Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit

This page may require cleanup to meet basic quality standards. You can help by modifying the article. The discussion page may contain useful suggestions.

For the sequel, see Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2. For the 2010 game, see Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.

Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit

Developers
	EA Seattle
Publishers
	Electronic Arts
Release dates
Windows	September 30, 1998

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
Subseries of Need for Speed
Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit	1998
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2	2002
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit	2010
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered	2020

Key points

Use Need For Speed III Modern Patch to install and run the game on modern systems.

General information

Need for Speed Wiki

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Basic CD File Check

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Ferrari 456M GT
Jaguar XKR
Lister Storm
Spectre R42
Ford Falcon GT	By default only in Australian release
HSV VT GTS	By default only in Australian release
Chevrolet Corvette C5 Indy 500 Pace Car	By default only in Wal-Mart release

All official add-on cars (and their showcases) were released for free by EA.

All official add-ons come as *.exe files and can only be installed if game was installed with original installer and all registry entries are present.

Essential improvements

Patches

The official 3dfx Banshee Patch and the 3dfx Voodoo3 update are available at soggi.org.

Need For Speed III Modern Patch

The patch contains support for widescreen resolutions as well as a lot of bugfixes.

Fan-made patch[citation needed]
Download the Need For Speed III Modern Patch. Copy FEDATA and GAMEDATA directories from the NFS3 CD to a new empty folder. Extract contents of this archive into that folder with replacement of files. No need to install, just play the game!

Skip intro videos

Skip opening movie[citation needed]
Install Need For Speed III Modern Patch. Edit nfs3.ini. Set NoMovies to 1.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\fedata\config\config.dat

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\fedata\config\config.dat

Video settings

Video settings.

Windowed

Fan-made patch[citation needed]
Install Need For Speed III Modern Patch (v1.6.2 currently in beta). Edit nfs3.ini. Set ThrashDriver to dx8. Set WindowedMode to 1.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play		2	Split-screen.
LAN play		8
Online play

Issues fixed

Installing on 64-bit versions of Windows

Original installer doesn't work on 64-bit systems.

Fan-made patch[citation needed]
See Need For Speed III Modern Patch. Notes Doesn't need an installer and works on any Windows OS.

Fan-made installer[citation needed]

To install on 64-bit systems, use this fan-made installer. It supports multiple languages and it has necessary compatibility fixes already implemented. The fan-made installer will automatically set the language to German. After installation, follow these instructions to change the language. Go to the installation folder. Open install.win in a text editor such as Notepad. Change the language displayed in the first line to one of the five languages mentioned in the file (i.e. English, German, French, Spanish, or Italian). The language must be typed in all lowercase letters. Save the file and play the game. It should now be in your desired language. Notes Adds add-on vehicles and street vehicles to the game menu.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Glide		native support
Software renderer

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95	98
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 166 MHz	Intel Pentium 200 MHz
System memory (RAM)	16 MB	32 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	90 MB	110 MB
Video card (GPU)	High Color capable IBM PCI	100% 3dfx Glide Compatible 12 MB of VRAM