Need for Speed: High Stakes - PCGamingWiki PCGW (2024)

Need for Speed: High Stakes
Developers

	EA Canada
	EA Seattle
Publishers
	Electronic Arts
Retail re-release	Sold Out Software
Release dates
Windows	June 20, 1999
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, Europe, North America
Series	Need for Speed


⤏ Go to series page
The Need for Speed	1994
Need for Speed II	1997
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (series)
Need for Speed: High Stakes	1999
Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed	2000
Need for Speed: Underground (series)
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (series)
Need for Speed: Carbon	2006
Need for Speed: ProStreet	2007
Need for Speed: Undercover	2008
Need for Speed: Shift (series)
Need for Speed: World	2010
Need for Speed: The Run	2011
Need for Speed Rivals	2013
Need for Speed (2016)	2016
Need for Speed Payback	2017
Need for Speed: Edge	2017
Need for Speed Heat	2019
Need for Speed Unbound	2022

1 Availability
2 Monetization
- 2.1 DLC and expansion packs
3 Essential improvements
- 3.1 Need For Speed 4 Modern Patch
- 3.2 SilentPatch
- 3.3 SetupMP (Need for Speed: Setup for Modern Packs)
- 3.4 Need for Speed: High Stakes Stock Pack (SP) and Expansion Pack (EP)
- 3.5 Patches
4 Game data
- 4.1 Configuration file(s) location
- 4.2 Save game data location
5 Video
6 Input
7 Audio
- 7.1 Localizations
8 Network
- 8.1 Multiplayer types
- 8.2 Connection types
- 8.3 Ports
9 Issues fixed
- 9.1 1 MB RAM bug (Windows XP and later)
- 9.2 Crash on Start Issue (Vista, Later)
- 9.3 Direct3D doesn't appear in the 3DSetup tool
10 Other information
- 10.1 API
11 System requirements
12 Notes
13 References

Warnings

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see Availability for affected versions).

Need for Speed: High Stakes^{[Note 1]} is a singleplayer and multiplayer racing game co-developed by EA Canada and EA Seattle and published by Electronic Arts. It is the fourth entry in the Need for Speed series.

It was released on June 20, 1999.

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc DRM^{[Note 2]}.

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Aston Martin DB7
BMW M Coupe
BMW M Roadster
Ferrari 360 Modena
Jaguar XJR-15
Lister Storm

All official add-on cars (and their showcases) were released for free by EA.

All official add-ons come as *.exe files and can only be installed if game was installed with original installer and all registry entries are present.

Essential improvements

Need For Speed 4 Modern Patch

Change resolution and refresh rate under ./drivers/nglide/thrash.ini

SilentPatch

Use with Modern Patch is strongly recommended, although not mandatory

SetupMP (Need for Speed: Setup for Modern Packs)

Easily play at desktop resolution

Place SetupMP.exe into <path-to-game>\Game\ and run SetupMP.exe.
Under the "Thrash Driver" tab, make sure "nGlide" is selected.
Under the "nGlide" tab, check "Use desktop resolution", and to disable the image stretching, check "Preserve aspect ratio".

Need for Speed: High Stakes Stock Pack (SP) and Expansion Pack (EP)

The Stock Pack is designed to improve the singleplayer experience in High Stakes, patching the game to the final version, fixing various bugs discovered since the game's support period ended and adding compatibility with modern graphics cards.

The Expansion Pack is designed to improve the multiplayer experience, with all of the improvements in the Stock Pack as well as adding support for the modern online multiplayer service made for the game and more cars and tracks used on that service on a regular basis.

Patches

Patch 4.50 (Internet Beta Test Patch) updates the game to the latest version.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\SaveData^{[Note 3]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\SaveData^{[Note 3]}

Video

General video settings

Advanced video settings

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		Use Need for Speed High Stakes Widescreen Fix. Main menus are locked at 640x480.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		"Narrow" and "Wide" options available in the 'View Angle' setting in the Basic Graphics menu. Widescreen option in the same menu can widen the horizontal FOV further, though narrows the vertical FOV.
Windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
High-fidelity upscaling		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Triple Buffering only.
60 FPS
120+ FPS		64 FPS cap
High dynamic range display (HDR)

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Most keys for both players are rebindable, however some (such as Pause and Screenshot) are locked and cannot be rebound.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		The game supports all functionality of DirectInput compatible controllers, however it assumes a Racing Wheel with digital pedals will be used.
Full controller support		Controllers cannot be used to navigate menus.
Controller remapping		Gamepads require their buttons to be rebound to functions manually for the best effect. Controller key bindings overwrite Keyboard ones and are lost if the game is started without a controller connected.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers

PlayStation controllers

Generic/other controllers
Button prompts

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback		To enable Force Feedback on an XInput controller (Like the Xbox 360 Controller), see XInput force feedback vibration in DirectInput games.
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Mouse support is limited only to navigating menus.

