So, MGS3 demo is out...

Wario64 said:
I'm just curious but how do you go about ripping certain demos off the disc? You just copied the files that were only part of the demo? Demos can run without the menu launcher iteself?
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Yeah I was wondering/worrying about that... Since Marconelly said something about certain files needing to be there for it to work properly. Laurent, did you test the rip if it's bootable and working?
 
Here is a list of what I've kept. Bold are directories. When files aren't listed under a directory, this one is empty.

- Area51
- CONTRA
- CRASH6
- FIGHTCLU
+ MGS
- - CODEC.DAT
- - DEMO.DAT
- - MGS3.ELF
- + MODULES
- - - IOPRP271.IMG
- - - MODULE.IPK
- - - PLD.IRX
- - SLOT.DAT
- - STAGE.DAT
- - VOX.DAT
- NFSUNDER
- RATCHET3
- ROBOINV
- SAC_DEMO
+ sce_dd
- + Data
- - - bkg.ipu
- - - menu.ff
- - - opm85.msb
- - - opm85.msh
- + Modules
- - - cdvdstm.irx
- - - ioprp300.img
- - - libsd.irx
- - - mcman.irx
- - - mcserv.irx
- - - padman.irx
- - - sampler.irx
- - - sdrdrv.irx
- - - sio2man.irx
- - - stream.irx
- - Movies
- - sce_dd.elf
- SCUS_973.39
- SH4
- system.cnf
- TAK2
 
So you just backed up the entire demo disc? I thought you were just copying the MGS3 itself

Oh, you kept the directory names but deleted all contents within those directories

Hope it works...
 
I was all over my area today looking for the issue. My local Walden's Bookstore had the November issues for OXM, PSM, EGM, and Gamepro, but still had the October issue of OPM. I swear someone's taunting me. I've seen that October issue cover so many times that I'm about ready to buy one just to rip it to shreads....
 
Wario64 said:
So you just backed up the entire demo disc? I thought you were just copying the MGS3 itself
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I've kept all the folders, but they are all empty except for MGS and sce_dd (Sony Computer Entertainement Demo Disc???) which are probably required to run the disc smoothly. I have also kept the SCUS_973.39 file and the system.cnf file which tells the PS2 to execute SCUS_973.39, so there should be no problem...

Keep in mind that the disc is intended only to play the MGS3 demo. If you try to watch/play something else, it will probably crash...

I DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO A CD OR DVD BURNER. The disc MIGHT not work, but I think it's worth the try... I'll wait for your feedback!
 
I've found my copy of OPM at Archambault's music store for those who are in the Montréal area...

***KEEP IN MIND THAT THE WRAPPING HIDES COMPLETLY THE WHITE AND RED EXCLAMATION MARKS COVER shown earlier in this thread***
 
Wario, what he ripped seems good to me. All the OPM interface files seem to be there, and the rest (game demo directories contents) can be removed, which is what he did.

Now someone please, send me the PM with the torrent. I have used google to my best knowledge, but I haven't found anything using it...


I cannot believe the Montreal already got this issue. I live in Canada, close to the US border, and it has *never* happened that stores here get OPM before the 1st in the month. With luck, it will be here around 5th, but most often it's 10th.
 
Marconelly said:
Now someone please, send me the PM with the torrent. I have used google to my best knowledge, but I haven't found anything using it...
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The keyword (or keyphrase) was "The REAL Universal BitTorrent source", but I was probably too subtle... ;oP

EDIT: They haven't updated their list yet... I don't know why they need to "monitor" my file before publishing it...
 
Marconelly said:
Wario, what he ripped seems good to me. All the OPM interface files seem to be there, and the rest (game demo directories contents) can be removed, which is what he did.
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I thought of something else... What if I change the content of the system.cnf file for it to point directly to the MGS3.ELF file? The original system.cnf can be read as follows:

BOOT2 = cdrom0:\SCUS_973.39;1
VER = 1.00
VMODE = NTSC
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What if I replace cdrom0:\SCUS_973.39;1 with 0:\MGS\MGS3.ELF;1? When I look at SCUS_973.39 with a text editor, ELF is the first word that is attached to the file...
 
