Sonic Heroes

Sonic Heroes

Developers
	Sonic Team USA
Publishers
	Sega
Engines
	RenderWare
Release dates
Windows	November 17, 2004
Reception
Metacritic	66
IGDB	62
Taxonomy
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Platform
Art styles	Cartoon
Themes	Contemporary
Series	Sonic the Hedgehog

Warnings

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

Key points

Most of the fixes documented in this article target the DRM-free executable and will not work with other versions.

Keyboard controls cannot be remapped, and some controllers (particularly XInput ones) may not work properly with this game. See here for a workaround for XInput-based controllers.

General information

Sonic News Network - A massive wiki for the Sonic the Hedgehog universe.

Sonic Retro - A huge fan site for everything Sonic the Hedgehog. Mods for all the games can be found here.

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc v4 DRM. Korean releases has simple disc check.
Retail		Available in the "Sonic PC Collection" bundle.

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

This game is not available digitally.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%APPDATA%\Sega\SONICHEROES\sonic_h.ini

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%APPDATA%\Sega\SONICHEROES\SONICHEROES_##

Video

Video settings from external configuration launcher.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			Supports 4:3 resolutions only. See Widescreen resolution.
Multi-monitor			See Widescreen resolution.
Ultra-widescreen			See Widescreen resolution.
4K Ultra HD			See Widescreen resolution.
Field of view (FOV)		See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed		See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See Borderless fullscreen windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Amount unknown.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Can be hacked through GPU control panel.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Can be hacked through GPU control panel.
60 FPS		Single-player modes runs at 60 FPS, however, split-screen multiplayer is rendered at 30 FPS (frameskip). See Frame rate (FPS).
120+ FPS		Capped at 60 FPS.
High dynamic range display (HDR)

Widescreen resolution

Download and install Reloaded II along with Heroes Graphics Essentials and Widescreen Revamp

Field of view (FOV)

Change with Widescreen Fix[citation needed]
Download ThirteenAG's Widescreen Fix (developer build). Open SonicHeroes.WidescreenFix.ini. Change FOV_Zoom_Factor = 1 as needed.

Windowed

Enable Windowed mode through configuration launcher

Set Screen_Full to 0 in sonic_h.ini

Borderless fullscreen windowed

Install Heroes Graphics Essentials through Reloaded II
Enable Borderless Windowed in Heroes Graphics Essentials' configuration menu in Reloaded II.

Frame rate (FPS)

Split-screen multiplayer is capped at 30 FPS by default.

Disable 2P frame skip
Install Heroes Graphics Essentials (requires Reloaded II). Make sure "Disable2PFrameskip": true is set in Graphics.json.

FMV (Full Motion Video)

The PC version uses the FMV movies from the GameCube version, while the Xbox port's FMVs are much better in terms of video and audio quality.

Download and install Xbox FMVs
Download the Xbox version's FMVs of your desired language from the following links: English, Japanese. Extract the files from this archive. Copy them from the folder and replace the .sfd files with these ones in the <path-to-game>/dvdroot/movie.

Input

Mouse remapping from external configuration launcher.

Controller remapping from external configuration launcher.

Controller remapping from in-game Pause menu.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Mouse remapping only. Refer to Strategy Wiki for keyboard controls here.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		Uses DirectInput. See Controller support.
Full controller support
Controller remapping		Basic button remapping available in external launcher and in-game options. PC version lacks camera rotation when using the right analog stick without a workaround. See Controller support.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers		XInput-compatible controllers work at a basic level correctly via the DirectInput interface. See Controller support for improved XInput support.
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

PlayStation controllers		Supported via DirectInput.
PlayStation button prompts
Light bar support
Adaptive trigger support
DualSense haptic feedback support
Connection modes	Wired, Wireless (Bluetooth) V2 controller tested.

Generic/other controllers		May cause spinning camera on some controllers due to wrong axis being interpreted as the right analog stick.
Button prompts

Additional information
Controller hotplugging		Not supported by default. See Controller support for hotplugging.
Haptic feedback		Off by default in the Options menu. Supported on some DirectInput controllers. See Controller support to restore haptic feedback for XInput controllers.
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Controller support

The PC version of Sonic Heroes does not read trigger information from DirectInput controllers. The game still supports pressure sensitive rotation using the trigger buttons. The following solution can restore trigger rotation functionality, providing pressure sensitive trigger rotation.

Also restores camera controls with the right analog stick and hotplugging support in the PC version.

