Download Unreal: Gold (Windows)

The game with OldUnreal patch and UGoldFix has been tested on Windows 7 64-bit, Windows 8, Windows 10 and Windows 11, it works fine. With that mod the game supports widescreen and ultra-high resolutions up to 4K. You may experience some small troubles when you play the game on modern systems, check our Guide and Notes for details

Install & play guide:

• Mount the disc image. You will need the utility for mounting disc image files, like WinCDEmu, UltraISO, Alcohol 52%/Alcohol 120% or Daemon Tools Lite
• Install the game (if autorun doesn't work - simply launch the installation from Setup.exe inside the disc)
• It is recommended to install the game not in default path, but in some other, non-system folder, like C:/Games/Unreal Gold, so you won't have troubles with fixes. The installation path should have ONLY the English letters, otherwise you won't be able to install OldUnreal patch!
• After you installed the game - install OldUnreal patch, simply run the installer and show the path to the game folder
• Then install UGoldFix, just copy all files from the archive and put in game folder
• Launch the game. When you run the game with OldUnreal patch for the first time, the launcher will ask what settings you want to use. If you will want to change the settings later - you can do it in Options in main menu
• After you ran the game - in main menu click on "Mutators" and activate "UGoldFix". After that just start the game & play

If you can't install the game from the disc - use attached Full-Rip, it is the archive with pre-installed version of the game, just extract it somewhere and run REG-file to add Windows Registry paths (make sure to edit REG-file in Notepad and change the path to the folder first). Or you can use repack by Magipack, it has a simple installer and includes all content of the game plus OldUnreal patch v227j & UGoldFix. As alternative, you can use online installer by OldUnreal team, that installer automatically downloads the disc images and OldUnreal patch

What is OldUnreal patch:

• OldUnreal patch is an unofficial patch for first Unreal game, with a big list of new features, such as: full support of modern Windows systems, including 64-bit systems; support of Linux systems; implementation of new renderers, such as DirectX 8, 9 and OpenGL 2.0 rendereres; restoration of 3D Surround sound through OpenAL; the working online mutliplayer after GameSpy servers were closed; new languages (check Notes for full list of languages); multiple bug fixes, and many other additions. So OldUnreal patch is a must-have if you want to play Unreal on modern machines. For full list of changes and solutions for possible troubles check OldUnreal Wiki and official FAQ
• The latest version 227j (2.27j) of OldUnreal patch has full support for 32-bit and 64-bit systems and also adds XOpenGL renderer, it is new future-proof renderer based on OpenGL. However, version 227j doesn't support 16-bit systems; so if you need to use OldUnreal patch on 16-bit systems - use version 227i or older
• The authors of OldUnreal patch are currently working on the next update - version 227k, you can check the progress on OldUnreal Wiki, GitHub page or OldUnreal forums

Notes:

