Max Payne

Max Payne

Developers
	Remedy Entertainment
Mac OS (Classic)	Feral Interactive
macOS (OS X)	Westlake Interactive[1]
Publishers
Windows (Past)	Gathering of Developers
Windows (Current)	Rockstar Games
Mac OS	MacSoft
Russia	1C-SoftClub
Engines
	MAX-FX
Release dates
Windows	July 23, 2001
Mac OS (Classic)	July 16, 2002
macOS (OS X)	July 16, 2002
Reception
Metacritic	89
IGDB	74
Taxonomy
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Shooter
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	North America, Contemporary
Series	Max Payne

Max Payne
Max Payne	2001
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne	2003
Max Payne 3	2012

Contents  [h]  [e]    1Availability [-]2Essential improvements    2.1Patches    2.2Peixoto's patch    2.3Unofficial patches    2.4Skip intro videos    2.5Skip Launcher    2.6Max Payne Remastered [+]3Game data [+]4Video    5Input [+]6Audio [+]7Issues unresolved [+]8Issues fixed    9VR support [+]10Other information    11System requirements    12Notes    13References

Key points

Some sounds are missing on Windows Vista and later. See Missing audio.

Unofficial startup hang patch should be applied to prevent the game from locking up during startup.

The game does not work on new Ryzen Zen 2 processors.^[2] See JPEG errors on AMD Zen-2-based CPUs.

General information

Max Payne Wiki

Steam Community Discussions

Availability • Link[edit]

SafeDisc retail DRM no longer functions properly on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).

Demo

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

Max Payne 1 + 2 Doppelpack, available in Germany, is DRM-free for both Max Payne 1 and 2.^{[citation needed]}

Essential improvements • Link[edit]

Patches • Link[edit]

The latest official patch v1.05 is available at community.pcgamingwiki.com and at soggi.org. The Steam version is already patched.

Peixoto's patch • Link[edit]

• Fixes missing audio on cutscenes and in some areas
• Forced vsync - which is not possible via driver on Direct3D8\Windows 10 anymore - also prevents some bugs
• Forced resolution solves some artifacts on the edges of polygons and allows super sampling anti aliasing

Unofficial patches • Link[edit]

Startup hang patch

Max Payne Fix It All A combined patch with ThirteenAG's Widescreen Fix, Direct X 9 wrappers for Vsync, and a sound fix.

Max Payne 1, Complete FixPack A combined patch with ThirteenAG's Widescreen Fix, a high-res texture pack, and different options for video wrappers and sound fixes.

Skip intro videos • Link[edit]

Launch the game with the -skipstartup parameter[citation needed]

Skip Launcher • Link[edit]

Launch the game with the -nodialog parameter[5]

Max Payne Remastered • Link[edit]

HD texture pack using ESRGAN, an upscaling method that takes a low-res image and adds realistic details to it.

Game data • Link[edit]

Configuration file(s) location • Link[edit]

Save game data location • Link[edit]

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

Save game cloud syncing • Link[edit]

Video • Link[edit]

Field of view (FOV) • Link[edit]

Set FOV with widescreen fix[citation needed]
Install ThirteenAG's fix. Edit MaxPayne.WidescreenFix.ini. Set FOVFactor to the desired value (capped at around 1.43). Notes It might turn the nightmare levels unplayable, since these sections of the game already alter the camera FOV.

Borderless fullscreen windowed • Link[edit]

Force borderless fullscreen[citation needed]
Download and run DxWnd. Click on Edit, then Add. Set the Path to <path-to-game>\maxpayne.exe. Set Desktop for borderless fullscreen windowed. Click on DirectX tab, set DirectX 8. Click OK, then File and Save.

Vertical sync (Vsync) • Link[edit]

Using Vsync on modern systems (Windows 10+) requires a workaround.

Activate d3d8to9 in Widescreen Fix[7]
Download ThirteenAG's fix. Copy all contents to the installation folder. Open global.ini in the scripts folder. Change UseD3D8to9=0 to UseD3D8to9=1.

Use d3d8to9 by itself[7]
Download d3d8to9. Copy d3d8.dll to the installation folder.

Input • Link[edit]

Audio • Link[edit]

Localizations • Link

Issues unresolved • Link[edit]

There are visible polygon seams when running under Windows 10 • Link[edit]

When the game is running under Windows 10 there are a lot of visible polygon seams when both Hardware T&L and MSAA (any type) enabled. The only known workaround to this is to disable one of these options or use supersampling (use Nvidia Inspector for Nvidia Cards).

Issues fixed • Link[edit]

Corrupted files in the French version • Link[edit]

The French Steam version of Max Payne has corrupted files, with the error message Invalid Data Read from R_memory File("part1_level1b). Reports indicate issues with the files x_level1.ras, x_level2.ras and x_level3.ras

To solve the crash Download the file. Copy/past the content in the game folder.

