HOW TO SET UP HALO PC
By American Patriot
21OCT03 1450 EST
Bungie’s Halo was ported by Gearbox and released in the United States for the PC on Thursday, October 2, 2003. Says Jason Cross of ExtremeTech.com, “Maybe it happened two years later than it should have, but Halo finally landed on the PC — and boy is it a hardware hog. For a port taken from a console system with a 733MHz CPU, 64 megs of shared RAM, and a graphics chip somewhere between a GeForce 3 and 4, Halo sure does run slowly at times, even on the strongest PC.”
After release, customers began expressing concerns related to Halo PC performance. In a recent interview, Randy Pitchford of Gearbox blames the customers themselves for having unrealistic expectations, being ignorant of computer hardware, having a pack mentality, and complaining about a game before playing it. Personally, I don’t feel that customers are to blame for Halo PC performance and have put together a guide to help people get the game up and running.
» ONLINE MULTIPLAYER PERFORMANCE CHECKLIST:
Audio Setup:
• Hardware Acceleration: YES (unless you have an older computer with little audio processing power)
• Sound Quality: HIGH
• Environmental Sound: OFF
• Sound Variety: LOW
Video Setup:
• Resolution: 640×480, 800×600, or 1024×768
• Refresh Rate: 85Hz
• Frame Rate: NO VSYNC
• Specular: NO
• Shadows: NO
• Decals: NO
• Particles: LOW
• Texture Quality: LOW
Command Line Options:
-novideo -use11 -nojoystick -exec mouse.cfg
» ONLINE GAMERS AUDIO SETUP IN DETAIL:
Performance is paramount for online gaming, and you will want to run Halo PC at the highest frame rates possible. High frame rates allow you to aim accurately and respond quickly to threats. If you do not intend to play Halo PC online, it is fine to sacrifice frame rates for special effects and adjust your settings accordingly.
HARDWARE ACCELERATION: benchmarks show a slight drop in performance using software sound, because my systems all support hardware acceleration. But yours may not. For the past year or so, the integrated audio on motherboards has improved to a point at which expensive sound cards are largely unnecessary. You may have such a motherboard yourself. You may have a quality sound card from Creative Labs or Turtle Beach. If you are uncertain as to what your hardware is capable of, do what I did: run Halo's timedemo with Hardware Acceleration ON and OFF, and draw your own conclusion. I explain how to use timedemo later.
SOUND QUALITY: HIGH quality actually benchmarks faster than MEDIUM or LOW. Go figure.
ENVIRONMENTAL SOUND: will be OFF. I find that EAX offers a sizeable performance hit; Audigy & Audigy 2 owners report sound effect buggies.
SOUND VARIETY: should be LOW for fastest performance.
» ONLINE GAMERS VIDEO SETUP IN DETAIL:
RESOLUTION: There is a BIG performance hit for anything over 800×600, but with all the effects turned down, I can just get by with 1024×768. Online play emphasizes frame rates over resolution, so you may not be as lucky. Most online gamers will need to run Halo at either 640×480 or 800×600. By and large, it all depends upon your video card and Internet connection speed.
I want to point out a few things about video card RAM. A mere 32Mb or 64Mb is no longer enough to play the games on store shelves. On the other hand, 256Mb of video RAM isn’t any better than 128Mb when it comes to what is on store shelves right now. Only some time next year will it help you to have a 256Mb video card—even then, only if it is a very, very fast 256Mb video card.
REFRESH RATE: this is particular for any given monitor at a given screen resolution. User manuals or manufacturer’s web sites will list ideal refresh rates for every resolution setting your monitor supports. It is safe to say that any monitor bought in the past several years will support 85Hz at any resolution you play Halo in, and that’s the setting I recommend.
FRAME RATE: 30FPS isn’t acceptable by PC gamer standards. I recommend setting this to NO VSYNC for the fastest possible performance.
SPECULAR: set this to NO, regardless of how fast your computer or video card may be.
SHADOWS: set this to NO for fastest performance.
