Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent

Developers
	Ubisoft Shanghai
	Ubisoft Annecy
Publishers
	Ubisoft
Engines
	Unreal Engine 2.5
Release dates
Windows	November 7, 2006
Reception
Metacritic	80
IGDB	79
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person, First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Stealth
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Contemporary, Africa, Asia, North America
Series	Splinter Cell

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

There are two different versions of this game. The "current-gen" version for original Xbox, PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube and Wii is developed by Ubisoft Montreal, the series' primary developer. And the "next-gen" version for then next-generation Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles are developed by Ubisoft Shanghai and Ubisoft Annecy (for multiplayer modes). While both versions share the same general plot, there are minor plot details, levels and some features between the two versions that are different.
Critics

The PC version is a port of the Ubisoft Shanghai and Ubisoft Annecy's next-generation version. However, the game suffered from major technical issues that remained unsolved after initial launch, in addition to several complains from players and game journalist alike for numerous compatibility issue with some system configurations.

The online services were shut down on June 2016, with Ubisoft confirming its closure eventually on November 19, 2018. The soundtrack is also available for free at composer's website.

General information

Ubisoft game page

Official Forum

Splinter Cell Wiki

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SecuROM 7 DRM. Removed in Patch v1.02a.
Epic Games Store
GamersGate
Green Man Gaming
Humble Store
Steam		Steam version is not patched.
Ubisoft Store		Included with Ubisoft+.
Amazon.com (unavailable)

GamersGate, Humble Store and Steam store pages show screenshots of the console Current Gen version instead of the Next Gen PC version.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Adjust videos folder
Move/delete/rename <path-to-game>\SCDA-Offline\System\Videos\Ubilogo.bik. To skip menu intros, replace menu.bik and menus_01.bik (in the same folder) with another shorter clip such as pause.bik. This step is optional.

Patches

Patch 1.02a is available that fixes some issues as well as removing the DRM. The Steam version is not patched when installing it, you must obtain v1.02a manually here.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\ <path-to-game>\SCDA-Offline\System\SplinterCell4.ini <path-to-game>\SCDA-Online\System\Default.ini
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/13580/pfx/

Single player settings are in <path-to-game>\SCDA-Offline\System\SplinterCell4.ini

Multiplayer settings are in <path-to-game>\SCDA-Online\System\Default.ini

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%PROGRAMDATA%\Application Data\Ubisoft\SplinterCell4\<user-id>\ %PROGRAMDATA%\Application Data\Ubisoft\SplinterCell4\save\Offline\<user-id>
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/13580/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Epic Games Launcher
Steam Cloud
Ubisoft Connect

Video

Video settings

Advanced video settings

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			See Widescreen resolution.
Multi-monitor			See Widescreen resolution.
Ultra-widescreen			See Widescreen resolution.
4K Ultra HD			See Widescreen resolution.
Field of view (FOV)		See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed		See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Up to 16x, but not applied to all surfaces,[citation needed] force in the GPU control panel instead.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Up to 4x FSAA. Not available in the Steam version. Install patch 1.02a to fix.[citation needed]
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS
120+ FPS		Frame rate is capped at 100 FPS on single player mode. See High frame rate. Multiplayer mode is uncapped although it is recommended to cap the FPS to 60 because at high fps, the player movement while strafing breaks as well as aiming.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		Rendered image uses SDR color space. In-game HDR option refers only to HDR Rendering.

Widescreen resolution

Use Splinter Cell Double Agent Widescreen Fix[citation needed]
Does not work on Windows XP.

Edit SplinterCell4.ini/Default.ini
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open SplinterCell4.ini (single player) or Default.ini (multiplayer). Find the section [WinDrv.WindowsClient]. There you'll find 2 lines: FullscreenViewportX = and FullscreenViewportY =. Replace with your desired resolution. Change the FOV. See Field of view (FOV).

Field of view (FOV)

Edit SplinterCell4User.ini
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open SplinterCell4User.ini. Find a section [Engine.PlayerController]. There you'll find 2 lines: DesiredFOV=75.0 DefaultFOV=75.0 Change them to desired FOV. For 16:9 displays, 91.3154482287 is advised. For 16:10 displays, 85.2812718522. Notes Only works in single player mode. No known solution for multiplayer.

Windowed

Edit SplinterCell4.ini
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open SplinterCell4.ini. Change StartupFullscreen=True to StartupFullscreen=False

High frame rate

Override frame rate cap

Go to <path-to-game>\SCDA-Offline\System\. Open SplinterCell4.exe with a hex editor such as HxD. Find the hex values 3D 0A D7 23 3C. Replace with: 3D 0A D7 A3 3B for 200 FPS cap 3D 0E 74 5A 3B for 300 FPS cap 3D 6F 12 03 3B for 500 FPS cap 3D 6F 12 83 3A for 1000 FPS cap Save the changes. The game's refresh rate is still capped at 60 Hz by default; see Run the game at screen refresh rate to fix this.

