5 replies to this topic

[L2D|$H@p3]

http://www.blep.net/hl2stutter/

This site is a collection of information on a problem with Half-Life 2 that has plagued many players of this otherwise excellent game. This problem is characterized by a sudden massive drop in frame rate when turning corners or moving into new areas of the game. These drops are usually accompanied by looping or stuttering sound during the frame rate drop which is how most people become aware of the problem. Aside from these isolated drops in frame rate, the game is otherwise perfectly smooth. These sudden drops kill the immersion and lead to a very frustrating experience. Below you will find additional details on this problem, some theories, and all responses from Valve on this problem.

[FuhrerDarqueSyde]

temp fix, -preload -mat_preloadshaders

reduces cpu load and precaches the content ahead of time so its ready when you get there (IT WILL DISABLE THE PRETTY 'startupmenu')

[L2D|$H@p3]

Thanks, I'll have to try that.

also,
Sound Stuttering Patch is Nearing
The bug that causes a sound stutter will have an antidote very shortly, reports Valve. Many users have emailed Valve about this issue and received many responses. Here's a roundup of them:

11/22/04 06:03:33 PM GMT
We've found a fix for this problem, and we're planning on shipping it no later than tomorrow.

11/22/04 04:53:34 AM GMT
I bought up the issue of level loading times with Gary and he mentioned that this is being worked on. I am speculating that the preloading of textures will add to the loading time so this is good news.

11/22/04 02:09:11 AM GMT
A solution for the stuttering problem has been found and a fix is coming. I've been talking with Gary McTaggart about this today and it turns out that my texture management theory was correct. A patch will be coming for this issue that will load all of the required textures into video memory on level load, rather than doing it during game play. There is currently no ETA for this patch, but I will post an update as soon as I get more information.

So it seems it should be here today or tomorrow. It's good news for the people affected by the problem. *Thanks to Moleculor for heads up.
-HL2fallout.com

[Pake]

What I don't understand is how some ppl did some test with the Miles sound codec and when they stressed their systems and used it, the sound would skip, but not with DirectSound. Also, the problem is said to happen when you change the codec used from DirectSound to Miles for Doom3.

Along with the texture issue, maybe they should look into the Miles codec and see if that's causing some issues. Would be nice to have another sound codec option as well.

BTW, I tried FDS' tweak and it still stutters like a crackhead.

[[AoL]Renshai]

I thought they switched to the speex codec?
What's wierd, is that my laptop has zero issues playing hl2. Maybe there is a delta in video performance vs audio performance that is causing the problem? I dunno.

-Ren

[Pake]

[AoL]Renshai, on Nov 23 2004, 02:02 PM, said:

I thought they switched to the speex codec? 
What's wierd, is that my laptop has zero issues playing hl2.  Maybe there is a delta in video performance vs audio performance that is causing the problem?  I dunno.

-Ren

Personally, I have no clue what codec they are using and have just gone off what others have said and tested.