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Metro: Last Light

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games

This page is for the original release. For the updated Redux version, see Metro: Last Light Redux.

Metro: Last Light
Metro: Last Light cover
Developers
4A Games
Publishers
Deep Silver
Japan Spike Chunsoft
Engines
4A Engine
Release dates
Windows May 14, 2013
macOS (OS X) September 10, 2013
Linux November 4, 2013
Reception
Metacritic 82
IGDB 80
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase
Microtransactions None
Modes Singleplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives First-person
Controls Direct control
Genres Action, FPS
Art styles Realistic
Themes Post-apocalyptic, Europe
Series Metro
Metro: Last Light on HowLongToBeat
Metro: Last Light on IGDB
Metro: Last Light guide on StrategyWiki
Metro: Last Light on MobyGames
Metro: Last Light on Wikipedia
Metro
Metro 2033 2010
Metro: Last Light 2013
Metro 2033 Redux 2014
Metro: Last Light Redux 2014
Metro Exodus 2019
Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition 2021
Metro Awakening 2024

Warnings

The macOS (OS X) version of this game does not work on macOS Catalina (version 10.15) or later due to the removal of support for 32-bit-only apps.

Key points

The OS X and Linux versions are graphically limited.[1][2]

General information

Port Report: Metro: Last Light
Official forums at thq.com
Official Discord server for game series
Steam Community Discussions
Metro: Last Light Graphics Breakdown & Performance Guide at GeForce.com

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Icon overlay.png
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Mac App Store
Icon overlay.png
macOS (OS X)
Steam (unavailable)
Icon overlay.png
Temporarily re-listed for a giveaway from May 18 to May 25, 2023.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
All Windows and Linux versions require Steam DRM.

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
Season Pass
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Ranger Mode
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
RPK
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Faction Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Developer Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
Chronicles Pack
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Delete/rename legal.ogv[citation needed]
  1. Go to the installation folder.
  2. Delete or rename legal.ogv. The result seems to depend on the driver version currently installed.[citation needed]
    1. With Nvidia driver 314.20: In case you get an eternal loading screen, create an empty text file and rename it to legal.ogv
    2. With Nvidia driver 320.14: Delete/rename the file

Change Field of View

Default FOV is very narrow; changing it is recommended. See Field of view (FOV).

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows %LOCALAPPDATA%\4A Games\Metro LL\<user-id>\user.cfg
macOS (OS X) $HOME/Library/Application Support/MetroLL/<user-id>/user.cfg
Linux <path-to-game>/<user-id>/user.cfg
This game does not follow the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux.
Do NOT change user.cfg to read-only. Doing so will cause the game to forget collected journal entries, and may also do likewise with the moral point system.

Save game data location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Documents\4A Games\Metro LL\
macOS (OS X) $HOME/Library/Application Support/MetroLL/<user-id>/
Linux <path-to-game>/<user-id>/
Steam <Steam-folder>/userdata/<user-id>/43160/

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
OneDrive
Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers.
Steam Cloud

Video

Graphics settings.
Graphics settings.

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
May need to use Borderless fullscreen windowed for some resolutions.
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Default is 50° vertical. See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed
See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed
See Borderless fullscreen windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Up to 16 samples.
Anti-aliasing (AA)
0.5x - 4x SSAA (0.5x decreases quality and increases frame rate by upscaling from half the screen resolution). FXAA always enabled.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
Forces the refresh rate to 60 Hz.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
In-game Vsync forces the refresh rate to 60 Hz. Disable it and force Vsync externally.
High dynamic range display (HDR)
See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Expand table to see, what each quality setting affects.[3]
Very High High Medium Low
Ambient Occlusion Precomputed + SSAO Precomputed + SSAO Approximate Approximate
Analytical Anti-Aliasing Enabled Enabled Enabled Enabled
Bump Mapping Precise Precise Coarse Coarse
Detail Texturing Enabled Enabled Enabled Disabled
Geometric Detail Very High High Normal Low
Image Post-Processing Full Full Normal Normal
Light-Material Interaction Full Normal Normal Normal
Motion Blur Camera + Objects Camera Disabled Disabled
Parallax Mapping Enabled + POM Enabled Disabled Disabled
Shadow Filtering Hi-Quality Hi-Quality Normal Fast
Shadow Resolution 9.43 Mpx 6.55 Mpx 4.19 Mpx 2.35 Mpx
Skin Shading Subsurface Scattering Simple Disabled Disabled
Soft Particles Enabled Enabled Disabled Disabled
Volumetric Texturing Full Quality + Sun Shafts Low Precision Disabled Disabled

Field of view (FOV)

This game uses vertical FOV. See FOV Calculator for help.
Set custom FOV[4]
  1. Go to %LOCALAPPDATA%\4A Games\Metro LL\
  2. Open user.cfg with text editor.
  3. Change r_base_fov to the desired field of view value.

Notes

Increasing the FOV will result in some graphical glitches due to the use of 3D-rendered screen overlays in certain parts of the game.[5]

Windowed

Set windowed manually[citation needed]
  1. Go to %LOCALAPPDATA%\4A Games\Metro LL\
  2. Open user.cfg with text editor.
  3. Change r_fullscreen on to r_fullscreen off.