Input

Input settings

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Half of the command buttons aren't bindable. Manually edit SplinterCell4User.ini to workaround this.
Mouse acceleration		Enabled by default; see Mouse acceleration.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity		Shares the same slider with mouse.
Controller Y-axis inversion		Shares the same option with mouse.

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers		Only official wired Xbox 360 controllers.
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

PlayStation controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Generic/other controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Additional information
Button prompts		Prompts are text based (e.g. "Press Action key").
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Mouse acceleration

Disable mouse acceleration[citation needed]
Open your configuration file, and look for [Init] section Set UseDIMouse to True. Notes Using Direct Mouse Input will invert Mouse Y axis. Open SplinterCell4User and set bInvertMouseUp=True to solve this while in-game. Menu will still be inverted though.

Audio

Audio settings

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Effects, Ambient.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		EAX 3
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Hungarian				Fan translation, download
Italian
Polish				Retail only. Patch for digital release here.
Brazilian Portuguese				Fan translation; download.
Russian				Official localization by «Руссобит-М\GFI». Retail only. Patch for digital release here.
Russian				Fan translation by «SyS-team/ENPY Studio/Spirit Team»
Spanish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play		PS2/Xbox version only.
LAN play		6
Online play		6	The official multiplayer service was shut down.

Issues unresolved

Game crashes with a runtime error

Game may often crash on saving and loading screens, as well as upon being maximized from the taskbar. Usually, it is followed by a C++ runtime error. A save file may be unusable and game will crash everytime when trying to load it. Similarly, a game may always crash when trying to save after a particular point, forcing the player to replay the level.

Light rendering bug

Lights start to render only when player is very close and also turn on/off when rotating the camera.

Instructions
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open SplinterCell4.ini with a text editor and change the following variables to these values: ShadowTurnOffDegree = 100 PermeatingLightCutOff = False Notes This mostly fixes the issue, some lights can still turn on/off at certain angles.

Broken input when typing profile name

If the player changes controls and tries to make a new profile, the letters will not match key input.

Instructions
In the controls menu reset the controls to default values.

Blurry screen during first person view

When player controls the character in first person view during two short interactive cutscenes, the screen turns very blurry.

Pause menu letters and GUI elements appear during gameplay

During gameplay sometimes some letters or other element from the pause menu shortly appear on screen.

Enemies releasing steam

Sometimes when an enemy is shot, kicked or put on floor after being carried they start releasing steam that can hurt the player.

Enemies respawn after being killed

In Kinshasa (Part 2) some enemies in the streets near the buses keep respawning after being killed.

Emile Dufraisne's bedroom bug

A door in Emile's office leading to his bedroom cannot be opened, as the "open door" action prompt disappears too quickly.

Enter the room in later JBA HQ missions where the bug does not appear

Make a noise near the door, prompting Emile to open it
Stay close to him. If the door closes or Emile goes to sleep, it cannot be opened again.

Use ghost cheat

Game hangs after defusing the bomb in JBA headquarters

After defusing the bomb an in-game cutscene starts, but does not continue to play.

Before defusing the bomb switch to 4:3 or 16:10 resolution in the display options menu.

Noclip onto bomb position
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open SplinterCell4User.ini. In the [Engine.Input] section bind to the buttons for the walk and ghost cheat. As soon as the game hangs, go into ghost mode. Fly in front of the bomb and switch off ghost mode (the walk button).

Game crashes when using a weapon's scope

The game crashes for some people when it's in 16:9 when using the scope on SC-20K and using the sniper rifle in the Kinshasa mission, making the player unable to complete the mission.

Switch to a 4:3 resolution.

Issues fixed

Game crashes on startup

Use ThirteenAG's fix[citation needed]

Alternative fix
Right-click <path-to-game>/SCDA-Offline/System/SplinterCell4.exe and select Properties. For Windows Vista and 7: Disable visual themes and disable desktop composition in compatibility settting.

Unable to load save through the "Continue", game crashed when loading saves manually

Load the mission first, then load the progress once the mission is running.

Broken controls during safe cracking and mine assembly

During safe cracking or mine assembly minigames the game does not react to player input, because it is tied to player speed.

Instructions
Hold the left or right movement key and scroll up/down with your mouse wheel(player speed) until the game starts accepting input.

Coast guard gets stuck in the door on Cozumel

This bug occurs while the game is set not to remove certain environment objects when Environment Detail option is set to "High". Mistakenly, the door appears to be one of those objects.

Set Environment Detail to Low in display options[citation needed]

Kinshasa (Part 2) map is too bright

Kinshasa (Part 2) map becomes excessively bright when user sets SimpleShader option to False in game's configuration file to improve visual quality.

