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Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games

This page is for the original Silent Hill 2. For the remake, see Silent Hill 2.

Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut
Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut cover
Developers
Team Silent
Windows Creature Labs
Publishers
Konami
Release dates
Windows December 2, 2002
Reception
Metacritic 70
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase
Modes Singleplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives Cinematic camera, Third-person
Controls Direct control
Genres Survival horror
Art styles Realistic
Themes Contemporary, Horror, North America
Series Silent Hill
Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut on HowLongToBeat
Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut on IGDB
Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut guide on StrategyWiki
Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut on MobyGames
Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut on Wikipedia
Silent Hill
Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut 2002
Silent Hill 3 2003
Silent Hill 4: The Room 2004
Silent Hill: Homecoming 2008
Silent Hill 2 2024

Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut is a survival horror game developed by Team Silent, ported by Creature Labs, and published by Konami.
It is the second installment in the Silent Hill series.

The game was originally released for the PlayStation 2 on September 21, 2001 worldwide. The game later received an extended Director's Cut version on PlayStation 2 as a Greatest Hits re-release, Xbox, and PC, which added a new Born from a Wish scenario, a secret UFO ending, and for the PC version, a quick-save function, real-time weapon swapping, and a movie gallery. The PC version also features improved flashlight lighting like in the Xbox port, however, it also has a number of inaccuracies, missing or downgraded effects, and lower audio and FMV quality than previous versions.[1] It also has compatibility issues with newer versions of Windows and hardware (see here for details).

There have been growing efforts by modders to fix the issues with the PC version, starting with sh2proxy by emoose to address compatibility issues and implement widescreen support for the game. It has since been succeeded by Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition, a community-driven project for the PC version that restores features from the original PlayStation 2 version, adds support for HD and widescreen resolutions, improved controller support, and other quality-of-life improvements.

General information

Silent Hill Memories - Informative site
Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
SecuROM 4.83 DRM.
The Sound Patch removes SecuROM, although a simple disc check remains.
Windows
Released on 3 CDs.
There are two versions: the North American version and the European Director's Cut version.
If the title screen lacks "Director's Cut" on it, it's the North American version.
Both versions include the extra scenario Born from a Wish along with an extra UFO ending.

Essential improvements

Patches

There are two official patches:
  • Sound Patch, also known as "Patch 1.1". Designed exclusively for the North American version of the game, it was supposed to fix the sound looping issues.
  • GeForce FX Fix. Fixes missing text and/or missing videos on Nvidia GeForce FX GPUs (mobile chipsets are not included).
Unfortunately, the Sound Patch does not fix the sound looping issues.
It is possible to apply the Sound Patch to the EUR PC version. Download the EXE file v1.0 (US version) from here, then copy it to <path-to-game> and finally apply the Sound Patch.

Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition

All improvements in this section are included in the full installation of the Enhanced Edition project.
Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition is a compilation of mods which implements widescreen resolution support, adds PlayStation 2 audio quality and fog that were missing from the PC version, provides upscaled images and FMVs, adds support for 60 FPS, improves controller and keyboard/mouse support and fixes countless bugs among other things.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\[Note 1]
keyconf.dat stores input bindings.
language.ini stores language settings.
options.ini stores gameplay and volume settings.
settings.ini stores video and audio settings.

Save game data location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\data\save\Folder 01\[Note 1]

Video

Video settings
Video settings

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
Use Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
Use Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition
4K Ultra HD
Use Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Use Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition, then set ScreenMode = 1 in d3d8.ini.
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Use Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition, then set ScreenMode = 2 in d3d8.ini.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Causes black lines to appear in some textures when forced.[2]
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Use Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition for SMAA; set EnableSMAA = 1 in d3d8.ini. Alternatively, MSAA can be forced via the GPU control panel.
See here for instructions and recommended settings.
High-fidelity upscaling
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
60 FPS
Capped at 30 FPS by default. See High frame rate for 60 FPS support.
120+ FPS
The game engine starts to break in various ways, such as character movement becoming disabled, when playing at high frame rate.
High dynamic range display (HDR)

High frame rate

The game runs at 30 FPS by default. Use Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition to run the game at 60 FPS while fixing egregious high frame rate issues.
Install Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition and enable 60 FPS support[3]
  1. Install Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition.
  2. Open d3d8.ini and ensure that SetSixtyFPS is set to 1.