Notes

The game will crash on startup if you previously changed gamma, to fix this set r_gamma to 1 (default)
To move the game's window, use Process Hacker to suspend MetroLL.exe, this will allow you to see the title bar and move the game's window.[6] Resume the process afterward. You won't need to suspend process if you'll want to move window again. You must do this each time you start the game. An alternative for those who do not want to download extra software is the Windows 10 Resource Monitor.[7]

Borderless fullscreen windowed

In some multi-monitor systems there might be issues with selecting different resolutions than the default (native?) one. To fix this you can force the game to run in borderless windowed mode with an external tool.
Forcing borderless windowed mode with an external tool might break some of the game's post-processing effects in the higher settings (for example the water reflections seem to be a bit corrupted in some areas).
Force borderless windowed mode[citation needed]
  1. Start the game in a window. See Windowed.
  2. Use Borderless Gaming to force borderless.

Force DirectX 9 or 10 renderer on DirectX 11 systems

Forcing DirectX 9 will result in better performance. However DirectX 11 specific features (tessellation, SSAO) will be disabled. See Port Report article for benchmarking information.
Force alternate renderer[citation needed]
  1. Go to %LOCALAPPDATA%\4A Games\Metro LL\
  2. Open user.cfg with text editor.
  3. Locate line r_api and change the value to corresponding API value: 0 for DX9, 1 for DX10 and 2 for DX11

PhysX

Advanced PhysX is enabled by default, disabling drops the number and complexity of physics based objects. Since it still uses PhysX you may see performance drops on certain AMD GPU's, especially if your CPU has less than 4 cores.
Edit user.cfg[citation needed]
  1. Go to %LOCALAPPDATA%\4A Games\Metro LL\
  2. Open user.cfg in any text editor.
  3. Locate line ph_advanced_physX 1 and change it to ph_advanced_physX 0.
Disable Advanced PhysX in Options menu[citation needed]
  1. Open the Options menu in the Main Menu or Pause Menu.
  2. Go to "Game Options".
  3. Uncheck "Advanced PhysX". You'll need to restart the game for changes to take effect.

Input

Mouse settings.
Mouse settings.
Controller settings.
Controller settings.

Audio

Audio settings.
Audio settings.
Game settings.
Game settings.

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Master, Music; to adjust further see Separate volume controls.
Surround sound
Autodetection without setting. 7.1 audio supported.
Subtitles
Conversations only; speech outside of conversation has no subtitles.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Enabled by default.

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Czech
Dutch
French
German
Italian
Polish
Russian
Spanish
Turkish
Fan translation. Details missing—please edit this page and add it.
Brazilian Portuguese
Fan translation, download.
Ukrainian

Separate volume controls

Game doesn't offer very detailed sound settings.
Better audio control[citation needed]
  1. Go to %LOCALAPPDATA%\4A Games\Metro LL\
  2. Edit user.cfg.
  3. Change s_dialogs_volume, s_effects_volume, s_master_volume and s_music_volume to your liking.

VR support

3D modes State Notes
vorpX
G3D, DirectVR
Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Issues fixed

Mouse disabled or stuttering on Windows 8.1

Mouse lag leads to game being nearly unplayable due to Windows 8.1's new power saving feature that limits the input data.[8]
Install mouse fix[citation needed]

Install the Metro: Last Light mouse fix.

Run the game at screen refresh rate

In-game Vsync forces the refresh rate to 60 Hz if you're using the DirectX 11 renderer.
Force Vsync in driver[9]
  1. Disable the in-game Vsync.
  2. Force Vsync externally if you want Vsync.
Force DirectX 9 renderer[9]

Low performance on systems with Logitech G-series keyboards

Kill LCore.exe process[10]
  1. Start Task Manager (Ctrl+ Shift+Esc).
  2. Click on tab Processes
  3. Select process LCore.exe and hit End Process.

Aim assist

Disable aim assist[citation needed]
  1. Go to %LOCALAPPDATA%\4A Games\Metro LL\
  2. Open user.cfg in any text editor.
  3. Locate aim_assist 1 and change it to aim_assist 0.

Stuttering on some machines

On some machines there can be noticeable micro stuttering.
Disable core parking[citation needed]

On multi-core machines running on Win7, core parking can cause problems. The easiest way to disable core parking is to run this Disable Core Parking Utility and follow the instructions on the page.

Smoke and particle effects

Smoke and other particles are mis-drawn. For example, a solid smoke cloud appears then disappears.
PhysX[11]
  • Toggle PhysX - see PhysX
  • The game must be restarted for changes to take effect.

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9.0c, 10, 11 [12]
OpenGL
Linux and mac only
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
64-bit available in Metro: Last Light Redux.
macOS (OS X)
This 32-bit-only macOS game does not work on macOS Catalina (10.15) or later.
Linux

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Physics PhysX

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) XP SP2
Processor (CPU) 2.0 GHz dual core CPU, Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Phenom X2
System memory (RAM) 1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 7.5 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce 200 series
AMD Radeon 3000 series
512 MB of VRAM
DirectX 9 compatible
macOS (OS X)
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 10.8.4
Processor (CPU) 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5
System memory (RAM) 8 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 10 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce GT 640M
512 MB of VRAM
Linux
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) Ubuntu 12.04
Processor (CPU) Dual Core CPU (2.2+ GHz Dual Core CPU or better)
System memory (RAM) 2 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 10 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce GT 640M
512 MB of VRAM


References