Audio

Audio settings

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Menu Music, Race Music, Effects, Engine and Speech sliders available.
Surround sound		Stereo, Mono and DS3D/EAX.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		EAX^[3] 1.0.^[4]
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Japanese
Spanish
Ukrainian				Fan translation and full dubbing by TSF, download.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Players	Notes
Local play	2	Versus, Co-op Co-op is Hot Pursuit mode only.
LAN play	8	Versus, Co-op Co-op is Hot Pursuit mode only.
Online play	8	Versus, Co-op The official multiplayer service has been shut down.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	1030

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

Issues fixed

A Standard installation of the High Stakes Stock Pack fixes the known bugs in the game. See above. Individual fixes are given below for convenience.

1 MB RAM bug (Windows XP and later)

When running the game on Windows XP or later, the game gives a 1 MB of RAM error and does not save progress or settings.

Install 1 MB Error Patch^{[citation needed]}
Download and start Installation of the High Stakes Stock Pack Ensure Mercury / 1Mbyte Error Patch is selected on the Choose Components screen. Finish installation Run the game.

Crash on Start Issue (Vista, Later)

When running the game on Windows Vista or later, the game refuses to start, giving an Invalid Argument exception.

Install NFS:HS Stock Pack^{[citation needed]}
Download and start Installation of the High Stakes Stock Pack Ensure EA's 4.50 Patch, Vista, Win7 Tweaks and NFS HS Starter are selected on the Choose Components screen. Finish installation Run the game.

Start game with -PatchRestart switch^{[citation needed]}
Create a (or modify an existing) shortcut to the game executable and add `-PatchRestart` to the end of the target. Run the game using that shortcut.

Start game using PatchNFS.exe^{[citation needed]}
Run the game from `<path-to-game>\PatchNFS.exe`.

Direct3D doesn't appear in the 3DSetup tool

When configuring 3D acceleration using the 3DSetup tool, only Software Renderer appears in the list.

Install New 3DSetup^{[citation needed]}
Download and start Installation of the High Stakes Stock Pack Ensure New 3D-Setup is selected on the Choose Components screen. Finish Installation Direct3D should now be in the list of renderers.

Install New 3DSetup^{[citation needed]}

Download and start Installation of the High Stakes Stock Pack
Ensure New 3D-Setup is selected on the Choose Components screen.
Finish Installation

Direct3D should now be in the list of renderers.

Other information

Direct3D and Glide renderers give equal graphical quality.

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	6	DX7 and DX8 through Modern Patch
Glide	2, 3	Glide3 support added in the official patch
Software renderer

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	9x, NT, 2000
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 200 MHz	Intel Pentium 266 MHz
System memory (RAM)	32 MB	64 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	50 MB	350 MB
Video card (GPU)	2 MB of VRAM DirectX 6.1 compatible	8 MB of VRAM
Sound (audio device)	DirectX 6.1 compatible

Notes

↑ While it is known in Japan as Over Drivin' IV (Japanese:オーバードライビン IV) for the PlayStation version, the Windows version was released in Japan under its original name. Also known as Need for Speed: Road Challenge in Europe, Need for Speed: Brennender Asphalt in Germany and Need for Speed: Conduite en état de liberté in France.
↑ SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10^[1] 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.^[2]
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 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

↑ 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
↑ Recommendations for Gamers -- Soundblaster.com - last accessed on May 2023
↑ List of PC games that use DirectSound3D - last accessed on May 2024

Need for Speed: High Stakes - PCGamingWiki PCGW (2024)

Contents

Availability

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Essential improvements

Need For Speed 4 Modern Patch

SilentPatch

SetupMP (Need for Speed: Setup for Modern Packs)

Need for Speed: High Stakes Stock Pack (SP) and Expansion Pack (EP)

Patches

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

Save game data location

Video

Input

Audio

Localizations

Network

Multiplayer types

Connection types

Ports

Issues fixed

1 MB RAM bug (Windows XP and later)

Crash on Start Issue (Vista, Later)

Direct3D doesn't appear in the 3DSetup tool

Other information

API

System requirements

Notes

References

References