HL2 Menu Problems

[nightblade097]

I have had HL2 since mid-July. It has run perfectly since then, until now.
The Problem:
Before:

After:

My specs are: 2.2GHz Pentium 4
256 Mb Geforce 5200 PCI (I know its not the best, but it has worked)
512 Mb Ram
40 Gb HD (Again, I know its not the best)
Integrated Sound


I know I am probably not the first to write on this, however, I still have found no soloution. And before you give me noob speech, trust me, I've done my homework. I have tried everything of steam's suggestions, within reason, including forum suggestions. I have extesively searched and culled the internet (including this site and many others) for a solution that will work. As of yeet, I have found nothing.

Every time i get on to half life 2, the preparing screen comes up, loads, and goes away, taking me to the first pic. Then, it drops to black, and eventually comes to the second pic. If there are any original suggestions, with a lack ion sarcasm, i would appreciate it.

 

[Beerdude26]

That looks really weird.

Do you have another computer with Steam? Could you move all the files of Half-Life 2 (Including .GCF's) to that computer? Does it still do it then? If not, it's probably a hardware problem.

Normally I wouldn't suggest this, but seeing as you've tried everything... :|

 

[nightblade097]

thx, but unfo I only have one pc that actually hooked up to the net, and even if the other one was, its a piece of crap. Thx nonetheless, Beerdude.

Ps: Love the sig

 

[Beerdude26]

Thanks mate
It's a small history of Halflife2.net with some random funny stuff (all the letters are links)

Now, have you tried validating?
steam://validate/220

And have you recently changed something to your computer? Hardware? Software? Noticed some odd things?

 

[nightblade097]

did validate, but the game still has the same old problems, and yes, one change - changed to verizon dsl from dialup (HALLELUJAH!!)

 

[nightblade097]

only real odd things ive noticed are litlle slowdowns in internet, which shouldn't affect hl2

 

[Beerdude26]

Lol

Well, people have been complaining about shiny textures and hefty FPS hits since the 64-bit update, but I've never seen this...

I'm out of ideas (seeing you've done all the Steam stuff, and nothing hardware/software related)

You may have to delete the game and redownload

(Do it via Steam, don't just blindly delete the folder and delete the HL2 .GCF's too if you want to be 100% sure)

 

[nightblade097]

k, thx man, ive appreciated the help, and working with you in general

have a merry rest of your Christmas, and enjoy your new year

 

[Beerdude26]

You too

 

[nippy401]

i have the same problem, i have tryed all that was sugested here and at steam/valve help pages but still not working, i do remember the 64 bit update and thats when mine f*$%ed up and i remember the extra shiny textures in Css.
well if you here of anything let me know
thanks

 

[Beerdude26]

To nippy401: What are your system specifications?

 

[Barney Fife]

Yeah I know it's a noob answer but your PC is little inferior to HL2 recommended minimum requirements for lack of decent V-Card and memory.
But if it did work OK before, (Though little amazing) Did it work in low settings?
Either way if it did, some files may be corrupted. Try uninstalling HL2 and deleting HL2/Steam folder in your C:/ drive. Reboot system and reinstall HL2 through Steam again.
Also you do need a sound processor since you're using integrated one to lift little load off of your CPU and (Assuming you use XP) choose (Adjust For Best Performance) in the performance option of WinXP (Right-Click My Computer, Properties, Advance, Performance Settings And Choose Adjust For Best Performance).

Good Luck.

 

[nippy401]

my pc spec is:
Windows XP
AMD athlon 64 3000 2ghz
512 ram
ATI 9600 256mb
no sound card
Direct x 9.0c
yes hl2 was running fine till this update

i did uninstall it but did not look to see if every file/folder had been removed, i will try that

 

[Sieg]

Theres a little software invented god knows when by msn.

Oh, and try to avoid double posts m8.

 

[Barney Fife]

my pc spec is:
Windows XP
AMD athlon 64 3000 2ghz
512 ram
ATI 9600 256mb
no sound card
Direct x 9.0c

Yeah your CPU needs to have the full the freedom therefore need the sound processor unite creative life is one of the most popular sound cards don't cost much either.
And XP has habit of not completely uninstalling programs for future shortcuts in case you decide to reinstall. also delete the content of the WinXp prefetch folder. Hit star, run, and type prefetch and then delete all the contents in the folder....DON'T DELETE THE ACTUAL FOLDER.

Good Luck.

 

[Max_Payne]

hmm sounds interesting are all your video card drivers up to date? running any overclocking programs? check to see what your system is doin thru the directx panel... go to run, the type dxdiag... should give u a diagnostic and reading of your graphics system.

PEACE

Mikey:dozey:

 

[nippy401]

ok so if i get a sound card it will lift some weight off the processor, but will it be worth while to invest in some more ram? i only ask as i have been told that too much ram can have a negitive affect!
ok i have uninstalled and reinstalled now deleting my hl2 folder but not that winXp folder as im updating now and dont know if its too late, but if not ill go back to it.

 

[Barney Fife]

ok so if i get a sound card it will lift some weight off the processor, but will it be worth while to invest in some more ram? i only ask as i have been told that too much ram can have a negitive affect!
ok i have uninstalled and reinstalled now deleting my hl2 folder but not that winXp folder as im updating now and dont know if its too late, but if not ill go back to it.

Yeah more ram would be a very good idea and no you can never overdose your PC with ram.
It's like this: Every PC is designed to withstand certain amount of ram for example if your PC was designed to hold 1GB of ram it will only register 1GB of ram though you installed 4 512MB chips your PC will use only 1GB of ram even though it has over 2GB of memory chips. So no too much ram will not hurt your PC but instead will hurt your pocket.
Go ahead and research your PC MOB spec and find out how much ram it can hold.
OK HL2 recommended system spec says you need 256-512MB of ram to play, and WinXP says you need 128MB of ram to run, that's 640MB of memory to run a fresh out of the box non-updated WinXP with HL2. OK we all know we never quit downloading stuff that we like to download and never use, they need ram, all of the other Bundled software's that came with your PC and will freaking rot in the HD cause you never will use them need ram, also steam needs ram, if you have anti-spy-ware, anti-virus software, firewalls etcetera they also need ram. To add all up my PC is running on over 400MB of ram as I type this.
So go ahead and find what type of ram your MOB was designed for (PC2700, PC3200, PC4000 etcetera etcetera) and install 512MB chip (Note. If your PC was designed for PC3200 only buy PC3200 chip and not PC2700 which will run slower and not PC4000 which will only run at the rate of PC3200 but will cost you twice as much to buy)

Almost forgot. Also don't forget to De frag HD by right-clicking My computer, Manage, Disk DeFragmenter, selecting the appropriate drive HL2 is installed if you have dual or partitioned drives and press analyze and then De frag. It is big performance bonus as HL2/Steam files will be in organized space.

Good Luck.

 

[nippy401]

ok dude hl2 is now working yay, and ill look into some ram and sound card.
Thanks for all your help and advice your a big help

 

[Barney Fife]

Glad problem been solved.