Afterlife

This page is for the 1996 LucasArts game. For the 2019 Signal Space Lab game, see Afterlife (2019).

Key points

The Windows version (patched to 1.1 by GOG.com) can support modern resolutions (such as 1920x1080) with INI tweaks.

The Windows version has issues on modern systems. The DOS version (on the same CD or sold separately) works perfectly in DOSBox.

Retail version requires the CD to uninstall the game.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Disc check (see Run without the CD).
GOG.com		DOS version pre-packaged with DOSBox.^[2]
Steam		DOS version pre-packaged with DOSBox.

Essential improvements

Patches

Afterlife 8-bit Sound Update fixes compatibility with 8-bit sound cards

Run without the CD

Copy CD contents to hard drive^{[citation needed]}
Do a full install of the game. Copy the CD contents to a new folder. Edit the configuration file (`afterdos.ini` for DOS version, `alife.ini` for Windows version). Change the `CD Path` line to point to the CD folder. Save your changes and close the file. The game will now run without the CD.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
DOS	<path-to-game>\ALIFE\AFTERDOS.INI
Windows	<path-to-game>\ALIFE.INI^{[Note 1]} <path-to-game>\ALIFE\AFTERDOS.INI^{[Note 1]}
Mac OS (Classic)
macOS (OS X)	<path-to-game>/ALIFE/AFTERDOS.INI<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)^{[Note 2]}
Linux	<path-to-game>/ALIFE/AFTERDOS.INI<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)^{[Note 2]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/557240/pfx/^{[Note 3]}

This game does not follow the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux.

Save game data location

System	Location
DOS	<path-to-game>\SAVE
Windows	<path-to-game>\SAVE^{[Note 1]}
Mac OS (Classic)
macOS (OS X)	<path-to-game>/SAVE <path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)^{[Note 2]}
Linux	<path-to-game>/SAVE <path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)^{[Note 2]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/557240/pfx/^{[Note 3]}

Save data location can be changed in configuration file.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

INI Settings for Afterlife, found in ALIFE.INI.

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		See Widescreen resolution.
Multi-monitor		Pixel-based scaling. A low resolution may be required, as many multimonitor resolutions may cause a crash on launch. See Widescreen resolution.
Ultra-widescreen		See Widescreen resolution.
4K Ultra HD		DOS version will crash at resolutions higher than 1024x768.
Field of view (FOV)		Isometric.
Windowed		For DOSBox toggle with `Alt`+`↵ Enter` (see the glossary page for other workarounds).
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Windows 9x version only. See the glossary page for possible solutions when using DOSBox.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Uses 2D sprites.
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Vertical sync (Vsync)		For DOSBox use an unofficial build (see the glossary page for other workarounds).
60 FPS		70 FPS cap in DOS version.
120+ FPS

Widescreen resolution

Both the DOSBox and Win9x releases of Afterlife have an INI that can be tweaked beyond the game's basic options.

Set custom resolution (Windows 9x release)

Open the configuration file, <path-to-game>\ALIFE.INI.
Set the resolution field as desired, and save the document.

Notes

DOSBox can be similarly tweaked by using the DOS configuration file.

This tweak can cause minor glitches with the LucasArts intro video.

The Windows 9x release can crash immediately after the intro video with extremely high resolutions.

The DOSBox version crashes on widescreen resolutions and anything higher than 1024x768.

Input

Gameplay options (located under Global > Misc. Options).

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		For DOSBox use the DOSBox Mapper (see the glossary page for other workarounds).
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity		For DOSBox set in the DOSBox configuration file.
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		In some cases, it is possible to emulate a mouse using a gamepad and external program.

Audio

Audio Settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Options are located on the toolbar at the top of the screen. It can also be accessed by pressing `F9`.
Surround sound
Subtitles		Intro cutscene plays without subtitles.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French				Audio available only in retail version.
German				Retail and GOG.com only.
Italian
Brazilian Portuguese				Retail only (BraSoft).
Spanish

Issues fixed

Tutorial in Windows 95 version is broken

Under Windows 7 64-bit, the tutorial window may appear with nothing else available. Any user input will show a dialog box saying the tutorial was completed.

Run the game in Windows 95 compatibility mode

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
DOS video modes	SVGA

Executable	PPC	16-bit	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
Mac OS (Classic)

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	iMuse	Used to procedurally generate music based on events and what is being viewed on screen. Can create some issues on 8-bit sound cards, see Patches.

System requirements

DOS
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	MS-DOS 6.0
Processor (CPU)	Intel 486DX2 66 MHz or better	Intel Pentium
System memory (RAM)	8 MB	16 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	16 MB
Video card (GPU)	256-color SVGA-compatible

Windows
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	95
Processor (CPU)
System memory (RAM)
Hard disk drive (HDD)	300 MB

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	10.7.0
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GHz or better
System memory (RAM)	1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	300 MB
Video card (GPU)	64 MB of VRAM

Linux
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	Ubuntu 14.04 / Linux Mint 17
Processor (CPU)	2.0 GHz or better
System memory (RAM)	1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	300 MB
Video card (GPU)	OpenGL-compatible 256 MB of VRAM

Notes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 File/folder structure within the installation folder reflects the path(s) listed for DOS game data.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/557240/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (557240) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Release: Afterlife ● GOG.com
↑ Release: Afterlife, page 2 - Forum - GOG.com - last accessed on May 2023

[gamedir-3] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

[DOSBox_mounted-4] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 File/folder structure within the installation folder reflects the path(s) listed for DOS game data.

[Proton_path_note-5] 3.0 ^3.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/557240/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (557240) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

[GOG.com-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Release: Afterlife ● GOG.com

[2] Release: Afterlife, page 2 - Forum - GOG.com - last accessed on May 2023

[1]

[2]

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[Note 3]

Developers

	LucasArts
Release dates
DOS	June 27, 1996
Windows	June 27, 1996
Mac OS (Classic)	1996
Windows (DOSBox)	April 9, 2015^[1]
macOS (OS X) (DOSBox)	April 9, 2015^[1]
Linux (DOSBox)	April 9, 2015^[1]
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Bird's-eye view, Isometric
Controls	Point and select
Genres	Strategy, Business
Art styles	Cartoon
Themes	Comedy