For the region and platform differences as well as the Original vs Integral release differences
refer to Regions, Versions and Platforms of MGS1
For difficulty differences, refer to Difficulty Differences of MGS1
Q: What is the Tactical Reload?
A: By tapping R1 to unequip and re-equip your weapon, it will reload it. This method is useful to explode Nikita Missiles early,
to avoid shooting, to avoid making noise on noisy surfaces, and to reload quickly.
Q: How do I soft reset?
A: Hold L1, L2, R1, R2, Select and Start.
Q: Do I need to mash to skip cutscenes?
A: No, you can simply hold X to skip cutscenes. Playing on PC, you must change your core affinity to avoid crashing when holding X.
You can also hold start to skip cutscenes, but not cutscenes with FMVs. This will allow you to continue holding the button
without risk of crouching, and no in game time loss.
Q: What changes with difficulty?
A: Since difficulty differences are complex, go to this page
Q: What are the differences between regions, versions and platforms?
A: Since regions/versions/platforms are complex, go to this page
Q: What are rank ups?
A: Whenever you defeat a boss in MGS1, you will 'rank up.' This increases your max HP, increases the max ammo of your weapons,
and allows you to use new weapons. Assuming your starting Rank is 1, you finish the game at Rank 9 with Vulcan Raven.
Q: What is Alternate Round? Why is the guard pattern different?
A: If you are playing on Integral, a completed game save means you have access to Alternate Round. This revises guard routes and cameras.
To play without Alternate Round, either delete the save or hold L2 and R2 (the Inventory buttons) when selecting a difficulty.
Q: Why didn't I get a score screen at the end of the run?
A: You were likely running on Very Easy, which does not give you a score screen.
Q: Do I need to call Otacon to escape the Torture Cell?
A: No, this is an illusion by the game designers to make players who bothered to call him feel like they accomplished something.
Otacon will come to the Torture Cell on his own without a call.
Q: Do I need to press the elevator button in Tower B before meeting Otacon?
A: No, you need to activate the Damn! dialog by going to the broken staircase at the bottom to meet up with Otacon.
Seeing that the staircase is broken activates the story flag for the cutscene.
Q: Can you die during a loading fade out (e.g. load zone or fade to white during M1 Tank/Rex)?
A: Yes. Enemies can still attack you during loads.
Q: How does freezing/heating the PAL card work?
A: It takes one minute and one second (1:01) to freeze or heat the card on NTSC. In reality, it is a random number between 1:00 and 1:01,
but you will not know for certain. If you open up your menus, this will delay the process, so don't menu until the time has passed!
Lag will delay the card timing, so it is slower with 50hz PAL Region or if you create lag on console.
Q: Do I need to enter the pipe room/steam room to heat the card?
A: No, the moment you enter the Blast Furnace the card heats up. Entering the pipe room will delay the card,
due to the black out transition. Only go into that room to retrieve the body armor and stinger missiles on higher difficulties.
Q: When does the game give you a free HP refill?
A: The game heals Snake when
Q: Are there other ways of getting out of alert phase besides hiding?
A: You can enter a new area. This can be useful in the speedrun as a backup strategy or part of the route.
Q: What is the weapon order?
A:
Q: How much ammo do you gain from an ammo package?
A:
Note: When you pick up the weapon itself, it contains the same amount of ammo as
what you would pick up from an ammo package…except for the Stinger (only 1 stinger).
Q: How does the item menu work?
A: The ID Card will always appear below whatever you do or don't have equipped. The other items can be shuffled around
in a triangle. The last item equipped that was not ID Card will appear above whatever you have equipped.
Depending on what you need to menu, it is worthwhile to unequip your item first.
Q: How do sneaky explosions work?
A: Any explosion happening behind a closed door where there are no guards will not trigger an alert.
On the other hand, if the same explosion happens in an opened area that has at least 1 guard,
it will trigger an alert. This is very important for the Armory and the Blast Furnace, based on what you want to do.
