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Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory FAQ
by DG
If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find it, maybe you can use the Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory Frequently Asked Questions. There's lots of pointers for help with not only the most common problems, but anything I could be bothered writing down at the time - which means there's probably lots of useful stuff you didn't know you needed.
If you don't actually have ET yet, you can download the full thing for free - legally! It is a completely free, standalone game - it does not require RTCW at all.
Don't be too surprised if some of the links to other sites no longer work, this document started life early on in the days of ET. If you can't find what you're looking for here, it may be worth trying the RTCW FAQ, since the two Wolfenstein games share rather a lot of code, fans and so on.
Contents
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory
ET Quick Start Guide
There's two options, either go with the latest version of ET (v2.60) and stick with standard up-to-date ET, or stay with the older version (v1.02, a.k.a. v2.53) for now where mods like ETPro will work. The actual mod status with the new ET 2.60 version is unclear at time of writing, most mods appear to be fine, while others arent. Clan wars are currently being played on the older version with ETPro.
ET 2.60: Windows users need to download the original ET installer and then also the 2.60 update. Linux users just need this full thing, while Mac users just need this full thing. If you prefer to download elsewhere, check this list of Enemy Territory download mirrors. Now you are installed, run the game (ET.exe), go to play a game, and on the server browser page make sure under Filters 'source:' is set to 'internet', and also in the bottom right corner it says "Disable Punkbuster". If it says "Enable Punkbuster", click on it to make it do so. You may wish to then manually update Punkbuster by following the instructions here, this is completely optional though as PB should update itself when you join a game - manual method just saves some lag when it does so.
ET 1.02: Download & install Enemy Territory (Windows, Linux, id FTP, more mirrors), install 1.02 patch (Windows, Linux, id FTP, more mirrors). Run ET.exe, go to play a game, and on the server browser page make sure under Filters 'source:' is set to 'internet', and also in the bottom right corner it says "Disable Punkbuster". If it says "Enable Punkbuster", click on it to make it do so. You may wish to then manually update Punkbuster by following the instructions here, this is completely optional though as PB should update itself when you join a game - manual method just saves some lag when it does so. It is also reccomended that you download the ETPro mod, which simply adds some enhancements to ET (Jolt download mirror).
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About Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory
Gameplay
The fundamental premise of gameplay is that two teams, the Axis & the Allies, fight it out to try and acheive some form of objective to win the map. The final objective is usually for Allies to blow something up, steal some documents or suchlike. On most maps, they will also have optional sub-objectives, the completion of which will help them acheive the final objective. This includes things like capturing spawnpoint flags, or building something to provide access. The objective for the Axis team is simply to try and prevent Allies from completing their final objective within the allocated time. Note their are exceptions, for example on Railgun it is the Axis who are attacking, and Allies defending.
To acheive their goals, players have a variety of weapons to kill each other with, and a variety of player classes in which to provide some specific functions. For example, only the engineer can plant the dynamite to blow things up, while only the medic can heal other players.
Enemy Territory is a respawn type of game - once killed, players automatically rejoin the game at set respawn intervals. Enemy Territory is an arcade action, first person shooter game that is set during WWII, and this is reflected in all aspects of the game.
History
Originally, Enemy Territory was to be a expansion pack for RTCW. Then they decided it was too big a project for an expansion and decided to release it as a seperate game. Then it was realised the singleplayer was too ambitious, and they decided to release it as a expansion pack again, but this time the new multiplayer mode, classes, weapons, maps and so on would be a free addon... But NO! Instead they threw out the requirement of owning RTCW, and hence ET is a completely free, standalone, multiplayer-only game.
ET was released 29th May 2003: You can download the full ET game here. For some game media - reviews, screenshots, movie clip etc - check this page. The official Enemy Territory manual is here, and the ReadMe for the 2.60 patch is here, in case you want to learn more or cant get as far as installing to read them.
Most of the RTCW FAQ will apply to Enemy Territory aswell, since it is in many ways a mod of RTCW and shares much of the same coding, community etc. The ET part of the FAQ focuses only upon things that are specific to ET, so check out the RTCW FAQ aswell.
