Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell

Developers
	Ubisoft Montreal
macOS (OS X)	i5works
Publishers
	Ubisoft
OS X	Aspyr Media
Russia	Russobit-M
Engines
	Unreal Engine 2
Release dates
Windows	February 19, 2003
macOS (OS X)	September 29, 2004
Reception
Metacritic	91
IGDB	85
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Stealth
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Contemporary, Asia, North America
Series	Splinter Cell

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

Warnings

The Mac OS X version of this game does not work on Mac OS X Lion (version 10.7) or later due to the removal of support for PowerPC apps.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is a singleplayer third-person action and stealth game in the Splinter Cell series.

It is based on the technically superior Xbox version and, as a result of this, the PlayStation 2 exclusive mission Nuclear Power Plant is missing. The depth of field effect that appears when using night goggles on the Xbox version is also missing.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc 2 DRM
Retail		DVD releases and the Ubisoft Action-Adventure Collection release.
Epic Games Store
GamersGate
GOG.com
Green Man Gaming
Humble Store
Steam
Ubisoft Store		Included with Ubisoft+

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).

A faithful and higher quality icon is available on SteamGridDB.

A demo is available from Archive.org. It includes parts from Police Station and Kalinatek missions.

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Bonus missions	Included in the latest patch. Not included in the Steam release.

Essential improvements

Patches

The latest official patch is v1.3, available from PCGamingWiki, Ubisoft's patch repository and Patches-Scrolls.

Skip intro videos

Instructions
Go to <path-to-game>\Videos. Delete or rename Logos.bik and videointro.bik.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\system\*.ini
macOS (OS X)
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/13560/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Save\<user-id>\
macOS (OS X)
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/13560/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Epic Games Launcher
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud
Ubisoft Connect

Video

In-game video settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			See Widescreen resolution.
Multi-monitor			See Widescreen resolution.
Ultra-widescreen			See Widescreen resolution.
4K Ultra HD			See Widescreen resolution.
Field of view (FOV)		See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed		Toggle with Alt+↵ Enter.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		See Anti-aliasing (AA).
Vertical sync (Vsync)		See Vertical sync (Vsync).
60 FPS
120+ FPS		Capped at 200 FPS. Above 60 FPS, it has issues. See Frame Rate Issues.

Widescreen resolution

Use ThirteenAG's Widescreen Fix

Download the ZIP file here. Extract the system folder to <path-to-game>. Notes FOV is automatically adjusted according to the resolution. Removes stretched HUD and moves HUD elements to the edge of the screen. Cutscenes are no longer in fullscreen. But they are played in 640x480 unscaled. The ending of the game is stretched. When running the game, a prompt message may request to download dgVoodoo 2 for fixing some rendering issues.

Field of view (FOV)

Edit configuration file

Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open SplinterCellUser.ini. Find the [Engine.PlayerController] section. Edit the following lines: DesiredFOV=75.0 DefaultFOV=75.0 Notes For Hor+ gameplay, a new profile must be created after this solution was applied. Otherwise, previously created profiles will continue to use the old FOV settings. Using this method or the ThirteenAG's Widescreen Fix will be too wide.

Anti-aliasing (AA)

Override AA settings[citation needed]
Download and run Nvidia Profile Inspector. Search and select the game profile. Locate the Antialiasing section. Set Antialiasing - Behavior Flags to None. Set Antialiasing - Mode to Override. Set Antialiasing - Setting to the desired AA (e.g. Multisampling). Click Apply changes. Notes This works for both Nvidia and AMD GPUs.

Force MSAA using dgVoodoo 2

Read the instructions below to properly setup dgVoodoo 2 for this game. Run dgVoodooCpl.exe and click on the DirectX tab. Set Antialiasing (MSAA) to 2x, 4x or 8x. Notes When using ThirteenAG's Widescreen Fix, the included <path-to-game>\system\dgVoodoo.conf file overrides the global dgVoodoo settings. Delete or rename that file to apply global settings, or edit the file through dgVoodooCpl.exe. Water will be rendered incorrectly in few places (sea in the Oil Refinery level and water in two gardens in the last two levels of the main campaign).

