About
Deathkings of the Dark Citadel is the only official expansion pack for Hexen: Beyond Heretic, the 1995 dark-fantasy FPS that Raven Software built on a heavily modified Doom engine and the second entry in the Serpent Riders trilogy. It adds 20 new single-player levels across three hubs plus six deathmatch maps, retaining the three playable classes (Fighter, Cleric, Mage) and the non-linear hub-based progression Hexen helped popularize. The base game was well received for its level design and class variety. This standalone Steam release (appid 2370) is delisted, ships the DOS version wrapped in DOSBox, and is superseded for new buyers by a 2025 Nightdive remaster bundle.
Screenshots
Official store screenshots from Steam — deckport links them, never rehosts. Hover to pause; click to preview.
Identity
Launch
- Binary
- DOSBox.exe
- Needs files
- none beyond the binary
Proton
- Version
- GE-Proton
- Winetricks
- —
- ProtonDB
- ProtonDB Gold runs perfectly after tweaks
⚙ Setup notes
Game: Delisted Steam game (appid 2370), the only official expansion for Hexen: Beyond Heretic.
Proton: The stock Steam build is the DOS game wrapped in bundled DOSBox (DOSBox.exe) — Raven never shipped a native Windows port. It runs under Proton/GE-Proton on the Deck and is community-rated ProtonDB Gold (appid 2370). Note: the official Steam Deck Verified badge applies to the 2025 Nightdive *Heretic + Hexen* re-release, not this delisted DOSBox standalone.
Recommended: Modern path — drop a GZDoom build into the install folder, rename the bundled dosbox folder to dosboxold and the GZDoom folder/exe to dosbox so the Steam entry boots GZDoom instead — gives mouselook, widescreen and a built-in Xbox-style gamepad layout.
WADs: GZDoom needs HEXDD.WAD (the expansion) alongside the base HEXEN.WAD.
Install: deckport only configures the prefix; it never bundles or links the game files.
The one thing to know
Supply your own copy: deckport links nothing.
Status: Delisted Steam game (appid 2370); community ProtonDB Gold reports confirm it runs on Deck. (The official Steam Deck Verified badge belongs to the 2025 Nightdive *Heretic + Hexen* re-release, not this old DOSBox standalone.)
Controller: Stock build = DOS game in bundled DOSBox under Proton; works but the DOS controls are keyboard-centric — for proper Deck input either bind a Steam Input keyboard/mouse layout to the DOSBox build, or switch to the GZDoom path (rename dosbox -> dosboxold, GZDoom -> dosbox) which has a native Xbox-style controller layout, mouselook and widescreen.
WADs: Launch the expansion with -iwad HEXDD.WAD; the base HEXEN.WAD assets must also be present (Deathkings is an expansion to the base game).
Music note: The Steam build ships the v1.0 HEXDD.WAD, which lacks the music-track links — expansion levels play silently. Communities note a v1.1 update fixes this; applying it is the common remedy.
DRM: No DRM/GFWL (DOS-era game).
Note: A 2025 Nightdive 'definitive' Heretic+Hexen re-release exists with modern controller support built in.
Community guides
Write-ups and threads from people who got this (or a similar) game running. deckport links to them — it doesn't reproduce them.
Get the artwork
deckport never hosts game images. Open this game on SteamGridDB, pick
the cover / hero / logo / icon you like, and drop them into the
game folder under .deckport-art/ before you push it to the
Deck. The importer files them under the right names automatically.
Run it on your Deck
Two files: the one-time importer (deckport.py) in your
Deck's home folder, and this game's install helper. Copy the game
into ~/Games and run the helper with Steam closed — it
writes the recipe (binary, launch options, Proton version)
and registers the shortcut with artwork.