Need for Speed: Underground 2
Developers | |
---|---|
EA Black Box[1] | |
Publishers | |
Electronic Arts | |
Engines | |
EAGL 2 | |
Release dates | |
Windows | November 9, 2004 |
Reception | |
Metacritic | 82 |
IGDB | 79 |
Taxonomy | |
Monetization | One-time game purchase |
Modes | Singleplayer, Multiplayer |
Pacing | Real-time |
Perspectives | First-person, Third-person |
Controls | Direct control |
Genres | Racing |
Vehicles | Automobile, Street racing |
Art styles | Realistic |
Themes | Contemporary |
Series | Need for Speed: Underground, Need for Speed |
Need for Speed: Underground | |
---|---|
Subseries of Need for Speed | |
Need for Speed: Underground | 2003 |
Need for Speed: Underground 2 | 2004 |
Warnings
- SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see Availability for affected versions).
Need for Speed: Underground 2 is a singleplayer and multiplayer racing game developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts. It is the eighth entry in the Need for Speed series and the second entry in the Need for Speed: Underground duology.
Like the previous game, Underground 2 centers around the import racing/tuning scenes and features JDM cars. It is also the first game in the series to have an open world, where players can drive freely around the city. The game's career mode's story takes places six months after the event of Underground and focus on an unnamed racer (the same racer players had played as in Underground) as they race in the fictional city of Bayview.
It was released in North America on November 9, 2004, followed by Europe and Japan releases on November 19, 2004 and December 22, 2004 respectively.
Availability
- SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).
- A compilation[4] of the original Need for Speed: Underground, Underground 2 and Most Wanted is also available.
- A faithful, higher quality icon can be found on DeviantArt. An alternate icon by AlexKVideos1 can be found on SteamGridDB.
Demo/free trial
- A playable demo is available on the Internet Archive.
- Progress will not be carried over to the main game.
Monetization
Type | Notes |
---|---|
One-time game purchase | The game requires an upfront purchase to access. |
Essential improvements
Patches
- Patch 1.1 for Korean version and Patch 1.2 (Strongly recommended) available.
Skip intro videos
Invalidate the corresponding files[5] |
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|
Use ThirteenAG's Widescreen Fix[6] |
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|
Disable regional lock
- Allows playing with both EU and US exclusive cars at the same time.
Instructions[citation needed] |
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|
Controller support improvements (NFSU XtendedInput)
- Improves gamepad support by implementing native XInput support into the game.
- Reimplements console-like controls with being able to rotate the car carousel in Garage with the right stick.
- Rebinding can be made only through .ini file. It's disabled in game menu, as for now it crashes the game.
- Controller vibration is not supported
- Controls are reset to default.
- Can be installed alongside both ThirteenAG's Widescreen Fix and NFSU2 Extra Options, as it uses ThirteenAG's Ultimate ASI Loader (the included dinput8.dll, which is a DLL injector) and therefore will load the .asi files for all three mods, and was developed with compatibility with the other two mods in mind.[7]
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\EA Games\Need for Speed Underground 2\[Note 2] |
- Key bindings are stored in
%COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\DirectX\DirectInput\User Maps
(32-bit Windows) or%COMMONPROGRAMFILES(x86)%\DirectX\DirectInput\User Maps
(64-bit Windows).
Save game data location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | %LOCALAPPDATA%\NFS Underground 2\ |
Video
Graphics feature | State | WSGF | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Widescreen resolution | Use ThirteenAG's fix. | ||
Multi-monitor | Use ThirteenAG's fix. | ||
Ultra-widescreen | Use ThirteenAG's fix and Ultrawide (21:9) Fix. | ||
4K Ultra HD | Use ThirteenAG's fix. | ||
Field of view (FOV) | Use ThirteenAG's fix. | ||
Windowed | See Windowed. | ||
Borderless fullscreen windowed | See Windowed. | ||
Anisotropic filtering (AF) | |||
Anti-aliasing (AA) | FSAA | ||
Vertical sync (Vsync) | |||
60 FPS | |||
120+ FPS | Frame rate is capped at 120 FPS. See High frame rate. | ||
High dynamic range display (HDR) | See the glossary page for potential alternatives. |
- Use NFSU2 HUD Resizer to modify the offset values of the HUD elements.
