Anonymous edits have been disabled on the wiki. If you want to contribute please login or create an account.

Need for Speed: Underground 2

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Need for Speed: Underground 2
Need for Speed: Underground 2 cover
Developers
EA Black Box[1]
Publishers
Electronic Arts
Engines
EAGL 2
Release dates
Windows November 9, 2004
Need for Speed: Underground 2 guide on StrategyWiki
Need for Speed: Underground 2 on Wikipedia

Warnings

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

General information

Need for Speed Wiki

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
CD key
SafeDisc v4 DRM[Note 1]. Has both a 2 CD and a DVD version.
Windows
SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).
A compilation of the original Need for Speed: Underground, Underground 2 and Most Wanted is also available.
Demo

Essential improvements

Patches

Patch 1.2. Strongly recommended.

Skip intro videos

Instructions[citation needed]
  1. Go to <path-to-game>\MOVIES\
  2. Delete or rename ealogo.vp6, FMVOpening.vp6, PSA.vp6, and THX_logo.vp6.

Disable regional lock

Allows playing with both EU and US exclusive cars at the same time.
Instructions[citation needed]
  1. Download the missing cars.
  2. Download Need for Speed Underground 2 Extra Options.
  3. Unpack the archive, go to NFSU2 Extra Options\Main Files folder and copy both dinput8.dll file and scripts folder into the installation folder.
  4. Make sure that the option UnlockRegionalCars in scripts\NFSU2ExtraOptionsSettings.ini is set to 1.
  5. Use the US executable to launch the game (even if you have the EU version), otherwise it may crash.[citation needed]

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\electronic arts\EA GAMES\Need for Speed Underground 2\[Note 2]
Key bindings are stored in %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\DirectX\DirectInput\User Maps (32-bit Windows) or %COMMONPROGRAMFILES(x86)%\DirectX\DirectInput\User Maps (64-bit Windows).

Save game data location

System Location
Windows %LOCALAPPDATA%\NFS Underground 2\

Video settings

General video settings
General video settings
Advanced video settings
Advanced video settings
Advanced video settings
Advanced video settings
Advanced video settings
Advanced video settings

Template:Video settings

Use 16:9 Safe Zone to modify the offset values of the HUD elements.

Field of view (FOV)

ThirteenAG's fix already comes with vertical FOV adjustment.
ReLOADeD or Hoodlum US crack is needed. Other versions won't work.[4]
FOV changer may not run on modern systems.[5]
Use FOV hack[citation needed]
  1. Download NFSU2 FOV changer
  2. Place the FOV changer in a handy folder, since you'll have to open it every time you start the game
  3. Adjust horizontal and vertical FOV

Windowed

Force windowed[citation needed]
  1. Download NFSU2 Extra Options.
  2. Extract the main files to the installation folder.
  3. Open NFSU2ExtraOptionsSettings.ini.
  4. Change WindowedMode = 0 to WindowedMode = 2 for bordered or WindowedMode = 1 for borderless.

Input settings

Template:Input settings

Audio settings

Audio settings
Audio settings

Template:Audio settings

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
UK and US english
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Korean
Italian
Russian
Available here.
Spanish
Thai

Network

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
Local play
Console versions only.
LAN play
6
Online play
6

Issues fixed

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.

Controller deadzone issues

Fix left stick deadzone[6]
  1. Install ThirteenAG's fix.
  2. Deadzone can be adjusted in NFSUnderground2.WidescreenFix.ini.

Random crashing on entering/exiting shops

Can be caused by multiple CPUs.
Set affinity for speed2.exe to use only 1 CPU[citation needed]
  1. Open Task Manager (Ctrl+ Shift+Esc)
  2. Click "set Affinity..."
  3. Untick all but ONE of the CPUs
  4. Click OK
You can also set affinity automatically on launch by editing the shortcut to the game[citation needed]
  1. Open shortcut properties
  2. In the Target field paste this line: C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /C CD /D "C:\Program Files (x86)\Need for Speed Underground 2\" && START /AFFINITY 1 SPEED2.EXE
  3. Make sure to modify the path to the game if necessary
  4. Click apply
  5. You may want to change the icon manually back to the game icon

Effects flicker (Windows 7 and 10)

Some effects, such as rain, car respawn effect or the nos flames, flicker or glitch. Otherwise, no issues.[citation needed]
Use compatibility mode[citation needed]
  1. Open Properties from SPEED2.EXE
  2. Go to Compatibility Tab
  3. Set "Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
  4. Click OK

Particle system lags (Windows 10)

Particle system causes lag, mostly at start of races, turning it off gets rid of the issue.
Use compatibility mode[citation needed]
  1. Open Properties from SPEED2.EXE
  2. Go to Compatibility Tab
  3. Set "Run this program in compatibility mode for: Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
  4. Click OK
Optionally is possible to disable vsync through video card settings, and keep Particle System on.

Other information

API

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

Modifications

System requirements

Windows
Minimum
Operating system (OS) 98, 2000, ME, XP
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium III 933 MHz
System memory (RAM) 256 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 2 GB
Video card (GPU) ATI Radeon 7500
Nvidia GeForce 2
32 MB of VRAM

Notes

  1. 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]
  2. Applications writing to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE will be redirected to other locations based on various criterias, see the glossary page for more details.

References