Mirror's Edge

Mirror's Edge

Developers
	DICE
Publishers
	Electronic Arts
Engines
	Unreal Engine 3
Release dates
Windows	January 13, 2009
Reception
Metacritic	81
IGDB	73
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, DLC, Subscription gaming service
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Platform
Themes	Cyberpunk
Series	Mirror's Edge

Mirror's Edge
Mirror's Edge	2009
Mirror's Edge Catalyst	2016

Mirror's Edge is a sci-fi first-person action game developed by DICE, creators of the Battlefield franchise, and published by Electronic Arts. The game makes use of Unreal Engine 3, as DICE's own Frostbite engine wasn't complete when the title began full-scale production. A lighting system christened "Beast" was developed for the game by Illuminate Labs in association with DICE which was previously called "Turtle" and was used in Maya as a renderer. The new technology would accentuate the art style of the game by allowing for the reflection of colors as well as light. The title takes advantage of many of Unreal Engine 3's features, such as Nvidia's PhysX physics simulation system, allowing for optional physics effects like detailed debris and cloth, emulating dynamic and unscripted physics.

The game was released on Steam and Origin on January 12th, 2009. The Origin release of the game featured extra DRM, including online activation and a limit to how many computers the game could be activated on, alongside needing to install the launcher to begin with. De-authorization tools have been made officially available.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Community Discord Servers list.

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM 7 and SecuROM PA DRM, five machine limit. A De-Authorization Tool is available. Custom DRM code may sabotage the game by disabling sprinting.
GOG.com
Microsoft Store		Included exclusively with Xbox Game Pass for PC as part of its version of EA Play.
Origin		Included with EA Play. SecuROM 7 and SecuROM PA DRM, five machine limit. A De-Authorization Tool is available. Contacting EA Support can increase this limit.
Steam		Included with EA Play (Steam).
(unavailable)

Monetization

Type	Notes
DLC	The DLC includes a new map pack.
One-time game purchase	The game requires an upfront purchase to access.
Subscription gaming service	Available via EA Play.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Pure Time Trials Map Pack	No longer available. Use TT mod to restore (for Origin, use Origin Fix as well).

Essential improvements

Patches

Patch 1.01. The Origin and Steam versions are already patched.

Origin Fix

This patch fixes Origin version of Mirror's Edge. Patch affects game's main executable, as well as cleans game directory from useless SecuROM/Origin files and folders and fixes PhysX issues.

Can possibly make Pure Time Trial Map Pack Restoration Mod compatible with this version.

Installation
Download files from the link above. Extract the Binaries folder and Fix.bat into <path-to-game>. Run Fix.bat and wait the necessary changes are made.

Mirror's Edge Tweaks

Tool that changes the FOV of Mirror's Edge the correct way, without skybox issues. Plus ultrawide support, custom aspect ratios, PhysX adjustments and more.

FOV changes are persistent once set and the program does not need to be kept open for changes to be made.

Offers individually adjustable graphical tweaks not normally exposed in-game, such as various post-process effects, lightmaps, render resolution, and more.

Skip intro videos

Use the -nostartupmovies command line argument

Make file changes
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open TdEngine.ini. Delete/comment out (add a ; to the beginning of) the StartupMovies line.

Remove "Press any key" delay

You can further speed up the time to enter the game by removing the 4 second wait period before the "Press any key" message appears.

Remove "Press any key" delay
Open DefaultUI.ini located at <path-to-game>\TdGame\Config. Change TimeTillStartButton=4 to TimeTillStartButton=0. Use MEMLA to allow config changes to the game.

Improve performance with PhysX

See PhysX causes issues for a summary

Shard Roof Draw Distance Fix

This mod fixes drawing distance problems, that can be encountered at game epilog.

Installation
Download files from the link above. Extract the TdGame folder into %USERPROFILE%\Documents\EA Games\Mirror's Edge.

