Colin McRae: DiRT 2

Colin McRae: DiRT 2

Developers
	Codemasters
macOS (OS X)	Feral Interactive
Publishers
	Codemasters
OS X	Feral Interactive
Engines
	EGO 1.0
Release dates
Windows	December 1, 2009
macOS (OS X)	September 9, 2011

Warnings

For Games for Windows - LIVE on Windows 8 or later, install the latest Games for Windows - LIVE software.

The macOS (OS X) release 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.

The demo is hidden. Visit steam://install/44300 in your browser to install the demo. It will ask you if you want to "Launch Application", that application being Steam.

Includes benchmark.

General information

Colin McRae Rally and DiRT Wiki

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM DRM disc check.
Retail
Steam		Install the demo with steam://install/44300

All Windows versions require Games for Windows - LIVE DRM

No longer available due to licensing reasons.

Demo is available (Steam is not required)

Essential improvements

Patches

The latest version is Patch 1.1 (2010).

Skip intro videos

Replace video files
Apply the DiRT 2 intro skip.

Play without Games for Windows - LIVE

Play without GFWL[citation needed]
Download the replacement xlive.dll. Extract into <path-to-game> Notes This cuts most online content. This works for almost all GFWL games.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\DiRT2\hardwaresettings\hardware_settings_config.xml
macOS (OS X)
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/12840/pfx/

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/

The files in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\XLive\ contain your unique offline profile ID.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
OneDrive		Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers.
Steam Cloud

Video settings

Graphical settings.

Graphical settings continued.

Field of view (FOV)

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

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.

Audio settings

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French

Mute on focus lost

Set mute in background[citation needed]
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.

Network

Online features require a Microsoft account (optional for offline play).

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play
LAN play
Online play		8	Some online services for this title are offline rendering some achievements discontinued.[citation needed]

VR support

3D modes	State	GG3D	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision			Broken
iZ3D
vorpX		G3D Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

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]
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].

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9, 11

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	OpenAL, Rapture3D
Cutscenes	Bink Video
Multiplayer	Games for Windows - LIVE

System requirements

Windows

macOS (OS X)

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 for Vista)		2 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	12.5 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 6800 ATI Radeon X1500 DirectX 9.0c compatible		Nvidia GeForce 9800 ATI Radeon HD 4850 DirectX 9.0c compatible
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
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	8 GB
Video card (GPU)	128 MB of VRAM		256 MB of VRAM