Archimedean Dynasty

Archimedean Dynasty

Developers
	Massive Development
Publishers
1996-2001	Blue Byte Software
2001-present	Ubisoft
Release dates
DOS	November 1996
Windows (DOSBox)	July 30, 2015
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Shooter, Vehicle combat
Vehicles	Naval/watercraft
Themes	Post-apocalyptic, Sci-fi
Series	AquaNox

AquaNox
Archimedean Dynasty	1996
AquaNox	2001
AquaNox 2: Revelation	2003
Aquanox: Deep Descent	2020

Archimedean Dynasty (also known as Schleichfahrt) is a vehicle combat game developed by now defunct Massive Development and published by then independent German developer and publisher Blue Byte Software. The game features light role-playing elements, such as basic dialog choices and vehicle customisation and is set in post-nuclear world where humans had escaped to deep underwater to avoid deadly post-nuclear radiation.

The game was released in 1996 in Germany, and in the US the following year. Being a late DOS game, the game supports 3DFX acceleration and graphics cards via a separate patch.

After being unavailable for purchase for many years since the initial release, the game was eventually re-released on GOG on July 30, 2015.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions

GOG.com Support Page

DOSBox Wiki

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Run in DOSBox.
GOG.com		Pre-packaged with DOSBox SVN Daum.
Ubisoft Store

Essential improvements

Patches

The latest official patch 1.120 is available at soggi.org as well as the official 3dfx patch.

The GOG.com version is already patched.

Since 2013 there is an unofficial Patch called "Augmented Mod" available for the English & German version. Fixes dozens of bugs but also tweaks the game and difficulty significantly.

Installing patch 1.120
Download a patch (see Patches). Unzip it to the folder, where you've installed Archimedean Dynasty. Notes To make operation easier - in DOSBox use a front-end, like DBGL.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
DOS
Windows	<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)

Save game data location

System	Location
DOS	<path-to-game>\DAT\SAVE
Windows	<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Ubisoft Connect

Video

Vectorgraphic options

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		This game runs only in 640x480.
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

Input

Input settings

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Press H for a list of keys.
Mouse acceleration		Mouse is only used for navigating menus.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		See Ship turns in one direction when joystick is enabled.
Full controller support
Controller remapping		For DOSBox use the DOSBox Mapper (see the glossary page for other workarounds).
Controller sensitivity		In-game settings are for configuring joystick dead-zones.
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

DualShock 4 controllers
DualShock button prompts
Light bar support
Connection modes	unknown

Generic/other controllers
Button prompts

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M		Due to game's design, where joystick is limited to 4 buttons, keyboard inputs are also required.

Audio

Sound settings

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Only master volume setting and a toggle for music are available.
Surround sound
Subtitles
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

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Russian				Unofficial localization by «DiSoft»

Issues fixed

Slow mouse cursor

Use Mouse2KV
Extract Mouse2KV into the installation folder. Run the game using MOUSE2KV.EXE 640 480 8 8 AD.EXE Notes When using a Front-end like DBGL, set MOUSE2KV.EXE as a launch file and add 640 480 8 8 AD.EXE to launch parameters.

Ship turns in one direction when joystick is enabled

Change joystick timing setting
Edit the game's DOSBox configuration file. 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.

Other information

Movie settings

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Glide	2
DOS video modes	SVGA

System requirements

DOS

Windows

DOS
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	MS-DOS 5.0
Processor (CPU)	80486DX2 100 MHz
System memory (RAM)	8 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	40 MB
Video card (GPU)	SVGA, High Color