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Metal Gear Solid: Integral

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games

This page is for the original Integral release. For the Master Collection re-release, see Metal Gear Solid - Master Collection Version.

Metal Gear Solid: Integral
Metal Gear Solid: Integral cover
Developers
Konami Computer Entertainment Japan
Windows Digital Dialect
Publishers
Konami
Windows Microsoft
Release dates
Windows September 24, 2000
Reception
Metacritic 83
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase
Modes Singleplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives First-person, Third-person, Top-down view
Controls Direct control
Genres Action, Stealth
Art styles Realistic
Themes Contemporary, North America, Sci-fi
Series Metal Gear
Metal Gear Solid: Integral on HowLongToBeat
Metal Gear Solid: Integral on IGDB
Metal Gear Solid: Integral guide on StrategyWiki
Metal Gear Solid: Integral on MobyGames
Metal Gear Solid: Integral on Wikipedia
Metal Gear
Metal Gear 1990
Metal Gear Solid: Integral 2000
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance 2003
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance 2014
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes 2014
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain 2015
Metal Gear Survive 2018
Metal Gear (MSX2) 2020
Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol.1 (series)
Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater 2024

Metal Gear Solid: Integral is a singleplayer first-person and third-person and top-down view action stealth game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and published by Konami. It is part of the Metal Gear series.

The original game, Metal Gear Solid, was released on PlayStation in 1998, and chronologically takes place after the events of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake and before Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The expanded re-release, Integral, was released in 1999 on the same platform, and added new features such as a Very Easy diffculty setting, first-person game mode, among others. It was later ported to PC by Digital Dialect and released on September 24, 2000, but a few PlayStation-specific features were removed. The PC version's music and sound effect quality is below that of the PlayStation version, and certain sound clips play back at the wrong pitch. Some framebuffer effects such as motion blur and depth of field are not displayed correctly.[1]

Unlike the PlayStation version, the PC port separates the main game (mgsi.exe) and the VR Missions (mgsvr.exe) into two executables. Some localizations previously available on PlayStation are not available on the PC version.[2].

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions
GOG.com Support Page

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
SafeDisc DRM[Note 1]
Windows
GOG.com
DRM-free
English version only
Windows
SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).
Demo of the original Retail release can be found here.
When prompted to check the back of the CD case, check the CD case of the retail version or the GOG store page, or call Colonel a couple of times.[5]

Version differences

The GOG.com version fixes compatibility issues of the original Retail release running under modern Windows operating systems.[6]

Essential improvements

MGSILauncher

Compatible with the GOG.com release. Also compatible with the English retail release, if SafeDisc has been removed.
Save file manager.
Automatic core affinity switching (can reduce likelihood of crashes).
Settings file backup and automatic restore.
Patch installer that includes:
  • PSX-style music restoration with fixed looping.
  • Gamepad selector when multiple pads are plugged in.
  • Support for 360° analog stick controls and diagonal d-pad directions.
Directions must be mapped to the d-pad for these control fixes to work.

Restore the original pixelated font

By default, the PC version uses Arial for subtitles and its resolution is tied to the one the game is running at.
The PlayStation release uses Helvetica rendered at the same resolution as the rest of the artwork.
Use the -notruetype command line argument

Disable bilinear filtering

Removes the filtering from all textures making the game look the way it does on PlayStation.
Use the -nofilter command line argument

Restore higher quality music

Music in this port often does not start or loop correctly, and in some cases plays the wrong track.
Music pack with an accompanying IPS patch. Can also be installed via MGSILauncher's automated patch installer.
Replaces most music tracks with higher quality versions and appropriate loop points.
Patches the game to play the correct track in all areas, and restores missing tracks.
Audio tracks are still 22KHz 8-bit WAV files.
No restoration of special PSX music effects (e.g. Alert/Evasion music transitions).
No SFX restoration.

MDX Audio Restoration

An alternative on-going project to fix the issues with the game's music and sound effects.
Music is significantly higher quality and tracks that did not loop properly now do.
Does not restore the boss fight theme and a few other tracks that remains unused in the game's files.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\*.cfg[Note 2]
<path-to-game>\dxcfg.ini[Note 2]
dxcfg.ini is used by the GOG.com version's DirectX Configuration tool.
*.cfg configuration files are encrypted.[7]

Save game data location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\SavedGames\[Note 2]
<path-to-game>\records.vr[Note 2]
Pictures taken by the in-game camera are stored in <path-to-game>\photos\

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
GOG Galaxy

Video

Graphics settings.
Graphics settings.
Advanced graphics settings.
Advanced graphics settings.
DirectX Configuration tool from the GOG.com version.
DirectX Configuration tool from the GOG.com version.

