2.6.2

What's Changed

🚀 New Fixes

💻 GPU Fixes

• Fixed a vanilla issue where the game would not automatically default to your dedicated GPU and instead used your integrated graphics chip on systems with multiple GPUs.
  • This often led to people having poor performance and wondering why, even with a 4080 or something equally as powerful.
  • (This is a symptom of improperly configured AMD/NVIDIA display drivers. While MGSHDFix now forces the game to use the correct GPU automatically, it’s still best to set your more powerful GPU as the default for games in your graphics driver settings.)

🎮 PlayStation Controller Support

• Some users have experienced PS4 / PS5 controllers not working in-game (while working fine in the launcher) since the Master Collection’s 2023 release.
• This was traced to a Steam/Valve issue caused by a corrupt Steam Input controller template file located in:
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\controller_base
• Deleting the controller_base folder from your main Steam directory and restarting Steam reportedly resolves the issue.
  • Steam will re-download this folder automatically when reopened.
  • Instructions for this fix now appear in MGSHDFix’s controller warning if your controller isn’t using the proper input handler (Native input vs Steam Input vs XInput).
• If you experience this issue, please zip your controller_base folder before deleting it and include it in a GitHub issue report if the fix works for you.
  • This will help us identify the exact file causing the problem so we can integrate an automatic fix directly into MGSHDFix.

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🐛 MGSHDFix – Bug Fixes

• Fixed the game crashing on systems with multiple GPUs while the mod was installed (present since MGSHDFix 2.5.0).
  • Often reported as the game crashing on startup with GTX 1650s and 4060s.
  • Partially caused by the GPU bug mentioned above.

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⚙️ MGSHDFix – Internal Improvements

• Added a safeguard for typos in the config file for the sunglasses tweak.
• Cleaned up GPU performance logging so it now only warns about the GPU the game is actually running on, instead of all detected GPUs.
• MGSHDFix's log files have been split into two separate files, MGSHDFix_Game.log, and MGSHDFix_Launcher.log, to make debugging a little easier.

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Full Changelog: 2.6.1...2.6.2

Installation

🚩 If updating from a previous version of MGSHDFix:

• Delete d3d11.dll from your game folder.
• Delete old MGSHDFix files (e.g., MGSHDFix.ini and MGSHDFix.asi) before installing the update.

Steps:

1. Download the file marked MGSHDFix_v2.6.2.zip from the "Assets" section below.
2. Extract the contents of the release zip into your game folder.
   • (e.g., steamapps\common\MGS2 or steamapps\common\MGS3 for Steam.)
3. Set both "Internal Resolution" & "Internal Upscaling" to Default / Original in the game's launcher. (Resolution is entirely handled by MGSHDFix.)

Steam Deck/Linux Additional Instructions

🚩 These steps are only needed if you’re on Steam Deck/Linux. Skip if you’re using Windows.

• Open up the game properties of either MGS2/MGS3 in Steam and add the following line to the launch options:

   `WINEDLLOVERRIDES="wininet,winhttp=n,b" %command%` 
  

Configuration

• See MGSHDFix.ini in the /plugins folder to adjust settings for the fix.

Feedback & Support

If you encounter bugs, need help, or want to suggest improvements, please open an issue on the GitHub repository.

2.6.1 - KeepAiming hotfix

What's Changed

🐛 MGSHDFix – Bug Fixes

• Fixed Keep Aiming not working with keyboards.
• Fixed Keep Aiming not detecting all inputs in environments with multiple controllers connected at once.

Full Changelog: 2.6.0...2.6.1

Installation

🚩 If updating from a previous version of MGSHDFix:

• Delete d3d11.dll from your game folder.
• Delete old MGSHDFix files (e.g., MGSHDFix.ini and MGSHDFix.asi) before installing the update.

Steps:

1. Download the file marked MGSHDFix_v2.6.0.zip from the "Assets" section below.
2. Extract the contents of the release zip into your game folder.
   • (e.g., steamapps\common\MGS2 or steamapps\common\MGS3 for Steam.)
3. Set both "Internal Resolution" & "Internal Upscaling" to Default / Original in the game's launcher. (Resolution is entirely handled by MGSHDFix.)

Steam Deck/Linux Additional Instructions

🚩 These steps are only needed if you’re on Steam Deck/Linux. Skip if you’re using Windows.