DECALS: set this to NO.
PARTICLES: set this to LOW. Setting it to HIGH generates more smoke than you will want—obscuring your aim. Turn it OFF and you won’t see flames from the flamethrower or where your rockets hit—definitely a bad, bad thing.
TEXTURE QUALITY: set it to LOW. It’s ugly as hell, but it’s the fastest way to go. Use MEDIUM or HIGH if your eyes can’t take the strain.
GAMMA: set this to whatever looks good—it has no effect on frame rates.
» ONLINE GAMER NETWORK SETUP IN DETAIL:
The minimum requirements on the Halo box may mislead dialup modem users into thinking they can play Halo online. Unfortunately, the net code isn’t so refined as to offer a worthwhile online experience to anyone without at least a cable or DSL broadband Internet connection. In contrast, Unreal Tournament 2003 is an excellent example of an online game with terrific net code allowing a wide range of gamers to play. Perhaps Gearbox will optimize the net code in the near future, that more PC gamers will be able to enjoy Halo online.
Cable and DSL users need to pay attention to the upstream bandwidths of 128, 384, and 512Kbps (that’s kilobits per second). It doesn’t matter how fast your modem can download MP3s—upstream bandwidth is most often considerably less than downstream. Set this too high and you will be rewarded with extra packet loss you don’t want. Packet loss is indicated in the lower right corner of the game screen by a red unplugged phone jack icon. If you don’t know what your upstream bandwidth is, call your Internet service provider and ask. It’s safe to play around with this setting until you find the one that gives you the most stable game.
» ONLINE GAMERS COMMAND LINE SETTINGS IN DETAIL:
Many performance issues can be addressed in the various game menus, and this is where they should be addressed if at all possible, rather than in a command line argument. To access the command line Windows uses when launching Halo, simply right-click on the Halo icon—which is probably somewhere in your Start menu. Up pops the Halo Properties Dialogue box, and under the Master Chief’s head you will see Target: next to a box telling Windows where halo.exe is located. You will add commands at the end of this same line. For example, my Target: looks like this:
D:\Halo\halo.exe -console -novideo -use 11 -nojoystick -exec mouse.cfg
Notice that each command you add has to have a space in front of the minus (-) symbol. At the very least, you will want to add -use11 to this command line, which prevents the game from using pixel shaders 2.0 and slowing down to a crawl. The other commands allow you to access the in-game debugging console, skip the introduction videos, ignore joysticks, and turn off mouse acceleration. Actually, there is more to turning off mouse acceleration than just this command, but that is explained later.
Some people have quotation marks around the executable. They should add console commands outside those quotes, like this:
“D:\Halo\halo.exe” -console -novideo -use 11 -nojoystick -exec mouse.cfg
Online gamers should know the following commands:
-use20
Without any -use command, Halo defaults to pixel shaders 2.0, provided your video card supports the feature. It’s an advanced technique for applying special effects to computer graphics at the pixel level, and no video card on the market does it very well. High-end Radeon cards out-perform their GeForce counterparts when using 2.0 pixel shaders. But to be quite frank, no one should use Halo’s pixel shaders 2.0, unless major performance enhancements are introduced in the near future.
-use14
Forces the game to use older and faster pixel shaders 1.4. You lose bump-mapped mirrored surfaces. Some effects are two-pass.
-use11
Best balance of performance and appearance. Forces the game to use older and faster pixel shaders 1.1. You lose bump-mapped mirrored surfaces, model self-illumination, animated light maps, and specular lights. Some effects are two-pass. Fog calculations are triangle-based instead of pixel-based.
-useff
For really old rigs. Turns off pixel shaders, looks pretty ugly. This may be faster for old video cards, but it is probably slower for modern ones. The ff stands for fixed function. It really does make Halo butt-ugly. No shadows, glows, or flares. Very basic fog, water, and lighting. The camouflage effect is simple and difficult to see. The only benefit I can think of is that it makes it easier to tell red and blue uniforms apart, because they become flat red and flat blue (not glossy or metallic).
