Anonymous edits have been disabled on the wiki. If you want to contribute please login or create an account.

Borderlands 2

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Revision as of 10:29, 12 July 2018 by Aemony (talk | contribs) (→‎Engine tweaks to redcue lag: redcue -> reduce)
Template:Infobox game/row/osxporterTemplate:Infobox game/row/linporter
Borderlands 2
Borderlands 2 cover
Developers
Gearbox Software
Publishers
2K Games
OS X, Linux Aspyr Media
Engines
Unreal Engine 3
Release dates
Windows September 18, 2012[1]
macOS (OS X) November 21, 2012[2]
Linux September 30, 2014[3]
Borderlands 2 guide on StrategyWiki
Borderlands 2 on Wikipedia
Borderlands
Borderlands 2009
Borderlands 2 2012
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel 2014
Tales from the Borderlands (series)
Borderlands: Game of the Year Enhanced 2019
Borderlands 3 2019
Borderlands 2 VR 2019
Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep:
A Wonderlands One-Shot Adventure
2021
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands 2022

Key points

Solutions for split-screen co-op on Windows are available.
Highly CPU dependent, recommended to run on a two threads per core CPU, e.g. any Intel Core G4000 / i3 / i7 or any AMD Ryzen series CPU.
Features every menu option promised in Claptrap's love letter to PC gamers, including an FOV slider, Vsync, and controller support.
No support for cross-platform cloud saving. Manual intervention is required if you wish to load the save files from Windows on Linux.

General information

PC Report: Borderlands 2 on Linux
Steam Community Discussions
Official knowledge base - Windows
Official knowledge base - OS X and Linux
BL2 PC Technical Support - official PC-specific tech support forum
Unofficial wiki

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Icon overlay.png
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Green Man Gaming
Icon overlay.png
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Gamesplanet logo.svg
Icon overlay.png
Published by 2K.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Gamesplanet logo.svg
Icon overlay.png
Published by Aspyr Media.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Mac App Store
Icon overlay.png
Separate multiplayer servers (cannot play with Steam players). Exclusive skins and rocket grenade mod.[4]
macOS (OS X)
Steam
Icon overlay.png
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
All Windows and Linux versions require Steam DRM.
The GOTY release contains the largest amount of non-cosmetic DLC. No package is available with every DLC.[5]

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
Season Pass
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Psycho Pack Part of the GOTY release.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep Part of the GOTY release, Season Pass.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Sir Hammelock's Big Game Hunt Part of the GOTY release, Season Pass.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage Part of the GOTY release, Season Pass.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Mechromancer Pack Part of the GOTY release, pre-order bonus.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Captain Scarlett and her Pirate's Booty Part of the GOTY release, Season Pass.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Creature Slaughterdome Part of the GOTY release.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Ultimate Vault Hunters Upgrade Pack Part of the GOTY release, Season Pass.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Ultimate Vault Hunters Upgrade Pack 2
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Collector's Edition Pack Part of the GOTY release.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Headhunter 1: Bloody Harvest
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Headhunter 2: Wattle Gobbler
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Headhunter 3: Mercenary Day
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Headhunter 4: Wedding Day Massacre
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Headhunter 5: Son of Crawmerax
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Assassin Madness Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Assassin Supremacy Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Assassin Domination Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Assassin Stinging Blade Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Assassin Cl0ckw0rk Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Commando Madness Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Commando Supremacy Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Commando Domination Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Commando Devilish Good Looks Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Commando Haggard Hunter Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Gunzerker Madness Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Gunzerker Supremacy Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Gunzerker Domination Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Gunzerker Dapper Gent Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Gunzerker Greasy Grunt Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Mechromancer Madness Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Mechromancer Supremacy Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Mechromancer Domination Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Mechromancer Steampunk Slayer Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Mechromancer Beatmaster Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Psycho Madness Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Psycho Supremacy Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Psycho Domination Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Psycho Dark Psyche Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Psycho Party Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Siren Madness Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Siren Supremacy Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Siren Domination Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Siren Glitter and Gore Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Siren Learned Warrior Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux

Essential improvements

A comprehensive tweak guide is available on the GeForce website.

