FlatOut

FlatOut
FlatOut	2004
FlatOut 2	2006
FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage	2008
FlatOut 3: Chaos & Destruction	2011
FlatOut 4: Total Insanity	2017

FlatOut is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person and third-person action, racing and tricks game in the FlatOut series.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		US: SecuROM 7 DRM (v1.2) Europe/Russia/CIS: StarForce 4 DRM^{[Note 1]} (v1.0/v1.1)
Epic Games Store		v1.0
GamersGate

GOG.com		v1.0
Green Man Gaming
Humble Store
Steam		v1.0
ZOOM Platform		v1.1

StarForce DRM for this game does not work on modern versions of Windows (see above for affected versions).

GOG version has problems with textures and crashes in multiplayer.

Essential improvements

Patches

Retail: Custom v1.1 Retail Patch

Steam: Custom v1.1 Steam Patch

Only the US version received patch 1.2

Opening the launcher

After the first time launching the game, the launcher won't show up again rendering the player unable to reconfigure the settings.

Windows version^[4]
Use the `-setup` command line argument.

Linux version^{[citation needed]}
On GOG.com's Linux version, the `start.sh` located in the install directory has to be modified to access the launcher. In the script, there is an option to edit how the game is launched. Look for `default() {` and change the lower line `run_game` to `run_settings`. After that, the game launcher starts as default, but it can be changed back.

Skip intro videos

Use ThirteenAG's widescreen fix^[4]

Delete/rename video files^{[citation needed]}
Go to `<path-to-game>\data\video` Delete or rename `bugbear.avi`, `empire.avi`, `intro.avi`, and `nvidia.avi`.

ZolikaPatch

Removes forced V-sync and the 100 FPS cap.

Applying ZolikaPatch^{[citation needed]}
Download the ZPatchFO1_v#.#.zip file. Extract the contents of the download to `<path-to-game>`; replace the file(s) when prompted.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Savegame\^{[Note 2]}
Linux
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/6220/pfx/^{[Note 3]}

It's unknown whether this game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux. Please fill in this information.

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Savegame\^{[Note 2]}
Linux
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/6220/pfx/^{[Note 3]}

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Epic Games Launcher
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

Game's launcher.

Video settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution		Stretched 4:3. To correct the ratio use ThirteenAG's widescreen fix.
Multi-monitor		Use ThirteenAG's widescreen fix.
Ultra-widescreen		Stretched 4:3. To correct the ratio use ThirteenAG's widescreen fix.
4K Ultra HD		Stretched 4:3. To correct the ratio use ThirteenAG's widescreen fix.
Field of view (FOV)	See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed	See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed	See Windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Vertical sync (Vsync)	Use ZolikaPatch to disable it.
60 FPS	Frame rate is cut in half when slow motion is used.
120+ FPS	Frame rate is capped at 100 FPS. Use ZolikaPatch to remove the cap outside menus.
High dynamic range display (HDR)	See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Field of view (FOV)

Set FOVFactor^[4]
Install ThirteenAG's fix. Edit `Flatout.WidescreenFix.ini`. Set `FOVFactor` to the desired value.

Windowed

Force windowed mode^{[citation needed]}
Download d3d9hook. Extract `d3d9.dll` to `<path-to-game>`.

Input

Input settings.

Controls mapping.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		No mouse support.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		Button bound to Handbrake works as Select, Nitro works as Back.
Full controller support
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers

PlayStation controllers

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Button prompts
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback		For XInput controllers see XInput force feedback vibration in DirectInput games.
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M		In menus, Controller and KB/M can be used at the same time. Controller used for races has to be set in the settings.

Audio

Audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Menu music, In-game music, Effects.
Surround sound		Up to 5.1. Up to 7.0 output with DirectSound3D restoration software.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		DirectSound3D.^[5] Select Hardware 3D in launcher.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German				Retail, Steam, ZOOM Platform only; download for GOG.com release.
Italian
Polish				See Polish.
Russian				Retail, ZOOM Platform only.
Spanish
Japanese

Polish

A high quality Polish translation was made by PL Projekt group. It can be downloaded from Graj Po Polsku.

Installing Polish translation with Steam version of the game^{[citation needed]}
Download the translation and install it to an empty folder. Go to that folder and copy `PLProjekt.bfs`. Go to the installation folder. Edit `filesystem.ini`. After `[3] = "europe.bfs",` add a line: `[4] = "PLProjekt.bfs",` Save changes and run the game.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Players	Notes
Local play	4	Hot seat Bonus Rag-Doll Sports Mode, but missing split screen.
LAN play	8
Online play	8	Only in US console version.

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
vorpX		G3D Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Issues fixed

"Access Denied - Please login with administrator privileges and try again" error on launch

Install the v1.1 patch

Missing car texture in some races (GOG)

Install this fix

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
Linux

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok
Audio	FMOD

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	98, ME	2000, XP
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 4 1.5 GHz AMD Athlon XP 1500+	Intel Pentium 4 2.0 GHz AMD Athlon XP 2000+
System memory (RAM)	256 MB	512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	1.1 GB
Video card (GPU)	64 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible	128 MB of VRAM

Notes

↑ This version of StarForce DRM does not work on Windows 8.1, Windows 10, or Windows 11.^[2]^[3] For supported versions of Windows the StarForce driver may need to be updated manually using SFUPDATE.
↑ ^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).
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/6220/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (6220) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References

↑ GOG.com Now Supports Linux! - July 24, 2014
↑ Windows 8.1 support - StarForce Support
↑ Windows 10 support - StarForce Support
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 Verified by User:Nessy on 2022-03-19
↑ FlatOut with 3D spatial sound 🎧 (OpenAL Soft HRTF audio)

[4] This version of StarForce DRM does not work on Windows 8.1, Windows 10, or Windows 11.^[2]^[3] For supported versions of Windows the StarForce driver may need to be updated manually using SFUPDATE.

[gamedir-6] 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).

[Proton_path_note-7] 3.0 ^3.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/6220/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (6220) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

[1] GOG.com Now Supports Linux! - July 24, 2014

[StarForce_Windows_8.1-2] Windows 8.1 support - StarForce Support

[StarForce_Windows_10-3] Windows 10 support - StarForce Support

[2022-03-19-5] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 Verified by User:Nessy on 2022-03-19

[8] FlatOut with 3D spatial sound 🎧 (OpenAL Soft HRTF audio)

[1]

[Note 1]

[4]

[Note 2]

[Note 3]

[5]

[2]

[3]

Developers
Cover image missing, please upload it
	Bugbear Entertainment
Publishers
Retail (Europe)	Empire Interactive
Retail (Russia/CIS)	Buka Entertainment
Retail (North America)	Vivendi Universal Games
Digital	Strategy First
Engines
	ROMU Engine
Release dates
Windows	November 5, 2004
Linux (Wine)	July 24, 2014^[1]
Reception
Metacritic	72
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person, Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Racing, Tricks
Vehicles	Automobile, Off-roading, Track racing
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Contemporary
Series	FlatOut