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Blur

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Blur
Blur cover
Developers
Bizarre Creations
Publishers
Activision
Engines
Horizon
Release dates
Windows May 25, 2010
Reception
Metacritic 81
IGDB 79
Taxonomy
Genres Racing
Blur on HowLongToBeat
Blur on IGDB
Blur guide on StrategyWiki
Blur on MobyGames
Blur on Wikipedia

Key points

Sold as Blur Racerz in Japan.
Game uses its own online account system[1] and doesn't include VOIP, text chat or any other way to communicate with online players.
Updates cause various audio issues (such as crackling and cutting-off earlier than expected) especially on higher quality audio presets and frame rates over 60. Downgrade to the original version to avoid frame rate and audio issues.[2]
Despite the uncapped frame rate, gameplay sections are internally limited to 60 FPS with higher values duplicating the same frames while also breaking some post-processing effects (e.g. motion blur, lens flare, etc.). To change the internal limit and restore some of the broken effects see High frame rate.[3]
Official Master server for multiplayer was shut down. Can be restored with a mod, see Multiplayer types

General information

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
SecuROM v7.41.0004(v7.42.0001 on 1.2) DRM
Windows
Games for Windows Marketplace (unavailable)
Icon overlay.png
[4]
Windows
Steam (unavailable)
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Online features require registering an account in-game.[1]

Essential improvements

Patches

Patch 1.2 for retail copies. Steam version is already patched.
Causes Audio issues at higher than 60 FPS and on higher quality audio presets.[5]

Skip intro videos

Delete/rename video files[6]
  1. Go to <path-to-game>\UI\movies\
  2. Delete or rename atvi.bik and BizarreSplash.bik.

Change driver name

Use BlurNameChanger

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows %APPDATA%\bizarre creations\blur\settings.xml
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/42640/pfx/[Note 1]

Save game data location

System Location
Windows %APPDATA%\bizarre creations\blur\save\
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/42640/pfx/[Note 1]

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
Steam Cloud

Video

Graphics settings.
Graphics settings.

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Hor+ gameplay, Vert- FMV and frontend scaling. Hud in gameplay snaps to corners. Loading screens and event starting aspect ratios are pillarboxed and letterboxed to 16:9.
Ultra-widescreen
Hor+ gameplay, Vert- FMV and frontend scaling. Hud in gameplay snaps to corners. Loading screens and event starting aspect ratios are pillarboxed and letterboxed to 16:9.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Can also be toggled with Alt+ Enter.
Borderless fullscreen windowed
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Force higher samples through GPU control panel. Will not function if DXVK is used; download DXVK.CONF and uncomment d3d9.samplerAnisotropy and set it to desired value (e.g. 16).[7]
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Up to 8x MSAA.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS
120+ FPS
Uncapped in menus (3D animations and camera movements), 2D menu navigation speed tied to frame rate. Gameplay limited to 60 FPS internally, higher values duplicating the same 60 frames and breaking some post-processing effects. Updates causes audio to be distorted and broken. See High frame rate.[8]
High dynamic range display (HDR)
See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

High frame rate

This method can only fully restore some of the broken post-processing effects like motion blur while others (like lens flare) may still exhibit broken and inconsistent behaviors. That is if the new internal limit matches the desired external value.
Simply running at a higher rate - regardless of this fix being applied - speeds up camera movement and sensitivity. This fix helps the sped up camera to render at higher internal values.
High frame rate may be somewhat difficult to consistently achieve on some setups due to limited multi-threading. 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.[9]
Modify with Cheat Engine[10]
  1. Install Cheat Engine and attach the game process.
  2. While Blur.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) of which there should be three instances of. This will cause the gameplay to slow down.
  4. Search for 60.000000000000 with the same options mentioned above, individually change each instance to the desired value until the two values that return the game to the intended speed are found.
  5. Remove all irrelevant values and than save the cheat table.
Temporary solution. The saved cheat table must be used and its values changed with each launch.
This method will not alter the effective range of the "Shock" power-up.
One of the two values responsible for game speed in accordance to the internal gameplay FPS target may show incorrect value in menus; however, it will automatically match itself with the other value during gameplay.
Modify with hex editor[11]
  1. Open Blur.exe with a hex editor such as HxD.
  2. Replace all instances of 89 88 88 3C (60 FPS) with one of the following,
    • 89 88 08 3C for 120 FPS.
    • 39 8E E3 3B for 144 FPS.
    • 89 88 88 3B for 240 FPS.
    • 61 0B 36 3B for 360 FPS.
  3. Replace the first instance of 00 00 70 42 (60 FPS) with one of the following,
    • 00 00 F0 42 for 120 FPS.
    • 00 00 10 43 for 144 FPS.
    • 00 00 70 43 for 240 FPS.
    • 00 00 B4 43 for 360 FPS.
  4. If gameplay speed becomes slow change other instances of 00 00 70 42; however, if not possible, all instances can be replaced at once without any noticeable changes to gameplay.
Permanent solution. Only needs to be applied once.
Higher values applied via this method will reduce the effective range of the "Shock" power-up.
If the desired value is not listed above, apply it using the Cheat Engine method above. Right-Click one the changed values and select "Browse this memory region" to view the hex values.