Game data

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\EA Games\Mirror's Edge\TdGame\Config\
Microsoft Store
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/17410/pfx/

Some settings can be also edited in the INI files stored in <path-to-game>\TdGame\Config, but MEMLA is required for the game to launch after altering the files. MEMLA can be launched directly from within Steam. To do that, add the "<path-to-game>\MEMLA.exe" %command% command line argument in the game properties.

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\EA Games\Mirror's Edge\TdGame\Savefiles\
Microsoft Store
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/17410/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Origin		Only NA version.
OneDrive		Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers.
Steam Cloud
Xbox Cloud

Video

In-game video settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			Aspect ratio is constrained to 16:9; other aspect ratios are letterboxed/pillarboxed. Use Mirror's Edge Tweaks or Flawless Widescreen to fix. UI and FMVs are not properly supported by these mods.
Multi-monitor			Use Flawless Widescreen.
Ultra-widescreen			Use Flawless Widescreen or Mirror's Edge Tweaks.
4K Ultra HD			UI is incredibly blurry at resolutions above 1920 horizontal pixels. Use the font fix mod to workaround.
Field of view (FOV)		Default FOV is 90° and cannot be adjusted in-game. There is also a bug where the FOV will be forced to 85 upon dying and can only be fixed by restarting a level. Use Mirror's Edge Tweaks to fix these issues.
Windowed		See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See Windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Adjusted by the setting Texture Detail, where High equals 4x and Highest equals 16x.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Up to 8x MSAA or 16xQ CSAA.
High-fidelity upscaling
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS
120+ FPS		Capped at 62 FPS. See High frame rate.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See High dynamic range display (HDR).

Windowed

Use dxwrapper
Download dxwrapper. Extract dxwrapper.dll and dxwrapper.ini to <path-to-game>\Binaries. Rename the two files to d3d9.dll and d3d9.ini respectively. Open d3d9.ini and set EnableD3d9Wrapper and EnableWindowMode to 1. Notes Set FullscreenWindowMode to 1 for Borderless fullscreen windowed. Set WindowModeBorder to 1 if you don't want borderless mode.

Use modded files, also fixes Alt+Tab ↹ "out of focus" crash on Windows 7+
Download the Windowed/Fullscreen buttons and Console mod. Extract CookedPC folder in %USERPROFILE%\Documents\EA Games\Mirror's Edge\TdGame\Published Press the windowed button in the main menu. Notes The option is hardcoded to 1366x768 resolution. Hex edit the second setres instance in TdUI_FrontEnd.upk to adjust it.

Use Custom Hotkeys

Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open TdInput.ini. Add the following line under the [Engine.PlayerInput] section and change # to the prefered hotkey, HW for resolution and after x32 W for windowed: Bindings=(Name="#",Command="setres HxWx32W",Control=False,Shift=False,Alt=False) Example of 1280x720 in windowed on hotkey F2. Bindings=(Name="F2",Command="setres 1280x720x32W",Control=False,Shift=False,Alt=False) Notes The option does not work in the main menu.

Anti-aliasing (AA)

Force SGSSAA (Nvidia only)

Download and run Nvidia Profile Inspector. Select the Mirror's Edge profile. Change Antialiasing compatibility value to 0x080000C1. Change Antialiasing - Behavior Flags to None. Change Antialiasing - Mode to Override any application setting. Change Antialiasing - Setting to 4x [4x Multisampling]. Change Antialiasing - Transparency Supersampling to 4x Sparse Grid Supersampling. Press "Apply Changes" in the top-right corner.

High frame rate

Frame rate is capped at 62 FPS.

Use Mirror's Edge Tweaks to change the cap
Notes As frame rate increases, so does player friction which can slightly alter the speed of certain movement mechanics and make downward slides exponentially more difficult to control at frame rates above 150 FPS (i.e. Chapter 1C RP&A building slide). Enemy accuracy is increased at higher frame rates. Load times are tied to frame rate: loading time decreases as frame rate increases.