I thought of something else... What if I change the content of the system.cnf file for it to point directly to the MGS3.ELF file? The original system.cnf can be read as follows:
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Laurent, I tried doing just that with the BO3 demo from the last OPM, and the demo ran for 20 seconds, then crashed. That's why I warned that it seems at least some demos need to be run from the actual OPM front end, or else they don't work.

I will try it with MGS3 demo as well, but of course, only if it first works the way you made it.
 
I bought the mag, the demo is great. You get to start with a ton of guns, and plenty of emenies and animals to kill. The close combat is real cool but i suck i keep smahing there face into the ground instead of grabbing them and dragging them off the be throat slit. When i do throw them to the ground by mistake i slice them while they're knocked out. Enemies show damage where you hit them, and limp around. The best weapon is the knife, then the sniper rife then the m16. You also get 2 pistols, a shotgun, grenades, other stuff too, tons of items like goggles and motion detectors. I think the best weapon will be the pistol-knife combo, when i'm better at aiming. I like the controls alot.

One thing i don't like, you seem to be able to take too much bullet damage.
 
"One thing i don't like, you seem to be able to take too much bullet damage."

Well it is a stealth game, they don't want you to go commando TOO much. The high bullet damage, is there to deter you from bum rushing the enemies.
 
For the guys that tried the DEMO:

- Does it include even the awesome intro (or a good intro)?

I'm mainly intereseted in seeing it in good quality on my PS2. :D

Thanks

Snowball
 
Yah it's the one where he jumps out of the plane.

p06.gif

p07.gif
 
so is anyone taking odds on this torrent of a disk of a demo on some site thats not linked in the thread not working?

i was under the impression that you had to do a little bit more than just remove the unwanted files to get something like that to work...
 
Buy the damned magazin, own a piece of history. Even a great pir8 such as myself will fold and put down the ten coins for this one, yarrrr.
 
dark10x said:
Substance IS on a DVD9, BTW...

My last PS2 had a hell of a time reading that disc and it had all sorts of problems that made it unplayable for me...
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Maconelly said:
MGS2 does not drop frames. Engine simply does not do that. At this point I have no clue what Jumpman is seeing anymore :\ ...
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I finally got time to play it again, and everything seems ok now. I don't know what the hell was up before, but it is all better.... for now. It's really weird, I put over 40 hours into Substance completing everything, and just replaying main game alot, and it was screwed up the whole time (not in vr missions, just in the main game), and now everything is fine.

Lately the only thing in my PS2 is SFIII, it runs fine, and now so does Substance. :) I guess my PS2 had a temporary hiccup in performance, that has since worked itself out. Every time that my PS2 seems like it is just about to die it manages to gather enough strength to live on. I'm keeping my eye on it though, the redesigned PStwo is looking pretty sexy right now (as well as reliable, with the whole top loading dealie).
 
Of course the magazine is real cheap for all it's content. I did the rip so that people who couldn't get the magazine yet (some regions doesn't have it yet on their shelves) could play as quick as possible. I haven't had any coment yet; IS IT WORKING?

As for the demo, it contain the very first HALO jump, the one from the first trailer. You can see Snake smoking a cigar in the pressuried area, and he's asked to put it out. It's NOT the jump with the ghost face...
 
The Faceless Master said:
so is anyone taking odds on this torrent of a disk of a demo on some site thats not linked in the thread not working?

i was under the impression that you had to do a little bit more than just remove the unwanted files to get something like that to work...
Click to expand...
It's a demo disc... There are directories with interactive demos and stuff... It calls them up when you choose them on a menu... If you don't choose anything else than the Snake Eater demo, it will only call that directory, which is the only game-titled-directory filled with exactly the same files as the first disc... In UDF format... On a DVD...

What more do you think it need to work?
 
Lakitu said:
Impressions, stat.
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First, let's clarify one thing... JAPANESE DIALOGUE

THE BOSS is presented as being your mentor right at the begining. You can talk to her over radio if you need help with the CQC technique and sutff, à la MASTER in MGS. The speech about "Today's good might be tomorrow's evil" is spoken RIGHT THE FIRST TIME YOU TALK TO HER. Which is odd... I am sure that Kojima messed with the story on that version, and pulled that speech from the middle of the game to the beginning to do so...