Q: What is the kick cancel?
A: Press X during the kick animation in a punch punch kick to cancel it. This is useful to return to neutral early,
or avoid kicking nothing during the Ninja fight. You cannot kick cancel during the Liquid fistfight.
Q: How does frame 1 grenade cooks work?
A: After you lose control from a cutscene or loadzone, hold square to immediately cook a grenade.
You can hold x to skip cutscenes along with it, or hold a direction on the Dpad to move.
If you try holding a direction on the analog stick this trick won't work!
Q: What determines the PAL Card being in the ditch or eaten by the rat?
A: If you have 11 or more alerts going into the bottom of the Underground Base/Rex's Lair
after the PAL card is shot out of Snake's hand, then the card will be in the ditch.
If you have less than 11 alerts, then the card will be eaten by the rat.
Ideally you will get your 10th alert just before the card is shot out of your hand
Q: Do I want the card in the ditch or with the rat?
A: Unless you are going for a Rank 1 or Big Boss style run with minimal alerts, going for rat is typically worse on average than the ditch.
For example, the worst luck for the rat is slower than the worst luck for the ditch. In terms of best luck, the ditch still wins out.
If you go for the most risky rat strategy (YOLO grenade on god spot), then it will be about equivalent with the best luck of the ditch.
Even so, that is a very risky strategy that typically ends up losing you time due to how the rat works.
Therefore, for the vast majority of runs, ditch card is the way to go!
Q: How do I get enough alerts before the point of decision?
A: Depending on your category, the number of alerts you will need varies. The bulk of alerts will be gained during the Docks,
as you are stuck waiting for the elevator regardless. Below is a list of good places to gain an alert.
Q: So what should my typical alert combination be?
A: On All Bosses you will get
On Any% you will get
As you can tell by the above list, there is room with the routing if you do not gain enough alerts in the Docks.
Assuming you got 5 alerts in Docks on All Bosses PC, theoretically you could have 18 alerts by the point of decision.
Q: How do I farm alerts in the docks?
A: You can learn more through the following tutorials: Plywood's & NickRPGreen's
Q: How does the Ditch Card work?
A: You do a certain movement to search through the 7 spots the PAL OR Bomb can be in. You can see the map here. map.png
You can watch how dlimes13 performs the movement here.
Q: How does the Rat Card work?
A: Watch the tutorial video.
The rat spawn depends on what frame you hit the ladder. It is impossible on RTA to manipulate as it changes based on single frames.
The rat ALWAYS spawns when you enter the area, if you can't track him with the Stinger
it means that he is moving towards one of the 2 spawns available (he will never move to the ditch spawn if he spawned invisible to your Stinger).
He can spawn and be VISIBLE on spot #1 (the one near the camera), on spot #2 (the best spot below the stairs)
and on spot #3 (right in the ditch, next to spot #2). Spot #1 and #2 are common, but having him on spot #3 is REALLY rare.
Still, if you don't see the rat neither on Spot 1 or 2, it's worth a shot to check the ditch with the Stinger and if he is there,
shoot right away from upstairs. He can spawn and be INVISIBLE in the middle of the vent, and he will either be heading to spot #1 or #2.
He can also spawn in the northern side of the map (invisible to your Mine Detector as you can't check that side of the map), and he will be heading to the spot #1.
If you shoot or throw any weapon while the rat is positioned either in spot #1, #2 or #3, he will enter the vent and move to the next spawn, always in order.
Causing a splash by jumping into the ditch also spooks the rat, and he moves to the next spot.
A suppressed weapon will work fine, however.
That means that if you have a rat on spot #1 and you miss him, he will ALWAYS be moving to spot #2.
If you miss the rat while he's in spot #2, he will ALWAYS go to the spot #3 and then he'll head back again to spot #1.
If you do miss at Spot #2, run quickly to Spot #3 for interception. If you're running All Bosses, it's better to use the Socom
as once the autoaim locks in, you can't miss the rat even if he is right next to the hole.