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Guides, Tippage & Other FAQ's
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Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory Minimum System Requirements
Windows
From the documentation:
Windows® 98/ME/2000/XP OS (Windows NT 4.0 not recommended for clients)
100% Windows® 98/ME/2000/XP compatible system (including all 32bit drivers)
Intel® Pentium® III 600Mhz processor or AMD equivalent
128 MB RAM
32 MB 100% fully OpenGL® compliant 3-D video card
Microsoft® DirectX® 8.1 or higher (not included)
271 MB free hard disk space for game files
500 MB free hard disk space for swap files
100% Microsoft® Windows® compatible keyboard
100% Microsoft® Windows® compatible mouse
100% Microsoft® Windows® compatible sound card
For internet play, 100% Windows® 98/ME/2000/XP compatible 56.6k modem or better internet connection. 56.6k modem play is not recommended for games with more than 8 players total; broadband players should be able to handle up to 32 depending on their connection with the server on which they're playing.
The following video cards were fully tested with Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory:
GeForce 4 Ti 4600
GeForce 4 MX
GeForce 3
GeForce 2 Ultra
GeForce 2 MX
GeForce256
Radeon 8500/64
Radeon 7200/64
Radeon 9700 Pro/128
Xabre 400
More realistically perhaps, for good gaming you'll probably want at least a 1.4ghz processor, 256mb of RAM and at least a Nvidia GeForce3 or ATi 9500 video card, with at least a 64kbit ISDN connection (i.e. 64kbit upstream and 64kbit downstream speeds). Ideally, a faster processor, at least a GeForce 4 ti 4200 video card - ET is largely CPU dependent so emphasis on the CPU - and a Cable or DSL connection of speeds 256kbit down 128kbit up (or faster, of course).
You may well want to ensure your Operating system is running reasonably recent drivers, especially for your video card (the drivers supplied with Windows itself often to not have the OpenGL portion of the driver so you may experience "Could not load OpenGL subsystem" error unless you update; also note to aviod certain specific driver versions).
Linux
For Linux you can assume broadly similar Minimum System Requirements as per Windows, some extra help here.
Macintosh
For Mac, there isn't an official MSR but the one for Mac RTCW suggests the following, but also note the Mac port author has reportedly suggested OSX 10.3 seems to be recommended. As is the norm for game's MSR, the required video card and especially the CPU probably really are the minimum, and not necessarily what's required for a good gaming experience.
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later
CPU Processor: PowerPC G3 or later
CPU Speed: 500MHz or faster
Memory: 256 MB or higher
Hard Disk Space: 600MB free disk space
Video Card (ATI): Radeon 7500 or better
Video Card (NVidia): GeForce2 MX or better
Video Memory (VRam): 32 MB or higher
Media Required: CD Drive
Servers
See the Server Requirements page of the Server Guide, though like the page says, it is simply expanding upon the documentation, and is largely opinion, since solid info is not easily available.
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Coloured Names & Text
To add colours to your name, in the name box type ^ followed by a character to make the following characters the corresponding colour. The colour codes are laregely the same as OSP RTCW, I think the exceptions are "." and "*". The image to the right shows the ET colour codes - actually taken using ETPro mod, which fixes the "%" colour compared to EMain (which see's it as the "." colour). If you need a reminder in-game, you can save this file to your "ETMain" folder and just run it when required (put into the console /exec colours.cfg) - beware sometimes the file might end up being saved as "colours.cfg.txt", in which case remove the ".txt".
There is also the earlier BooZZe Namebuilder, although there can be a bit of a shenanigans as it requires recent Java so if all you get is a grey page, try BOTH of the Java download links at the bottom of the page.
Coloured text/chats are made in exactly the same way.
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What Do the Coloured Pings in the Server Browser Show?
Thanks to McAfee on SplashDamage forums:
Q: I noticed the pings on the server browser can show up in different colors (green, yellow, grey, red). What does this mean??
A: that represents the current CPU load of the server - for example, you might have a good ping but it might still be laggy once you connect because the CPU cant handle all the players
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ET on Linux
id's Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory Linux FAQ
see also: id's Linux Return To Castle Wolfenstein FAQ
Linux Gamers FAQ
- and possibly, thread.
Server Browsing etc: qstat + XQF
Also note these taken from ETPro forum:
Q: "my linux et server is taking 90% cpu even when empty, why?"
A: You have TLS installed, et doesnt like it. Do export LD_ASSUME_KERNEL=2.4.1 before calling etded to fix it.
Q: "my server keeps dying with the message 'ERROR: Info_SetValueForKey: oversize infostring'"
A: Remove all the "sets" commands from your configs.
