IW4x

IW4x Guides to help you get started with the client!

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May 22nd - X Labs Shutdown

On May 22nd, 2024, X Labs received a Cease & Desist letter from Activision Publishing. We've complied with the order and have shut down all operations permanently.

This also marks the obsolescence of this blog. We thank all our loyal players for all your support over the years as the project sunsets.

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Verifying your game files

NOTE: With the shutdown of X Labs on May 22nd, 2024, this blog is officially defunct.

To check your game files are up to date and complete, you can preform a MD5 check on your game folder. This can be used to verify that your game install is clean and up to date. 

Tools Required

MD5 Checker http://getmd5checker.com/download

Instructions

1. Download the MD5 Checker and move it's exe file 'Md5Checker.exe' to your game folder. 2. Download ONE of the following MD5 files that matches your game setup and place it in your game folder directory: MW2 (IW4x only) [EN]: https://goo.gl/aiNbAj MW2 (IW4x + DLCs) [EN]: https://goo.gl/TQ1i9E MW2 (IW4x only [DE]: https://goo.gl/GrWJqJ MW2 (IW4x + DLCs) [DE]: https://goo.gl/fQs7bm

(Request: Add more languages, Steam files only!)

3.  Drag and drop the downloaded file onto the 'Md5Checker.exe'. This will open the file and begin the checking process. 4. Wait until the checking process completes then see results section below. 

Results

The three main columns you need to study are: 'N/A', 'Passed' and 'Failed'

The 'N/A' column will display any files your install is missing, if any files are listed here this would indicate that your files are incomplete and not clean.

The 'Failed' column will list files that are present in your install but failed the MD5 check meaning they are outdated/corrupt. Any files listed here strongly indicate your install is not clean and likely outdated.

The 'Passed' column will display all files that successfully passed, If all files pass your install is clean.

Below is an example of what a clean install results would be like (All DLC install):

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IW4x Custom Maps

NOTE: With the shutdown of X Labs on May 22nd, 2024, this blog is officially defunct.

Above is a converted map of de_dust2 (CS->CoD4 source)

The main draw for IW4x (for me personally) is the custom map support.

Today I will show you how to convert a CoD4 custom map to IW4x.

Video tutorial below.

You will need the following installed:

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (1.7)

Call of Duty Mod Tools (1.1)

IW4x

IW4x Mod Tools (55.7MB)

and IW3xport

Extract the mod tools to your CoD4 directory and extract the IW3xport files to the CoD4 directory as well. Put the IW4x mod tools in the directory where you have IW4x installed in.

Get a map

Find any CoD4 custom map you want from Google, then put the files in C:\Program Files (x86)\Activision\Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare\usermaps\. You will need to make a folder in there with the name of the map, so for example: C:\Program Files (x86)\Activision\Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare\usermaps\mp_summit

Install the map

Install the map into your CoD4 directory like the pic above, where mine is mp_summit.

Now go to your IW4x install and open the IW4x mod tools (run it as Admin), it will take some time to load. Once it’s opened, click the Settings tab and set the locations of your IW4x and CoD4 installs:

then hit save. Once done go one tab above (Build Map)

and scroll to Other Maps OR User Maps (will be located under one or the other). Then select the map (for me, mp_summit) and click these buttons in order:

Export COD4 Map

Build MW2 Map

Generate IWD

THEN Run MW2 Map.

Here is my compiled version of summit:

Then that’s it.

Questions:

How can I load it from the regular game?

Open the console with ~ and type map [map name]

How do I share this?

You can put it up the following files in the image up for HTTP download when clients connect, or distribute these files:

Can I use this on my server?

Yes! It’s the same process, just place the pictured files in the usermaps directory and run in the console map [map name]

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Windows 7: Fatal Error

NOTE: With the shutdown of X Labs on May 22nd, 2024, this blog is officially defunct.

So, you’re one of the many unlucky people to suffer from shitty coding unfortunate incompatability issues, the infamous “fatal error 0x########”. This is an issue related to Windows 7 (and the fact that apparently neither devs nor testers use it anymore), the following solutions might help you solve this problem:

Solution 1: Running as administrator.

Running IW4x as administrator often might be enough to solve this issue. Simply rightclick iw4x.exe and click “Run as Administrator”. A UAC (user account control) popup will ask you to confirm, simply click yes and see if this resolved your issue.

