- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
I have the EXACT same specs. p4 2.8 with HT, 512MB RAM and my GeforceFX5200 is only 128MB. I did a lot of research and troubleshooting and here's what I have to do to get a good game.
In your halo folder on your hard drive, create a shortcut for the exe file. Go into the properties. There's going to be a path for the exe sitting in quotes, (something like C:\program files\halo\halo.exe) outside of the quotes you can add certain perameters that effect the way halo loads. One I use is -novideo which simply disables those 3 annoying little videos that play everytime you start halo. (gearbox, MS, and bunjie). You can omit that if you enjoy the videos.
anyway halo defaults to run pixel shaders 2.0 which is very intense for lower end vid cards. You can force lower versions which is what I have to do. For single player I force pixel shaders 1.1, keep textures and particles at high run 640x480 resolution with Vsync and disable the other vid settings. This will run smooth and still looks pretty good. One way to check your Frames per second in game is to press ctrl+F12. This brings up an ingame frame rate calculator. for best results play with settings until you get a constant 60fps.
For multiplayer Ive found it best to force a fixed function card however you may be able to do more since you have 256MB. For instance you may be able to use Pixel shaders 1.1 on multiplayer with 800x600 resolution and still get a good frame rate. But the key is the lower pixel shaders. so to do this, after the path of the exe file, out side the quotes, put a space then "-14" for pixel shaders 1.4 and "-11" for 1.1 and "-FF" for fixed function.
Each one takes out a couple more effects (mostly things unnoticable) but the only real noticable one is the fixed function. I want the smoothest response for multiplayer (especially since I'm also on dial-up)
So when I play multiplayer, my location for my exe looks like this
"C:\programfiles\halo\halo.exe" -novideo -FF
make sure you have a space outside the quotes and in between the commands.
oh yeah, launch halo by double clicking the shortcut.
Yes I'm on a budget. Pretty soon I'm going to upgrade my video card which is really the problem. you might want to upgrade your ram to 1GB but that's not really the biggest issue. It's the video card. I have a friend with a slower processor who has an ATI 9800 PRO and he runs Halo at FULL settings with not one shred of a problem. I'm either gonna pick up one of those or maybe a 9600XT.
To find out more about maximizing halo and about these -11, -14 etc commands check out this halo tweak guide. It's where I got most of my info. But try Pixel shaders 1.1 at 800x600 with vsync and disable everything but textures and particles. keep those at high. See if you can get 50 fps or more on that. (a good way to test is to have single player in an intense, outside part and change the settings and try and play). Hope this helps you out.
http://www.tweaktown.com/ttg/ttgdocument.php?dType=guide& dId=456
[Edited on 5/19/2004 3:56:17 PM]