mg_msx_faq

Q: How many versions of Metal Gear are there?
A: Three. For more detailed info check out this page:
MGMSX Regions, Versions and Platforms.


Q: What qualifies for a guard spotting/noticing me?
A: Guards will only notice you if they see Snake’s lower body within their range of vision (waist down).


Q: A bomb I placed disappeared after I used the menu, what gives?
A: Opening the weapon menu removes any placed items from the current game screen.


Q: The floor is opening up under Snake, wtf?!
A: At certain parts through the game, there are several pitfall traps
you need to avoid otherwise they will kill you.
The detailed guide will tell you how to avoid them.


Q: When do I rank up?
A: Every fifth hostage is one rank.


Q: What good is hitting an enemy once and stunning it?
A: When stunned, enemies can't detect you and you can move
through them as if they don't exist.


Q: What alerts are mandatory?
A:There are 8/9 total forced alerts in Metal Gear (MSX).

  • (1) The rocket guards atop building 1 (1 extra if playing on Easy difficulty)
  • (1) roof of building 2
  • (3) The screen before building 3
  • (3) first screen of building 3

Q: What tells you a wall is breakable, even with explosives?
A: When you have Snake punch a wall,
if a question mark appears above him the wall is breakable.


Q: How far away can you place the bombs before they don't work anymore for opening a wall?
A:


Q: When does a kill count in Boss Survival and the timer for that boss stops?
A: A kill on a boss counts as soon as the boss health value is reaching 0.
That causes the Boss Survival timer to pause and load the next boss.


Q: How does Health and Damage work
A: See this page for a full explanation:
Metal Gear (MSX) Health and Damage values


Q: How does Metal Gear work with its maps?
A: See this page for a full explanation:
Metal Gear (MSX) Map System


Q: What are the Item and Weapon IDs?
A: See this page for a full explanation:
Metal Gear (MSX) Item ID System


Q: What is faster, holding X or spamming inputs?
A: spamming inputs in most cases does let the dialog boxes disappear
one frame in the game faster, it can be at least 66ms time difference.
For the any% category, the total timesave with perfect execution can be 6.5s for example.


Q: Why is GOG and PS2 PAL a separate category on Speedrun.com?
A: The PC GOG version and PS2 PAL version run at different speeds.
PS2 PAL executes its updates 11% faster than the NTSC/HDC versions.
The GOG PC version updates at around 1% faster than the NTSC/HDC versions.
Because of these differences, both IGT and RTA categories are separated
to their own subcategories.

For more infos see this spreadsheet about different game versions and speed comparisons.


Q: Is there a TAS for Metal Gear?
A: Yes there is. The actual MSX version of Metal Gear for the MSX 2.0
computer has received a TAS by Dunnius a few years ago.
While we have found some updates to this game versions speedrun tech,
a new version has not yet been finished. Watch the TAS video right here:

Q: What are the requirements for Big Boss/FOX rank?

Rank Big Boss Fox
Difficulty Original Easy
Time 44:59 max 49:59 max
Saves Unlimited Unlimited
Continues None None
Alerts 8 mandatory alerts 9 mandatory alerts
Human Kills None None
Rations 1 maximum 1 maximum
Special Item No No

There are more ranks available in the PS2 port of Metal Gear (MSX). They are as follows:

Eagle

  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Time: 49:59 max
  • Continues: 1 or more
  • Alerts: 10 or more
  • Human Kills: between 1 and 3
  • Rations: 2 or more
  • Special Item: No

Deer

  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Time: 7:59:59 maximum
  • Human Kills: more than 3

Alternatively, you can get Deer also by playing between 4 hours of IGT and 8 hours of IGT.

IGT determined ranks

Rank Difficulty: Easy Note
Eagle less than 50 minutes IGT * with less than 4 kills, else → DEER
Panther 50 min IGT to 90 min IGT * with less than 4 kills, else → DEER
Jackal 90 min IGT to 2 hours IGT * with less than 4 kills, else → DEER
Zebra 2 hours IGT to 4 hours IGT * with less than 4 kills, else → DEER
Deer 4 hours IGT to 8 hours IGT
Elephant 8 hours IGT to 12 hours of IGT
Hippopotamus 12 hours IGT to 16 hours IGT
Turtle 16 Hours IGT to 20 hours IGT
Chicken 20 hours of IGT or more

Q: How am I supposed to remember that long sequence for the MG fight?

A: See here for a broken down pattern:

1) R R L
2) R L L
3) R L L
4) R R L
5) R L R
6) R

Contact Before building 2 After building 2
Big Boss 120.85 120.13
Resistance Leader Kyle Schneider 120.79 120.26
Resistance Member Diane 120.33 120.91
Resistance Member Jennifer - 120.48 (only with 4 stars)

Return to Metal Gear MSX Overview page

  • mg_msx_faq.txt
  • Last modified: 2022/09/03 09:16
  • by hau5test