Halo 1 & 2 for PC
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Subject: An optimization idea...
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Okay, so we all know that Halo was poorly optimized for the PC. I also know that even though the Xbox is crappier than most computers, it still could run a game because all of its power was dedicated to it. Nothing running in the background or anything. This is the reason most consoles that are worse than PCs can still run the high-caliber of games. For example, the basic specs for the Xbox:

733MHz CPU
250MHz GPU called the "XGPU"
64 MB RAM at 200MHz DDR (lawl)

A computer 4 times as good as that would still have trouble with Halo PC windowed, minimum settings staring at a wall.

But what's the point of all these jambering-shenanagins?

Well, I had the idea, that somehow, somewhere, someone, could create or figure out a way to make your computer act like a console; as in it could dedicate everything to one .exe file. Maybe you start up your computer, right-click "Halo PC", then in the menu, hit "Run in dedicated mode" or something. Your computer would restart, running Halo. When you exit, your computer restarts again back in normal mode. Could this work? Am I just wishing for too much for people with noob pcs? Or, is it not that simple? Please do tell.

And if there is something like this, feel free to insta-pwn me and tell me the link.

  • 08.23.2006 2:11 PM PDT
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I would try and answer your question but I have no idea what the hell you're asking.

  • 08.23.2006 2:14 PM PDT
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Haha, all I want to know is if you can get your PC to behave like a console. Run in dedicated mode to one program, with nothing else in the background.

  • 08.23.2006 2:18 PM PDT
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Sry I don't know that much about computers. The other guys can help you with that query.

  • 08.23.2006 2:20 PM PDT
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Anyone you know of that is a super computer person that I could ask?

  • 08.23.2006 2:32 PM PDT
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Umm. The reason it performs so much better on the Xbox is that the Xbox is a dedicated gaming console, and only needs to output at 640x480.

But what you're suggesting is that there could be a program that reboots your computer and turns off all unneccesary services that aren't required to run the game?

It seems to me that there is a way to do this in Windows. I can't remember exactly how, ATM, but I think it had something to do with creating a "Gamer" profile that you can select when you boot the system, and that profile only has certain Services enabled.

  • 08.23.2006 2:33 PM PDT
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http://hce.halomaps.org/index.cfm?pg=3&fid=410
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No, because you still need your driver support. You can not, repeat can not, and I mean ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT compare console and PC games. It's like comparing a movie theatre screen to the one on your phone.

And all this talk about Halo sucking without great hardware, I dont know where you're even getting that from. This was taken with an integrated card and 256MB of RAM. Yeah, the fps is 5, but it's also at 1024x768. At 800x600, the framerate never dropped below 25-30.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/zeph483/Map%20Shots/Fa ceoffteaser2.jpg
As you can see, even integrated solutions can handle many decals, radiance, particle effects, and detail maps.

  • 08.23.2006 2:37 PM PDT
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All the little graphical whatsits that make windows look like windows can be turned off. even things you don't even notice take up a bit of ram, there is a way to create a "gamer" profile with all or most of these things unused, (such as desktop, screensaver, and the start menu.) It doesn't free up loads of ram, but it's better than nothing.

  • 08.23.2006 2:39 PM PDT
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I was referring to basically turning off everything except the necessary drivers.

But really, Halo isn't that poorly optimized if you've got a powerful system. It runs fine at 60+ FPS, 1920x1080, on my X1900XTX. =/

  • 08.23.2006 2:41 PM PDT
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And all this talk about Halo sucking without great hardware, I dont know where you're even getting that from. This was taken with an integrated card and 256MB of RAM. Yeah, the fps is 5, but it's also at 1024x768. At 800x600, the framerate never dropped below 25-30.

Well you my friend have a VERY lucky setup. What's your processor speed? Like 5 Ghz????

Thanks for the input guys. And about the drivers, fine, only drivers and the game running.

On my X1900XTX
Well, that is about 50 times (or more) better than the Xbox's card.

[Edited on 8/23/2006]

  • 08.23.2006 2:48 PM PDT
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Maw

Posted by: Zeph
No, because you still need your driver support. You can not, repeat can not, and I mean ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT compare console and PC games. It's like comparing a movie theatre screen to the one on your phone.

