The Polar Express

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM DRM disc check.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Use replacement video files
Use The Polar Express intro skip.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\BlueTongue Entertainment\The Polar Express^{[Note 1]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Save\^{[Note 2]}

Video

$Video settings (<path-to-game>\Config.exe).$

Video settings (<path-to-game>\Config.exe).

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		See Widescreen resolution.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed		See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
High-fidelity upscaling		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Appears to be always on.^{[citation needed]}
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		Game will not run above 1000 FPS.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Widescreen resolution

Widescreen fix^[1]

Download and install Cheat Engine.
Download an archive which corresponds to your screen aspect ratio.
Open the installation folder and make a backup of PolarExpress.exe and Data\.
Open the downloaded archive and copy PolarExpress.exe and Data\ to the installation folder.
Run Config.exe.
Run Cheat Engine and open the Config.exe process.
Change "Value type" to "Array of byte" and paste 80020000E001 in the text field.
Click on "First scan".
Right-click on the fourth result and click on "Change value of selected addresses".
Change the value to:
- 00050000D002 for 1280x720
- 000500000003 for 1280x768
- 000500002003 for 1280x800
- 000500000004 for 1280x1024
- 560500000003 for 1366x768
- A00500008403 for 1440x900
- 400600008403 for 1600x900
- 400600000004 for 1600x1024
- 900600001A04 for 1680x1050
- 800700003804 for 1920x1080
- 80070000B004 for 1920x1200
- More values available here
Go back to the configuration window and set 640x480 resolution.

Notes

In-game cutscenes will become stretched.

Windowed

Windowed mode can be set but is limited to 640x480.

Set in registry^[2]
Go to the installation folder. Open `Config.exe` and set a different resolution to generate the necessary value. Go to `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\BlueTongue Entertainment\The Polar Express` Open the vidmode value. Change the `01` on the second line to `00`. The game will now run in a window.

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		The Numpad is required to swap the camera perspective in missions such as sneaking past the Chef. Many Laptops & some keyboards don't have Numpads. However the game is completable without the Numpad though.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		Can detect and play with XInput controllers.
Full controller support
Controller remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers

PlayStation controllers

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Button prompts		Only refers to Keyboard controls.
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

Audio settings (in-game).

$Audio settings (<path-to-game>\Config.exe).$

Audio settings (<path-to-game>\Config.exe).

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		SFX, Music.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Spanish

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	FMOD
Cutscenes	Bink Video

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	98, 2000, XP, ME
Processor (CPU)	400 MHz Pentium 3 (or equivalent AMD)	800 MHz Pentium 3 (or equivalent AMD Athlon XP)
System memory (RAM)	128 MB	256 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	1.2 GB
Video card (GPU)	AGP video card 32 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible	Nvidia GeForce2 or better 32 MB of VRAM

Notes

↑ Applications writing to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE will be redirected to other locations based on various criterias, see the glossary page for more details.
↑ 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).

References

↑ The Polar Express - Widescreen Tutorial - YouTube - last accessed on 2017-03-20
↑ The Polar Express Widescreen (and other 6th gen games) - Game Troubleshooting and Reports - PCGamingWiki Community - last accessed on May 2023

[HKLM-1] Applications writing to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE will be redirected to other locations based on various criterias, see the glossary page for more details.

[gamedir-2] 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).

[3] The Polar Express - Widescreen Tutorial - YouTube - last accessed on 2017-03-20

[4] The Polar Express Widescreen (and other 6th gen games) - Game Troubleshooting and Reports - PCGamingWiki Community - last accessed on May 2023

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[1]

[2]

Developers

	Blue Tongue Entertainment
Publishers
	THQ
Engines
	RenderWare
Release dates
Windows	November 3, 2004
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Adventure, Platform
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Contemporary