Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne

Developers
	Remedy Entertainment
Producer	3D Realms
Publishers
	Rockstar Games
Poland	Cenega
Russia	1C-SoftClub
Engines
	MAX FX 2.0
Release dates
Windows	October 14, 2003
Reception
Metacritic	86
IGDB	84
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Shooter, TPS
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Contemporary, Detective/mystery, North America
Series	Max Payne

Max Payne
Max Payne	2001
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne	2003
Max Payne 3	2012
Max Payne 1&2 Remake	TBA

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is a singleplayer third-person action, shooter and TPS game in the Max Payne series.

General information

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM DRM. 3 CDs.
Retail		Max Payne Anthology released only in Poland and Germany
Green Man Gaming
Humble Store
Steam		Steam DRM (Steam Stub).
GamersGate (unavailable)
Games for Windows Marketplace (unavailable)		SecuROM 7.42.0001 and SecuROM PA DRM.

A faithful higher quality icons for Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall Of Max Payne can be found here.
The player must be logged in to download.

Demo

A demo is available.

Essential improvements

Patches

The latest version is v1.01. The Steam version is up-to-date.

ThirteenAG's Widescreen Fix

Fixes aspect ratio issues with widescreen displays and includes a d3d8to9 wrapper, which resolves many issues when running the game on modern systems.

Fix packs

• Max2Fixes. A combined patch with startup hang patch, ThirteenAG's Widescreen Fix, different options for video wrappers, and other fixes.
• Definitive Fix. A combined patch with startup hang patch, ThirteenAG's Widescreen Fix, bonus maps for dead man walking, a d3d9 wrapper, and other fixes.

Skip intro videos

Run the game with the -skipstartup parameter.

Skip launcher

Run the game with the -nodialog parameter.
Notes Running the game with this parameter may cause the "Texture color depth" setting to be changed to "Low".

Game data

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\MP2_Init.ras HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Remedy Entertainment\Max Payne 2\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/12150/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Max Payne 2 Savegames\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/12150/pfx/

10 save slots + 2 quicksave slots + 1 autosave slot available.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
OneDrive		Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers.
Steam Cloud

Video

Launcher general settings.

Launcher advanced settings.

In-game video settings.

Can only be changed in the launcher

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			Use ThirteenAG's fix.
Multi-monitor			Use ThirteenAG's fix.
Ultra-widescreen			Use ThirteenAG's fix.
4K Ultra HD			Use ThirteenAG's fix.
Field of view (FOV)		See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed		Toggle with Alt+↵ Enter or use the -window parameter.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See Borderless fullscreen windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Can be improved by forcing 16x in the graphics card control panel.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Not applied when Bullet Time is active; Nvidia users see Anti-aliasing (AA).
High-fidelity upscaling		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Triple buffering are available. Use d3d8to9 on Windows 10. ThirteenAG's fix includes d3d8to9 by default; enable it in global.ini.
60 FPS
120+ FPS		Uncapped frame rate causes minor issues. Physics objects and dead bodies jump more, NPCs may be knocked down by doors when opening them during scripted animations.
High dynamic range display (HDR)
Color blind mode		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Field of view (FOV)

Changing the FOV causes visual glitches during some in-game cutscenes, and might turn the nightmare levels unplayable, since these sections of the game already alter the camera FOV.

Use widescreen fix
Install ThirteenAG's Fix. Edit MaxPayne2.WidescreenFix.ini. Set FOVFactor to the desired value.

Use game's console command
Run the game with the -developer command line argument. Type in the console fov x, where x is a value.

Borderless fullscreen windowed

Force borderless fullscreen[citation needed]

Download d3d8to9 and move d3d8.dll to <path-to-game>. Install Special K. Start the game once and close it to allow the configuration file of Special K to be created. Open <path-to-game>\d3d9.ini or %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Mods\SpecialK\Profiles\maxpayne2.exe\SpecialK.ini depending on the installation method used. Change Borderless=false to Borderless=true and Fullscreen=false to Fullscreen=true under [Window.System]. Change ForceWindowed=false to ForceWindowed=true under [Display.Output].

