Half-Life / TFC

[Direhit]

This section is dedicated to Half-Life / TFC-related matters.

[Direhit]

From WarmCarl:

Q: My F1 and F2 keys are unbindable, how do I fix them?

A: To be able to bind your F1 and F2 keys: Go to your Half-Life directory, open the "valve" folder, open the "cl_dlls" folder, and rename the file "GameUI.dll" to something else (i.e. "GameUI.bak"). You should be able to bind your F1 and F2 keys again.

[Direhit]

From WarmCarl:

Q: I'm getting strange mouse behavior in WinXP, how do I fix it?

A: The mouse changes in XP are hard to get used to, so add "-noforcemparms -noforcemaccel" to your command line to use the standard mouse setup, which is much easier to handle.

[Direhit]

From WarmCarl:

Q: My console isn't working when I hit `

A: Go into you're config.cfg and add type in bind "`" "toggleconsole" Also be sure that you have -console after the commandline.

[Direhit]

From Fireball:

Q: What ports are the most used in Half-Life / TFC?

A: Client
======
TCP 6003:
Outgoing connectivity to this port on remote destinations. Used for chat in the HL browser.

UDP 27011:
Outgoing connectivity to this port on remote destinations. Used for the 'custom game' mod browser.

UDP 27005:
Incoming connectivity to this port (or whatever port the client has changed this to, if not using the default). Used for game traffic (including voice) between client and server.

Server
======
TCP 7002:
Outgoing connectivity to this port on remote destinations. Used for WON auth.

UDP 27010:
Outgoing connectivity to this port on remote destinations. Used for advertising a server on the master lists for server browsers.

UDP 27015:
Incoming connectivity to this port (or whatever port the server had been changed to, if not the default). Used for all client/server game traffic (including voice), server info requests, etc.

HLTV
====
TCP 7002:
Outgoing connectivity to this port on remote destinations. Used for WON auth.

UDP 27010:
Outgoing connectivity to this port on remote destinations. Used for advertising a server on the master lists for server browsers.

UDP 27020:
Incoming connectivity to this port (or whatever port the server had been changed to, if not the default). Used for all client/server game traffic (including voice), server info requests, etc

[Direhit]

Q: I have recently changed my operating system to Windows XP, and have noticed that when I use the in-game voice communications, I'm not coming in as clearly as I did before.

A: The first thing to do is to run the voice_tweak.exe that is found in your Half-Life directory. It's possible that by installing Windows XP, you have different sound settings than the ones that you were using previously. Make sure that you click on "System Setup" and NOT "OK." If you click on "OK," you are telling your computer that all is well, and you don't want to make any further adjustments. After you click on "System Setup," follow the straightforward instructions that they give you.

If you are using a Soundblaster Live sound card, there is a known issue with the combination of a Soundblaster Live card, Half-Life, and Windows XP.

You can correct this by putting

+voice_dsound 1

in your hl.exe shortcut.

*edited correct cmdline for you, Una. - Defrag

[Direhit]

Q: I just upgraded to Windows 2000 (or XP) and now I'm only getting 60 fps, instead of my previous 99 fps. What happened?

A: Your card's refresh rate has been locked at 60 Hz, meaning that your screen refreshes itself 60 times each second. When vsync is on, your frames per second are limited by your refresh rate. If you try to turn off vsync, you end up cramming more frames than what can be displayed by your monitor, and you get shearing effects.

The best way to get greater than 60 fps is to read the specifications of your video card and your monitor, and set your refresh rate to something higher than 60 Hz. Make sure you also run a program that allows you to override the default 60 Hz refresh rate.

Do not use a refresh rate that is too high for your monitor, or else you could possibly damage it.

As for 3rd party programs designed to override the refresh rate lock:

http://mimic.recongamer.com/unabomber/reforce.zip

Use it. It works for all cards, not just Radeons. There are other programs for NVIDIA cards, such as NVREFRESH, etc. Use your search engines and find it, if you don't want to use the above program.

[Direhit]

Q: I can't get my in-game voice comms to work. What am I doing wrong?

