Do you wanna play the greatest Saints Row game ever, but have to suffer immensely due to it being one of the worst PC ports ever? This guide may just help make playing Saints Row 2 on Steam just a little bit more bearable.

You will need to download Gentlemen Of The Row, a free SR2 patch by IdolNinja, and use NVIDIA Control Panel (or AMD/Intel equivalents).

The first step to improving performance on Saints Row 2 is to install Gentlemen of the Row, a fan-made patch that improves many aspects of the game such as fixing bugs, adding content/features not accessible/available in the vanilla game, and making Saints Row 2 a smoother experience on Steam.

• Download Gentlemen of the Row[www.saintsrowmods.com]from SaintsRowMods.com
  
• Extract the file using WinRAR (or equivalents)
  
• Open the file, then open Create_Custom_GotR_v1.9.2

By opening Create_Custom_GotR_v1.9.2, it opens the Custom Patch Builder. From here, you can choose what mods (if any) you want to install into your copy of Saints Row 2. After you have selected what you want to install into your game, press P to build your custom patch. If you do not want to install any optional mods, and just want to fix bugs found in the game, simply press P when this menu appears. After you have built your patch, wait for the program to put together your files. When it is finished, press any button to close the Custom Patch Builder. Now, find the MY_CUSTOM_PATCH folder. In here, you will find the patches you selected in the Custom Patch Builder. Now we will want to place these files into our Saints Row 2 Install Directory.

To open the Saints Row 2 Directory you'll have to:

• Find Saints Row 2 in your Steam Library
  
• Click the Gear Icon somewhere to the right under SR2's banner art
  
• Select Properties...
  
• Click Local Files
  
• Select Browse...

From here, all you'll have to do is drop the files from the MY_CUSTOM_PATCH folder into here, and replace all the files it asks you to. If you have done everything correctly, Gentlemen of the Row should successfully be installed onto your computer. Sometimes, the optional mods you selected will not save and load into SR2 the first time. If this happens, simply rebuild the patch and drop it into the directory again. If you feel like you messed something up and want to reset your build of Saints Row 2, select Verify integrity of game files... on the Local Files menu, and your copy of Saints Row 2 will rebuild itself as if nothing was ever changed in the directory. Opening Saints Row 2 with Gentlemen of the Row installed should improve performance significantly, but there is still more that can be done to make the game run better.

I recommend these mods if you want to enhance gameplay on a mostly vanilla experience:

• Skylion's Super Sliders - Greatly extends the range of all sliders
  (Found in 2. Character Creation Slider Mods Menu)
  
• Clothing colors selectable in wardrobe
  (Found in 5. Clothing and Tattoo Mods Menu)
  
• Open Weapons for sale - All weapons immediately for sale at stores
  (Found in 12. Open Menu)

For the next step, find NVIDIA Control Panel on your computer, if you have an NVIDIA GPU of course. I don't know what the AMD/Intel counterparts are called, but what we're doing can be done in whatever program of choice, including things such as MSI Afterburner, and stuff. But basically what we're going to do is limit Saints Row 2 to 60FPS. I have done testing, and found the game to be the most stable at 60FPS. 90FPS and 120FPS has also been tested, sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. I think the FPS cap is different from system to system, as 90 FPS worked well on one desktop, and crashed and stuttered a lot on the other. What may have worked great for me, might run horribly for you, and vice versa. So I recommend capping SR2 at 60FPS, and slowly increasing it to whatever seems fine to you.

• Click Manage 3D Settings under 3D Settings
  
• Click Program Settings
  
• Find Saints Row 2 (sr2_pc.exe)
  
• Scroll down and select Max Frame Rate
  
• Set Max Frame Rate to 60 FPS

After you've finished capping Saints Row 2 to 60FPS, launch the game and play around and test it a bit, in case if you feel like pushing the limit higher or even lower.

After you have installed Gentlemen of the Row, and limited Saints Row 2 to 60FPS in NVIDIA Control Panel, Saints Row 2 should be performing way better than it would on a clean install. But there's one more step, and it may or not work as a last boost in FPS. I have done this test on 4 PCs, and it seems to work every time. Launch the game and load into a save.

