Burnout Paradise

This page is for the original release. For the remaster, see Burnout Paradise Remastered.

Burnout Paradise

Developers
	Criterion Games
Publishers
	Electronic Arts
Engines
	RenderWare
Release dates
Windows	February 5, 2009
Reception
Metacritic	87
IGDB	85
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, DLC
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person, Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Open world, Racing
Vehicles	Automobile, Motorcycle
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Contemporary
Series	Burnout

Burnout
Burnout Paradise	2009
Burnout Paradise Remastered	2018

Burnout Paradise is a singleplayer and multiplayer racing game developed by Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts. It is the seventh entry in the Burnout series and the first entry to be released on PC.

Originally released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2008, it was ported to PC as Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box with all the DLCs included. It was released in North America on February 5, 2009, followed by Europe and Australasia on February 6 and March 12 respectively.

It was first delisted from Origin in March 2018 and later from Steam on June 04, 2020 to make way for the Remastered version.

General information

Burnout Wiki

Steam Community Discussions

Answer HQ for the Burnout series at EA.com

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM 7.38.0015 and SecuROM PA DRM. Limited to five activations. A De-Authorization Tool is available.
(unavailable)
Origin (unavailable)
Steam (unavailable)

Online services were shutdown on August 1, 2019, causing the DLC to no longer be accessible as they relied on online functionality, including the Krieger Carbon Uberschall 8, which required to be unlocked by completing 2 sets of Online Freeburn.

Version differences

The Ultimate Box was the only version available on PC prior to the release of Burnout Paradise Remastered, which means the DLC included in this version was part of all purchases.

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Bonus Vehicle Pack	Contains the following DLCs: Boost Specials Collection Legendary Cars Toy Car Collection Time Savers Pack
Boost Specials Collection	Included in the Bonus Vehicle Pack DLC. Adds the following cars: Carson Extreme Hot Rod Montgomery Hawker Mech
Legendary Cars	Included in the Bonus Vehicle Pack DLC. Adds the following cars: Carson GT Nighthawk Hunter Cavalry Bootlegger Hunter Manhattan Spirit Jansen 88 Special
Toy Car Collection	Included in the Bonus Vehicle Pack DLC. Adds the following cars: Toy Carson GT Concept Toy Carson Inferno Van Toy Hunter Cavalry Toy Hunter Citizen Toy Hunter Manhattan Toy Hunter Takedown 4x4 Toy Jansen P12 Toy Krieger WTR Toy Nakamura Firehawk
Time Savers Pack	Included in the Bonus Vehicle Pack DLC. Unlocks the following: All non-DLC cars and bike, and some Carbon variants. All Platinum and Gold paint schemes. All Burning Routes events.
Party Pack	Included in the PC version. Adds a pass-the-controls group party in the game to complete challenges.
Big Surf Island Pack	Console exclusive DLC that added a new location, discoverables, events, online challenges, as well as new vehicles. While the DLC was never released for PC, modders have attempted to recreate its contents through the Vanity Pack mod.
Cops and Robbers Pack	Console exclusive DLC that adds a new online game mode as well as police variations of many of the vehicles. While the DLC was never released on PC, the Vanity Pack mod includes the police vehicles.

DLC works on both Origin and Steam versions of the game provided that an Origin account is used in-game.

Neither the Cops and Robbers game mode and cars nor the Big Surf Island DLC packs were released for PC. An attempt to recreate these through a mod where made, see Vanity Pack.

Version differences

The Ultimate Box (the only version released on PC) is a special edition that contains the Party Pack DLC and all of the free updates and game-changing content packs released at the time for the console exclusive game.

Essential improvements

External options menu.

Patches

Patch 1.1 is the latest version (for non-Steam and non-Origin versions of the game).

Skip intro videos

Use no intro fix[citation needed]
Download Burnout Paradise NoIntro. Run the fix from anywhere and click apply.

Use launch option[citation needed]
Enter -skipvideos into the launch options to disable the intro videos.

SpeedParadise

Unlock frame rate, change FOV, disable pause on unfocus, and enable changing traffic density.

Can cause steering problems at higher frame rates above 60 FPS.

Only works on Steam version of the game.

Game data

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Criterion Games\Burnout Paradise\*.ini
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/24740/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Criterion Games\Burnout Paradise\Save\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/24740/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Origin
Steam Cloud

Video

In-game general video settings.

In-game advanced video settings (1/2).

In-game advanced video settings (2/2).

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor			Option to select where HUD appears on multiple screens.
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed		See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See Windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Up to 8x MSAA. SGSSAA as well as HSAA + TrSSAA can be forced with Nvidia GPUs by using the 0x000012C0 flag in Nvidia Profile Inspector.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
60 FPS
120+ FPS		Frame rate is capped at 60 FPS. See High frame rate for a workaround.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Windowed

Force windowed mode[citation needed]
Download and run DxWnd. Click on Edit, then Add. Set the name and executable path. Set the window position and size. Set Desktop for borderless fullscreen windowed. Click on Input tab, set Cursor visibility to Hide. Click OK, then File and Save.

Field of view (FOV)

Adjust FOV and FOV scale
Install SpeedParadise. Extract files into <path-to-game>. Open SpeedParadise.ini and change FOVAMOUNT, FOVSCALE and FOVSPEEDSCALE to the desired values.

High frame rate

Unlock frame rates above 60 FPS
Can cause steering problems at above 60 FPS. Install SpeedParadise. Extract files into <path-to-game>. Open SpeedParadise.ini and change UnlockFramerate to 1.

Input

In-game key map settings.

