NFS:World Guide
Circa 2011
NFS:World Wallpapers.com
Someone from the community put together this great site for high quality screenshots and wallpapers, check it out!
Hide InGame Mouse Cursor!
The program is called Auto Hide Mouse Cursor Free. It is a portable app that never needs installed. Just extract the folder to a safe location (like my documents) and launch. I recommend the following settings & choices.
For a second I couldnt figure out how to exit the program to move it to my Portable Apps folder. Till I clicked #esc. Feel free to select the amount of time you want the program to wait to disable the cursor. The cursor instantly re-appears when the mouse moves.
Now heres the fun part. You can either have the application minimize to tray and take up space Or you can have it never show up again. since its such a small program you can "set it and forget it".
Opening USERSETTINGS.xml, Editing, & Enabling
To enable the folders to get to your usersettings file do the following...
Open a Windows window.
At the top of the window will either say Organize or Tools, select which one you have up there.
Select Folder Options from either menu.
Click on the views TAB.
Under Hidden Files and Folders, change to ENABLE.
A few spots below that is Hide Extentions to Known Filetypes, Uncheck that which allows you to see the .xml in the file.
You need to make sure the .xml stays at the end of the file or you lose the file type of ANY file.
Finally, to open the file right click, open with, select Notepad or another text editor.
My Recommended Settings
To generate these settings so you do not have to type them, open your usersettings.xml usually found in
C:\Users\YOURNAME\AppData\Roaming\Need for Speed World\Settings
Find the section called <videoconfig> and then find the setting called <performancelevel Type="int">5</performancelevel> and change the setting to 5. Save the file and reboot. The next time you start the game all these settings will appear
The following settings are my recommendation to have the best overall quality and turn off the stuff that REALLY lags the game, i've gotten almost a 40-60fps jump with these settings. The only thing you need to adjust is the resolution to what works best for you, which also has the largest impact on performance if you didn't know. With my current system I get over 100fps @1680x1050. And don't forget NFSW usually only uses 1 or 2 cpu cores at most, quality > quantity, so its best to have a high cpu speed and good video card.
Some settings have been deleted because they aren't used / don't matter
<VideoConfig> <audiomode Type="int">2</audiomode> <audioquality Type="int">1</audioquality> <basetexturefilter Type="int">2</basetexturefilter> <basetexturelodbias Type="int">0</basetexturelodbias> <basetexturemaxani Type="int">4</basetexturemaxani> //older system use 0 <carenvironmentmapenable Type="int">4</carenvironmentmapenable> <carlodlevel Type="int">1</carlodlevel> <enableaero Type="int">0</enableaero> <fsaalevel Type="int">0</fsaalevel> <globaldetaillevel Type="int">4</globaldetaillevel> <maxskidmarks Type="int">2</maxskidmarks> <motionblurenable Type="int">0</motionblurenable> <particlesystemenable Type="int">0</particlesystemenable> <performancelevel Type="int">5</performancelevel> <roadreflectionenable Type="int">2</roadreflectionenable> <roadtexturefilter Type="int">2</roadtexturefilter> <roadtexturelodbias Type="int">0</roadtexturelodbias> <roadtexturemaxani Type="int">4</roadtexturemaxani> //older system use 0
<screenheight Type="int">ADD YOUR RESOLUTION HEIGHT HERE</screenheight> <screenwidth Type="int">ADD YOUR RESOLUTION WIDTH HERE</screenwidth> <shaderdetail Type="int">4</shaderdetail> //older system use 2 <shadowdetail Type="int">2</shadowdetail> //older system use 1 <visualtreatment Type="int">0</visualtreatment> </VideoConfig>
Usersettings.xml Setting Descriptions
Some settings have been deleted because they aren't used / don't matter
audiomode: 1 is stereo, 2 surround sound, same as the ingame settings screen
audioquality: 1 is a higher quality sound but you need to change to maximum quality in the NFS launcher settings, 0 disables. no performance impact
basetexturefilter: 0 is no, 1 a bad and 2 the best texture "picmip" same impact on performance as the next setting
basetexturelodbias: 0 is highest quality "mip mapping". 1 and 2 also work, most people will be fine at 0 unless you run a very high resolution then your pixel fill rate cant keep up and causes lag
basetexturemaxani: Sets the Anisotropic Filtering (AF) for any texture, not roads. You may set 0x, 2x, 4x, 8x or 16x. I find 4 or 8 has almost no impact on performance
carenvironmentmapenable: Reflections on cars are controlled with this. Ranks from 0 to 4. 3 and 4 can lag on older systems
carlodlevel: 0 for minimum and 1 for maximum details on cars. Geometry based setting for my triangles. 1 has little impact on performace
enableaero: 0 to disable Aero and 1 to let Aero on while playing. Just important for Windows Vista and 7. Mild Performance gain, recommended for every game
fsaalevel: Anti-Aliasing, renders the 2D-image again through the Anti-Aliasing-process. You can set it from 0 to 4. If you prefer the AA of your graphics driver, set it to 0.
