The hell?

[$kelet0r]

When I got HL2 in December 2004 I could run it on my computer at medium high settings with very smooth gameplay. Later updates brought about the stuttering at a level load but that was a few second quirk and the game still played perfectly for months where I played it to death until BF2 came along. I played less often after that but still a few hours a week.

I update Steam for the first time in a few months a week ago and load up HL2 for a level play through and the damn thing is unplayable - I had to turn all my settings down to low just to get smooth FPS. Did I miss something? Why would a game go from perfect on high to playable on low settings only???

p4 3ghz, 512mb ram, 128mb 9700 pro

 

[G-Dub]

Do you defrag your HDD? If not, that may be an issue.

 

[$kelet0r]

regularly
but even that should not be enough to go from pretty much all high except for AA and other ultra high stuff to low textures, lighting, detail etc.etc., particularly when other intensive games like BF2 or Far Cry or Riddick run as they always have if not better with age
what gives?

 

[G-Dub]

Well I'm stuck for ideas already! That's odd.

 

[Ashitaka]

Check how many processes your running in Task Manager, that is sometimes a factor.

 

[$kelet0r]

yeah checking... minimal really, I've killed alot of stuff that used to autostart with windows
i've done all the usual trouble shooting - hell it used to be just me and beerdude haunting this subforum lol

 

[PimpinPenguin]

It's due to Valve's Crappy updates for some people like me the updates cripple my game reducing performance theres nothing you a really do.

 

[$kelet0r]

well updates introduced the level load stuttering and steam has prevented me many many frustrating times from even playing the damn game so I would be inclined to agree. It's a real shame you can't choose to lock out your game from additional updates but even though it would appear that there is an option for that, it doesn't work

 

[Asknoone]

Interesting stuff. When I first bought HL2, I could only run it at medium settings with a less than adequate framerate. Had a few updates, it introduced the stuttering problem, and then only this year after a few updates I've been able to run everything on high with a perfect framerate.

 

[$kelet0r]

that is interesting - I always thought that my laptop was overly capable in the early days playing on high settings. Seems like Samon has gained at my expense

 

[Hectic Glenn]

I can only tell you my experiences other the past 2 years with regard to performance, and possible connections. At first I had the awful stuttering, and the fixes introduced have completely eliminated it. When I was using the 4.12 catalyst drivers I had a very nice 40 FPS, but when I updated I got a ridiculous 10 or so, so I rolled back and never updated since. I reformatted a few months back and tried the newest catalysts out and now I'm on a lovely 40/45 FPS on medium settings. So using that theory, look into your graphical drivers.

 

[Beerdude26]

True dat Glenn, I'm using outdated drivers and a completely up to date HL2. My nephew is using the newest drivers and has a significant FPS impact, even though my hardware is three years older.

 

[Asknoone]

Seems like Samon has gained at my expense

You know what you needed at the end of that post, don't you John?


"CURSES!"