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Need for Speed: Underground

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Need for Speed: Underground
Need for Speed: Underground cover
Developers
EA Black Box
Publishers
Electronic Arts
Engines
EAGL
Release dates
Windows November 17, 2003
Reception
Metacritic 82
Taxonomy
Monetization Sponsored
Microtransactions None
Modes Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives First-person, Third-person
Controls Direct control
Genres Racing
Vehicles Automobile, Street racing
Art styles Realistic
Themes Contemporary
Series Need for Speed: Underground
Need for Speed: Underground on HowLongToBeat
Need for Speed: Underground on IGDB
Need for Speed: Underground guide on StrategyWiki
Need for Speed: Underground on MobyGames
Need for Speed: Underground on Wikipedia
Need for Speed: Underground
Subseries of Need for Speed
Need for Speed: Underground 2003
Need for Speed: Underground 2 2004

Warnings

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

Need for Speed: Underground is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person and third-person racing game in the Need for Speed: Underground series.

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
CD key
SafeDisc 2.90.040 DRM[Note 1]
Windows
SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).

Monetization

Type Notes
Sponsored Game is sponsored by multiple real life brands

Essential improvements

Patches

Skip intro videos

Instructions[3]
  1. Download no_intro.zip
  2. Go to <path-to-game>\Movies\
  3. Replace e3_title.mad, na_boot.mad, and PSA.mad with the 3 movie files in no_intro.zip

Modifications

Need for Speed Underground Definitive Edition

Adds 4K world textures, 8K skyboxes, rain puddles, improves the lighting, etc.

Need for speed Underground - Redux 2017 (Graphics mod) AMTxDRxRL

It adds new lighting so that it better reflects the atmosphere of street racing at night.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows %PROGRAMDATA%\NFS Underground\<user-id>.cfg[Note 2]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\EA GAMES\Need For Speed Underground\*[Note 3]

Save game data location

System Location
Windows %PROGRAMDATA%\NFS Underground\<user-id>*.ugd[Note 2]

Video

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
Use ThirteenAG's fix.
Multi-monitor
Use ThirteenAG's fix.
Ultra-widescreen
Use ThirteenAG's fix.
4K Ultra HD
Use ThirteenAG's fix.
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed
See Windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Trilinear filtering by default. Anisotropic filtering can be forced through GPU control panel on D3D9; however, using DXVK nullifies this specific setting.
Anti-aliasing (AA)
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
Can be disabled through GPU control panel.
60 FPS
120+ FPS
Capped at 60 FPS. A custom FPS cap can be set which may require certain controller setup to function properly. See High frame rate.
High dynamic range display (HDR)
See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Ray tracing (RT)

Windowed

Set windowed/borderless[4][5]
  1. Install ThirteenAG's fix.
  2. Create wndmode.ini in <path-to-game>.

Forcing Anti-Aliasing on AMD cards

Instructions[citation needed]
  1. Supersampling must be used, else various objects will not render (wheels, leaves, fences, driver, etc.). Motion Blur might also have to be disabled.

High frame rate

High frame rate may be very difficult to achieve due to the game only using a single processing thread. This can be alleviated by using dxvk to wrap D3D9 API calls to Vulkan. This reduces overall CPU usage and overhead but increases GPU usage. Texture mods using TexMod and anisotropic filtering settings forced through GPU control panel will not be applied.[6]
Normally, this may cause the car's steering to suddenly stop responding to controls if the car reaches a certain speed at higher frame rates but some controller setups might workaround this issue. At 144 FPS for example, cars will not respond to arrow keys on the keyboard or the directional pads on controllers but will respond to the analog stick of a DualSense controller using newer versions of DS4Windows emulating XInput (DualShock 4 controllers may still experience issues). The game is entirely playable at 144 FPS using this setup on even the fastest vehicles but at 360 FPS the same issues will occur.[6]
The intensity of motion blur and the light trail post-processing effects are reduced at higher frame rates.
Modify with hex editor[7]
  1. Open speed.exe with a hex editor such as HxD.
  2. Replace all instances of 89 88 88 3C (60 FPS) with one of the following,
    • 0E 74 5A 3C for 75 FPS.
    • 61 0B 36 3C for 90 FPS.
    • 0A D7 23 3C for 100 FPS.
    • 89 88 08 3C for 120 FPS.
    • 39 8E E3 3B for 144 FPS.
    • 0C 98 C6 3B for 165 FPS.
    • 61 0B B6 3B for 180 FPS.
    • 0A D7 A3 3B for 200 FPS.
    • 89 88 88 3B for 240 FPS.
    • 6F 12 83 3B for 250 FPS.
    • 39 8E 63 3B for 288 FPS.
    • 0E 74 5A 3B for 300 FPS.
    • 61 0B 36 3B for 360 FPS.
Permanent solution. Only needs to be applied once.
If the desired value is not listed above, apply it using the Cheat Engine method below. Right-Click one the changed values and select "Browse this memory region" to view the hex values.
Modify with Cheat Engine[7]
  1. Install Cheat Engine and attach the game process.
  2. While speed.exe is selected in the memory search range, search for 0.016666666666 as a float in rounded (extreme) mode, while Executable, Writable and CopyOnWrite is set to Don't Care and the Fast Scan option disabled.
  3. Change all viewed values to 1/FPS (e.g. 0.006944444444 for 144 FPS or to 0.002777777777 for 360 FPS.
Temporary solution. Needs to be applied with each launch.