The game is great, and not as hard as a thought it would be. Hunting is easy. You have ALL YOUR GUNS AND SOME AMMO RIGHT WHEN YOU RETREIVE YOUR BACKPACK, which is great. The backpack is also filled with camouflage clothes (nothing to make the thought of Snake changing clothes every 10 feet in a jungle less girly). The ground is not as soft as in a jungle, but the environnement looks great. Camouflage is there, although you need to go in your pause menu everytime you want to change it. The jungle isn't as open as I thought it could have been; it remind me of Goldeneye on N64, where you pretty much follow one path. It is also split in different section, à la MGS and MGS2 (when you walk from one room to another).

You take damage easily, but you can do more stuff unnoticed. Guards won't see you, even if you are right in front of them and noticeable on the screen, with a stealth set at 90%. If they "think" they saw something, stop moving (with a strong stealth percentage) and they won't pursue search. "It's just my imagination"...

You need to rescue SOKOLOV in those red ruins that serves as his jail. I wasn't able to do it the first time, and since my time was left (the OPM disc resets after a while), and that there's no possibility to save, I haven't gone further. Once you are spotted by a guard, it's VERY hard, if not nearly impossible, to got back from ALERT move to CAUTION mode to NORMAL. I was almost killed instantly by 4-5 guards.

Before getting there, there is a narrow bridge guard by 4 soliders. I chose to make them sleep using my MK-22 HUSH PUPPY. I wonder if it's possible to cross the bridge without being noticed?

As I said, there's no possibility to save. The OPM disc will resets after a while, especially if you let your game on pause (even right a the beggining, or in front of the menu that says TRIAL EDITION). It then tells you to "Tell people you know more than they do". What the hell? Is this OPM's motto? It sucks...
 
Jumpman said:
I finally got time to play it again, and everything seems ok now. I don't know what the hell was up before, but it is all better.... for now. It's really weird, I put over 40 hours into Substance completing everything, and just replaying main game alot, and it was screwed up the whole time (not in vr missions, just in the main game), and now everything is fine.

Lately the only thing in my PS2 is SFIII, it runs fine, and now so does Substance. :) I guess my PS2 had a temporary hiccup in performance, that has since worked itself out. Every time that my PS2 seems like it is just about to die it manages to gather enough strength to live on. I'm keeping my eye on it though, the redesigned PStwo is looking pretty sexy right now (as well as reliable, with the whole top loading dealie).
Click to expand...

Well that's good news!

I can see how you might have had performance issues, though. It wasn't on my system, but someone else I know had severe issues with Kingdom Hearts. Basically, the 3D portions ran at a very low framerate and the triangles were "exploding" out of the models (similar to a massively overclocked and overheating videocard on the PC). Soon, the entire screen would become nothing more than a mess of triangles running at a very low framerate.

This was THE ONLY game that had the problem too...

It was quite strange indeed, if I do say so myself. Based on that, I suppose your experience with MGS2-S could have been similar.

It is also split in different section, à la MGS and MGS2 (when you walk from one room to another).
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Yeah, I knew this from watching some people play it at E3. It would have been neat to experience a wide open forest area, but I don't think it would have been possible in the constraints of the engine. I guess it simply allows the game to play like classic MGS...with some twists.
 
Marconelly said:
I cannot believe the Montreal already got this issue. I live in Canada, close to the US border, and it has *never* happened that stores here get OPM before the 1st in the month. With luck, it will be here around 5th, but most often it's 10th.
Click to expand...

Haha, we get stuff here pretty early. I remember often seeing those EGM scores threads, and then finding the mag at my local bookstore. I can even find Edge easily, together with a bunch of other European mags. The only thing I can't find is that GameStop magazine.
 
ohmycar said:
Or you can pay $9, unless that's out of your price range.
Click to expand...


I'm spending about $21 on it, but I wont be getting my hands on it for another 2 weeks at the earliest (I don't live in America), so if I can download it and play it in the mean time, I will.


What?! Nobody tested the rip yet??
 
OK, impressions of the Laurent's ripped demo:

First the bad news - the way he made the ISO, it will not work with the HDLoader. I cannot test if it will work burned on a DVD and played on a modded console.

Good news - with some minimal work, his ISO can be made to work with HDLoader and it works perfectly, loads quickly and all is good.