Solution 2: Disabling DEP

DEP or Data Execution Prevention is a security feature which hinders viruses from executing code from system memory locations. This (for some reason) hinders IW4x, to add it as an exception, or disable it entirely, please see this article on the Dell support website, which covers this in great detail.

Solution 3: Reinstalling DirectX

This fatal error may as well be caused by a corrupt or missing DirectX installation. Simply run the DirectX setup in your /Redist/ folder of your Modern Warfare 2 folder and also try this setup as well.

Solution 4: Upgrading to Windows 10

I know, this solution seems like a stretch to fix a client error, and (personally) I find it going entirely too far, however, it has been shown that IW4x shows the least amount of problems and highest stability on Windows 10. You can use this link to receive a free upgrade to Windows 10.

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How to create a private match

NOTE: With the shutdown of X Labs on May 22nd, 2024, this blog is officially defunct.

Dedicated servers and online play are all good and well, but what if you want to challenge your friends to some 1v1 on Rust, Intervention only? Or just have fun with them while messing around with bots? For this, IW4x enables you to create your own game for your friends to join in!

From the main menu, activate the mods you’d like to play with before clicking “Create Game” to get to the semi-familiar Create Game interface.

Here you can set the Server Name, the maximum amount of players and their maximum latency in milliseconds on the right hand side, change game-specific settings on the left hand side as well as setting a password (very recommended).

You should make sure that your NAT Type is displayed as Open, if it isn’t, open the port 28960 on your router and make sure it leads to your local machine. How to open ports is different for every router, so using Google here is essential.

Once all your settings are good to go, hit “Start Game” to start the local game.

Once that’s done, your friends will have to connect either using the “Friends” menu or one of two IPs: Your public or your local IPv4 address.

If connecting through the Friends menu didn’t work, your friends will have to connect through either of the above mentioned IPs. If your friends are in the same network as you (read: connected to the same router as you), you use your local IPv4 address. If however your friends are not in the same network, use your public IPv4 address.

To find your local IPv4 address, press Windows Key + R and type “cmd” into the window that has opened. Hit enter to open the command prompt.

Enter the “ipconfig” command and look for the model name of your router in the list to find the router you are currently connected to.

Example: My router’s model is a Speedport W 724V and my local IPv4 address is 192.168.2.103 (All non-relevant information has been removed from the screenshot). Give this IP to your friends and tell them to enter “/connect <IP>″ into the ingame console, obviously, replace “<IP>” with the actual IP:

They should then be connecting to the server and be able to play with you.

To find your public IPv4, you can easily enter “what is my ip” into the Google search engine, however, if you have an IPv6 address, it will show that instead.

There is multiple ways of finding your public (WAN) IPv4 address. Some routers show them in their configuration interfaces:

(Non-relevant information has been removed, the IP address has been partly censored in post.)

However, not all routers do this. There are many services available on the internet that can show you your IP address, personally however I recommend a Dual-Stack Test, which will show you both IPv6 and IPv4 addresses, if available.

(Non-relevant information has been removed, the IP address has been partly censored in post.)

Give your public IPv4 address to your friends and tell them to enter “/connect <IP>″ into the ingame console, obviously, replace “<IP>” with the actual IP:

(The IP address has been partly censored.)

They should then be connecting to the server and be able to play with you. 

If that’s not the case and they get “Server connection timed out”, make sure that the port 28960 is forwarded in your router’s port configuration and add an exception for that port into your Windows firewall.

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How to install mods into IW4x

NOTE: With the shutdown of X Labs on May 22nd, 2024, this blog is officially defunct.

After installing the client, you might be thinking to yourself

Where’s that mod support I’ve probably heard of?

Installing mods for IW4x is generally an easy task. In this part of the guide I will explain it, using Bot Warfare as an example. Most (99%*) mods are installed this way.

First, we’ll have to find a proper source for the mod. Places like Mod DB or other trusted forums are a good start. For Bot Warfare, we’ll use their official Mod DB page.

After downloading a mod, you will most likely end up with a single folder with a relatively short, simple and describing name. You can change that folder’s name to whatever you like, but don’t touch the files inside, since that might break the mod.

Extract the folder into your mods folder. If there is none, create one. your folder structure should look like this now:

From here on, launch IW4x and click the Mods button.