Force SMAA using ReShade

Read the instructions below to properly set up dgVoodoo 2 for this game. Download and install ReShade. Click Select game, then select SplinterCell.exe located in <path-to-game>\system. Select Direct3D 10/11/12 as the rendering API. Select the preset to install located in the game executable directory. Select effect packages to install or just standard effects. Run the game, press Home to enter the configuration menu, then create a new profile and activate SMAA. Click on the Settings tab, and set Usage Mode to Performance Mode. Click X in the upper right corner to exit the configuration menu. Notes No water rendering issues. Using Night Vision Goggles causes a loss of performance because ReShade tries to anti-alias the grain effect.

Vertical sync (Vsync)

Edit configuration file
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open SplinterCell.ini. Find the [D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice] section. At the bottom of the section, after FullScreenVideo=True, add the following line: UseVsync=True Save the changes. Notes It only works in full screen mode.

INI tweaks

Edit configuration files

Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open SplinterCell.ini. Edit the file as shown below: [WinDrv.WindowsClient] TextureDetail=High SkinDetail=High Decals=True NoDynamicLights=False SkinDetail=High TextureDetail=High NoFractalAnim=False Decals=True ; => Yes, Decals appear twice in the .ini, you can safely remove the duplicate if you want. [D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice] Translucency=True VolumetricLighting=True ShinySurfaces=True HighDetailActors=True UsePrecaching=True UseMipmapping=True UseTrilinear=True UseMultitexture=True UsePageFlipping=True UseGammaCorrection=True DetailTextures=True UseTripleBuffering=True UsePrecache=True Use32BitTextures=True HardwareSkinning=False ; => Designed for older GPUs. Not needed now. ReduceMouseLag=False UseTripleBuffering=True ForceShadowMode=1 ; Set to 1 (buffer) only if using DgVooDoo 2 or a compatible graphics card; otherwise use 0 (projector). EmulateGF2Mode=0 ; => Seems to only make the infrared vision goggles look worse. FullScreenVideo=True ; => Setting it to False causes the FMVs to not display at all. UseVsync=True Do the same for SplinterCellUser.ini: [Engine.EPCGameOptions] AnimatedGeometry=True ShadowLevel=3 LightMapsLevel=3 TextureLevel=3 AudioVirt=2 Sound3DAcc=true EAX=True ; => Set true only if using DirectSound restoration software or using a compatible sound card. ShadowResolution=2 ; =>Not tested enough; should be the highest quality setting, however it should be worth checking if any higher values look better. EffectsQuality=3 EAX_Capable=true ; => Same as EAX. AntiAliasing=2 ; =>Not tested enough; should enable antialiasing, but I'm not sure if it does, or what values work. Save the changes.

Input

In-game general control settings.

In-game mouse settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		Edit SplinterCellUser.ini
Full controller support
Controller remapping		Edit SplinterCellUser.ini
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers

PlayStation controllers

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Ambient, voice, music and SFX.
Surround sound
Subtitles		In-game subtitles for OPSAT dialogues only. Not available in cutscenes. Except for the Polish version which also adds subtitles to all in-game dialogues.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		EAX 3.0 EAX Unified

GOG.com and Uplay releases have broken support for EAX Advanced HD; falling back to EAX 2.0.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French				Retail, Steam, Epic Games Store and Ubisoft Store only.
German				Retail, GOG.com and Ubisoft Store only.
Hungarian				Fan translation, download.
Italian				Retail and Ubisoft Store only.
Polish				Retail only; download for digital releases.
Brazilian Portuguese				Retail only.
Russian				Retail only; download for digital releases.
Spanish				Retail and Ubisoft Store only; download for digital releases.

Issues unresolved

Sounds stop playing

When quicksaving or entering the menu (OPSAT), some looped sounds such as clock ticking or water running may not be played.

Quick save and quick load the game to reset sounds

Vselka Infiltration - Stuck in the control room

In the Vselka Infiltration mission, after using the laptop in the control room, the player can not get out because the doors remain closed.
Since the enemies that are supposed to open them, they can get stuck in the stairway.

This issue does not occur if you do not quick save during the mission.

Use no clip cheat
Press F2 to open the console. Type ghost and press ↵ Enter to activate no clipping mode. Go through the closed doors. Type walk and press ↵ Enter to deactivate no clipping mode.

Issues fixed

Broken shadows

Shadow comparison.

Relying on a now-obsolete feature of Nvidia GPUs, the default "buffer" shadows are broken on modern hardware. This impacts gameplay, as many light sources (e.g. searchlights) become invisible but can still trigger alarms.

