Warnings
- For Games for Windows - LIVE on Windows 8 or later, install the latest Games for Windows - LIVE software.
- The macOS (OS X) version of this game does not work on macOS Catalina (version 10.15) or later due to the removal of support for 32-bit-only apps.
Key points
- The game features full keyboard support but an Xbox 360 Controller is recommended.
- Includes benchmark.
General information
- Steam Community Discussions
Availability
- All Windows versions require Games for Windows - LIVE DRM.[Note 1]
- No longer available due to licensing reasons.[1]
- Demo is available. The demo will install GFWL which can be uninstalled afterwards and replaced by dropping a replacement xlive.dll in the installation folder. The demo does not require an internet connection or Steam.
Essential improvements
Patches
- The latest version is Patch 1.1 (March 2010, ~350 MB).
Mods
Skip intro videos
Play without Games for Windows - LIVE
Play without GFWL[citation needed]
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- Download the replacement xlive.dll.
- Extract into
<path-to-game>
Notes
- This cuts most online content.
- This works for almost all GFWL games.
- Previous made saves can not be read and are treated by the game as corrupt saves (the prompted creation of a new save may overwrite the player's progress).
- This disables connection in LAN multiplayer.
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Disable bloom
- Search game folder subfolder \frontend\
- Make backup copy of file persistentdatarender.xml
- Open file persistentdatarender.xml in any text editor
- Search strings <Param name="bloomAmount">x.x</Param> where x.x - any number
- Replace with <Param name="bloomAmount">0.0</Param>
- Save file and play game
This is disable only bloom and leave all another effects unchanged.
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
Save game data location
System |
Location |
Windows |
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\DiRT2\savegame\ |
macOS (OS X) |
~/Library/Application Support/Feral Interactive/DiRT 2/Savegame |
Steam Play (Linux) |
<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/12840/pfx/[Note 2] |
- The files in
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\XLive\
contain your unique offline profile ID.
System |
Native |
Notes |
OneDrive |
|
Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers. |
Steam Cloud |
|
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Video
Graphical settings (continued)
Default chase (close) camera and FOV.
Chase (far) camera with a vertical FOV of 60. A background texture is temporarily missing at this FOV.
- Higher FOVs can expose occasional texture pop-in glitches.
Use Dirt3FovChange[2]
|
- Perform a search in the installation folder for the
cameras.xml files.
- Select them all (fifty in total) and open their properties.
- Uncheck the read-only box and click OK.
- Download Dirt3FovChange.
- Extract the files from the archive into any folder.
- Run
Dirt3FovChange.exe as administrator.
- Manually point Dirt3FovChange to your DiRT 2 installation folder.
- See the Notes section below for what the settings do, adjust their values to your liking and click Start.
- If it asks if you're sure you want to run
binXml.exe , uncheck the box for Always ask before opening this file and click Run.
- Launch the game and test your settings in a race. If you want to further adjust the settings:
- Exit the race and Alt+Tab ↹ to Dirt3FovChange.
- Click Restore to restore the default settings. Tweak the values you previously entered and click Start.
- In DiRT 2, start a new race to test your settings. Repeat until you're happy with the result.
Notes
- Vertical FOV: a larger number will translate into a wider field of view.
- Adjust FOV for: selects the in-game camera or cameras you want to edit.
- Head Offset: affects the position of the head-cam (cockpit view). A modification of 0.1 will yield a noticeable change. It is to be noted that the point of view can be placed outside of the car.
- X: affects the lateral position. A positive value will move the point of view to the left.
- Y: affects the vertical position. A positive value will move the point of view upward.
- Z: affects the front/back position. A positive value will move the point of view closer to the dashboard.
- Head Tilt Change: affects the vertical angle of the camera. Compared to the position values, the tilt value works on a different scale: a modification of 1 will yield a barely noticeable change.
- A positive value will tilt the camera up.
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Input
Controls (X-Box controller) 1/2
Controls (X-Box controller) 2/2
Audio
Audio feature |
State |
Notes |
Separate volume controls |
|
Speech, Music, Effects and Engine |
Surround sound |
|
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Subtitles |
|
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Closed captions |
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Mute on focus lost |
|
See Mute on focus lost. |
EAX support |
|
[3] |
Localizations
Language |
UI |
Audio |
Sub |
Notes |
English |
|
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|
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French |
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|
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German |
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Polish |
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Mute on focus lost
Set mute in background[citation needed]
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- Install Special K by following the Special K Unofficial Guide.
- Start the game and press Ctrl+⇧ Shift+← Backspace to toggle Special K's Control Panel.
- Expand "Window Management" and "Input/Output Behavior"
- Enable "Mute Game" under "Background Behavior" and close the Control Panel.
- Press Ctrl+⇧ Shift+O to toggle Special K's On-Screen Display.
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Network
- Online features require a Microsoft account (optional for offline play).
Multiplayer types
Type |
Native |
Players |
Notes |
Local play |
|
|
LAN play |
| 8 |
|
Online play |
| 8 |
DirtNET service has been discontinued, making Ghosts in Time Trials and Tournaments unavailable, discontinuing the achievements attached to these. |
VR support
Devices |
|
|
TrackIR |
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Supports: Yaw, Pitch, Roll, X, Y, Z. |
Issues fixed
Run the game at screen refresh rate
- Fullscreen mode only runs at 60 Hz, even if the in-game option is set higher than that.
Set screen refresh rate[citation needed]
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- The flashback uses frames to calculate time. With a shorter amount of time available as the framerate goes higher, the feature becomes less useful. Around 120 FPS this makes it impossible to rewind out of a terminal damage crash.
- Install Special K by following the Special K Unofficial Guide.
- Start the game once and close it to allow the configuration file of Special K to be created.
- Open
<path-to-game>\dxgi.ini or %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Mods\SpecialK\Profiles\dirt2_game.exe\SpecialK.ini depending on the installation method you used.
- Change
RefreshRate=-1 to RefreshRate=0 under [Render.FrameRate] .
|
Set screen refresh rate[citation needed]
|
For nvidia owners with gsync display
- Turn on vsync in game options and turn off vsync in nvidia driver
- Turn on gsync for DIRT 2
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Other information
API
Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
Direct3D |
9, 11 |
|
Executable |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
Windows |
|
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macOS (OS X) | |
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Middleware
System requirements
Windows |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
XP, Vista, 7 | |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel Pentium D 3.0 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 |
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66 GHz AMD Athlon X2 4200+ |
System memory (RAM) |
1 GB 2 GB (Vista) |
2 GB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
12.5 GB | |
Video card (GPU) |
Nvidia GeForce 6800 ATI Radeon X1500 DirectX 9.0c compatible
| Nvidia GeForce 9800 ATI Radeon HD 4850 |
Sound (audio device) |
DirectX compatible | |
macOS (OS X) |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
10.6.7 | |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel 2.0 GHz
| Intel 2.4 GHz |
System memory (RAM) |
2 GB |
4 GB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
8 GB | |
Video card (GPU) |
128 MB of VRAM
| 256 MB of VRAM |
Notes
References