Chrome

This page is for the 2003 shooter game. For the web browser, see List of games available on Chrome Web Store.

Chrome
Developers

	Techland
Publishers
Poland	Techland
France, United Kingdom	Gathering of Developers
Russia	1C Company
United States	Strategy First
Digital	Meridian4
Engines
	Chrome Engine 1
Release dates
Windows	June 16, 2003
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	FPS, Shooter, Action, Stealth
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Sci-fi, Space
Series	Chrome

Chrome
Chrome	2003
Chrome SpecForce	2005

Contents 1 Availability 1.1 Demo 2 Essential improvements 2.1 Patches 2.2 Visual fidelity (unofficial patch) 2.3 Limit FPS 3 Game data 3.1 Configuration file(s) location 3.2 Save game data location 3.3 Save game cloud syncing 4 Video 4.1 Widescreen resolution 4.2 Field of view (FOV) 5 Input 6 Audio 6.1 Localizations 6.1.1 Uncensor German 2003 release 7 Network 7.1 Multiplayer types 7.2 Connection types 8 VR support 9 Issues 9.1 Advanced Battlegrounds installation problem 9.2 Error 1309 when installing from disk ("Error reading from file...") 9.3 Environmental sound (rain etc.) disappears 9.4 Can no longer shoot or jump 9.5 Problems with several GPUs (MSHybrid / Nvidia Optimus) 10 Other information 10.1 API 11 System requirements 12 Notes 13 References

Key points

The game was re-released in 2004 as Advanced Battlegrounds: The Future of Combat (known in Europe as Chrome: Gold Edition).^[1]

The game includes a level editor, detailed editor tutorial and Java source code that can be recompiled to change the game logic and settings.

Unofficial Patch is available which provides easy ways to adjust for widescreen, FOV etc.

Limit frame rate or apply VSync on fast systems.

General information

Steam Community Discussions

Manual

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM 4 DRM in the English release. StarForce 3 DRM^{[Note 1]} in the Russian release. Custom DRM in the Polish release.
Steam (unavailable)
Amazon.com (unavailable)
Amazon.com (unavailable)
GamersGate (unavailable)

StarForce DRM for this game does not work on modern versions of Windows (see above for affected versions).

This game is no longer available digitally.

Demo

A demo can be downloaded from here or here.

Essential improvements

Patches

Install patch 1.1.3.0_v2, followed by patch 1.1.3.0_v2 to 1.2.0.0. Advanced Battlegrounds: The Future of Combat (Chrome: Gold Edition) is already patched to latest version.

Visual fidelity (unofficial patch)

A set of widescreen, FOV, HUD and text rendering fixes for Chrome and Chrome SpecForce. Enables native support for higher resolutions and Hor+ FOV. Also includes files to disable mouse acceleration, LOD switching and increase draw distance. Download from Mod DB.

Limit FPS

You should limit the FPS to 60, otherwise problems can arise, like "slippery / sliding" movement.^[6]^[7]^[8] Use a tool like Rivatuner Statistics Server or your GPU tool for that and apply a 60 FPS limit on ChromeSingle.exe. Alternatively, force VSync if it leads to the same outcome for your monitor.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Data\^{[Note 2]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/46420/pfx/^{[Note 3]}

AudioSettings.scr contains audio settings.

Controller.scr contains mouse and controller settings.

VideoSettings.scr contains video settings.

UserControls.scr contains key mapping settings.

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Save\^{[Note 2]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/46420/pfx/^{[Note 3]}

Each save uses multiple files.

4 quicksaves and 10 manual saves.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud

Video

Video settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution		Use Unofficial Patch or see Widescreen resolution.
Multi-monitor		Use Unofficial Patch or see Widescreen resolution.
Ultra-widescreen		Use Unofficial Patch or see Widescreen resolution.
4K Ultra HD		Use Unofficial Patch or see Widescreen resolution.
Field of view (FOV)	Use Unofficial Patch or see Field of view (FOV).
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed	Run in window mode and use Borderless Gaming.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	Set in `<path-to-game>\VideoSettings.scr` or use unofficial patch to enable it in the options menu. Force in the graphics card control panel for highest quality.
Anti-aliasing (AA)	Use dgVoodoo2.
High-fidelity upscaling	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)	Disabled by default. Must be set individually for each executable in graphics card control panel (chromesingle.exe for SP and chromenet.exe for MP). Use D3Doverrider or SpecialK if it can't be forced using the graphics card control panel.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS	No frame rate cap. Excessively high frame rate (over 200) can result in delayed player movement responsiveness and sliding on terrain. See limit FPS.^[6]^[7]^[8]

The below workarounds for widescreen and FOV are unnecessary when using the Unofficial Patch which already incorporates these options.

Widescreen resolution

Set resolution in VideoSettings.scr^[9]
Go to the installation folder. Edit `VideoSettings.scr`. Change the `Resolution` values to the width and height of the resolution you want. Save your changes and close the file. Notes Unofficial patch is available that makes the game support all available resolutions and displays them in the options menu. It also fixes stretching of some HUD elements.