Windowed
Set windowed/borderless/windowed with resizing[8] |
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|
High frame rate
Change FPSLimit[citation needed] |
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Notes
|
Input
Keyboard and mouse | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Remapping | Requires the DirectInput Mapper to remember bindings between sessions. | |
Mouse acceleration | Mouse is used only in menus. Default Windows behavior | |
Mouse sensitivity | ||
Mouse input in menus | ||
Mouse Y-axis inversion | Fixed view | |
Controller | ||
Controller support | Use ThirteenAG's fix to adjust deadzone. | |
Full controller support | Use NFSU XtendedInput | |
Controller remapping | ||
Controller sensitivity | ||
Controller Y-axis inversion | Unused |
Controller types |
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XInput-compatible controllers | Use NFSU XtendedInput | |
---|---|---|
Xbox button prompts | Use NFSU XtendedInput | |
Impulse Trigger vibration |
PlayStation controllers | Use NFSU XtendedInput | |
---|---|---|
PlayStation button prompts | Use NFSU XtendedInput | |
Light bar support | ||
Adaptive trigger support | ||
DualSense haptic feedback support | ||
Connection modes |
Generic/other controllers |
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Additional information | ||
---|---|---|
Controller hotplugging | Use NFSU XtendedInput | |
Haptic feedback | DirectInput controllers only. | |
Digital movement supported | ||
Simultaneous controller+KB/M |
Audio
Audio feature | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Separate volume controls | Master, Menu Music, In-Game Music, Speech, Effects, Tires and Engine sliders available. | |
Surround sound | Only Stereo and Mono available. Optimized for Dolby Pro Logic. | |
Subtitles | Only available in certain language edition. | |
Closed captions | ||
Mute on focus lost | ||
EAX support | Although not advertised as such the game does support EAX, at least reverb effects, but without surround sound. It can be restored with ALchemy. | |
Royalty free audio | The main menu uses licensed music. It is hardcoded to play Riders on the Storm (ft. The Doors) by Snoop Dogg every time the game starts. |
Localizations
Language | UI | Audio | Sub | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
English | UK and US English. Use Extra Options to display subtitles. | |||
Traditional Chinese | ||||
Czech | Fanmade translation available here. | |||
Danish | ||||
Dutch | ||||
French | ||||
German | ||||
Italian | ||||
Japanese | ||||
Korean | ||||
Polish | Fanmade translation available here. | |||
Brazilian Portuguese | Fanmade translation available here. | |||
Russian | Official localization by «1C-Softclub» available only in local retail copies. Download here for other versions. Fan-made authentic fonts and correctional subtitles available here. | |||
Slovak | Fan translation available here. Alternative translation. | |||
Spanish | ||||
Swedish | ||||
Thai |
Manually change game's language
Registry edit to change game language |
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Notes
|
Network
Multiplayer types
Type | Native | Players | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Local play | 2 | Console versions only. | ||
LAN play | 6 | |||
Online play | 6 | The official EA server was shut down in November 2007. Use NFSOR. |
Ports
Protocol | Port(s) and/or port range(s) |
---|---|
UDP | 3658 |
- This game does not support Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) for automatic port configuration.
VR support
3D modes | State | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|
vorpX | G3D User created game profile, see vorpx forum profile introduction. |
Issues fixed
Custom bindings lost on game restart
- Windows Vista and later lack a file needed for the game to remember custom mappings.
Download dimap.dll[5] |
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|
Controller deadzone issues
Fix left stick deadzone[11] |
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|
Use NFSU-XtendedInput |
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The game doesn't load (crashes during loading screen)
- This is likely caused by multi-monitor setups using multiple GPU's.[citation needed]
Potential workaround[citation needed] |
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|
Random crashing on entering/exiting shops
- Can be caused by multiple CPUs.
Set affinity for speed2.exe to use only 1 CPU[citation needed] |
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Use ThirteenAG's Widescreen Fix[12] |
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|
Use compatibility mode[citation needed] |
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|
Effects flicker (Windows 7 and 10)
- Some effects, such as rain, car respawn effect or the nos flames, flicker or glitch. Otherwise, no issues.[citation needed]
Use compatibility mode[citation needed] |
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|
Use dgVoodoo 2[citation needed] |
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Particle system lag (Windows 10)
- Particle system causes lag, mostly at start of races, turning it off gets rid of the issue.
- Fullscreen Exclusive Mode causes lag
- Optionally it is possible to disable VSync through video card settings, and keep Particle System on.
Run game in Windowed or Borderless Mode |
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Go to Windowed section |
Use compatibility mode[citation needed] |
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|
Change FPSLimit[citation needed] |
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|
Savegame name turned to random symbols, unable to save
- This is likely extremely rare to occur.
Relaunch the game (this rollbacks progress to the last time you saved)[14] |
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Change the savegame name variable[14] |
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|
Music stops playing after Alt-Tab out of game window focus
Pause, return to the garage, then return to explore mode or the race |
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Other information
API
Technical specs | Supported | Notes |
---|---|---|
Direct3D | 9.0c |
Executable | 32-bit | 64-bit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Windows |
- Having the game running in the background can affect audio of other programs, generally eliminating sounds below a certain decibel level. It's recommended to close the game to avoid this problem.