In-game advanced gamepad settings.

In-game force feedback settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

PlayStation controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio		Although the EA Trax settings can be set to only use individual EA original songs, the game is hardcoded to play Guns 'n' Roses' Paradise City every time the game starts.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English				Imperial measurements.
Czech				Introductory cutscene voiceover in Czech.
French
German
Hungarian
Italian
Polish
Russian				Partial audio only.
Spanish
Thai

Disable the announcer

Removes DJ Atomika's (or the regional equivalent) voiceovers from the game.

Replace files
Download Burnout Paradise Remastered - Atomika Disabler and extract the archive to the installation folder, replacing existing files. To restore the original state use Origin's "repair" function for the game.

Disable menu music

Disable song
Go to <path-to-game>\SOUND\STREAMS\. Open GUNS_AND_ROSES.SNS with a text editor. Delete all contents and save the file.

Network

The game will use any connected webcam for various online features. There is an option in-game to turn off webcam use.

Steam and Origin users could play together in multiplayer.

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play		8	Hot seat Party mode.
LAN play
Online play		8	Versus, Co-op Includes co-op Freeburn Challenges. Shut down on August 1, 2019.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	21840
UDP	1000, 9000-9999, 21840-21850

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision		Use Helix Mod: Burnout Paradise.
vorpX		G3D User created game profile, see vorpx forum profile introduction. Created with the retail game, Steam version may crash.

Issues unresolved

No audio

Temporary fix[citation needed]
Alt+Tab ↹ out of the game and then back to it. This is necessary every time the game is run.

Issues fixed

Game crashes on startup

Issues with recording software[citation needed]

Burnout Paradise might crash on start-up if some screen recording software is running, such as XSplit. This occurs because the game sees the software as a webcam. The easiest way to rectify this issue is: close the screen recording software, load Burnout Paradise, Alt+Tab ↹ out, then run the screen recording software. If this is not effective, it might be necessary uninstall the screen recording software entirely.

Issues with CL Eye Driver[citation needed]

Users with the CL Eye Driver installed (to enable support for the PlayStation Eye Camera as a webcam) will encounter crashes when loading Burnout Paradise. Currently, the only solution is to uninstall the CL Eye Driver entirely. Further problems might occur even after doing so, so it might be necessary to experiment with trial and error by closing some Windows Services in the Task Manager, then running Burnout Paradise.

Nvidia graphics issues[citation needed]
Users with Nvidia graphics might have Nvidia Streamer Service installed. It might be necessary to end nvstreamsvc.exe via the Task Manager for the game to load.

Windows 7 solution[citation needed]
Windows 7 users have reported crashing when attempting to run the game. To rectify this, set the game to run in Windows XP SP3 compatibility mode, or Windows Vista SP2 mode. It might also help to reduce or disable Anti-Aliasing in the game's launcher. As a last resort, the game might be fixable by entering -multithread into the launch options.

Online

Getting online[citation needed]

Try connecting online normally. If it connects, ignore the rest of the guide. Otherwise, go to Step 2. After the connection fails, go to the login page again but click "Create new account" instead. Enter the same credentials (ex. email and username) used for the current account into the new one. Once all information is entered in, try creating a new account. If entered correctly, an error message should pop up that says along the lines of "account already exists". Reboot the game and try logging in again with the same account info used in the create account page.

Invalid product key

[citation needed]

Upon attempting to log into an EA/Origin account in order to play the game online, some users encounter the error "The product key you are using is invalid". This occurs if a retail version of the game that has been registered online via EA Download Manager/Origin is being used. The game recognizes that the CD key is already in use (on Origin), and thinks it is invalid. The only solution is to download and reinstall the game via Origin.

Controller not recognized at launch

Delete controls.ini in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Criterion Games\Burnout Paradise, and restart the game.

Shadows rendering issue

On some system any in-game shadows might not cast on objects such as street lamps, roofed areas, etc. Additionally if shadow quality set to Medium or High, The shadows might become bugged and cover the entire area of the map with shadow maps.

Update the graphics driver or make sure the game use any non-Intel GPUs
Only occurs with certain Intel GPUs, there are currently no fixes or workarounds.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c
Shader Model support	3

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Burnout Paradise Advanced Config Tool

This tool can disable intro videos and music, in addition to make available all game video settings outside of it.

Enable the config tool for the Steam version[citation needed]
Steam version requires to run the following command in an elevated command prompt: FOR /F "skip=2 tokens=2,*" %A IN ('REG QUERY "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Steam App 24740" /v InstallLocation /reg:32') DO REG ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\EA Games\Burnout(TM) Paradise The Ultimate Box" /v "Install Dir" /t REG_SZ /d "%B"^\ /reg:32

Vanity Pack

Extensive mod to bring Big Surf Island to the original PC version. It also comes with many additional features.

Might decrease in-game performance due to the required background program to render the area.

The recreated Big Surf Island is missing features such as single-player events, programming for areas and roads, etc.

Vanity Pack 2.0[citation needed]
Download the Vanity Pack. Follow the </ref> instructions and use the passwords provided to extract the file and run the installer. Launch the game through the Vanity Pack.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP	Vista, 7
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz (XP) Intel Pentium 4 3.2 GHz (Vista)	Intel Celeron Dual Core 2.4 GHz AMD Athlon X2 2.4 GHz
System memory (RAM)	1 GB (XP) 1.5 GB (Vista)	2 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	4 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 6600 ATI Radeon X1300 128 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 3.0 support	AMD Radeon HD 6670 Nvidia GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1 GB of VRAM