FAQ

[WinterDwarf]

I need help, I have a problem with the game.
First, please check a Troubleshooting thread on our technical subforum. In case you don't see a solution there nor nothing appears after a quick look at other threads, please reach us via our customer support.

Is it a new game or an old one?
Blade of Darkness was originally released back in 2001. This is a re-release and it introduces much needed technical improvements to bring it up to speed with modern software and hardware.

What did you improve compared to the original game?
The most important thing we did is ensured that the game can be launched and played again. Here you can see the patch notes.

The game is actually called Severance: Blade of Darkness, Blade: The Edge of Darkness. Why do you call it Blade of Darkness?
At the time the game was released it had different names in different regions. The Spanish speaking community knows it as Blade: The Edge of Darkness, in Europe it was called Severance: Blade of Darkness, while in North America it was known as Blade of Darkness. These names appeared based on the fact the game was distributed in retail (there was no digital distribution at that time) by different companies in these regions and each of them wanted to highlight something they believed is more important for the local gamer. Nowadays we have one global market and we've decided to use the most common element between these three names - "Blade of Darkness".

Who are you? Whom am I supporting by purchasing this game?
SNEG is a small boutique publisher focusing on the re-mastering and distribution of old gaming gems. We want to believe we have a taste for games, a true admiration of the classics, and a desire to bring more entertainment delights from all eras of the gaming culture of today. When it comes to Blade of Darkness, we've signed it with the original Rebel Act founders. Also, quite a few of the original game developers helped us in the process of bringing it back to life and we can't express how grateful we are for their support.

So, is it a remaster of Blade of Darkness from 2001?
No, it’s a re-release. The idea behind it is to bring the original Blade’s experience in its initial form plus several quality-of-life improvements which can’t be ignored in 2021.

Did you implement controller support?
Starting from v83, the game features a full controller support.

I already bought the game back in the days on GOG, do I need to pay again?
We've proposed to the GOG team to allow gamers who bought the game on their platform before to get access to this re-release for free. They've agreed and we all hope you'll enjoy it.

What are your plans for the game's support?
Regardless of any other circumstances we will ensure the game will work across as many systems as possible. As for new (and old) features, we’d wholeheartedly love to bring them to the game but only time will tell if it’s possible.

Can I use existing mods for Blade of Darkness?
We've tried to be as non-invasive as possible, so, in theory they should, but we don’t know for sure.

What is this legacy build I've downloaded together with the game?
This bonus content is a version of the game from 2001 but with several fixes (compared to 2013’s GOG release):
-fixed black screen intro on Windows 10
-fixed loading screen freezes
-fixed crashes at launch
-updated nGlide software to the latest version

It doesn’t work on all systems, crashes and glitches are to be expected. Moreover, we will not be supporting this version going further - it is provided as is. We've decided to work on it as we believe for some of you it’s important to have the very original Blade. Sadly, there is a limit to what can be fixed without touching the game’s code, so we believe this is as good as it gets.

Could you explain what all those launch options are?
Play (recommended) - launches the new version of the game (re-release)
Play (old version) - launches the original, 2001 build with several fixes applied using reverse engineering. It also utilizes the latest and tailored for this release nGlide software. All of this improves compatibility with Windows 10.
Launch a configurator (old version) - this launches nGlide’s config tool, which could help you to tweak the game’s performance, especially if you’re running into issues with launching this legacy build with the default settings.

Are my old save games from the original game compatible with this re-release?
They should work, but there are possible issues. The best we can say, there is no full compatibility but you should try it.

Does the Cloud Saves feature work for both re-release and old versions?
Yes! Both versions support cloud saves and we've configured them to sync independently. This means you won’t accidentally remove / overwrite your saves from the new version if you’ll create a save while playing the old version.