globaldetaillevel: Sets the details of the environment, ranks from 0 to 4. This is buildings, there textures, etc... use with caution may lower performance
maxskidmarks: 0 disables tire marks, 1 is normal and they disappear when you come back to that road, 2 when you come back to a road they are still there. using 2 doesnt really effect performance much
motionblurenable: 0 disables and 1 enables the Motion Blur-effect. large performance gains disabling the particle system.
particlesystemenable: 0 disables and 1 enables the particlesystem, which is responsible for powerup-, smoke- and fire-effects. large performance gains disabling the particle system.
performancelevel: This controls which of the five presets in-game is loaded, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, low, med, high, etc.. 5 creates all these settings under </VideoConfig> section of your usersettings.xml file. then leave it at 5 and adjust each setting to your liking
rainenable: If there was a rain-effect in World: 0 disables and 1 enables the rain-effect. But there is none yet.
roadreflectionenable: Controls reflections on streets. Ranks from 0 to 2.
roadtexturefilter: Look at basetexturefilter, for roads.
roadtexturelodbias: Lood at basetexturelodbias, for roads.
roadtexturemaxani: Look at basetexturemaxani, for roads.
screenrefresh: The refresh rate of your monitor. Should be set automatically to the right value.
screenheight: The height of your monitor in pixels, e.g. 1080 for Full-HD. -use for manual resolution
screenwidth: The width of your monitor in pixels, e.g. 1920 for Full-HD. -use for manual resolution
shaderdetail: Controls the quality of the shader, responsible for changes shiney surfaces, water, scratches on cars and so on. 0, 1, 2 and 4 are possible, 3 just causes errors. 4 can be used with little decrease in performance
shadowdetail: Controls the quality of the shadows, it is recommended at 2 with shaderdetail at 4 for best shadows. 0, 1 , 2 large performance gains at 0 & 1
size: Might control how much VRAM World can use. 0 is autodetect. A manual setting(like 1000 = mb) saved FPS for some people, you need to try both.
visualtreatment: 0 disables and 1 enables visual treatment. Responsible for effects while crashing, glow effects on bright objects, colored lighting, also screws up the color blue on cars. significant performance gains while off
vsyncon: 0 disables and 1 enables VSync.
watersimenable: 0 disables and 1 enables water simulations. In World they are really bad, you might set it to 0 as there isn't much water in World.
Treasure Hunt Rewards
Day 1 Tier 1: Street Stage, all rarity
Day 2 Tier 2: Street Stage, all rarity
Day 3 Tier 3: Street Stage, all rarity
Day 4 SkillMod: all Star, all rarity
Day 5 Tier 1: Race Stage, all rarity
Day 6 SkillMod: all Star, all rarity
Day 7 Tier 2: Race Stage, all rarity
Day 8 SkillMod: all Star, all rarity
Day 9 Tier 3: Race Stage, all rarity
Day 10 SkillMod: all Star, all rarity
Day 11 SkillMod: all Star, all rarity
Day 12 Tier 1: Pro Stage, all rarity
Day 13 SkillMod: all Star, all rarity
Day 14 SkillMod: all Star, all rarity
Day 15 Tier 2: Pro Stage, all rarity
Day 16 SkillMod: all Star, all rarity
Day 17 SkillMod: all Star, all rarity
Day 18 Tier 3: Pro Stage, all rarity
Day 19 +
Random SkillMod & Pro Stage Parts
Consensus of atleast 1 Pro Stage or Ultra Stage per week after Day 18
Consensus rate is roughly 23% chance for the Pro Stage or Ultra Stage drop