fheroes2 installation guide
You will need to have a demo version or the full version of Heroes of Might and Magic II game to be able to play. We strongly advise to purchase the original game on GOG or Ubisoft Store platforms.
Alternatively, you can download a free demo version of the game (in English only) using the bundled script. See detailed instructions below.
Precompiled binaries of the release version are currently available for the following platforms and operating systems:
Alternatively, you can download the precompiled binaries of the latest commit (snapshot) here.
-
Download one of the following Windows installer packages:
-
Windows x64 (64-bit):
SDL2 (recommended) or
SDL1 -
Windows x86 (32-bit):
SDL2 (recommended) or
SDL1
-
-
After downloading the installer, launch it and follow the instructions.
-
During the installation process, you will be prompted to extract game resources from the original game (select this option if you already have a legally purchased copy of the original game installed), or download the demo version of the original game and extract game resources from it (you can also do this later by clicking the appropriate shortcut in the program's group in the Windows Start menu).
-
If you purchased a copy of the original game only after installing fheroes2, you can run the
Extract game resources from the original distribution of HoMM2
shortcut in the program's group in the Windows Start menu. This script will try to perform an automatic search for an existing installation of the original game and extract all the necessary resource files. If it can't find an existing installation, you will be prompted to enter the location of the original game manually. -
As an alternative to the previous step, you can manually copy the subdirectories
ANIM
,DATA
,MAPS
andMUSIC
(some of them may be missing depending on the version of the original game) from the original game directory to the fheroes2 installation directory.
-
Download one of the following Windows ZIP archives:
-
Windows x64 (64-bit):
SDL2 (recommended) or
SDL1 -
Windows x86 (32-bit):
SDL2 (recommended) or
SDL1
-
-
After downloading the ZIP archive, extract it to a suitable directory of your choice.
-
If you have a legally purchased copy of the original game, run the
extract_homm2_resources.bat
script supplied in the ZIP archive. This script will try to perform an automatic search for an existing installation of the original game and extract all the necessary resource files. If it can't find an existing installation, you will be prompted to enter the location of the original game manually. -
As an alternative to the previous step, you can manually copy the subdirectories
ANIM
,DATA
,MAPS
andMUSIC
(some of them may be missing depending on the version of the original game) from the original game directory to the fheroes2 installation directory. -
If you don't have a legally purchased copy of the original game, you can download and install the demo version of the original game by running the
download_demo_version.bat
script supplied in the ZIP archive.
If you are using MacPorts, you can install the game by running the following command:
port install fheroes2
Then follow the instructions on the screen.
If you are using Homebrew, you can install the game by running the following command:
brew install fheroes2
- Download the source and compile with the
-DMACOS_APP_BUNDLE=ON
option (if using CMake) or using the following commands (with make):
make FHEROES2_MACOS_APP_BUNDLE=ON
make FHEROES2_MACOS_APP_BUNDLE=ON bundle
-
If you have a legally purchased copy of the original game, run the
extract_homm2_resources_for_app_bundle.sh
script supplied in thescript/homm2
directory. You will be prompted to enter the location of the original game, and the script will extract all the necessary resource files. -
As an alternative to the previous step, you can manually copy the subdirectories
ANIM
,DATA
,MAPS
andMUSIC
(some of them may be missing depending on the version of the original game) from the original game directory to~/Library/Application Support/fheroes2
. -
If you don't have a legally purchased copy of the original game, you can download and install the demo version of the original game by running the
download_demo_version_for_app_bundle.sh
script supplied inscript/demo
directory.
-
Download the macOS ZIP archive. Currently only x86-64 binaries are provided. If you use a machine with an Apple Silicon chip, you should choose another installation method (using MacPorts or Homebrew), or build the project from source.