Use dgVoodoo 2 with default buffer shadows

Use dgVoodoo 2
Install dgVoodoo 2. Run dgVoodooCpl.exe and open the DirectX tab. Set Videocard to GeForce4 Ti 4800.

Force projector shadows

The game, when tweaked, supports projection shadows which work on modern hardware.

Run the game with the -shadowmode=projector command line argument

Edit SplinterCell.ini
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open SplinterCell.ini. Find the [D3DDrv.D3DRenderDevice] section. Uncomment the line ;ForceShadowMode=0 by deleting the semicolon.

Official patch does not install (retail)

When trying to install the official patches, an error message may pop up since the installer cannot find the correct version number.

Instructions (Patch 1.3)
Copy SplinterCell.exe from the DVD Patch 1 folder to <path-to-game>\system and overwrite when prompted. Run setup.exe and now the installation should be successful. Copy SplinterCell.exe from the DVD Patch 2 folder to <path-to-game>\system and overwrite when prompted.

Stuttering during gameplay

Force CPU affinity to one core[citation needed]

EAX support not detected

Edit SplinterCellUser.ini
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open SplinterCellUser.ini. Find the [Engine.EPCGameOptions] section. Change the following lines as noted: EAX=false to EAX=true EAX_Capable=false to EAX_Capable=true Sound3DAcc=false to Sound3DAcc=true Save the changes. Notes EAX is automatically disabled if the audio settings menu is opened. The process has to be repeated then.

Frame rate issues

The game is capped at 200 FPS.

Above 60 FPS, some physics of "softbody" materials like curtains are broken.

If its above 100 FPS, the Bottom Tooltip has erratic movement^{[citation needed]}.

If it exceeds 120 FPS, pathfinding is broken^{[citation needed]}.

These issues also happen in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow.

Use dgVoodoo 2
Install dgVoodoo 2. Install ThirteenAG's Widescreen Fix or manually create a config with dgVoodooCpl.exe.

Limit the frame rate to 60 FPS[citation needed]

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
vorpX		G3D User created profile. Requires dgVoodoo 2 v2.55.4. See profile introduction. Profile may not work with the latest wrapper. In case of issues, please report to the vorpx forum.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	8.1
Shader Model support	1.4

Executable	PPC	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	Dolby Digital, DirectSound
Cutscenes	Bink Video

Mods

PS3 Textures - higher resolution textures from the PS3 version, mostly faithful to the original ones. The only exceptions are the removal of ads and the Abattoir level which looks much cleaner. Causes certain shadows not to display correctly.

PS2 Cutscenes for PC - replaces the FMV cutscenes with the PS2 ones which had a slightly altered story, certain dates were changed in the mod to make sense chronologically. The videos are only in English.

Unlocked Thermal Vision Mod - allows the use of thermal vision goggles in the first four missions of the game.

Xbox DLC Loading Screens - replaces the loading screens for the bonus missions with the ones from the Xbox versions.

Improved loading screens - adds new loading screens for bonus missions that fit much better with the rest of the game and flesh out the story. It restores the correct loading screens displayed between Kalinatek and Chinese Embassy from the leaked Xbox prototype. Only works when the game language is set to English.

Spell Check - fixes some typos from the English version of the game.

Texture Shader Fixes - disables problematic texture shaders that render incorrectly on PC at certain angles, improving visual quality. Affected levels include Defense Ministry and CIA HQ.

System requirements

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	98 SE	ME, 2000, XP
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium III 800 MHz AMD Athlon 800 MHz	Intel Pentium III 1.0 GHz AMD Athlon 1.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	256 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	1.5 GB	2.1 GB
Video card (GPU)	32 MB of VRAM DirectX 8.1 compatible	64 MB of VRAM
Sound (audio device)	DirectX 8.1 compatible

Supported ATI chipsets: Radeon 7500, 8500, 9000, 9500, 9700.

Supported Nvidia chipsets: GeForce 256, GeForce2 Ti/Ultra/Pro/GTS/MX400/MX, GeForce3 series, GeForce4 series.

The Matrox Parhelia is also supported.

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	10.2.8
Processor (CPU)	PowerPC 74xx PowerPC G4
System memory (RAM)	256 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)
Other	2x DVD-ROM drive