Set HDR Rendering to Off in display options[citation needed]

Shanghai's mission intro not playing any audio and/or softlocks the game

Set the core affinity for SplinterCell4.exe to 1 core.

Switch to a 4:3 resolution before starting the mission, when control will be available switch back.

Enhanced night vision goggles show black screen with gray stripes

Edit the map files to disable enhanced night vision and revert back to standard night vision[citation needed]
Go to <path-to-game>\SCDA-Offline\Maps. Open the following map files: 00_HQ_05.ini 00_HQ_05_B.ini 01_Intro.ini 03_Okhotsk_01.ini 03_Okhotsk_02.ini 04_Hotel.ini 05_Cozumel_01.ini 05_Cozumel_02.ini 07_Kinshasa00.ini 07_Kinshasa01.ini 07_kinshasa02.ini 10_newyork_02.ini Find all the lines reading bEnhanceNightVision=true and change true to false.

Run the game at screen refresh rate

Game may default monitor refresh rate to 60 Hz, resulting in reduced smoothness and possible screen-tearing even if internal GPU render is at >60FPS.

Override refresh rate with hex editor
Open D3DDrv.dll with a hex editor such as HxD. Find the hex values 1B D2 83 E2 3C. Replace with: BA 64 00 00 00 for 100 Hz BA 78 00 00 00 for 120 Hz BA 90 00 00 00 for 144 Hz BA E8 03 00 00 for highest available Save the changes.

Override refresh rate with Special K[citation needed]

Install Special K by following the Special K Unofficial Guide. Manual local installation may work better. Start the game once and close it to allow the configuration file of Special K to be created. Open <path-to-game>\SCDA-Offline\System\d3d9.ini or %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Mods\SpecialK\Profiles\SplinterCell4.exe\SpecialK.ini depending on the installation method you used. Change RefreshRate=-1 to RefreshRate=0 under [Render.FrameRate].

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c
Shader Model support	3.0

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	DirectSound3D

Better graphics

Force highest quality[dubious – discuss]

Open the configuration file. Make sure variables are approximately like these: [GENERAL] DisableHDRTonemapping=True LowResTex=False ; => Only if you've chosen to install the optional high-res textures. SimpleShader=False SimpleEffect=False HidePieces=True ; => Setting it to "False" will add a few objects to the environment, but it will cause the coast guard to get stuck in the door on Cozumel and introduce a couple of graphical artifacts throughout the game. While "True" is recommended for the sake of compatibility, you might consider setting it to "False" to have more Environment Details in game. [Graphics] bEnableHDR=False ; => Disables HDR rendering. Bloom effect is still active, while HDR tone mapping will be disabled. bTrilinearFiltering=False bSpecularLighting=True bVerticalSync=True bHighQualityVisualFX=True [WinDrv.WindowsClient] TextureDetail=High SkinDetail=High Decals=True NoDynamicLights=False SkinDetail=High ; => Yes, Skin and Texture details appear twice in the .ini. TextureDetail=High NoFractalAnim=False Decals=False [D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice] UseVSync=False ; => Does not touch Vsync. It's actually dis/enabled elsewhere. Translucency=True ; => For semi-transparent ice, which is broken in the game. Setting this to false does nothing wrong. The transparency in the game still works. UsePrecaching=True UseMipmapping=True UseTrilinear=True UseMultitexture=True UsePageFlipping=True UseFullscreen=False UseGammaCorrection=True UseTripleBuffering=False ; => Using Triple Buffering may cause save/load screen (the one with the progress bar) to flash. UsePrecache=True Use32BitTextures=True AdapterNumber=-1 ReduceMouseLag=False ; => While this reduces mouse lag by a bit, it also decreases the performance, so it's not worth it. UseTripleBuffering=False UseHWShadowMapping=False ; => Designed for older GPUs. Not needed now. ShadowResolutionDegree=0 ; => 0 is actually the High resolution shadows option in-game. ShadowTurnOffDegree=200 ; => A higher number is better. It tells the game at which distance to render lights with shadows. 200 is maximum, which renders all lights at any distance. bUseSmoothShadow=False ; => True does NOT work properly. It will actually mess up your shadows. FSAADegree=0 ; => Setting Anti-Aliasing to 2 or 4 will disable HDR rendering and very likely cause a "Frozen Frame" issue during cutscenes. Not recommended. AnisotropyDegree=1 ; => AF does not work. If you want AF in the game, force it through the video driver.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz AMD Athlon 3000	Intel Pentium 4 3.5 GHz AMD Athlon 3500
System memory (RAM)	1 GB	1.5 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	8 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 6200 ATI Radeon X1300 128 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 3.0 support	Nvidia GeForce 7900 ATI Radeon X1900 256 MB of VRAM

Nvidia GeForce 6600 is required for multiplayer component.