Text doesn't appear on screen (chapter titles, "saved", etc.)

[diluted]

This is a thread I also started on the steampowered forums, but I don't really expect to receive a response there, so I thought I'd try here as well.

I've noticed that the chapter titles and "saved" messages don't appear on my screen at all. I've seen these in screenshots and videos but it never happens in my game. Is there a way to toggle these messages on/off? It doesn't pose much a problem now, as I don't really need to see chapter titles and saved messages, but what about in a mod or something in which an important message comes up on the screen and I can't even see it? Anyone have any advice? :x

 

[diluted]

bumpz0rz.

 

[pinion]

I have the same problem. Anyone know the solution?

 

[guchi]

very old bump, but i have the same problem.

 

[Beerdude26]

Hmm... Maybe you should PM diluted and ask him if he ever got it working, because I never even heard or encountered the problem.

 

[GonzoBabbleshit]

I'm getting this too

 

[NeuralClone]

I'm experiencing a similar problem.
http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/6759/d3breen0100003ml.jpg

Once fonts start vanishing, all the fonts start vanishing. My health, weapons, keyboard controls, the "saved" message, everything. Restarting the game seems to fix the problem but it's occurring more and more frequently now.

System specs (nothing is overclocked):
AMD Athlon XP 2800+ (currently set to 2083 MHz)
ASUS A7V8X motherboard (revision 14)
300 W power supply
Corsair 1 GB DDR400 PC3200 RAM (currently at 333 MHz due to motherboard limitations)
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB (Omega 2.6.53)
SoundBlaster Live!
DirectX 9.0c
Windows XP Professional SP2

Average CPU temperature (idle): 43-45 C
Average CPU temperature (full load): 45-49 C

Game settings (all recommended settings):
Resolution: 1280x960
Model detail: high
Antialiasing mode: none
Texture detail: high
Filtering mode: trilinear
Water detail: reflect world
Shader detail: high
Shadow detail: high
Wait for vertical sync: disabled
Sound quality: high

 

[diluted]

I fixed it by doing a complete re-install of Steam and all Valve games. First I uninstalled all the games (right-click on them in Steam, go to properties -> delete local game content), then I uninstalled Steam (from Control Panel -> add/remove programs). Check if the Steam folder is there after you uninstalled Steam, if it is, delete it. Now download the Steam setup file from steampowered.com and re-install.

I don't know if such a drastic solution was necessary, but I tried everything up to that point to fix it.

 

[GonzoBabbleshit]

I've re-installed HL2 quite a few times now though, and I don't think they've ever worked. I've emailed Valve about it, and I'm still trying a few things myself so...

I don't plan on having to reinstall it again anyway

 

[diluted]

Did you re-install Steam though? Before that I tried re-installing just HL2 and it didn't fix the problem. It took a full re-install of Steam to sort it out.

 

[GonzoBabbleshit]

Well, I've done a few complete system restores before..so yeah.

 

[NeuralClone]

Well, I did a complete reinstall and the fonts are still completely messed up. The credits are still completely garbled (see above) and so are all other fonts in the game. The only thing I've changed on my system in the past few weeks is my RAM and CPU. Everything else is the same.