Previously I was able to access the game's console. Where is it now?
Right click the game in the Steam Library and go to Properties. Click the SET LAUNCH OPTIONS button, then add the following command line parameter:
-console

What about OpenGL? The original game had it.
The re-release also comes with OpenGL renderer but as a power-user feature. Please note, all our QA tests were performed on DirectX 11 application (we recommend to stick to it), so you might encounter visual glitches by playing with OpenGL or other issues.

In the Steam Library, right click the game and go to Properties. Click the SET LAUNCH OPTIONS button, then add the following command line parameters:
-opengl

Where is 32bit support?!
32bit machines constitute 0.3% of all PCs on Steam (based on Sep 2021 Steam’s Hardware Survey). On the other side, being a 64bit application allows to build a foundation for the game's long term support.

What is this Sentry thing you’ve put in the game?
Sentry is a tool which enables us to collect logs and crash dumps in case of fatal errors. It does not collect any PII (personally identifiable information), nor spies on your machine or does anything funny. You can see an example of its report and read a bit more here. We hope for your understanding, as this is a crucial component which helps us to address critical issues within the game.

[danutz.plusplus]

Nice FAQ. One question, when does the game release? At what time on the 7th? It's already almost 8PM in Eastern Europe. Thanks.

[Karmo]

I'm really hoping this mod works: https://www.moddb.com/mods/new-enemies-expert-enemies-mod

If not, then that's a complete deal breaker for me honestly, if someone would be so helpful as to reply to my comment after testing the mod that would be great. I'm guessing plenty of people will try running that mod shortly after the game releases either way.

[Captain Morgan]

People, i can't thank you enough! Since i had bought the old GOG version of the game, you're practically gifting me this re-release! I cannot find words to express my gratitude, especially since i am a long term and dedicated fan of this game, it's one of my favorites, regular go to and most played! You are awesome, cheers!

[LeadHead]

Is there freely available documentation on the changes made on the backend? For example, does the game simply load "hi" versions of UI bitmaps and lower resolution ones are retained for the legacy version?

BoDLoader is said to require some adaptation as well. What exactly was changed?

[Leonel]

Originally posted by danutz.plusplus:

Nice FAQ. One question, when does the game release? At what time on the 7th? It's already almost 8PM in Eastern Europe. Thanks.

in 9 minutes

[LeadHead]

Multiplayer has been removed from this release. Are there intentions to renew it?

[Fantasmita]

Confirmed that works on Linux using Steam Proton

[xr ඞ]

Really shame about no controller support, would love to give this one a go.

[dprog1995]

Originally posted by WinterDwarf:

Who are you? Whom am I supporting by purchasing this game?
SNEG is a small boutique publisher focusing on the re-mastering and distribution of old gaming gems. We want to believe we have a taste for games, a true admiration of the classics, and a desire to bring more entertainment delights from all eras of the gaming culture of today. When it comes to Blade of Darkness, we've signed it with the original Rebel Act founders. Also, quite a few of the original game developers helped us in the process of bringing it back to life and we can't express how grateful we are for their support.

Any chance to release Drakan: order of flames on steam ?

[🔰ProtivulyaUA🔰]

Dear SNEG please try to rerelease "Drakan" and "Emperor: Battle for Dune" if possible

[KiRiASU]

I don't know how to access the legacy version of this game. Can someone explain how to do this? I don't have any launch options when I start the game. Thanks!

[NairBoT]

Great job on Blade of Darkness :)
So glad you care and patched it all up really nice :)

[Skabb15]

not everything needs a REMAKE, thanks for re-releasing a classic

[Rufert]

When I streamed this two years ago(the original version) there was a fairly well known rendering error/bug where a plot important texture showing where you had to hit something didn't show up.

Has this been fixed?

As far as I recall to get the to the final level there were things you needed to hit(runes I think) to activate them in some of the other levels you did, the one in question was invisible. As a result you'd often end up having to replay the level with a walkthrough to know which wall to hit.

I'm sorry for being so vague, it has been a while but it was apparently a fairly well known thing at the time.

[NairBoT]

There is no Blade of Darkness Legacy in my steam library.
Just the re-release. Odd.