Notes

Interpolated videos at 60 FPS are available here.

Change noise effect resolution

Change IncreaseNoiseEffectRes[4]
  1. Install Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition.
  2. Open d3d8.ini.
  3. Set IncreaseNoiseEffectRes to any value between 128 and 4096.

Notes

If the value increases, the noise grain decreases.
512 is the default noise grain value.

Input

Keyboard and mouse State Notes
Remapping
All game functions can be remapped on the keyboard.
Mouse buttons cannot be remapped with other keys.
Use Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition to assign different actions to the same input on keyboard.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Some menus do not support mouse input.
For full mouse menu support, use Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition, then set EnableEnhancedMouse = 1 in d3d8.ini.
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
DirectInput only. See Controller support.
Full controller support
Controller remapping
Use Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition to assign different actions to the same button on controllers.
Controller sensitivity
Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut supports analog movement for controller joysticks but does not support pressure sensitive face buttons.
Controller Y-axis inversion
Controller types
XInput-compatible controllers
See Controller support
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration
PlayStation controllers
PlayStation button prompts
Light bar support
Adaptive trigger support
DualSense haptic feedback support
Connection modes

Wired
Generic/other controllers
Button prompts
Additional information
Button prompts Input settings icon - Generic Controller.svg
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
DirectInput only.
Use Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition to restore vibration for XInput controllers.
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Controller support

Analog triggers and vibration on XInput controllers won't function without workarounds.
Use Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition[5]

Notes

The "Xidi" package, included in the project, must be installed to restore triggers and vibration for XInput controllers.
It includes a pre-configured keyconf.dat file so that controls are mapped correctly.
This will also improve hotplugging support for other XInput-based controllers.
Use XInput Plus
  1. Download and run XInput Plus.
  2. Set Target Program to sh2pc.exe.
  3. Go to the DirectInput tab and check Enable DirectInput Output.
  4. Assign LT/RT to Button 11/12.
  5. Click Apply and a DLL file will be added to the game directory.

Audio

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Background music and sound effects.
Surround sound
Up to 7.0 output.[6]
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support
DirectSound3D.
Royalty free audio
It may require DirectSound3D restoration software to restore hardware-accelerated 3D sound functionality on Windows Vista and later.
DSOAL is included in Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition.

Localizations

Use Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition to restore the language selection in the options menu.
Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Arabic
Fan translation, download.
Simplified Chinese
Fan translation, download.
French
German
Indonesian
Fan translation, download.
Italian
Japanese
Use Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition to restore the Japanese language.
Polish
Fan translation, download.
Brazilian Portuguese
Fan translation, download. Version with dubbing is available here.
Russian
Fan translation, download.
Spanish
Improved fan translation, download.
Included in Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition.
Turkish
Fan translation, download.
Ukrainian
Fan translation, download.

Issues fixed

Audio stutters endlessly or stops completely

The game comes with a buggy, beta version of CRIWARE audio middleware that has issues running correctly on multi-core CPUs.
Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition includes a custom reimplementation of this audio engine to fix the issue.
Use EnableCriWareReimplementation
  1. Install Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition.
  2. Open d3d8.ini and ensure that EnableCriWareReimplementation is set to 1.
Force CPU affinity to one core

Clicking or popping sound effects

Use AudioClipDetection[7]
  1. Install Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition.
  2. Open d3d8.ini and ensure that AudioClipDetection is set to 1.
Force CPU affinity to one core

Textures appear as solid white surfaces

Certain areas appear white when they should be black. This issue affects Nvidia GPUs.
Use WhiteShaderFix[8]
  1. Install Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition.
  2. Open d3d8.ini and ensure that WhiteShaderFix is set to 1.