Input

Input settings
Input settings

A Steam user-made config for DualShock 4

Basically applies full controller support for DS4. Should also work for other controllers. Steam is required.[8]
  1. Download Jodeth's DS4 config for NFSU.
  2. Follow the instructions to install it.

Alternative controller for DualShock 3 and 4

Fix trigger controller ps3/ps4[Note 4]
  1. Install Little-scripts-NFS-GDX.
  2. If you have installed the game on another hard drive you can modify the path Little-scripts-NFS.bat.

Audio

Audio settings
Audio settings

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Only Stereo and Mono available. Optimized for Dolby Pro Logic.
Subtitles
Only available in certain language edition
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support
Although not advertised as such the game does support EAX, at least reverb effects, but without surround sound. It can be restored with ALchemy.
DirectSound is possible to be restored by wrappers (DSOAL recommended, e.g. w/o HRTF - specifically for low quality engine sounds).

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Traditional Chinese
Dutch
French
German
Italian
Korean
Russian
Slovak
Fan translation, download.
Spanish
Swedish

Manually change game's language

Registry edit to change game language
  1. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\EA Games\Need For Speed Underground\.
  2. Find the language key and double click it.
  3. Change the value to the following list below:
    • English
    • Chinese (Traditional)
    • Dutch
    • French
    • German
    • Italian
    • Korean
    • Russian
    • Spanish
    • Swedish

Note: Certain languages may not work for cutscenes and voices if the installed game doesn't come with it.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
Local play
Console versions only.
LAN play
4 Use NFS U LAN Mod.
Online play
4 Online has been shutdown[9]

Connection types

Type Native Notes
Matchmaking
Only user-created lobbies with user-created races.
Peer-to-peer
A server is always required.
Dedicated
A developer-hosted server was available until it's shutdown. An unofficial server software (NFS U LAN Mod) is available.
Self-hosting
Not supported.
Direct IP
Not supported.

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP 10900-10999
UDP 3658, 3659
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

3D modes State Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision
Use Helix's 3D fix
vorpX
G3D
User created game profile, see important setting hints in the vorpx forum profile introduction.

Issues fixed

Game is not running in installed language version

This might happens for non-US version game installer in which the registry is installed into wrong path
Registry fix[10]
  1. Run regedit.
  2. Find the registry path of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\EA Games\.
  3. Change the key name NFS Underground which is under EA Games into Need For Speed Underground.

Custom bindings lost on game restart

Windows Vista and later lack a file needed for the game to remember custom mappings.
Download dimap.dll[citation needed]
  1. Download dimap.dll.
  2. Extract it into the installation folder.

The game doesn't load (stuck on initial loading screen)

This is likely caused by multi-monitor setups using multiple GPU's.[citation needed]
Potential workaround[citation needed]
  1. Turn off monitors which use another GPU or monitor duplication when starting up the game
  2. Turn it on once the game finishes loading if you still need them
Another problem might be missing cutscene files which are not found in non-US version of the game if the game is run in Windows 10 and above
Cutscene files restoration[3]
  1. Download the missing cutscene files.
  2. Extract into <path-to-game>\Movies.
  3. Run the game.

Can't install both NFS Underground and NFS Most Wanted (2005) on the same PC

This problem occures because both games use the same name for their main executables (speed.exe). After installing one game and attempting to install the other, its autorun program assumes it's already been installed.
Workaround[citation needed]
  1. Install the first game. It doesn't matter whether it's Underground or Most Wanted.
  2. Go to the installation folder.
  3. Change the name of speed.exe to anything else.
  4. Install the other game.
  5. Restore the original name of the first game's speed.exe.

