot Com (retrieved) - last accessed on May 2023
↑ abuse — Homebrew Formulae - last accessed on 1 March 2022

[1] GAMES PAGE - Crack dot Com (retrieved) - last accessed on May 2023

[2] Abuse by Crack dot Com - ORIGIN (retrieved) - last accessed on May 2023

[3] Abuse for Macintosh (retrieved) - last accessed on May 2023

[mac-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Crack development platforms and ports (retrieved)

[5] rh40_i386: Games (retrieved) (archived) - last accessed on 1996-12-28

[6] July 12, 1997 - Crack dot Com (retrieved) - last accessed on May 2023

[7] use — Homebrew Formulae - last accessed on 1 March 2022

[1]

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Developers

	Crack dot Com^[1]
Publishers
	Origin Systems^[2]
Mac OS	Bungie Software^[3]^[4]
Linux	RedHat^[5]
Engines
	Abuse Engine
Release dates
DOS	February 29, 1996
Linux	1996
Mac OS (Classic)	October 1996^[4]
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Perspectives	Side view
Controls	Direct control
Genres	TPS
Themes	Sci-fi