For the original game from 1998, see Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit. For the remaster, see Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is a 2010 racing game developed by Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts. It is the sixteenth game in the Need for Speed series. A throwback to the original Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit (1998) and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 (2002), Criterion's Hot Pursuit returns to the roots of the NFS franchise by having players drive sportscars and exotics as a racer or a cop in beautiful environments, taking place in a region called Seacrest County, which is inspired by places found in the West Coast of the United States. The game is also noted for the introduction of NFS's asynchronous multiplayer system, Autolog, where players can compare their best times in events against their friends.
The game was released for Windows on November 16, 2010.
The game was delisted from all online storefronts in 2020 in favor of its remastered release.
General information
- Need for Speed Wiki
- Steam Community Discussions
Availability
Source |
DRM |
Notes |
Keys |
OS |
Retail |
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TAGES Solidshield DRM, Limited Editon & EA Crew Edition also available |
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Amazon.com (unavailable) |
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Origin (unavailable) |
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Steam (unavailable) |
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Origin account and key activation is required for multiplayer. |
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- DLC was not released for PC. Some of the DLC content can be accessed by modding the game.[1]
Version differences
- Limited Edition content includes the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione and Ford Shelby GT500, with early access to the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, Ford Shelby GT500, Audi TT RS Coupé, Chevrolet Camaro SS, Porsche Cayman S and Dodge Challenger SRT8.
- EA Crew Edition content includes 7 exclusive vehicles, the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 Edition, Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S, Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Lamborghini Reventon, Bugati Veyron 16.4, Aston Martin DBS, and Audi R8 5.2 FSI.
- These exclusive vehicles can be modded in, and will work online.[1]
Essential improvements
Patches
- Patch 1.0.5.0 (NFSHP_1000_to_1050.exe; PCGW mirror) is the last patch for the game. It is only required for retail version of the game. Digital versions are already patched.
- Changelog (and PCGW mirror of all patches).
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
System |
Location |
Windows |
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Criterion Games\Need for Speed(TM) Hot Pursuit\config.NFS11Save %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Criterion Games\Need for Speed(TM) Hot Pursuit\Save\Default\controls.NFS11Save |
Steam Play (Linux) |
<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/47870/pfx/[Note 1] |
Save game data location
System |
Native |
Notes |
Origin |
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OneDrive |
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Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers. |
Steam Cloud |
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Video
Run the game at screen refresh rate
- The game is forced to 60Hz refresh rate. This results in huge tearing artifact when V-Sync is disabled and huge input lag when V-Sync is enabled.
If your monitor supports more than 60Hz you can set it
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- Download Special K.
- Copy
SpecialK32.dll into the game folder.
- Rename
SpecialK32.dll to d3d9.dll .
- Start the game and exit.
- Open
d3d9.ini in the game folder.
- Change
RefreshRate=-1.0 to RefreshRate=0.0 under [Render.FrameRate] .
- If you use Afterburner/RTSS (RivaTunerStatisticsServer) you may need to exit it before starting the game.
- It is recommended to also disable V-Sync otherwise, you will get stuttering.
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Force windowed[citation needed]
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- Download and run DxWnd.
- Click on Edit, then Add.
- Set the name and executable path.
- Set the window position and size.
- Set Desktop for borderless fullscreen windowed.
- Click OK, then File and Save.
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No HUD and real lights mod
Download the file from here or here
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Extract the items to the game's folder.
Run TexMod.exe and click the big folder icon to specify either Launcher.exe or NFS11.exe .
Click the smaller folder button in the toolbar to select which mod you want.
RealLights only corrects the lighting on cars, while NoHUD_RealLights removes the HUD.
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Input
Controller and Keyboard bindings.
Input lag issue
Reduce the input lag
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- Disable V-Sync
- Set low latency mode to Ultra in graphics control panels.
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Audio
Audio feature |
State |
Notes |
Separate volume controls |
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Music, Speech, and Sound Effects sliders |
Surround sound |
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5.1 and 7.1 |
Subtitles |
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Closed captions |
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Mute on focus lost |
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- The game's sound-mix is bad. The low audio-volume of the player-car-engine was fixed in v1.0.2.0 to only some extent. To improve sound-quality copy DSOAL + HRTF into the game dir to greater enhance car-engine-volume (also option of no HRTF attached). Make sure you have stereo set in audio options for 2.0 configurations (alternatively use IndirectSound (no HRTF) and .ini). In DSOAL the changes are even pushed forward in this aspect. Now you may like to lower SFX volume to hear the music louder. Alternatively you can test out 5.1 setting in game options for better results with IndirectSound if DSOAL doesn't work on your current Windows 10 build.[4]
VR support
3D modes |
State |
Notes |
vorpX |
| G3D User created game profile, see vorpx forum profile introduction. |
Network
Multiplayer types
Connection types
Issues fixed
Micro-Stuttering
- By default, the game places its processing load on the first CPU core only, which causes occasional framerate dips on some systems. To fix this, you must change the affinity of the NFS11.exe process to exclude CPU 0; after doing this, it places its load equally across the remaining cores.
Fix for occasional stuttering on modern systems[5]
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- Enter the Task Manager via Ctrl+Alt+Delete.
- Move to the 'Details' tab.
- Right-click on the 'NFS11.exe' process and click on 'set affinity'.
- All of the cores will be activated by default. Left-click the 'CPU 0' entry and its tickbox should clear.
- This process will need to be repeated upon every launch of the game.
- For 1+2+3 cores/threads setting on launch you can create .bat with such line, and place it in game dir:
Start /affinity E nfs11.exe
"E" is a hex value. To set it manually, just add corresponding "Associated value(s) (n)" from here and convert it to hex value (third option here)
- "Some issues with CPU performance" were fixed in 1.0.2.0 version (though this core change fix is still needed)
- In 1.0.1.0 patch was introduced: rain, snow, corona effects (can state some performance overlay)
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Controls settings not being saved
Edit controls file
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Open in notepad %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Criterion Games\Need for Speed(TM) Hot Pursuit\Save\Default\controls.NFS11Save and edit name "KEYBOARD" or however it's called in your language to "KEYBOARD" in english, or in reverse, depends on you game language, and what was your previous save language. Alternatively you can delete it.
- Possibly one of the patches fixes it.
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Partial skip intro fix
Download this file
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Movie and irritating sound of intro won't play. It will show black screen for some time.
You can use task switching immediately after the game launch - till the blank intro screens end.
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Other information
API
Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
Direct3D |
9 |
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Executable |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
Windows |
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5 Hardest trials hints
link
System requirements
Windows |
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Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
XP SP3 |
Vista SP2, 7 |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ |
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8 GHz AMD Phenom II X3 720 |
System memory (RAM) |
1 GB |
2 GB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
8.3 GB | |
Video card (GPU) |
Nvidia GeForce 7800 ATI Radeon X1900 256 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 3.0 or Higher support |
Nvidia GeForce 9800 ATI Radeon HD 4850 1 GB of VRAM |
Sound (audio device) |
DirectX 9.0 compatible | |
Other |
512Kb/s or Faster Broadband connection for Activation and Online Play | |
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
References