Q: "I keep getting 'R_AddEntitySurfaces: Bad reType'"
A: Nvidia control panel -> OpenGl Menu -> Vertical Sync -> Always Disabled
Q: "(some stats/logparser program) doesn't work with etpro!"
A: b_logrealtimestamps 0, b_brokenlogtimestamps 1 will make etpro log in the old broken etmain log format that some log analysers expect.
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Advanced Server Guide
Advanced Server Guide (includes RCON)
This guide goes into a lot of depth, there's lots of information here to get people going who know next to nothing on servers, to those who just need to know something specific. Running a 'proper' server takes effort, however.
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Custom Maps
If you Download a '.PK3' file, just place it in your "ETMain" subfolder of your Enemy Territory install. If it downloads as a '.ZIP' file, use a program like WinZip or WinRAR to extract it to the PK3.
Some good places to find custom maps are:
rtcw.co.uk (unfortunately the host Jolt has disabled downloads from non LINX ISPs, so only UK and some Euro players can download)
PCGameMods
RTCWfiles.com
Wildstar
Enemy-Territory.com
ETMaps
Some servers may allow you do download a map you dont have straight from the server, when it rotates to that map. Sometimes this method of downloading can be fast, sometimes it can be slow - it depends on wether the server is setup to let you download from the server or use a http redirect (basically direct the download from a fileserver). Admins can find more information on this in the Server Guide. Players should ensure they have the following set in order to be able to auto download necessary files from the gameserver:
Options > Game > Downloads:
Get missing files from the server [Yes]
Use HTTP/FTP downloads [Yes]
Players who prefer to use the console or edit .cfg can use cl_allowdownload 1 & cl_wwwDownload 1.
Note there is an associated bug with having too many .pk3 files, see .PK3 Count Bug.
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.PK3 Count Bug
There is a bug in the engine which results in problems if you have too many .pk3 files inside etmain folder. The .pk3 files can accrue quite rapidly if you play on servers running custom maps, since you will need to download the custom map file.
Worse, when you join a server running a customised campaign, ET requires the client aswell as the server to have the campaign file. Although the campaign file itself is small, ET will make the client download the entire .PK3 file it is kept in. This can result in players having to download large .pk3 files just for the campaign script, and even if the file is kept small, this adds to the .PK3 count problem. It even appears (!) that when ET loads, it loads all campaign scripts wether they are going to be used or not, so any campaign script kept in the server's etmain folder will result in downloads for players.
The only solution seems to be for mappers to refrain from putting campaign scripts in with their custom maps, servers to remove any custom maps and campaign scripts not actually in use, and for players to remove any unnecessary .PK3 files should the PK3 count bug appear to be causing problems (usually being that ET crashes upon loading). To reduce the issue it would appear wise for server admins to share campaign scripts with each other, so for example frequently used campaign scripts (e.g. 6 map campaign) would not require players to download more files which have essentially the same function.
For player's having problems which may be related, simply remove any excess .pk3 files. A good place to start is removing any .pk3 files from ETMain which are under 200kb, these are likely to be some random public server's campaign file and if ever needed again will be quickly redownloaded. You may also want to remove any old custom maps you no longer play. Can also be worth checking ETPro's folder for small .pk3 files, to remove 'watermark' images some server's use, but try to aviod removing any files that may be associated with custom maps you still play. In ETMain, do not delete pak0.pk3, pak1.pk3, pak2.pk3 or mp_bin.pk3. In ETPro folder, aviod deleting etpro-x_x_x.pk3. And of course, be extremely cautious if you decide to delete any non -.pk3 files.
Maybe more detail on the issue in this Splashdamage thread.
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Mods
this Splashdamage forum post is (at time of writing) a accurate list of modifications for ET. This includes multiplayer-simulation bots.
I strongly reccomend all players download and install ETPro (Wiki), it is by far the most popular ET mod. All it does is continue development on ET, mostly intending to add features to enhance clan play, but there are many features and fixes which make it popular for public server play also.
Another popular "ET enhancement" type mod is Shrubet, although this mod appears to be no longer supported or developed, and the documentation is missing oddly kept on another of the author's sites. A significant upside is that this is a server-side mod and players do not need to download anything. Another mod which is intending to take over from shrub (since shrub is no longer being developed) is ETPub, which also has an unofficial support site. ETAdmin_Mod is another mod server admins might want to look at, since it works with etmain, etpro, and shrubet.