High dynamic range display (HDR)

Use Special K after installing DXVK (HDR-mod)

Download the latest release from DXVK (HDR-mod) and install the x32 d3d9.dll to <path-to-game>\Binaries. Use the provided d3d9.conf and rename it to dxvk.conf and put it in <path-to-game>\Binaries. Download Special K. Install it locally into <path-to-game>\Binaries with SpecialK32.dll renamed to dinput8.dll. Start the game, and from the SpecialK UI (Ctrl+⇧ Shift+← Backspace) make sure the Active Render API is Vulkan. Follow the remainder of the Special K HDR guide. Notes When changing the resolution (in-game or elsewhere), make sure to also adjust OverrideRes in the SK .ini file.

Ambient occlusion

Force HBAO+ (Nvidia only)
Download and run Nvidia Profile Inspector. Select the Mirror's Edge profile. Change Ambient Occlusion compatibility value to 0x00000030. Change Ambient Occlusion setting to High Quality. Change Ambient Occlusion usage to Enabled. Press "Apply Changes" in the top-right corner.

Depth of field, bloom, & radial blur

Disable post-processing effects
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open TdEngine.ini. Search and change DepthOfField to False. Search and change Bloom to False. Search and change TdMotionBlur to False. Save the file.

Streak effect

Disables edge streaks (white streaks appearing when running at high speeds - not to be confused with radial blur)
Go to the <path-to-game>\TdGame\Config Back up DefaultHudEffects.ini as modifying it can cause corruption and prevent the game to start. Open DefaultHudEffects.ini. Set StreakDistanceInMovementDirection, StreakDistanceInCameraDirection and StreakEffectFadeTime to 0. Note: Setting bEnableStreakEffect to false does nothing. Save the file. Note that this change requires MEMLA.

Shadows

Increase shadow quality

Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open TdEngine.ini. Change the following lines to the values presented, then save the file: bEnableVSMShadows=True bEnableBranchingPCFShadows=True bAllowBetterModulatedShadows=True ShadowFilterRadius=6 DepthBias=0.02 ModShadowFadeDistanceExponent=0 ShadowFilterQualityBias=16 MinShadowResolution=512 MaxShadowResolution=2048 Notes Setting MinShadowResolution and MaxShadowResolution too high may impact performance; testing and further adjusting these settings is recommended.

Input

In-game control settings.

In-game gamepad settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		Use Mirror's Edge Tweaks to disable mouse smoothing.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		Can only switch between pre-defined layouts.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

DualShock 4 controllers		There is a mod to add playstation button prompts, but the game doesn't support the controller without a translation layer.
DualShock button prompts		Use Dualshock Prompts Mod
Light bar support
Connection modes	None

Generic/other controllers

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

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound		7.1 is supported. OpenAL Soft can replace the existing OpenAL driver, enabling HRTFs and fixing sampling issues (see 3D Surround Sound/HRTF).
Subtitles		In Game Settings.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

3D Surround Sound/HRTF Support

Override default audio renderer

Mirror's Edge uses OpenAL for rendering audio. By default, the game will use the OpenAL driver that is distributed with a standard OpenAL installation, which happens to be a pretty shoddy implementation of OpenAL. This can be replaced with a better version called "OpenAL Soft" and configured to enable HRTFs for accurate, 3D surround sound using only your stereo headphones. Sounds coming from in-front and behind will be distinctly different and even sounds coming from above or below will be clearly discernible. Download the latest OpenAL Soft binaries from the releases section. Extract the downloaded file and locate soft_oal.dll in \bin\Win32 Rename soft_oal.dll to OpenAL32.dll Navigate to <path-to-game>\Binaries and replace the existing OpenAL32.dll with the renamed version. Navigate to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\EA Games\Mirror's Edge\TdGame\Config and open TdEngine.ini. Locate DeviceName under [ALAudio.ALAudioDevice] and enter "OpenAL Soft" (e.g. DeviceName=OpenAL Soft) Set TdEngine.ini to Read Only to prevent the game from overriding the changes. Notes This also fixes the sampling issues of footstep volume/other sounds quickly fading in. The initial attack/transients of these sounds are no longer cut off.

Localizations

Language codes to be used for manual switching are provided in the notes. First value is for the registry setting, second one is for the files extension and path.

