Running Redline on Windows 10

This guide will help you get Redline running on Windows 10 (possibly Windows 7 & 8), as well as give you other troubleshooting tips and tricks to get the most enjoyment out of Redline.

Introduction

Redline has been released on Steam and GOG with no support, leading to a rather lacklustre experience and a lot of negative reviews.

With no hope on the horizon to fix this game for modern systems, Xanarki created a forum post with troubleshooting tips. I stumbled upon this thread a few months ago when I picked this game up, and it was a life saver!

That's why, with Xanarki's permission, I am creating this guide using the information from his original post and possibly including a few extra things.

One misconception that I must get out of the way, the Steam and GOG versions are actually v1.1, you do not need the official v1.1 patch.

Community Discord

For people needing more help or wanting to organise multiplayer games, come join us at our Redline Discord here![discord.gg]

We'd really love to build a community around this game and get some regular multiplayer sessions going. If you're not interested in multiplayer, just come and hang!

There's also a fan website at http://redline2066.net with pages for the weapons, vehicles, secrets, cheats, and more.

Widescreen Patch

One of the first things you'll want to do is download the fan made widescreen patch here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LaEND7IOjvAIuj9PA0lVQWm8OpfUhtW_/view?usp=sharing

Patch instructions:

• Extract the contents to your installation directory (C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Redline)
  
• Run RedlineConfig.exe for the first time, this will allow you to set your custom resolution and FOV (NOTE: Game will crash if you exceed a resolution of 2048*2048)
  
• Once you're happy, click on Save & Run and you should be greeted with the Redline launcher
  
  
• Click on Play Redline and the game should run (the videos will still play at a smaller resolution and the menu will also be a smaller resolution)
  
• With all consecutive plays, be sure to run the game via the redlinePatcher.exe, this will ensure that all your custom settings remain

The custom FOV slider can be a little confusing. I found 0.15 to work best, but feel free to tweak as you see fits.

*Running the game this way means that Steam will not keep track of your time. If this is an issue, you can always run the game through Steam and leave the Redline launcher running while you play via redlinePatcher.exe.

dgVoodoo2

Instead of using the Widescreen Patch, you can use the latest version of dgVoodoo2. The only downside being that you cannot adjust the FOV (or atleast I couldn't find a way, if you have, let me know!).

To use dgVoodoo2, download the latest stable release from here: http://dege.freeweb.hu/dgVoodoo2/dgVoodoo2/

Installing dgVoodoo2

• After downloading the zip, extract the contents to a new folder, name it whatever you like
  
• Within that folder you want to go to MS then x86 and copy the files here, minus d3d9.dll, then paste them into your Redline installation directory (C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Redline)
  
• You'll also want to copy and paste dgVoodooCpl.exe and dgVoodoo.conf into the installation directory
  
• Once you've copied that all into the Redline directory, run dgVoodooCpl.exe, click on the DirectX tab, set your resolution and uncheck the dgVoodoo Watermark
  
• Now you can run Redline as per usual, through Steam

As this method allows you to run the game normally through Steam, you're able to keep track of play time. It also seems that this method doesn't suffer from any lag during menu use. But again, the down side is a lack of adjustable FOV.

Redline Crashing With Wireless Headset

I figured out that Redline may crash if a wireless headset is plugged in. I have both a set of speakers and a wireless headset connected to my PC. Redline kept crashing upon starting up. After I removed the headset completely, Redline worked fine. I also tried to remove the speakers while keeping the headset, yet, Redline still crashed. So it must be the wireless technology that caused the crash.

To remove an audio device

• Goto your Control Panel (Windows settings)
  
• Click Devices (or View devices)
  
• Click (or right click) one of your audio devices (such as a headset) and click Remove.
  
• Make sure the device is physically disconnected from your PC as well.

Crashes When Starting

The game will usually crash for Windows 10 users. There are 7 solutions, so start with #1 and try each solution if it doesn't work.

1. Go to your Library, right click Redline on the left, go to Properties, go to Local Files, go to Browse Local Files, and open Redline.exe to start the game from there (you can launch it from Steam and keep the splash screen open, then do the mentioned steps to track your game time). For some reason, after doing this only 1 time, I was able to always launch from Steam afterwards.

2. Do the same steps as above, but instead of opening Redline.exe, right click Redline.exe and go to Properties, go to Compatibility tab, check the Run this program in compatibility mode box, select Windows 98, check the Run this program as administrator box, and click OK.

3. Do the same steps as above, but instead, right click anywhere in the Redline folder, go to Properties, go to Security tab, go to Edit, left click on your Windows login account name, check the Allow box next to Full control, click OK.

4. When opening Redline.exe, at the launcher, click Display & Audio, and make sure Primary Display Driver is selected, and the correct resolution is selected.

5. Make sure there's no wireless headset connected (see above in this guide for more information).

6. Enable DirectPlay. Although DirectPlay is necessary for multiplayer, the game may crash if it doesn't detect it. Even if you don't plan on playing online, the game is still trying to load all of its features before the main menu (see below in this guide for more information, under Multiplayer).

7. Message me (Xanarki) directly on Steam if all that fails, I can probably send you something to help.

You can also message myself, [re-fund], and I also might be able to help. Although surprisingly, I didn't have any issues with crashing.

Laggy Main Menu

For whatever reason, the menu for Settings is extremely slow. This makes remapping the controls (which is very necessary, because the defaults are terrible) a pain.

If you click a key enough times while mashing the remapped button, it will change. An easier method is to open the Redline folder (steps mentioned above), and open the redline.cfg file in Notepad, and edit the keys.

