Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist

Splinter Cell
Subseries of Tom Clancy
Splinter Cell	2003
Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow	2004
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory	2005
Splinter Cell: Double Agent	2006
Splinter Cell: Conviction	2010
Splinter Cell: Blacklist	2013

Key points

PC version features high resolution textures, tessellation, high quality shadows and more PC-specific features.

Ubisoft has removed the mobile app required to unlock some of the in-game upgrades.

The game cannot launch when installed on a drive managed as a Storage Space.

General information

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail
GamersGate		Deluxe Edition also available.
		Deluxe Edition also available.
Green Man Gaming		Deluxe Edition also available.
Humble Store		Deluxe Edition also available.
EA app		Deluxe Edition.
Steam		Deluxe Edition also available.
Ubisoft Store		Deluxe Edition also available, included with Ubisoft+.

All versions require Ubisoft Connect DRM.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
High Power Pack	Included with Deluxe Edition.
Homeland	Included with Deluxe Edition.

Essential improvements

Patches

Ubisoft Connect should update the game by itself. If you have any problems patches links and changelogs can be found here.

Skip intro videos

Delete or rename video files^{[citation needed]}
Go to the installation folder. Go into `data\Videos`. Delete or rename `Copyright.bik`, `Disclaimer.bik`, `ESRB.bik`, `Logo_Clancy_01.bik`, `Logo_MiddleWare_01.bik`, `Logo_Ubisoft.bik`, and `Logo_Ubisoft_Clancy.bik`.

Game data

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Ubisoft\Blacklist\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/235600/pfx/^{[Note 1]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<Ubisoft-Connect-folder>\savegames\<user-id>\91\ <Ubisoft-Connect-folder>\savegames\<user-id>\449\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/235600/pfx/^{[Note 1]}

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
EA app
Steam Cloud
Ubisoft Connect

Video

In-game general video settings.

In-game advanced video settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor		See this page.
Ultra-widescreen		See this page.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)	75°.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	Up to 16 samples.
Anti-aliasing (AA)	Up to 4x TXAA (Nvidia only), FXAA, up to 4x MSAA and SSAA 2x2 Grid or 2x2 Rotated Grid.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS
120+ FPS	High frame rates can cause undesired side effects.^[1] The multiplayer mode is capped at 60 FPS.
High dynamic range display (HDR)	HDR experience can be improved using: RenoDX See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Color blind mode	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Bloom

Disable bloom^{[citation needed]}
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open `videoSettings.ini` Change `UseBloom=1` to `UseBloom=0`.

Motion blur

Disable motion blur^{[citation needed]}
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open `videoSettings.ini`. Change `UseMotionBlur=1` to `UseMotionBlur=0`.

Input

In-game key map settings.

In-game keyboard/mouse settings.

In-game gamepad settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		Negative Mouse Acceleration
Mouse sensitivity		Separate sliders for 1st and 3rd person.
Mouse input in menus
Keyboard and mouse prompts
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		Can only toggle between 3 pre-set layouts (multiplayer only).
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Additional information
Button prompts
Controller hotplugging
Input prompt override
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

The gamepad layout for Single Player/Co-op.
The gamepad layout for Multiplayer (Spy).
The gamepad layout for Multiplayer (Merc).

Audio

In-game audio settings.

In-game language settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Music and SFX only.
Surround sound		5.1 only.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Brazilian Portuguese
Czech
Danish
Dutch
French
German
Hungarian
Italian
Japanese
Norwegian
Polish
Russian
Spanish
Swedish
Traditional Chinese

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play
Online play		8	Versus, Co-op Co-op: Fourth Echelon (4E) Missions only (2 players).

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	80, 443
UDP	3658, 13000-13032

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Native 3D
Nvidia 3D Vision
TriDef 3D
iZ3D
vorpX		2D Officially supported game. Note:Game is on official list but profile is not yet confirmed to be 3D.

Issues fixed

Display Mode Resets to "Windowed Mode" Every Time

Edit "videoSettings.ini"

Go to the configuration file(s) location.
Open videoSettings.ini.
Find and change "WindowStyleFinal=1" to "WindowStyleFinal=2" or "WindowStyleFinal=0".
Save the file.

Launch the game via Ubisoft Connect only to prevent Steam from restoring "WindowStyleFinal=1".

The game is stuck at 60 Hz

Edit videoSettings.ini^[2]
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open `videoSettings.ini`. Find and change "MaxRefreshRate=60" to "MaxRefreshRate=(x)" where (x) stands for your refresh rate of choice. Save the file.

Bad performance or unstable frame rate

Turn off video settings^[3]
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open `videoSettings.ini`. Find and change `Occlusion_Off=2` to `Occlusion_Off=0`. For additional performance improvements, find and change `UseMotionBlur=1` to `UseMotionBlur=0`. To ensure the changes take effect without the game overwriting it, set the file to read-only.