• Open up the game properties of either MGS2/MGS3 in Steam and add the following line to the launch options:

   `WINEDLLOVERRIDES="wininet,winhttp=n,b" %command%` 
  

Configuration

• See MGSHDFix.ini in the /plugins folder to adjust settings for the fix.

Feedback & Support

If you encounter bugs, need help, or want to suggest improvements, please open an issue on the GitHub repository.

2.6.0 - Hey Snake, Did You Like My Sunglasses?

What's Changed

🚀 New Features & Fixes

🎮 Control Fixes

• Fixed a vanilla bug where your character would immediately start aiming after re-equipping a gun that was drawn when you put it away (which broke quick-reloading.)
• Fixed a vanilla bug where your character would stop aiming while holding L1 if the joystick was fully tilted.
  Both fixes can be toggled in the config file for players who prefer the original behavior.

🔫 Keep Aiming After Firing

• Integrated the KeepAiming mod directly into MGSHDFix.
  Huge thanks to Zenf for the original mod and memory location info!
• Your gun will no longer be automatically lowered after firing.
• Fully rewritten with support for:
  • Holding gun up only while in First-Person View (R1) or while holding Lock-On (L1).
  • MGS2 support (rifles fully supported; pistols and RBG-8 still pending due to firing delay bug).

🕶️ MGS2 Sunglasses Tweak

• Added an option to always (or never) have Snake/Raiden wear their sunglasses.
• The Patriots are watching... If using a pirated copy of MGS2 between 6 AM–7 PM, they may “mysteriously” put on their sunglasses on their own…

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🐛 MGSHDFix – Bug Fixes

• Fixed one case where Solidus’s flamedash effect played at half-speed (an overcorrection from v2.5.0).
• Fixed a log spam issue when tranquilizing guards without the “tranquilize 100 guards” achievement.
• GPU log improvements: Intel UHD 600 integrated GPUs now properly trigger the “minimum requirements not met” alert.

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⚙️ MGSHDFix – Internal Improvements

• Added detailed Steam Input logging for all detected controllers to aid in debugging PlayStation controller issues.
  If you run into controller problems, please report them on GitHub—we need your logs!
• Improved config file resilience: typos are now less likely to break things.

Full Changelog: 2.5.1...2.6.0

Installation

🚩 If updating from a previous version of MGSHDFix:

• Delete d3d11.dll from your game folder.
• Delete old MGSHDFix files (e.g., MGSHDFix.ini and MGSHDFix.asi) before installing the update.

Steps:

1. Download the file marked MGSHDFix_v2.6.0.zip from the "Assets" section below.
2. Extract the contents of the release zip into your game folder.
   • (e.g., steamapps\common\MGS2 or steamapps\common\MGS3 for Steam.)
3. Set both "Internal Resolution" & "Internal Upscaling" to Default / Original in the game's launcher. (Resolution is entirely handled by MGSHDFix.)

Steam Deck/Linux Additional Instructions

🚩 These steps are only needed if you’re on Steam Deck/Linux. Skip if you’re using Windows.

• Open up the game properties of either MGS2/MGS3 in Steam and add the following line to the launch options:

   `WINEDLLOVERRIDES="wininet,winhttp=n,b" %command%` 
  

Configuration

• See MGSHDFix.ini in the /plugins folder to adjust settings for the fix.

Feedback & Support

If you encounter bugs, need help, or want to suggest improvements, please open an issue on the GitHub repository.

2.5.1 - Steam Cloud saved achievement progress! Plus some mod compatibility fixes & warnings.

What's Changed

New Features / New Fixes:

• Persistent, Steam Cloud–synced achievement progress!
  • Achievements that are based off gameplay stats / progression (e.g., tranquilizing 100 guards, watching all the hidden R1 cutscene first-person views, ect.) normally don't have their progress saved and reset when you close the game.
  • All achievements' stats are now properly saved across gameplay sessions and are also fully synced over Steam Cloud!
    • (MGSHDFix is required to load the synced stats on other devices.)
  • This means you no longer have to replay through the entirety of MGS3 from start to finish to unlock the Snake Eyes achievement because you forgot to hold R1 while Eva was getting dressed at the start of the game; you now only need to rewatch the scenes that you missed! (Yes, Johnny on the Spot is fixed too.)
  • Persistence can be disabled in the config if you prefer the old way achievements behaved.
• Added a config option to reset all your game's achievements (in case you really want to unlock MGS2's Big Boss achievement again!)
  • This option will only reset the achievements for the specific game you launch (i.e., launch MGS3 to reset MGS3 - launching MG1 won’t erase MGS2’s progress).