-console
Allows gamers to access the game’s console by pressing the tilde (~) key. Halo's console appears at the bottom of the game screen, whereas most games have it at the top. Really, though, the Halo console isn't very useful—compared to that of other games.
-novideo
Allows gamers to skip the various videos at the start of the game.
-nojoystick
Prevents the game engine from wasting time polling the joystick for input, pushing frame rates up.
-screenshot
Allows gamers to take in-game screen shots by pressing the PRINT SCREEN key on their keyboards. Halo will save your screenies sequentially as TGA (targa) files in a Halo\screenshots folder. There is a pause in game play while the shots are saved.
-timedemo
The timedemofunction runs four cinematic sequences and records frame rates. Test results are added to timedemo.txt in the Halo game folder.
-vidmode w,h,r
This command overrides settings made in the Video Setup GUI to play Halo at a particular width, height, and refresh rate. For example, -vidmode 1024,768,85 forces the game to run at 1024×768×85Hz. The only time you’ll want to use this command is while testing multiple resolutions with -timedemo. It is faster to change resolutions in the command line than it is to launch the game and make changes in Video Setup. Halo supports the following video resolutions:
• 640 × 480
• 800 × 600
• 1024 × 768
• 1152 × 864
• 1280 × 768
• 1280 × 960
• 1280 × 1024
• 1600 × 1200
» OF MICE AND MEN
For some unfathomable reason, there is no menu option to turn off Halo’s mouse acceleration, which makes fast aiming all but impossible. Until Gearbox gets Halo’s menus in order, online gamers should create a CFG (configuration) file to turn off mouse acceleration. It’s a very simple thing to do with Windows Notepad.
• Click on the Start button
• Move up to All Programs, then to Accessories
• Click on Notepad
• In Notepad, type mouse_acceleration 0
• Click on File, and then on Save As
• Save this CFG in your Halo game folder
• Name it something clever like mouse.cfg
• Change the Save as type: box to All Files
• Click the Save button
• Now find your Halo icon in your Start menu
• Right-click on it and select Properties
• At the end of the Target: box, add a space and the following: -exec mouse.cfg
• Click on OK
This tells Windows to run your mouse.cfg as it starts halo.exe.
Another good reason to turn off mouse acceleration this way: it gives a BIG boost to frame rates, something on the order of 10%. I’ve read where other people have advised adding a DisableBuffering command to the init.txt file in your Halo game folder. Don’t do it—it will drop your frame rates by 25%. The last thing Halo needs is lower frame rates.
» BENCHMARKING WITH HALO’S TIMEDEMO FUNCTION:
Now that you know how to edit the Target: line, you may as well know that if you add -timedemo to it, you can run a benchmark that will give you some idea what settings will be best for your machine. The smart way to do this:
• Find your regular Halo icon somewhere in your Start menu
• Right-click & drag that icon onto your desktop, then release
• Choose Copy Here from the pop-up menu
• Right-click on the new icon and rename it to something clever like Halo timedemo
• Right-click it again, choose Properties, and add -timedemo to the Target: line
• Click on OK
You will use your regular Halo icon to make most setup changes. Measure the results by way of the Halo timedemo icon. It’s all so much fun that you probably just can’t wait to get started. But you don’t have to do any of this—it’s just a suggestion, for those who really obsess over computer performance. Note that if you want to test out different pixel shader versions, you need only change the -use command in your Halo timedemo icon. Take a look at this:
D:\Halo\halo.exe -use11 -vidmode 640,480,85 -timedemo -nojoystick -exec mouse.cfg
That command line tests Halo with pixel shaders 1.1 at 640×480×85Hz, plus any other settings chosen though the in-game menus for audio and video effects. When testing several different resolutions, the –vidmode w,h,r command is rather convenient. Matter of fact, you could make several copies of the timedemo icon, each with different -vidmode settings for testing different resolutions! Note that both -nojoystick and -exec mouse.cfg are included, because they boost frame rates.