Input

Keyboard layout.
Keyboard layout.
Controller layout.
Controller layout.

Keyboard and mouse State Notes
Remapping
Two layouts only.
There is a work-around via an AutoHotkey script.
Mouse acceleration
No mouse support.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
XInput controllers only.
Full controller support
Only keyboard button prompts are displayed.
Controller remapping
Three layouts only.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion
Controller types
XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration
PlayStation controllers
Add Blur to Steam as a non-Steam game and use the 'Gamepad' preset in the controller configuration. Vibration can be disabled via Steam Big Picture.
PlayStation button prompts
Light bar support
Adaptive trigger support
DualSense haptic feedback support
Connection modes

Generic/other controllers
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
See Haptic feedback.
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M
Keyboard only.

Haptic feedback

Disable controller vibration[citation needed]
  1. See the Special K Unofficial Guide to install Special K.
  2. Start the game and press Ctrl+ Shift+← Backspace to toggle Special K's Control Panel.
  3. Expand "Input Management", then "Gamepad".
  4. Enable "Disable ALL Rumble" and close the Control Panel.
  5. Press Ctrl+ Shift+O to disable Special K's On-Screen Display.

Audio

Audio settings.
Audio settings.
Audio settings.
Audio settings.

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Effects, Music, Menu music.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
See Mute on focus lost.
Royalty free audio
"Medium', and "High" audio settings will sound better, but the updates cause audio to cut sooner, and may not properly load. Can be fixed with a replacement dsound.dll from Creative ALchemy or downgrading to the original version.[12]

Mute on focus lost

Mute in background[citation needed]
  1. See the Special K Unofficial Guide to install Special K.
  2. Start the game and press Ctrl+ Shift+← Backspace to toggle Special K's Control Panel.
  3. Expand "Window Management", then "Input/Output Behavior".
  4. Enable "Mute Game" and close the Control Panel.
  5. Press Ctrl+ Shift+O to disable Special K's On-Screen Display.

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Polish
Local retail version only.
Russian
Retail only. Patch for digital release here.
Spanish
Local retail version only.

Network

Online features require registering an account in-game.[1]

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
Local play
4 Split-screen.
LAN play
20
Online play
20 The official multiplayer service was shut down; use Amax Emu.

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP 3074
UDP 3074,50001
This game supports Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) for automatic port configuration.

VR support

3D modes State GG3D Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision
Use Helix Mod: Blur for better 3D support.
vorpX
G3D
User created game profile, see vorpx forum profile introduction.
Note:Windowed mode may crash game !

Issues fixed

Black screen, degrading frame rate, freezes on launch, or loads endlessly

Install DirectPlay
Resetting CPU affinity
  1. While the game is running, press Alt+Tab , and open Task Manager. Make sure you click the 'More details' arrow to show the full Task Manager.
  2. Go to the 'Details' tab, and find the process Blur.exe
  3. Right click the process, and select 'Set affinity'.
  4. Uncheck the box for '<All Processors>', recheck 'CPU 0', and click OK.
  5. Right click the 'Blur.exe' process again, and recheck the box for '<All Processors>', and click OK.
This has to be done every time the game is launched.
Changing CPU affinity
  1. Open the Task Manager, and go to the Details tab.
  2. Right-click Blur.exe and select 'Set Affinity'.
  3. Disable CPU 0 and leave the other CPUs checked. Then hit OK.
This has to be done every time the game is launched.

Making affinity changes permanent (setting affinity in task manager only lasts until you exit the game):

  1. Edit your preferred shortcut for launching the game (desktop and/or start menu)
  2. In the target field, set the following (just put the default contents in double quotes and prepend cmd.exe /C ...):
  • For a 4/4 (core/thread) CPU cmd.exe /C start "" /affinity e "<path-to-game>\Blur.exe"
  • For a 4/8 and 8/8 (core/thread) CPU cmd.exe /C start "" /affinity fe "<path-to-game>\Blur.exe"
  • For a 6/6 (core/thread) CPU cmd.exe /C start "" /affinity 3e "<path-to-game>\Blur.exe"
  • For a 6/12 (core/thread) CPU cmd.exe /C start "" /affinity 7fe "<path-to-game>\Blur.exe"
  • For a 8/16 (core/thread) CPU and higher cmd.exe /C start "" /affinity fffe "<path-to-game>\Blur.exe"

Verify correct affinity by launching the game and checking affinity in task manager (see beginning).

To be used in Steam launch options, to launch the game directly from Steam, it must be a little different:

  • Ex. for a 8/16 (core/thread) CPU and higher C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /C start "" /affinity FFFE "<path-to-game>\Blur.exe" %command%
Setting compatibility settings
  1. Right click Blur.exe in the install directory and select properties.
  2. Go to "Compatibility" and Enable Compatibility Mode and change it to Windows 7.
  3. Also enable "Run this program as an administrator" and click apply.