For total conversion modifications, where little of the Enemy Territory game remains except in code, perhaps the main three to watch out for are:
ET:Fortress - a Fortress mod for ET
True Combat: Elite - True Combat for ET, a mix of 'true realism' and 'arcade realism' in a modern setting.
Urban Terror - terrorists vs. anti terrorists, "realism based".
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Recording and Playing Demos, FragMovies
To record a demo, open console and enter /autorecord
To stop recording, open console and enter /stoprecord
If you would prefer to simply press a key and toggle demo recording, download this script and save it to your "ETMain" subfolder. Then edit autoexec.cfg which should be found in your "etmain" folder, and add the line
exec et_demotoggle.cfg
If you dont already have this autoexec.cfg file, simply make a New Text Document (.txt) and rename it to autoexec.cfg (making sure it is not actually now called autoexec.cfg.txt, especially if your windows is set to hide known file type extensions). To create or edit .cfg documents, use Notepad or Wordpad. Note the demo toggle key is currently set as F5 in the script, to use a different key edit the script, it should be fairly obvious.
To playback demo's, run ET and select it from the Replay options screen ingame, noting that if you recorded the demo using a mod you might need to be running that mod in order for the demo to be listed. If you download a demo, save the demo file to "demos" subfolder inside "etmain" - or alternately if ETPro mod has been used, the subfolder should be the "demos" folder inside ETPro. Note if the demo is recorded on a custom map, you must also have that map. If you watch a lot of demo's you may be interested in Seismovision, a demo-viewing program.
You can find other's demos at several places, mostly demo's of clan wars, at places like ET-Center or at league and tournament organiser's websites e.g. TWL, ingame.de, Savage Demos.
If you are having a problem of demo's (or stats or scoresheet screenshots) always being recorded, go top Options>Game>Misc>Auto-Action and set it to "none". alternative way to do the same thing via console command is cg_autoaction 0.
If you would prefer to load demo's via the console instead of the Replay menu, the command is simply
/demo demofilename
For making movies that can be played back in Media Player and suchlike, check out Shaolin Productions. Perhaps an easier alternative is to use programs such as GameCam or FRAPS (I suggest recording them from demo's rather than 'live'), although much more professional results require doing it the hard way. This thread might have a useful movie-making config (maybe worth searching for updated versions?)
To playback downloaded movies, you are likely to need a special video codec - usually the documentation or filename will suggest which one, but the two most popular are DivX and XviD. Media Player Classic can also be very useful if you still have difficulties. Perhaps the two best places to find FragMovies for RTCW and Enemy Territory are Own-Age and sweRTCW, while there's a big thread discussing peoples' favourites on Crossfire.
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ET on "TV"
Update: viewing ETTV guide - now on WolfWiki.
ETTV is a modification that allows anybody to spectate clan matches without actually being on the server the clans are playing on. The purpose is so that you have have dozens, hundreds, thousands or more people all able to watch an exciting match live, without being able to interfere with it or really lag out the server.
To view matches on ETTV, you will need to have installed the mod ETPro, and a server that is broadcasting the match you wish to watch. Then to watch the game, just connect to it in a normal way.
To quickly describe how ETTV works; the match server runs the ETTV mod and relays information about it to onto another server (the broadcast or 'slave' server), where the everybody else can effectively spectate the game as if they were on the match server. Even better infact - since ETTV adds extra features to improve spectating.
ETTV is considered the best method as it requires reasonable server resources (similar or even less per person than if they were just playing on the server), has excellent features and also the viewers can chat to each other (but not to the player's in the match itself, that might interfere with the match).
The official ETTV site is here, but it is currently just a placeholder site - instead check the forums for the author's other mod: ETPro. Another ETTV site is ETTV.org.
There is a second option for viewing live matches, GameCast. Here, broadly what happens is the "cameraman" spectating on the match server records a game demo which is streamed onto a fileserver and the spectators can stream that as a demo file. This is the older method, has much less features than ETTV and uses up a lot more bandwidth.
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Punkbuster
Punkbuster is a anti-cheater program integrated into Enemy Territory. You need to have said OK to install Punkbuster either when installing, and then enable it in the Multiplayer screen. The official PB site is Evenbalance.com; have a read through the documentation for a thorough understanding (can also be found in your wolfenstein/docs/Punkbuster/ folder).
