The Official "Help me!" Thread

[Psyke]

Has anyone got Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance to work on Vista(32bit)?

I got the same problem previously, when I got the game and tried to get it working on my laptop while waiting for the release of MGS4. Tried all methods too, including getting some files from gamecopy.com, but didn't work. Gave up in the end.

Also, will I be completely lost if I skip the third game in the series? Please answer without spoilers.

I'm not too sure if Snake Eater is available on the PC, but it IS essential if you want to follow the story. MGS4 reference a lot of events from Snake Eater, and many of the twists and turns in the plot are centered around their characters. Of course you can skip it, but that will only mean that you will be confused by the complex plot continued and concluded by MGS4.

[Xrlderek]

I guess the versions of the game you're speaking about are too old to be vista compatible.
I wonder if there's a virtualisation you could use, like a windows 2000 virtualised that could have your game to play... or even 98.
Maybe my suggestion is just plain silly, but a bit of googling could help.

I'll probably try that, it could work. Either that or set up my old computer or something.

I'm not really sure whats wrong with your MGS2 Substance game so I can't really answer that one. However, I would HIGHLY recommend you play MGS3 Subsistence. It features a much better camera than the one that was used in the original MGS3 Snake Eater. You would be missing some things from the story if you don't play MGS3. MGS4 explains some of the events and characters in further detail that took place in MGS3.

Plus, MGS3 is one of the best ones in the franchise imo. You'll have alot of fun playing it, especially with the boss fights.

I'm not too sure if Snake Eater is available on the PC, but it IS essential if you want to follow the story. MGS4 reference a lot of events from Snake Eater, and many of the twists and turns in the plot are centered around their characters. Of course you can skip it, but that will only mean that you will be confused by the complex plot continued and concluded by MGS4.

Sounds like MGS3 Subsistence is a must before 4 then. Hopefully I'll find it cheap somewhere, and I'll have to borrow a PS2. At times like these I wish my PS3 was backwards compatible. Thanks for all help.

[darkshadow]

download the patch from here:
http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/mgs2pc/english/patch.html

1. Install the game using a Full Install. Then backup your "mgs2.exe" and "mgs2_sse.exe" from the "C:/Program Files/KONAMI/MetalGearSolid2 Substance/bin" folder.

-Note: May be ".../Program Files (x86)/...", I custom installed mine into Program Files on a seperate drive.

2. Goto http://m0001.gamecopyworld.com/games..._solid_2.shtml

3. Click on the "Metal Gear Solid 2 v2.0 [ENGLISH] No-DVD/GeForce Fixed EXE" link.

4. Download the file, when it finishes it may not have an extension. You'll have to enable the showing of filetypes if it's disabled, and then make the file a ".rar" file.

5. Extract the .rar file into the directory from Step 1, overwrite the two files it will ask you to (you should have a backup already anyway).

6. Now I have a Creative SoundBlaster soundcard, so I can use this program for my next step. As for people with a different soundcard, you can give it a try but I've never tested it on any other card.

Goto http://fileforum.betanews.com/downlo...t/1175058504/1, it will automatically send you a

file to download. Download it.

7. Install Creative Alchemy, (the program you just downloaded), and open it up.

8. If it looks the same as mine does, hit the "Add" button in the bottom middle of the program. Use these specifications...

Game Title: mgs2

Click the "Use Game Path" option, and use this path, or alter to fit your install... "C:\Program Files\KONAMI\MetalGearSolid2 Substance\"

Check "Install into Sub Folder", and make the subfolder "bin"

Check "Install into Root and Sub Folders"

Leave everything else as is, and hit OK.

9. Run the game, and it SHOULD work

[Uchiha Barles]

I'm hoping this is the right place to ask this. What is the lightest weight music player around for windows xp. All I need is that it can read a CD. I don't need the ability to maintain a music library, edit playlists, a fancy gui, nothing other than playing the CD and being frugal with my computer's resources. Anyone have any ideas?

[Buffalobiian]

What's wrong with Windows Media Player?

I just tried your scenario, and it uses 29.5MB of memory and 0.0% CPU. It's already installed, so you can even save HDD space.

[Uchiha Barles]

Neither winamp nor wmp can play the music without massive skipping while I'm gaming

[darkshadow]

Then you must have the weakest pc on the planet, my old 1ghz p3 can easily play audio in the background while playing a game.
Do you have some kind of shitty onboard audio or something? try turning down the hardware acceleration a bit.