Controller deadzone issues

Fix left stick deadzone[11]
  1. Install ThirteenAG's fix.
  2. Deadzone can be adjusted in NFSUnderground.WidescreenFix.ini.

The game occasionally freezes on loading screen or after race

Install latest patch (or binary) 1.4 or 1.3.4

Copying proper .exe for EU or US version should enough.[12] Although patcher also extracts filter.efx (possibly NOS black screen effect fix) to the patch exe folder if proper game binary or registry entry is not found. Widescreen patch compatibility not tested. If all above fail, reinstall the game, and use e.g. 1.0 version (afterwards, replacing exe and filter.efx should enough). The problem can happen e.g. after Samantha Time Trial 2:07 (hard), on 1.4 binary version, and is gone on 1.3.4.

Background of magazine covers are black

Use ThirteenAG's fix[13]
  1. Install ThirteenAG's fix.
  2. Make sure that the option BlackMagazineFix in scripts\NFSUnderground.WidescreenFix.ini is set to 1.
Disable Motion Blur and Light Trails[13]

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

Middleware

No middleware information; you can edit this page to add it.

Miscellaneous

Archie Goldmill's Cheat Engine table

Unlocks hidden vinyls and rim sizes

HD Reflections

Adds higher quality reflection.

Extra Options

Adds many useful features.

Visual Reputation Remover

Makes it possible to progress through the game without ricing the car.

Various NFS ASIs

Let's you use debug features, such as the debug camera (AKA freecam)

Free Roam Mod

Let's you freely explore Olympic City
Extremely rare traffic
No option to explore the Drag mode tracks, use the old version of the mod for that (notice: you won't be able to explore the full city with the old version)

Winter Olympic City

Gives the games a winter overhaul
Does not require Texmod
Make sure to disable road reflections
Archived download link

Nightbreath Mod by BojanV03 (SweetFX + texture & FX mod)

Improves the visuals and exaggerates the night time feeling

Need for Speed Underground - Midnight Light

Alternative graphics

Need for Speed: Underground - Console Mod

Includes:

Orange fog (black on main menu and car select if you want). Beta blue fog. Beta, GCN, and PS2 reflections. Transparent textures on PS2 and GCN. Bright and heavy car windows on PS2. Black "Need4Speed" on license plate on PS2. Xbox and PC "vanilla textures/reflections". Compatible with DualShock 3. Also compatible with Redux mod!

Set "World detail" to medium for PS2 and GCN, enable "Light trails" for PS2 and Xbox, and enable "Motion blur" for PS2, GCN, and Xbox (1.0 required for non-AMD/Nvidia drivers).

System requirements

Windows[14]
Minimum
Operating system (OS) 98, ME, 2000, XP
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium III 700 MHz
System memory (RAM) 128 MB (98, ME)
256 MB (2000, XP, online play)
Hard disk drive (HDD) 2 GB
Video card (GPU) ATI Radeon 7500
Nvidia GeForce2
Matrox Parhelia
32 MB of VRAM
DirectX 9 compatible
Sound (audio device) DirectX compatible
Other 8X CD-ROM, Network card for broadband or connectivity


Notes

  1. 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. 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. Applications writing to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE will be redirected to other locations based on various criterias, see the glossary page for more details.
  4. Little-scripts-NFS-GDX Github repository no longer exists

References

  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
  3. 3.0 3.1 Verified by User:KyoriAsh on 2022-03-26
    Tested with the missing cutscene files and the game is able to run normally.
  4. GTAForums - [GTA|NFS|MP|OTHER] Widescreen Fixes Pack - last accessed on September 2017
  5. GitHub - ThirteenAG/Ultimate-ASI-Loader: ASI Loader is the tool that loads custom libraries with the file extension .asi into any game process. - last accessed on September 2017
  6. 6.0 6.1 Verified by User:Radmaxx on 2022-02-20
  7. 7.0 7.1 Verified by User:Radmaxx on 2022-02-20
  8. Jodeth's DS4 config for NFSU - last accessed on 2022-03-26
  9. ONLINE SERVICES SHUTDOWN - EA
  10. Verified by User:KyoriAsh on 2022-03-26
    Checked with the original and the modified path, game able to run in installed language as in registry.
  11. Need for Speed - Analog sticks deadzone · Issue #165 · ThirteenAG/WidescreenFixesPack - last accessed on 2017-04-05
  12. Similar bug in UG2
  13. 13.0 13.1 [NFSU] Black Magazine Cover Fix by thelink2012 · Pull Request #863 · ThirteenAG/WidescreenFixesPack - last accessed on 2020-08-29
  14. Need For Speed Underground FAQ - last accessed on 2022-03-26