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Key points
- Based on the Xbox version which had superior graphics compared to the PlayStation 2 and GameCube versions.
- Retail copies often come bundled with StarForce 3.0 DRM which is incompatible with Windows Vista or higher.
- The official multiplayer service is no longer available.[1]
- Multiplayer's versus mode is capped at 32 frames per second, while co-op is capped at 34.4 frames per second.
- A small number of players still roam the multiplayer community on a daily basis.
General information
- Ubisoft game page
- Official Forum
- Splinter Cell Wiki
- Steam Community Discussions
Availability
- StarForce DRM for this game does not work on modern versions of Windows (see above for affected versions).
Essential improvements
Patches
- Latest patch 1.05 is here. All patches are available from ubisoft here (if you get a "403 Forbidden" message, simply try again).
- The Steam version is already patched.
Glitched levels of the retail version
- Some retail versions of the game have some glitches (ex. the zipline at the Penthouse). A patch can be applied to fix these issues here. Official patch 1.05 is required, the Steam version is already patched.
- The unofficial map pack adds 41 new maps to the game. MR.MIC's Map Pack is also included, bringing the total map count to 56. Some of the maps included in MR.MIC's Map Pack are from Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow's versus mode.
Skip intro videos
Delete/rename video files[4]
|
- Go to
<path-to-game>\Data\Videos\ .
- Delete or rename
ESRB.bik , introteaser_PC.bik , and logos_PC.bik .
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Game data
In-game general settings (for Versus Mode).
Configuration file(s) location
Save game data location
Video
In-game general video settings.
In-game advanced video settings.
In-game shader settings (Shader Model 2 and 3 only).
In-game video settings (for Versus Mode).
- See also Shadows become more broken the wider the screen resolution.
Use Splinter Cell Chaos Theory Widescreen Fix[7]
|
- Download widescreen fix and extract it.
- Move its files to
<path-to-game>\System .
- To enable windowed mode
d3d9.ini and set ForceWindowedMode to 1 .
Notes:
- Automatically adjusts resolution and FOV, fixes HUD position and stretching.
- Works with downsampling or Nvidia DSR - manually change the resolution in the supplied configuration file.
- Widescreen fix contains an additional fix for Alt+Tabbing, which helps with restoring game's window after it's minimised.
- You have to disable widescreen HUD if your version of the game isn't in English, otherwise the text is misaligned. [8]
|
Widescreen - Singleplayer[citation needed]
|
- You must have run the game at least once before these files appear.
- Further graphic settings adjustment will revert resolution back to 4:3.
- Go to the configuration file(s) location.
- Open
SplinterCell3.ini .
- Adjust the following fields:
FullscreenViewportX= (line 98)
FullscreenViewportY= (line 99)
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Widescreen - Versus[9]
|
- Open
%PROGRAMDATA%\Ubisoft\Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory\Saved Games\Versus\<user-id>_prf.ini .
- Look for
ScreenRes= entry and give it -1 value.
- Save the file.
- Open
<path-to-game>\Versus\System\Default.ini .
- Scroll down to the
[WinDrv.WindowsClient] class.
- Adjust the following fields:
FullscreenViewportX=
FullscreenViewportY=
Notes
- When changing the resolution values to a resolution different than one of the preset resolutions, Versus will only run using low visual settings.
|
Edit SplinterCell3User.ini[4]
|
- Go to the configuration files location.
- Open
SplinterCell3User.ini .
- Adjust the following values (
91.31 is advised for 16:9 displays, and 85.28 for 16:10 ones):
DesiredFOV=75.0
DefaultFOV=75.0
- Save the changes.
Notes
- Apply this fix before creating a profile. If your profile was created before the fix, you'll need to zoom in/out with your weapon every time you load a previous made save in order for the custom FOV to be used.
|
Input
In-game keyboard/mouse settings.
In-game joystick settings.
In-game key map settings (for Versus Mode).
- Mouse acceleration is enabled when aiming with guns.
- Apply the following fix before creating a profile.
Disable acceleration[4]
|
- Open
<path-to-game>\System\SplinterCell3Settings.ini .
- Change all
biasCut values to v=0.0 .
|
Xbox controllers
- Xbox 360/One controllers do not work well by default- in particular, the triggers cannot be used.
SCFix
|
- Use SCFix to add XInput support.
- Make sure to reset all joystick settings using Settings->Controls->Joystick->Default (even if you have not previously changed them).
- Note: default config uses inverted y-axis. Set
invert_camera_vertical=no in scfix.ini for non-inverted camera.
|
Audio
In-game audio settings (for Versus Mode).
- DSOAL requires boost=-6 set in alsoft.ini to match hardware reverb levels.[11]
Localizations
Language |
UI |
Audio |
Sub |
Notes |
English |
|
|
|
Only in-game subtitles, not available in cutscenes. |
French |
|
|
|
|
German |
|
|
|
|
Hungarian |
|
|
|
Fan translation. |
Italian |
|
|
|
|
Polish |
|
|
|
Retail only. Patch for digital release here. |
Russian |
|
|
|
Retail only. Patch for digital release here. |
Spanish |
|
|
|
|
Network
Multiplayer types
Connection types
Ports
Protocol |
Port(s) and/or port range(s) |
TCP |
6668, 9102, 40000-43000 |
UDP |
7776, 8888-8891, 8878, 9011, 9102-9103, 9106-9107, 41006, 44000, 45000-45001 |
- Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.
