stuttering problem identified in HL2...

[pam123]

Help is on the way.
Meanwhile read this : http://www.blep.net/hl2stutter/

[Alaron]

I just read about how wide-spread the problem is becoming on Slashdot. I hope they come out with a patch fast. I have the problem when I play the game and it makes for a very frustrating experience.

For anyone who doesn't have the problem, check out how bad it is: http://home.broadpark.no/~krhagen/ (Broadband movie)

[GhostRecon]

I'm purchasing Half-Life 2 a few months later so hopefully my experience will be glitch free and I'll get the package for 20 dollars less

[mikezel]

I get a bit of a stutter about 1 second after every loading sequence, but it really isn't too severe. I had another common problem, a memory read error, and valve did a really good job in releasing a "fix" within a day or two. Unfortunately, the fix doesn't work for everyone (i managed to figure it out a few hours earlier than the fix was released though )

There have been its share of problems (I've had three major ones personally), but you have to give Valve credit for doing what they can to patch everything up.

mike

[Alienware_Dude]

Originally Posted by GhostRecon I'm purchasing Half-Life 2 a few months later so hopefully my experience will be glitch free and I'll get the package for 20 dollars less

Unfortunately, I think it will be more than a few months until it drops in price.

[tigstah]

its not a major gameplay problem for me.
i had a memory fault problem once.....
at least i can play it, unlike farcry that kept going back to the desktop.....

[lil Jimmie]

No big problems here, I've got a slight shutter problem between loading screens but it's not enough to take the fun away from the game play.

I agree I don't see any major price drops unless you find a special holiday sale somewhere.

[tigstah]

compusa did have a mail in rebate of 10 bucks.....and it wasnt advertised either...at least i dont think.

[TwoRails]

I've played only about 45 minutest of the game, but to me it sure is a lot smoother overall than DooM 3 at the same res.

[Force Flow]

Yep, they opimized the engine extremely well. I was pleasantly surprised that you didn't need an x800 or 6800gt to run it all decked out.

Originally Posted by lil Jimmie No big problems here, I've got a slight shutter problem between loading screens but it's not enough to take the fun away from the game play.

Yep, same here.

[lil Jimmie]

Well I'm seeing some shadows that shouldn't be like in this screenshot.

I read on the Steam forums that the ATI 4.12 beta drivers improved the game for many users.

[Force Flow]

What drivers are you currently running?

[lil Jimmie]

Was running the 4.11's but now I'm trying the 4.12 beta drivers and so far I haven't seen the shadow issue.

[TwoRails]

Well, it "stuttered" for me a couple of "good times" earlier. It's definitely Not like the time lag in DooM and other games on a system not up to the task. Each stutter I came across was at the simultaneous Sound stutter, like a skipping CD but just faster reps.

[roomwithamoose]

I get the short stuttering after each loading, but that's it. It runs remarkable well on my 9600 SE. I think this game blows the heck out of FarCry, I've already had way more rushes!

[wolfie]

Originally Posted by Force Flow Yep, they opimized the engine extremely well. I was pleasantly surprised that you didn't need an x800 or 6800gt to run it all decked out. Yep, same here.

you have to remember this game was going to be out over a year ago, so i think most cards today will run it well. i could be wrong too

[TwoRails]

Good point wolfie. Also, if I remember right, I read somewhere where they were making special effort to build the game so it would run on older machines that were not all that powerfull -- just the opposite of DooM.

[Yuanji]

actually, doom was scaled so that the lower modes would run on older cards.

[lil Jimmie]

I finally hit a spot in the Nova Prospect chapter last night that gave me the stuttering problem, however I'm not gonna try the latest Steam "update" to try and fix it. What an update!!

[TwoRails]

Originally Posted by Yuanji actually, doom was scaled so that the lower modes would run on older cards.