» SINGLE-PLAYER PERFORMANCE CHECKLIST:
Audio Setup:
• Hardware Acceleration: YES
• Sound Quality: HIGH
• Environmental Sound: OFF
• Sound Variety: HIGH
Video Setup:
• Resolution: 640×480, 800×600, or 1024×768
• Refresh Rate: 85Hz
• Framerate: NO VSYNC
• Specular: OFF
• Shadows: OFF
• Decals: ON
• Particles: LOW or HIGH
• Texture Quality: MEDIUM or HIGH
Command Line Settings:
-novideo -screenshot -use11 -nojoystick -exec mouse.cfg
» SINGLE-PLAYER AUDIO SETUP IN DETAIL:
HARDWARE ACCELERATION: set this to YES unless you have an old computer with little audio processing power.
SOUND QUALITY: oh, just set it to HIGH and enjoy.
ENVIRONMENTAL SOUND: turn it OFF, unless you actually want the performance hit; Audigy & Audigy 2 owners report sound effect buggies.
SOUND VARIETY: set it to HIGH and enjoy.
» SINGLE-PLAYER VIDEO SETUP IN DETAIL:
RESOLUTION: this can be higher than in online games, as frame rates come second to a pretty picture. But I doubt any machine out today can run Halo above 1024×768 with all the effects and not suffer frame rates in the teens. Anything below an ATI Radeon 9700 Pro should be set to 800×600 or just 640×480.
REFRESH RATE: I think 85Hz is just peachy here.
FRAMERATE: set it to NO VSYNC.
SPECULAR: turn this OFF. It does little more than slow the game down.
SHADOWS: turn OFF unless running with at least a Radeon 9600 or GeForce 5800.
DECALS: you really, really want this ON, because it adds so much visual impact to the experience.
PARTICLES: set to HIGH, or LOW for very old machines.
TEXTURE QUALITY: again, this depends upon the power of the graphics card, but most machines will be fine using MEDIUM or HIGH.
GAMMA: set it so you can see, but don’t bleach out the shadows, which add so much to the game’s mood.
» SINGLE-PLAYER COMMAND LINE SETTINGS:
Even single-player gamers will want to consider adding command line options -use11 or -use14 to keep frame rates up to tolerable levels. The -screenshot option is a good one, too, and gives you the chance to make some of your very own Halo desktop wallpapers. Note the commands described earlier to disable joysticks and mouse acceleration—these give you a good boost in frame rates.
» ALL HALO CUSTOMERS:
All Windows XP machines should have DirectX 9.0b installed, along with Service Pack 1a and all available Critical Updates. You will want the latest video drivers. On October 8, ATI released Catalyst 3.8 (if you already have 3.6 or 3.7, there’s no compelling reason to update). NVidia’s most recent offering is Detonator 45.23. By the way, many headaches can be avoided if you completely reformat your hard drive and re-install Windows when updating video drivers. Virus software should be disabled when playing any game, not just Halo. Background applications, services, and Startup applications should be kept to an absolute minimum. Head over to
http://www.tweaktown.com/ for guides to tweaking Windows XP for the fastest performance possible.
Utilities that force a particular refresh rate, such as RefreshForce, have been causing a Fatal Error with a message that Direct3D could not be initialized. Currently, Halo PC is not compatible with these types of utilities. Refresh rates can be selected from the Video Setup menu.
» OH, THOSE CRAZY SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
I can’t believe this is actually on the back of the box, but it is and it’s very misleading:
• Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP
• 733MHz processor
• 128Mb RAM
• 1.2Gb free hard drive space
• 30Mb/3D T&L capable video card (at least a GeForce 3)
• 8× CD ROM drive
• Sound card & speakers/headphones
• 56.6Kbps modem or LAN for multiplayer mayhem
For the time being, do not buy Halo PC if your machine is anywhere close to those minimum requirements. The experience will leave a lot to be desired, and there are plenty of good games out there that will run better. Even on a $3,000 red-hot custom gaming rig, Halo PC is slow. But don’t just take my word on it: download the demo. The demo has both single and multiplayer components, so everyone can get an idea just how Halo PC performs.