VR support
Issues unresolved
Alt+Tab
- There are issues using Alt+Tab ↹ in fullscreen mode. If used too many times, it will disconnect players connected to your server and can even crash the game.
30 FPS lock/limit
- Netcode only supports a maximum of 30 frames per second for proper sync between players in multiplayer. Bypassing this limit results in things such as co-op actions not executing properly.
- A fan made program can be used to unlock the framerate in multiplayer: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=265715221
Disconnect at random intervals during co-op campaign
- There is an issue for some users happening at random after a couple of minutes where the game disconnects both players while playing the co-op campaign. The issue can be encountered 100% during the training mission while hacking the first laptop the players come across. In subsequent missions it seems to happen randomly after some time. No real fixes have been reported that work for everyone. For some completely uninstalling NOD32 solved the problem.[12][citation needed]
Issues fixed
Game crashes when trying to start new mission / change settings
Disable any software that hooks into graphic's API (most notably OBS and Dxtory)[7]
|
- To capture the game with OBS, force Windowed mode and capture the game using Window Capture instead of Game Capture.
|
Missing torchlight/flashlight in Versus mode
- Versus mode has problems rendering certain lighting effects on modern machines. This problem makes it very difficult to play properly. Certain shadows may not render and mercenarie's flashlights don't work, severely impairing gameplay. Follow one of the solutions below to fix these issues.
Hack compatible pixel shaders[9]
|
- Download and install 3D-Analyze.
- Launch 3D-Analyze.
- In 3D-Analyze, click the SELECT button and choose
<path-to-game>\Versus\System\SCCT_Versus.exe
- Checkmark all the boxes under Game/Demo Fixes as well as the "Force Max Pixel Shader 1.4" and "Force High Precison Shader" boxes. When you're done, your 3D-Analyze window should look like this.
- Press the Save batch file! at the bottom of the 3D-Analyze window.
- Close 3D-Analyze.
- Right-click your newly created batch file and click Edit to edit the batch file in Notepad.
- Find
SCCT_Versus.exe in Notepad and rename it to SCCT_Versus.ex (yes, .ex). If this is not done, the game will not launch through 3D-Analyze. After you've done that, your batch file in Notepad should read something like this: C:\Program Files (x86)\3D-Analyze\3DAnalyze.exe" /EXE=C:\Program Files (x86)\Ubisoft\Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory\Versus\System\SCCT_Versus.ex
- Save the file. Close Notepad.
- Double-click the batch file to launch the game. If you want the lights to work properly, you will need to launch the game using this batch file every time. Make a shortcut on your desktop to the batch file for easy access.
|
Use dgVoodoo 2[4]
|
- Download the latest version of dgVoodoo 2 and extract it (verified working on version 2.55.4).
- Copy all the files from the
MS folder and paste the files to <path-to-game>\Versus\System .
|
Slow motion gameplay on multi-core CPUs in Versus mode
Use alternate timer[9]
|
- Open
<path-to-game>\Versus\System\Default.ini
- Set
UseAlternateTimer=false to UseAlternateTimer=true .
- Save the file.
|
Night vision/thermal vision/EMF not displaying correctly
- If everything turns white when you activate your night vision and/or turns black when you activate your thermal vision/EMF, follow one of the instructions below.
Use Alt+Tab
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- First minimize and then restore the game back by using Alt+Tab.
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Use different shader model
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- Select another shader model by using the in-game display settings menu.[14]
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Disable High dynamic range (HDR)
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- Disable High dynamic range (HDR) rendering in shader options when using shader model 3. Disabling it also allows antialiasing
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Shadows become more broken the wider the screen resolution
Fix shadow rendering; increase shadow map size[15]
|
- Open
SPLINTERCELL3.EXE with a hex editor such as HxD.
- Search and replace the following bytes in HxD.
68 00 08 00 00 68 00 08 00 00 → 68 00 20 00 00 68 00 20 00 00
89 8C 24 E0 00 00 00 B9 00 01 00 00 → 89 8C 24 E0 00 00 00 B9 00 00 01 00
BB 9A 99 99 3F → BB 00 00 80 3E
C7 86 C8 07 00 00 9A 99 99 BE → C7 86 C8 07 00 00 9A 99 19 BE
- Save the changes.
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Other information
API
Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
Direct3D |
8, 9 |
Single Player/Co-op uses Direct3D 9. Versus mode uses Direct3D 8. |
Shader Model support |
1.1, 2, 3 |
|
Executable |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
Windows |
|
|
|
Middleware
|
Middleware |
Notes |
Physics |
Havok |
|
Audio |
DirectSound3D |
Dolby Digital |
Cutscenes |
Bink Video |
|
Multiplayer |
Quazal |
|
System requirements
Windows |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
2000 |
XP |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel Pentium III 1.4 GHz AMD Athlon |
Intel Pentium 4 2.2 GHz |
System memory (RAM) |
256 MB |
512 MB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
4 GB | |
Video card (GPU) |
64 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 1.1 support |
128 MB of VRAM Shader model 3 support |
- Supported ATI chipsets: Radeon 8500/9000/X series.
- Supported Nvidia chipsets: GeForce 3/4/FX/6 series.
- Mobile chipsets and the Nvidia GeForce4 MX are not supported.
Notes
- ↑ This version of StarForce DRM does not work on Windows 8.1, Windows 10, or Windows 11.[2][3] For supported versions of Windows the StarForce driver may need to be updated manually using SFUPDATE.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below
%PROGRAMFILES%
, %PROGRAMDATA%
, or %WINDIR%
might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore
on Windows Vista and later (more details).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
References