Just make sure not to fire if the rat isn't there, run and gun or unequip/reequip to avoid shooting and spooking the rat.
If you are unsure about the rat positioning, you can lose 10 seconds to pick up the Mine Detector in Warehouse North (outside of Raven's room), up the stairs with the cameras.
“The rat has exactly 6 possible spawns when you climb down the stairs, 3 are in the spots that you can see, which are the good spot,
the god spot and the ditch. 3 are literally the rat spawning in the underground vent where you can't see him, but he'll be moving towards 1 of the 2 spawns (good and god).
If you get the good RNG with it, he'll move towards the god spot, if you don't he'll just move back and forth and head to the good spot.
If you have the worst RNG, he'll spawn where you can't even track him (northern side of the map)
and then he'll move to the good spot after a lot of time. If you shoot (or miss him once you're detected) a loud weapon when the rat is on the good spot,
he'll move towards the god, If you do it while he's in the god, he'll move to the ditch and back to the good spot afterwards.
If you shoot a silenced weapon, the rat won't detect you” - Tromboncino
Q: What are the requirements?
A: 3 or 4 alerts, 25 kills or less, 1 ration or less, No Continues, 3 hours or less
Q: What kills are required?
A: Guard Encounter/Cell Fight: 1
Tank: 2
Stealth Camo Guards (The Four Horsemen): 1
Cargo Guards: 1
Escape: 6
Total: 11 kills out of 25
Q: Who should I also kill during the run?
A: With 14 remaining, this comes down to personal preference and strategy.
It is possible to kill only 11 guards, but this requires making enemies kill each other by grabbing them and using them as meatshields, which is significantly slower.
That's why it's optimal to kill the three initial cell guards as well as the stealth camo and cargo guards. More guards during the Cell Fight, as relying on Meryl can be slow and/or dangerous.
Wave 2 or the final wave, though you could kill 2 waves + 1 guard. Saving Johnny quickly requires finesse and counting. Killing a guard at the Walkway simplifies your approach.
The two Blast Furnace guards can be slow to deal with, especially the upper guard.
Q: What alerts are required?
A: The 3 required alerts are Tower Climb, PAL Key falling into the ditch, and the Escape. Therefore, there is one freebie alert.
Q: When is an alert counted?
A: When the siren is heard. This is relevant for the guard outside of the computer room for the PAL Card sequence.
Q: How many chokes kill?
A: 10 to kill, 9 to knockout
Q: When should I use the ration?
A: Either at Wolf 1, Hind-D, or Cargo Elevator. Ideally, you use the ration as late as possible.
Q: Which language should I choose on Integral?
A: You want to select English, it saves 7 seconds at the nuclear statistics before credits.
Q: What does pausing do?
A: Pressing start or F3 on PC pauses the In Game Timer. You can use this for pause buffer strategies in certain fights, like Wolf.
Q: Why do runners keep a weapon equipped?
A: Snake actually moves faster when a weapon is equipped compared to being barehanded. Throughout the run, this will save dozens of seconds.
You only want to run barehanded when you have no equipment, or before throwing/choking a guard. A few buffer strategies involve running with no weapon.
Q: Why is the weapon equipped typically Chaff Grenades?
A: Historically, people thought that grenades offered the best speed boost, but this is under dispute and probably is not true.
Chaff is the first weapon you can access normally and it is the only weapon that can be equipped in Nuke Building 1F (under normal circumstances).
Q: Which cutscenes are unskippable on Console?
A:
Q: What are suggested splits for livesplit?
A: Cell Fight
Q: What is the quick throw/throw cancel/choke cancel?
A: By pressing R1 after throwing or choking a guard, the end animation is cancelled and Snake is free to move again.
This technique proves very useful across the entire game.
Q: What is skating?
A: Skating (or step cancel) is a way to silence your footsteps. Unequip and re-equip your weapon over and over again to skate.