Anti-aliasing (AA)

Graphical issues occur when using anti-aliasing.

Apply MSAA/SSAA/SGSSAA

Disable anti-aliasing in the Max Payne 2 launcher. Select the Max Payne 2 driver profile in Nvidia Profile Inspector. Change Antialiasing Compatibility (DX9) to 0x000000C0, 0x00000040 or 0x02000001. Change Antialiasing - Mode to Override any application setting. Change Antialiasing - Setting to 4x [4x Multisampling] or another level of MSAA. Optional: To use SGSSAA, change Antialiasing - Transparency Supersampling to 4x Sparse Grid Supersampling or any other level of SGSSAA. The amount used should be equal to MSAA for proper application. Optional: Appears to be compatible with SSAA using compatibility code 0x000000C0. Click Apply Changes. Notes Default Nvidia profile does not use any compatibility bits. Without these, MSAA or SGSSAA will not be applied when the Bullet Time effect is active. Nvidia Profile Inspector presents two listings for Max Payne 2, with and without subtitles. If one does not work, try the other.

Input

In-game key map settings.

In-game mouse settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Quick save/load cannot be remapped (set to F5 and F9, respectively).
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse acceleration
Mouse input in menus
Keyboard and mouse prompts
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles		Removed in Simplified Chinese version.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		EAX 3.0.
Royalty free audio		Credits feature the song "Late Goodbye" by the band Poets of the Fall.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Arabic				Fan translation, ArabizationHorizons.
Simplified Chinese				Retail Mainland China release only.
Czech				Fan - 1
French
German
Italian
Polish				Retail only. Patch for digital release here.
Brazilian Portuguese				Fan translation is available from MixMods.
Russian				Retail only. Patch for digital release here.
Slovak				Fan - 1
Spanish				Retail only. Patch for digital release here.
Turkish				Fan translation available to download here.

Issues fixed

Application load error 5:0000065434

Set Anti-aliasing to Off[citation needed]

The launcher does not start

Laptops using Nvidia Optimus must set the preferred graphics processor for Max Payne 2 to Intel Integrated Graphics[citation needed]

Set the compatibility mode to Windows 98 / Me

Error: setFullscreen - creating the device failed: E_FAIL

Use ThirteenAG's fix[citation needed]
Download ThirteenAG's Fix. Extract the contents to <path-to-game>. Disable anti-aliasing in the game's launcher.

Exception in engineInit: Unable to load save game "Files"

Reinstall the game on the Local Disk (C:)[citation needed]

Error: Exception in startupInit: Directory \data not found

Reinstall the game without specifying spaces in the folder path (e.g. C:\Games\MaxPayne2)[citation needed]

Reinstall the game (Steam)[citation needed]

Set up a new Steam library folder without spaces in the folder path (e.g. C:\Steam). Reinstall the game to the new Steam library folder. Go to that folder and then to SteamApps\common. Rename the Max Payne 2 The Fall of Max Payne folder to MaxPayne2. Go back to the SteamApps folder and open appmanifest_12150.acf with any text editor. Change the line "installdir" "Max Payne 2 The Fall of Max Payne" to "installdir" "MaxPayne2". Restart Steam. If needed, set the compatibility mode to Windows 98 / Me. Notes If Windows Notepad cannot open appmanifest_12150.acf, use another text editor like Notepad++.

Game won't launch on modern AMD graphics cards, still shows up in task manager

Use the Unofficial startup hang patch[citation needed]

Set the compatibility mode to Windows 98 / Me[citation needed]

Roll back CCC drivers to Catalyst 12.6[citation needed]

Force CPU affinity to one core[citation needed]

Launcher starts, but game won't launch on Nvidia graphics cards, crashes and doesn't show up in task manager

Make sure that Options → Video Settings → Antialiasing is set to Off[citation needed]

Mods don't work

Make sure that version of the game contains few RAS archive files, instead of unpacked game files to data.[citation needed]

Mouse hitches and stops oddly

Make sure that Options → Video Settings → Antialiasing is set to Off[citation needed]

High frame rate and/or V-sync issues

There appears to be Vsync issues when using DX8 on Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Use d3d8to9[citation needed]
Download d3d8to9. Copy d3d8.dll to <path-to-game>.