PB can be used to restrict use of cvars (game variables, or settings) to within certain limits - these limits are set by the admins of the particular server, they are not default PB settings. When you join to a server running Punkbuster, after a short time it will display a list of what cvars are being restricted in the console, which you can access by presing the key under Escape (the ` key on UK keyboards). It will show you the list of cvars and the allowed range of settings, aswell as what your current setting is. At the end of the list, it will also tell you how many and which (if any) cvars you are violating. You must then change these cvars to within the allowed range or PB will kick you from the server. You can see that list at any time by typing /pb_cvarlist in the console. In Europe, the ClanBase cvar restrictions are used almost to a standard. You can find some explanation of what PB-enforced Cvars are restricting in this site's server guide. It is unlikely you will be breaching any cvar restrictions if you have only changed settings using the ingame options.
PB's own Suppport FAQ might be useful of you're getting problems or errors with PB. ^
Alternative Server Browsers
Many people prefer to use a 3rd party browser to find multiplayer servers, the most popular programs are:
All Seeing Eye (ASE) (recommended)
GameSpy
Linux: qstat + XQF ^
Running Multiple Versions of Enemy Territory
If you want to be able to run multiple patch versions of Enemy Territory, there are several options available.
Firstly the obvious: just install ET multiple times and patch up as desired - note it may be preferable to copy an existing installation and patch up copies (if you get the following error, click "Setup could not locate a valid installation of..."). If you normally use the ingame server browser, you're done. If you use All-Seeing Eye then load ASE, go to 'version' filter, and right-click on '2.60'. Select 'custom config' and click 'Browse' beside Cmd Line. Point it at the ET install where you patched to 2.60. Repeat for 1.02, obviously pointing it to ET1.02.
Other options may be preffered if you modify configurations often and wish to only need to keep track of one set. This would involve writing batch files to swap in and out the relevant files in a single Enemy Territory installation - here is an example for swapping between version 2.56 (aka 1.02) and version 2.60.
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Screenshots
F11 is the default key for taking a screenshot, and the screenie will appear in .../etmain/screenshots/ folder. If you are running a mod at the time of taking the screenshot however, the file will be created in .../TheModsFolder/screenshots/.
Irfanview is a good and free graphics viewer that can open both the .tga and .jpg screenshot types.
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Your First Clan
How to set up your first clan is "a guide to help anyone thinking of setting up their own clan from scratch, for this first time."
See also FAQ sections: IRC & Wolf, Server Setup Guide & Voice Comms.
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IRC & Wolf
Internet Relay Chat; talk to people over the Internet.
mIRC - IRC chat client/program. You'll be needing this.
NNScript, an addon script to enhance mIRC.
Quakenet FAQ answers the most common questions for the biggest IRC network.
Game Info Bot is an IRC bot with various game related functions.
SuperIP is what it's author thinks is "The ULTIMATE on-line game management system for mIRC"
The forum IRC channel is #rtcw on Quakenet. Another good channel (also on Quakenet) for Enemy Territory fans is #splashdamage.
A warning about IRC - Like practically anything on the internet, IRC should be used sensibly. Excercise caution when considering clicking on URLs, especially if you do not know the person giving them. Do not run any commands unless you trust the person who is giving them, and be warned even URLs or commands being given by trusted people may actually be getting generated by a virus. Just like the rest of the internet, the medium is not dangerous, but ignorantly clicking or doing everything you are told IS. Keep your software updated -- especially Windows and antivirus (AVG is a nice free AV) -- and use a firewall (ZoneAlarm a convenient free one), but mostly just be sensible. ^
Voice Comms
Speak to each other; most clans will use one of these for comms during matches:
Team Speak
Team Sound
Roger Wilco
Ventrilo
Crossfire have a roundup of comms programs. ^
Other ET sites
See the links page
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Tech Problems & Troubleshooting
"Could not load OpenGL subsystem"
The drivers provided with Windows XP do not include the opengl driver. If you see this error message in the 'console box' when trying to run Enemy Territory, 99% of the time, the solution is to install proper drivers, either from the people who made your videocard or the people who designed it - usually NVIDIA or ATI. If you have a normal PC with a normal videocard, I suggest getting the driver from NVIDIA or ATI, as appropriate, but it can be less straightforward with laptops or "videocards" that are built into motherboards. Also see this other topic involving drivers.
After you have updated the video card drivers, rename the etconfig.cfg files, espeically those within your 'profile' folders in the ET install folders (this is so they do not take effect and RTCW makes new ones, whilst also keeping a backup of them).
