Hitman: Contracts

Hitman
Hitman: Codename 47	2000
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin	2002
Hitman: Contracts	2004
Hitman: Blood Money	2006
Hitman: Sniper Challenge	2012
Hitman: Absolution	2012
Hitman GO	2015
Hitman	2016
Hitman 2	2018
Hitman World of Assassination	2021

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM 5 DRM.
Retail		The version included in the retail 'Hitman Collection' (Eidos, 2009) is entirely DRM-free.
Amazon.com
GamersGate

GOG.com
Humble Store
Steam
Green Man Gaming (unavailable)

The European release of the Hitman Collection is DRM-free, already patched to the latest version and have the cheats enabled by default.

Essential improvements

Patches

Patch v1.74 is the latest retail patch.

Steam version is v1.75 and comes with widescreen support.

Unofficial Patch

Adds bug fixes and general improvements.

Works only on the english version.

See the comment by GuyFawkesGaming for compatibility with the widescreen fix.

Character Overhaul

Retextures Agent 47 and other characters in higher quality.

Adds the uncensored textures from the remastered version.^[2]

Skip intro videos

Skip intro^{[citation needed]}

Go to the configuration file(s) location.
Open HitmanContracts.ini.
Find the following line and replace it with the this value.

DefaultScene=mainmenu.gms

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\HitmanContracts.ini^{[Note 1]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/247430/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Save^{[Note 1]}
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/247430/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

Maximum of 99 save files.

Save states contain system information. Loading a mid-mission save file from a different computer or operating system may result in severe broken game timing.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud		Added on September 11, 2020.^[3]

Video

Graphics settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution		Vert- in Steam version.^[4] See Widescreen resolution.
Multi-monitor		See Widescreen resolution.
Ultra-widescreen		See Widescreen resolution.
4K Ultra HD		Vert- in Steam version.^[4] See Widescreen resolution.
Field of view (FOV)	See Widescreen resolution or the WSGF entry.
Windowed	See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	Force in GPU control panel for better results.
Anti-aliasing (AA)	Nvidia users can force AA using Nvidia Profile Inspector. `0x000020C0` for MSAA and `0x000000C0` for SGSSAA. Ensure the AA fix is enabled.^[5]
Vertical sync (Vsync)	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS	The game doesn't run properly at higher than 60 frame rates. See High frame rate issues
High dynamic range display (HDR)	See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Widescreen resolution

Steam version supports widescreen (including 4K Ultra HD) natively, but it features a problematic Vert- FOV change, as well as stretching game graphics.^[4]

Widescreen fix^{[citation needed]}

Download Widescreen fix by nemesis2000.
Extract h3.7z files to <path-to-game> (password=h3).
Edit h3.ini to set the resolution and FOV multiplier.

Notes

Works with Steam/digital distribution versions; supported exe size: 3 752 004 bytes; 3 756 135 bytes.

LOD distance is also adjustable.

In "Bjarkhov Bomb", snow falls indoors on both sides of the screen not visible in 4:3. Also, the level is prone to frequent crashes.

Windowed

Enable windowed^[4]
Open `<path-to-game>\HitmanContracts.ini`. Add `Window 1` on a new line. Change `StartUpperPos 2,2` to `StartUpperPos 0,0`.

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		Controller supports only with Xpadder.
Full controller support
Controller remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers		Controller supports only with Xpadder.
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

DualShock 4 controllers

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

Sound settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Located under Graphics options.
Surround sound		Up to 7.0 output, based on Windows speaker settings.^[6]
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		No option to disable it.
EAX support		EAX 3.^[7]
Royalty free audio

May require DirectSound3D restoration software to restore proper sound functionality on Windows Vista and later.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French				Retail and steam only. Patch for the GOG release here.
German				Retail and steam only.
Hungarian				Fan translation, download.
Italian				Retail and steam only.
Japanese				Retail only.
Polish				Retail only. Patch for digital release here.
Brazilian Portuguese				DVD Game release (CD Editora, 2009).
Russian				Retail only. Patch for digital release here.
Spanish				Retail and steam only.
Turkish				Fan translation. Details missing—please edit this page and add it.

VR support

3D modes	Native	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision		See Helix Mod: Hitman: Contracts.
vorpX		G3D, Z3D User created profile, requires DGVoodoo2 v 2.6, see profile introdution. `Note:` Profile may not work with the latest wrapper, in case of issues please report to the vorpx forum.

Issues unresolved

Enable OpenGl effects in the Direct3D rendered

Certain graphical effects are only available when using Direct3D whilst others only available with OpenGL.^[8]^[9] Also post-processing injectors typically cause heavy artifacts and graphical glitches.

Restore the raindrop, fog, and water effects^[10]

Open hitmancontracts.exe with a HEX editor.
Find the 1st hex string 53 6A 18 53 50 FF 92 FC 00 00 00.
Replace it with 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90.
Find the 2nd hex string 6A 00 6A 18 6A 00 50 FF 92 FC 00 00 00.
Replace it with 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90 90.

A pre-made version of this fix is available here. 2nd hex string still needs to be replaced manually.

Restores the raindrop effect in most levels along with other effects.

Not all OpenGL effects have been restored.

