Abe's Exoddus Command Line Arguments

A list of various command line arguments that can be used when running Abe's Exoddus to change how the game runs.

Command Line Arguments

To use these, simply create a shortcut to Exoddus.exe in the games install directory, right click the shortcut and select properties. Append the argument after the closed quotation with a space like so:
Alternatively, go into the game's properties from within your Steam library, click "set launch options" and add the argument there.

Arguments:
-ddcheat
This puts the game into a sort of debug mode that allows you to fly around the levels. Press the tab key when in game to activate debug mode, use the arrow keys to move abe around. shift+ arrow keys to move faster. Pressing tab again will drop abe back into regular mode.

-ddfastest
This mode was the main impetus for throwing together this little guide. This makes the game display in an interleave video mode that skips lines in the display for a scanline effect. This was originally intended for computers that were slower than the recommended requirements but some people may prefer how it looks. Depending on how you have screen scaling setup this makes the game look much better, it hides how poorly some of the environments were scaled. It does make the game look darker but that I think that suits the game just fine. If you have an nvidia card, make sure you have scaling set to aspect and that scaling is performed on the GPU in the driver settings. The scanline effect should appear nice and even if you have it set correctly.

-ddfast
Runs the game in a lower resolution. Again intended for slower computers. Because of the aspect ratio of the pixels this looks pretty messy and ugly. I recommend -ddfastest over this mode if for some reason you are running on a potato and need to speed up the game.

-ddnoskip
Removes frame skipping and also frame rate cap. I believe this was intended for slower computers where the game would skip frames if it was running too slowly, making the game appear choppy but running at the intended speed. This would disable that behaviour and instead run the game at a slower speed without skipping over frames. On modern computers this has the effect of running the game in fast forward.

-ddfps
Displays a frames per second read out in the top left corner.

-syncread
Not sure what this does, I'm assuming it changes how it syncs frames but I can't tell what effect this really has.

--

If you installed this game from disc back in the day you may remember it creating shortcuts to faster video modes in the start menu. These were just shortcuts with the -ddfast or -ddfastest arguments enabled.

If you want to use more than one argument at a time simply separate them with a comma. Eg:
-ddnoskip, -ddfps

[dodd]

Came across this post randomly today. Used to play the heck out of this game back in the day on a Gateway 2000 rocking a Pentium II. I was curious if the -dd arguments made it into the Steam release, and now I have an answer.

If I recall correctly, these arguments were added by Digital Dialect who were responsible for porting the original PS1 version over to PC. ddcheat likely made testing some areas much easier, but it does have some... interesting quirks. I remember Abe being sort of invulnerable while in noclip mode. If shot or otherwise injured, you'd still have control of Abe and be able to navigate a level, but running into a wall and triggering the falling down animation would actually trigger the death sequence.

[wabbit]

Easiest solution would be just to emulate the PS1 version.

[BlueStarBRS]

now a way to add ps buttons and im happy

[wabbit]

Yes.

[Ednov Thestorm]

Can this be done on the steam launch options too?

[DrTexx]

Awesome, thank you! :)

[wabbit]

Try actually reading the guide.

[atlassu]

How to do this on windows 10?

[Primm Slim]

Thank you for this guide, it was interesting. I do remember installing from disc and seeing those extra shortcuts!

[tasty]

Thanks a lot, had a lot of fun just flying around levels seeing how quickly I could beat them.