Installer fails on Windows 7 64-bit and later (Retail) • Link[edit]

Default installer on disc root is 16-bit.

Run from setup[9]
Run Disk1\setup.exe from the disc instead. Click Yes on prompts regarding not enough memory and install anyway.

Missing audio • Link[edit]

Use IndirectSound[10]
Restores DirectSound (better quality).

Use Creative Lab's ALchemy Software[11]

Download and install ALchemy. Launch ALchemy. Add a new Profile (skip to Step 11 if using retail version of the game). Name it "MaxPayne". Select Use Game Path and navigate to Max Payne's install directory. Set Buffers to 4. Set Duration to 25. Set Max Voice Count to 128. Click OK. Click the newly created profile and then click ">>" to enable it. Close ALchemy and play. Notes Even better quality DirectSound wrapper to use with Creative cards as well as others. The Max Payne profile will automatically show up in ALchemy when using retail version of the game. If you encounter random stuttering after applying the fix, try moving your game folder to an SSD.

Use an unofficial patch[12]
Download the unofficial patch. Extract the contents to the installation folder. Run MaxBatch.bat. Follow the on-screen instructions. Relies on automated lossy sound files recompression into other format.

The launcher does not start • Link[edit]

Run the game in compatibility mode for Windows 98 / Me[citation needed]

JPEG errors on AMD Zen-2-based CPUs • Link[edit]

Use a fixed rlmfc.dll[13]
Download this file. Extract it in <path-to-game> and overwrite rlmfc.dll. Instructions to do the fix manually here.

Game crashes or videos fail to load • Link[edit]

Run the game in compatibility mode for Windows 98/Windows Me[citation needed]

Error: setFullscreen - creating the device failed: E_FAIL • Link[edit]

Use ThirteenAG's fix[citation needed]

Exception in engineInit: Unable to load save game "Files" • Link[edit]

Reinstall the game on the C: drive[citation needed]

Exception in startupInit: Directory \data not found • Link[edit]

Move the game to a folder without spaces[citation needed]
Reinstall the game to a folder without spaces in the folder path (e.g. C:\Games\MaxPayne).

Disable anti-aliasing[citation needed]

(Steam) Move the game to a folder without spaces[citation needed]

Set up a new Steam library folder without spaces in the folder path (e.g. C:\Steam). Remove the game and install it to the new Steam library folder. Go to that folder and go into SteamApps\common. Rename the Max Payne folder to MaxPayne. Go back to the SteamApps folder and open appmanifest_12140.acf with a text editor. If Windows Notepad can't read it, use another text editor like Notepad++. Change the line "installdir" "Max Payne" to "installdir" "MaxPayne" Restart Steam. If needed, run the game in compatibility mode for Windows 98 / Me.

Game won't launch, shows up in task manager, white screen • Link[edit]

Use the unofficial Startup hang patch[citation needed]

Run the game in compatibility mode for Windows 98 / Me[citation needed]

Skip the intro or delete it in the game folder[citation needed]

See Force CPU affinity to run the game on one core[citation needed]

Roll back AMD Catalyst drivers to 12.6 from here[citation needed]

Game breaking bugs at high frame rate • Link[edit]

An extremely high uncapped frame rate reduces your shootdodge and jump distance and may make some areas unfinishable.

d3d8to9 already engages game's built-in vsync. Use d3d9 wrapper only if you need to cap the frame rate to lower than your display's refresh rate. Alternatively, you can lower the display's refresh rate.

Use Widescreen Fix and d3d9 wrapper[7]
Download ThirteenAG's fix. Copy all contents to the installation folder. Open global.ini in the scripts folder. Change UseD3D8to9=0 to UseD3D8to9=1. Download d3d9 wrapper. Copy the contents to the installation folder. Open d3d9.ini. In FPSLimit = change 0 to your desired number.

Use d3d8to9 and d3d9 wrapper[7]
Download d3d8to9. Copy d3d8.dll to the installation folder. Download d3d9 wrapper. Copy the contents to the installation folder. Open d3d9.ini. In FPSLimit = change 0 to your desired number.

Reshade/SweetFX doesn't work • Link[edit]

This problem occurs when using the Thirteen AG Widescreen Patch.

Use the d3d8to9 wrapper[citation needed]
Open global.ini in the scripts folder. Change UseD3D8to9=0 to UseD3D8to9=1. Install ReShade or SweetFX as DirectX 9.

VR support • Link[edit]

Other information • Link[edit]

API • Link[edit]

Middleware • Link[edit]

Command line arguments • Link[edit]

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

System requirements • Link[edit]

Windows

Mac OS (Classic)

macOS (OS X)

Notes • Link

References • Link