Skip intro videos

Use -nostartupmovies command line argument[citation needed]
Edit configuration file[6]
  1. Go to the configuration files location.
  2. Open WillowEngine.ini.
  3. Find [FullScreenMovie]
  4. Change values to:
[FullScreenMovie]
bForceNoMovies=FALSE
//StartupMovies=2K_logo
//StartupMovies=Gearbox_logo
//StartupMovies=NVidia
//StartupMovies=Loading
SkippableMovies=2K_logo
SkippableMovies=Gearbox_logo
SkippableMovies=NVidia
SkippableMovies=Attract
SkippableMovies=MegaIntro
//ConfirmSkipMovies=MegaIntro
Delete or rename video files[citation needed]
  1. Go to <path-to-game>\Borderlands\WillowGame\Movies
  2. Delete or rename 2K_logo.bik, Gearbox_logo.bik, and NVidia.bik.

Shorter body decay

Edit configuration file[citation needed]
  1. Go to the configuration files location.
  2. Open WillowGame.ini.
  3. Find the following lines and set them to these values.
SecondsBeforeConsideringRagdollRemoval=5.0
SecondsBeforeVisibleRagdollRemoval=15.0
SecondsBetweenRagdollRemovalAttempts=1.0
SecondsBeforePhysicsShutsDown=10.0

Notes

Notable performance improvement,[citation needed] as by default most bodies disappear only after ten whole minutes.

Disable the launcher

Use -NoLauncher command line argument[citation needed]

Disable controller support

Use -NoController command line argument[citation needed]

Game data

General settings.
General settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Borderlands 2\WillowGame\Config\
macOS (OS X) ~/Library/Application Support/Borderlands 2/WillowGame/Config/
Linux $XDG_DATA_HOME/aspyr-media/borderlands 2/willowgame/config/
This game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux.

Save game data location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Borderlands 2\WillowGame\SaveData\
macOS (OS X) ~/Library/Application Support/Borderlands 2/WillowGame/SaveData/
Linux $XDG_DATA_HOME/aspyr-media/borderlands 2/willowgame/savedata/
Saves are crossplatform.
Saves manually migrated from Windows to Linux must have all lowercase characters in the filename.

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
Steam Cloud
Approx. 100 MB available
  1. No cross-platform syncing to prevent version mismatch when patches are delayed for OS X or Linux.[7]

Mods

Unofficial patches

A community-created patch exists which resolves many of the game's outlying issues, as well as adjusts drop rates, adds cosmetic tweaks, and more. There also exists a java-based filter tool, which allows you to turn off certain changes in the patch. It is highly recommended. The filter tool can be found here, and the Community Patch can be found here.

Video settings

Video settings.
Video settings.

Template:Video settings

HBAO+ (Nvidia GPUs only)

Force HBAO+[8]
  1. Disable the in-game SSAO.
  2. Download and open Nvidia Profile Inspector.
  3. Under Profiles select Borderlands 2.
  4. Under Ambient Occlusion compatibility insert the compatibility code 0x0000002F.
  5. Under Ambient Occlusion setting select Performance,Quality or High Quality.
  6. Under Ambient Occlusion usage select Enabled.
  7. On the top right hand corner click on Apply changes.
  8. You now have HBAO+ enabled.

Notes

This setting can have a heavy impact on frame rate depending on your specs, if you get unplayable frame rates with High Quality try lowering this value progressively.

Input settings

Input settings.
Input settings.

Template:Input settings

Change controller prompts

Edit configuration file[citation needed]
  1. Go to the configuration files location.
  2. Open WillowGame.ini.
  3. Find the following line and set it to 1 for an Xbox 360 controller or 2 for a DualShock controller.
FakePlatform=-1

Audio settings

Audio settings.
Audio settings.