Some other solutions, many of which seem rather unlikely, see Activision support
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ET Crashes when viewing server list?
If ET crashes whenever you go to view the in game server browser (or when you click on "Play Online"), go to your ET install folder, open "etmain" subfolder and delete the file "servercache.dat" - ET will crash when there's too many servers stored there. Alternatively try a 3rd Party Server Browser
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Empty server list?
If the game wont show any servers in the server list window, first check 'source' is set to 'internet' at the top, yes and check you are actually connected to the internet. It's also worth deleting the servercache.dat file (in the 'etmain' folder), though this will lose you your 'favourites' list of servers. Check the cl_maxping cvar isnt something absurdly low, default is 800 (open the console by pressing the key under ESCape, and put in /cl_maxping 800).
If you have a router and you haven't played before (or someone has been messing with the router), then you might have to mess with the router some more - the same goes for firewalls (make sure UDP is open between 27950-27970). Networking types can try pinging etmaster.idsoftware.com, if there's no response then either it's down or there's problems at your end - either with your setup or with your ISP.
If none of this is working, or the list isnt working for other people at the time, then it's probably that the etmaster server (which supplies all the information on active servers) is down, in which case you can manually connect to any servers you happen to know the IP address of (again in the console, this time it's /connect ip.add.re.ss:port).
Alternatively just junk the server browser altogether and use a better one.
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"Server uses protocol XX"
If you receive an error message saying the "Server uses protocol XX", this means the server is running a different version of the game than you - either you or the server has a more recent patch.
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"Setup could not locate a valid installation of Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory" (patching)
Thanks to tjw [USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!]:
ET_Patch_2_60.exe will error out if you lack a registry setting that is created by the full ET installation. If you create the following registry key, the patch will run and you can select the path where ET is installed:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Activision\Wolfenstein - Enemy Territory]
"InstallPath"="" |
You can save this text as a .reg file and double click it to add it to your registry.
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"Empty CDKey"
- thanks Pappadee
Players who are getting "Empty CDKey" messages trying to connect to PunkBuster ET Servers may attempt a manual CDKey registration.
Press the tilde key (the ~ key) to bring down the game console from any game screen and enter the following command (without quotes): "/pb_cdkeyreg".
You should see a message stating that a Registration Request was sent to the GuidAuth Master Server. After a few seconds (perhaps up to 30 seconds) you should see a message stating that the CDKey Registration was successful. After that, there should be no more messages about an Empty CDKey when trying to join a PB Server.
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Connecting Error Messages -
CL_ParsePacketEntity: end of message
configstrings > MAX_CONFIGSTRING
CL_ParseGamestate: bad command byte
Nicked (and edited) the response by Rain:
I get disconnected upon joining servers with the error message "CL_ParsePacketEntity: end of message". Any ideas of how to fix this?
Open console and type in:
/reconnect
ET has a bit of a bug that can cause the client to attempt to send commands to the server before the connection is setup; the net result of this bug is that the initial data the server sends will be decrypted properly. The incorrectly decrypted data will still be interpreted, and will result in messages like 'configstrings > MAX_CONFIGSTRING', 'CL_ParsePacketEntities: end of message', or 'CL_ParseGamestate: bad command byte'.
You can mitigate the problem by making a conscious effort to avoid pressing any keys or mouse buttons (including the wheel) that result in commands being sent to the server (e.g. weapnext, weapprev) between the 'Awaiting challenge...' message and the actual level-loading screen.
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"Server disconnected for unknown reason"
If you get this message after being kicked from a server (especially if after around 30 seconds to 2 minuites of joining it) then open the console (press the key under ESCape to toggle the console) and look in there for the root of the problem, usually somewhere near the bottom - use PgUp/PgDn or mouse scrollwheel to look through it (pressing Alt+End will jump back to the bottom of the console). Sometimes the reason is there, sometimes it might not be.
There is a bug in ET thats resulting in PB not being able to display the proper reason for kicking, which is frequently something simple like a cvar violation, or maybe problems with PB working properly or updating itself.
This problem is supposed to be fixed with the update to 2.60
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"Warning Cvar whatever (=1) must be EQUAL TO 0" and similar (Punkbuster)
These warnings are informing you that you have a setting that the server administrator has made Punkbuster not allow to be used on the server. There are hundreds of settings that the admin may choose to disallow, wether for good, bad or silly reasons - restrictions I reccomend (and do not recommended) can be found with detail on the Cvar Restrictions page. Everything you click on in the in-game menu's alters the value of these "cvars" (command variables, or more friendily, settings).