A: First, try running voice_tweak.exe from your Half Life directory. Click on "System Setup," NOT "OK." Clicking "OK" just exits out of the program. Run the tests, and see if you can hear yourself. If you can't hear yourself, adjust the settings to see if that can make a difference.

If that doesn't work, some other device and / or program could be causing a conflict. In these cases, the odds are good that you can't even run voice_tweak.exe without receiving some sort of message saying "Can't initialize wav out."

Certain programs may allow you to use a different protocol other than the "wav out" that the HL / TFC program uses. By using the different protocol for the other program, you may be able to get both working at the same time.

If you are sure it's not some sort of software conflict, then most likely, you might have a modem that has an audio driver installed. Go into your control panel -> System -> Hardware -> Device Manager and look at your sound devices. If you see something related to your modem, disable it.

[Defrag]

Q: Everyone finds it really hard to hear me when using HL voicecomms, is there anything I can do to boost the volume of my mic?

A: Yes, there are a couple of things you can try:

Use the commandline hl.exe +voice_dsound 1 in your shortcut line. (this is very important if you use XP, and it generally makes things sound better), it is said that this switch is on by default now, but I like to include it just in case.

Go into a LAN and type "voice_loopback 1"
Then start talking (bind a key to "+voicerecord" first ) and check it out. Then try the following to make it louder:

Double click on the volume icon in the taskbar. Click options-> properties.

Now, enable all volume properties, check them all!
After you have done this, move the selector from "playback" to "recording" and check them all again!

Now, move the selector back to "playback"
Make sure microphone IS muted (this doesn't mute your mic, just stops what you say coming straight back out of your speakers) and hit OK. Go to the microphone tab and turn the volume all the way up to the top.

Now, click options again, and then click "advanced" and a little advanced button should appear at the microphone properties. Click this button and turn on "microphone boost"

Now this next part is important: on most versions of windows microphone boost is bugged, even if it is checked it won't work properly. To ensure it's working every time you boot up, uncheck it - click OK, then go back into advanced and recheck the option. I know for a fact this happened to me on Win ME *spit*, but it works fine on XP.

Now, go to options -> properties once more and change the option to recording. Hit ok again. Now turn the mic volume up full again, ensure the mic is selected with a check box. Now click the advanced button and make sure mic boost is on again.

Your voice should be much louder now, with any luck.

[Direhit]

Q: I installed NVRefresh a while back, and my new Detonator drivers won't work with them. What can I do?

A: Two options:

You can either use a different program, such as the one mentioned above, or...

You can get the latest version of NVRefresh, (2.1a) which does support the latest Detonator drivers.

[godxofxemptiness]

Q: My FPS is extremely unstable now with the latest catalyst drivers and ATI control panel thingamajig, it ran fine before, what's up?

A: I have a nice computer and a 9700pro, I formated, installed the new drivers and control panel, and noticed my fps were EXTREMELY unstable.

There is a new option under OpenGL and D3D with the 3.2 catalyst drivers and the new ATI control panel.

Try this..

Right click on desktop > properties > settings tab > advanced > opengl and d3d

Set TRUFORM on both to Always Off.

[Direhit]

Q: I just bought a computer with an integrated video chip that should be sufficiently powerful for good framerates in TFC, but I end up with terrible FPS in OpenGL. What is going on?

A: As previously stated, most integrated video is generally suitable for general purpose applications-only. Even though they may be listed as OpenGL-compliant, they cannot handle the workload that a game such as Half-Life puts on it.

This is a list of chipsets with integrated video that perform awfully in OpenGL applications:

Intel integrated video (810, 845, etc)
S3 integrated video (Savage4, etc)
SiS integrated video
VIA integrated video
Trident integrated video

Does this mean that all integrated video is unsuitable? Of course not. Boards based on the NVIDIA nForce and nForce2 IGP chipsets have a GeForce2 MX and GeForce4 MX graphics processor built in, and can actually produce playable framerates, as long as you keep your settings conservative. Also, the boards based on the recent ATi chipsets can give you a similar level of performance.

