V-Patch for L.A. Noire: Complete Edition

This project is not affiliated with Take-Two or Rockstar Games.

V-Patch is a lightweight community-developed patch designed to address common issues in the PC version of L.A. Noire. It also enables users to customize various technical aspects of the game, such as setting a custom field of view (FoV) or disabling the company logos that appear when starting the game.

What does V-Patch do?

Total FPS Uncap (60+ FPS) & Variable Frame rate

The main feature of V-Patch is the ability to completely remove the default 30 FPS limit. Unlike other FPS patches that can only change the limit to 60, V-Patch allows the game to be run completely uncapped by implementing an improved FPS cap removal method, which also doesn't suffer from side effects such as the game simulation running at incorrect speeds.

In addition, V-Patch addresses the following FPS-related bugs:

• Cars brake at the correct speed regardless of the frame rate (fixes an issue in the case "The Golden Butterfly").
• The pencil in the case "The Set Up" can now be picked up.
• Pigeons take off at the correct speed.

Here are videos demonstrating the patch in action:

Unlocked aspect ratios (16:10, 4:3, 5:4, etc.)

By default, L.A. Noire offers only a limited set of resolutions and aspect ratios, with those smaller than 16:9 displaying black bars. V-Patch removes this limitation, allowing users to specify any resolution in the game's menu. V-Patch also removes the black bars and implements UI scaling correction, which ensures the game is fully playable in any resolution.

L.A. Noire running in a 5:4 resolution without black bars and with FOV correction.

Note

In addition, setting any custom resolution using the "-res W H" command-line argument is now possible.

Ultrawide support

V-Patch implements UI size and FoV correction, enabling users to play the game in any ultrawide resolution. Unlike other patches, the FoV correction does not break cutscenes, meaning the intended cinematic experience is preserved.

Comparison of various aspect ratios with FoV correction.

Other features

In addition to these fixes, V-Patch allows you to customize various technical aspects of the game:

• Borderless window - The patch allows the user to start the game in borderless mode.
• Skipping company logos - For a faster startup, the user can disable the logos and legal information which shows up after starting the game.
• Custom FoV - Via an option in the config, the user can set a custom FoV multiplier.
• Custom FPS limit - If needs be, the patch allows the user to set a custom FPS cap.

FoV Multiplier 2.0

Installation

V-Patch works with any licensed copy of L.A. Noire (both Steam & R* Launcher), including builds 2617, 2663 and 2675 (current version).

Installing the patch is very simple:

1. Get the latest release from GitHub
2. Extract the contents of the "L.A.Noire" directory into the root of your L.A. Noire installation (same location as LaNoire.exe).
3. Done. No other special setup is required.

Important

Do not forget to extract all of the files, including the "plugins" directory. If this step is missed, then V-Patch will not be loaded.

Linux (Proton/Wine) Installation

Use the same steps as above in addition to this guide by Silent.

Configuration

In order to customize the settings of V-Patch, navigate to the game's directory and find the plugins folder. Here you can find a config file by the name of lanvp.ini in which you can enable/disable or change the features mentioned above.

Known issues

• Car steering is more sensitive than it should be.
• On very high FPS (100+), the chandelier in the case "The Quarter Moon Murders" can break. If you encounter this issue, temporarily disable the patch or lower your FPS limit to below 100.

Warning

Some cases or activities may still be unbeatable when playing with a high frame rate. If you encounter such an issue, disable the FPS unlock in the config file (lanvp.ini in the plugins directory of your game installation), restart the game, pass the current section, re-enable the FPS unlock in the config and restart the game again.

Compiling

V-Patch is built with C++14 and the latest version of Visual Studio. It utilizes the Windows SDK and does not require any external libraries.

Changelog

v2.0 (August 8th, 2024)

• Patch rewritten from scratch.
• Fixed the infamous pencil FPS bug in the case "The Set Up".
• Reworked the implementation of the FPS patch. UI elements will now fade in/out at the right speed and have the correct mouse sensitivity. Also, the game will now correctly pause if alt-tabbed (unless the -ignorefocus option is specified).
• Fixed the speed of pigeons when they take off on high FPS.
• Fixed problems with changing the resolution of the game when the Aspect ratio fix was enabled. Also, black bars will no longer re-appear.
• Fixed FoV blending problems on ultrawide aspect ratios.
• Fixed the behaviour of FoV correction in cutscenes on ultrawide monitors.

v1.1b (June 30th, 2022)

• Added support for new L.A Noire version 2675.
• Resolved an issue where dinput8.dll couldn't be found on 32-bit systems.
• More verbose Windows API error messages.

v1.1a (September 11th, 2021)

• Added option to enforce DirectX 11. Set to true by default if the user has a D3D11 capable GPU.
• Fixed bug where resolution wouldn't be enforced if the config was not yet generated.

v1.1 (July 4th, 2021)

• Fixed mouse sensitivity in map menu.
• Improved GUI scaling for different aspect ratios.
• Fixed major issues with resolution enforcement.
• Added option to skip the intro logos when the game is launched.
• Added ability to set a custom FPS cap.
• Previously "unsupported" resolutions should now appear in the game settings.
• Added V-Patch version text into main menu.

Credits

Thanks to ThirteenAG for the Ultimate ASI Loader.

Thanks to the following people for taking the time to help with testing V-Patch:

• iJuhan
• PixellSnow
• Pastelblue
• Comot
• GaroK
• BazookaDad