Install Controller Hook and Custom Mapping for Controller Hook through Reloaded II

Install the following mods through Reloaded II: SH Essentials: Controller Hook (sonicheroes.controller.hook) Custom Mapping for Controller Hook (sonicheroes.controller.hook.custom) Select Sonic Heroes' executable from Reloaded II, click SH Essentials: Controller Hook from the list of enabled mods and click Configure Mod, then check UseOriginalInput to retain keyboard support. Next select Custom Mapping for Controller Hook click Configure Mod and click Configure Mod, then remap the controls of the game from the Input Configurator window. Launch the game, then reconfigure your controls from the in-game based on the controls of the console version. Refer to Strategy Wiki for the console version's controls here.

Audio

Audio settings from external configuration tool.

Language settings from the Options menu.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Sliders for SE/Voice and BGM in external configuration launcher, both of which can also be muted.
Surround sound		Up to 7.0 output with DirectSound3D restoration software.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		DirectSound3D.

Localizations

The non-Japanese versions only includes the English voice-over tracks, and lip-synching during FMV sequences are synched up to the English dub.

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English				Dubtitles.
French
German
Italian
Japanese				Lacks dual-audio support in non-Japanese releases (i.e. cannot select Japanese voices with English subtitles). Japanese voice mod, download. See FMV (Full Motion Video) for the Xbox-quality Japanese FMV files.
Korean
Spanish				Castilian. Contains some translation errors.

Disable voices

This setting will disable most in-game voice-overs without muting sound effects altogether, however, voice-clips that also have subtitles will still play out as normal.

Add Charmy_Shutup to sonic_h.ini
Open sonic_h.ini with a text editor. See Configuration file(s) location. Add the line Charmy_Shutup 1 to the end of the file. Save the file.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play		2	Hold A Button + Y Button after you select a level to turn your team into "Metal Heroes"
LAN play
Online play

Issues fixed

Game refuses to start

Fix Data Execution Prevention setting[citation needed]
Ensure Data Execution Prevention (DEP) setting is set to Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only or add a DEP Exception for Tsonic_win.exe, and reboot.

Slow or choppy motion

Force GPU scaling[citation needed]
Graphics problem. Open Catalyst Control Center or Nvidia Control Panel. Force GPU scaling on.

Missing voice effects

Certain voice effects are missing in some releases of the PC port.

Use Sonic Heroes Missing Audio clip fixes

Missing explosion effects from Espio's shurikens

Re-import the blue crescent effects into the PC port
The blue crescent particle textures are not included in the PC port of the game. Download the texture dictionary file from here Extract the file from this archive. Copy the cmn_effect.txd and replace the original file with this one in the directory "/dvdroot/textures".

Grand Metropolis Energy pipe glass see through walls

Remove obvious Z-buffering from the model[citation needed]
Incorrect material flag. Open Tsonic_win.exe with a hex editor such as HxD. Go to offset 0x174130. Change the byte from 64 to A4 (additive alpha, double sided) or B0 (regular alpha).

Multiplayer Play All mode stops at the 2nd stage

Multiplayer Play all stage mode correction[citation needed]

Multiplayer ends at 2nd stage instead of the last one. Open Tsonic_win.exe with a hex editor such as HxD. Go to offsets 0x1A9534 and 0x1A9586 and replace the bytes from 02 to 03. Replace the hex string in offset 0x23FC0 from F8 02 7E 05 B8 02 00 00 00 83 F8 FF 7D 0A 83 C8 FF 88 81 BC D6 9D 00 C3 83 F8 02 7E 05 B8 02 00 to F8 03 7E 05 B8 03 00 00 00 83 F8 FF 7D 0A 83 C8 FF 88 81 BC D6 9D 00 C3 83 F8 03 7E 05 B8 03 00 In offset 0x74AAD, replace the hex string from F8 02 7E 05 B8 02 00 00 00 83 F8 FF 7D 05 83 C8 FF EB 0A 83 F8 02 7E 05 B8 02 00 to F8 03 7E 05 B8 03 00 00 00 83 F8 FF 7D 05 83 C8 FF EB 0A 83 F8 03 7E 05 B8 03 00 Replace the hex string at offset 0x13F2F8 from F8 02 7E 05 B8 02 00 00 00 83 F8 FF 7D 05 83 C8 FF EB 0A 83 F8 02 7E 05 B8 02 00 to F8 03 7E 05 B8 03 00 00 00 83 F8 FF 7D 05 83 C8 FF EB 0A 83 F8 03 7E 05 B8 03 00 Replace the hex string in offset 0x1A975F to F8 03 7E 05 B8 03 00 00 00 83 F8 FF 7D 05 83 C8 FF EB 0A 83 F8 03 7E 05 B8 03 00 Replace the hex string in offset 0x1A9842 to F8 03 7E 05 B8 03 00 00 00 83 F8 FF 7D 0B 83 C8 FF 88 86 BC D6 9D 00 5E C3 83 F8 03 7E 05 B8 03 00 Last, Paste write the hex string in offset 0x1B2956 to F8 03 7E 05 B8 03 00 00 00 83 F8 FF 7D 18 83 C8 FF 5F 88 86 BC D6 9D 00 80 8D 07 02 00 00 40 5E 5D 5B 83 C4 34 C3 83 F8 03 7E 05 B8 03 00

