Saints Row 2

Saints Row 2

Developers   Volition, Inc. Windows CD Projekt

Publishers   THQ   Deep Silver

Release dates Windows January 5, 2009

Saints Row

Saints Row 2	2009
Saints Row: The Third	2011
Gangstas in Space
Genkibowl VII
The Trouble With Clones
Saints Row IV	2013
Enter the Dominatrix
How the Saints Save Christmas
Saints Row: Gat out of Hell	2015

Key points

Recommended to install the Gentlemen of the Row Super Mod, the mod offers various (optional) tweaks and bug fixes alongside bonus content.

German version is heavily censored and can't be used with tools and mods.

Low sound quality on PC.

GameSpy online server browser has stopped working on May 31, 2014 due to GameSpy services being shut down.

General information

Steam Community Discussions

Steam Users' Forums

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys
Steam
GamersGate
Green Man Gaming
Retail

All versions require Steam.

No DLC was released for PC. Volition dropped support for the platform and never patched the game further.

The German version of the game is heavily censored and will not work with mods and tools.

Mods

Gentlemen of the Row Super Mod

Alongside offering bonus content with over a hundred new items, music and customization options in-game, the Gentlemen of the Row collection of mods offers many tweaks and bug fixes.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

	Location
Windows	%LOCALAPPDATA%\THQ\Saints Row 2

Save game data location

	Location
Windows	%LOCALAPPDATA%\THQ\Saints Row 2

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud
GameSave Manager

Video settings

Display settings.

Graphics option	Option	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			Changing widescreen mode requires restart.
Multi-monitor			Position Affects Gameplay
Field of view (FOV)		Fix included in the Gentlemen of the Row Super Mod
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Vertical sync (Vsync)
High frame rate		Frame rate is capped at 100 FPS.

Input settings

Control settings.

Keyboard and mouse	Native	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse input in menus		However, Mouse can be used on the map to place waypoints.
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		Only the 360 controller is officially supported.
Full controller support		Button prompts still show keyboard buttons though. Can be changed permanently in Gentlemen of the Row mod.
Controller remapping		Z-Axis labelled as "Button 11" and "Button 12".
Controller Y-axis inversion

Audio settings

Audio settings.

Audio options	Native	Notes
Separate volume controls		SFX, music and voice.
Surround sound		Outputs to 5.1 speakers but is simply stereo spanned across surround speakers. Not true positional surround.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		Music begins when a new song starts.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	CC	Notes
English
Czech
Danish
Dutch
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Polish
Russian
Spanish
Swedish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play
LAN play
Online play		Recommended to use EvolveHq.
Local co-op
LAN co-op		2
Online co-op		2	Recommended to use EvolveHq.

Issues unresolved

Multiplayer lobby for Gangsta Brawl and Strong Arm modes boot people out when others join

The network code for Saints Row 2 is extremely sensitive and when coupled with the speed and timing issues of the game it results in many people not being able to play together since it forcibly disconnects certain users when others join. It is almost impossible to get a full game going with friends because of this and SR2 PC multiplayer is considered inherently broken (except coop which works great).

Issues fixed

The Unofficial FAQ hosted on the game's Steam Users' Forum may be helpful in finding fixes for any issues you may be having.

Crashing on startup

crashing on startup Notes The settings.dat file is often the cause and can be found in your saves folder: %LOCALAPPDATA%\THQ\Saints Row 2\settings.dat Add the following parameter to startup to force the game to start with default settings: defaults Delete the existing settings.dat and the game will recreate a fresh one when you next run it. This file only contains your video and audio settings like resolution, draw distance, volume, etc. download a windowed 800x600 settings.dat, link Other possible fixes Verify intergrity of the game cache on Steam. You can get to this option by right clicking Saints Row 2 in your game library, and selecting Properties -> Local Files -> Verify integrity of game cache Remove or disable all non-essential usb devices. Sometimes the game mistakenly identifies a usb device as a controller which can cause a crash. Temporarily disable your 2nd monitor Change the way the game launches: Go to the installation folder. Right-click on SR2_pc.exe and choose Properties. On the Compatibility tab, run the program in compatibility mode for Windows XP. Also, "disable visual themes", and "disable desktop composition" options. Unchecking the Disable all enhancements option in the speaker properties fixed for some users the crashing: Control Panel -> Sound -> Speakers -> Properties -> Enhancements -> Disable all Some users have reported that changing the language fixes a bug where the loading screen gets to 60% and then crashes.

Crashing when loading a save

Crashing when loading a save Notes Crashing on save load is an indication of save corruption, or as a result adding or removing mods. Vanilla and savegames with where mods are installed are not compatible. The best way to avoid this is to save manually in a new slot after every mission so you can go back to a previous save in the event that it corrupts. This is important to do even with the original vanilla game.

Crashing when starting a new game

Crashing when starting a new game Update DirectX. Start a new game start in windowed mode. Notes Unplugging any controllers might also work.