Template:Audio settings

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Traditional Chinese
Windows only.
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Windows only.
Korean
Windows only.
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
:
Russian version comes as separate application on Steam with own AppID and Windows only. Cross-playing with other language users is not available.
Spanish

Different text and audio languages

Rename language files[citation needed]
  1. Go to <path-to-game>/WillowGame/CookedPCConsole/ and rename the currently active audio language, such as English(US) to something else.
  2. Set the desired language in Steam.
  3. After the download has finished rename English(US) back to its original name.
  4. Go to the configuration files location.
  5. Open WillowEngine.ini.
  6. Find the following lines and set them to chosen values. Simply swap the two original parameters, for example:
WwiseLanguageEquivalent_INT=Italian
WwiseLanguageEquivalent_ITA=English(US)

Notes

Some of the intro cutscenes might still be playing in the original native audio language.

Network

Windows, OS X and Linux players sometimes need the same game version to play together. Mismatch issues might be caused by delayed OS X and Linux versions of the patches. Currently, PC/Mac/Linux are synced to enable co-op multiplayer via Steam.[9]
Steam and Mac App Store players cannot play together.

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
Local play
4 Co-op
Use either this tool or follow this Steam Users' Forums Guide on hacking splitscreen into the game.
LAN play
4 Co-op
Online play
4 Co-op

Connection types

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP 27014-27050
UDP 3478, 4379-4380, 27000-27030, 14001 (LAN only), 7777 (LAN only)
This game supports Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) for automatic port configuration.

VR support

3D modes State Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision
Use Helix Mod: Borderlands 2 3D Vision Patch New Version for the best experience.

Issues unresolved

AMD FX chipset restart after launcher

Game resets when clicking on launcher.[11]
Some users have reported that updating your BIOS to the latest version solves this and other problems for users with AMD FX chips.

Items falling through the world

Once in a while dropped loot may fall through the world.
Setting PhysX to Low or Disabled is reported to help.

Issues fixed

Co-op doesn't connect properly

Check the ports[12]
May allow people to join your game.
Will cause decreased network protection.
  • Game seems to use strange ports for networking which aren't covered by most routers' 'unblocked ports' by default. These ports are UDP/TCP: UDP 50000-65535.
Disable your firewall or add an exception[citation needed]
Will allow Borderlands 2 and associated ports to go through system firewall.
Will cause decreased computer protection.
  • Make an exception for the Borderlands 2 application in Windows Firewall.
  • If that fails, make an exception for the ports themselves.
  • Disable Windows Firewall or your firewall provider entirely before launching the game.
Use the -tcp command line argument[citation needed]
This forces the game to use TCP network connections over UDP.
Check integrity of game cache on Steam[citation needed]
Reboot Steam[citation needed]
Run Steam or the game as an adminstrator[citation needed]
  1. Close Steam.exe.
  2. Right click Steam and select 'Run as Administrator'.
  3. Log into Steam then make a Borderlands 2 shortcut on your desktop.
  4. Right click and run the shortcut as Administrator.

Windows

Running in slow motion

Shutdown Gigabyte's OC Guru overlay[citation needed]
Remove all devices that tether to your PC via USB (a mobile phone with USB tethering enabled, for example)[citation needed]

Microsoft .NET Framework Client Profile Restarting Install

Make installation folder writable[13]
This is the preferred solution as it is the simplest, most convenient and safest option.
  1. Right click on the folder <path-to-game>.
  2. Click Properties, and uncheck the 'read-only' option.
  3. When starting the game, the .NET should update one more time.
  4. The next time the game is launched, the .NET will not attempt to install again.
Click 'No' To Allow Changes[14]
  1. After launching the game, it will ask to allow it to make changes to your computer.
  2. Click 'No' at this stage.
Fix value in registry[15]
  1. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Valve\Steam\Apps\49520
  2. Right click and add a DWORD named NET40Redist and give it a value of 1.
Ultimate editing steps[15]
  1. If you have other installers launching, look at the installscript.vdf which you can find in the installation folder.
  2. Open installscript.vdf with Notepad and look at the names in quotes before each line of process 1.
  3. Add the DWORD with a value of 1 which will tell Steam the process has been completed and it will not launch again.