The folder’s name of the mod you’ve just installed should’ve appeared in the list, this should happen for any mod you install. The mod is not loaded/launched by default, you will have to manually start it by clicking the Launch button in the lower right corner.

You can only ever load one mod at a time! If you want to combine mods, you will need to create a folder that contains the files of all mods you would like to have active at the same time. Be warned, this can make them more instable and they might not be compatible at all. As soon as your OS asks if you want to overwrite files, the mods are incompatible.

After clicking Launch, the game will restart and this text will appear in the top left corner of the main menu, confirming that your mod has loaded. The text will always say “Mod: mods/<name of the folder>”. Your mod has now loaded and can be used ingame.

Please note that you can only use mods on servers if that specific server has that mod loaded as well, otherwise your game will restart without a mod being loaded and proceeds to connect.

If the server has a mod installed however, the mod will be downloaded to your client and should be found in your mods folder.

Next step:

Creating a dedicated serer (WIP) How to play with friends in a private lobby

FAQ

Q: I don’t know how to access my mod from ingame! A: Every mod behaves differently, the mod could have a documentation in the mod files or instructions on the download page, go look there for further information.

Q: I’ve loaded a mod, but now I want to play without it. What do I do? A: The menu from where you’ve loaded the mod will show a button named “Launch without Mods” which does exactly what it advertises.

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How to install IW4x

NOTE: With the shutdown of X Labs on May 22nd, 2024, this blog is officially defunct.

Please refer to https://iw4x.org/installGuide.html for downloads.

Keep reading to find out what to do after you download.

Please only follow the instructions for your download method. If you are unsure, please ask in our Discord server instead!

All-In-One-Pack

Direct Download: Simply extract the zip file into an empty folder of your choice. After extracting, click “iw4x.exe” in the folder you just extracted to and start playing.

Torrent:

Open the iw4x_full_game.torrent in a torrent client of your choice. We suggest

Deluge

. Select your download location and wait for the download to finish. You do not have to extract anything. After it finished, go to where you downloaded to and click “iw4x.exe” to start playing.

Client Files & DLC

Find your Steam MW2 installation by right-clicking “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2″ or “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Multiplayer” in your Steam Library, then click “Properties”. In the window that popped up, click the “LOCAL FILES” tab at the top, then click the “BROWSE LOCAL FILES...” button.

Now simply extract the iw4x_files.zip and iw4x_dlc.zip into that folder.

Finally, right-click “iw4x.exe”, hover over the “Send to” button and select “Desktop (create shortcut)” from the list. This will create a shortcut on your Desktop that you can use to start IW4x.

Standalone Client Files

Open your existing IW4x installation and extract the iw4x_files.zip file into it. It should ask you to overwrite files, say yes to all files.

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How to download MW2 for IW4x

NOTE: With the shutdown of X Labs on May 22nd, 2024, this blog is officially defunct.

If you do not happen to own Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on Steam, the IW4x community recommends the WarZone download: https://downloads.warzone.gg/IW4M/MW2.zip

If the file does not download instantly, this window will open. Make sure to select “Save File” or your internet browser’s equivalent.

The file is about 11.3 gigabytes in size, please be patient while it downloads, especially if you have a slow internet connection. Do not close the browser window while the download is in progress.

You can test your internet connection speed here: http://speedtest.net

The site will output your speed in Megabits per second (Mb/sec). Use a converter like google to find out the equivalent in Megabytes per second (MB/sec).

The WarZone servers do not restrict your download speed so a slow download is entirely on your end.

After the download has completed, you should find a folder called “MW2″ inside the zip, which’s contents should look like this.

Simply extract the folder into a place where your PC account has permissions to read and write, since otherwise you will face problems later on.

We recommend C:/Games/MW2

Note: I used D:/ here instead of C:/, since C:/ is my SSD and D:/ is my HDD. You should always install games on a HDD, if you happen to have both.

After you extracted the files, this is what your directory should look like. If everything is in place, you have done everything right and MW2 should be installed.

Next step: Installing IW4x

FAQ

Q: I have an error about the archive being damaged! A: Redownload the archive, it’s download seems to have been aborted or failed to complete. Windows, WinRar, 7zip, or whatever program you are using, is hitting the end of the file where it didn’t expect it to be, or in other words, it wasn’t told the file would end there, like it should be.