Dead Space 2

Dead Space 2

Developers
	Visceral Games
Publishers
	Electronic Arts
Release dates
Windows	January 25, 2011

Dead Space

Dead Space	2008
Dead Space 2	2011
Dead Space 3	2013

Key points

In-game Vsync option caps frame rate at 30 FPS.

All weapons unlocked from the start due to DLC. Removing this DLC is recommended for a first-time playthrough. See Weapons/Armor unlocked at start.

Suffers from poor mouse input. See Raw mouse input fix.

General information

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		All retail versions require signing into your EA account ingame. This unlocks a copy of the game on Origin for that EA account. Also includes TAGES Solidshield DRM.
Green Man Gaming
Origin		The Origin version requires signing into your EA account in-game.
Steam		The Steam version does not require signing into your EA account in-game. It will ask you to sign in, but you can simply decline the agreement and enjoy playing the singleplayer perfectly fine. The multiplayer however, does require signing in. Uses TAGES Solidshield DRM.

All versions activate on Origin.

The Dead Space 2: Severed story DLC is not available on the PC.

Essential improvements

Unlock conduit rooms

There are four special rooms in the game that are unlocked by completing the Dead Space Ignition tie-in, which is not available for Windows.

In order to make this workaround effective, you must have beaten the game at least once.

Unlock conduit rooms Go to the installation folder. If you have a DS2DAT0.DAT, you'll need to rename all existing DS2DAT#.DAT to one number higher. For example: DS2DAT0.DAT → DS2DAT1.DAT, DS2DAT6.DAT → DS2DAT7.DAT, etc. Download Dead Space 2 Conduit for PC. Extract DS2DAT0_CONDUIT4PC.DAT to the installation folder and rename it to DS2DAT0.DAT. Start the game and load any save file from round two upwards.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%LOCALAPPDATA%\EA Games\Dead Space 2\
Linux (Proton)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/47780/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\EA Games\Dead Space 2\
Linux (Proton)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/47780/pfx/

20 save slots available.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Origin
Steam Cloud

Video settings

Visuals settings.

Custom Render Settings

Graphics option	Option	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		Use Widescreen Fixer. Changing FOV inhibits selecting things in menus.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Set the game to windowed mode then use Borderless Gaming to make the game borderless.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		On/off only. See Anti-aliasing (AA).
Vertical sync (Vsync)		In-game Vsync limits frame rate to 30 FPS for all refresh rates.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		Disable in-game Vsync to allow 120 FPS; force externally if desired.

Anti-aliasing (AA)

Apply hardware anti-aliasing (Nvidia only) Open the game profile via NVIDIA Profile Inspector. Change Antialiasing compatibility to... 0x004030C0 : the anti-aliasing works flawlessly but shadows will only work on normal setting (they disappear completely on high or very high setting), alt-tabbing may possibly break the game's lighting. 0x00411245 : the anti-aliasing is not as thorough and white artifacts may appear on the edges of objects but shadows will work correctly on all settings and the game can be safely alt-tabbed. Change Antialiasing - Behavior Flags to None. Change Antialiasing - Mode to Override any application setting. Change Antialiasing - Setting to 4x [4x Multisampling] or 8xQ [8x Multisampling]. Change Antialiasing - Transparency Supersampling to 4x Sparse Grid Supersampling or 8x Sparse Grid Supersampling Click apply changes.

Input settings

Control settings.

Keyboard and mouse	Native	Notes
Remapping		Unable to assign "Aim Mode (Toggle)" function to any mouse button.
Mouse acceleration		See Raw mouse input fix to disable negative mouse acceleration.
Mouse sensitivity		See Raw mouse input fix to fix multiple issues.
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Additional information
Button prompts
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M		Rapidly changes button prompts

Raw mouse input fix

Dead Space 2 suffers from negative mouse acceleration by default.

Mouse sensitivity is dependent on the frame rate, which can lead to inconsistent movement when the performance is not stable. Horizontal sensitivity is also much higher than vertical sensitivity.

Use Dead Space 2 Mouse Fix This fix will cause the game to crash when playing as a Necromorph in multiplayer.

