How to FAQ

Answers to frequently asked questions and notes about Serious Sam Classics Patch.

Which games are supported?

The patch supports all latest versions of Serious Sam games on Serious Engine 1:

• Serious Sam: The First Encounter v1.05 (including Steam version)
  • Build archives starting with TFE1.05.
• Serious Sam: The Second Encounter v1.05
  • Build archives starting with TSE1.05.
• Serious Sam: The Second Encounter v1.07 (including Steam version)
  • Build archives starting with TSE1.07.

How to launch the game with the patch?

Classics Patch can be launched by either using executables that ship with it (filenames ending with _Custom.exe, e.g. SeriousSam_Custom.exe) or by starting the "Serious Sam [Classics Patch]" mod from the Mods menu in-game.

Alternatively, you can make the game start with the patch automatically by following these steps:

1. Navigate to the game's installation directory (in Steam: right click on a game -> Manage -> Browse local files; or inside steamapps/common within the Steam library folder).
2. Go to the Bin folder and backup original SeriousSam.exe file somewhere.
3. Rename SeriousSam_Custom.exe into SeriousSam.exe.

After that Steam or any shortcut to the game will start the patch instead of the vanilla game. Same can be done to SeriousEditor.exe.

How to uninstall the patch?

You don't really have to uninstall anything because all vanilla executable files still work as intended.

To know whether or not you're still playing with the patch, type PatchInfo() into console to verify it. You can also type ListPlugins() to see which plugins are loaded. Such commands don't exist in vanilla games.

The patch still replaces a couple of files, which need to be removed in order to truly uninstall the patch. These files are:

• Bin/EngineGUI.dll - This primarily implements the patch into the tools, i.e. Serious Editor, Serious Modeler and Serious SKA Studio.
  • The original library is bundled with the patch as EngineGUI_OG.dll. Rename it to EngineGUI.dll to restore it.
• Bin/Shaders.dll - This fixes issues related to rendering of SKA models and its shaders for The Second Encounter v1.07. If you start the vanilla game, this library will still take effect as soon as at least one SKA model is loaded in any way. It won't actually add any patch-related features, only fix rendering of SKA models.
  • The original library is bundled with the patch as Shaders_OG.dll. Rename it to Shaders.dll to restore it.

Other files that you may also want to remove are:

• Within the Bin directory:
  • ClassicsCore.dll and ClassicsPatches.dll.
  • Any file that ends with a _Custom suffix before the extension.
  • Any .dll file in the Plugins directory.
• Within the game directory:
  • SE1_ClassicsPatch.gro in the root directory.

Does it fix issues with VSync, refresh rate and other graphical wackiness?

Unforunately, no. These issues arise from something deep inside the engine itself. And even if it's somehow possible to fix them from the outside, it will require too much effort. Plus, I'm no expert in this field.

Why is The First Encounter campaign from Revolution and not from the original game?

Because Serious Sam: Revolution has been mounted to the game, which is prioritized over The First Encounter.

To solve this, temporarily unmount Revolution by changing its path to an invalid one (e.g. by adding "1" at the end) and restart the game. Workshop path can remain the same.

Currently I don't know how to prioritize The First Encounter campaign over the Revolution one if both games are mounted.

What are "Gameplay extensions"?

It's right there in the name. A set of new options for customizing gameplay experience in exchange for compatibility with vanilla.

When gameplay extensions are enabled ("Enable extensions" setting or gex_bEnable command), it makes launched servers, saved games and recorded demos unplayable without the patch. All clients have to install the same version of the patch as the server in order to play together.

How to change player's field of view in multiplayer?

If you wish to change player's FOV in any gamemode, you can use new sam_fCustomFOV and sam_fThirdPersonFOV commands instead of plr_fFOV.

These commands have a smaller FOV range than the vanilla command, so if you still want to have a closer zoom in Cooperative gamemode, set the commands above to -1 and keep using the plr_fFOV command instead.

Heads-up display is too big!

If HUD elements seem too big and overlap with other elements, consider scaling the HUD down using the hud_fScaling command. The value of 0.75 is usually good enough, even for 21:9 resolutions.

Why is the custom mod for v1.05 incomplete?

Short answer: The Second Encounter v1.07 has the most advanced entity logic out of any classic Serious Sam game available for PC.

Long answer: The mod is based primarily on the SDK for The Second Encounter v1.07. It includes the latest features and content out of all classic Serious Sam games. It's not feasible to maintain entity logic for different engine versions, especially when its content will remain the same between games. The point of this mod is to build upon existing content and fix the most relevant issues.

Moreover, since Classics Patch supports mounting of The First Encounter content for The Second Encounter, you are able to experience any and all content for Classics in one place, like in Serious Sam Classics: Revolution or Serious Sam Fusion 2017. Aside from mods with custom libraries, which are not compatible with this mod anyway.

The game displays an error instead of starting!

If you get an error that says something along the lines of "Cannot set function patch..." upon game start, first make sure that you've installed the patch for the right game version. You can see the engine version of the game in the top right corner in the main menu (typically v1.05 or v1.07).

There are a couple of things you can try to solve it:

1. Restart your machine.
2. Locate SeriousSam_Custom.exe, right click on it and go to "Properties" -> "Compatibility" tab. Change the state of the "Disable fullscreen optimizations" checkbox and press OK.

If the error persists, you might want to report it. Set DebugPatcher property to 1 in the patch config file and run the game again. This will display patcher actions in the log file (e.g. SeriousSam_Custom.log) in the root game directory. You can upload the log file when you submit a new issue.