I made a patch for the game which solves all major issues. http://www.sendspace.com/file/dwcvd0
I call it "Modern Compatibility Fix"
Instructions
Install the game.
Run my patch.
Select if you'd like to play with AA.
Select your desired resolution.
Play.
What it does
- Copies the fixed exe over the original
- Runs the resolution patcher
- Applies an affinity (&
640x480 mode) fix, this can be uninstalled from "Program and Features" ("Add/Remove Programs" in XP) later, it's called "Silent Hill 2 Processor Affinity Fix", for example after you uninstall the game you may want to uninstall this too.
- Auto sets the game to 640x480 (which is actually the resolution you have selected eg 1920x1080) and graphics settings turned to the maximum (minus the noise filter)
- Applies my AA fix in case you want to play with AA. If you don't plan to, no reason to enable it, as the hack causes a few glitches (still 90% of the game looks fine, and really.. AA is a must with this game..)
Notes
- Dunno if it works for everyone, eg if one has UAC enabled (I don't). Hopefully people will test it and report back.
- On my setup sometimes sh2pc.exe hangs at startup (I just have to ctrl+alt+del open the task manager and kill sh2pc.exe and then I can launch it again hoping it works this time). The reason I'm writing this is that if the game crashes it will launch with the graphics settings turned down. So you might want to raise them again (edit: alternatively you can make settings.ini read only) as my patch cannot fix this crashing issue.