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Hitman 2: Silent Assassin

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games

This page is for the 2002 game. For the 2018 game, see Hitman 2.

Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin cover
Developers
IO Interactive
Publishers
Eidos Interactive
Engines
Glacier
Release dates
Windows October 1, 2002
Reception
Metacritic 87
IGDB 77
Taxonomy
Modes Singleplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives First-person, Third-person
Controls Direct control
Genres Stealth
Art styles Realistic
Themes Asia, Contemporary, Eastern Europe, Europe, Japan
Series Hitman
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin on HowLongToBeat
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin on IGDB
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin guide on StrategyWiki
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin on MobyGames
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin on Wikipedia
Hitman
Hitman: Codename 47 2000
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin 2002
Hitman: Contracts 2004
Hitman: Blood Money 2006
Hitman: Sniper Challenge 2012
Hitman: Absolution 2012
Hitman GO 2015
Hitman 2016
Hitman 2 2018
Hitman World of Assassination 2021

General information

Hitman Wiki
Neoseeker Forums
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
GOG.com Support Page
Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
SecuROM 4 DRM.
Windows
Retail
DRM-free
The version included in the retail 'Hitman Collection' (Eidos, 2009) is entirely DRM-free.
Windows
GamersGate
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Gamesplanet logo.svg
Icon overlay.png
Windows
GOG.com
DRM-free
Version 1.01 uncensored.
Windows
Green Man Gaming
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Humble Store
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Steam
Icon overlay.png
Windows
The Steam version (v1.02) is slightly censored (removed certain lines of dialog, alcohol references, and minor changes to certain disguises)[1]
The European release of the Hitman Collection is DRM-free, already patched to the latest version and have the cheats enable by default.

Version differences

The GOG.com version is patched to work better on modern operating systems and it's the uncensored version 1.01.

Demos

Essential improvements

Patches

Patch v1.01 is the latest patch available. English, French, and German versions of the patch are available.

Skip intro videos

Skip intro[2]
  1. Open <path-to-game>\Hitman2.ini.
  2. Set DefaultScene=AllLevels/Logos.gms to DefaultScene=mainmenu.gms

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\Hitman2.ini[Note 1]
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/6850/pfx/[Note 2]

Save game data location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\Save[Note 1]
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/6850/pfx/[Note 2]
Maximum of 99 save files.
Save states contain system information. Loading a mid-mission save file from a different computer or operating system may result in severe broken game timing.

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud
Added on September 11, 2020.[3]

Video

Game's configuration tool.
Game's configuration tool.
Graphics settings.
Graphics settings.

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
Only 4:3 aspect ratio with maximum resolution of 1600 x 1200 supported by default. See Widescreen resolution.
Multi-monitor
See Widescreen resolution.
Ultra-widescreen
See Widescreen resolution.
4K Ultra HD
See Widescreen resolution.
Field of view (FOV)
See Widescreen resolution.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Use Borderless Gaming.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Up to 8x. Can make the game crash with 2x or more.[citation needed] SGSSAA can be forced without bits on Nvidia systems, but requires the AA Fix to be enabled to prevent white lines from appearing around character models.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
Always enabled in fullscreen mode.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
High frame rate affects game logic and can also prevent certain levels from launching. See High frame rate issues.

Widescreen resolution

Some widescreen methods are reported to cause crashes at least on the Kirov Park Meeting level.[4][5]
Widescreen fix (Hor+)[citation needed]
  1. Download Widescreen fix by nemesis2000.
  2. Extract h2.7z or h2_enb.7z files to <path-to-game> (password=h2).
  3. Run upx.bat for GOG.com version of the game.
  4. Edit h2.ini to set the resolution and FOV multiplier.

Notes

Works with Steam version (currently in beta, will launch with most but not all systems).
Supported exe size: 2 838 528 bytes; 873 984 bytes.
Set LOD_Distance_Multiplier to 1.0 and Draw_Distance to 1.2 in order to avoid crashes.
LOD distance and draw distance is also adjustable.
Disables built-in Vsync.
Widescreen fix (Hor+ alternative)[6]
  1. Download Hitman.2 - Widescreen-GOG.7z.
  2. Extract hitman2.exe and Hitman2.ini to <path-to-game>.
  3. Open the appropriate FOV folder and extract RenderD3D.dll to <path-to-game>.
  4. Edit Hitman2.ini and set the Resolution setting to the appropriate one.