Keep in mind, though, when you use integrated video, the video processor must access the system memory, which will be slower than memory chips on a video card. Thus, the actual performance of the above mentioned video chips will be somewhat inferior to their full fledged, standalone counterparts.

Again, though, this is still quite playable, as the original nForce IGP will perform on a level between the RIVA TNT2 (not M64) and the original GeForce, whereas the nForce2 IGP will perform about on the same level as a standalone entry level GeForce2 MX video card.

[Ace]

Q: My ingame sounds wont play along with the model not moving, yet, it it still fires, how do i fix this?

A: First off, if you are running at 100 fps, try lowering your refresh rate using a refresh-rate locker to 90 fps. This should also clear up some issues with Radeon 9X00 series cards and fps loss.
Secondly, if that does not help, then go into dxdiag and lower sound acceleration.

[Direhit]

Q: I keep trying to connect to won.net, and can't. Should I try the modified woncomm lists?

A: No. Just be patient, and won.net will have the problem fixed soon enough. If you try to modify your woncomm list, you could end up with big problems when won.net is fixed.

If you feel like you must modify your woncomm list, then at least backup your current list, so you can go back to it when you run into problems later. The list goes into the Halflife\valve\ folder

Addendum from Inertia and b``:

One suggested list replacement:

http://is.recongamer.com/woncomm.zip

[Direhit]

Q: OK. I turned on vsync and installed a refresh rate program, and now instead of 60 fps, I get 72 fps. I thought I was supposed to get something higher, since I'm using a higher refresh rate?

A: Check your config.cfg file. fps_max should be set to something higher than the default 72.0 that is used. Trying to exceed 99.0 does no good.

[Direhit]

From agt_alan:

Q: Whenever I try to take a screenshot, I notice that all I get is a black screen, with no images. This also happens in Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Jedi Knight II, and other similar games that incorporate screenshots. What is wrong?

A: Use of anti-aliasing in your video settings will give this problem. Turn off anti-aliasing, and your pictures will turn out normally.

Addendum: The ATi Catalyst 3.7 drivers, now released, are supposed to correct this.

[Direhit]

Q: I've installed Radeonator / NVREFRESH / Reforce, and changed my TFC refresh rate to something higher for that resolution. However, when I try to play the game, I get sent to a blank screen. I can hear sounds going on in the background, but don't have a picture.

A: You set your refresh rate to a setting that is too aggressive for your monitor. For best results, consult your monitor manual to see what can be used for each resolution.

If you do not have your manual, start at 60 Hz, and bump up your refresh rate in conservative increments.

[Direhit]

Q: I need a new Half-Life CD. How would I go about getting a new one without paying full price?

A: First, send an e-mail to Sierra, explaining the situation. When they reply, they'll typically tell you to do the following:

Make a photocopy of your front cover of the Half-Life jewel case, and write a note on a separate piece of paper, asking for a replacement CD. Send it in to Sierra, and they'll give you a new CD (and CD Key), and invalidate the old CD Key.

They may still require a 5 dollar fee for this service.

[Direhit]

Q: Do I need to patch my Half-Life before installing Steam?

A: No.

[Direhit]

Q: I wanted to run voice_tweak.exe from my Steam directory, but it's no longer there! I had it working in TFC before, when everything was on WON, and want to get the same results in Steam.

A: You can simply open up your config.cfg file from your (WON) Half-Life directory and copy the settings related to the voice, into the config.cfg file found in your Steam directory. This way, you should be able to get the same quality as you did before.

[mindgames]

Q: How do I create a shortcut to my mods with Steam?

A: Just create a shortcut to Steam, with the "-applaunch <ID>" parameter. For instance, for TFC:

C:\Program Files\Steam\steam.exe -applaunch 20
(for WinXP you may have to type "C:\Program Files\Steam\steam.exe" -applaunch 20)

The app IDs are:

CS: 10
TFC: 20
DOD: 30
DMC: 40
Opfor: 50
Ricochet: 60
HL: 70
Dedicated Server: 5