Audio Problems with HL2

[pLzBeNiCe]

strange
sometimes it doesnt stutter, but more often it does

 

[dogboy73]

Hi All,

The patch has fixed the stutter on my PC.

Greetings.

Do you have an ATi card & what value did you set for the mat_forcemanagetextureintohardware command line?

 

[member88]

Hi,

I updated the HL2 installation via Steam.
And did not set any specific settings in the config file for this game.

I have an Nvidia 4200 card.

Greetings.

 

[antidootti]

I don't think this is anything to do with the sound anyway. Sure the sound stutters seemingly as it's accessed but so does everything else! Use the '+showbudget' command in the console. Now play the game with this running. You will see a sharp spike whenever any kind of content (Sound, Textures, events) is loaded into RAM. no hang about in one area until everything is loaded. Still get spikes? No. Now move into another area & watch what happens when then engine starts loading shit up again!

There's something fundamentally flawed with the way the Source engine is handling data. The reason's some experience this & others don't is a mystery but it seems likely it's down to the way individual systems handle data & nothing to do with actual specs. So for example if you have a high specced machine but the configuration is not 100% efficient at moving data around then it's likely you'll suffer this problem (Indeed, People with mammoth systems are experiencing these problems). On the other hand you could have a low-end system that is extremely efficient at moving data around. On such a system, with reasonable settings in the video options, your game should run smoothly.

It could also be the case that raw power can overcome any deficiencies in your system so that you may have this problem but it's barely noticable. I would like to get someone who can run this game without problems to do so with the +showbudget tool activated. It would be interesting to see if they are getting any spikes no matter how small as data is loaded.

This idea was put forward by someone on the Steam forums & it seems to give 1 likely explanation as to what might be going on. Basically there may be just to much data being moved around in a non-efficient manor for many systems to handle smoothly.

I have to agree with that, but u can't deny the fact that when u play mp3 files with the miles sound player and open close scroll around windows, the sound stutters. Propably not with everyone, but others have pointed this out too. Also some other miles games having the stutter issue. This might be a sad coincidence. Miles' stuttering and the way hl2 loads things together might not be the best combination with some machines. I don't know, I'm just really full and sick and tired of this problem.. damn u valve.

 

[mattexxo]

have you tried to use gcfscape , for extract hl2 files (like doom3, and like said in steampowered forum?)

someone says that it resolve the stuttering.

but i want to know if i can be banned for this from steam!=!!

 

[dogboy73]

have you tried to use gcfscape , for extract hl2 files?someone says that it resolve the stuttering but i want to know if i can be banned for this from steam!=!!

I've heard that this is the method the pirates use to crack HL2 & it was one of them that first said it ran okay & without the stutter problem. Then other people started trying it & saying the same thing. It would be ironic if it turns that the crackers are getting a better game than legit players becuase of these extracted files where otherwise they would be having the same experience :| On the other hand, A few people on the Steam forums said they tried this (Rathe labourious task of extracting gcf files which some said took hours) & the problem remained so I'm not sure about.

As for getting banned from Steam - As long as your HL2 files are 100% aquired & authenticated then simply disconnect from the internet before extracting. Then when you try to launch the game you will force Steam into Offline mode. In other words nothing about what you will be doing will get back to Valve through Steam.

 

[quinnd6]

I hate to say it but it seems like valve have completely given up trying to fix this audio and gameplay stuttering problem.
Judging by what they said on steam that piece of junk set matpreloadshaders variable that made things worse that came out on wednesday was the patch and it doesn't look like they're bothering to do anymore to actually fix this problem that the majority of people are having.

 

[dogboy73]

**** Valve! I've given up myself. I thought I could at least take solice in CS Source but that crashes everytime I play it as well now. I've requested another refund from Amazon. I've already had one but I asked for the money to be taken from my account again when I heard Valve were working on a patch!!! My dumb ass! There's more chance of Gabe Newell loosing weight than there is Valve releasing a patch for this bug ridden piece of shit!.

TIME OUT! (I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders! Do yourselfes a favour, Liberate yourself from this garbage! You'll feel refreshed & thank me for it :cheers

 

[ScRaTcH-A-HoLiC]

have you tried to use gcfscape , for extract hl2 files (like doom3, and like said in steampowered forum?)

someone says that it resolve the stuttering.

but i want to know if i can be banned for this from steam!=!!

I dont think you can get banned.

you own those gcf files and I think you can do whatever you want to do with them.

I think.!