The slower the better in terms of speed, but most people rapidly press R1.
Q: What is the RAM Manipulation?
A: Whatever weapon or item you die with can be re-equipped with R1 or L1.
Before you begin a run, load a save (preferably by a trap door) and die with Chaff and Card/Rations out. Exit from Game Over, and begin a new game.
If done properly, you save time on inital menus.
Q: Where should I make a RAM Manipulation Save?
A: At the Armory or Armory South (card/ration), and before picking up gear during torture (ketchup).
Take damage before re-entering the medical room with ketchup equipped. Make a save, pick up your gear, equip the chaff, then get shot by the turret.
Q: What is the Vent glitch?
A: Vent glitch is a misnomer, as this glitch can be performed underneath any object that you can crawl. This includes vents, desks, beds, etc.
To perform the Vent glitch, crawl under an area so that 25-50% of Snake's model is covered. You can use his legs as a visual cue. Hold triangle to go into FPV, and up.
Make sure Snake is fully looking up. You will then release triangle and up at the same time, then press X afterwards.
If done correctly, you will stand on the surface you are underneath. Pressing X too early or too late will fail the glitch.
Q:Why does the PSG1 and Stinger say “Weapon Full” when you walk over it in Any%?
A:Since we did not defeat the required bosses when we pick those items up, we cannot use them as weapons until we hit the required rank.
For the PSG1, you must achieve Rank 5 (Mantis) to use it. For the Stinger, you must achieve Rank 6 (Wolf 1) to use it.
Even so, we can do glitches with the PSG1 (GME) and Stinger (Weapon Glitch) while they are inaccessible.
Q: What is the Weapon glitch?
A: When Snake is damaged while prone, if you unselect/select your item after taking damage and then go into first person view,
the camera will have a weird angle. Now, if you press any button/movement at a specific frame, you activate the glitch. Stand up, hold R2, and equip a new weapon.
This will cause one weapon to take the place of another. To make it easier, you can press several buttons and turn the stick as fast as you can.
(To summarize: lay down, equip weapon 1, take damage, unselect/select item (L1), press and hold Triangle, Mash buttons/directions, Hold R2 when Snake stands up, equip weapon 2.)
You know the glitch worked if Snake keeps his weapon even if you equip another one. For example,
if you equipped the Chaff grenades before doing the glitch and you equip the Stinger, Snake will still be throwing Chaffs.
This is used to skip Hind-D and Wolf 2. It can also be used to punch Wolf 1 to death (Edited from Slade's FAQ).
Be aware that you may not succeed at the glitch, even if you perform all the steps correctly. This is because you didn't hit the correct frame to achieve the glitch.
Q: Why is Weapon Glitch used?
A: It allows you to delete the stinger, skipping the Otacon cutscene in the tower,
allowing you to skip the Hind-D fight via the Box Glitch. For Wolf, the game thinks you are prone and unable to move with the PSG1,
allowing you to go past the shot barrier trigger and punch Wolf 1 to death, or skip Wolf 2 entirely.
Q: What is the Box Glitch?
A: With the boxes set up as they are before the Otacon cutscene, Snake can climb them from the other side.
A certain point in Snake's running animation without a weapon equipped allows him to climb up the boxes.
If you fall onto the other side or land on a staircase, you must kill yourself, or you will be stuck.
Q: What is the Scope Invincibility Glitch?
A: “Go into a crawling space where the camera switches to first-person view (in a vent, under a desk, …).
Now when you exit, you need to equip the scope just as the camera exits fpv mode. To make it easier,
you can hold up to crawl out and mash L1 to quickly equip/unequip the scope. If you do it right,
the animation where Snake crawls out and you lose control of him for a second will be skipped
and you will be invincible to most attacks.” (From MGSlade's FAQ) This is useful for the tank fight.
Q: What is the Boba Skip?
A: This is a glitch used in Communication Tower A during the guard chase to get through the Level 6 door on floor 9.