If you have not manually changed any settings - i.e. have not changed settings by fiddling with those cvars directly - then it's unlikely that reasonable cvar restrictions would be a problem for you. However, not everybody is reasonable.
the simple fix if you wish to continue playing on the server is to examine the warning message and set the given cvar to the requested value. In the example in the title, to fix that I would have to open the console (press the key under ESCape) and then type in:
/set whatever 0
However, remember that this would be changing a game setting and possibly to a value that you might not want. You may also get a follow-up message about the setting only taking effect after a restart, in which case you need to then also run the following command, which would reload/restart much of the ET code and apply the setting:
/vid_restart
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"Inadequate O/S Privileges" (Punkbuster)
Punkbuster requires player's to be running their OS as a user with administrator equivalent rights, this is necessary for their cheater detection methods. It has caused some problems for people though, and Punkbusted have a detailed help page for this here.
However, also check for Adware on your computer: some adware has been known to change the user rights. Two very popular adware/spyware removal programs (both with good free versions) are AdAware and Spybot - however, this post on PlanetRTCW gives specific solution for VX2 adware, and notes "many programs do not repair [your user rights] when they remove [VX2, and maybe other adware]".
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ET Losing Settings?
Settings not Saved Between Mods
Any setting changes you make will only take effect when playing that mod. Modifications are installed to a seperate folder from ETMain (which is for "vanilla" ET), and although the ETMain settings are imported on first use, they are not subsequently imported. Hence, if you change a setting while playing normal ET (ETMain), this change will not also occur when you play on an ETPro server, or vice-versa.
N.B: the etconfig.cfg within 'ETMain' or the mod's folder is not the place to manually make changes, instead look in their "Profile" subfolders.
Resolution Changing to 800x600, or "check.com crashed"
If you keep losing your settings -- most noticable by your resolution being changed to 800x600 -- and/or notice sometimes that the the startup window shows (check.com crashed) beside the text, then it's probably because of a error in the way ET handles mods. Basically each time you run ET it creates a file "profile.pid" in your profile folder, and sometimes this file doesnt get deleted like it should when ET is closed, which frequently happens when you wre last playing a mod. The result is ET detects the file is there (when it shouldn't be), and presumes that last time the game must have crashed, so it resets most of the configuration to default settings.
See here if you want plenty of detail.
To 'fix' this issue you can keep deleting the .pid file (see above link for a batch file method), but there's also a simple workaround, which is to make ET redo the settings again automatically. I much prefer the workaround.
When you have the game setup how you like it, open up ET/etmain/profiles/yourprofile/ folder and copy the file called "etconfig.cfg". Rename the copy to "settings.cfg" and place in the "etmain" subfolder of your ET installation. Now, edit the autoexec.cfg file (use notepad or, preferably, wordpad). If there isn't already this file in "etmain" then make a new .txt document using notepad and rename it to autoexec.cfg (make sure its not .txt.cfg, especially if you have set your OS to hide known file extensions). Now simply open it and enter exec settings.cfg.
When you load the game, it automatically runs autoexec.cfg, so everytime you run ET it should now reload all your settings from this file. However it's important to note that if you make any changes to your game configuration you will have to set that in settings.cfg file aswell, or it may overwrite it next time you run ET. If you are comfortable with .cfg configuration files it may be better to simply put the settings you have changed from their default values into the settings.cfg (a list of the resolution settings, set via cvar r_mode n, is here).
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Can't pick up ammo or medic packs?
Strangely ET sometimes seems to mess this up, although you should still be able to use the "use" key to pickup items. To fix the problem, reset the relevant command which is "autoactivate": open the console and enter:
/seta cg_autoactivate 0
/seta cg_autoactivate 1
This will make it work properly again.
If you find youre getting the problem frequently, open up autoexec.cfg (?) and add:
seta cg_autoactivate "1"
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Continuously Re-loading Maps or Downloading Files
If Enemy Territory continuously reload maps constantly, then it is possible one or more of the ET files in your install is corrupt. Try reinstalling Enemy Territory, perhaps redownloading if you think your game download may be corrupt. Do the same for the 1.02 patch, and any modifications.