-
After downloading the ZIP archive, extract it to a suitable directory of your choice and then run the script
install_sdl_1.sh
orinstall_sdl_2.sh
(depending on the downloaded build) from thescript/macos
subdirectory. This will install the SDL libraries required to run the game. -
If you have a legally purchased copy of the original game, run the
extract_homm2_resources.sh
script supplied in the ZIP archive. You will be prompted to enter the location of the original game, and the script will extract all the necessary resource files. -
As an alternative to the previous step, you can manually copy the subdirectories
ANIM
,DATA
,MAPS
andMUSIC
(some of them may be missing depending on the version of the original game) from the original game directory to the fheroes2 installation directory. -
If you don't have a legally purchased copy of the original game, you can download and install the demo version of the original game by running the
download_demo_version.sh
script supplied in the ZIP archive.
If you are using Arch Linux or compatible distribution, you can install fheroes2 package from AUR (Arch User Repository).
If you use one of AUR helpers, e.g. yay
, you can install the game by running the following command:
yay -S aur/fheroes2
Follow official guide. One of possible command sets:
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/fheroes2.git
cd fheroes2
makepkg -si
If you are using Homebrew, you can install the game by running the following command:
brew install fheroes2
If you have a legally purchased copy of the original game, copy the subdirectories ANIM
, DATA
, MAPS
and MUSIC
(some of them may
be missing depending on the version of the original game) from the original game directory to the $XDG_DATA_HOME/fheroes2
(usually
~/.local/share/fheroes2
) directory. Otherwise, you can download and install the demo version of the original game by running the
/usr/share/fheroes2/download_demo_version.sh
script.
If you are using Flatpak and Flathub, you can install the game by running the following command:
flatpak install flathub io.github.ihhub.Fheroes2
And launch from the start menu or the console:
flatpak run io.github.ihhub.Fheroes2
Alternatively, you can use an application manager like Discover, which is also available on Steam Deck.
You have to copy the subdirectories ANIM
, DATA
, MAPS
and MUSIC
from the original game or demo directory to the
~/.var/app/io.github.ihhub.Fheroes2/data/fheroes2
directory. You will be asked when you start the application.
-
Download one of the following Linux ZIP archives:
SDL2 (recommended) or
SDL1. -
After downloading the ZIP archive, extract it to a suitable directory of your choice. Then you will need to install the SDL libraries required to run the game. The installation procedure depends on the Linux distribution you are using:
-
Debian-based: run the script
install_sdl_1.sh
orinstall_sdl_2.sh
(depending on the downloaded build) from thescript/linux
subdirectory. -
Pacman-based (e.g. Arch Linux): run one of the following commands:
sudo pacman -S sdl sdl_mixer
orsudo pacman -S sdl2 sdl2_mixer
(depending on the downloaded build). -
RedHat-based: for RPM-based distributions (such as Fedora or RedHat) use the commands
sudo yum install SDL*
orsudo dnf install SDL*
. -
openSUSE: openSUSE supports the One-Click-Install using the
SDL_mixer.ymp
file from thescript/linux
subdirectory. -
Gentoo: run the following command:
emerge --ask media-libs/sdl2-mixer
.
-
-
After all dependencies are installed, run the
extract_homm2_resources.sh
script supplied in the ZIP archive if you have a legally purchased copy of the original game. You will be prompted to enter the location of the original game, and the script will extract all the necessary resource files. -
As an alternative to the previous step, you can manually copy the subdirectories
ANIM
,DATA
,MAPS
andMUSIC
(some of them may be missing depending on the version of the original game) from the original game directory to the fheroes2 installation directory. -
If you don't have a legally purchased copy of the original game, you can download and install the demo version of the original game by running the
download_demo_version.sh
script supplied in the ZIP archive.
Please note: you need to be running custom firmware for it to work.
-
Download the PlayStation Vita ZIP archive.
-
Follow the instructions.
Please note: you need to be running custom firmware for it to work.
-
Download the Nintendo Switch ZIP archive.
-
Follow the instructions.
You can download the precompiled binaries of the latest commit (snapshot) for Windows ( x64 SDL2, x64 SDL1, x86 SDL2 and x86 SDL1 ), macOS ( SDL2 and SDL1 ), Ubuntu ( SDL2 and SDL1 ), PlayStation Vita and Nintendo Switch. These binaries incorporate all the latest changes, but also all the latest bugs, and are mainly intended for developers. DON'T EXPECT THEM TO WORK PROPERLY.