> FAQ
Q: What is Unreal CGA?
A: Unreal CGA is a fan-made reinterpretation of Unreal (1998), imagined as a DOS/CGA game from the mid-1980s. It transforms the journey across Na Pali into a 320x200 four-color adventure built around FMV-style sequences, text-driven exploration, atmosphere, music, and story.
Q: Is Unreal CGA a 3D game?
A: No. Unreal CGA is closer in form to classic pre-rendered adventure games such as The 7th Guest or Riven than to a real-time 3D shooter. The project was designed around very low hardware requirements: a 286-class PC, 1 MB of RAM, and a CGA graphics card. On that kind of machine, smooth textured 3D graphics are practically impossible.
Q: Does Unreal CGA work on every old PC?
A: It should work on many old DOS PCs, but I cannot guarantee every hardware configuration. Testing all possible combinations would require access to all of those machines, which is beyond my reach.
Q: Does Unreal CGA require a real CGA card?
A: No. Unreal CGA uses the standard CGA 320x200 four-color graphics mode, but it should also run on EGA, VGA, and SVGA cards, as they normally support CGA-compatible BIOS video modes. Exact compatibility may vary on unusual hardware.
Q: Can Unreal CGA run on DOS 6.22?
A: No. Unreal CGA needs about 4.2 GB of free space on a single partition. MS-DOS 6.22 supports only up to 2 GB per FAT16 partition, so Unreal CGA requires DOS 7.1 or FreeDOS 1.4 with FAT32 support.
Q: I ran Unreal CGA in DOSBox and the pixels look huge. Why?
A: Unreal CGA runs in a very low-resolution 320x200 CGA graphics mode. On a large modern monitor, those pixels are stretched far beyond the size they would have had on old hardware. The brutal truth is that the bigger your screen is, the bigger the pixels will look. The game looks best on a 14-15 inch display, especially a CRT monitor.
Q: Will Unreal CGA receive any future expansions or updates?
A: No. The version of Unreal CGA available on this website is the final release. No expansions, updates, patches, or further development are planned.
Q: Do I need the original Unreal to play Unreal CGA?
A: Yes. Unreal CGA checks for the original Unreal game files every time it starts. This is required both in emulators and on real DOS hardware. Even if you run Unreal CGA on a 286/386-class PC, the original Unreal files must be present on the hard drive.
Q: Which version of Unreal do I need?
A: Unreal CGA has only been tested with the Unreal version available through OldUnreal and Archive.org. Other versions may also work, but compatibility is not guaranteed.
Q: Does Unreal CGA modify my original Unreal installation?
A: No. Unreal CGA only reads the required original files and uses them to prepare its own local data. Your original Unreal installation is not modified.
Q: Is Unreal CGA affiliated with Epic Games?
A: No. Unreal CGA is an unofficial fan-made project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by Epic Games.