For on-foot, I suggest using WSAD for forward/back/sidestep left/sidestep right, Q/E for diving left/right, space to jump, mouse left click for fire, and 1-0 for changing weapons.

For driving, I suggest using WSAD for moving, Z for left weapon, C for right weapon, X for back weapon, space for handbrake, Q/E for exiting, mouse left click for front weapon, mouse middle click for changing weapon, and mouse right click for auto-target.

Also, be certain that Free Look is enabled under the Settings, as it will make aiming while driving much easier.

Here's a link to the custom config as mentioned above: Redline config[drive.google.com]

Textures Loading Slow

When a level is loading, the Textures bar will load very slowly. To get around this, simply alt+tab in and out of the game (or ctrl+alt+delete), and it will automatically load up.

Music Not Playing

The CD music will only play the tracks in order when a level is started. I suggest turning this off in Settings.

During the game, scripted music plays at the start of levels, and during crucial moments, and this can't be shut off (since they're short anyway). It's a lot better than the same CD songs looping over and over.

Special Weapons

To use the zoom on the sniper rifle, just press the number 4 button to zoom in and out. This saves on binding another key to zoom in.

To fly with the saw blade (in multiplayer and Freakway level only), click and hold the left click on mouse as if you're shooting, hold the W key to move forward, and hold the space bar to jump.

Finally in single player, number 6 is the alien goo gun, but in multiplayer, it's a flash grenade that will blind other players.

Final Level (Showdown) Won't End

Even though patch 1.1 was supposed to fix the bug where the last level never ends, it will still sometimes happen.

There are a few steps you can follow to avoid having this issue:

• Ensure your turret isn't destroyed
  
• Don't use the EMP on anyone
  
• Make sure you kill someone

If you follow these three steps, you should be fine!

Secret Dev Level

There are a lot of secrets and cheats in Redline, and one of those secrets is the Developer Level.

To access this level, you'll need to be in game and press and hold G, O, and D. Upon releasing Command: will appear on the screen, you now need to type teambeyond and hit enter.

Multiplayer

Even though Mplayer, Heat .net, and Gamespy are shut down, you can still connect to other people.

There are 3 steps involved to enable multiplayer on newer Windows: unblocking Redline from your firewall, enabling DirectPlay, and opening up 3 specific ports.

#1: Make sure your firewall isn't blocking the game (it will usually ask you after you close the game). It should show up as either redline.exe or wheels.exe as the name.

#2: Enable DirectPlay, which is the infrastructure that enabled older PC games to connect in multiplayer. Goto your Control Panel (Windows settings), click on Programs and Features, click on Turn Windows Features On/Off at the left hand side, click the + next to Legacy Components, tick the box next to DirectPlay to enable it, click OK. Sometimes, Windows will automatically ask you to enable this feature when trying to play an old game, but it seems to be random.

#3: Open up the 3 ports below on your router.

• TCP/UDP 2300
  
• TCP/UDP 47624
  
• UDP 6073

Every router is different, but, the basic way to forward ports is to type in the URL that's physically printed on the back of your router (it'll be numbers such as 192.100.1.0 for example), then use the username/password that's also printed on your router (default name is admin and default password is admin usually), then find a screen that says Port Forwarding (possibly under another screen such as Advanced or Access Control), then you should see a section to Add Rules. You have to type in the port # one at a time (for example, to forward port 2300, the External Port would be 2300 and the Internal Port would also be 2300). If it asks for the Internal Host number, that would be your computer's local IP (usually starts with 192, but, there should be a screen on that webpage that will tell you which device has which IP). You also need to select which Protocol the port number is (for example, 6073 would be UDP, or 47624 which would be the TCP/UDP combo). The 3 ports that will need to be forwarded for Redline are 2300 (TCP/UDP), 47624 (TCP/UDP), and 6073 (UDP).

If you are hosting, you will then need to give your IP to everyone who intends to join. The best way to work out your IP address is to type what is my ip in to Google.

If you are joining, you will need to go to Multiplayer, click on Internet (TCP), click Join and enter the host's IP address, then click on the Internet button up top. The game will now search for the host and should connect, assuming everyone has forwarded the necessary ports, enabled DirectPlay, and unlocked it from the firewall.

If you wish to play LAN on Windows 10, download and install IPXWrapper. I have tested it between 2 PCs and it works with Redline. An old program called Kali also exists and supports Redline as well.

[VILE]

I also tried all of the solutions including dgvoodoo2 and can't get the game to run.

[Campa]

anyone know if theres how to run this game windowed

[curse]

thank you for the guide, it helped me get everything running great

[[re-fund]]

Not the first time that has happened, thanks for the heads up! Here's a link I prepared earlier. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LaEND7IOjvAIuj9PA0lVQWm8OpfUhtW_/view?usp=sharing

[SkiSki]

Link to widescreen patch is not working :(

https://kunnollakeittoa.info/asm/redline/Redline.7z

download dgvoodoo2 instead to try. game lunches but then crashes after the intro video.
any help would be appreciated. none of the listed fixes above worked.

[[re-fund]]

If I get the chance, I'll give it a go later. Cheers for the heads up man!

[StixsmasterHD4k]

yeah just install dgvoodoo2 and the game runs perfectly in higher resolutions...sent ya a friend request so if ya want you may watch me play it live to see for yourself what its like

[[re-fund]]

Tbh, no, I had no idea.

[StixsmasterHD4k]

you know the ultimate patch for this game that even allows higher resolutions is actually just dgvoodoo2 right?

[[re-fund]]

You're welcome! :D