Linux

Game crashes instantly

This is caused by using the latest 32-bit version of OpenAL. The game supports only 1.17.2 version.
Downgrade 32-bit OpenAL package to 1.17.2[citation needed]
Preload OpenAL included with Steam[citation needed]

Add this command to the Launch Options... at the beginning:

LD_PRELOAD='$HOME/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_32/steam-runtime/i386/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libopenal.so.1'

SHiFT login issue

This happens due to the fact the game uses /usr/lib/ssl path to store the certificates in Ubuntu-based distros. Some other distros however uses /etc/ssl/ path instead.
Change the direction to store certificates[citation needed]

Add this command to the Launch Options... SSL_CERT_DIR=/etc/ssl/certs

Segmentation Fault Error

There are multiple methods of fixing this issue.
Run the game with -nomoviestartup or in Steam Native mode
Compile 32-bit GlibC with -mstackrealign on[16]

1. Download the source code of glibc and run this command in terminal:

$ ./configure --prefix=$HOME/glibc/build \
     --host=i686-linux-gnu \
     --build=i686-linux-gnu \
     CC="gcc -m32" CXX="g++ -m32" \
     CFLAGS="-O2 -march=i686 -mstackrealign" \
     CXXFLAGS="-O2 -march=i686 -mstackrealign"

2. Copy the symlinked libc.so and libc.so.6 into the installation folder.

Remove the libraries included with Steam[citation needed]

Run these commands in Terminal:

$ find ~/.steam/root/ \( -name "libgcc_s.so*" -o -name "libstdc++.so*" -o -name "libxcb.so*" -o -name "libgpg-error.so*" \) -print -delete

$ find ~/.local/share/Steam/ \( -name "libgcc_s.so*" -o -name "libstdc++.so*" -o -name "libxcb.so*" -o -name "libgpg-error.so*" \) -print -delete

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9
OpenGL 3.3 OS X and Linux only.
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Physics PhysX Linux version is not GPU accelerated.
Audio Wwise, OpenAL OpenAL is Linux only.
Interface Scaleform
Input SDL2 Linux only.
Cutscenes Bink
Multiplayer Steamworks

Console commands

Parameter Description
Stat FPS Displays the current FPS in game.
ToggleHUD Toggles the HUD on and off.
FOV Allows you to adjust the FOV beyond the range available from the Video Options menu. Note that some rendering issue may occur with very large or very small FOV settings.
Exit
Quit
Allows you to quickly exit the game.
Gamma value Allows you set the Gamma value (brightness) beyond the bounds of the Video Options menu. Value is a floating point number (for example, 2.5).
SetRes HxV Allows you to set a custom screen resolution to a value other than what is offered in the Video Options menu. H is the horizontal resolution. V is the verical resolution (for example, "setres 1024x768").
Shot
Screenshot
Take a screenshot.
TiledShot 6 128 Take an ultra resolution screen shot, more info here. To take a tiled screenshot you must turn the cell shade off, Disable black outlines.

Enable the console

Edit configuration file[citation needed]
  1. Go to the configuration files location.
  2. Open WillowInput.ini.
  3. Find the following section and add these values.
[Engine.Console]
ConsoleKey=Tilde
TypeKey=Backslash

Notes

Open the console with Ctrl+~ or Ctrl+\.