Game crashes without message after 20-30min

Correct Eyefinity settings in config files^[4]
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open `videoSettings.ini`. Find and change `EyefinityMode=2` to `EyefinityMode=0`.

Change DirectX version used for rendering to DX9^[5]

Below are possible solutions to an error marked with offset 00422c5c (DX11) or 006be09c (DX9) in Windows Event Viewer.

Set firewall rules^[6]^[7]
Edit firewall rules. Make sure that following applications can access internet in your network: `<path-to-game>\src\SYSTEM\Blacklist_DX11_game.exe` `<path-to-game>\src\SYSTEM\Blacklist_game.exe` `<path-to-game>\src\SYSTEM\gu.exe` `<Ubisoft-Connect-folder>\upc.exe` `<Ubisoft-Connect-folder>\UplayWebCore.exe`

Launch the game as administrator^[8]

Open Ubisoft Connect and switch it to Offline mode^[9]
This will prevent you from playing online.

Crashes instantly at start up

Instructions^{[citation needed]}
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open `videoSettings.ini`. Change `WindowStyleFinal=1` (fullscreen) to `WindowStyleFinal=2` (for borderless windowed) or `WindowStyleFinal=0` (for windowed).

Can't connect to other players when purchased from different distribution platforms

Install patch^{[citation needed]}
Ubisoft Connect/retail customers should install the latest patch from Ubisoft when attempting to play with Steam customers.

Can't switch to DirectX 9 mode

Instructions^{[citation needed]}

Set DirectX 9 in the video menus and shut down the game.
Restart the Ubisoft Connect client.

If you don't restart Ubisoft Connect, it will launch the DirectX 11 executable again regardless of selected options.

Offline save games no longer working

Instructions^[10]

Locate the Ubisoft Connect installation folder, usually found within Program Files (x86)\Ubisoft\Ubisoft Game Launcher.
Open the savegames< folder. Inside of it there should be a folder with the user's Ubisoft Connect account nickname hashed, it should be the only folder present unless multiple users have logged in on the same PC.
Inside of it, sort the folders by date modified, and copy the most recent sc6_save.sav files from inside one of the folders (usually folder 91) to folder 449.
Launch the game, the save game should be intact and working. It's a good idea to make a small change, purchase, gear customization to check whether or not it was successful.

Start the game in online mode^[11]

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9, 11

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok Physics
Interface	Scaleform GFx
Cutscenes	Bink Video
Multiplayer	Net-Z, Rendez-Vous, Ubisoft Connect

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP SP3	Vista SP2, 7 SP1, 8
Processor (CPU)	AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ 2.80 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 2.53 GHz	AMD Phenom II X4 940 3.00 GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 2.66 GHz
System memory (RAM)	2 GB	4 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	25 GB
Video card (GPU)	AMD Radeon HD 3870 Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 4 support	AMD Radeon HD 7000 series Nvidia GeForce 700 series DirectX 11 compatible

Notes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1
Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (235600) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

References

↑ Splinter Cell: Blacklist - Side effects of high frame rate
↑ [1]
↑ Splinter cell black list low fps and lag fix? | Forums
↑ Found possible crash fix - last accessed on 2020-09-29
↑ Verified by User:Suicide machine on 2020-10-03
↑ ANOSMIA review - last accessed on 2020-10-03
↑ Game is crashing? Here is the crash fix! - last accessed on 2020-10-03
↑ Verified by User:Suicide machine on 2020-10-03
Also might reduce issues, but doesn't always solve them.
↑ Verified by User:Suicide machine on 2020-10-03
↑ Blacklist save's gone PC - Ubisoft forums
↑ Uplay Offiline Mode - Starts the game from beginning - Ubisoft forums

[Proton_path_note-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
The app ID (235600) may differ in some cases.
Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[2] File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.

[3] Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.

[4] The app ID (235600) may differ in some cases.

[5] Treat backslashes as forward slashes.

[6] See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[2] Splinter Cell: Blacklist - Side effects of high frame rate

[3] [1]

[4] Splinter cell black list low fps and lag fix? | Forums

[5] Found possible crash fix - last accessed on 2020-09-29

[6] Verified by User:Suicide machine on 2020-10-03

[7] ANOSMIA review - last accessed on 2020-10-03

[8] Game is crashing? Here is the crash fix! - last accessed on 2020-10-03

[9] Verified by User:Suicide machine on 2020-10-03
Also might reduce issues, but doesn't always solve them.

[10] Verified by User:Suicide machine on 2020-10-03

[11] Blacklist save's gone PC - Ubisoft forums

[12] Uplay Offiline Mode - Starts the game from beginning - Ubisoft forums

[Note 1]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

Developers

	Ubisoft Toronto
Publishers
	Ubisoft
Engines
	LEAD Engine
Release dates
Windows	August 20, 2013
Reception
Metacritic	82
IGDB	78
Taxonomy
Monetization	DLC
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person, First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Stealth
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Contemporary, Africa, Europe, Middle East, North America, South America
Series	Splinter Cell