Ford Racing 2 - fix pack (including music player) for Windows Vista/7/8/8.1 by VirtuaIceMan

IMPORTANT: this fix pack is for the English Empire Interactive version of the game. I know the demo and Russian releases are different, and the fixes below may not work. Please refer to the link below to wsgf.org for more discussion on this.


What's up with Ford Racing 2 then?
Ford Racing 2 uses a WMA music playing method that's not supported in Windows above XP, so when you try to run the game it crashes with an error about the wma filter when you try to start the game. This zip file contains all you need to get it working again (and even a basic way to hear music whilst playing, without too much hassle).


Part 1 - fixing the game:
Thanks to jackfuste on wsgf.org, there are now 3 replacement executables available that skip the wma filter error, allowing Ford Racing 2 to work. These come in the original 4:3 dimensions, along with modified executables for people running scrreens at 16:9 and 16:10 ratios. To use these, simply go into the folder that's appropriate (4_3, 16_9, 16_10) and copy the fr2.exe into the folder where you have the game installed on your PC, overwriting the existing file.

Note: the 4:3 one is at the original ratio that the game was designed at, the 16:9 and 16:10 versions have the field of vision amended so the 3D graphics aren't stretched, but the 2D displays in game will be.

The original thread about fixing the game is here: http://www.wsgf.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=24310


Part 2 - hearing some music:
The music files are included in the game install folder, they're inside the sounds/music sub-folder. I've created a basic way to choose a type of music (as you could in-game originally) using Windows Media Player. This works on Windows 8.1 64bit, and should work on other Windows versions, as long as you have Windows Media Player installed.

Here's how to install the music player fixes: simply copy the fr2music.bat file and the 4 .wpl files (MusicAll.wpl, MusicFunk.wpl, MusicHouse.wpl and MusicRock.wpl) into the folder where you have the game installed on your PC. Then double-click the fr2music.bat file, pick a type of music, and play!

Note: if you want a shortcut to this launcher, edit any existing Ford Racing 2 shortcut (e.g. one on the desktop) to point to fr2music.bat, instead of fr2.exe

CAVEATS:
1. When you finish the game you'll have to manually close Windows Media Player.
2. If you want the music to loop in game (instead of play through once), before starting the game, load up Windows Media Player and set the player to loop.
3. If you want to randomise the order of music in game, before starting the game, load up Windows Media Player and turn shuffle on.
4. As the music is playing via Windows Media Player, it'll play non-stop, even through the opening video in the game.
5. If the music is too loud, you'll have to set the volume in Windows Media Player lower, before running the game.
6. The UI music is ONLY included in the All music playlist. Again, you can modify any playlist if you wish, just edit the .wpl playlist files with Notepad!

If you don't have Windows Media Player:
If you don't have Windows Media Player installed then the .wpl files may not work. These are just playlists that Windows Media Player can load. If you use an alternative music player, simply create playlist files in that, and edit the fr2music.bat file to call them, instead of the supplied .wpl files

Enjoy! VirtuaIceMan December 2014