Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance

Witchaven
Witchaven	1995
Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance	1996

Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance is a fantasy FPS game with light RPG mechanics and a heavy focus on melee combat. It's story picks up directly after Witchaven.

The game's source code has been made available as of 2006 by a former developer.^[2]

For a high-fidelity, accurate, and accessible implementation of the game use BuildGDX. For a bugfixed version of the original DOS executable and game code use EGwhaven2 inside DOSBox or on a pentium DOS computer.

General information

ETTiNGRiNDER's Witchaven Shrine Fanpage that catalogues much of Witchaven II's content & bugs.

Witchaven II entry at RTCM Lots of information & patches relating to Witchaven II.

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail
GOG.com		Prepackaged with DOSBox.
Humble Store		Bundled with Witchaven.
Steam		Prepackaged with DOSBox.

GOG.com and Steam versions include the original retail build, as well as an Enhanced build (both running on DOSBox with a custom configuration tool). The Enhanced build features fixes introduced in EGwhaven, and the controls are remapped to be more consistent with modern first-person games.^[3]^[4]

Demo

A free demo version is available from Archive.org.

Essential improvements

EGwhaven2 A bugfix/enhancement patch to the original executable. Improves mod-ability.

FGSFDS's Unofficial Witchaven II level fixes Fixes issues for two maps.

Witchaven II can be set to read it's SMK files from the hard drive. Use the LOCAL parameter.

Source ports

Name	Description
BuildGDX	Reverse-engineered gameplay-accurate port written in Java. Adds high resolutions support, OpenGL renderer, modern controller support and improved mouse control. Fixes most issues with the game.
NuBuildGDX	Fork of BuildGDX aiming for stability, bug fixing and performance improvements.

DOSBox

DOS/32A

DOS/32A is a memory extender for DOS games. It is an open source replacement to DOS4GW which was often used in game development . It can improve both the performance and stability of Witchaven II.

Game data

Some of Witchaven II's save data and settings are stored in non-human-readable .DAT files. They can be modified with a hex editor.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
DOS	<path-to-game>\PREF.DAT <path-to-game>\CONTROLS.CFG
Windows	<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)^{[Note 1]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1655430/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

PREF.DAT contains values changeable ingame.^[5]

Save game data location

System	Location
DOS	<path-to-game>\SVGM.MAP <path-to-game>\SVGN.DAT
Windows	<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)^{[Note 1]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1655430/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

SVGM*.MAP stores map data. Witchaven II uses Build MAP format version 7.^[6]

SVGN*.DAT stores player data.^[7]

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

Witchaven II inherits the first game's gamelogic issues. If unmodified it begins to malfunction at 30FPS and up.^[8]^[9]

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

Input

In-game control settings

Withaven II uses scancodes to represent different keys inside CONTROLS.CFG. An exhaustive list of keys and their codes can be found here.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Using `setup.exe` or CONTROLS.CFG.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse acceleration
Mouse input in menus
Keyboard and mouse prompts
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support		Must be configured first.
Controller remapping		Using `setup.exe` or CONTROLS.CFG.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion		Support for the Logitech Wingman only.

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

DirectInput-compatible controllers

PlayStation controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Nintendo controllers

Tracked motion controllers		The V2.0f patch by Capstone adds VFX1 cyberpuck support. Configure in CONTROLS.CFG
Button/gesture prompts

Other controller(s)		Logitech Wingman
Additional button prompts

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

Audio

In-game sound settings. Includes jukebox feature

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Music, Effects
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		For DOSBox change the `priority` background value in the DOSBox configuration file.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Players	Notes
Local play
LAN play	16	Versus, Co-op Uses IPX protocol
Online play	16	Versus, Co-op Use Classic Gaming Arena

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Self-hosting		IPX

VR Support

Headset	Native	Notes
Forte VFX1		Supported in version 2.0f. Type `WH2 VFX1` to use.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
DOS video modes	SVGA, SVGA (VESA), VGA, MCGA

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	Sound Operating System
Cutscenes	Smacker Video Technology

Modding

Map Editing

The Build map editor was included on the CD. It is tailored to Witchaven II and does not work with Witchaven 1. Uses map version 7.
The Horror Back adds ten new levels to Wichaven II (download).

Texture packs

Witchaven upscale texture pack by Phredeeke Original Witchaven II textures refined using a generalized adversarial network. Designed for BuildGDX.

System requirements

DOS
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	5.0
Processor (CPU)	Intel 486DX2 66 MHz	Intel Pentium 100
System memory (RAM)	8 MB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	62 MB
Video card (GPU)	SuperVGA, VESA, VGA

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	7, 8.1	10
Processor (CPU)	Dual Core
System memory (RAM)	2 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	2 GB
Video card (GPU)	512 MB of VRAM	1 GB of VRAM

Notes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 File/folder structure within the installation folder reflects the path(s) listed for DOS game data.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1
Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/1655430/.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (1655430) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

References

↑ The Summer Sale splashes onto the scene with groovy game deals! - GOG.com - last accessed on 2021-06-09
↑ lesbird.github.io - last accessed on 9 June 2023
↑ Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance on GOG.com - last accessed on 2021-06-09
↑ Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance on Steam - last accessed on 2021-06-09
↑ PREF.DAT (Witchaven) - ModdingWiki - last accessed on 2025-08-15
↑ MAP Format (Build) - ModdingWiki - last accessed on 2025-08-15
↑ DAT Format (Witchaven savegame) - ModdingWiki - last accessed on 2025-08-15
↑ http://forums.r-t-c-m.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1&hilit=frames&start=10#p72
↑ http://forums.r-t-c-m.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1&hilit=frames&start=20#p79

[DOSBox_mounted-5] 1.0 ^1.1 File/folder structure within the installation folder reflects the path(s) listed for DOS game data.

[Proton_path_note-6] 2.0 ^2.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/1655430/.
Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
The app ID (1655430) may differ in some cases.
Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[3] File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.

[4] Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/1655430/.

[5] Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.

[6] The app ID (1655430) may differ in some cases.

[7] Treat backslashes as forward slashes.

[8] See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[1] The Summer Sale splashes onto the scene with groovy game deals! - GOG.com - last accessed on 2021-06-09

[2] sbird.github.io - last accessed on 9 June 2023

[3] Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance on GOG.com - last accessed on 2021-06-09

[4] Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance on Steam - last accessed on 2021-06-09

[7] PREF.DAT (Witchaven) - ModdingWiki - last accessed on 2025-08-15

[8] MAP Format (Build) - ModdingWiki - last accessed on 2025-08-15

[9] DAT Format (Witchaven savegame) - ModdingWiki - last accessed on 2025-08-15

[10] ttp://forums.r-t-c-m.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1&hilit=frames&start=10#p72

[11] ttp://forums.r-t-c-m.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1&hilit=frames&start=20#p79

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[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[5]

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Developers

	Capstone Software
Publishers
United States	IntraCorp
Europe	U.S. Gold
Spain	Proein S.L.
Digital	SNEG
Engines
	Build
Release dates
DOS	May 6, 1996
Windows (DOSBox)	June 9, 2021^[1]
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, FPS
Art styles	Digitized, Realistic
Themes	Fantasy
Series	Witchaven