Warnings
- SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see Availability for affected versions).
Key points
- Direct-X (when modified to recognize modern graphics cards, see Issues fixed) and Glide renderers give equal graphical quality.
- The game is unplayable without patches on new systems. See Essential improvements.
- Released as Need for Speed: Road Challenge in Europe, Need for Speed: Brennender Asphalt in Germany, Over Drivin' IV in Japan and Need for Speed : Conduite en état de liberté in France.
Availability
- SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).
Essential improvements
- Change resolution and refresh rate under ./drivers/nglide/thrash.ini
The Stock Pack is designed to improve the Single-Player experience in High Stakes, patching the game to the final version, fixing various bugs discovered since the game's support period ended and adding compatibility with modern graphics cards.
The Expansion Pack is designed to improve the Multiplayer experience, with all of the improvements in the Stock Pack as well as adding support for the modern Online Multiplayer service made for the game and more cars and tracks used on that service on a regular basis.
Patches
Patch 4.50 (Internet Beta Test Patch) updates the game to the latest version.
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
Save game data location
Video
Input
- Mouse support is limited only to navigating menus.
Audio
Audio feature |
State |
Notes |
Separate volume controls |
|
Menu Music, Race Music, Effects, Engine and Speech sliders available. |
Surround sound |
|
Stereo, Mono and DS3D/EAX. |
Subtitles |
|
|
Closed captions |
|
|
Mute on focus lost |
|
|
EAX support |
|
EAX.[3] |
Localizations
Language |
UI |
Audio |
Sub |
Notes |
English |
|
|
|
|
German |
|
|
|
|
Network
Multiplayer types
Type |
Native |
Players |
Notes |
Local play |
|
2 |
Versus, Co-op Co-op is Hot Pursuit mode only. |
LAN play |
| 8 |
Versus, Co-op Co-op is Hot Pursuit mode only. |
Online play |
| 8 |
Versus, Co-op Connect as if connecting to a LAN game. Co-op is Hot Pursuit mode only. |
Connection types
Ports
Protocol |
Port(s) and/or port range(s) |
TCP |
1030 |
- Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.
Issues fixed
- A Standard installation of the High Stakes Stock Pack fixes all of the known bugs in the game. See above. Individual fixes are given below for convenience.
1 MB RAM Bug (XP, Later)
When running the game on Windows XP or later, the game gives a 1MB of RAM error and does not save progress or settings.
Install 1MB Error Patch[citation needed]
|
- Download and start Installation of the High Stakes Stock Pack
- Ensure "Mercury / 1Mbyte Error Patch" is selected on the Choose Components screen.
- Finish Installation
- Run the game.
|
Crash on Start Issue (Vista, Later)
When running the game on Windows Vista or later, the game refuses to start, giving an Invalid Argument exception.
Install NFS:HS Stock Pack[citation needed]
|
- Download and start Installation of the High Stakes Stock Pack
- Ensure "EA's 4.50 Patch", "Vista, Win7 Tweaks" and "NFS HS Starter" are selected on the Choose Components screen.
- Finish Installation
- Run the game.
|
Start game with -PatchRestart switch[citation needed]
|
- Create a (or modify an existing) Shortcut to the game EXE and add
-PatchRestart to the end of the Target.
- Run the game using that Shortcut.
|
Start game using PatchNFS.exe[citation needed]
|
Run the game from <path-to-game>\PatchNFS.exe .
|
Direct3D doesn't appear in the 3DSetup tool
When configuring 3D acceleration using the 3DSetup tool, only Software Renderer appears in the list.
Install New 3DSetup[citation needed]
|
- Download and start Installation of the High Stakes Stock Pack
- Ensure "New 3D-Setup" is selected on the Choose Components screen.
- Finish Installation
- Direct3D should now be in the list of renderers.
|
Other information
API
Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
Direct3D |
6 |
|
Glide |
|
native support |
Software renderer |
|
|
Executable |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
Windows |
|
|
|
System requirements
Windows |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
9x, NT, 2000 | |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel Pentium 200 MHz
| Intel Pentium 266 MHz |
System memory (RAM) |
32 MB |
64 MB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
50 MB |
350 MB |
Video card (GPU) |
2 MB of VRAM DirectX 6.1 compatible
| 8 MB of VRAM |
Sound (audio device) |
100% DirectX 6.1+ compatible | |
Notes
- ↑ SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.[2]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below
%PROGRAMFILES%
, %PROGRAMDATA%
, or %WINDIR%
might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore
on Windows Vista and later (more details).
References