Stuttering Bug Rears its Ugly Head

Chris D

Chris D

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Many of you will remember that last year, a bug was apparent in Half-Life 2 that caused intermittant stuttering throughout the game. No matter what specification machine it was being played on, a lot of people were experiencing choppy game play.[br]For the most part it was resolved but unfortunately it's started to surface yet again.[br]Concerned community member, Allen Peloquin, e-mailed me this morning to raise his concerns regarding it. I kindly forwarded his concerns over to Erik Johnson who has had this to say:
We're taking a look at this now.
Click to expand...
So, fear not. Valve are aware of the problem and currently working on a fix. Hopefully it won't cause a delay to The Lost Coast, however, as it is due to be released this week.
 
Stuttering bug? That sounds like a rather large and offputting insect :O
 
Eh? How can it just "resurface" unless Valve's changed something? :-s
 
SimonomiS said:
Eh? How can it just "resurface" unless Valve's changed something? :-s
Click to expand...
On average Valve releases an update every week... I didn't say they haven't done anything.
 
I haven't notice it in HL2. In CS source is where i see it. Maybe i notice more because i play that so much more.
 
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
vader.gif


Wait, it never affected me anyway. :>
 
SimonomiS said:
Eh? How can it just "resurface" unless Valve's changed something? :-s
Click to expand...

I saw it first come back (in a significant way) when they released the CPU and memory optimizations for Source, from HL2:Xbox. I never said anything because, really, it never bothered me.
 
Actually I started to notice this a while back, around mid - late september, but all my non HL2/non moddev friends were trying to convince me it was my computer. Infact they had me doing memory and HD defrags, XP tweaks and all sorts to try and fix it, but with no avail. Besides I can't think of any other explaination which'd make a game which was running at 70-120fps at 1152x846 with all the graphics on high suddenly start to grind to a measly 20-30fps even running it at 1024x768 with all the settings on low.
 
I've had it for a while now too, since the xbox updates, and I even bought a new video card recently in hopes of curing it.. no go. It's definitely an issue with memory.
 
SimonomiS said:
Eh? How can it just "resurface" unless Valve's changed something? :-s
Click to expand...
Well if it isn't the Half-Life 2 Xbox features, then it must be the upgrade that Steam got last week.
 
If you start stuttering after an update, chances are it's a config issue. Erik would have said if any relevant code had been changed. You then get five or so people talking about it in the forums and everyone starts to think it's 'OMGZORZ COMING BACK!'.
 
i haven't played hl2 for aages, but i started playing it through again and it was stuttering so much it was almost unplayable
 
etzel90 said:
I haven't notice it in HL2. In CS source is where i see it. Maybe i notice more because i play that so much more.
Click to expand...

Not CS:S for me, except a few times when I was playing in a window, but more in DoD:S... god I can hardly play that it stutters so much.
 
Noting the quit high amount of posts on this topic in the Steam Forums, I guess, I am not the only one experiencing this bug. I have no problems in Mods though, e.g. CS:S and Minerva just run fine.
 
Only stuttering I've noticed in DOD:S is the intro music at the menu is horribly clippy. That's been there since the release, probably just my assey onboard audio, though. Oh, there's a bit of stuttering right after respawning as well, but it clears up almost right away.

CS:S has always been a slideshow, but it seems to clear itself up for the most part after the first few rounds.
 
I never had stuttering before, but I've got it now. I thought it had something to do with autosaves, but the stuttering occurs no matter if the game autosaves or not.
I hope they fix this soon. I'm fairly annoyed by it.
 
Well i'm really glad that this has been spotted by others and would appear to be source engine related.

I had first played HL2 on release day, on a radeon 9800 pro 128mb it ran really well and I never experienced any stutters - I really just though that people where trying to run the game at higher settings than their hardware allowed.