And all this talk about Halo sucking without great hardware, I dont know where you're even getting that from. This was taken with an integrated card and 256MB of RAM. Yeah, the fps is 5, but it's also at 1024x768. At 800x600, the framerate never dropped below 25-30.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/zeph483/Map%20Sho ts/Faceoffteaser2.jpg
As you can see, even integrated solutions can handle many decals, radiance, particle effects, and detail maps.
Uh, you can, just not to that extent. I understand you and I think thats a good idea. Even closing Explorer would give a lot of resources to Halo, and you wouldn't need Explorer unless you were doing other stuff. Good idea.

  • 08.23.2006 3:01 PM PDT
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I believe Vista is implementing some system of doing this, to some degree.

When you start a game, it turns off and unloads all of the "Aero Glass" interface features from RAM, and "pauses" unneccesary background services until you close the game.

  • 08.23.2006 3:04 PM PDT
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The things that take up the most system resources are antivirus programs. If you are playing SP, just turn them off. Also, if you want to check what programs are running, use the task manager. Just hit ctrl-alt-delete, if you're running XP.

  • 08.23.2006 7:11 PM PDT
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You can't just stop explorer. There are alot of processes windows won't let you end.

  • 08.23.2006 8:28 PM PDT
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aka lino4

Most of the PC issues posted here are the result of PEBKAC.

If you just buy a video card, it's a lot like getting a console simply because, you have your RAM, and processor. Now, I'm surprised no one mentioned sound. That can be a killer.

  • 08.23.2006 8:39 PM PDT
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Ok, so what im getting at is that it can sort of be done, just not to that extent, like ya said. But, what I meant was that someone might be able to design an OS mod or something, that like... iunno... super.. does..it? Haha oh well thanks guys appreciate it.

Haha I can operate my comp without explorer (lol DOS skillz). I'ma try turnin it off now :).

[Edited on 8/23/2006]

  • 08.23.2006 11:45 PM PDT

Thinking of something witty to write here since 2004...

Maybe that's what Vista will be able to do.

  • 08.24.2006 12:10 AM PDT
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Posted by: OmniosSpartan
it is possible, like with Dual core CPU's you could in theory throw a game on one core and all the other crap on another core.


They'll let you do that? Or are you just hoping? Bacause that would be awesome!

  • 08.24.2006 8:41 AM PDT
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I don't think xp lets you do that natively. You probably can get another app that does it and I bet vista will have something like that.

  • 08.24.2006 9:06 AM PDT
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Posted by: QUIKQOLD
Posted by: OmniosSpartan
it is possible, like with Dual core CPU's you could in theory throw a game on one core and all the other crap on another core.


They'll let you do that? Or are you just hoping? Bacause that would be awesome!


This is called "setting the processor affinity" in XP. If you have two processors, you can tell XP to run any program using just one CPU (or core). But it's a case of "suck it and see", badly behaved programs will ignore this request.

In responce to the "explorer.exe" query, again this is possible in XP. You just replace the shell=explorer.exe line in the registry with e.g. shell=cmd.exe. This will start XP with no explorer, just a single CMD window. Not very useful unless you know how to start all your applications by their executable name ....... :-)

  • 08.24.2006 9:13 AM PDT

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Computer: Power Mac G5 CPU Type: PowerPC G5 (2.2) Number Of CPUs: 2 CPU Speed: 1.8 GHz L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB Memory: 1.25 GB Bus Speed: 900 MHz

ATi Radeon X800 XT Mac Edition
Display Type: LCD Resolution: 1680 x 1050 Depth: 32-bit Color

Just curious, (since I'm a Mac user), the explorer you are talking about is the Microsoft web browser? It's that hard to turn off? Isn't it just an application that you can easily choose to run or not to run, or is it so deeply embedded in the OS that most people have trouble turning it off?

  • 08.24.2006 9:34 AM PDT

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Vista is supposed to do what your describing. It let's the application interact directly with the GPU without having it go through the OS.

  • 08.24.2006 10:12 AM PDT
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Windows Explorer/Internet Explorer is deeply imbedded in the OS, I think that Windows/Internet Explorer are the same program. I once tried to uninstall Internet Explorer and totally screwed up my comp. Luckily I was able to rectify the problem.

The moral of the story: Don't -blam!- with it!

  • 08.24.2006 10:33 AM PDT
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They are very similar. You can browse your comp in IE, but you don't need IE to run windows. Explorer is the process that allows you to have a desktop. It lets you access folders. Its the GUI of Windows, and without it, there is nothing you can do unless you have a cmd prompt open.

  • 08.24.2006 11:05 AM PDT

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