Normally this door isn't usable because it is frozen shut and Snake has to use C4 from the other side of the door to thaw it, opening up a backtrack route.
When Snake takes damage, he performs one of two knockback animations, one of which sees him flail his arms up and behind him.
During that animation, Snake's hitbox increases in size and does clip through objects, albeit very slightly.
Another, smaller knockback animation doesn't produce the same effect and it is believed that there is a 50% chance as to which animation is played.
Back inside Tower A, the loading zone leading to the walkway is unusually close to the door and by having Snake perform the larger knockback animation
whilst stood in the right spot, his hitbox will hit the loading zone and Snake will pass through the door and out onto the walkway.
This can be done by letting a guard shoot you from the right direction which requires a bit of luck, but the most common method is to lean against the left edge of the door,
use first-person view to face a specific direction and then detonate a Chaff/Stun Grenade in your hand. Performing the glitch skips the rest of the Tower A climb,
the Rappel section, despawns the guards at the other end of the walkway and avoids the cutscene of the Hind-D popping up at the end of the walkway.
The skip can only be performed whilst the door is frozen and won't work a second time during the same run,
as the game automatically unfreezes the door once you've performed it. At the time of writing,
the skip has not been successfully replicated on any other door in the game.
The skip is named after Yogscast streamer Boba who accidentally discovered it whilst streaming her first-ever playthrough of the game.
Q: What is so great about running the game on PC?
A: Here is the rundown -
Q: Should I use software or hardware rendering?
A: Software rendering loads the game faster than hardware rendering, at the cost of requiring fullscreen mode on the Oxide-nl patch.
Q: What is the God Mode Exploit?
A: A trick on the PC that allows Snake to become invincible to most forms of damage. By pressing 0 then 9 (or any other weapon hotkey) in quick succession,
you interrupt the animation of going into the PSG-1 scope and enter GME. There are three states Snake can enter. State 0 is the normal state,
State 1 is GME without trigger-breaking properties, and State 2 is GME with trigger-breaking properties.
If you end the GME in a crouch, Snake will enter State 2. You can also start in a crouch, then perform GME.
GME can also be performed via the weapons' menu, select PSG-1 then press 9.
The exploit allows Snake to break door loading triggers to go out of bounds (State 2), avoid detection from lasers (State 1),
prevent codec calls (State 2), and so on. This does NOT protect Snake from drowning, poison, pitfalls,
or the Blast Furnace. It must be applied in each area to work.
Q: Why 9 (Chaff Grenades)?
A: For one, you'll likely have chaff grenades at all points during the run.
For two, it is the key next to 0, which makes the keystrokes very convenient. There may be some niche reasons to use a different weapon hotkey during the run, Rex Phase 2(?)
Q: How do you exit God Mode?
A: Enter a new area, go prone to avoid breaking triggers, and maintain God Mode (State 1), or go into the PSG1 scope (State 0).
Q: I can't climb ladders or item menu during God Mode, what gives?
A: You must enter first-person view (or press Triangle).
Q: Should I have compatibility mode on?
A: Ideally, no. It can slow down loads and cause certain codecs to play for several seconds before they are skipped.
Q: Why did I freeze at Wolf 2?
A: You cannot Weapon Glitch or God Mode into the trigger for the start of the fight (the scoped shot), or else the game will softlock.
Q: Why are there separate mechanics and glitches for Very Easy?
A: Very Easy is the only difficulty that doesn't display a score screen at the end of the game, so the game doesn't reveal its in-game time (IGT).
As a result, this is the only difficulty ran in Real-Time Attack (RTA). As there is no need to maintain an accurate IGT,
we are allowed to use extra methods to complete runs in Very Easy. As such, the following mechanics and glitches are forbidden in all other full run difficulties,
however, they can be used in Individual-Level runs of Disc 1/Disc 2/Bosses as these are also timed in RTA.
Q: What is alt+tabbing?
