Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed


⤏ Go to series page
The Need for Speed	1994
Need for Speed II	1997
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (series)
Need for Speed: High Stakes	1999
Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed	2000
Need for Speed: Underground (series)
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (series)
Need for Speed: Carbon	2006
Need for Speed: ProStreet	2007
Need for Speed: Undercover	2008
Need for Speed: Shift (series)
Need for Speed: World	2010
Need for Speed: The Run	2011
Need for Speed Rivals	2013
Need for Speed (2016)	2016
Need for Speed Payback	2017
Need for Speed: Edge	2017
Need for Speed Heat	2019
Need for Speed Unbound	2022

Warnings

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see Availability for affected versions).

Key points

Released as Need for Speed: Porsche 2000 outside North America.

The game is unplayable without patches on new systems. See NFS5 Essentials.

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc DRM^{[Note 1]}

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).

Essential improvements

Need For Speed V - Porsche Unleashed Patch

Adds support for external 3rash API renderers (DirectX Glide and OpenGL), implements proper widescreen support with correct FOV, etc.

NFS5 Essentials

NFS5 Essentials is essential to play the game on new systems. It also adds the 4 official downloadable cars and enhances graphics.

Remember to install NFS5 Essentials after installing the game

Skip intro videos

Delete/rename video files^{[citation needed]}

Delete, move or rename the following files:

<path-to-game>\FEData\Movies\EArts-av.mad
<path-to-game>\FEData\Movies\inPC-av.mad

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\SaveData\^{[Note 2]}

Configuration is stored in each individual profile

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\SaveData\^{[Note 2]}

Video

Video settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution		Use Felix Krull's Widescreen Fix or Verok's NFSV Patch.
Multi-monitor		Use Felix Krull's Widescreen Fix.
Ultra-widescreen		Use Felix Krull's Widescreen Fix.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed	See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed	See Windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)	Enable by default.Tripper Buffer is aviable in 3D Setup
60 FPS
120+ FPS	Menu FPS unlocked; race FPS locked at about ~93 fps.
High dynamic range display (HDR)	See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Windowed

Use Verok's NFSV Patch^{[citation needed]}

Force windowed^{[citation needed]}
Download and run DxWnd. Click on File, then Import. Import `Need for Speed 5 Porsche Unleashed.dxw` from the `exports` folder. Set the path to `<path-to-game>\Porsche.exe`. Set the window position and size. Set Desktop for borderless fullscreen windowed. Click OK, then File and Save.

Force windowed (using dgVoodoo2)^{[citation needed]}

Download and extract dgVoodoo 2.
Open the MS folder and copy the contents to the installation folder.
Run dgVoodooCpl.exe.
Click on "Add" and choose the installation folder.
Enable "Enumerate refresh rates"
Set it to "Windowed"
Uncheck "Capture mouse" (Alt+Tab doesn't work most of the time, so double-clicking out of game's window is the only way to switch apps)
Check "Center App window" (optional)
Go to the DirectX tab.
Set the resolution from the list
Disable "dgVoodoo Watermark"
Uncheck "Application controlled fullscreen/windowed state"
Click OK.

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion		Mouse is not used during gameplay.
Controller
Controller support		Any DirectInput controller.
Full controller support
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback		DirectInput controllers only.
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

Audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Brazilian Portuguese				Released as "Need for Speed: Porsche 2000".

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play
LAN play		8
Online play		8

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated		through IPLounge
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Issues fixed

Menu lag when using a controller/Axes do not function correctly (Win8+)

Use devreorder to force intended device (needs dinputto8)^{[citation needed]}

Download briankendall's devreorder and elishacloud's dinputto8.
For devreorder, extract devreorder.ini and x86's dinput8.dll into main game directory.
For dinputto8, extract dinput.dll into main game directory as well.
Edit devreorder.ini- [order] and [visible] should be set to your controller's name; i.e. "Controller (XBOX 360 For Windows)".

This was tested with Verok's NFSV patch. Needs more testing, but likely works with other versions.

Should work even across restarts as it's forcing enumeration order and hiding other enumerable devices from the process.

There is still minor menu lag.

Low FPS on modern systems or Crash after click RACE

(DirectX 10.1+) Use dgVoodoo wrapper^{[citation needed]}

Download newest dgVoodoo 2.
Extract it and place it in a convenient place.
Start dgVoodooSetup.exe and configure it.
Select Virtual 3D Accelerated Card under Videocard and set its RAM to 65536 kB.
Click Apply and OK.
Now go to MS folder in dgVoodoo's directory and copy D3DImm.dll and DDraw.dll.
Go to the <path-to-game>\ and paste the files in there.

In case of white textures bug, use version dgVoodoo 2.53. In configurator>DirectX set fast memory access, and 1024MB in case of FPS issues.

Low textures in cockpit view

Instructions^{[citation needed]}
Running game in vista (no service pack) + administrator compatibility should do the trick.

Random crashes

Add EmulateHeap^{[citation needed]}

Go to nGlide compatibility page.
Find Need For Speed 5: Porsche Unleashed on the list and download a fix for it.
Extract the fix and run PatchInstall.bat to apply the EmulateHeap attribute.

Notes

Do not run nfs5.reg unless using the nGlide wrapper for this game.

Normandie crash

Use Need for Speed Porsche Unleashed Widescreen Fix^{[citation needed]}

Turn off Lens flare^{[citation needed]}

In game, go to Options.
Go to Graphics tab and go to Advanced Settings.
Turn off Lens flare.

Notes

If turning off Lens Flare doesn't do the trick, turn off the rear view mirror as well (F6 in race).

Replace the skybox file^{[citation needed]}
Go to `<path-to-game>\GameData\Track\Sky` Rename `Farmland.bin` to `Farmland_backup.bin`. Make a copy of `Forest.bin` and name that copy `Farmland.bin`.

Use EmulateHeap metod^{[citation needed]}

Go to nGlide compatibility page.
Find Need For Speed 5: Porsche Unleashed on the list and download a fix for it.
Extract the fix and run PatchInstall.bat to apply the EmulateHeap attribute.
Run nfs5.reg so that the game is forced to use the api glide
Install NGlide
Select video backend in Vulkan.Do not select Directx or automatic because the game will crash only vulkan works

As a negative point this solution requires a graph that supports vulkan

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	7
Glide		Native support.
Software renderer

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95, 98	95, 98
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium MMX 200 MHz	Intel Pentium 300 MHz
System memory (RAM)	32 MB	64 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	150 MB	625 MB
Video card (GPU)	Direct3D compatible 4 MB of VRAM	Direct3D compatible 8 MB of VRAM

Notes

↑ SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10^[1] 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.^[2]
↑ ^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).

References

↑ Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
↑ Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16

[3] SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10^[1] 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.^[2]

[gamedir-4] 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).

[1] Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16

[2] Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[1]

[2]

Developers

	EA Canada
Publishers
	Electronic Arts
Release dates
Windows	March 28, 2000
Taxonomy
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person, Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Racing, Vehicle simulator
Vehicles	Automobile, Street racing
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Contemporary, Europe, Historical
Series	Need for Speed