 

[ElAguila]

I have to agree with that, but u can't deny the fact that when u play mp3 files with the miles sound player and open close scroll around windows, the sound stutters. Propably not with everyone, but others have pointed this out too. Also some other miles games having the stutter issue. This might be a sad coincidence. Miles' stuttering and the way hl2 loads things together might not be the best combination with some machines. I don't know, I'm just really full and sick and tired of this problem.. damn u valve.

I mentioned the miles sound early on. When I set MOH Pacific Assault to use miles I get the same stutter. I don't know if this is part of the problem or not but I think it was a really stupid implementation to only use miles and not have the option of changing it to EAX or direct3dsound.

 

[dogboy73]

http://www.blep.net/hl2stutter/

Has been updated with his 'patch' findings.

The end result, at least of my system, is that there is now a tradeoff. I can have a smooth overall frame rate, but with stuttering, or I can eliminate the stuttering but have intermittent frame rate decreases.

Marvelous.

 

[dogboy73]

http://www.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=190713

 

[doomed - uk]

**** Valve! I've given up myself. I thought I could at least take solice in CS Source but that crashes everytime I play it as well now. I've requested another refund from Amazon. I've already had one but I asked for the money to be taken from my account again when I heard Valve were working on a patch!!! My dumb ass! There's more chance of Gabe Newell loosing weight than there is Valve releasing a patch for this bug ridden piece of shit!.

TIME OUT! (I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders! Do yourselfes a favour, Liberate yourself from this garbage! You'll feel refreshed & thank me for it :cheers

Ah well. :cheers:

I think the problems are fundamental in the game's engine. People have said that they even saw evidence of them in game movies released over a year ago, and I've seen them in Counterstrike: Source to some extent, on loading and at big explosions.

They are even in the Stress Test as it stutters at the start the first time I run it, then is smooth the second time. The Stress Test wasn't enough anyway, it should have been a proper timedemo that simulated everything HL2 would ask of the system. That would have exposed the game's faults and allowed an earlier and proper fix.

We can't really adjust our systems much to cope with a game's faults, nor should we have to.

 

[JoeBeasley]

I Have to say i am a bit ticked at this whole thing. The game had a stutering problem for me. A few tweaks and i had it highly playable on my system. Now ever since this patch, i am getting stuttering 10 times worse than before, as well as memory read errors i was never getting before this. And why, oh why, after having the game since the release date, does steam insist on validating my files once again tonight? thats like the 5th time its done that since ive gotten the game.

This is a dang mess.

 

[efilflah]

And why, oh why, after having the game since the release date, does steam insist on validating my files once again tonight? thats like the 5th time its done that since ive gotten the game.

This happens if your game crashes or you manually shut down the application via the task manager. I think steam runs a check to make sure the files aren't corrupted.

Pretty frustrating!

 

[JoeBeasley]

Great, now i am going to have stuttering to the point it crashes, then have to wait 5 minutes or so to wait for steam to validate....it just keeps getting better

 

[rd_syringe]

I Have to say i am a bit ticked at this whole thing. The game had a stutering problem for me. A few tweaks and i had it highly playable on my system. Now ever since this patch, i am getting stuttering 10 times worse than before

I had the same problem; then I realized I still had the tweaks enabled. I removed them, and the patch suddenly took effect for me.

 

[josh7485]

I Disabled My Soundcard And The Game Ran Flawlessly!!

Dam You Miles, I Wish The Darkest Of This Life To All Your Employes!

 

[ElAguila]

I hate to say it but it seems like valve have completely given up trying to fix this audio and gameplay stuttering problem.
Judging by what they said on steam that piece of junk set matpreloadshaders variable that made things worse that came out on wednesday was the patch and it doesn't look like they're bothering to do anymore to actually fix this problem that the majority of people are having.

This one that I haven't tried. Do you know what the exact command is? I tried mat_preloadshaders from the console and it was not valid.

 

[Boombastik]

Now I get no sound at all playing CounterStrike Source. Dammit Valve, you assholes, thanks for making a bad problems worse! I will NEVER buy another product from this company again! :frown:

 

[dogboy73]

I will NEVER buy another product from this company again! :frown:

Ditto.

 

[mIhaz]

This game is the first and the last that I buy in my life.
How they can do that big mistake like this sound problems.

I'll stay on warez.

 

[The Dark Elf]

This game is the first and the last that I buy in my life.
How they can do that big mistake like this sound problems.

I'll stay on warez.

You can do it somewhere else then, your kind aren't welcome here.

Thread closed, tired of hearing you people crying like babies and banging your rattles just cause something didn't work right.