This page is dedicated to helping you get Starsiege: Tribes up and running so you can hop in and play some games! It's fairly straightforward but I am sure some less tech savvy people will appreciate a small guide.
Embedded Files
The first thing you're going to want to do is pick a config from the 1.40+ Configs page. It doesn't really matter which one you pick at first, you can edit it and add things to it later on. There are a few configs that I would recommend for starting out: v0dkA's minimalist config, Binswees+v3 config, Pro Config Vol4, and the basic xLoader config are all really good starting points. Each config comes with a preview screenshot of what it looks like in-game so you can just choose whatever one you think suits your style. An honorable mention would be the Retro141 Config, it is one of the most basic configs and plays almost exactly like it did in 1998.
How to run in compatibility mode
Navigate to the root directory of the config where Tribes.exe is located
Right click Tribes.exe, click on properties, and select the compatibility tab
Under Compability mode check the box labeled "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" and select Windows XP (Service Pack 3)
Under settings check the boxes labeled "Disable fullscreen optimizations" and "Run this program as an administrator"
Click Change high DPI settings. Under the High DPI scaling override section click the check box and leave the setting set to Application.
How to white list the Tribes folder
Open Windows Defender Security Center
Click Virus & threat protection
Under Virus & threat protection settings click "Manage settings"
Scroll down to Exclusions
Click the Add or remove exclusions
Click the Add an exclusion button to display a drop-down list
Select Folder where Tribes is located
Identify if your config is using xLoader
In the same folder where Tribes.exe is located, look for rasadhlp.dll or xLoader.dll
If your config has xLoader you can skip this part
If your config is using rasadhlp.dll, continue with instructions
Open the windows8-10pluginfix folder
Double click on win8_pluginfix.reg and apply
Plugins should now load correctly
Graphics card settings (Nvidia)
Right click your desktop and click on NVIDIA Control Panel
Expand 3D Settings (on the left) and select Manage 3D Settings
On the right hand side click the Program Settings tab
Click the Add button and navigate to Tribes.exe (using either) the list of recently used applications or by clicking the browse button and navigating to the directory.
Set Vertical sync to Off (this is critical)
Scroll to bottom of page for settings/other images
Disabling Enhance Pointer Precision
Open the windows Control Panel
Open Mouse settings
Click on the pointer options tab
Make sure that the Enhance Pointer Precision check box is unchecked
Editing ClientPrefs.cs
In the main tribes directory folder where Tribes.exe is, open the config folder
Right click ClientPrefs.cs and open it with Notepad
Scroll down to the very last line and a few lines up there will be 4 lines that you want to edit
$pref::waitforvsync = "0"; make sure that this line is set to 0, this means vsync is disabled
$pref::VideoFullScreen = "TRUE"; make sure this is set to true if you intend on playing fullscreen mode
$pref::VideoFullScreenDriver = "OpenGL"; make sure this is set to OpenGL and not Software
$pref::VideoFullScreenRes = "1920x1080"; Here you will put whatever your current monitor resolution is
Additionally, if you would like to change your in-game FOV, find $pref::PlayerFov = "90"; and change to a number between 90-120
Configuring the Master Server
Some configs may come with an old version of the master server that no longer works, you will need to update this in order to play in any online servers
Run Tribes.exe and click the Options tab in the top left corner
Click the Network tab on the left side
Click on "Add"
Bugs is what you can put down as the name
t1m1.pu.net:28000 is the new address you want to put in
Click done and now your master server list should be up to date!
You can also remove any old master servers from the network tab if you wish
Configuring your Netset settings
Locate your netset.cs file located in the config/Core folder and right click open with Notepad, you should see three variables inside:
$net::interpolateTime
$Net::PredictForwardTime
$net::predictForwardTimeMethod
There is a lot of debate about how to determine the correct values for the netset variables. Ultimately it is up to each individual player to find settings they are comfortable with.
The predictforwardtimemethod can be set to 0, 1, or 2. If you set it to 0 that will use the default 1.40 PFT implementation and you do not need to set a value for predictforwardtime because you are using the default implementation.
If you set it to 1 then the PFT variable is used rather than the 1.40 implementation. If you set it to 2 then PFT is set like 1.40's algorithm but in increments of 32.
This is an experimental setting meant to reduce jitter. Most players either use 0 or 1. If you are using 1 then you will need to set your predictforwardtime variable.
If you are using predictforwardtimemethod = 1 then you will need to set a value for the predictforwardtime (PFT) variable. Initially for PFT try setting it to a number close to your ping.
Experiment with lowering and raising the PFT from there. Some people play with no PFT and others play with very a high PFT.
For interpolatetime (terp) a lot of players play with it set to zero. This will make the players appear to warp or skip a little as the software is not providing any smoothing regarding player location.
64 is the “out of the box” Tribes setting so start there and lower it to see what you like/how it impacts your game. Try out different settings and see what works best for you.
Actual players Netset settings
Milk-Man:
$net::predictforwardtimemethod = 1;
$net::predictforwardtime = 128;
$net::interpolatetime = 64;
Stork:
$net::predictforwardtimemethod = 1;
$net::predictforwardtime = 64;
$net::interpolatetime = 32;
RTCLL:
$net::predictforwardtimemethod = 1
$net::predictforwardtime = 80;
$net::interpolatetime = 0;
You view This Google Sheet for more players settings
Replacing Netset with XT
XT is a new plugin being developed by Altimor that replaces Netset and makes Tribes 1 feel more modern
Download the XT plugin here
Put TribesXT.dll in your plugins folder
Put XT_Prefs.acs.cs in your Config/Modules folder
Right click and open XT_Prefs.acs.cs with Notepad
$xt::ping = 32; Replace the 32 with whatever your ping is in-game
If you do not know what you ping in-game, join the server you will be most frequenting, hit tab and next to your name should be your ping
Adding custom skins for 1.40
Custom skins are a huge part of Starsiege: Tribes and players can customize their game visually however way they want to.
Most custom skins come in the form of a .png or several .pngs for Tribes 1.40
In the main Tribes directory folder, click the base folder
Inside the base folder there should be an unzipped folder titled "Entities" don't worry about the zipped entities folder for now
You will drag and drop or copy and paste any new custom skins you acquire into your unzipped entities folder
When you download any custom skin for weapons or textures or anything, it will need to have the exact same name as the original that is inside of the zipped entities folder.
In most cases, the skin comes already named as that entity, so you shouldn't have to worry about this too much for example any disc skins you download have to be named disc.png
After you put the skin in the entities folder, that should be it, now you just start the game and it should work as intended
The zipped entities folder acts as a sort of fall back incase there are issues with any custom skins you put in the unzipped entities folder, it will just use the original ones from the zipped entities folder
Side note for adding custom HUDs, they will be placed in config/Modules as a folder rather than in the entities folder
Human1DML contains the main base textures.
Interface/Shell/ShellCommon contains all GUI elements.
For custom terrains, depending on the terrain type, they will go in the folders ending in DML, for example: LushDML contains the main Lush terrain textures in the form of .png
Custom sounds go in Base/Voices (Must be named the same as found in base/sound.zip)
Images Associated with this guide
If you have any other issues with anything, join the discord and post any questions in the #config-engineers channel.
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