Anachronox

Anachronox is a singleplayer third-person RPG and JRPG game.

General information

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc DRM^{[Note 1]}.^[3]
Amazon.com
GOG.com
Green Man Gaming
Humble Store
Steam		Can be played without Steam running.^[4]

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).

Demo

A demo can be downloaded on Mod DB.

Essential improvements

Patches

Unofficial patches

These patches are only needed for retail versions; the GOG.com and Steam versions are already patched.

Fixes several issues and improves some areas of the game. Digital versions of the game already include this patch.

Build 44 to Build 45

The first patch has to be installed beforehand, following the second patch. Digital versions of the game already include this patch.

Fixes multiple issues with the game.

Alternate download link

Build 45 to Build 46

Fixes even more issues with the game. Digital versions of the game already include this patch.

Alternate download link

Mods

Widescreen fix

Includes premade files for common widescreen resolutions, as well as a patcher for custom resolutions.

Breaks the Hive Ship section of the game. Make backups of the original anox.exe and ref_gl.dll before replacing them, so the original files can be used during that section.

Graphical Enhancements (Restores broken effects)

Fixes broken partial transparency effects, restores 3D signs at Bricks and fixes music overlapping in some cutscenes (See Sounds and Fixes)

A version including AI (ESRGAN) upscaled textures is also available.

For compatibility with Sounds and Fixes mod, don't copy over the contents of the scripts folder.

Sounds and fixes

Restores sounds for objects missing them due to bugs.

Also adds sounds to cutscenes where relevant to help them not feel as empty when things happen in them (using sounds found in the game files).

Install after Graphical Enhancements as this mod already fixes the said music overlap issues.

Game data

Official setup utility.

Launcher and setup utility for unofficial patches.

General in-game settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\anoxdata\CONFIGS\^{[Note 2]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/242940/pfx/^{[Note 3]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\anoxdata\SAVE\^{[Note 2]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/242940/pfx/^{[Note 3]}

9 save slots available.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

Video settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution		See the WSGF Anachronox files.
Multi-monitor		See the WSGF Anachronox files.
Ultra-widescreen		See the WSGF Anachronox files.
4K Ultra HD		See the WSGF Anachronox files.
Field of view (FOV)	Option called "camera distance" available in the in-game options.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS	Frame rate is capped at 125 FPS.
High dynamic range display (HDR)	See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Arrow keys can be used for movement without needing to be bound. Many commands cannot be rebound.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion		From the settings menu in game only
Controller
Controller support

Audio

Audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Ambient, interface, cinematic and music.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		EAX 1.0^[5]

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Czech
French
German				Fan translation, [11].
Italian				Fan translation, download.
Russian				Fan translation, download.
Spanish				Fan translation by Clan Dlan (authors: Memnoch, darkpadawan, L@Zar0), download.

Issues unresolved

3D sound on modern systems

3D sound is unsupported on modern systems. As the in-game implementation is quite buggy and causes crashes even on systems with 3D sound support, the feature has been removed from the GOG and Steam versions.

Issues fixed

Couldn't load renderer

Install DirectX 9.0c end-user runtimes^{[citation needed]}

Install nGlide^{[citation needed]}
Install the nGlide wrapper.

Low frame rate / stuttering

Set Threaded Optimization to Off in NVIDIA Control Panel^[6]
Go to the NVIDIA Control Panel. Go to "Manage 3D settings" section. Enter in "Program settings" section. Add the game's exe (anox.exe). Set the `Threaded Optimization` to Off.

Create Config.ini^[7]

Go to %APPDATA%\GOG\.
Enter the Anachronox folder. Create the folder if it doesn't exist.
Create the file config.ini and edit it with the following:

[Misc]
Fps=200

If 200 does not work, try a higher value or lower down to 59.

Force Vsync^[8]^[9]

Install QindieGL^[10]
Download and extract QindieGL, an OpenGL wrapper. Older releases here Copy `opengl32.dll` and paste it to `<path-to-game>`. Click on `QindieGL-setup.reg` and add to the registry.

Run as the game as administrator^[11]

Run the game in Windows 98 / ME compatibility mode^[12]^[13]

Turn off 3D sound^[14]
Open `GCT Setup.exe`. Under 3D Sound Options, choose "Off" from the pull down menu. Click Save.

Use integrated graphics^[15]

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
OpenGL	1.1
Glide		WickedGL was added in the build 44 patch.

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	Miles Sound System, A3D, DirectSound 3D, RSX 3D	A3D 2.0

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95 OSR2	98, ME, 2000
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium II 266 MHz	Intel Pentium III AMD Athlon
System memory (RAM)	64 MB	128 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	1 GB
Video card (GPU)	12 MB of VRAM OpenGL 1.1 compatible DirectX 7 compatible	16 MB of VRAM

Notes

↑ SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10^[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.^[2]
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 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).
↑ ^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>/242940/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (242940) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References

↑ Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
↑ Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16
↑ redump.org • Anachronox • Disc 2 - last accessed on 9 June 2023
↑ Verified by User:Vetle on 2016-03-20
↑ Ion Storm Blasts Into The Realm Of Environmental Audio - Creative Asia (retrieved) - last accessed on May 2023
↑ [1]
↑ [2]
↑ [3]
↑ [4]
↑ [5]
↑ [6]
↑ [7]
↑ [8]
↑ [9]
↑ [10]

[3] SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10^[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.^[2]

[gamedir-6] 2.0 ^2.1 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).

[Proton_path_note-7] 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>/242940/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (242940) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

[1] Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16

[2] Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16

[4] redump.org • Anachronox • Disc 2 - last accessed on 9 June 2023

[5] Verified by User:Vetle on 2016-03-20

[8] Ion Storm Blasts Into The Realm Of Environmental Audio - Creative Asia (retrieved) - last accessed on May 2023

[9] [1]

[10] [2]

[11] [3]

[12] [4]

[13] [5]

[14] [6]

[15] [7]

[16] [8]

[17] [9]

[18] [10]

[Note 1]

[3]

[4]

[Note 2]

[Note 3]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[1]

[2]

Developers

	Ion Storm
Publishers
2001-2009	Eidos Interactive
2009-present	Square Enix
Retail (Australia)	Infogrames
Retail re-release	Sold Out Software
Engines
	id Tech 2
Release dates
Windows	June 27, 2001
Reception
Metacritic	77
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time, Turn-based
Perspectives	Third-person
Genres	RPG, JRPG
Themes	Cyberpunk, Sci-fi