Distorted audio quality

On updated versions, frame rates over 60 FPS cause the game's audio to be distorted and broken.
Downgrade to the original version[13]
  • Alternatively, see Frame rate capping or set monitor on 60hz and enable Vsync in Video options.

Audio cuts out when game first loads

This issue only occurs with the Medium, and High audio setting on updated versions.
Downgrade to the original version or enable Compatibility Mode[14]
  1. Right click on either on 'Blur.exe', or the shortcut to the exe, and select 'Properties'.
  2. Click on the 'Compatibility' tab.
  3. Under the Compatibility mode section, check the box 'Run this program...', and select Windows 7.
  4. Click Apply, and then click OK.

Unable to play online

This is an issue which involves an inability to connect to online games, caused by Blur's overly strict reliance on port forwarding.
The only reliable way to play online is to use Virtual LAN software such as Hamachi or Tunngle, the latter of which had an active Blur community, but had to shut down its services in 30/04/2018 due to the EU GDPR. Nowadays there is a discord that created an alternate server for playing the game online. Search for - "amax-emu.com\how_to_play".

Retail installer hangs

Retail copies of the game may get stuck during the install process, specifically before the installer starts copying files from the disc. This mostly is to occur on PCs running Windows 8/8.1/10.
Installing the game without the disk[citation needed]
  1. Make a folder called 'BLUR_DVD' anywhere you choose in the computer.
  2. Open File Explorer, and view the files for BLUR_DVD.
  3. Select all of the files, copy, and paste them into the 'BLUR_DVD' folder.
  4. Once all the files have been copied over, select the 'Setup' folder, then the 'rsrc' folder.
  5. Select 'AUTORUN.exe' to start the installation

Mouse cursor always visible in game

Hide mouse cursor[citation needed]
  1. See the Special K Unofficial Guide to install Special K.
  2. Start the game and press Ctrl+ Shift+← Backspace to toggle Special K's Control Panel.
  3. Expand "Input Management", then "Mouse Cursor".
  4. Enable "Hide When Not Moved" and set "Seconds Before Hiding" to "0".
  5. Close the Control Panel and press Ctrl+ Shift+O to disable Special K's On-Screen Display.

Can't find any LAN games

Free hogged port[citation needed]
  1. If you have AnyDesk installed, quit it in the system tray.
  2. If you do not have AnyDesk installed, in PowerShell, run Get-Process -Id (Get-NetUDPEndpoint -LocalPort 50001).OwningProcess to see which process is hogging the discovery port.
  3. Kill the process with taskkill.

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9.0c
Shader Model support 3.0
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Cutscenes Bink Video

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) XP, Vista, 7
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium D Dual Core 3.4 GHz
System memory (RAM) 1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 14 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce 6600 GT
ATI Radeon X1600 XT
256 MB of VRAM
Shader model 3.0 support


Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/42640/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (42640) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 DRM ? :: Blur General Discussions
  2. Verified by User:Radmaxx on 2022-05-03
    Audio crackling issue is still present on framerates below 60, however instances of it are very rare; surpassing 60 FPS drastically increases the number and the intensity of random crackling noises.
  3. Verified by User:Radmaxx on 2022-05-03
    Frontend automatically behaves as if the custom FPS edit is applied. Running the game at higher values than 60 FPS irrespective of the high FPS edit being applied causes menu navigation animations and camera sensitivity in gameplay and frontend to speed up; the patch simply allows more unique frames rendered in them as opposed to reused ones. The overall range of the "Shock" power-up is shared with the internal limit in the main .exe but will separate at runtime.
  4. Games You've Missed - Games for Windows - last accessed on 19 August 2022
  5. Verified by User:Radmaxx on 2022-05-03
    None of the crackling, buffering or cutting off issues exist in the original, non-updated retail version.
  6. How To : Disable Startup Videos - Steam Users' Forums (retrieved)
  7. Verified by User:Radmaxx on 2022-05-03
    Mipmaps and distorted reflections make the determination of the exact anisotropic sample count difficult. Textures are too sharp for a trilinear filtering implementation. Most likely 2-4 samples used.
  8. Verified by User:Radmaxx on 2022-05-03
    There were no differences in levels of smoothness in any aspect between a locked 60 and 144 FPS during gameplay; however the differences of the same values were easily identifiable in frontend.
  9. Verified by User:Radmaxx on 2022-05-03
    CPU performance especially improved during city sections.
  10. Verified by User:Radmaxx on 2022-05-03
  11. Verified by User:Radmaxx on 2022-05-03
  12. Verified by User:Radmaxx on 2022-05-03
    Issue only occurred on updated version.
  13. Verified by User:Radmaxx on 2022-05-03
  14. Verified by User:Radmaxx on 2022-05-03