A: Alt+tabbing while in full screen will defocus the game, which can mess with it. IF you alt+tab during a line of dialog,
it will advance to the next line of the script. If you alt+tab before a line of dialog begins, you may softlock in certain places (e.g. Grey Fox monologue).
This can potentially save time, depending on how fast your system alt+tabs, and the length of the dialog you are skipping.
Some computers will also achieve the same results by double-tapping the Windows key, to quickly open and close the start menu.
Q: What is the blank save file glitch?
A: A save file can be made that has no name, if you load this save file, it will restart the area you are inside,
but retain Snake's current state (weapons, items, health) and any event flags you have triggered. In other words, it is an Area Reloader.
A variable number of save files can cause the glitch to occur. You can skip the Rex phases, the Torture sequence, among others.
A preset area reloader save is used to create a level playing field; you are not required to create this save file during your run. On PC alternatively we can also enable cheats and press the F7 key to achieve the same functionality, but without being required to load a save. This allows us to reload areas in even more situation where we can't access the game menu normally.
Additionally, with Area Reloads we can also achieve wrong warping. More info see here: MGS1 Area Reload Wrong Warps
Q: So, why does the blank save file glitch happen?
A: “I think the area reloader is a way for the programmers to handle corrupted savefiles exceptions. That would be the reason it is possible to create one by just editing it” - Veictas
Q: What are function key cheats?
A: By creating a shortcut to MGSI.exe and adding “-cheatenable” to the end of the target line, you will enable the function key cheats.
There is also a toggle to enable these on the MGSI Launcher. The cheats are as follows:
Apart from the Area Reloader, cheats are forbidden in runs. Activating the function key cheats will disable the weapon hotkeys unless you have patched your version of MGSI.exe.
Q: How do I use the F7 Area Reloader in a Very Easy run?
A: There are a few uses for the Area Reloader, particularly at times where you a going to collect an item and then return through the door/elevator you entered from.
It can also be used to skip some unskippable in-game scenes, such as the Grey Fox speech during the Metal Gear REX battle. Check out this video for a full explanation on how it works.
Q: What is the Elevator Reload Glitch?
A: When travelling between two floors in the Tank Hanger and Nuke Building, as the elevator stops,
it loads the environment and saves Snake's relative location in the room, but the flag for the start of the room doesn't set
until the camera shifts away from the elevator buttons. By hitting F7 before the camera shifts, the game will reload at the floor you've just come from,
but with Snake spawning in the starting location of the floor you went to. In some cases this puts Snake out of bounds and there are three useful uses for this:
General Video tutorial explaining the MGS PC Setup for GOG and Reddit version Contents:
How to set up the autosplitter for PC (and Emulator)
Q: It tells me to insert Disc 1, what do I do?
A: Use BMNs Launcher to mount an empty disc via Windows tools. Just one click and it appears.
Alternative methods: throw a random CD/DVD in the drive (if you have one). Or change the mgsi.exe file compatibility to Win98/WinME.
Or use an random ISO's and if all fails use the original ISO's….Mount a random ISO with Daemon tools Inserting a USB stick when asked for Disc 1“.
Q: The game crashes when I hold X to skip cutscenes and if I do the Tower A Roof cutscene skip. What do I do?
A:
NEW METHOD: Use BMNs Launcher and set the cores to the left according to the vidoe tutorial above.
OLD METHOD: Go to Task Manager, details, MGS.exe affinity and set the processor affinity so it does not use all CPU cores.
Depending on your processor, the number of cores to use varies. You need to do this every time you launch. MGS1 came out when multicore CPU processing wasn't a thing,
this removes the issue. Credit to MetalGlennSolid for figuring this out. A non-exhaustive list can be found below of what number of cores work for people in the community.
| CPU | Cores |
|---|---|
| Intel 4460 | 0 & 1 |
| Intel i7-7700k | 0 & 1 |
| Intel i9-9900K | 0 thru 5 |
| Intel i7-10700K | 0 thru 3 |
| AMD FX-8320 | 0 & 1 |
| AMD Ryzen 5 2600X | 0 thru 3 |
| AMD Ryzen 5 3600 | 0 & 1 |
| AMD Ryzen 5 3600X | 0 & 1 |
| AMD Ryzen 7 3700X | 0 thru 5 |
| AMD Ryzen 7 3800X | 0 thru 5 |
Q: The controller configuration resets every time I complete a run or restart the program, what's that about?
