Anonymous edits have been disabled on the wiki. If you want to contribute please login or create an account.

Metro 2033

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games

This page is for the original release. For the updated Redux version, see Metro 2033 Redux.

Metro 2033
Metro 2033 cover
Developers
4A Games
Publishers
THQ
Deep Silver
Russia Akella
Engines
4A Engine
Release dates
Windows March 16, 2010
Reception
Metacritic 81
IGDB 87
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 2033 on HowLongToBeat
Metro 2033 on IGDB
Metro 2033 guide on StrategyWiki
Metro 2033 on MobyGames
Metro 2033 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

General information

Official manual
Official Discord server for game series
Last Light Forum - Unofficial forums
Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Steam (unavailable)
Icon overlay.png
Windows
All versions require Steam DRM.

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
Gun Unlock
Windows
Ranger Pack
Windows
JP DLC 1
Windows

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Use replacement content.upk9[1]

Use the Metro 2033 No Intro Fix.

The file may not exist in the game folder, but fix will work.

Game data

In-game general settings.
In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows <Steam-folder>\userdata\<user-id>\43110\remote\user.cfg
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/43110/pfx/[Note 1]
A local copy of the settings is stored in %LOCALAPPDATA%\4A Games\Metro 2033\user.cfg
Contents of both instances of user.cfg are identical, but only changes made to the Steam instance will be saved.
A user.cfg also exists in the installation folder but is only used on the first launch.

Save game data location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Documents\4A Games\Metro 2033\
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/43110/pfx/[Note 1]

Game will overwrite user.cfg

Use the user.cfg in your Steam Cloud folder.
  1. Found in <Steam-folder>\userdata\<user-id>\43110\remote\user.cfg.

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
OneDrive
Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers.
Steam Cloud
Approx. 1 MB available.

Video

In-game video settings.
In-game video settings.

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
You may be unable to select your native resolution if you have secondary monitors or televisions plugged in to your computer. See #Resolution Issues.
Multi-monitor
May show a black screen if non-grouped monitors are connected.
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Default is 45° vertical. See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed
No menu option. See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Up to 16 samples.
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Up to 4x MSAA. Nvidia MFAA compliant, enable MFAA in control panel for improved framerate and anti-aliasing on alpha-blended surfaces.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
See Vertical sync (Vsync).
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
No frame rate or refresh rate cap.[2]
High dynamic range display (HDR)
See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Field of view (FOV)

This game uses vertical FOV. See FOV Calculator for help.
Edit user.cfg sick_fov[3]
  1. Edit this file:
  2. Change sick_fov 45 to a number between 1 and 90 (inclusive) (the game runs best at 60-70 FOV). Remember, this is vertical rather than horizontal FOV.
Use Flawless Widescreen
  1. Download and install Flawless Widescreen.
  2. Download the Metro 2033 FWS Plugin.
  3. Unzip the archive into FWS installation folder.
  4. Launch FWS, select Metro 2033 from Installed Plugins section, adjust world FOV and hands FOV to your preference.

Windowed

Edit user.cfg r_fullscreen[4]
  1. Edit this file:
  2. Change r_fullscreen on to r_fullscreen off

Vertical sync (Vsync)

Off by default.
Force in the graphics card control panel[5]
Edit user.cfg r_vsync[citation needed]
  1. Edit this file:
  2. Change r_vsync off to r_vsync on

Resolution Issues

Some users have encountered issues such as not being able to set their native resolution; the game resetting their chosen resolution to a lower one; or the game's maximum available resolution being lower than their monitor's native resolution.[6] Such cases may be caused by the presence of multiple monitors attached to the computer, or attempting to play the game on an attached TV where larger resolutions may not be available. Possible solutions include unplugging any extra monitors[7] or setting the multi-monitor display mode in Windows to "Computer Only". If the game won't show your native resolution and you are playing on a 4K TV with HDR, you will have to turn off HDR on the TV (turning off HDR in Windows won't work), and then the game will allow you to select a higher resolution from the in-game options.

Input

In-game mouse settings.
In-game mouse settings.
In-game key map settings.
In-game key map settings.
In-game general gamepad settings.
In-game general gamepad settings.
In-game gamepad layout settings.
In-game gamepad layout settings.

Disable Xbox 360 Controller

Disable Xbox 360 Controller[8]
A plugged in controller is automatically enabled and can't be easily turned off.
  1. Download the NoX360 archive.
  2. Extract it to the installation folder.

Audio

In-game audio settings.
In-game audio settings.

