A patch for the Need For Speed 4: High Stakes. This is a side project of the Need For Speed III Modern Patch. Currently, it has a small amount of fixes. The key features of this patch are portability (no more registry!) and high poly cars support (it is useful for modding). There is still no widescreen resolutions support.
How to install
- Copy DATA and SAVEDATA directories from the NFS4 CD to a new empty directory.
- Extract contents of the nfs4_modern_patch.7z (1.2MB) into that directory with replacement of files.
- Done!
Find other NFS4 fans for the network games in our Telegram group chat!
If you wish to find someone who wants to play NFS4 with you, join this Telegram group chat.
Plans: Milestone 1 (Full Widescreen Support)
Project status: suspended.
Mandatory set of features:
- Refactoring of the thrash init and get resolutions list code. It have to solve some compatibility problems with D3D renderers.
- Widescreen resolutions support for the gameplay. It will be possible to choose it from the graphics settings in a general way.
- Proper handling of all aspect ratios (from 5:4 to 16:9, inclusive 4:3 and 16:10). HUD will be adopted automatically for every supported resolution.
- Better modding abilities. AllowHugeTextures setting support, which will allow to use textures up to 2048×2048.
- Patching of the voodoo2a.dll to add an ability to use widescreen resolutions (a Glide API extension, by default only d3da.dll can use widescreen resolutions).
- 32bpp support in the voodoo2a.dll (another Glide API extension).
- Huge textures support in the voodoo2a.dll (and again, it's also a Glide API extension).
It is planned to release v1.0.0 when these features will be done and they will be stable. I'm planning to include some other nice features into the first release, but the list is not predefined. For example, I'll try to remove effect limitations in the menu for the D3D renderers.
MisterHalt, Was the installation CD where you copied all the game files from also the Australian version?
Any idea what causes the instant lock up once the game enters the main menu?
I'm running a fresh install of Windows 11 24H2 using this Modern Patch and the Silent Patch, game was installed via the copy pasting of Data and Savedata folder.
TheDeeGee, AFAIR the game has threading issues in video decoder. You can try to remove or disable in-menu movies to fix it. I don't remember how to do it exactly.
Or you can play NFS3, it doesn't have this issue.
VEG, turns out it was due to the nGlide renderer.
I switched to DX8 and dropped dgVoodoo in the folder, now i also have working projected headlights, as well as fog because i used dx8a.dll from your NFS3 patch :)
oh very very nice that it gives somethin "new?" (2016 o.O) , i get try it out next days , thx for work
i hope so, you get some work on Unleashed/Porsche too, verokster's patch we find in pcgamingwiki is not always the yellow from the egg and after a paywall it is landing as far as i know
best regards from germany to belarus :-)
I see you've abandoned the project, but not updated the status, so I'll ask you the following questions you'll most likely not answer:
* How to force the game's options to make NFS4 run in the 1280x960 resolution (if 16:9 resolutions don't work with this game)? How to force the game to display the Direct3d or Glide\3dfx renderer graphics instead of software render? What should I do?
* How to make the game read the official DLCs (6x), regional exclusives (5x) along with vidwalls and showcases (the last - when available)?
* Will you make a modern bundle for MyAbandonware (at least in English), as you did with NFS Hot Pursuit '98? That modern bundle contains widescreen support, official DLCs and regional exclusives. Is NFS High Stakes\Road Challenge tougher than Hot Pursuit '98 to compile?
* Will you make the NFS Porsche modern patch, as you did with its predecessors?
Sergey, the status is suspended, it means that I don't work on the project, but I might resume it some day in the future.
This feature is currently supported in the NFS3 Modern Patch only.
You can choose renderer in the nfs4.ini, check the readme file for details.
Copy related files from the original game distributions.
Sure, when NFS4 Modern Patch is in a better shape.
I just spent much more time on the NFS3 Modern Patch than on the NFS4 Modern Patch.
That would be fun to do, but there are no any specific plans. I have a full-time job these days, not so much time for hobby projects =)
@VEG, comment #257:
I see the status is suspended, but it's been nearly 9 years since you touched the project, so it seems forgotten for me. Anyway, going back to the comments field:
I went to nfs4.ini file, checked the renderer - it was nGlide (limited to 1024x768 for no apparent reasons), changed to dx7 (probably works better than dx8; I'm not sure if there are differences between these dx's) and increased the resolution to 1280x960 to play like a civilized guy. Just don't choose 1440x1080 (it's a warning to all the NFSHS players) - this resolution causes the stages not to load. Even if it loads, this will cause significant frame drops, so stick to max of 1280x960. Dgvoodoo renderer shows disgusting vertical bars on the sides of the screen regardless of the settings (I own a 16:9 type), so I stick to dx7 which respects the options from monitor and graphics card software.
Copying the cars from regional exclusives is easy, but not DLCs - you have to install the game, run the extractors (these files look for installed NFS4), find the cars (along with other data, when necessary) in the game's directories, copy them somewhere else, then copy the DLCs to the appropriate directories. The cars should appear normally. At least I did so.
Now after I completed tournaments and knockouts, I'm gonna hit the career mode to see if the game works properly there.
There's a big flaw with projected headlights - they show strange artifacts. Vertex headlights don't show them, so choose vertex.
A minor flaw is with minimap - it shows bigger squares in the grid. At least the course is shown as it should.