Shattered Steel

Shattered Steel

Developers
	BioWare
Additional Development	Pyrotek Game Studios
Mac OS (Classic)	Logicware
Publishers
	Interplay Entertainment
Release dates
DOS	September 27, 1996
Mac OS (Classic)	December 1997
Windows (DOSBox)	July 29, 2008
macOS (OS X) (DOSBox)	October 26, 2012
Linux (DOSBox)	September 26, 2021
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Shooter, TPS
Vehicles	Robot
Themes	Sci-fi

Shattered Steel is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person action, shooter and TPS game.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Use DOSBox for DOS version.
Epic Games Store
GOG.com		Pre-packaged with DOSBox.
Steam

A free demo version is available from Archive.org.

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Expansion Pack	Freeware, available here. Included in GOG.com version.

Essential improvements

Run in DOSBox

To improve DOSBox performance make the following changes to the DOSBox configuration file:

• Change core=dynamic to core=normal (if not already)
• Change cputype=auto to cputype=486_slow
• Change memsize=16 to memsize=31
• Change mpu401=intelligent to mpu401=none

DOS/32A

DOS/32A is a more advanced extender and open source replacement to DOS4GW. It can improve both performance and stability of Shattered Steel greatly.

To make SS8MEG.BAT compatible with DOS32A, replace the line set DOS4GVM=MAXMEM#16000000 with SET DOS32A=/EXTMEM:16000000.

Skip intro videos

Delete/rename video files[citation needed]
Go to MOVIES in the installation folder. Delete or rename FILM7.MVE and INTRO.MVE. Notes The Interplay, BioWare and Shattered Steel screens will still be shown.

Patches

Patch 1.12 updates the retail version to the latest version. The GOG.com version already has this patch.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
DOS	<path-to-game>\OPTIONS.CFG
Windows	<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)
Mac OS (Classic)
macOS (OS X)	<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)
Linux	<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)

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>\PLAYER.CFG
Windows	<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)
Mac OS (Classic)
macOS (OS X)	<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)
Linux	<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Epic Games Launcher
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

General settings.

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		640x480 max.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed		For DOSBox toggle with Alt+↵ Enter (see the glossary page for other workarounds).
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Vertical sync (Vsync)		For DOSBox use an unofficial build (see the glossary page for other workarounds).
60 FPS
120+ FPS
High dynamic range display (HDR)
Ray tracing (RT)

Can be forced to run in 320x200 mode with the parameter -no640. Movies can also be forced to run in "windowed mode" with the parameter -window.

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Select a different controller type then switch back to your original to reset it's bindings to their default values.
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
Full controller support
Controller remapping
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

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Sound FX and Music.
Surround sound
Subtitles		Cockpit/mission voice commands are not subtitled.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		For DOSBox change the priority background value in the DOSBox configuration file.
Royalty free audio
Red Book CD audio		Redbook audio initialization can be skipped with -nocd parameter. Note does not disable CD check.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Czech				Fan translation; download.
Brazilian Portuguese				Retail only - MagnaHome.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		16	Versus, Co-op
Online play		Use Classic Gaming Arena

Connection types

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

Issues fixed

Mech won't stop turning

Change joystick timing setting[citation needed]
Edit the DOSBox configuration file; for the GOG.com version this is dosboxShatteredSteel.conf. Change timed=true to timed=false (if it is already set to this, try timed=true instead). Save your changes and run the game again. If problems persist ensure the in-game axis handling (Incremental or Absolute) matches the real axis.

SOUNDSET.EXE says it can't find the setup file (GOG.com)