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Master, Music.
Surround sound
Autodetection without setting. 7.1 audio supported.
Subtitles
Conversations only; speech outside of conversation has no subtitles.[9]
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

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

VR support

3D modes State Notes
vorpX
G3D, DirectVR
Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.
Devices
3RD Space Gaming Vest

Issues fixed

Depistory glitched (High frame rate issues)

High frame rate may create a collision bug that makes it impossible to enter the hole in the wall in depository level
Limit the Framerate to 60 FPS[10]
  1. Set max frame rate to 60 FPS in the video driver control panel or other software limiters.

Crash on startup

Install dependencies[11]
  1. Go to install in the installation folder.
  2. Run the installers located there and try installing/launching again.
  3. If the problem still persists and refers to a missing PhysXLoader.dll, install the latest NVIDIA PhysX System Software and manually copy the files from C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common to the Metro 2033 installation folder.[12]
  4. If you keep seeing nvcuda.dll related errors in the Event viewer (Windows Logs > Applications), copy the nvcuda.dll from C:\Windows\system32 into the game installation directory. If that doesn't help, try an older version of nvcuda.dll (such as 6.14.13.142 which can be found on ddl-files.com).

Notes

  • It may be necessary to uninstall PhysX before reinstalling. There may also be stray copies of PhysXLoader.dll in folders such as c:\windows\sysWow64\.
Crash to Desktop fix 2 Faulting module name: MSVCR80.dll

Occasionally the game will not relaunch, especially on Windows 10. Faulting module name: MSVCR80.dll in the Event viewer (Windows Logs > Applications), Fix by deleting the user.cfg %LOCALAPPDATA%\4A Games\Metro 2033\user.cfg

Disable Lucid Virtu MVP control panel[citation needed]

If you're running Lucid Virtu MVP, you will need to disable the control panel entirely, not just uncheck Metro 2033 from the application list.

Correct Windows date and time settings[13]

Crash during Depot level

How to fix[14]

This may be due to crouching while your companion is being dragged off the cart. Just don't do that.

Game crash after level loading

Restart the chapter[citation needed]

Vertical black bar lines appear

Disable Advanced DOF in DirectX 11 Options
Switch from DirectX 11 to 9[15]

Low FPS fix

Eliminate demanding commands by renaming user.cfg in the install folder[16]
  1. Go the the game's install directory and rename the user.cfg file to user.txt. Then delete the user.cfg located in %LOCALAPPDATA%\4A Games\Metro 2033\.
  2. Run the game to allow it to regenerate the user.cfg file in %LOCALAPPDATA%\4A Games\Metro 2033\.
  3. Then open the new user.cfg file in %LOCALAPPDATA%\4A Games\Metro 2033\ and copy over all the commands from user.txt that start with bind (they're usually at the beginning of the file).
Set priority to High or Realtime in Task Manager[citation needed]
Setting can be saved with Process Lasso.
A priority of Realtime can cause audio glitches.
Set Max pre-rendered frames between 1-4 (Nvidia) or FlipQueueSize between 1-3 (AMD)[citation needed]

Might not be selectable in the builtin control panels on newer driver versions from either manufacturer. For Nvidia, this can be worked around by using Nvidia Profile Inspector. For AMD, open Regedit and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0000\UMD, create a new binary value called FlipQueueSize with a (hex) value of 3x 00, with x being a value between 1-3.

Black screen

Deactivate second monitor[citation needed]

Mouse sensitivity issues

The game applies different sensitivities for vertical and horizontal movement. It also has sensitivity settings that are too high for some players who prefer slower movement.
Use DInputWrapper[17]

Install DInputWrapper.

You must place both the dinput8.dll and one of the sensitivity files in your installation folder. Ensure that you rename the sensitivity file to sensitivity.txt

Toggle aim down sights

Create AutoHotkey script
  1. Download AutoHotkey
  2. Copy the code to the clipboard (CTRL+C).
  3. Open AutoHotkey, go to File>Edit script, paste the code in Notepad.
  4. Change "Fallout4" to Metro 2033 in the Notepad, save.
  5. Reload Script in AutoHotkey

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9.0c, 10, 11
Shader Model support 3.0, 4.0, 5.0
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
64-bit available in Metro 2033 Redux.

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Physics PhysX 2.8.3[18]

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) XP, Vista
Processor (CPU) Dual Core
System memory (RAM) 1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 12 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce 8800
Nvidia GeForce GT220
DirectX 9 compatible
Shader model 3.0 support


Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/43110/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (43110) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References