A: NEW METHOD: You can change the game settings with BMNs launcher. after setting the game up and closing it,
press the backup button and set the checkmark for restoring the settings each launch. That way, the binds and other settings will be saved and loaded again when launching the game.
OLD METHOD: It's pretty annoying, right? There is a way around it. If you are playing on windowed mode,
click the X at the results screen to keep your controller bindings. If you are using a DualShock 4, VideoGameRoulette made a configuration file that removes the need to adjust controller buttons, and enables proper Dpad. This issue is fixed in GOG.
Q: What controllers are recommended to play with?
A: With the correct drivers, you can use many different types, including Xbox360, XboxOne, and DualShock 4.
The PlayStation classic controller works natively.
Controllers that work with the free tool DS4Windows:
Controllers that work with the free tool Antimicro:
For a video tutorial how to setup the controllers watch the video at the start of this section.
Q: How can I deal with Psycho Mantis on PC?
A: There's a few different ways. You can use purely keyboard, which is the intended method.
You can map a keyboard to a controller after clearing all key bindings (easily done with bmn launcher UNBIND cheat code). The downside is that run and gun can not be done as easily,
forcing you to either start by holding the fire key, or holding x before hand w/o crouching. The ideal solution is to use a DS4 profile with keyboard bindings
(hiding the DS4 controller from the program either with HIDGuardian or the DS4windows app) while still being able to use a secondary controller for typical xinput gameplay.
For reference watch the video at the start of the section to see how to bind your attack button on the gamepad to the keyboard's left control key.
Q: How do I force windowed mode?
A: NEW METHOD: use BMNs Launcher to set the appropiate settings for the game versions. Watch the explainer video at the start of the section.
GOG works well in windowed mode and can be resized. Reddit version can only be run in fullscreen mode in the software render option.
OLD METHOD: Create a shortcut, enter properties, shortcut, add -w or -windowed to target. Keep in mind this plays on a small window when played on modern displays.
You can also run this in a maximized window, which stretches to the extent of the screen. Use Run: Maximized, or add –window full to target. Some use magnifier or autosizer to adjust the window size.
Q: Should I let Nvidia or AMD profile this game?
A: NO!
Q: This game lags hardcore and barely works, what gives?
A: Make sure you meet the requirements for the Reddit Patch…OS Windows 7/8/10 with DX11 at least.
Dedicated GPU supporting DX10.1 with at least 1GB VRAM. Update MS Visual c++. If you run the game in software mode, which loads rooms faster, make sure your CPU can handle the load.
Q: I get a black screen, what do I do?
A: Update your graphics drivers.
Q: Why doesn't the elevator work when trying to go up Tower B after Sniper Wolf 2?
A: This is an infamous bug of the PC version. In order to go back, you will need Cardboard Boxes and use the truck in the Snowfield.
Before GME was discovered, this was a necessity for the Any% route on PC.
Q: I crashed when looping at the Underground Passage or Tower B drop, what gives?
A: If you go prone too early, the camera has no idea how to adjust to an area Snake shouldn't be in.
Falling 9 stories out of bounds or resetting Y coordinate to the map's maximum are examples of this. This can crash the game.
Q: Snake started to move on his own, I was not able to control him anymore for a few seconds. Why is that happening?
A: It can happen if you press 2 movement keys at the same time while stationary, usually for diagonal movements.
To prevent that, start moving by holding 1 direction, then quickly add the other one as soon Snake moves. That happens if you insert multiple direction movements all at once.
