The version of Realms of The Haunting (RotH) released in the UK had no configurable controls, and while the default layout is workable, it can be a bit awkward.

The version that was released a bit later in the US added in-game key binding options for a few keys, such as the movement keys.

The GOG version of RotH appears to be the UK edition and as such doesn't give you the option to bind keys.

A fan of the game put together a patch for the UK version that replaces some of the game files with their US version equivalents. This works, and gives you an in-game keybinding menu, but due to RES files missing in the UK version the menus are labeled incorrectly.

Read the site for more info and for a patch download link: http://shadowcat.freehosting.net/roth_patch.html

I've tried this patch on the GOG version, and it does work. There don't appear to be any issues with it, as long as you follow the instructions on the bottom of the page with regards to what files to replace.

Cool, I never knew about this. Since GOG uses DOSBox there is an alternative way to remap the keys, I described it in this thread:
http://www.gog.com/en/forum/realms_of_the_haunting/tips_for_beginners

The disadvantage of my DOSBox method is that the keys get remapped for everything, including text entry which makes naming savegames a little cumbersome.

One question: Will replacing these files add the difficulty selection of the american version to the UK version?

It does add that menu in, as shown on the site. Again, like all the added menus it's incorrectly labeled, but it's there and should work.

Ah I see, thanks. Shame that you can't redefine all the keys and that there are some reserved keys, but it's indeed better than nothing. And the difficulty selection is a very nice bonus.

I have one concern: The person who did the patch says he did not play through the whole game, so there is a little risk that there is some difference in the resource files between US and UK versions later in the game that can prevent you from continuing. Since the savegames are incompatible that would be very inconvenient. Can anyone confirm that this works the whole game through?

Yeah, I believe just replacing the EXE with the US one as described shouldn't create any hidden long-term problems, but it'd be nice to get confirmation.

Unfortunately I already started my new game and from what I understand the savegames are incompatible between the US and UK version, but I will definitely try this out for my next playthrough after that.

I'm glad to hear that it still works, and doubly so if it proves useful to a new audience!

I only got around to downloading GOG's release this evening, and was going to wait until I had compared the executable against my CD version before mentioning that patch here, but presumably GOG didn't have to mess with the executable at all.

I would expect the difficulty settings to be implemented entirely within the executable, and therefore would think they ought to work fine.

As for the primary purpose of the patch: to be honest I was planning to stick with the original files and use DOSBox for rebinding the keys to play through the GOG version (partly because that allows me to rebind ALL the keys, and partly to ensure no unexpected problems).

I'm struggling to remember whether I ever did play ROTH all the way through using my patch, and I simply can't recall for certain, but I think the answer is "no". I didn't know the US version existed for ages, and I believe that work post-dated the last time I played the game properly. (I think I lost enthusiasm once I realised that I still couldn't get the keybindings that I wanted!)

I'd love to know if anyone has done this successfully, though, so please do post here if that's the case.

edit: Oh, and regarding this: Are you referring there to the DOSBox approach? If there was ANY way at all to rebind keys in the original version, then I certainly missed it.

I meant editing the keycodes in ROTH.INI directly, as you mention on your site.


Also, thank you very much for putting this patch out there with this info. It's guys like you that are invaluable in the fight to keep these games alive for new and old audiences.

I've been trying to edit the keys in file "mapper", but it's a pain.

Forget about the A key - it either jumps you or does nothing. Ugh. This means I can literally use three seperate keys for punching, but I CANNOT use Space for jumping. Double ugh.

Editing the "mapper.txt" file is easy enough if you have some writing material close by to take note of each key and command, but it still has the above limitations.

Oh, and @Shadowcat: Your site was the first I stumbled into. Thank you very much for that. I think I'll just cave in and use the patch, since I am one hand short of using the default control effectively.

"mapper.txt" is from DOSBox, you can much more easily edit the information in there by pressing CTRL+F1 once inside DOSBOX. I made a guide here:
http://www.gog.com/en/forum/realms_of_the_haunting/tips_for_beginners

Ah, I see. That also requires the US executable, however. The UK version doesn't include those settings in its INI file, and while I'm not sure whether I ever actually tested it, I don't believe it would recognise them if you added them.

(edit: I just tried it now, and the game ignores them, and re-writes the file with only the valid settings. That rings a bell, so I suspect I did try this at the time, after all :) You're very welcome. I'm really quite delighted that it's proving valuable to a new group of gamers after all these years!

Ah, my derpiderp moment!

Err, I mean... I *totally* knew that... Yeah. *ahem*

Hi there,

Some people have been wondering if anyone has played the game through to compleation using this patch. I must say, it was a few years ago so I'm not sure if this is the exact patch that I used but for my let's play of RotH that I did on YouTube I patched my original copy to the US version and other than setting it up and slight confusion on the difficulty setting I had no problems with it.

Also, I was using my original CD's not a downloaded version so I'm not sure if that makes a differance.

Thanks for putting my doubts to rest. :)

Just wanted to note that this patch does not really work. Unless I am missing something its causes major issues with the in game sound. This is even stated on the site that they couldn't correct this due to various reasons. I can only hope the US version makes its way as an option for download soon. Otherwise, these controls are terrible.