If it only happens on a certain custom map, then try redownloading that custom map, and overwrite your current version.
Continuously redownloading the same file(s) over and over can result from the same problem - ET notices the server is using files you dont have exact matches of, and so tries to download what it assumes are custom files. It presumably then doesn't want to overwrite files, and so the process repeats itself...
For custom maps, sometimes a server may have a corrupt version of the custom map on their fileserver (when downloading via HTTP or FTP), or they have incorrect settings (for example theit fileserver sends you files in text mode instead of binary), in either case the game see's you need a file, tries to download it, then discovers you dont have an exact match, and tries to download it...
Usually, if the problem seems to center upon files called pak0.pk3, pak1.pk3 or mp_bin.pk3, then there is probably an issue with actual Enemy Territory files. If the file is a .pk3 file with a different name, then it is probably a custom map or mod.
In ALL cases make sure you try multiple servers where possible, to eliminate the possibility of the problem actually being the server's fault!
See also these other entries: Custom Maps, Modifications, PK3 Count Bug.
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Punkbuster Lockup with Certain Drivers
NVIDIA - The earlier 5x.xx-series drivers for Nvidia video cards are known to give a lot of people major problems with Punkbuster. If you find Wolf is crashing in roughly 10 seconds of joining a PB-enabled server -- and it doesnt happen on non-PB servers -- then I suggest updating your video card drivers to version 56.64 or later, or use a pre- 50-series driver (only reccomended for Geforce 4 or older). New NVIDIA drivers can be found here.
ATI - The 4.10 and 4.11 Catalyst driver is known to have similar issues with punkbuster, although it seems to be usually around 5 minutes before Enemy Territory crashes or hangs. The solution is to use any earlier or later driver. To find drivers, use the selection box here - for the earlier versions, look for the "Previous Driver Versions" link at the bottom of the resulting page.
Quick Driver Update Instructions:
check the documentation for the drivers first - the following is just for if you can't find an official uninstall-install procedure.
download the driver file. Save somewhere easy like your desktop. it's probably in a compressed file so if the file type is anything other than .exe, make sure you can open it.
uninstall your current driver, literally through Add/Remove Programs. Click OK on the dialogue box to restart your computer afterwards.
Once your PC reloads windows, the desktop etc will be the default settings, this is normal.
XP will detect new hardware and probably give you the prompts to find and install driver etc. click cancel/no for them if possible.
Run the driver file you downloaded, follow the prompts to install and click to restart once done.
Job done.
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Issues with Firewalls and Routers (Ports)
From Activision knowledgebase:
Return to Castle Wolfenstein relies on Internet communication via the IP protocol and UDP ports 27950, 27960, 27965 and 27952. These are the ports that the game uses for connection, message of the day, server browsing, and so forth. [Punkbuster also uses those ports.]
If you are using any type of firewall, either software or hardware based, you must ensure that traffic can pass on these ports. With a simple gateway using Network Address Translation (NAT), there is no limit on outgoing traffic and the game will probably work for client machines, but not servers, without any need to customize the gateway. For more sophisticated firewalls (such as Zone Alarm or Black Ice) you may need to configure the system to allow incoming and outgoing traffic on the ports listed above. The exact steps for doing this are specific to the firewall your are using. For more information you will need to consult with the firewall documentation or manufacturer.
We also do not advise setting up a Return to Castle Wolfenstein server for internet use on a machine that is not directly connected to the Internet. The problem is that any gateway router that translates an internal sub-net to a real IP - including NAT with ipForwarding or DMZ - requires that the internal server use an internal IP address, and these machines see clients on your LAN as different addresses from the internet and thus you cannot authorize these clients.
The above was for RTCW but pretty much the same applies for Enemy Territory, opening UDP 27950, 27951 & 27960 should do it but might have to resort to 27950-27970. You dont need to open TCP.
Also note these commands (thanks devZero):
net_port - sets the network port to use, default 27960
net_qport - network port to be used internally by the network system
net_ip - tells the game what the internet IP is of your machine (when using some routers, RTCW may believe the IP is the address of your machine on the local network).
These commands would need to be set on the command line, for example edit your RTCW shortcut 'Target' box to
"c:\Program Files\Wolfenstein - Enemy Territory\ET.exe" +set net_port 27960
Depending on your system configuration, you may need to do some port forwarding. Perhaps a useful site on this stuff is Practically Networked.
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