Audio settings

Audio options	Native	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound		Up to 5.0 output.
Subtitles		Fixed size, do not scale up with resolution
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Italian
Polish				Fan translation, download.
Russian				Retail only. Patch for digital release here.
Spanish
Turkish				Fan translation.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play
Online play		8

VR support

3D modes	Native	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision		Very poor native support; see Nvidia 3D Vision to fix.
Devices	Native	Notes
3RD Space Gaming Vest

Nvidia 3D Vision

Dead Space 2 has mediocre Nvidia 3D Vision support out of the box.

It has however been modded by HeliX to the point where it can be considered a 3D Vision showcase game. You can play with any convergence and depth.

Use Helix Mod[citation needed] Install Dead Space 2 3D Vision Fix. If you're playing through Steam or Origin, disable the overlay.

Issues fixed

Weapons/Armor unlocked at start

The latest updates of Dead Space 2 includes a piece of DLC that unlocks better armor and all the weapons at the start, thereby negating the need to find schematics and decreasing the difficulty.

Remove the DLC[citation needed] Download the original executable here. Make a backup copy of the currently installed executable and copy the downloaded .exe into the Dead Space 2 folder. Reset the keybindings to default. Notes It recommended that you use the newer .exe for subsequent play-throughs, as it properly unlocks some bonus items that you normally get for completing the game. The Origin version includes the DLC, and the above fix no longer works. This fix is not compatible with Dead Space 2 Mouse Fix and Widescreen Fixer.

No suit unlocks for higher difficulty completion

This section may require cleanup to meet basic quality standards. The specific problem is: Instructions for unlocking suits should be written here. You can help by modifying the article. The discussion page may contain useful suggestions.

Normally upon completing the game on Hardcore or Zealot difficulty, you would unlock a special suit. Unfortunately these suits don't unlock properly, unless you happen to complete the game in a single play through.

Unlock suits[citation needed] See Unlock suits fix

Mouse flings to side of screen

Occasionally with certain USB controllers or devices, the mouse will fling to the far edges of the screen, preventing proper aiming.

Possible solutions[citation needed] Unplugging all USB controllers Disabling virtual mouse settings Selectively disabling HID compliant devices in the device manager.

Could not initialize display hardware

Reset settings[citation needed] Go to the configuration file(s) location. Delete or rename settings.txt. Notes In other cases, where deleting settings.txt did not work, some users with multiple monitors found that disabling their second monitor fixed this issue.

BSOD on some AMD Radeon cards

Game falls into BSOD on different occasions, either randomly or at some particular point in the game.

Rollback to older driver version (Such as Catalyst 12.6)

Game minimizes at launch, or game freezes when changing the resolution

Occasionally, when starting the game on a newer system, the main window will minimize itself and will not let the user restore it.

In other cases, the game may freeze upon changing the resolution.

Set resolution manually[citation needed] Go to the configuration file(s) location. Create a file named settings.txt. Open settings.txt and add the following lines: Window.Fullscreen = true Window.Height = 1200 Window.Width = 1920 where Window.Height is your desired height and Window.Width is your desired width.

Activation problems (Lucid Virtu conflict)

Some versions of Dead Space 2 may conflict with LucidLogix Virtu graphics switching software which may appear to be an activation error.

Remove the Lucid Virtu software or disabling it when running Dead Space 2[citation needed]

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9
64-bit executable

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok
Audio	RwAudioCore

Activation limits

EA limits Dead Space 2 to being authorized on a maximum of five computers at a time. The games must be authorized on a computer before you can play it. De-authorizing the game on a computer does not uninstall it.

To reauthorize the game on a given computer, simply launch the game on that computer while being connected to the Internet.

To de-authorize the games on a computer, simply uninstall it, or follow these instructions:

De-authorize game (Windows Vista and later) Click on the Windows button on the Windows Taskbar. Select All Programs. Click on Games. Click on Games Explorer. Right-click on the Dead Space 2 icon. Click on Dead Space 2 - Deauthorize this machine.

De-authorize game (Windows XP) Click on the Start menu on the Windows Taskbar. Select All Programs Find the EA Games folder. Roll over the Dead Space 2 folder. Click on the Dead Space 2 - Deauthorize this machine option.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP SP2	Vista, 7
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz AMD Athlon 64 4000+	Intel Core 2 Duo AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+
System memory (RAM)	1 GB (XP)	2 GB (Vista, 7)
Hard disk drive (HDD)	10 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 6800 ATI Radeon X1600 Pro