Shadow's tornado effect is single sided

Disable culling for Shadow the Hedgehog's tornado effect[citation needed]
Incorrect culling materials applied to the model. Open Tsonic_win.exe with a hex editor such as HxD. Next, Go to offset 0x23FEDA and change the byte from 05 to 01. Last, Go to offset 0x23FEDC and change the material type function byte from 0A (source blend) to 14 (culling).

Odd Vertex Paint rendering for the root ball in Frog Forest

Correctly render the floating root ball[citation needed]
The vertex paint disappears from the model at some positions. Open Tsonic_win.exe with a hex editor such as HxD. Go to offset 0xDDC4B, change the material flag pointer byte from 60 to 78 to remove the bug and then save. The vertex paint will remain on the model at all costs.

Transparency bugs for certain game objects

Fixes various alpha blending issues by (mostly) tweaking individual object blend modes.

Use Sonic Heroes Transparency Blending Fixes

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	8	Minimal required DirectX version listed is 9.0b, however the game uses D3D8 for rendering. For D3D9 support use external wrapper such as D3D8To9

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	Criware	ADX format music files.
Cutscenes	Criware	Sofdec format FMV files.

Mods

Modding essentials

How to install Reloaded II

Download and install the required dependencies for Reloaded II from the following links: .NET Core 3.1 Desktop Runtime (x86) .NET Core 3.1 Desktop Runtime (x64) Visual C++ Redist 2015, 2017 and 2019 (x86 and x64 versions) Download the latest stable release of Reloaded here. Extract the contents of the Release.zip file to its own folder in a convenient location on your computer. Launch Reloaded-II.exe, then click the Add Application button (represented by a single + symbol) → New, then add Tsonic_win.exe to the loader. Click the Advanced Tools & Options drop-down menu and click Deploy ASI Loader and check Auto-Inject to load mods automatically. Click the Download Mods (represented by a gear with a + symbol) and install the following mods through Reloaded II and/or these links: TONERR (sonicheroes.utils.toner) CRI FileSystem Hook (criware.filesystem.hook) Universal File Redirector (reloaded.universal.redirector) Heroes Graphics Essentials (sonicheroes.essentials.graphics) Click Manage Mods (represented by three gears) and ensure the mods you have downloaded are enabled for Sonic Heroes' mod manager. Note: Reloaded II Sharp Lib mods are not required to appear in the game's mod manager and will work in the background. Click the game's executable icon in Reloaded II, and re-arrange the dependencies for mods to be on top. Recommended mod order example: TONNER CRI FileSystem Hook Reloaded File Redirector SH Essentials: Graphics Go to SH Essentials: Graphics → Configure Mod and adjust video settings of the mod as desired, and click Save to save the changes. After configuring and arranging your mods, now click Launch Application to launch the game. The game should be able to launch with the mods installed.

Featured mods

Bug fixes/Improvements

• Widescreen Revamp - Updated GUI assets remade from official art for 16:9 and 21:9 resolutions. Should be loaded under any mods that replaces GUI assets.
• Extended Draw Distance - Increases the rendering draw distance of levels.
• Amy's Hammer Fix - Corrects the inverted color scheme of Amy's hammer.
• Final Boss Fix - Fixes colors and env maps on the final boss (work-in-progress).

Audio/Visual enhancements

• Definitive Character Visual Overhaul - A collection of enhanced yet faithful character models and removes the "shininess" (specular highlights) from the character models.
• Sonic Heroes AI Enhanced HD Textures - Enhanced HD-quality texture pack with upscaled Gigapixel AI using neural networks (work-in-progress).
• Dialogue Volume Fix - Rebalances the sound mixing of the in-game dialogue voices. Only applies to the English dub.

Miscellaneous

• E3 Title Screen - A recreation of the game's title screen from the E3 prototype (which are left in the final version's files) and supports up to 18:9 aspect-ratios. Should be loaded under Widescreen Revamp to take effect.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	98SE	ME, 2000, XP
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium III 866 MHz AMD Athlon 850 MHz	Intel Pentium 4 1.4 GHz AMD Athlon XP 1800+
System memory (RAM)	128 MB	256 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	800 MB	1.5 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 256 ATI Radeon SDR 16 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0b compatible	Nvidia GeForce 3 ATI Radeon 9000 64 MB of VRAM