Scroll Issue when navigating menus

Scroll Issue when navigating menus Notes Saints Row 2 has this issue with certain USB devices which it mistakenly thinks are game controllers.first thing to try is to unplug all USB devices except your keyboard and mouse and see if that fixes it. Certain Saitek keyboards install their own HID-Compliant Game Controller entry in Device Manager to enable extra functionality like keystroke macros. First thing to try is to unplug all USB devices except your keyboard and mouse. Saitek keyboards: Temporarily disabling this device in device manager could also fix the issue.

The Ronin Mission at the airport (Orange Threat Level) crashes after the middle cutscene

Crash Fix Notes Known problem with the PC Port Skip the cutscene Use the Gentlemen of the Row mod which fixes this and other mission scripting issues.

The Samedi mission loading the van with drugs (Riot Control) is bugged in co-op

Crash Fix This is a known issue with all versions of the game and cannot be beaten in coop unless you get very lucky and the mission initializes correctly at that point. Keep trying over and over restarting the mission until it finally works. Complete it solo instead of coop, and then continue on with your friend afterward. Use the Gentlemen of the Row mod which fixes this and other mission scripting issues.

Saints Row 2 running too fast at 1.5x speed

Running too fast Notes The speedup bug is something that is an inherent problem with Windows 7, also happens in rare cases on Vista. The speedup happens with CPUs that do not run at exactly 3.2Ghz frequency (the Xbox 360 cpu speed.) The further your cpu is away from 3.2Ghz (both higher and lower) the faster it will run. Can be fixed with Powertools. Download the archive from: http://saintsrowpowertools.com Extract the contents into your Saints Row 2 install folder where the SR2_PC.exe resides Right click on install.cmd and choose to Run as Administrator to install it. Edit the Powertools.ini and set your speed value at the end of the file percentage = 1.0 is the default and results in no change percentage = 0.78 would be running the game at 78% the speed Powertools will only work correctly with the encrypted Steam exe. Determine the right slowdown value to use for Powertools. Every CPU is different, and is influenced by many factors like overclocking, speed-step, etc, so there is no easy answer regarding a value to use. There is a stopwatch test to tweak the value though which will let you get as close as possible archive link Follow the instructions in the read me file The closer you can get the game running to the correct speed, the smoother it will run.

Text in the top left of my screen

Text in the top left of my screen. It is likely that the OSD (On Screen Display) for Powertools was accidentally activated which contains game info helpful to modders. This OSD can be toggled on and off with the Scroll Lock key.

Can't see other's co-op games

Can't see others coop games Different Saints Row 2 patch levels cannot see each other's games in GameSpy and cannot play together. For example, if you have the Steam release patched to the final 1.2, you will not be able to play with a user of the Games for Windows Live release which is still at 1.1.

Timeout when trying connect to a co-op game

Timeout when trying connect to a co-op game Saints Row 2 needs to have the following port open/forwarded for both the host and client: 4200 TCP and UDP Just opening port 4200 works for most people. If it still time's out try disabling your Hamachi virtual network adapter and/or opening the following ports both TCP and UDP: 27900 (Master Server UDP Heartbeat) 28900 (Master Server List Request) 29900 (GP Connection Manager) 29901 (GP Search Manager) 13139 (Custom UDP Pings) 6500 (Query Port) 4200 (Game) If it still doesn't work, try hosting a non-password protected game.

In-game sound is in mono or only coming out one speaker

In-game sound is in mono or only coming out one speaker Possible fixes: Solution 1: Navigate to Control Panel -> Sounds and Audio Devices -> Audio tab -> "Advanced..." button in Sound playback section -> Performance tab. Lower your Hardware Acceleration to "Basic acceleration" and sound should come out of both speakers Solution 2: Navigate to sound/playback/Dolby Make sure the checkbox is ticked. Solution 3: Navigate to the audio manager Change the "default format" from 24-bit, 44kHz (studio quality) to 16-bit, 44kHz (cd quality) both L and R analog channels play back.

Objects held by characters in cutscenes are misaligned

Limit framerate to 60 per second or below Using a tool such as nVidia Inspector (for GeForce cards) or RadeonPro (for Radeon cards), limit the game's framerate to 60. If the problem persists, try limiting it to 59, 58 or 30 frames instead.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP, Vista
Processor (CPU)	AMD Dual-Core Athlon XP 2.0 GHz Intel Dual-Core Pentium 4	AMD Dual-Core Athlon XP 3.2 GHz Intel Dual-Core Pentium 4
System memory (RAM)	1 GB	2 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	15 GB
Video card (GPU)	ATI Radeon X1300 nVidia GeForce 7600 128 MB of VRAM Shader model 3.0 support	ATI Radeon HD3850 nVidia GeForce 8800 256 MB of VRAM Shader model 3.0 support