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Frequently asked questions

Quick answers to the questions new 1.13 players ask most often. Each answer links to the page where the topic is covered in full.

Which version of 1.13 should I download?

Get an "all-in-one" package from the official GitHub releases page. Packages are provided per language and include 1.13, the Map Editor and JA2: Unfinished Business support. There is a rolling "Latest (unstable)" release that is updated continuously, and periodic stable releases (the most recent stable is v5). See Installation for the full walkthrough and Version history for how the release model works.

The game runs poorly on modern Windows. How do I fix it?

Current releases ship with cnc-ddraw, which fixes most display and performance problems on Windows 10 and 11. Run cnc-ddraw config.exe (the name contains a space) in the game folder (next to ja2.exe) to configure fullscreen or borderless window mode, renderers, shaders and more. Older advice you may find on forums — Wine DLLs, a 16-bit color registry fix, single-CPU affinity — is legacy and applies to old installs. See Troubleshooting for details on both.

The Drassen counterattack is too difficult!

1.13 sends a large enemy counterattack at Drassen shortly after you take the town. If you don't want to face it, open Ja2_Options.INI and set TRIGGER_MASSIVE_ENEMY_COUNTERATTACK_AT_DRASSEN to FALSE. If you'd rather fight it out, see the survival advice in Starter tips and the step-by-step battle plan in the early game walkthrough (spoilers there). And if the battle goes wrong, a retreat or even a defeat is not necessarily the end of your campaign — see Retreat, defeat & capture.

The new-game screen is missing options I've seen in guides or videos. Where did they go?

In revision r8610, several options were moved from the New Game screen into Ja2_Options.INI, so older guides and screenshots show a longer options screen than current releases do. Everything is still configurable — it just lives in the INI file now. New game options covers the current screen and lists what moved; Ja2_Options.INI shows where to change the relocated settings.

How do I turn a specific feature on or off?

Most of 1.13's systems are toggled in one of two places: the 1.13 Features screen when you start a new game (covered on New game options) or Data-1.13\Ja2_Options.INI (see the guided tour). Note that some settings only take effect in a new campaign — Savegames lists which changes are safe mid-game.

What is the difference between OCTH and NCTH?

They are two selectable shooting systems. OCTH (Old Chance to Hit) is the classic JA2 model: consistent and easy to understand. NCTH (New Chance to Hit) aims for more realism by factoring in many more variables, and changes how aiming works and what the cursor shows. You choose between them when starting a new game, and some players simply prefer one over the other. New Chance to Hit explained covers NCTH in depth.

How do I change my starting cash?

Open Data-1.13\TableData\DifficultySettings.xml in a text editor and change the <StartingCash> value for the difficulty level you want to play. See XML files for how to edit the game's XML data safely. What each difficulty starts you with — and everything else that changes between Novice and INSANE — is tabulated on Difficulty levels.

Why does Bobby Ray's only sell junk?

That is by design: what Bobby Ray's stocks is gated by your campaign progress — an item generally becomes available once progress reaches roughly ten times its coolness tier. Advance the campaign (kill enemies, hold towns and mines) and the good hardware appears. Bobby Ray's is one of several in-game websites; the laptop tour covers them all.

My mercs hate each other. Can I do anything about it?

On top of the classic buddy/hated pairs, 1.13 mercs form dynamic opinions of each other that shift over the campaign, and low opinions within a squad drag down morale. Morale & opinions explains what moves opinions and morale, how to check them in-game, and how to keep a team happy.

Does 1.13 have cheat codes?

Yes — the developer cheats from vanilla JA2 survived and were extended, and they are useful for more than fooling around: testing mods, reproducing bugs, or unsticking a wedged campaign. How to enable them and what each key does is on Cheats & debug tools.

I just want vanilla JA2 at a higher resolution. Do I need 1.13?

No. If you want the unmodified game with modern-display support, look at Jagged Alliance 2 Stracciatella, a separate project focused on running vanilla JA2 on modern systems. 1.13 is for players who want the extra features and gameplay changes described in What is 1.13? and cataloged in the feature guides.

Can I play 1.13 on Linux or macOS?

Not natively — 1.13 is a Windows game — but it runs under Wine on Linux and via Wine-based wrappers on macOS. See Troubleshooting for setup notes. If you only want vanilla JA2, Stracciatella (see the previous question) runs natively on both.

My mercs only move backwards, or some hotkeys stopped working!

This is the classic stuck Alt key: after you Alt+Tab out of the game and back in, Windows sometimes leaves the game thinking Alt is still held down. Tap Alt a few times in-game to release it. Current releases ship with cnc-ddraw's fix_alt_key_stuck=true setting enabled, which prevents most cases — see Troubleshooting.

I found a bug. Where do I report it?

Report bugs on the issue tracker of the 1dot13/source repository on GitHub. Include your game version and, if possible, steps to reproduce and a save game. See Contributing for what makes a useful report.

Where can I ask questions?

The community lives in two places:

Can I use old mods made for 1.13?

Often, but check the version requirement first. Mods built on 1.13 usually target a specific revision — many older ones require r7609 (known in the community as "the stable") and will not work correctly on current releases, while others were updated for later revisions or ship their own complete install. See Mods built on 1.13 for the list with version requirements, and the glossary if terms like r7609 or SCI are new to you.

Sources

  • Previous 1.13 starter documentation (2019, r8741) by tais and Yunotchi, FAQ and installation sections
  • "Technical Issues with JA2 1.13 – Problems and Solutions" (Docs folder of the 1.13 game directory, cnc-ddraw note dated 2023)
  • 1dot13/source releases on GitHub (release names and dates re-verified via the GitHub API, July 2026)
  • Ja2_Options.INI and Data-1.13\TableData\DifficultySettings.xml from github.com/1dot13/gamedir — the Drassen counterattack toggle and <StartingCash> tag (verified July 2026)
  • cnc-ddraw config.exe filename and ddraw.ini (fix_alt_key_stuck=true) verified against the 1dot13/gamedir repository, July 2026