Set resolution in VideoSettings.scr^[9]

Go to the installation folder.
Edit VideoSettings.scr.
Change the Resolution values to the width and height of the resolution you want.
Save your changes and close the file.

Notes

Unofficial patch is available that makes the game support all available resolutions and displays them in the options menu. It also fixes stretching of some HUD elements.

Field of view (FOV)

Instructions^[10]
Open `<path-to-game>\code.pak` with 7-Zip or similar. Extract `CameraPlayer.class` file. Open `CameraPlayer.class` using dirtyJOE(Java editor) and in the `constant pool` tab find and replace the following values: 82 - first person perspective 60 - third person perspective 75 - vehicles, sniper, binoculars... Drop the edited file inside the `<path-to-game>\code.pak` archive to replace the existing file. Notes Edited files can be downloaded from WSGF. `<path-to-game>\codenet.pak` contains settings for the multiplayer and the same method can be used. Unofficial patch is available that changes FOV from Vert- to Hor+ and gives more options to edit different FOV settings.

Instructions^[10]

Open <path-to-game>\code.pak with 7-Zip or similar.
Extract CameraPlayer.class file.
Open CameraPlayer.class using dirtyJOE(Java editor) and in the constant pool tab find and replace the following values:
1. 82 - first person perspective
2. 60 - third person perspective
3. 75 - vehicles, sniper, binoculars...
Drop the edited file inside the <path-to-game>\code.pak archive to replace the existing file.

Notes

Edited files can be downloaded from WSGF.

<path-to-game>\codenet.pak contains settings for the multiplayer and the same method can be used.

Unofficial patch is available that changes FOV from Vert- to Hor+ and gives more options to edit different FOV settings.

Input

Input settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		On by default. Unofficial patch includes recompiled `Player.class` file that disables it (put it inside `<path-to-game>\code.pak` and `<path-to-game>\codenet.pak` archives).
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support

Audio

Audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Music and FX.
Surround sound		5.0
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		Disabled by default.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
German				Original German release is censored but can be made uncut, see below.
Hungarian				Local Retail version only, but can be downloaded from here. Also a fan translation is available.
Polish
Russian				Available here.
Spanish

Uncensor German 2003 release

The version released in Germany in 2003 in censored (blood, bullet wounds and ragdoll removed). The German version of the Gold Edition, which was released in Germany in 2005, is uncut.^[11] To make the original 2003 German release uncut, follow these steps:

Remove censorship^[11]
Install the German Patch 1.1.3.0. Install the International Patch 1.2.0.0. Go to `<path-to-game>\Data\LocalizedStrings.scr`, edit it with a texteditor and change `Locale("German")` into `Locale("english")`. Now the censorship is removed.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		32
Online play		32

Connection types

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

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
vorpX		G3D User created game profile, see vorpx forum profile introduction.

Issues

Advanced Battlegrounds installation problem

The installation process fails with "Error 2711" message.

The game refuses to install if original Chrome is already installed on the computer^[12]
Uninstall original Chrome. Install Advanced Battlegrounds.

Error 1309 when installing from disk ("Error reading from file...")

CD 2 has to replace CD 1 in the same drive
Don't put / mount both CDs in different drives or at the same time. Start by inserting / mounting only disk 1. After installation from disk 1 is finished, eject it and put disk 2 into the same drive (same letter) to finish installation.

CD 2 has to replace CD 1 in the same drive

Don't put / mount both CDs in different drives or at the same time.

Start by inserting / mounting only disk 1.
After installation from disk 1 is finished, eject it and put disk 2 into the same drive (same letter) to finish installation.

Environmental sound (rain etc.) disappears

Quicksave and reload.

Can no longer shoot or jump

Drop weapon
Drop your weapon (assign a key to it in the options menu) and then pick it back up. This should fix the problem.

Problems with several GPUs (MSHybrid / Nvidia Optimus)

On a system that runs both an integrated Intel GPU and a dedicated GPU (with a system like MSHybrid / Nvidia Optimus), the game might steadfastly refuse to recognize the dedicated GPU, even when set in the GPU control center.

Deactivate Intel GPU
The integrated GPU has to be deactivated (set to "Discrete" on MSHybrid) for the game to use the dedicated GPU.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	8

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows			Initial game version has just Chrome.exe, patch 1.2.0.0 split it up into ChromeSingle.exe (singleplayer) and ChromeNet.exe (multiplayer).

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	98, ME, 2000, XP
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium III 800 MHz	Intel Pentium 4 1.5 GHz
System memory (RAM)	256 MB	512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	2 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 2 MX ATI Radeon 7000 chipset 32 MB of VRAM DirectX 8.1 compatible	Nvidia GeForce 4 ATI Radeon 9000 chipset 64 MB of VRAM

Notes

↑ This version of StarForce DRM does not work on Windows Vista or later.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] For supported versions of Windows the StarForce driver may need to be updated manually using SFUPDATE.
↑ ^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>/46420/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (46420) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.