Where should I extract the CFG files for a quicker load?

[Kidanski]

I must try this, my load is too long, IMO. I will try using the anti- AI disabled tricks and see if it works.
I know how to extract them, but Im not sure where to put the files.
Also, Is the process reversible?!

Thanks!

 

[Cypher19]

I second the motion that someone post information!

 

[Edge]

I must try this, my load is too long, IMO. I will try using the anti- AI disabled tricks and see if it works.
I know how to extract them, but Im not sure where to put the files.
Also, Is the process reversible?!

Thanks!

Do you mean the GCF files? If so their path is obvious within the file.

 

[Cypher19]

Oh, we can just do a simple extract? Fantastic!

 

[4est]

Sound file extraction has been a good fix for many people.

1. Get GFCScape and install it. http://countermap.counter-strike.net/Nemesis/index.php?p=25

2. Double click on C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\source sounds.gcf

3. Navigate in the left pane of CFGscape until "sound" shows in the right pane.

http://img99.exs.cx/img99/8872/GCFscape1.jpg

4. Right click and extract the "sound" folder to the C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\[email protected]\half-life 2\hl2\ folder.

http://img99.exs.cx/img99/3853/GCFscape2.jpg

This has helped many many people to get rid of stuttering.

** NOTE: BE SURE TO READ THE EULA TO SEE IF YOU ARE ALLOWED TO DO THIS. I take no responsibility for your actions. **



Also, keep this in mind. Pre-patch most people had luck with:

sv_forcepreload "1" // Preloads game assets at start of level
cl_forcepreload "1" // Preloads game assets at start of level


Post patch some had to go to:
sv_forcepreload "0"
cl_forcepreload "0"

Be sure to read this about the HL2 patch: http://www.blep.net/hl2stutter/#PatchAnalysis It basically gave people this setting:
mat_forcemanagedtextureintohardware "1"
and a a tradeoff.

"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."

I prefer the combination of the settings and sound file extraction method listed below:

sv_forcepreload "1"
cl_forcepreload "1"
mat_forcemanagedtextureintohardware "0"



Plus, be sure to get contig http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/contig.shtml and read this thread:

http://www.hlfallout.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=21617

Go there ^ read....

Then download contig. The readme explains how to use the program contig to to defrag your specific HL2 files.

You must go to

Start>Run> then type in "cmd" to get a command console.

When the cmd console opens, it shows:

C:\Documents and Settings\yourname>

In the command console, go to the direcotory where contig.exe is stored. For me it was:

G:\Downloads\Utilities\Contig

For DOS newbs this required me to enter at the command prompt "g:"

C:\Documents and Settings\yourname>g:

which begat

G:\>

Then I entered:

G:\>cd Downloads\Utilities\Contig

This putme into the contig folder:

G:\Downloads\Utilities\Contig

I used a two switches to defrag all files in all subfolders and print out the results. The command I used looked like this:

G:\Downloads\Utilities\Contig>contig -s -v "C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\*.*"

The quotes have to be used because of the space in Program Files.

Many people did not use *.* at the end and only defragged the .gcf files.

For that the cmd line would have been:

G:\Downloads\Utilities\Contig>contig -v "C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\*.gcf"

This put me from 4.06 fragments per file on average to 1.27 fragments/file.

Finally, http://www.tweakguides.com/ has the best collection (10 pages) of HL2 information on the planet.

Other tweeks that have helped some are:

disable valve.avi at the start of the game - for faster load
disable the fancy schmancy menu background you get when starting the game - for much faster load
disable autosave - for ingame stuttering

Those 3 items are also listed in the 10 page tweak guide.

 

[Kidanski]

Thanks for the info, but I was actually refering to the whole information, but I think that I get it now. I thought I had to delete the GCF files as well, but that isnt the case.
The thing Im refferring to is this: (seems the I tracked the thread down afterall

http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=53150&highlight=extract

and this from another thread:

" Solution with problem for most Speed Issues...

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

Even some of us with fast computers must raise our hands in reply to the question of the game chokeing at points.

The Solution: This game is huge and when it changes a level or anything like that, it must look up the game files needed for that area. It took me atleast 15 minutes to unpack the GCF and put it into the HL2Folder. After i unpacked it all the problems were gone and the darn thing loaded 2x as fast.

The Problem.: I dont know if valve added this as a anti warez thing or whatever. But it doesnt seem to like or think that a directory eventhough its being ran through steam, to be valid. What i mean by saying that is, when running the game their isnt any problems... Except about 60 secounds into the level you get a big message saying AI DISABLED!

I would ABSOLUTELY LOVE!!! To be able to play this game with the files unpacked becuase even my FPS went up. Try it yourself... but make sure you backup your games saves so you dont have any problems.

We need to get valve to fix this so that us with the room to spare can unpack this stuff. It really does help. Even more than it did in doom 3.


you can view and extract things from GCF's by using a program such as GCFScape- note, it is unsupported by valve and they wont fix any problems it makes."