Need for Speed: Most Wanted for PS Vita

An unofficial port of Need for Speed: Most Wanted (PS2, Black Edition, SLUS-21351) to the PS Vita.

This project does not include any game data. You need your own legal copy of the game. The steps below read your disc and prepare the files for the Vita.

The current state of the port, with what is done and what is still missing, is kept up to date in this status spreadsheet.

Found a bug or a crash? Please open an issue in the Issues tab of this repository. Include:

• Your Vita's firmware version and the release you installed.
• What you were doing when the problem happened, and whether it happens again.
• The log file ux0:data/nfsmw/nfsmw.log, if the game wrote one.

Check the status spreadsheet first: a known problem may already be listed there.

The PS2 disc does not store file names. The game finds each file by a number computed from its name. The Vita port reads normal files, so the script reads that index and writes each file under its real name. It also converts the movies, because the Vita only plays them in MP4 format.

The script does not download anything, does not change your disc, and writes only into the folder you choose.

1. Install the game on the Vita: download nfsmw.vpk from the Releases page and install it with VitaShell.

2. Get the disc contents on your computer. Extract the ISO with any tool (for example 7-Zip), or copy the disc's files. The folder must contain SYSTEM.CNF and the NFS folder.

3. Install ffmpeg (optional, for the movies). Check that it works by running ffmpeg -version in a terminal.

4. Download this repository and run the script from its folder:

   python3 scripts/extract-game-data.py "path/to/disc-folder" "path/to/game-data"

   On Windows, use python instead of python3.

   The script first copies the game files, then converts the movies one by one, showing its progress. The movies are the slow part: leave it running until it prints Done.

5. Copy the contents of game-data (the folders and files inside it, not the folder itself) to ux0:data/nfsmw/ on the Vita. Create the nfsmw folder inside data if it does not exist.

6. Start the game from the LiveArea.

Running the script again is safe: it skips the files already in OUT, so you can run it again after installing ffmpeg to add the movies.

Some versions need game files that earlier versions of the script did not copy. To update:

1. Download the latest scripts/extract-game-data.py.
2. Run it again with the same OUT folder. It only copies what is missing, so it takes a few seconds.
3. Copy the new files to ux0:data/nfsmw/. The release notes list them; for 1.2.0 they are SOUND/SPEECH/COPSPEECH_EN.IDX and SOUND/STREAMS/NISAUDIO.IDX.
4. Install the new nfsmw.vpk.

Open Options > Video from the main menu or the pause menu. The game saves the settings to ux0:data/nfsmw/config.ini when you leave the screen.

Resolution. 960x544 is the screen's native resolution and the sharpest, but the hardest on the GPU, which limits the 3D scene. 720x408 and 640x368 are in between. 480x272 is the fastest but looks blurry. The menu shows (restart) until you restart the game.

Frame Rate. At 30 the game shows a new frame every second screen refresh, at 60 on every refresh. 60 is not guaranteed: a frame that takes longer than 16.6 ms is shown late, so the pace is less even. 30 is steady and uses less battery.

MW Color Filter. The tint, bloom and brightness curves of the PS2 game's visual treatment, drawn over the 3D view. Turning it off gives neutral colors without the yellow haze, and saves up to about 3 ms a frame: the game then skips that whole pass unless motion blur needs it.

Car Light Glow. With it on, headlight and brake light textures are drawn without shading, so a lit brake light looks lit even when the car is in shadow. With it off they are shaded like the rest of the car and look dimmer. It costs no performance.

The game raises the CPU to 444 MHz, the Vita's standard maximum. The frame rate depends a lot on the CPU: an overclocking plugin that runs it at 500 MHz gives noticeably smoother races (in one race, 20-26 FPS at 500 MHz against 15-21 FPS at 444 MHz).

Overclocking drains the battery faster and makes the Vita run warmer. It is optional and at your own risk. It does not fix crashes or freezes, so please report those as usual.

• Checks that the disc is Need for Speed: Most Wanted Black Edition (SLUS-21351). Any other disc is refused.
• Reads the disc's file index and copies the 1232 game files, byte for byte, into OUT.
• Converts the 34 movies with ffmpeg, to MP4 files in OUT/MOVIES. The settings match the Vita's video decoder.
• Writes only into OUT. It has no network access.

• "SYSTEM.CNF not found" or "not the root of a PS2 disc": the folder you gave is not the root of the disc. Choose the folder that contains SYSTEM.CNF and NFS.
• "This is not Need for Speed: Most Wanted Black Edition": the disc is another game or another version.
• "ffmpeg was not found": install ffmpeg, or use --no-movies.
• The game runs without movies: the movies were not converted. Install ffmpeg and run the script again.
• The game shows an error about missing data: check the log at ux0:data/nfsmw/nfsmw.log and confirm that the game-data folder was copied in full.

This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Electronic Arts. Need for Speed and Most Wanted are trademarks of their respective owners. This project does not distribute game data: you need your own legal copy to use it.

• VitaSDK and vitaGL: toolchain and renderer.
• To dbalatoni13 decompilation which served as starting point for the decompilation for this port.