What you need to do, if you want to play this using the HDL is is to extract all the files from his ISO, and put them into a new, properly made ISO. You have to use CDGenPS2.exe to make your ISO, and to make it properly, you HAVE TO drag the SYSTEM.CNF file first to the list of files in the CDGenPS2 window, then drag the executable file SCUS_973.39, then the other two folders with content, being 'MGS' and 'sce_dd' (you can freely exclude the empty folders, and the two desktop.db files he put in the ISO (he probably built the ISO on the Macintosh so those two are system files))

Now copy this ISO to your HDD, and voila, the OPM front end boots, you go to 'Playground', select MGS3 and it werkzt! I have not tried yet building an ISO that boots directly into MGS3 (that requires editing the SYSTEM.CNF), but I will when I get home from work.

In any case, with five minutes of work, his ISO can be rebuild and played successfully.

Now for the demo, I have played it for the total of five minutes before I had to leave (damn you WORK!) so here are some super brief impressions:

First the bad news: The demo, and I can say this with utmost certainty, to put all the doubt aside - runs at 30FPS. After I started moving Snake around, and he made couple of steps, I was a bit like "oh, hell no". But it is 30FPS. In both 3rd and 1st person view (as there was some discusion about it during the E3)

Now the good news: Despite that, the game is just scorchingly gorgeous. Without a shred of doubt it's the best looking PS2 game, and I think hardly anyone would disagree if I say that it's one of the best looking games - period. It really does look like those screens we've been seing all this time, abeit in lower resolution, of course, but the look and feel those screens were giving away is definitely there, there are no jarring problems that would ruin the picture, and in motion it actually looks even better. Also, if you, for example, thought that 30FPS in Silent Hill 2/3/4 does not look distracting, you will think the same here. Due to the CPU controlled nature of camera, you don't get to see too many quick camera motions unless you go to first person view (and even there you can't move the view too quickly), and since nothing is moving to fast, 30FPS is not really a problem, except, of course for those of us who just wished it had that extra 'MGS' smoothness. I can tell you, though, once you see how much more complex this looks compared to MGS2, you will understand why they couldn't make it run at 60FPS.

The demo starts off with a HALO jump cutscene, much like the E3 demo, you land, have a conversation with the Major, and then are instructed to go look for the backpack. After that, it becomes instantly obvious how much more environemnt interaction there is than in previosu MGS games, or most games for that matter. When you run through the tall grass, it sways back and forth, when you slide down the slope, he slides nicely, you can press yourself against the trees, you can climb some of them, when you run around it just seems like there is actual ground you're running at, not some flat surface, like in most games. It's hard to describe, but little things like that, the way the character animation blends with the environment, and the way character interacts with it on some micro-level, and all the appropriate sounds, just makes you 'feel' the environment like few games ever did (Ico comes to mind).

I ended my demo session after obtaining the backpack, as I was already late to work, but you get to see/hear another radio sequence at that point (it's like 'codec' sequence). Much like in MGS2, you can skip through these by pressing the triangle key. Now, I'm at work, and no work is being done, as the damn demo is the only thing I can think about :))

Buy the damned magazin, own a piece of history. Even a great pir8 such as myself will fold and put down the ten coins for this one, yarrrr.
Click to expand...
I WILL buy the mag regardless (for the other demos), but I'm not going to wait damned two weeks if I can get the MGS3 demo now.
 
Yeah, I knew this from watching some people play it at E3. It would have been neat to experience a wide open forest area, but I don't think it would have been possible in the constraints of the engine. I guess it simply allows the game to play like classic MGS...with some twists.
Click to expand...
True, but think of it that you get a gameplay that is not broken. You have the set of rooms, with the set of problems, that you can solve in numerous ways. Each room micro-managed and nurtured to perfection. That's the scenario where the MGS games always excelled, and these 'rooms' looks like nothing before.

As I said, there's no possibility to save. The OPM disc will resets after a while, especially if you let your game on pause (even right a the beggining, or in front of the menu that says TRIAL EDITION).
That's a problem with most OPM demos. They time out if no button is pressed for a while. If you kust keep playing, pressing something, or at least just twirling the analog stick, there should be no time out.

It then tells you to "Tell people you know more than they do". What the hell? Is this OPM's motto? It sucks...
Click to expand...
Look what's above that line - it's the link to the Playstation.com messageboars. If you think, people on boards do that all the time, even without OPM's suggestion :P
 
Marconelly said:
Good news - with some minimal work, his ISO can be made to work with HDLoader and it works perfectly, loads quickly and all is good.