[complich8]

winamp and all versions of wmp since 7 have pretty major interface bloat... but you shouldn't experience problems with that when you're not interacting with the interfaces...

Foobar2000's pretty lightweight on the interface side and has a lot of things in the "plus" category though.

[Xrlderek]

download the patch from here:
http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/mgs2pc/english/patch.html

1. Install the game using a Full Install. Then backup your "mgs2.exe" and "mgs2_sse.exe" from the "C:/Program Files/KONAMI/MetalGearSolid2 Substance/bin" folder.

-Note: May be ".../Program Files (x86)/...", I custom installed mine into Program Files on a seperate drive.

2. Goto http://m0001.gamecopyworld.com/games..._solid_2.shtml

3. Click on the "Metal Gear Solid 2 v2.0 [ENGLISH] No-DVD/GeForce Fixed EXE" link.

4. Download the file, when it finishes it may not have an extension. You'll have to enable the showing of filetypes if it's disabled, and then make the file a ".rar" file.

5. Extract the .rar file into the directory from Step 1, overwrite the two files it will ask you to (you should have a backup already anyway).

6. Now I have a Creative SoundBlaster soundcard, so I can use this program for my next step. As for people with a different soundcard, you can give it a try but I've never tested it on any other card.

Goto http://fileforum.betanews.com/downlo...t/1175058504/1, it will automatically send you a

file to download. Download it.

7. Install Creative Alchemy, (the program you just downloaded), and open it up.

8. If it looks the same as mine does, hit the "Add" button in the bottom middle of the program. Use these specifications...

Game Title: mgs2

Click the "Use Game Path" option, and use this path, or alter to fit your install... "C:\Program Files\KONAMI\MetalGearSolid2 Substance\"

Check "Install into Sub Folder", and make the subfolder "bin"

Check "Install into Root and Sub Folders"

Leave everything else as is, and hit OK.

9. Run the game, and it SHOULD work

I found that just yesterday, but I'm stuck on the Creative Alchemy part since I don't have a creative soundcard(it won't let me install the program), and I haven't found any alternatives doing the same for other soundcards. Thanks for the instructions though, maybe I'll buy a cheap creative soundcard to try it out.

[darkshadow]

there is supposed to be an "open" version of ALchemy that should install on any system, try looking for that.

[Xrlderek]

there is supposed to be an "open" version of ALchemy that should install on any system, try looking for that.

Thanks a lot, had no idea there was a universal version somewhere. Worked perfectly after using it. For anyone interested, search for Creative ALchemy Universal 1.00.08.

[Buffalobiian]

Not so much "help me", but this thread will do.

Anybody upgraded to Firefox 3 yet? Would you recommend I do it, and is there anything I should look out for when I upgrade?

[Abdula]

Yeah I have. I can't really give you an opinion on it though since the only thing I used it for is well...browsing this forum so....

[Board of Command]

I've been using Firefox 3 since the beta stage in February and it's pretty good. I haven't had any outstanding problems with it.

[complich8]

migration pains include possibly incompatible extensions (that's mostly getting fixed now) and the new sqlite bookmark backend, which may forget your bookmarks on installation. At least, it did for me under linux, but not under windows.

Recommend you back up your bookmarks.html if you've got anything worth saving, and go ahead and upgrade. It's got some cool new UI tweaks.

[Board of Command]

I recommend a program called MozBackup to save ALL of your settings. It's freeware.

[Buffalobiian]

Thanks guys. I'll give it a go sometime.

[XanBcoo]

I'm thinking of buying some external speakers for my laptop since I'm tired of its mediocre built-in speakers.

Problem is I don't know anything about good speakers. Do any of you have any recommendations, or can anyone point me in the right direction? I don't want anything top of the line, but I'd like something that's not crap and will be worth the effort in buying.

[saman]

i have my computer hooked up to my stereo. good sound quality, and i didn't have to buy anything extra except for the cable. if you have a stereo, you can give that a try. if not, you can just get two laptop speakers for basic sound quality. if you want bass, you can also get a set of speakers with an additional subwoofer, which improves your overall sound experience, but isn't as portable. since you play bass, though, this would probably be a good option for you. i don't know what brands you guys have down there, but i like logitech.

[Board of Command]

I'm thinking of buying some external speakers for my laptop since I'm tired of its mediocre built-in speakers.

Problem is I don't know anything about good speakers. Do any of you have any recommendations, or can anyone point me in the right direction? I don't want anything top of the line, but I'd like something that's not crap and will be worth the effort in buying.

How much are you willing to spend? The Logitech X-240 is a pretty good budget set.