Installing Dread Hunger
So you've just heard about Dread Hunger online or from a friend of a friend, but when you tried to look it up on Steam, it wasn't there? You're not alone!
Around january 2024, the DH devs gave up on the game and pulled it from the Steam store. As of now, it's abandonware. The only way to get it now is by purchasing very expensive Steam accounts with the game pre-installed, or downlading it P2P from the Russian FreeTP.org (great job serega25511s!)
You can find the tracker to download it here, but be warned, it's in Russian and there are some fake download-buttons and possibly pop-ups. If you want to skip that part, head to the bottom of this page and download the tracker from there in stead. All you need to run it is something like the uTorrent or qBitTorrent app.
Translation
When the installation is done, the game is ready to start. It needs for Steam to run in the background while launching and playing the game. What you will see when you start the game is that it runs in Russian.
To fix this, go to where you installed the game, then ...\Games\Dread Hunger\DreadHunger\Binaries\Win64
Locate the file named SteamFix.ini and edit it in notepad.
On the line with "Language=russian", change it to "language=english" and save.
You can also skip this part if you download the Ultimate Package down below.
The file is already edited for you.
You are now ready to play the game! The only thing you cannot do, is join Steam friends via the Steam Friends-list and vice versa, so you need to connect to your friends using the lobby system in stead.
I highly recommend getting the in-game overlay for quickly joining IP's!
See the next (not obligatory) step:
The installation
When you have your torrenting app of choice installed, just double click on the tracker and it will open a window in the app, asking you where to save the file. Pick your location and wait for it to finish.
The next step:
Go to the folder where it was saved, locate the installer and run it.
Pick your save location for the game itself.
The Overlay
The Overlay is a fantastic tool to create and join IP's as quickly as possible. You can use it to host free vanilla and modded servers. Since you don't have Steam bought Dread Hunger, you need a special version of the overlay. Find it here.
The regular installation method from their github will break your game, as it was made for people playing Dread Hunger on Steam!!
You can also skip this part by downloading the Ultimate Package below, as the files for the overlay are already in it. You should still check out their github for mod explanations, general use and info on all that it can do.
The Ultimate Package
You can download the Ultimate Package below. It cointains the tracker to download the game, the already modified file that tells the game to run in English in stead of Russian, plus the Overlay.
There's also a "Readme" checklist for the entire process inside, if you get stuck.
All you really have to do is move all the files in it to: ...\Games\Dread Hunger\DreadHunger\Binaries\Win64
You don't have to put the tracker and the Readme in there with them.
Downloads
Totem Mod
I highly recommend getting Totem Mod, which adds a beautiful, vast map called Archipelago and 4 new characters, several new spells and crafts. With this mod you can join virtually any public lobby, modded or vanilla, up to 11 players.
If you got Dread Hunger from Steam, there is a mod manager where you can download and install the mods with a simple app. It does, unfortunately, not work for everyone. You can find both v1 and v2 of the mod manager below.
For everyone else, you can find the files for manually installing Totem Mod here or in the page menu.
Disclaimer: to use Totem Mod, you need a server that has Totem Mod on it (the Overlay or the DH discord bot etc.)
In-game Proximity Voice Chat
Even though you, technically, can distribute a server IP to all the players and have them join each other like that, the in-game proximity voice chat WILL NOT WORK if you do that, and everyone will be kicked to their own separate lobbies when the round ends. Since you didn't join each other via the Steam Friends-list first, the game will struggle and fail in activating voice chat for your group, and in keeping you together after a game ends. What you need to do, is to have the leader/host go to the captains quarters on the ship and create a public lobby there. Just pick a random map. For privacy you can create a lobby in some weird language no one uses and have your friends filter lobbies by that language when they look for and apply to that public lobby (even if a stranger should join you, the host can kick them easily). Once you have all joined each other in a lobby, everyone go stand on the ship (not docks) and have the leader/host enter the server IP by either using the Overlay or by sailing the ship out of the docks. Everyone else will be transported to the map together with the leader. The server creating bots or the Overlay will always ignore the map and settings you initially set for the public lobby and rather use the information you input into them.
Downloads
Click directly on the file name or select download in the menu to the right. Do not use checkmark-boxes on the left!
There is no need to apply for a membership and no applicants will be approved.
China based "The Septenary Gods" or TSG for short, are a team of excellent mod developers. They have made an app called ModManager where you can install their mods through a click of the button. You can download it below, or from Orange Hat Tech (he posts all kinds of mods there and guides for modifying game files for new features etc.) Some people struggle with getting the app running, so if that happens you can add Totem Mod manually with the TotemMod file below.
The Totem Mod package features a massive and beautiful new map called "Archipelago", with teleporting stones, wendigos and all kinds of trouble. It supports upto a mindnumbing 11 players! The mod also features 3 new characters, 4 new spells and some exciting crafting recipes you won't find in vanilla DH.
Disclaimer: the ModManager app doesn't seem to like non-Steam DH and might crash when you try to manually give it the path to your DH-folder, but if you get it to run, it auto-updates if there's an update, so keep checking in regularly and it might work the next time you try it. Download TotemMod manually for now. There's a Readme inside that tells you where to put the different files.
TotemMod gets updated from time to time and you will have to update your files with it, so go to Orange Hat Tech or come back here if you're outdated and it's causing the game to crash all of a sudden.