Create a setup.ini

Create a setup.ini file in the game installation folder and paste this text into it and save it: [PROGRAM] Title = HMI Sound Operating System Setup Utility Copyright = (C) Copyright 1995 - Human Machine Interfaces Inc. - All Rights Reserved ConfigFile = hmiset.cfg DigitalTest = test.wav MIDITest = test.hmi MIDIMelodic = melo-ss.bnk MIDIDrum = drum-ss.bnk Stereo = Yes 16Bit = Yes EnableSCSI = Yes [SYSTEM] Devices = 1 DigitalPFX = DIGITAL MIDIPFX = MIDI # < ID String > = < name >, < ID >, < Port >, < IRQ >, < DMA >, < MIDI Index > [DIGITAL] Device000 = No Digital Device , -1 , 0 , 0, 0, 0, No, No Device001 = Sound Blaster , 0xe000, 0x220, 5, 1, 1, No, No Device002 = Sound Blaster Pro , 0xe001, 0x220, 5, 1, 1, No, No Device003 = Sound Blaster 16/AWE32 , 0xe015, 0x220, 5, 1, 1, Yes, Yes Device004 = Ensoniq SoundScape , 0xe01d, 0x330, -1, 1, 1, Yes, Yes Device005 = Microsoft Sound System , 0xe00b, 0x530, -1, 1, 1, Yes, Yes Device006 = Pro Audio Spectrum 16 , 0xe003, 0x388, 7, 1, 1, Yes, Yes Device007 = Gravis UltraSound , 0xe023, 0x220, 11, 1, 1, Yes, Yes Device008 = Gravis UltraSound Max , 0xe027, 0x220, 11, 1, 1, Yes, Yes Device009 = ESS AudioDrive , 0xe019, 0x220, 7, 1, 1, No, No Device010 = Roland RAP-10 , 0xe021, 0x330, 9, 5, 1, No, No Device011 = Toptek Golden 16 , 0xe00b, 0x220, 7, 1, 1, Yes, Yes Device012 = Thunderboard , 0xe000, 0x220, 7, 1, 1, No, No Device013 = Adlib Gold , 0xe009, 0x388, -1, 1, 1, Yes, Yes Device014 = NewMedia .WAVJammer , 0xe02b, -1, -1, -1, 1, Yes, Yes Device015 = I/O Magic Tempo , 0xe02f, 0x38c, 11, -1, 1, Yes, Yes Device016 = ARIA Chipset , 0xe000, 0x220, 7, 1, 1, No, No Device017 = Sound Galaxy NX Pro 16 , 0xe000, 0x220, 7, 1, 1, Yes, Yes Device018 = Reveal FX/32 , 0xe01d, 0x330, -1, 1, 1, Yes, Yes [DETECTION] DeviceOrder = 6, 7, 4, 5, 3, 2, 1, 7, 9, 10, 14, 15 # < name >, < ID >, < MIDI Type > [MIDI] Device000 = No MIDI Device , -1 , 0 Device001 = MPU-401 , 0xa001, 0 Device002 = Roland Sound Canvas , 0xa001, 0 Device003 = General MIDI , 0xa001, 0 Device004 = Sound Blaster , 0xa002, 1 Device005 = Sound Blaster Pro , 0xa002, 1 Device006 = Sound Blaster 16 , 0xa009, 0 Device007 = Sound Blaster AWE32 , 0xa008, 0 Device008 = Ensoniq SoundScape , 0xa001, 0 Device009 = Microsoft Sound System , 0xa009, 0 Device010 = Pro Audio Spectrum 16 , 0xa009, 0 Device011 = Gravis UltraSound , 0xa00a, 0 Device012 = Gravis UltraSound Max , 0xa00a, 0 Device013 = ESS AudioDrive , 0xa002, 0 Device014 = Roland RAP-10 , 0xa001, 0 # < Default >, < Port >, .... [MIDISETTINGS] Device000 = 1, -1 Device001 = 4, 0x300, 0x310, 0x320, 0x330, 0x340, 0x350 Device002 = 4, 0x300, 0x310, 0x320, 0x330, 0x340, 0x350 Device003 = 4, 0x300, 0x310, 0x320, 0x330, 0x340, 0x350 Device004 = 1, 0x388 Device005 = 1, 0x388 Device006 = 1, 0x388 Device007 = 1, 0x620, 0x640, 0x660, 0x680 Device008 = 4, 0x300, 0x310, 0x320, 0x330, 0x340 Device009 = 1, 0x388 Device010 = 1, 0x388 Device011 = 1, 0x220 Device012 = 1, 0x220 Device013 = 1, 0x388 Device014 = 4, 0x300, 0x310, 0x320, 0x330, 0x340

"World1.pol not found" error

This issues commonly occurs if you installed the game on an older version of Windows without restarting in MS-DOS mode then attempt to run the game from DOS there after.

Edit file DIR.FLT[citation needed]
Change the various paths and drive letters to Shattered Steel's install location ensuring they're 8.3 name compatible. You could also replace them with .\ though this requires having the game's directory be the current active one.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
DOS video modes	VGA, SVGA

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	Human Machine Interface (HMI) audio drivers

System requirements

DOS

Windows

Mac OS (Classic)

macOS (OS X)

Linux

DOS
	Minimum		Recommended
Operating system (OS)	5.0
Processor (CPU)	486 @ 66 MHz		Intel Pentium
System memory (RAM)	8 MB		16 MB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	25 MB
Video card (GPU)	VGA		SVGA

Windows
	Minimum		Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10
Processor (CPU)	1.0 GHz		1.4 GHz
System memory (RAM)	512 MB		1 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	1 GB
Video card (GPU)	DirectX 7 compatible		DirectX 9 compatible

Mac OS
	Minimum		Recommended
Operating system (OS)	7.5.3		9.2.2
Processor (CPU)	PowerPC 601
System memory (RAM)	16 MB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)
Other	2x CD-ROM drive

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum		Recommended
Operating system (OS)	10.6.8		10.13
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core Duo 2.0 GHz		Intel Core i3
System memory (RAM)	1 GB		4 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	1 GB
Video card (GPU)	Intel UHD Graphics 630 64 MB of VRAM		AMD Radeon Pro 555X

Linux
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	Ubuntu 16.04
Processor (CPU)	2.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	1 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	1 GB
Video card (GPU)	OpenGL compatible 256 MB of VRAM