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
Only 4:3 resolutions are supported.
The GOG.com version's DirectX configuration tool can increase the rendering resolution, while the graphics can be displayed pillarboxed to 4:3, Pixel-perfect scaling, or stretched to the aspect-ratio. See Widescreen resolution.[7]
Software rendering mode is limited to 640x480 only.[8]
Multi-monitor
See Widescreen resolution.
Ultra-widescreen
See Widescreen resolution.
4K Ultra HD
See Widescreen resolution.
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Run the game with -w command line argument for the original retail release.
For the GOG.com release, set Presentation to Windowed via the DirectX configuration tool.
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Only available for the GOG.com release.
Set Display Mode to your display's native resolution and Presentation to Windowed via the DirectX configuration tool.[7]
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Only available for the GOG.com release.
Only default settings, 16 samples, or disabled in the DirectX configuration tool.[7]
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Only available for the GOG.com release.
Only default settings, 2x-8x MSAA, or disabled in the DirectX configuration tool.[7]
Vertical sync (Vsync)
Only available for the GOG.com release with its DirectX Configuration tool.[7]
For the original retail release, force it through GPU control panel.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
Capped at 30 FPS. Cutscenes are capped at 24 FPS.
High dynamic range display (HDR)

Widescreen resolution

Widescreen fix[9]
  1. Download the Widescreen fix, and extract the contents to <path-to-game>.
  2. Conditional: If MGSI.exe and MGSVR.exe are 1,008,640 and 1,013,248 bytes respectively, make a backup of them, and run the upx.bat file.
  3. Optional: To change the resolution, go to <path-to-game>\scripts\, then open mgs1w.ini and change the Width and Height values.
  4. Optional: If you set a lower resolution than your display's resolution, open the GPU control panel and set the scaling mode to fullscreen or maintain aspect ratio.

Combining the Widescreen fix with dgVoodoo 2

Edit INI file
  1. Apply the Widescreen fix.
  2. Open ddraw.ini, then find RealDllPath and change AUTO to scripts\ddraw.dll.
  3. Download dgVoodoo 2 and copy the following files:

Notes

dgVoodoo.conf and dgVoodooCpl.exe can be in either folder.

Notes

It is recommended not to change the in-game resolution setting to avoid conflicts.
Higher resolutions might cause slowdowns when fullscreen effects are being applied (e.g. in menus or underwater).
Proper 16:9 widescreen, with option to disable letterboxing for cutscenes similar to the HD Collection; albeit the HUD is stretched.
The default font will maintain aspect ratio, but the PlayStation font will be stretched.
Removes the black bar that is usually visible at the bottom of the screen.
Widescreen is not supported in software rendering mode. Set the resolution in mgs1w.ini to 640x448 to remove the black bar.
Lower resolutions may crash the game, while higher resolutions make it display in the upper left corner of the screen.
Causes upscaling artifacts on some text in software rendering mode.
In the extra menu, the text "Previous Operations" gets progressively more bugged at 720p and higher.
Supported exe size: 2,883,584 bytes, 1,008,640 bytes; supported VR-Disc exe size: 2,940,928 bytes, 1,013,248 bytes.
If you experience visual artifacts when playing FMV in the GOG.com version, run the game in windowed or borderless windowed mode.
FMV screens will be smaller than other cutscenes, but they will look a lot better than before.

Input

Controls settings.
Controls settings.

Keyboard and mouse State Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse can optionally be mapped to the cardinal movement directions (instead of the controller).
Mouse input in menus
Mouse movement triggers digital Up/Down/Left/Right inputs in menus.
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping
Movement controls can be mapped to only one of D-pad, analog stick or mouse.[7]
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion
Controller types
XInput-compatible controllers
The trigger inputs for "Inventory items" and "Inventory weapon" are swapped on XInput. Map "Inventory items" to RT and "Inventory weapon" to LT.
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration
PlayStation controllers
PlayStation button prompts
Light bar support
Adaptive trigger support
DualSense haptic feedback support
Connection modes

Generic/other controllers
Button prompts Input settings icon - Generic Controller.svg
Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Game will select the first controller it detects on launch.
Haptic feedback
Missing vibration feedback from the PlayStation version.[7]
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M
One set of input mappings for keyboard, and another for gamepad/mouse.