To avoid that, simply press a direction and then add another to create a diagonal movement.
Q: What category/difficulty/version should I learn?
A: PC Any% is generally regarded in the community as one of the most beginner friendly Metal Gear runs because of the God Mode Exploit.
PC All Bosses is a mix of console and PC, though thanks to recent finds such as the Shuffle/SWIM it has taken on more of a life of its own.
Some do not like the level of glitchiness in PC, and go for console. If you want great challenge, you can start with Hard to ease yourself in, then go into Extreme.
If you want to simply learn the game, Easy difficulty is recommended.
Any% is simpler to learn than All Bosses. All Bosses adds more complication to the route, but you see more of the game as a whole.
Q: Why is there no Meryl ending category?
A: It used to be a variable when submitting, but…literally no one did so. It loses several minutes, adds even more mashing to the run,
adds another codec sequence, lengthens the Epilogue, adds another menu, and doesn't significantly change the core elements of the run.
It's also fairly limiting (need to turn vibration off to avoid the Naomi massage, and Japanese Integral saves a ton of time potentially due to torture length).
Q: How do I set up a Japanese PSN account?
A: Here are some links explaining the process. 1 2 3
Q: What is Adrenaline?
A: Adrenaline is a fantastic softmod for PSPs and PS Vitas/PSTVs. It adds savestates, the ability to play whatever PS1 ISO you wish,
etc. Adrenaline to the community's knowledge does NOT change how Metal Gear Solid functions.
Q: These glitches are crazy! Who found them?
A: MGSlade originally found the weapon glitch by accident, then ThrillUK and magnum66 went about replicating.
ThrillUK and magnum66 were instrumental in developing the any% route, including vent glitch and Hind-D skip.
Plywood discovered God Mode Exploit on PC, then ThrillUK and Plywood worked out several (but not all) of its uses for breaking triggers.
Alt+tab glitch was known by the developers, and can be found in the readme.
Q: How do Ranks work?
A: According to the Official Strategy guide, p. 163
| RANK | EASY | NORMAL | HARD | EXTREME | HOW? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hound | Doberman | Fox | Big Boss | 3 or 4 alerts, 25 kills or less, 1 ration or less, No Continues, 3 hours or less |
| 2 | Pigeon | Falcon | Hawk | Eagle | 2.5 hours or less |
| 3 | Piranha | Shark | Jaws | Orca | 250 Kills or more |
| 4 | Pig | Elephant | Mammoth | Whale | 130 Rations or more |
| 5 | Cat | Deer | Zebra | Hippopotamus | 80 saves or more |
| 6 | Koala | Capibara | Sloth | Giant Panda | 18 hours or more |
| 7 | Chicken | Mouse | Rabbit | Ostrich | Combinations regarding conditions of Ranks 4,5, and 6 |
| 8 | Puma | Leopard | Panther | Jaguar | Refer to Formula |
| 9 | Komodo | Dragon | Iguana | Crocodile | Refer to Formula |
| 10 | Mongoose | Hyena | Jackal | Tasmanian Devil | Refer to Formula |
| 11 | Spider | Tarantula | Centipede | Scorpion | Refer to Formula |
| 12 | Flying Squirrel | Bat | Flying Fox | Night Fox | Refer to Formula |
Formula x = number of alerts y = (10x)(number of kills - 25) IF (number of kills - 25) is 0 or less, y is set at 100
[I am not sure if (number of kills - 25) is only relevant when the IF statement is true. The Y part of the formula makes no sense.]
| Formula | 0<y<4 | 4<y<8 | 8<y<16 | 16<y<20 | 20<y |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0<x<30 | Rank 8 | Rank 8 | Rank 10 | Rank 11 | Rank 11 |
| 30<x<55 | Rank 9 | Rank 10 | Rank 10 | Rank 10 | Rank 12 |
| 55<x | Rank 9 | Rank 9 | Rank 10 | Rank 12 | Rank 12 |