Mod Compatibility:

• Fixed a race condition which could cause a crash on startup if another mod unpaused the game during our initialization (particularly on slower CPUs.)
• Added a warning when using the KeepAiming mod. The current version of their mod is not compatible with version 2.5.0+ of MGSHDFix and causes MGS3 to crash on startup. Unfortunately, this isn't something we can fix ourselves as their mod isn't open source.
  • (This warning will auto-disable without having to update MGSHDFix once the maker has a chance to put out an update.)

Improvements:

• Added log warnings when your GPU doesn’t meet the minimum system requirements, so users know why their 12-year-old Intel HD Graphics 4400 laptop chip can’t run the game.

Full Changelog: 2.5.0...2.5.1

Installation

🚩 If updating from a previous version of MGSHDFix:

• Delete d3d11.dll from your game folder.
• Delete old MGSHDFix files (e.g., MGSHDFix.ini and MGSHDFix.asi) before installing the update.

Steps:

1. Download the file marked MGSHDFix_v2.5.1.zip from the "Assets" section below.
2. Extract the contents of the release zip into your game folder.
   • (e.g., steamapps\common\MGS2 or steamapps\common\MGS3 for Steam.)
3. Set both "Internal Resolution" & "Internal Upscaling" to Default / Original in the game's launcher. (Resolution is entirely handled by MGSHDFix.)

Steam Deck/Linux Additional Instructions

🚩 These steps are only needed if you’re on Steam Deck/Linux. Skip if you’re using Windows.

• Open up the game properties of either MGS2/MGS3 in Steam and add the following line to the launch options:

   `WINEDLLOVERRIDES="wininet,winhttp=n,b" %command%` 
  

Configuration

• See MGSHDFix.ini in the /plugins folder to adjust settings for the fix.

Feedback & Support

If you encounter bugs, need help, or want to suggest improvements, please open an issue on the GitHub repository.

2.5.0 - Bugfixes, compatibility checks, and general housekeeping!

What's Changed

New Features / New Fixes:

• Added a LauncherJumpStart option, which skips all the splash screens & the main menu of the games' launcher app.
• Added a warning when the game is muted on startup.
  • (Accidentally muting the game via the launcher is a pretty common troubleshooting mistake.)
• Added the ability to disable the game's pause on focus loss / alt-tab. #95
  • This means the MGSAltTabPatch mod is no longer required, as its functionality is now included in MGSHDFix.
• Added the ability to force stereo audio output.
  • This corrects the infamous "Rain audio is significantly louder than codec conversations & other game sounds" issue.
  • This is a symptom of a hardware configuration issue and not an issue inherent to the game. If your Windows audio output device is incorrectly set to output 5.1/7.1 audio to headphones/speakers with only two physical speakers, the game will try to output sounds to audio channels that do not exist.
  • This issue also affects other games and even VLC, but it often goes unnoticed until you're presented with actual surround sound capable media; so it's best to fix your hardware configuration issue instead if possible.
• Added support for custom PS2 controller glyphs, just put them in textures\flatlist\ovr_stm\ctrltype_ps2 and switch CtrlType in the ini. (Textures not supplied. This is just support for modmakers to make more mods!)
• Fixed the Steam cloud related "DAMAGED SAVE"/"CORRUPT SAVE" bug.
  • This issue is usually caused by closing the game quickly after saving, which results in Steam Cloud failing to sync the new save data & restoring an old file the next time you start the game.
  • The outdated save data will now be moved to (GAME DIRECTORY)\(GAME)_savedata_win\(YOUR STEAM ID)\Outdated Saves
• Fixed a bug caused by alt-tabbing while cutscenes are active which could result in animations and audio getting out of sync, sometimes crashing the game.
  • This bug could also cause trigger-zones to not load in properly, and in some cases resulted in the game becoming soft-locked as the trigger-zones behind doors (to load the next room) were not spawned in.
  • This fix can be toggled on/off in the config, since speed-runners utilize it to skip some forced codec calls.
• Fixed a handful of visual effects that were running at double-speed in MGS2, resulting in them ending earlier than intended / appearing to be missing. They are now much closer to their PS2 durations (utilizing Real Time Clock timesteps to make them fully independent of framerate where possible to accurately simulate framerate slowdowns during intense scenes that were present on the original PS2 hardware.)
  • There are still plenty more effects that need adjusting - if you notice something that needs to be corrected, please do tell us on our GitHub repo here.
  • Effect timings are being based off the original PS2 versions using real hardware, as PCSX2's effect durations also run at incorrect speeds (as the emulator does not 100% accurately emulate the framerate slowdowns present on real hardware.)
    • As a result, some effects in the Master Collection are now more faithful to the original PS2 hardware than even PCSX2. :3