Audio

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Supports only 3.0 surround sound.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Only possible for the GOG.com version.[10]
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
French
Retail only[2]. Version with a dub is rare.
German
Retail only[2]; download for digital release.
Italian
Retail only in PlayStation 1 release[2]; Patch for PC Here.
Japanese
Not PC release in Japanese[2].
Spanish
Only in PlayStation 1 release[2].

Issues fixed

Missing Hardware rendering mode and/or graphical issues on Windows 10 and/or modern GPUs

Fixed in the GOG.com release.
Instructions for the original Retail release[11]
  1. Download the fixed executables here.
  2. Extract the contents to <path-to-game>.

"Software rendering mode" error

The game's software rendering mode does not work properly with modern Windows operating systems.
Fixed in the GOG.com release.
Use dgVoodoo 2
Instructions for the original Retail release[citation needed]
  1. Set MGSI.exe to run in compatibility mode for Windows 98/Me and as administrator.
  2. Run the game in windowed mode using the -w command line argument.
  3. The game should run allowing you to either go to the options and select "software rendering" (to play in full-screen) or continue to play in windowed mode.

Captions flicker/make the game slower in Hardware mode

The slowdown caused by captions can also be fixed by disabling captions in the settings.
Fixed in the GOG.com release.
Use dgVoodoo 2
Use DXGL for the original Retail release[citation needed]
  1. Download and install DXGL.
  2. After installing, go to the Start menuAll programsDXGLConfigure DXGL.
  3. Click on Add and add mgsi.exe and mgsvr.exe located in the installation folder.
  4. Click Apply then OK and open the game.
  5. After running the game, go to OptionVideo/Sound Options, enable captions, then go to Advanced, select DXGL DDraw Wrapper, your desired resolution and restart the game.

Notes

It is recommended to apply the "Graphics issues with GeForce/Radeon GPUs" fix above before applying this one.
Certain visual elements (e.g. the game's HUD, letterboxes during cutscenes) will become invisible with DXGL 0.5.7.[12]

Real-life footage shown in the game during certain cutscenes are replaced with a green rectangle

The real-life footage cutscenes does not work properly on modern Windows due to the format used by the video files.
Fixed in the GOG.com release.

Game crashes on "Game Over" screen when using software rendering

Happens with Retail and initial GOG release; does not occur in hardware rendering mode.[13]
Fixed in the 1.0 hotfix update of the GOG.com release.[14]
Use dgVoodoo 2

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 7
Software renderer
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 95
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium II 266 MHz
System memory (RAM) 32 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 400 MB
Video card (GPU) 4 MB of VRAM


Notes

  1. SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10[3] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.[4]
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 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).

References

  1. Metal Gear Solid: Integral - Metal Gear Wiki on Fandom - last accessed on [unknown]
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Talk:Metal Gear Solid: Integral about Languages
  3. Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
  4. Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16
  5. Verified by User:Averygoodperson on 2023-07-23
  6. Fixes for METAL GEAR SOLID implemented by GOG.COM and fan-made mods recommendations - last accessed on May 2023
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Verified by User:AmethystViper on 2020-09-26
  8. Verified by User:SirYodaJedi on 2020-09-27
  9. Verified by User:AmethystViper on 2020-09-28
    Tested with the GOG.com version, and even with MSAA disabled through its DirectX configuration tool, some of the game's text would get stray pixels from upscaling the game to a resolution it wasn't designed for (e.g. 1080p).
  10. Verified by User:AmethystViper on 2020-09-26
    Tested with the GOG.com version set to windowed mode and switched tabs, which muted the audio when out of focus with that version.
  11. Verified by User:Eddmanx on 2023-10-25
  12. https://www.dxgl.info/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=48
  13. MGS1 - crashing when using Software rendering in options, page 1 - Forum - GOG.com - last accessed on May 2023
  14. Gonna Post every single issue with MGS 1 here Version 1.0, page 2, post 23 - Forum - GOG.com - last accessed on May 2023