When you spawn in:

• Open the Pause Menu (esc by default)
  
• Head to your Phone
  
• Go to Dial
  
• Dial #99
  
• Unlock PC Richie NPC Morph Cheat
  
• Go to Cheats
  
• Select Player Ability
  
• Select PC Richie
  
• Press esc two times
  
• Enjoy FPS boost thanks to Richie

Gentlemen of the Row provides new cheat codes available for use in vanilla Saints Row 2, including the ability to morph your character into an NPC's model for use. I accidentally found out that cheat code #99 (PC Richie Morph), boosts my FPS to the set limit and makes almost everything run smoothly. It sounds weird, but it's at least worth a try. You don't have to play Saints Row 2 exclusively as Richie to get an FPS boost, you can dial #75 to restore your playermodel back to The Boss, and keep the FPS boost. I've tried this trick with the Carlos (#78), Johnny Gat (#88), Pierce (#98), Sampson (#100), Shaundi (#101), Tobias (#105), and DJ Veteran Child (#108) cheats, but my FPS still stutters and randomly dips. If your desperate for an easy chance at boosting performance on Saints Row 2, this is it.

This section consists of information and other things that I highly recommend downloading to improve the Saints Row 2 experience, such as:

• Saints Row 2 Powertools and Resolution Editor[www.saintsrowmods.com]
  (useful if SR2 won't let you change resolutions, or your resolution isn't natively supported)
  
• Saints Row 2 High Quality Radio Mod[www.saintsrowmods.com]
  (increases audio quality of music from radio stations everywhere)
  
• Saints Row 2 Visual Overhaul Mod[www.saintsrowmods.com]
  (makes graphics awesome)

These cheats WILL NOT flag your Saints Row 2 save file

#75 - The Boss
#76 - PC Aisha
#78 - PC Carlos
#79 - PC Carlos Jail
#80 - PC Carlos Bloody
#81 - PC Carlos Zombie
#82 - PC Crazy Salesman
#83 - PC Dane Vogel
#84 - PC Donnie
#85 - PC The General
#86 - PC Jane Valderamma
#87 - PC Jessica
#88 - PC Johnny Gat
#89 - PC Johnny Gat Bandaged
#90 - PC Julius
#91 - PC Jyunichi
#92 - PC Kazuo
#93 - PC Laura
#94 - PC Legal Lee
#95 - PC Luz
#96 - PC Maero
#97 - PC Matt
#98 - PC Pierce
#99 - PC Richie
#100 - PC Sampson
#101 - PC Shaundi
#102 - PC Shaundi Repair
#103 - PC Shogo
#104 - PC Mr. Sunshine
#105 - PC Tobias
#106 - PC Translator
#107 - PC Troy
#108 - PC Veteran Child
#109 - PC Vinnie
#110 - PC Mr. Wong

#111 - PC Ronin Female
#112 - PC Ronin Male
#113 - PC Samedi Female
#114 - PC Samedi Male
#115 - PC Brotherhood Female
#116 - PC Brotherhood Male

#117 - PC Cop
#118 - PC FBI
#119 - PC SWAT
#120 - PC Ultor Masako

#121 - PC Guard
#122 - PC Nuclear
#123 - PC Prisoner
#124 - PC Prison Fightclub

#125 - PC Ho
#126 - PC Pimp
#127 - PC Stripper A
#128 - PC Stripper B

#129 - PC Baggage Handler
#130 - PC Barbershop Quartet Singer
#131 - PC Bartender
#132 - PC Bouncer
#133 - PC Construction
#134 - PC Doctor
#135 - PC Drug Tech
#136 - PC EMT
#137 - PC Firefighter
#138 - PC Hotdog
#139 - PC Judge
#140 - PC Lifeguard
#141 - PC Meter Maid
#142 - PC Mime
#143 - PC Minister
#144 - PC Nurse
#145 - PC Pilot
#146 - PC Stewardess
#147 - PC Repair
#148 - PC Scientist

#149 - PC Gyros Driver
#150 - PC Freckle ♥♥♥♥♥'s Driver

#151 - PC Blake
#152 - PC Skeeter
#153 - PC Cheerleader
#154 - PC Sportfan
#155 - PC Athlete Female
#156 - PC Athlete Male

#157 - PC Arena Fightclub
#158 - PC Female Biker
#159 - PC Male Biker
#160 - PC Bum
#161 - PC Junky
#162 - PC Business Female
#163 - PC Business Male
#164 - PC Cowboy
#165 - PC Elderly Female
#166 - PC Elderly Male
#167 - PC Fat Female
#168 - PC Goth Female
#169 - PC Goth Male
#170 - PC Hippie Female
#171 - PC Hippie Male
#172 - PC Pirate
#173 - PC Punk Female
#174 - PC Punk Female
#175 - PC Roid Freak
#176 - PC Skydiver

#177 - PC Zombie Male A
#178 - PC Zombie Male B
#179 - PC Zombie Male C
#180 - PC Zombie Female A
#181 - PC Zombie Female B

#182 - PC Doorman

Hopefully Richie can work his weed magic and boost everybody's FPS, have fun playing Saints Row 2.

Special thanks to IdolNinja for spending every second he did on Gentlemen of the Row.