Notes

Not compatible with the Steam version.
Causes crashes on multiple levels.
Widescreen fix (Vert-)[citation needed]
  1. Open <path-to-game>\Hitman2.ini.
  2. Add Window 1 to the file.
  3. Add StartUpperPos 0,0 to the file.
  4. Edit the Resolution line with the desired values.

Notes

This fix decreases the vertical FOV in widescreen.
Running the game in windowed mode disables v-sync and anti-aliasing. This can result in extremely high framerates that affect gameplay and break the in-game cutscenes.
Running the game in OpenGL instead of Direct3D will cap the frame rate at 60 frames per second, but may result in graphical glitches such as untextured character models in some levels.

Input

Control settings.
Control settings.

Audio

Sound settings.
Sound settings.

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Up to 7.0 output.[7]
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Always enabled.
EAX support
EAX 3
May require DirectSound3D restoration software to restore proper sound functionality on Windows Vista and later. An AM3D "DieselPower" audio engine for the game is available here.

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Italian
Retail version, download.
Hungarian
Fan translation
Polish
Retail and here. Retail only translation available.
Russian
Retail version, download.
Spanish
Retail version, download.

VR support

Issues fixed

Game shows a gray or black screen on Windows 10

Use Elisha's Windows 10 Patch[citation needed]
  1. Download the Hitman 2 Silent Assassin Windows 10 Patch.
  2. Unzip the files to <path-to-game>.
  3. Disable F5 Glove from the Game Configuration (config.exe).
  4. Set the Texture Filter to 'Bilinear' and Anti-Aliasing to 'Off' in the Graphics Options in the game if needed.
Can be made compatible with nemesis2000's widescreen fix renaming included dlls to .asi and enabling the setting LoadPlugins in dxwrapper.ini. Alternatively could use Ultimate ASI Loader (which integrates Crosire's d3d8to90) by renaming dinput8.dll to d3d9.dll and adding the following to a global.ini file:
[GlobalSets]
UseD3D8to9=1

Game is displayed in-between screens

The window is displayed in the middle of Windows workspace, which may end up being in-between screens.
Set window position[8]
  1. Open <path-to-game>\Hitman2.ini.
  2. Add StartUpperPos 0,0 to the file.

Fatal Error - Unable to create device

Set windowed mode[citation needed]
  1. Open the configuration tool.
  2. Disable the Full Screen setting.

Crash To Desktop (Steam)

Fixing the Crash to Desktop[8]
  1. Find Hitman 2: Silent Assassin in your Steam Library
  2. Right-click the game name.
  3. Click Hitman 2: Silent Assassin Configuration
  4. Click "Reset all settings" and click "Save and launch".

Failed to find Steam

Launch the game through the Steam library[8]
Copy Steam.dll from the Steam folder and place it in <path-to-game>[citation needed]

Black screen during the cutscenes

  1. Use (d3d8to9 on Windows10) and set monitor on 60hz.
Use DX8 to DX9 enb convertor[8]
  1. Download the newest DX8 to DX9 convertor.
  2. Place it in a folder with the game.
  3. Set refresh rate on 60hz
Limiting the frame rate[8]
  • See Frame Rate (FPS) for instructions on how to limit the frame rate. Keep in mind, that this is DirectX 8 based game and some solutions may not work out of the box.
Fullscreen mode[8]
  1. Run the Hitman 2: Silent Assassin Configuration on Steam or <path-to-game>\config.exe
  2. Under the Graphics tab, check Fullscreen.

Notes

This solution is not compatible with the first two widescreen solutions.

High frame rate issues

Frame rates above 60 fps will cause NPCs to be more sensitive than intended and may affect pathing timing. Game is still playable at 144 fps, but issues may arise if attempting to play through a level with perfect stealth.
Very high frame rates will cause a "slow motion" effect in-game. Extremely high frame rate (above 1024 FPS) will freeze character movement and break in-game cutscenes, which can make it impossible to load the opening level.[8]
  1. Framerate can be limited using Nvidia Inspector.[8]
  1. Use (d3d8to9 on Windows10) and set monitor on 60hz.

Vsync (Enable by default) not working on Windows10

  1. Download [1] d3d8to9.
  2. Copy D3D8.DLL from the folder to the game install directory.

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 8.1
OpenGL 1.4 Support is buggy and incomplete.
Shader Model support 1.1
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Interface FreeType

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 98, 2000, XP
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium III 450 MHz
System memory (RAM) 128 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 800 MB
Video card (GPU) 16 MB of VRAM
DirectX 8.1 compatible


Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 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).
  2. 2.0 2.1 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>/6850/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (6850) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References