Reshade/SweetFX doesn't work

This problem occurs when using ThirteenAG's Fix.

Use d3d8to9
Go to <path-to-game> and rename d3d8.dll to dinput.dll. Download and copy d3d8to9 to <path-to-game>. Install ReShade or SweetFX as DirectX 9.

Edit INI file
Open <path-to-game>\scripts\global.ini. Change UseD3D8to9=0 to UseD3D8to9=1.

Max and/or Mona suddenly run continuously without pressing anything

Force CPU affinity to one core[citation needed]

Reduced color depth (Proton/Linux)

Color banding may occur with Proton 6.3-8 or newer.

Use Proton 5.13-6 or older[citation needed]
In the game properties on Steam, go to Compatibility. Enable Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool. Select Proton 5.13-6 or older from the drop-down menu.

The player's head is not rendered in the reflection while looking in a mirror

Use Fixed Payne
Notes This mod is already included in Definitive Fix.

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
vorpX		G3D, Z3D Requires "D3D8to9" wrapper, see vorpx forum profile introduction.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	8

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok Physics
Audio	DirectSound
Cutscenes	Bink Video

Command line arguments

See command line arguments on how to use the following options.

Parameter	Description
-screenshot	Enables F10 for taking screen shots. Screen shots are saved to the "screenshots" folder under the Max Payne 2 installation folder.
-nodialog	Skips the Max Payne 2 startup dialog when loading the game (uses options previously set).
-skipstartup	Skips the startup video.
-disable3dpreloads	If the system runs out of texture memory while loading a level, this option may prevent the game from crashing due to a driver error.
-window	Runs the game in a windowed mode, in the resolution selected from the Max Payne 2 launch dialog. Not all 3D accelerators support running in a windowed mode.
-novidmemcheck	Disables the video memory check at the start of the game.
-developer	Enables "developer mode", including console (toggled with ~). Mostly useful for mod developers.
-developerkeys	Enables special developer keys (requires -developer as well). Note: the game flow can be broken using developer keys.
-showprogress	Sshows extended loading information. -developer is required.
-profile	Enables in-game profiler. Toggle profile with F11, and see console aliases for profiling options.

Dead Man Walking mode bonus chapters

Official maps for the Dead Man Walking mode made by Rockstar games.

Modifications

Weapon patch

Allows for mods to have more weapons than in the original game.

Required by most mods.

Will not work if there is data in <path-to-game>. Therefore, the folder and MP2_Arsenal.ras must be deleted and MP2_Data.ras must be re-downloaded.

• Epilepsy Accessibility Mod - Removes certain effects to make the game accessible to those with epilepsy issues.
• Payne Effects 3 - Gameplay mod that adds new effects and overhauls most of the gameplay mechanics. (not recommended to use with EAX)
• Payne Evolution - Gameplay mod that emulates the mechanics closer to that of Max Payne 3. (not recommended to use with EAX)
• Fixing the Payne - Adds lots of minor tweaks like balance fixes, skipping bullet time reload cutscene, additional bullet cam, sounds ported from Max Payne, etc.
• Xbox Rain Droplets - Basic implementation of Xbox rain droplets from SkyGFX for other games. Might cause issues with models.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum		Recommended
Operating system (OS)	98		2000, ME, XP
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium III 1.0 GHz Intel Celeron 1.2 GHz AMD Athlon 1.0 GHz AMD Duron 1.2 GHz		Intel Pentium 4 1.7 GHz Intel Celeron 1.7 GHz AMD Athlon 1.4 GHz AMD Duron 1.7 GHz
System memory (RAM)	256 MB		512 MB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	1.5 GB
Video card (GPU)	32 MB of VRAM DirectX 9 compatible		64 MB of VRAM
Sound (audio device)	DirectSound compatible sound card