Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent

Developers
	Ubisoft Shanghai
	Ubisoft Milan
Publishers
	Ubisoft
Engines
	Unreal Engine 2.5
Release dates
Windows	November 7, 2006

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

There are two separate versions of Double Agent. One version was made by Ubisoft Milan and Ubisoft Shanghai for the PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The other version was made by Ubisoft Montreal for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube and Wii. The games share the same general plot, but feature different storylines, plot twists and levels.

Online services were shut down on November 19, 2018.

Game is filled with many game breaking bugs that were never patched; crashes when loading or saving game, broken light rendering, broken input during mini-games, player getting stuck on terrain, etc.

The soundtrack is 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.
Amazon.com
GamersGate
Green Man Gaming
Humble Store
Steam		Steam version is not patched.
Ubisoft Store		Included with Ubisoft+.

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 and menus_01menu (in the same folder) with another shorter clip such as Pause.bik. This step is optional.

Patches

The patch required for multiplayer is not included in the Steam version.

Only patch 1.02a is required. Patches can be found 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)	<Steam-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)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/13580/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud
Ubisoft Connect

Video settings

Video settings

Advanced video settings

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 (91.3154482287 is advised for 16:9 displays and 85.2812718522 for 16:10 ones) Notes This solution is single player only. No known method exists for multiplayer.

Windowed

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

Input settings

Input settings

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 settings

Audio settings

Localizations

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

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play		PS2/Xbox version only.
LAN play		6	Tunngle is recommended for LAN matches
Online play		6	Online services are online but only accessible after manually installing Patch 1.02a. It is recommended to use existing Steam Groups to find other players (does not require game purchase through Steam).

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 = 0 PermeatingLightCutOff = False Notes This doesn't solve the issue completely, some lights can still turn on/off at certain angles.

Broken controls during safe cracking and mine assembly

During safe cracking or mine assembly minigames the game does not react to player input.

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

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 elements appear during gameplay

During gameplay sometimes a letter or some 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.

Issues fixed

Game crashes on startup

Use ThirteenAG's fix[citation needed]

Go to <path-to-game>/SCDA-Offline/System/SplinterCell4.exe and in compatibility settings disable visual themes and disable desktop composition

Emile Dufraisne's bedroom bug

In JBA headquarters a door in Emile's office leading to his bedroom cannot be opened, as the "Open door" action prompt disappears too quickly. If the player manages to enter the room following Emile, they will not be able to exit if Emile stays in the room.

This bug is fixed in later missions that are set in JBA headquarters.

Use ghost cheat[citation needed]

Game hangs during last mission

The game may freeze during the final mission after defusing the bomb. This happens when playing at 16:9 resolution.

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

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]

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.

Character moves by himself

Disable controller input[citation needed]
Open the configuration file Look for [WinDrv.WindowsClient] section and set UseJoystick=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 100 FPS.

Set screen refresh rate[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

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	DirectSound3D

Better graphics

Force highest quality[citation needed]

Open 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=True UseTripleBuffering=False UseHWShadowMapping=False ; => Designed for older GPUs. Not needed now. ShadowResolutionDegree=0 ; => 0 is actually the High resolution shadows option in-game. ShadowTurnOffDegree=100 ; => 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 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)	ATI Radeon X1300 (Single-player) / X1300 (Multi-player) Nvidia Geforce 6200 (Single-player) / 6600 (Multi-player) 128 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 3.0 support	ATI Radeon X1900 Nvidia Geforce 7900 256 MB of VRAM