Have you tried DooM in low res mode? yuk!! I first tried playing the game at the default / suggested settings and I thought I was playing the original DooM! HL2, on the other hand, looks great at their default / suggested settings! So good, in fact, I haven't even played with setting it up yet.


lil Jimmie, is steam saying they have an update to "fix" the problem? Probably pretty large, I'd imagine...

[lil Jimmie]

This is Steam's idea of an update/fix after 5 years on a project:

Here are a few suggestions for fixing the sound skipping problem.

1. Download the latest drivers for your video card.
2. Turn down (or off) anti-aliasing completely. Many cards should be defaulting to no AA.
3. Drop your video resolution down one step.
4. Drop texture level down one setting. This will slightly degrade the visual quality of the textures in the game.


The Settings for 2-4 can be found by going to the Options -> Vide0 -> Advances Settings screen from the main HL@ menu.


http://www.steampowered.com/?area=news

[TwoRails]

dang! -- I'm glad I'm happy with the way it plays as-is!

[lil Jimmie]

OK I fire up my PC last night and load HL2, then get a pop-up saying there was an update leaving me with an impression there was some-sorta patch being installed, but I later find it only instructions on degrading the video settings, granted the story with HL2 is the main focus and not graphics, but when reading a book and you turn the page only to read the last page over kinda puts a kink in the story.

Originally Posted by TwoRails dang! -- I'm glad I'm happy with the way it plays as-is!

Well I was happy untill I hit the section I'm in now and with the stuttering it is difficult to play becuse it is in the middle of a battle. The only thing I might try is to go back one auto-save and work my way back and see if I have better results.

[wolfie]

just read the stuttering patch is supposed to be out on friday

[lil Jimmie]

Originally Posted by wolfie just read the stuttering patch is supposed to be out on friday

Yeah and the game was supposed to be finished last year it doesn't appear to be finished now.....patch was supposed to be out Wednesday....lots of rumors out there wolfie.

[wolfie]

looks like there little fix is causing more problems:

"The update released via Steam to fix the stutter bug of Half-Life 2 apparently isn't helping everybody. Some people now have more problems than before. To turn things back to normal you can use the following command in the console to change it back:"
Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
mat_forcetextureintohardware 0

[lil Jimmie]

^^^^ makes one feel warm and fuzzy all over^^^^

[TwoRails]

Originally Posted by lil Jimmie ...Well I was happy untill I hit the section I'm in now and with the stuttering it is difficult to play becuse it is in the middle of a battle. The only thing I might try is to go back one auto-save and work my way back and see if I have better results.

Ya, I see what you mean; sadly it's getting worse for me. Going to / around the tower that falls, on the way to where you get the gun for the water buggy is real bad. (how do you know what chapter your in? I never looked...)

[lil Jimmie]

When you enter a new chapter/level the game will show text as to where you are:

To the best of my knowledge here are the chapter:

Point Insertion
A Red Letter Day
Route Kanal
Water Hazard
Black Mesa East
Ravenholm
Highway 17
Sandtraps
Nova Prospekt
Entanglement
Anticitizen One
Follow Freeman
Our Benefactors
Dark Energy

BTW please correct me if I'm wrong

The part I had trouble was in the entanglement in the jail, I'm now at the end of Follow Freeman. I created a new save point and restarted and the game played fine.

[Force Flow]

Originally Posted by lil Jimmie This is Steam's idea of an update/fix after 5 years on a project: Here are a few suggestions for fixing the sound skipping problem. 1. Download the latest drivers for your video card. 2. Turn down (or off) anti-aliasing completely. Many cards should be defaulting to no AA. 3. Drop your video resolution down one step. 4. Drop texture level down one setting. This will slightly degrade the visual quality of the textures in the game. The Settings for 2-4 can be found by going to the Options -> Vide0 -> Advances Settings screen from the main HL@ menu. http://www.steampowered.com/?area=news

Jeez...if I drop any settings, I'll really lose some of the HL2 experience.

Running at 1024x768, 4x AA, and with all the game settings cranked up.