Overview
Getting your game working perfectly for Windows 10.
The Game Manual:
For some reason, Steam doesn’t include the manual for the game.
It’s also extraordinarily difficult to find on the internet for some bizarre reason, but I did manage to find it on replacementdocs. So I’ve provided a link to it here.
Kohan: Ahriman’s Gift Manual PDF[drive.google.com]
This will warn you about going off site. Nothing bad, it’s just a pdf file you can view or download.
Troubleshooting:
I’ve tried to order this section by the problems people may encounter first. These are just the more common issues with running the game on newer operating systems. If you encounter something that isn’t mentioned here, scroll further to the Other Issues section.
I’ll be referring to the steamappscommonKohan Ahriman’s Gift folder as the “Main” folder. If you need help finding this, scroll further down in the guide.
Almost all of the links are hosted off of my Google Drive, which may seem a bit dubious but it suits the need for now. This way we can prevent broken links in future and make sure there is always a way of getting the files.
If you loaded up the Store page for Kohan and were unable to purchase the game, it is because the game is only available in a handful of currencies.
You may need to ask a friend to gift a copy to you, or get the CD version online. Steam or not, multiplayer will work across them all.
This is the most common problem for Windows 10 users. The game will stutter, freeze or lock up occasionally and make it impossible to play normally. Luckily the fix is as simple as dropping a few files into your game folder. If you need some help finding your main folder, scroll further down the guide.
To save time for people, I’ve zipped up an “All-in-One” fix.
All-in-One Fix Download[drive.google.com]
It contains the three .dll files that fix the stuttering, the mod launcher that you’ll need to play with mods and custom campaigns as well as the files for the 1.3.10 patch. The community-made patch makes a lot of good balance tweaks to the game without changing anything too drastically (and adds new heroes).
These need to be in the same folder as kohan_AG.exe and _ag.exe.
For those that don’t want the extras: Just the dll files[drive.google.com]
The Steam version of this game seems unable to handle resolutions larger than 1920×1080 and since the game starts in fullscreen, it will crash the game. I recommend changing your desktop resolution before running to test if this is the issue, then using DxWnd to play in a window. Scroll down to find the “Playing in a Window” section.
A few users have had trouble with the game refusing to start, for seemingly no reason at all.
One solution was to set the kohan_ag.exe to run in Windows XP Service Pack 2 or 3 compatibility. If it runs, you can turn compatibility off after that if you would like. I don’t understand this fix myself, but it has definitely worked for some.
The vast majority of players won’t need to touch the compatibility settings at all.
Other issues:
If you’re trying to start the launcher directly, it likely won’t do anything. Just run the game normally through Steam and the launcher will pop up if you have mods or custom campaigns in the folder. Even with the launcher in the folder, the game still launches using Kohan_AG.exe.
If you have multiple game changing mods, conflicts between them will cause the game to crash on launch. Selecting both Patch 1.3.10 and PatchMP0.2.0.2 will cause a crash like this. It’s best to either use one or the other, but not both.
There’s a known issue in the 2nd tutorial mission when using Patch 1.3.10. The creature units are changed to undead captains, which causes the game to crash when they are encountered. If you’re still playing through the tutorial, I’d recommend not using any of the mods at all. Turn it back on when you start playing through the other campaigns.
Discord Link Here[discord.gg]
If the game issue you have isn’t addressed here or you need a bit more tech support, you’re welcome and encouraged to send a message to me (BoNT) from the Discord server.
We’re all well acquainted with the frustration of getting the game to run properly on modern systems, so many of the others on the server could likely figure out how to solve the issue as well.
Where to Find Your “Main” Folder:
Assuming you’re using the Steam version of Kohan, you can find it under SteamLibrarysteamappscommonKohan Ahrimans Gift.
Another easy way to find it is to open your Library tab, find Kohan.
1: Click the gear icon on the side.
2: Manage
3: Click browse local files.
The folder should look like this with the All-in-One extracted properly:
Playing in a Window:
There are likely a few good ways to run this game in a window, but the only success I’ve had so far was by using DxWnd. It’s a good open source program that will work for many different games, not just Kohan.
Most IMPORTANTLY – Keep DxWnd RUNNING when you want to use windowed mode! Close it only when you want to run the game normally.
Here’s my config for DxWnd[drive.google.com]. If you’d like to skip over this, just use File -> Import on that config file. Don’t close DxWnd, just run the game normally.
DxWnd on SourceForge[sourceforge.net]
Once you’ve installed and run it for the first time, you should see an empty window like this:
These is the list of games that DxWnd will recognise. Right now it’s empty however, so let’s fix that.
Drag Kohan_AG.exe from the “Main” folder onto the empty space. A configuration window will pop up for it but for now, just hit OK. You should test it by running the game on Steam.
The game should run in a small window that makes it difficult to read the text. If this does not work, something else is interfering – scroll up and message me on Discord and we’ll figure it out.
Modify.
We’ll change the resolution to 0,0 so the window auto-detects the correct resolution.
This is the best setting if you don’t want to see any font anomalies or textures stretching.