• If the installation doesn't start - try to launch Setup.exe in compatibility mode with old version of Windows (98, 2000 or XP) and as administrator
• It is recommended to install all versions of Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable and NET Framework for the correct work of the game. Also it is recommended to install K-Lite Codec Pack for the correct work of in-game videos
• The game has support of Glide, OpenGL and DirectX renderers. If you're using Windows 8, 8.1, 10 or 11 and want to play with DirectX renderer - you need to enable DirectPlay: Go to Control Panel, and select 'Programs'. Select 'Turn Windows features on and off', click on 'Legacy Components' and check the box 'DirectPlay'. Select OK, once the installation is done, restart your computer
• If the game doesn't start or crashes with a General Protection Fault upon start-up - ensure that "Data Execution Prevention (DEP)" is set to "Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only": go to Control Panel -> System -> Advanced System Settings, in System Properties window select Advanced tab and click on Settings under Performance. Select the Data Execution Prevention tab and check the box "Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only"
• If it didn't help - add Unreal.exe to the DEP exceptions list: in same Data Execution Prevention tab select "Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select". Click Add and use the Browse feature to browse to the program executable you want to exclude -> show the path to Unreal.exe inside game directory. Here's the guide with pictures how to open DEP on Windows 10 and add any app to DEP exceptions list
• For users of Windows 10 & 11: if the game still doesn't run after you added Unreal.exe to the DEP exceptions list - that means that mandatory ASLR prevents game from running. To disable it open Windows Defender, in App & browser control, open Exploit protection settings. In Program settings, add an exception for Unreal.exe and disable "Force randomization for images (Mandatory ASLR) in addition to DEP"
• UGoldFix by Masterkent resolves several issues related to single-player and multiplayer modes, like fixes the bugs in Return to Na Pali that prevent player progress, Audio Logs not playing or some scripts not triggering. To use it simply copy all files from the archive and put in game folder, then run the game and in main menu click on "Mutators" and enable "UGoldFix"
• (UGoldFix should fix the issues in Return to Na Pali expansion, such as when Audio Logs doesn't play or when on UMS Prometheus level the next wave of Space Marines doesn't beam down. But if for some reason the fix didn't work or you don't want to use it, here's some tips how to pass through that levels)
• How to configure the graphics settings, such as Anisotropic filtering, Anti-aliasing and Vertical sync. To enable Anisotropic filtering (AF), run the game on DirectX 8, 9 or OpenGL renderer and set MaxAnisotropy in configuration file; alternatively force AF in control panel of your video card; for more details about texture filtering on different renderers check PCGW. To enable Anti-aliasing (AA) - if you run the game on Glide renderer, use nGlide utility and force AA through video card control panel; if you run the game on DirectX 8, 9 or OpenGL renderer - enable MSAA in configuration file or, if you have Nvidia video card, force SGSSAA with Nvidia Profile Inspector. To enable/disable Vertical sync (Vsync) - if you run the game on Glide renderer, use nGlide utility and force Vsync through video card control panel, Glide rendere will be capped at 63 FPS; for DirectX 8, 9 and OpenGL renderers use OldUnreal patch to be able to switch Vsync
• There's no framerate cap in the game, and framerate is tied to monitor refresh rate, certain effects like water and shadows have issues at high framerates. That troubles were fixed in OldUnreal patch, but if you play without OldUnreal patch - edit the game files like in this guide, to fix that issues (the guide is for Deus Ex but both games use the same engine)
• If you have any graphical glitches when you play the game with OldUnreal patch, or DX10 or DX11 renderers - try to run the game with another renderer. It seems that depending on your video card, the game may not display correctly on some renderers, like having wrong textures for water or lava
• For owners of Nvidia graphics cards: if the game is lagging - open Nvidia Control Panel, go to Manage 3D settings -> Vulkan/OpengL present method and change it to "Prefer layered on DXGI Swapchain"; save the changes
• For Windows 10 & 11 users: if you have low framerate in the game - select 32-bit color depth in game settings. If it didn't help - use DDrawCompat, extract it in Unreal Gold/System folder (DDrawCompat should be compatible with OldUnreal)
• If Brightness slider in game doesn't work - use the same DDrawCompat, extract it in Unreal Gold/System folder
• The game has support of 3D Surround sound, through OpenAL API. However, OpenAL doesn't work on modern systems without additional tools. Install OldUnreal patch (v227i and newer include a working 3D Surround sound) and select "OpenAL 3D Audio" in setting, to enable 3D Surround sound. If you hear that music is peaking when you use OpenAL 3D on patch v227j - open Unreal.ini, find the line [ALAudio.ALAudioSubsystem] and change MusicAmplify=2 to MusicAmplify=1
• If you don't want to use OldUnreal but want to play with 3D Surround sound - you can use extra utilities, like DSOAL, to make OpenAL audio work through DirectSound, here's the full list of such utilities
• To be able change Field of View (FOV) in the game install OldUnreal patch. If you play without OldUnreal patch, you can use fov console command with number of FOV you need; enter fov 100 for 16:10 or fov 106.4 for 16:9 to maintain the same vertical FOV as 4:3, for other screen ratios use FOV calculator
• The game has native support of widescreen displays. If you screen resolution is not available in the list of selectable resolutions or you want to enter the custom screen resolution - you can do it by editing config-file of the game, check WSGF page for instructions. If you have ultra-wide display or multi-monitor setup, you need to run the game in OpenGL renderer, the best way to do that is to install OldUnreal patch; you will also need to edit config-files, check WSGF page for instructions
• About mouse sensitivity. Slight mouse acceleration is enabled in the game by default, if you don't like it - install OldUnreal patch v227i or newer and enable "Raw HID Input". The game had separate mouse sensitivity speed for GUI and camera, and mouse sensitivity is affected by the Field of View. If you don't like the mouse sensitivity in the game, check this guide
• If you have GUI scaling issues, use Peixoto's patch (for OpenGL and DirectX 7, 8 or 9 renderers), or nGlide (Glide only) or dgVoodoo 2 (DirectX or Glide renderers) utilities (Glide renderer doesn't natively support widescreen)
• All of game settings can be edited through Unreal.ini or user.ini files inside Unreal Gold/System folder; plus you can enable different settings through Command Line Parameters and console commands, a complete list of commands is listed here
• It is possible to change the difficulty level mid-game, follow this instruction if you want to change the difficulty
• OldUnreal patch adds support for DirectX 8 and 9, but it is also possible to run the game on DirectX 10 and 11. If you want to run the game on DirectX 10 - use DirectX 10 renderer by Kentie, if you want to run on DirectX 11 - use DirectX 11 renderer. But please note that this renderers are not compatible with OldUnreal patch
• About translation patches: German translation patch is for GOG release, the retail release already includes German language. Spanish translation patch adds full Spanish audio dubbing including the dubbing for that parts that weren't dubbed to Spanish. Russian translation patch includes full audio & text translation and should be compatible with all (retail, Steam, GOG) releases. Ukrainian translation patch was created for Steam release of Unreal: Gold but should work with other (retail, GOG) releases too. Plus, you can try to use translation patches for a regular versions of Unreal and Return to Na Pali, that translations should be compatible with Unreal: Gold version too, however, we don't know how they will work with OldUnreal patch
• Also, OldUnreal patch includes multiple language translations for English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Castilian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish & Russian languages. The languages can be switched in game options. Some of languages have only the text translation
• If you want, you can install HD Textures and High-Res Skins mod to get better graphics in the game, and ReShade additionally. But note that these mods are not compatible with software renderers, such as Glide, Direct3D 6 or 7, or other software renderers. For more details check PCGamingWiki
• You can install & run the game on Linux systems with Linux Installer; or with OldUnreal patch (here's the complete Linux FAQ for OldUnreal). Additionally, you can use Lutris script, it works with OldUnreal patch
• Don't forget to check PCGamingWiki if you have troubles, it's very useful!