"Insert a disc" message appears during the ending

In rare situations, the game will look for end.bik instead of ending.bik for the credits video. If that happens, this error will occur.
Install Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition[9]

Notes

The project fixes this issue without having to rename the video file.
Rename video file[10]
  1. Go to <path-to-game>\data\movie\.
  2. Rename ending.bik to end.bik.

Installation on modern systems

On some modern systems, the installer won't run.
Run Setup.exe as administrator

Missing DAT and INI files

DAT and INI files, used to store the game settings, won't be created after running the game for the first time.
Run sh2pc.exe as administrator

Unable to save

Run sh2pc.exe as administrator

A warning message pops up when the game crashes

Warning: "A crash occurred the last time that game was played. Using safe graphics options."
If this occurs, the game settings will be restored to their initial state.
Set INI file to read-only mode
  1. Go to <path-to-game>.
  2. Right-click on settings.ini and select Properties.
  3. Tick Read-only, then click Apply and OK.

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 8.1 For Direct3D 9 support, use Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition.
Shader Model support 1.4
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Audio ADX Sound files are compressed compared to the PlayStation 2 version.
The original PlayStation 2 quality audio files can be restored into the PC version by installing the Audio Enhancement Pack as part of the Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition project.
Cutscenes Bink Video FMVs are compressed and play at 29.97 full frames per second (29.97p), compared to the PlayStation 2 version which plays them at 59.94 half frames per second (29.97i). The quality of the PC version's FMVs can be improved by installing the FMV Enhancement Pack as part of the Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition project.

Silent Hill 2 HD Collection Voice Pack

Replaces the original voice acting with the new voices from the Silent Hill HD Collection release.[11]
The HD Collection voices are very divisive and often considered to be inferior to the original voice acting.
Includes and integrates both the Audio Enhancement Pack and the FMV Enhancement Pack from the Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition project for its audio improvements.

Silent Hill 2 PC Fix by Steam006

This fix should not be combined with the Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition project.
An outdated alternative fix which adds new features and fixes some bugs.
Instructions[citation needed]
  1. Copy all files to <path-to-game>.
  2. Configure options in Silent_Hill_2_PC_Fix.ini.
  3. Run the game from DLLInjector.exe.

Unlimited stamina

Apply hack for unlimited stamina[12]
  1. Open sh2pc.exe with a hex-editor such as HxD.
  2. Press Ctrl+F and find the address 89 BE 20 01 00 00 D8 B6 40 01 00 00 (Hex-values).
  3. Press Ctrl+G and go to 41 (offset relative to: current offset).
  4. Change the value CF to C8 and save the changes.

Disable background fog

Disable fogging[13]
  1. Download and run DxWnd as administrator.
  2. Click on Edit, then Add.
  3. Set path to <path-to-game>\sh2pc.exe.
  4. Set Acquire admin caps.
  5. Disable Run in Window.
  6. Click on the 3D tab and tick Disable Fogging.
  7. Click OK, then File and Save.
  8. Run the game directly from DxWnd.

Add icon to executable file

sh2pc.exe may have no icon set by default.
Set icon with Rcedit[14]
  1. Download Rcedit depending on the OS bitness, and copy it to <path-to-game>.
  2. Download sh2_newicon.zip and extract sh2_new.ico to <path-to-game>.
  3. Open a Command Prompt.
  4. Type in and enter cd <path-to-game>.
    • Replace <path-to-game> with the actual path; e.g. cd C:\Games\Silent Hill 2.
  5. Type in and enter rcedit-x64.exe sh2pc.exe --set-icon sh2_new.ico.
    • If the 32-bit version is used, replace rcedit-x64.exe with rcedit-x86.exe above.

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 98, ME, 2000, XP
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium 700 MHz
AMD Athlon 700 MHz
System memory (RAM) 64 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 1.8 GB
Video card (GPU) 32 MB of VRAM
DirectX 8.1 compatible


Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

References