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English				en_UK (INT)
Traditional Chinese
Czech				cs (CZE)
French				fr_FR (FRA)
German				de_DE (DEU)
Hungarian				hu_HU (HUN)
Italian				it_IT (ITA)
Japanese				Region locked.
Polish				pl_PL (POL)
Brazilian Portuguese				pt_PT (POR)
Russian				ru_RU (RUS)
Spanish				es_ES (ESN)
Turkish				Download here.

Independent dubbing and captioning

Override language files

The Steam/Origin version should skip the first 3 steps and just set the appropriate language in the client game proprieties. Open regedit Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\EA GAMES\Mirror's Edge Set the locale string to XXX (where XXX is the code for the desired voice language) Navigate to <path-to-game>\TdGame\Localization (where YYY is the code for the desired UI/subtitles language) Copy YYY to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\EA Games\Mirror's Edge\TdGame\Localization (create it if missing) Rename the folder from YYY to XXX. Open a command prompt inside the renamed folder Run ren *.YYY *.XXX Notes Interface can be further decoupled by swapping only those localization files whose name start with Td.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play		2	Co-op Use the Splitting Edge Mod (in beta)
LAN play
Online play		Use mempsrc or mmultiplayer

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
vorpX		G3D, DirectVR Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Issues fixed

PhysX causes issues

The PhysX enhanced effects are enormously taxing on the CPU due to using single-threaded X87 instructions without an Nvidia GPU, may cause the game not to start or crash during gameplay, and may also cause performance issues on Nvidia GPUs due to the game using the older PhysX library files included in the game folder by default rather than the up to date ones from the driver.

Install and enable the latest PhysX update
Install the latest version of PhysX from NVIDIA PhysX System Software. Move or delete the PhysXLocal folder, as well as the PhysXCore.dll and PhysXDevice.dll files. For alternative methods, see Games prefer private own libraries to system ones.

Game does not launch

This can be caused by various issues, with the most prominent being a PhysX compatibility issue.

See PhysX section for the most likely cause of crashes on launch

Disable Mandatory ASLR for the game (Windows 10)
Open Windows Security In App & browser control, open Exploit protection settings In Program settings, add an exception for <path-to-game>\Binaries\MirrorsEdge.exe Disable "Force randomization for images (Mandatory ASLR)"

Crash just after splash screen

Manually set resolution
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open TdEngine.ini. Change ResX and ResY to the monitor's horizontal and vertical resolution. Save the changes.

Disable default AA
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open TdEngine.ini. Set the value of MaxMultisamples to 1. Save the changes.

Saves or settings don't actually get saved

If Controlled folder access is enabled, add the game to the allowed apps list

No sound during cutscenes/FMVs in Windows 7

Run the game in compatibility mode for Windows XP SP3.[citation needed]

Merc's audio cuts off before end of sentence

Disable GX mode in Xonar Audio Center[citation needed]
Open the Control Panel. Select Xonar Control Center. Near the bottom right is a button with GX on it, press it and GX mode should now be disabled.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c
Shader Model support	3

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	PhysX	Version 2.8.0. Nvidia GPUs can accelerate optional physics effects like detailed debris and cloth. The simulation timestep can be increased for smoother physics rendering with the following mod.
Audio	OpenAL, Speex	Ships with router version 6.14.357.22 and wrapper 2.2.0.5. Can be updated.
Interface	Scaleform
Cutscenes	Bink Video	v1.9a

Crosshair toggle

Crosshair Toggle[citation needed]
This tweak will bind F11 to toggle the crosshair. Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open TdInput.ini. Search for section [Engine.PlayerInput] and add this line in it: Bindings=(Name="F11",Command="Showhud",Control=False,Shift=False,Alt=False)

Adding binoculars

Binoculars tweak[citation needed]