But..... recently I upgraded to a 256mb X800 XL and decided to play HL2 again, whilst the graphics look amazing with everything turned on I was shocked to find the game stuttering really bad. I decided to try every known workaround to solve it - PCI Latency lowered from 255 to 32, Various AGP Aperture sizes, All known cvars (eg, heapsize / cl_preload etc.) - sound quality down to medium, redownloaded HL2 completely over steam, defragmented hard disks, removed paging file, added paging file back lol, Omega drivers etc. etc. etc. .... I seem to have solved the majority of stuttering now, but to me it is still unplayable.

One area I have noticied a bad stutter, is if you bring up the console and load the map d3_city17_03 you walk into a courtyard (the same area as earleir in the game with the swings / noughts and crosses game) , when you turn right you will see a rebel firing into the sky, and then a few seconds later a bad stutter occurs, it certainly seems to be sound loading related.

All other games run fine, I am loving Far Cry with all the options on now. I figure upgrading to an x800 has given me around a 70% increase in overall frame rates.

Looking forward to lost coast, hope it doesn't get delayed


Mort.
 
so u think if i upgrade to a 7800 GTX do u think it will stutter for me because i bought one and its on its way and im on a x700 radeon pro and i dont have anyproblems with it stuttering as of right now
 
i have always had it from day 1 in hl2 only
it never affected the game so long as i waited a few seconds after a load before moving
 
Not this again :| I spent over £400 upgrading my system last Xmas & the main reason (apart from the fact that my system was due for an upgrade) was because of HL2 & the st-st-stutter bug. If it's back now because of something Valve have tried to change i.e. updates that were supposed to make the game smoother (DOH!) I'm throwing in the towel! No more F'ing about thats for sure. I'll just sit back & let Valve sort it :thumbs: I don't want to hear a single CVAR or optimisation trick quoted :cheers:
 
dogboy73 said:
Not this again :| I spent over £400 upgrading my system last Xmas & the main reason (apart from the fact that my system was due for an upgrade) was because of HL2 & the st-st-stutter bug. If it's back now because of something Valve have tried to change i.e. updates that were supposed to make the game smoother (DOH!) I'm throwing in the towel! No more F'ing about thats for sure. I'll just sit back & let Valve sort it :thumbs: I don't want to hear a single CVAR or optimisation trick quoted :cheers:
Click to expand...
Yeah, no ill will to Valve or anything, but I'm with you, writing custom autoexecs was novel for about a month. Seems pretty arcane & anachronistic in relation to the engine's capabilities.
 
Stuttering sux!

john3571000 said:
i have always had it from day 1 in hl2 only
it never affected the game so long as i waited a few seconds after a load before moving
Click to expand...
This is the same for me. I have a 256mb radion X800 XT and though I can run no problem with all the settings set on high I do experience stuttering at the very beginning of the game during the intro movie, and also when loading a new level. But as long as I wait a few seconds it goes away.
BrainM
 
So, the bug is back. It didn't affect me much originally, but I sure noticed it recently. I played through to the final encounter with Breen the other day and the sound would stutter every time a new line was played. It sounded like:

"Da- da- da- da- damn you, Breen. Let her go!"

"Now be reason- reason- reason- reason--my old friend."

And so on. I thought something on my computer was jacked up. Glad to know it's just the game. Looks like I'll be able to hold off on buying that extra stick of RAM.
 
Stutter Bug

It never left, there have been new threads about the stutter on the Steam forums on a weekly basis since HL2 was released. Many people quite ticked off as the problem while fixed for some, has been apparent for some always. Some new updates have caused people to stutter who previously never had it.
 
Varsity said:
If you start stuttering after an update, chances are it's a config issue. Erik would have said if any relevant code had been changed. You then get five or so people talking about it in the forums and everyone starts to think it's 'OMGZORZ COMING BACK!'.
Click to expand...
<Message lengthener>

Edit: Heh, I think I just found a shortcut...
 
the stuttering bug introduced with valves patch on 9/23 was the reason I joined this forum!