What you need to do, if you want to play this using the HDL is is to extract all the files from his ISO, and put them into a new, properly made ISO. You have to use CDGenPS2.exe to make your ISO, and to make it properly, you HAVE TO drag the SYSTEM.CNF file first to the list of files in the CDGenPS2 window, then drag the executable file SCUS_973.39, then the other two folders with content, being 'MGS' and 'sce_dd' (you can freely exclude the empty folders, and the two desktop.db files he put in the ISO (he probably built the ISO on the Macintosh so those two are system files))

Now copy this ISO to your HDD, and voila, the OPM front end boots, you go to 'Playground', select MGS3 and it werkzt! I have not tried yet building an ISO that boots directly into MGS3 (that requires editing the SYSTEM.CNF), but I will when I get home from work.

In any case, with five minutes of work, his ISO can be rebuild and played successfully.
Click to expand...

THANK YOU!! You're my hero! :)

Just one question, what program do I need to extract the ISO?
 
Thanks Marconelly for the confirmation about HDL
Click to expand...

THANK YOU!! You're my hero!
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No problem guys, I'm as happy as you are. Here's hoping the final game will work as well (ZOE2, MGS2, MGS2S, SH2, SH3, SH4, Contra:SS all work fine with HDL)

Just one question, what program do I need to extract the ISO?
Click to expand...
I have used 'Ultra ISO', but 'ISO Buster' will work fine as well. You simply open the ISO in one of these two, and drag all the folders/files to an empty folder on your desktop. Then you use CDGenPS2 to create a new, working ISO.

Dark10x will have a heart attack. 30fps? Sucks. I hope the final game runs at 60...
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Ah well, what you can do. I hope too, but after you get over the initial disappointment you realize that 60FPS in MGS is not mandatory for gameplay and live with it. Sure, it gives bragging rights and extra layer of smoothness, but everything else is just so pretty that I think few people will mind the trafeoff. Also, automatic camera really goes a long way to alleviate the problem, much like in Silent Hill, as you rarely get to see quick and erratic camera motions. Also, I think first person view analog control is handled better than in MGS2. From what little I tried, I felt like I had more control over the aiming, perhaps they slowed down the point of view motion there a bit. In general, I though point of view movement (in FPV) is handled expertly - it moves slower as you start moving, then speeds up, and it also moves slower as you move the stick less, etc. It was like that in MGS2 already, but they tweaked it here even further, it seems. It's a huge improvement over most console FPS games where you just feel like the POV moves at linear speed and that you have so little control over it.
 
Apparently this ISO doesn't even work when burnt to CD or DVD either, many people downloading it are pissed :P

I posted Marconelly's instructions on the forum where people are complaining that it's not working for them, I hope that's okay with you.
 
Apparently this ISO doesn't even work when burnt to CD or DVD either, many people downloading it are pissed :P
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No doubt, Laurent either forgot to put the SYSTEM.CNF first on the file list, or built the ISO in the mode not supported by PS2.

I posted Marconelly instructions on the forum where people are complaining that it's not working for them, I hope that's okay with you.
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Oh, sure, no problem. The content is there, that's what's important. It requires five or so minutes or work and some waiting, but it's not a big deal by any stretch of imagination. I can't wait to try if the demo works when booted directly into it, and skipping the OPM front end. Hopefully the previous fiasco was just BO3 related, and not some standard thing.
 
adelgary said:
I'd like to be able to experience this "novelity" item, I can pop in the MGS2 demo any time and play it, while I wont be able to do that if I buy the Japanese version of Snake Eater... Big difference.... I'm not paying $70 just to own a disc I can't use.
Click to expand...

And here you are using HDLoader.
 
Why won't Konami bundle the demo with a game? It seems stupid not to do so. Just look at ZOE1. People went crazy for it and the demo.
 
Because marketing people are not known for being smart people.

You can ask other people to test imports on their HDLoader.
 
Like I said, I didn't have access to a burner, so I couldn't test it... I am sorry to hear that it doesn't work without twisting the files first, but at least there is a way for it to work!
 
Laurent said:
Like I said, I didn't have access to a burner, so I couldn't test it... I am sorry to hear that it doesn't work without twisting the files first, but at least there is a way for it to work!
Click to expand...

Your work is much appreciated, would have been extra nice if you RARed the ISO though :)
 
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