Engine tweaks to reduce lag

Tweaks to increase frame rate and reduce lag[17]
  1. Go to the configuration files location.
  2. Open WillowEngine.ini.
  3. Change these lines:
[MemoryBudgets]
AnimationMB=5000
AudioMB=5000
CodeMB=5000
LevelObjectsMB=5000
TerrainMB=5000
GameDataMB=5000
MaterialMB=5000
ParticleMB=5000
PhysicsMB=5000
ScaleformMB=5000
ShadersMB=5000
SkelMeshMB=5000
StaticMeshMB=5000
TextureMB=1000

and

DefaultPostProcessName=WillowEngineMaterials.CinematicScenePostProcess

as well as:

[MemoryBudgets]
MaxParticleResize=128
PhysXGpuHeapSize=512
PhysXMeshCacheSize=256

Disable black outlines

Disable outlines[citation needed]
  1. Go to the configuration files location.
  2. Open WillowEngine.ini.
  3. Find the following line and set it to this value.
DefaultPostProcessName=WillowEngineMaterials.RyanScenePostProcess

Notes

This will force Ambient Occlusion to be disabled, regardless of in-game settings.

Disable dynamic shadows

Disable dynamic shadows[citation needed]
  1. Go to the configuration files location.
  2. Open WillowEngine.ini.
  3. Change DynamicShadows=True to DynamicShadows=False

Notes

Dynamic Shadows are a big resource hog, causing computers that exceed the recommended specs to see big FPS drops.

Disable reflections

Disabling reflections[citation needed]
  1. Go to the configuration files location.
  2. Open WillowEngine.ini.
  3. Set AllowImageReflections and AllowImageReflectionShadowing to false

Reduced particles

Edit configuration file[citation needed]
  1. Go to the configuration files location.
  2. Open WillowEngine.ini.
  3. Find the following line and set it to this value.
MaxParticleResize=512

Force Software PhysX

Edit configuration file[citation needed]
  1. Go to the configuration files location.
  2. Open WillowGame.ini.
  3. Add the following to the end of the file and set as read only:
    bPhysXEnabled=False
    
  4. Open willowengine.ini
  5. Under [Engine.Engine] add this:
    bDisablePhysXHardwareSupport=True
    


System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) XP SP3
Processor (CPU) 2.4 GHz Dual core
System memory (RAM) 2 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 13 GB
Video card (GPU) ATI Radeon HD 2600
Nvidia GeForce 8500
256 MB of VRAM
macOS (OS X)
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 10.7.5, 10.8.2, 10.9.5
Processor (CPU) Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.2 GHz
System memory (RAM) 4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 13 GB
Video card (GPU) ATI Radeon HD 2600
Nvidia GeForce 8800
256 MB of VRAM
Linux
Minimum
Operating system (OS) Ubuntu 14.04, SteamOS
Processor (CPU) 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Quad
2.4 GHz AMD Phenom II X4
System memory (RAM) 4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 13 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce 260
1 GB of VRAM

References

  1. Borderlands 2 opens up September 18 - GameSpot - last accessed on 2015-10-15
  2. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named osx
  3. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named linux
  4. Aspyr Mac FAQs: Borderlands 2 - last accessed on 2015-10-15
    "The Mac App version comes bundled with bonus content from Borderlands 2: Collector’s Edition:
    • Fired Up skin for each original Vault Hunter
    • Unique head for each original Vault Hunter
    • Contraband Sky Rocket Grenade Mod
    "
  5. Verified by User:Soeb on 2015-10-15
  6. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=122676733
  7. Borderlands 2: Profiles and save games are not saved cross-platform in the Steam Cloud. : Aspyr Support
  8. http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=387114
  9. Borderlands 2 FAQ (STEAM) : Aspyr Support
  10. borderlands 2 - How can I set up a LAN game over Hamachi? - Arqade
  11. restarts my PC after clicking play in the launcher. - The Gearbox Software Forums
  12. Can't connect to Borderlands 2? Potential fixes live here! - Reddit
  13. [PSA] .NET install issue fix for Steam // other launch issues and common questions addressed (PC) - Reddit
  14. Borderlands 2 keeps asking me to restart computer to complete .net installation? - GameShampoo
  15. 15.0 15.1 Encountering a problem with install. .Net - The Gearbox Software Forums
  16. https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1471427
  17. https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/932795/possible-fix-borderlands-2-pre-sequel-gtx-970-physx/