Almost all my posts on this forum have been related to this very subject, and I'm very happy to hear that it is finally <----(notice the italicized 'finally' for emphasis)<-----(notice paranthetical narration for emphasis on 'finally) being addressed
 
It might have been coincedence but the following cured this problem for me twice in DoD Source.
  • Rename your config.cfg file (so you no longer have one)
  • Load up the game (a new one is then created)
  • Exec your old config file
  • Exit and reload
Like I said this might have been coincedence so please dont bust my balls about it. I just thought it might be useful.
 
My story (the short version): I bought the HL2 retail box the day it hit store shelves. I encountered the stutter bug from the moment I started playing. I spent an unforgivable amount of time tweaking and trying every and all "fixes" I could find on various forums. The best "fix" I found was the oddly effective " set HL2.exe to low priority in the process manager" tweak. After three unanswered trouble tickets sent to Valve, I un-installed the game (and all other Valve products). last night I re-installed Steam and HL2 to see if anything had changed. What I discovered was, If anything, the game stutters worse now than before and the "low priority" trick doesn't seem to help anymore : (

In the meantime I'll continue playing Quake 4, F.E.A.R, and a bunch of other fairly recent titles, without issue.

And on a personal note: Valve won't see another nickle from me until this issue is finally put to bed. I gave 'em $50+ U.S. (non-refundable) and they gave me a week's worth of frustration over a game that just doesn't work right.

P.S. I've actually given Valve close to $600 U.S. as I've bought several copies (including gifts) of all the Half-Life family of games.
 
I shall not flame ever again. I love you all.

And now to continue the topic..
 
I've noticed the X-Box version has the problem as well. Watch the airboat section of the IGN review video and see at the end how the game pauses for 1-2 seconds.
 
Steam Forum users MaLDo and Jong have come up with a workaround for the audio-related stutter bug ( where stutters and hitches happen when new sounds are loaded. ) It is working for nearly everyone who tries it. Full details here:

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=353850

If you don't want to know _why_ it works, here's the short version ( Works best if you have 1 GB or more of RAM, but worth trying even if you have less ):


By Jong [Edited]

First download this:

http://www.jong.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/cfg_700MB.zip

----------------------

Instructions for use:

HL2
-----

- Copy all cfg's to the appropriate cfg folder, except autoexec.cfg which has a few tweaks you may or may not wish to use.

- Set your heapsize to at least 700MB (recommended you have at least 1GB RAM, but see below).

- When you are in the game bring up the console and load the appropriate cfg file by typing "exec 0" and then selecting from the list.

- All the files you need to directly load yourself will be listed (they all start with a "0"), in the correct order. Ignore the others, they will be accessed automatically.

- The filenames give a description of when to load them.


------------------

If you do not have 1GB RAM you might like to try the above file anyway. One person at least, who has managed to get a very good 'clean boot' with 512MB RAM has successfully used a 700MB heapsize. HL2 does not use the full heap even when configured, but increasing the heap will increase the soundcache.

***

All questions to the original Steam Forum thread please !
 
PS - Oddly enough, Valve's admission of the bug "re-surfacing" comes a week or two after MaLDo first posted his idea... coincidence ?
 
misterstones, autoexec is necessary, otherwise the fix won't work. It's necessary because to the fix work you need mat_forcemanagedtextureintohardware 1 set
 
Actually the autoexec is optional - the instructions are just quoted directly from Jon's instructions in the original post ( in the Edits, below MaLDo's original post ) - check the link, if you don't believe me. On my system the mat_forcemanagedtextureintohardware 1 command doesn't make any difference, but people should try it for themselves anyway. It's completely separate from the forced precaching of sounds, though, which is the thing that's making the big difference for everyone.
 
without mat_forcemanagedtextureintohardware set to 1 the game ****ing stutters, go test it by yourself before telling non proved theories... srry my rudeness, I'm tired of this performance bug.
 
mat_forcemanagedtextureintohardware set to 1 + CFG's = no stuttering

mat_forcemanagedtextureintohardware set to 0 + CFG's = stuttering

mat_forcemanagedtextureintohardware set to 1 = stuttering

mat_forcemanagedtextureintohardware set to 0 = stuttering
 
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