This tweak will add switchable two staged zoom simulating binoculars behavior from other games. Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open TdInput.ini. Search for section [Engine.PlayerInput] and add these lines in it: Bindings=(Name="ZoomIn1",Command="FOV 50 | setbind YYY ZoomIn2",Control=False,Shift=False,Alt=False) Bindings=(Name="ZoomIn2",Command="FOV 30 | setbind YYY ZoomOut",Control=False,Shift=False,Alt=False) Bindings=(Name="ZoomOut",Command="FOV XXX | setbind YYY ZoomIn1",Control=False,Shift=False,Alt=False) Bindings=(Name="YYY",Command="ZoomIn1",Control=False,Shift=False,Alt=False) where XXX is the desired FOV (90 is the default), and YYY is name of key which will trigger zoom. Look out for examples in TdInput.ini. Alternatively, set your custom magnification by changing values 50 and 30.

• 

  Default zoom (90 FOV).

• 

  First stage (50 FOV).

• 

  Second stage (30 FOV).

Low end configuration

Use custom settings

Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open TdEngine.ini. Replace the whole section below [SystemSettings] StaticDecals=False DynamicDecals=False DynamicLights=False DynamicShadows=False LightEnvironmentShadows=False CompositeDynamicLights=False DirectionalLightmaps=False MotionBlur=false DepthOfField=False AmbientOcclusion=false Bloom=False QualityBloom=False Distortion=False DropParticleDistortion=False SpeedTreeLeaves=False SpeedTreeFronds=False OnlyStreamInTextures=False LensFlares=False FogVolumes=False FloatingPointRenderTargets=True Trilinear=False OneFrameThreadLag=True UseVsync=False UpscaleScreenPercentage=False Fullscreen=True AllowD3D10=False EnableHighPolyChars=False SkeletalMeshLODBias=0 ParticleLODBias=0 DetailMode=0 ShadowFilterQualityBias=-1 MaxAnisotropy=1 MaxMultisamples=1 MinShadowResolution=32 MaxShadowResolution=256 ResX=640 ResY=480 ScreenPercentage=100.000000 SceneCaptureStreamingMultiplier=0.800000 FoliageDrawRadiusMultiplier=0.000000 ShadowTexelsPerPixel=1.000000 TEXTUREGROUP_World=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=1) TEXTUREGROUP_WorldNormalMap=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=2) TEXTUREGROUP_WorldSpecular=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=1) TEXTUREGROUP_Character=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=1) TEXTUREGROUP_CharacterNormalMap=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=2) TEXTUREGROUP_CharacterSpecular=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=1) TEXTUREGROUP_Weapon=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=1) TEXTUREGROUP_WeaponNormalMap=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=2) TEXTUREGROUP_WeaponSpecular=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=1) TEXTUREGROUP_Vehicle=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=1) TEXTUREGROUP_VehicleNormalMap=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=2) TEXTUREGROUP_VehicleSpecular=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=1) TEXTUREGROUP_Cinematic=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0) TEXTUREGROUP_Effects=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=1) TEXTUREGROUP_Skybox=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=1) TEXTUREGROUP_UI=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=0) TEXTUREGROUP_LightAndShadowMap=(MinLODSize=256,MaxLODSize=512,LODBias=1) TEXTUREGROUP_RenderTarget=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=4096,LODBias=1) PhysXEnhanced=False TdMotionBlur=False TdSunHaze=False TdTonemapping=False TdBicubicFiltering=False

Modifications

Moded TdGame FIX 2.0

Allows modification of the original game files without bugs and/or crashes.

Needed by many community made creations.

Mirror's Edge cut ending recreation

Install the custom level
Download mod from the link above. Extract TdGame to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\EA Games\Mirror's Edge.

Custom maps

Use editor mode
Download the Unreal Development Kit and install it in the game's Binaries folder. Run the game with the edit command line argument.

Freedom Map

Open world map with custom delivery objectives and police patrols.

Very GPU and CPU taxing.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP SP2	Vista
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	1 GB	2 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	8 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 6800 ATI Radeon X1650 256 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 3.0 support	Nvidia GeForce 8800 512 MB of VRAM

Nvidia GeForce 7300 is below the minimum requirements, integrated chipsets may experience issues.

Laptop versions of these chipsets may work but are not supported.