That bar on the top of the window is pretty ugly isn’t it? To fix it, go to the Video tab and find Window Style at the top. Choose the modal option.
To prevent the loss of sanity, I recommend going to the Mouse tab next and turning on the Mouse Clipper. This will let you scroll in-game without accidentally clicking off of the window.
If you’re running into issues with DxWnd, I’ve had some luck with turning flip emulation off in the DirectX tab. DxWnd should autodetect the correct version of DirectX, but if you’d like to specify it, the game runs in DirectX 7.
Unfortunately Kohan only has one resolution: 1024×768.
The easiest way to stretch the window to fill your screen is to go back to the Main tab in DxWnd, and select desktop work area instead. If your resolution settings are still 0,0 and the aspect ratio is still locked – it should stretch the window correctly.
If the game looks a little blurry, DxWnd allows you to apply a filter to sharpen the image. It’s under the DirectX tab, on a dropdown list. I recommend Fast Bilinear 2x as the others will consume a lot of resources.
Playing with Mods and Custom Campaigns:
To play the game using any mods or extras, such as custom campaigns, you’ll need to use the Kohan Launcher.
You won’t ever need to run the launcher itself. It will auto launch whenever you start the game normally. Starting the game through Steam is all that you need to do.
If you’ve extracted the All-in-One fix, you should have this in your game folder already.
If you’d like a separate download, here it is:
KohanLauncher[drive.google.com]
Both mod files and custom campaigns are in the .tgx format. To use them, drop them into the main folder and start the game normally. The launcher should allow you to choose them before you start.
Bear in mind for multiplayer: Use only 1.3.10 or PatchMP0.2.0.2 when starting the game. No custom campaigns or other modifications made in K-Mod. Attempting to run both at once will cause a crash as well. The reason for this is that custom campaigns can interfere when joining or hosting, as the game clients must match.
Multiplayer:
The multiplayer in Kohan is still mostly intact, even without GameSpy. There is no longer a server list, so you’ll have to type in IP addresses manually. There’s no need to use Hamachi or Radmin to play.
Kohan is also surprisingly good at handling higher latencies, so it’s easy to enjoy multiplayer even if some players are continents away.
Hosting requires that you forward a port, or use one you’ve already forwarded. Not going to go too in-depth on port forwarding in this guide, because this video explains it better.
The default port for Kohan: Ahriman’s Gift is 17437
I recommend setting it as BOTH for TCP/UDP.
Hosting is fairly simple from here. Start an internet game and google “What is my public IP”. Paste that IP address to your friend, and have them join that. They should be able to connect. Just leave the ingame port at whatever the default is.
Be careful about sharing your public IP to people you do not trust. Though you can get it changed, it could allow some crazy people to do things such as DDoSing you. This is the simplest and most effective method of playing over the internet, though virtual LANs like Hamachi or Radmin can also work. People in your room can view your public IP on those as well, so may as well attempt the simplest option of direct connecting.
Finding the Community :
There are currently two main communities for Kohan players which are grouped by timezone.
The western hemisphere (US timezones) has the original Kohan Lords community, which is old enough to have survived a few cataclysms. The players typically play 3v3 or 4v4 team games, and like to play more competitively. I won’t be posting their discord link here as it may get the attention of bots and scammers but there is a link in the EU discord to it. They use PatchMP0.2.0.2 to play.
The Kohan Lords EU[discord.gg] server is much newer and is intended to be more of a community hub. If you’re needing help with issues, wanting feedback on your custom maps or are just looking to discuss the game – it’s the place to do it. Complete beginners to Kohan are welcome to join for multiplayer, in fact it’s encouraged as you’ll learn a lot faster with friends. The community uses Patch 1.3.10 for multiplayer.
This is the subtler of the two fan made patches. It makes a few minimal but essential changes that you may not even notice immediately. It adds new heroes such as Sebastian Atafeh and Ahikar Iraj, which feel like they belonged in the game to begin with.
Since the use of the patch necessitates the use of the Launcher, it’s included in the download.
Patch 1.3.10 Download[drive.google.com]
This is another fan patch that rebalances the game and adds new heroes. though this one is a little more experimental. I don’t recommend attempting to play the singleplayer campaign with this one, since it modifies some units and replaces some heroes with new ones.
PatchMP0.2.0.2[awakening.chimaerica.com]
Credits:
Very special thanks to
You, for taking an interest in this old game and reading through this guide. It takes some effort to get it working properly, but it is definitely worth it in the end. I feel the same way about the community, and my own efforts towards getting people together.
This thread here for helping in getting the game working. I believe the files were originally uploaded by a user named Epsilon, and reuploaded to Google Drive by Ultima after the original download link expired.
If you’re curious about website referenced earlier, The Awakening[awakening.chimaerica.com], I would highly recommend going to check it out.
Though the site doesn’t seem to see much activity anymore, there is still a huge amount of useful info, maps, mods and guides on the website for all of the Kohan games.
Just check the left hand side panel, and have a look. The builds and strategies there have been really useful for improving my understanding of the game mechanics.