For the prequel, see Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit. For the 2010 game, see Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.
Warnings
- SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see Availability for affected versions).
- GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).
Key points
- Based on the GameCube/Xbox version of the game rather than the Black Box PlayStation 2 version.[1]
Availability
- SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).
Essential improvements
Patches
- Patch 242 is the final patch for the game. Adds multiplayer encryption and improves Force Feedback behavior and compatibility.
Skip intro videos
Instructions[4]
|
- Go to
<path-to-game>\movies\
- Delete or rename
hp2E.mad , logoE.mad , and logoS.mad to anything else.
- Create three empty files with the above filenames in the folder.
Notes
- This tweak will only work if you are using the No-CD patch, as otherwise the game will simply load the movies directly from the game CD.
- Alternatively, you can start the game with the "-nofrustration" argument which will skip the title screen and intro videos.
|
Increase distance in which particles fade out
- Increases the distance in which particles are rendered. It will be most noticeable in the water effect not fading from waterfalls as their distance increases.
Instructions
|
- Go to the "EAGL" folder in the game directory.
- Open the "LOD" file with notepad.
- In the "[max]" section, increase the values for "worldParticle.farFadeIn" and "worldParticle.farFadeOut". It can go to values as high as 999, but keep "worldParticle.farFadeIn" slightly lower than "worldParticle.farFadeOut".
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Crash/lock-up on launch or Low/Choppy frame-rate
- Game may crash immediately after entering full-screen/after it creates its application window, or frame-rate may be around 20-30 FPS and lack V-sync
(Alternative) Unplug or disable incompatible HID devices[6]
|
If the above doesn't work (it didn't on my Windows 8.1 x64):
- Unplug any USB HID devices that you don't need to play the game (Xbox controllers, media remotes, desktop case fan speed controllers etc). For laptops unplug all external USB HID devices such as external mice and keyboards.
- Go to Device Manager and, under the "Human Interface Devices" section, disable any remaining "HID-compliant vendor-defined device" and "HID-compliant consumer control devices" (you can re-enable them later)
- Game should now launch and work properly. You can start re-enabling and re-plugging devices by testing the game after each change until you find the cuplrit HID device. Mine was the Alienware AlienFX controller.
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Game data
Configuration file(s) location
System |
Location |
Windows |
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\EA Games\Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2\ |
Save game data location
System |
Location |
Windows |
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\EA Games\Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2\ |
Video settings
Template:Video settings
Input settings
Template:Input settings
- To enable Force Feedback on XInput controller, see Force feedback driver.
Audio settings
Template:Audio settings
Localizations
Language |
UI |
Audio |
Sub |
Notes |
English |
|
|
|
|
French |
|
|
|
|
Slovak |
|
|
|
Fan translation, download. |
Network
Multiplayer types
Connection types
Issues fixed
- By default, the resolution options are limited to WWWW x HHHH and under. Any resolution supported by your graphics driver can be added by making the following change to
rendercaps.ini
.
- Go to
C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\My files\EA Games\Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2\rendercaps.ini
- Set
LimitResolution=1
to LimitResolution=0
Game not rendering fog on modern systems
- Note: If you install HP2WSFix, this step is not necessary as d3d8to9 is integrated with it.[9]
Even after setting "World Detail" at maximum, the game won't render fog on modern systems.
Go here and download the d3d8.dll and place it in Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 folder and the d3d8.dll will load d3d8to9 and convert DX8 API calls to Direct3D 9 ones.
Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 (exception error)
- Error is "The thread attempted to read from or write to a virtual address for which it does not have the appropriate access."
Copy the following directories from the CD to <path-to-game>\ [citation needed]
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- actors
- AI
- Audio
- Cars
- Movies
- Particle
- Tracks
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Game crashing with more than 1 hi-poly car
This issue can be fixed by installing HP2WSFix as the fix is integrated along with the widescreen fix.[9]
White screen after installed HP2WSFix
In some PCs, after installed the Widescreen Fix, when the game is launched it freezes on a white screen.
To fix this, just remove the global.ini file from the main game directory.
DualShock 4 support
- To use a DualShock 4 with the gas and brake axis, the .ini needs to be tweaked.
Replace definitions.ini and defaults.ini with the ones from here.
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Poor performance on high resolutions
May be fixed copying the game directory outside "Program Files" folder, so it can be run without administrator rights.
Settings not saved on exit
Profile must be saved manually from the Options menu after configuring settings, won't be saved on game exit.
Other information
API
Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
Direct3D |
8.1 |
|
Executable |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
Windows |
|
|
|
Middleware
|
Middleware |
Notes |
Multiplayer |
GameSpy |
|
Modifications
System requirements
Windows |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
98, ME, 2000, XP | |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel Pentium III 450 MHz AMD Athlon 500 MHz |
Intel Pentium III 800 MHz or AMD Athlon |
System memory (RAM) |
128 MB | |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
1.2 GB | |
Video card (GPU) |
Direct3D compatible 16 MB of VRAM
| 32 MB of VRAM |
Notes
- ↑ SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10[2] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.[3]
References