AlterWare Launcher

AlterWare.dev

IW4x | IW4-SP | IW5-Mod | IW6-Mod | S1-Mod

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Only legitimate copies of the games are supported. If you don't own the game, please buy it.

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Installation

Windows

1. Download the game from Steam.
2. Download the appropriate version of the AlterWare launcher:
   • Windows 64-bit: Download the latest alterware-launcher.exe.
   • Windows 32-bit: Download the latest alterware-launcher-x86.exe.
3. Place the alterware-launcher.exe (or alterware-launcher-x86.exe for 32-bit) in the game directory.
4. Run alterware-launcher.exe. After updating, the game will launch automatically.

Debian/Ubuntu (amd64/arm64)

1. You can download the game from Steam using either SteamCMD or the official Steam desktop app.
2. Follow the instructions provided in this forum post to install the alterware-launcher using our self-hosted APT repository.
3. Once installed, run the launcher from your game directory to download the client files automatically. For client updates, use the launcher from the terminal with the --update command-line argument as explained in this guide.

NOTE: The steps above can be used for any Debian-based distribution that uses the APT package manager.

Other Linux OS

1. Consult the Steam documentation to learn how to download the game from their servers.
2. Visit the latest release page for the AlterWare launcher and choose the release that matches your system requirements.
3. Once installed, run the launcher from your game directory to download the client files automatically. For client updates, use the launcher from the terminal with the --update command-line argument as explained in this guide.

macOS

1. You can download the game from Steam using either SteamCMD or the official Steam desktop app.
2. Download the latest alterware-launcher.
3. Once installed, run the launcher from your game directory to download the client files automatically. For client updates, use the launcher from the terminal with the --update command-line argument as explained in this guide.

DISCLAIMER: Running the AlterWare launcher on macOS has not been officially tested. However, since WINE has a macOS port, it should theoretically be possible to run our clients on this platform.

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Command line arguments

• iw4-sp, iw4x, iw5-mod, iw6-mod, s1-mod
  • Skip automatic detection and launch the specified game
    • This should always be the first argument if used
• --help
  • Print help
• --update, -u
  • Only update the game, don't launch it
• --skip-launcher-update
  • Don't update the launcher
• --bonus
  • Download bonus content
• --force, -f
  • Force file hash recheck
• --path, -p
  • Set the game path
    • Do not include a trailing backslash in the path
• --pass
  • Pass additional arguments to the game
    • See client-args.md
• --version, -v
  • Print the launcher version
• --ignore-required-files
  • Install client even if required files are missing
• --skip-redist
  • Skip redistributable installation
• --redist
  • (Re-)install redistributables

Example: alterware-launcher.exe iw4x --bonus -u --path "C:\Games\IW4x" --pass "-console"

Some arguments can be set in alterware-launcher.json, args generally override the values of the config.

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Config file

alterware-launcher.json

• update_only
  • See --update
  • Default: false
• skip_self_update
  • See --skip-launcher-update
  • Default: false
• download_bonus_content
  • See --bonus
  • Default: false
• ask_bonus_content
  • Ask the user if they want to download bonus content
  • Default: true; false after asking
• force_update
  • See --force
  • Default: false
• args
  • See --pass
  • Default: ""
• use_https
  • Use HTTPS for downloads
  • Default: true
• skip_redist
  • Skip redistributable installation
  • Default: false

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Support

Visit the AlterWare Forum or Discord for support.

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Building from Source

• Install Rust
• [Linux/unix] Make sure perl is installed¹
• Clone the repository
• Run cargo build --release
• The executable will be located in target/release

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Note for server owners:

When the launcher updates itself on Windows it will restart by spawning a new console. If you are automating this process, you should probably use --skip-launcher-update and download the latest launcher yourself from here.

The linux build does not update itself.

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¹ Required for OpenSSL