Sanity Checks:

• Added a warning if multiple/outdated copies of ASI Loader are detected (i.e., outdated versions such as d3d11.dll - which is provided with the MGS3 Crouch Walking mod, and dxgi.dll - which is provided with the MGS2 HF Blade mod.)
• Added a warning if more than one copy of MGSHDFix is installed.
• Added a warning if ReShade is detected to be an outdated version known to cause crashing in MGS2 & MGS3. #91
• Added automatic detection if the MGS2 HF Blade Mod is incorrectly installed as MGS2HFBladeMod.dll instead of MGS2HFBladeMod.asi, and renames it to the correct file extension to fix ASI Loader compatibility.

Improvements:

• Added GPU, CPU, and RAM to the log file to expedite troubleshooting people's issues.
• Config / MGSHDFix.ini options are no longer case sensitive.
• Revised log warning when MGS2/MGS3's built in FSR upscaling is enabled to make it more obvious that you shouldn't be using the launcher's FSR/Internal Upscaling functionality.
• Added initialization time logging for all of MGSHDFix's submodules during startup. I've reduced MGSHDFix's startup time by over half.
• Reduced the amount of logging messages during startup. There's now a new config variable, “Verbose Logging”, that turns on more debugging/development oriented output.
• Refactored the line scaling fix to use the proper D3D11 headers, hardening it against future game updates.
• You can now use the proper \plugins & \scripts subdirectory for the MGSHDFix ASI modfiles.
  • Other ASI mods will have to update on their own to add similar support.
• Updated Zydis / Safetyhook, Windows 7 is now technically supported by MGSHDFix. (No clue about the game itself though.)
• Added an automatic version checker which will now provide a notice on game startup when MGSHDFix updates are available.

Full Changelog: 2.4.1...2.5.0

Installation

🚩 If updating from a previous version of MGSHDFix:

• Delete d3d11.dll from your game folder.
• Delete old MGSHDFix files (e.g., MGSHDFix.ini and MGSHDFix.asi) before installing the update.

Steps:

1. Download the file marked MGSHDFix_v2.5.0.zip from the "Assets" section below.
2. Extract the contents of the release zip into your game folder.
   • (e.g., steamapps\common\MGS2 or steamapps\common\MGS3 for Steam.)
3. Set both "Internal Resolution" & "Internal Upscaling" to Default / Original in the game's launcher. (Resolution is entirely handled by MGSHDFix.)

Steam Deck/Linux Additional Instructions

🚩 These steps are only needed if you’re on Steam Deck/Linux. Skip if you’re using Windows.

• Open up the game properties of either MGS2/MGS3 in Steam and add the following line to the launch options:

   `WINEDLLOVERRIDES="wininet,winhttp=n,b" %command%` 
  

Configuration

• See MGSHDFix.ini in the /plugins folder to adjust settings for the fix.

Feedback & Support

If you encounter bugs, need help, or want to suggest improvements, please open an issue on the GitHub repository.

2.4.1 - Skyboxes!

What's Changed

• Fixed MGS2's broken skyboxes, by @cipherxof in #142

Full Changelog: 2.4.0...2.4.1

Installation

🚩If updating from a previous version of MGSHDFix, please delete d3d11.dll from your game folder.

• Download the file marked MGSHDFix_v2.4.0.zip from the "Assets" section below.
• Extract the contents of the release zip in to the the game folder.
  (e.g. "steamapps\common\MGS2" or "steamapps\common\MGS3" for Steam).