Issues fixed

Game doesn't save

Create the Save folder^[11]
Go to `<path-to-game>`. Make a new folder and name it "Save".

Jerky/Uneven mouse movement

Add a line to HitmanContracts.ini^[12]
Open `<path-to-game>\HitmanContracts.ini`. Add the line `UseDirectInputMouse 1`. Save the file.

When using anything that zooms the circle that should be representative of your sight is blacked out

Lower post filter^{[citation needed]}
Some users reported that this can be fixed by lowering the "post filter" that is for modern graphics cards.

Can not finish the second level (Meat King) without crashing (Using a Radeon Graphics Card)

Update drivers^{[citation needed]}
Update your drivers.

Black Screen

Update drivers^{[citation needed]}
Update your drivers.

Mute music^{[citation needed]}
Try to mute the in-game music -some users have reported this fixed their problem.

Whenever the player dies, the screen goes all white and stays that way

Disable post filtering^{[citation needed]}
Try turning off post filtering.

Loud background effects (like wind)

Disable EAX^{[citation needed]}
Disable EAX in sound options.

Game runs in slow motion

Run the game in windowed mode^[13]
Open `<path-to-game>\HitmanContracts.ini`. Change `StartUpperPos 2,2` to `StartUpperPos 0,0` Add `Window 1` to the end of the ini file on a separate line. Save your changes.

Game crashes in some integrated Intel Graphics cards

Run the game in compatibility mode for Windows XP SP3^[14]
Right click `<path-to-game>\HitmanContracts.exe`. Go to `properties` Click on `Compatibility` tab. Enable compatibility mode & set it to Windows XP SP3.

High frame rate issues

The physics and logic of the game are linked to 60 FPS, so playing at high fps can cause problems.

Limit the Framerate to 60FPS^{[citation needed]}
See Frame rate capping.

Vsync (Enabled by default) not working on Windows10

Vsync is enabled by default, but in Windows 10 it does not work because the Vsync of DirectX 8 in Windows 10 is broken.

Download the d3d8to9.
Copy D3D8.DLL from the folder to the game install directory and set the monitor refresh rate to 60 Hz.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	8	Requires DirectX 9.0 to be installed.
OpenGL		Support is buggy and incomplete.^{[citation needed]}
Shader Model support	1.1

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	DirectSound3D

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	98SE/ME	2000/XP
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium III 800 MHz or AMD Athlon equivalent	Intel Pentium 4 1.6 GHz or AMD Athlon XP equivalent
System memory (RAM)	128 MB	256 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	2 GB
Video card (GPU)	GeForce 2 32 MB of VRAM DirectX 8.0 compatible	GeForce 3 64 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0b compatible

Notes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 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).
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 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>/247430/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (247430) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References

↑ Hitman. Контракты - last accessed on 2023-02-18
↑ Hitman Forums - last accessed on 2022-07-10
↑ Hitman: Contracts - SteamDB Depot Changelog - last accessed on 2020-09-12
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 ^4.3 Verified by User:Suicide_machine on 2018-03-23
↑ https://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.php?p=5457050&postcount=4024
↑ PC Gaming Surround Sound Round-up
↑ Killer EAX® ADVANCED HD™ Audio in Hitman Contracts™ - SoundBlaster.com (retrieved)
↑ Vogons Forum - last accessed on [unknown]
↑ Hitman Forum - last accessed on [unknown]
↑ Vogons Forum - last accessed on 2022-06-21
↑ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=371890450
↑ Verified by User:AlphaYellow on 2023-01-28
↑ https://www.gog.com/forum/hitman_series/hitman_contracts_opengl_issues
↑ https://steamcommunity.com/app/247430/discussions/0/558746088964416094/

[gamedir-3] 1.0 ^1.1 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).

[Proton_path_note-4] 2.0 ^2.1 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>/247430/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (247430) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

[1] Hitman. Контракты - last accessed on 2023-02-18

[2] Hitman Forums - last accessed on 2022-07-10

[5] Hitman: Contracts - SteamDB Depot Changelog - last accessed on 2020-09-12

[Sui-6] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 ^4.3 Verified by User:Suicide_machine on 2018-03-23

[7] ttps://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.php?p=5457050&postcount=4024

[8] PC Gaming Surround Sound Round-up

[9] Killer EAX® ADVANCED HD™ Audio in Hitman Contracts™ - SoundBlaster.com (retrieved)

[10] Vogons Forum - last accessed on [unknown]

[11] Hitman Forum - last accessed on [unknown]

[12] Vogons Forum - last accessed on 2022-06-21

[13] ttps://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=371890450

[14] Verified by User:AlphaYellow on 2023-01-28

[15] ttps://www.gog.com/forum/hitman_series/hitman_contracts_opengl_issues

[16] ttps://steamcommunity.com/app/247430/discussions/0/558746088964416094/

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Developers

	IO Interactive
Publishers
Former	Eidos Interactive
Former	Sold-Out Software
Former	Square Enix
Current	IO Interactive
Russia	Noviy Disk^[1]
Engines
	Glacier
Release dates
Windows	April 20, 2004
Reception
Metacritic	74
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person, Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Stealth
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Asia, Contemporary, Eastern Europe, Europe
Series	Hitman