Halo should be tolerable on machines that look more like this:
• Windows XP Professional or Home Editions
• 2GHz processor
• 512Mb RAM
• 1.2Gb free hard drive space
• 128Mb DirectX 9.0 hardware-compliant video card (ATI Radeon 9600 or NVidia FX 5800)
• 8× CD ROM drive
• Motherboard integrated audio/sound card & speakers/headphones
• Cable or DSL broadband Internet for online fun
This is why most people play their games on consoles. Computer gaming requires significant investments of time and money. And too many PC game developers release games that aren’t properly finished.
» HEY, I DIDN’T JUST MAKE THIS STUFF UP:
Just so you know, I did my homework. Spend enough hours benchmarking, tweaking & tuning, and you’ll learn how to run Halo as fast as possible. Or, at least fast enough that you can play it. Wanna see some benchmarks? Who doesn’t!
This is my setup for ONLINE MULTIPLAYER measured by the timedemo function:
Date / Time: 10/19/2003 11:06:24 AM (627187ms)
3100MHz, 1024MB, 128M ATI Radeon 9700 PRO (DeviceID=0x4e44) Driver=6.14.10.6378 Shader=1.1
D:\Halo\halo.exe -vidmode 800,600,85 -use11 -timedemo -nojoystick -exec mouse.cfg (Version=1.0.2.581)
Frames=4700
Total Time=68.97s
Average frame rate=68.15fps
Below 5fps= 4% (time) 0% (frames) (2.878s spent in 4 frames)
Below 10fps= 4% (time) 0% (frames)
Below 15fps= 4% (time) 0% (frames)
Below 20fps= 5% (time) 0% (frames)
Below 25fps= 5% (time) 0% (frames)
Below 30fps= 6% (time) 0% (frames)
Below 40fps= 10% (time) 3% (frames)
Below 50fps= 29% (time) 15% (frames)
Below 60fps= 46% (time) 28% (frames)
###Sound Options###
Hardware Acceleration= Yes
Sound Quality= High
Environmental Sound= No
Sound Variety= Low
###Video Options###
Resolution= 800 × 600
Refresh rate= 85 Hz
Framerate throttle= No Vsync
Specular= No
Shadows= No
Decals= No
Particles= Off [this is incorrect; PARTICLES are set to LOW]
Texture Quality= Low
Note that timedemo always reports particles as OFF—no matter what you set them to. My average frame rate was 68.15fps on this machine:
• Intel P4 3.06GHz
• ASUS P4PE (using onboard sound)
• 1Gb DDR333 PC2700 RAM
• ATI Radeon 9700 Pro 128Mb
• Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 1a
• DirectX 9.0b
• Catalyst 3.7
This is what I find at various resolutions with the same settings:
73.50fps average at 640 × 480
68.15fps average at 800 × 600
56.98fps average at 1024 × 768
49.96fps average at 1152 × 864
49.60fps average at 1280 × 768
43.28fps average at 1280 × 960
41.52fps average at 1280 × 1024
29.82fps average at 1600 × 1200
Note the large performance drops at resolutions of 1024×768, 1280×960, and 1600×1200. Anyone who uses benchmarks will realize that timedemo frame rate averages aren’t to be confused with actual in-game frame rates. As a benchmark, timedemo only offers an indication of relative performance. But Halo’s performance on the PC is still miserable—relatively speaking. Anyone telling you he’s running smooth at 1024×768 with all the effects turned up is grossly exaggerating—that’s simply not happening on any rig out today.
Weet niemand een oplossing of een tip of interesseert het niemand 
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Tis gewoon wel vet om met een gast achterop en als bijrijder lekker rond te scheuren zonder verder zelf iets te hoeven doen.
Misschien is het aantal polygonen niet super vanwege de xbox port, maar de lichteffecten, textures en animaties zijn gewoon errug goed):strip_exif()/u/82840/keen_run2.gif?f=community)
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gaat weer lekker hier
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