Is my computer too crappy to run half life 2...?

[cyrussoreal]

I joined became a member of this half life forum for the solely expressed reason with this... itty bitty problem I had with my first play through. If any of you guys helps me resolve the problem, this post could be the first... and last you guys would here from me.

So with that out of the way, I had no problem playing the original half life 2 or the 1st episode, so... is there something slightly more advanced in the 2nd episode that my system can't handle? I can turn the graphics options down to the barest minimum (640X480... windowed... yeah you heard it... windowed) and the frame rate is smooth as a babie's ass. I'm playing the level called 'verti coil' and I keep chugging along till Alyx got herself shanked. Later on, E.T. and I managed to get the 'extract' to her so coming out of the elevator express way to heaven, I walked unto a group x-ray orgy when things started to getting choppy like crazy. I mean, the voices started to reverberate on themselves and its like 1 framerate per 4 or 5 seconds. I'm willing to wait 5 or so mins just so I can get on with my game but G-Man's mugshot showed up and things turned into a complete standstill. i kept the game running and watched a couple of shows and commercials on TV while keeping an eye on the game but he didn't even finish his first line of dialogue...!! I had this same problem before in a different situation when I usually fool around with the graphics options before my first playthrough. I checked the bloom option and the exact same thing happen. This cutscene in Alyx's group orgy is completely 3d rendered with bloom probably so I don't think its easy getting around it.

Is there anyway for me to skip this scene or this particular level altogether so i can get my money's worth of gaming nirvana experience?

 

[Musk]

I had this exact same problem. I was playing with 512mb ram, boosted it up to 2gb and then my computer was able to play past that point. Whats your system specs?

 

[Omnomnick]

Yeh, we need your specs. Your computer may be unable to run the HDR and the larger environments etc in Episode 2. Episode 2 has a massive jump visual and technology wise from Episode 1 and Hl2.

Give us your System Specs and we'll find your problem.

 

[Laivasse]

Yeah, this is a very common problem, caused basically by the fact that your system is struggling with all the funky graphical things going on at that moment.

I forget how people solve it other than by adding more RAM. Shot in the dark, but try running the game with the parameter '-dxlevel 81' to force it to Directx 8.1 emulation for the duration of that section.

 

[Humita]

E.t.??????

 

[Shoes_Buttback03]

I have a HP Pavilion s7220n Slimline with no after market upgrades. Can I play HL2 or Orange Box?

 

[Escaep]

I have a HP Pavilion s7220n Slimline with no after market upgrades. Can I play HL2 or Orange Box?

Most likely no.

 

[Crash]

Publishers Minimum System
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 1700 MHz
Display Card: DirectX 8 compatible graphics card
Memory: 512MB
Free Disk Space: 5GB

Publishers Recommended System
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 3000 MHz
Display Card: DirectX 9 compatible graphics card
Memory: 1024MB
Free Disk Space: 5GB

Try this

 

[LackingSaint]

E.t.??????

Everyone has a name for him. The Vortigaunt, E.T., Cecil, Vort, etc.

 

[cyrussoreal]

Thanks guys... Actually, I've been spending time trying to find a quick fix to get past this part of the game using the noclip cheat and just skip to the next level via loading point higher up in the shaft. Problem is... the vortigaunt came through fine but I can't help but feel as though the next part of the game was missing something. There was pauses... in the vortigaunts's monologues to himself so I checked out the developers console... Turned out, Alyx was 'supposed' to be part of our trio for the next couple stages of the storyline... There were certain areas where Alyx waves her magical thingie so certain parts of machinery could give way to the advancing plot. I past those up as well using the noclip cheat after giving up a couple of times... not realizing I was doing everything right but lacked a certain CRITICAL... 'member' of our group.

I'm definitely not a tech geek or anything so my description of my system specs is probably incomplete or inaccurate... I remembered buying a 5600 radeon graphics card, intel pentium 4 processor, DirectX 9. That sounded robust to me so how can I see the memory my system is allowing and if possible... twick it a little.

But what i'm more interested is if it is at all possible for a person of my 'limited' computer science background to be able to spawn another Alyx where she is supposed to be in the next game stage, while allowing her to perform all of her functions had the game script worked normally.

 

[MFD00M]

Come on now, even my toaster runs HL2.

 

[Laivasse]

But what i'm more interested is if it is at all possible for a person of my 'limited' computer science background to be able to spawn another Alyx where she is supposed to be in the next game stage, while allowing her to perform all of her functions had the game script worked normally.

Iirc, in Ep2 there is a mechanism which automatically spawns a new Alyx if you ever enter an area without her. This was so that people couldn't leave her behind permanently in the vehicle sections. It might not be in effect in those earlier areas though - try playing on until the next map area loads and find out.

 

[taviow]

If you have 512mb RAM, try to add -heapsize 256000 to the launch options.