Steam Deck/Linux Additional Instructions

🚩You do not need to do this if you are using Windows!

• Open up the game properties of either MGS2/MGS3 in Steam and add the following line to the launch options:

   `WINEDLLOVERRIDES="wininet,winhttp=n,b" %command%` 
  

Configuration

• See MGSHDFix.ini to adjust settings for the fix.

2.4.0

What's Changed

• Fixes High DPI scaling bug & monitors going to sleep during cutscenes by @ShizCalev in #127
• Fixes custom resolution not loading the correctly sized splashscreens, fixes framebuffer fix not applying to MG1/MG2 by @ShizCalev in #129
• Moves logs to a /logs subdirectory by @ShizCalev in #136
• fixes the games sometimes providing a windows crash error message when exiting through the main menu by @ShizCalev in #137
• Adds option to disable texture filtering by @ShizCalev in #138
• Adds config versioning system by @ShizCalev in #141
• Fix 1px-wide vector lines by @bud11 in #140

New Contributors

• @bud11 made their first contribution in #140

Full Changelog: v2.3...2.4.0

Installation

🚩If updating from a previous version of MGSHDFix, please delete d3d11.dll from your game folder.

• Download the file marked MGSHDFix_v2.4.0.zip from the "Assets" section below.
• Extract the contents of the release zip in to the the game folder.
  (e.g. "steamapps\common\MGS2" or "steamapps\common\MGS3" for Steam).

Steam Deck/Linux Additional Instructions

🚩You do not need to do this if you are using Windows!

• Open up the game properties of either MGS2/MGS3 in Steam and add the following line to the launch options:

   `WINEDLLOVERRIDES="wininet,winhttp=n,b" %command%` 
  

Configuration

• See MGSHDFix.ini to adjust settings for the fix.

v2.3

This is marked as a pre-release as it may contain bugs. Refer to #106 if you encounter any.

Changes

• Updated all code to work with the v2.0.0 game update.
• Separated internal render resolution and output resolution.
• Reduced log spam from CreateWindowExA hook.
• Updated safetyhook to latest version.

Installation

• 🚩If updating from a previous version of MGSHDFix, please delete d3d11.dll from your game folder.
• Download the file marked MGSHDFix_v2.3.zip from the "Assets" section below.
• Extract the contents of the release zip in to the the game folder.
  (e.g. "steamapps\common\MGS2" or "steamapps\common\MGS3" for Steam).

Steam Deck/Linux Additional Instructions

🚩You do not need to do this if you are using Windows!

• Open up the game properties of either MGS2/MGS3 in Steam and add WINEDLLOVERRIDES="wininet,winhttp=n,b" %command% to the launch options.

Configuration

• See MGSHDFix.ini to adjust settings for the fix.

v2.2 - Bug fixes

What's Changed

• All: Reworked SetWindowPos hook to fix potential crashes/freezing. #92
• MGS2: Removed background input patch as that is no longer needed as of patch v1.4.1

Steam Deck/Linux additional instructions

Steam Deck users can also enjoy a native 800p (16:10) experience by installing this mod.

• Open up the Steam properties of either MGS2/MGS3 and put WINEDLLOVERRIDES="d3d11=n,b" %command% in the launch options.

Configuration

• See MGSHDFix.ini to adjust settings for the fix.

v2.1 - Scaled volume menus, cursor toggle in launcher and fixes

What's Changed

• All: Borderless fullscreen now defaults to enabled.
• All: Windowed mode now correctly sets the window size to your custom resolution.
• Launcher: Expanded "disable mouse cursor" toggle to work in the Unity-based launchers. #76
• MGS2 | MGS3: Fixed incorrectly scaled volume menus added in patch v1.4.0. #78
• Fixed a typo causing incorrect HUD height calculation with HUD fix on.
• Added Ultimate ASI Loader's LICENSE file to the release zip in accordance with permissions.

Steam Deck/Linux additional instructions

Steam Deck users can also enjoy a native 800p (16:10) experience by installing this mod.

• Open up the Steam properties of either MGS2/MGS3 and put WINEDLLOVERRIDES="d3d11=n,b" %command% in the launch options.
• If you're using the missing audio workaround put WINEDLLOVERRIDES="xaudio2_9=n;d3d11=n,b" %command% instead.

Configuration

• See MGSHDFix.ini to adjust settings for the fix.