Modifications
- Some mods could break LAN multiplayer mode component, making it impossible to host/join LAN servers.
HD Reflections
- Changes resolution of reflections.
HUD Resizer
- Adds ability to change HUD and FMV scale.
Extra Options
- Adds many useful features and fixes.
Unlimiter
- Fixes some issues and makes some improvements for add-on cars and events.
ZPatch
- Fixes off-center window and mouse cursor in borderless windowed mode.
- The game will always look for keyboard input even after alt-tabbing.
Videos ported from Xbox
- Adds higher quality videos from the Xbox version. Spanish FMVs also available.
English Subtitles Fixed
- Fixes unfinished subtitle support for cutscenes.
Xbox Rain Droplets
- Basic implementation of Xbox rain droplets from SkyGFX for other games.
NFS UG2: The Smol Improvement
- Introduces various balancing changes, such as adjusted race payouts, reduced URL lap counts, and more.
- Binary is required to install this mod.
Visual Reputation Remover
- Makes it possible to progress through the game without excessively customizing the car.
NFS Underground 2 Music Importer
- Makes it possible to replace in-game tracks with user
.mp3
or.wav
.
Uncensored & Restored Soundtrack
- Restores every single song in the game to their full, unedited and/or uncensored and higher quality versions.
Olympic Imports
- Aims to add the cut cars from beta/NFSUG1 and Underground Rivals back into Need for Speed Underground 2.
- Requires Unlimiter and Car Sound Tuner to avoid crashes and bugs.
Scout's UI Remaster
- Replaces low-res GUI and HUD graphics with high-res counterparts.
- This mod is discontinued.
NFSU2: Upscaled HUD by LunicAura
- A recreation of NFSU2's UI using mostly vector materials, with original texture proportions to help keep the same look.
- Certain icons will appear different than their vanilla counterparts.
Detailed Map by JeansBig
- Replaces low-res radar textures with a higher quality counterparts which features added detail (like missing shortcuts).
New HD Textures Pack
- Remakes some of the ground textures to be as close to the originals as possible.
- Author of this mod recommends to use 8K HDRI Skyboxes mod.
Lightsiders Global
- Enhances the visuals of the game.
- Does not require Texmod.
- Deviates from the original look of the game.
- Archived download link
NFS Underground 2 High Vision 1.10
- Graphics improvement mod.
- A set of textures from different authors in one package.
Need for Speed Underground 2 Last Breath
- Improves the visuals of the game.
System requirements
Windows | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | ||
Operating system (OS) | 98, 2000, ME, XP | |
Processor (CPU) | Intel Pentium III 933 MHz | |
System memory (RAM) | 256 MB | |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 2 GB | |
Video card (GPU) | Nvidia GeForce 2 ATI Radeon 7500 32 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible |
|
Sound (audio device) | DirectX compatible |
Notes
- ↑ SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10[2] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.[3]
- ↑ Applications writing to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE
will be redirected to other locations based on various criterias, see the glossary page for more details.
References
- ↑ Need for Speed Underground 2 - EA Games (Archived) - last accessed on 2017-04-04
- ↑ Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
- ↑ Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16
- ↑ NFS Wiki - Need for Speed: Collector's Series - last accessed on 2023-06-29
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Verified by User:Nessy on 2022-08-27
- ↑ New FOV Values, Updates, and Adjustments · Pull Request #1027 · ThirteenAG/WidescreenFixesPack - last accessed on 9 June 2023
- ↑ https://github.com/xan1242/NFSU-XtendedInput/issues/4#issuecomment-1145578968
- ↑ UG1 & UG2 Implemented windowed mode pull request by Xan1242 (GitHub) - last accessed on December 2022
- ↑ NFSU2 rain fix bug - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ NFSU2 slow gearbox in high FPS · Issue #1180 · ThirteenAG/WidescreenFixesPack - last accessed on 9 June 2023
- ↑ Need for Speed - Analog sticks deadzone · Issue #165 · ThirteenAG/WidescreenFixesPack - last accessed on 2017-04-09
- ↑ [NFSU2 Performance improvement by CrabJournal · Pull Request #1045 · ThirteenAG/WidescreenFixesPack - last accessed on 2022-01-24
- ↑ [NFSU2 Performance improvement by CrabJournal · Pull Request #1045 · ThirteenAG/WidescreenFixesPack - last accessed on 2022-01-24
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Verified by User:Sandemc on 2022
- I don't know how it happened - I was just playing the game casually until I couldn't save and that randomly happened. No idea if even reproducible in any way.