Hi Sean,
Since you have multiple machines, you might find this information useful.
It's a collection of solutions that have helped other Master Chiefs... ;-)
Bad Video Zoom? Halo supports all DirectX 9.0b-compliant
video cards. It's a good idea to always install the latest drivers.
Read how to UPDATE or reinstall your DRIVERS further on.
For HALO error messages and technical troubleshooting:
http://www.microsoft.com/games/halo/support_alerts.asp
ATI Radeon 9800 PRO 128: If you experience inconsistent
graphic performance with textures make sure the Mipmap Detail
Level in the ATI Direct3D Control Panel is not set to High Quality.
NO MENU TEXT / BLACK SCREENS: Go into Control
Panel / Display / Settings / Advanced / Geforce Tab / Performance
& Quality settings / set Antialiasing and Anisotropic to "Application".
IN GAME CHAT: Reinstall XML from the HALO CD directly by
running msxmlenu.msi which is located in the Redist directory.
GEFORCE FX CARDS: Using the -useff command switch has
been reported to solve many performance issues with that card.
syntax: "C:\Prog files..\Microsoft Games\Halo\halo.exe" -useff
Switches such as -USEFF and others are explained in detail at:
http://halo.bungie.net/site/halo/features/hpcperformancefaq.html
FX performance issues should be corrected with their next drivers:
http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030912/half-life-07.html
Via Motherboard Chipsets: If you have a Via brand motherboard,
you may need to update to the latest "4-in-1" motherboard chipset
drivers to avoid crashes. More info is in the driver upgrade section.
Don't use refresh managers like ReForce which can cause DX errors,
or could possibly cause exception errors. Either go to Start / Run:
dxdiag and setup the refresh rates in the More Help tab / Override...
Or you can use the -vidmode w,h,r shortcut switch which Forces the
game to run at width, height, refresh rate. Read the COMMAND
LINE SWITCHES section further down in this post for full details.
ex: "C:\Microsoft Games\Halo\halo.exe" -vidmode 1024,768,75
* Don't discount that the switches aren't worth trying. One player
got his game working by using the -useff switch when all else failed.
EXCEPTION ERRORS & POPUP-AD BLOCKERS can cause
Halo to crash and cause "Gathering Exception Data" error messages.
If the error continues click Start / Run: msconfig and disable all of the
programs that are listed in the Startup tab. This has helped others in
fact I have a system troubleshooter for general software / hardware:
issues that occur:
http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits/Troubleshooting.html
CHARACTER MOVES BY ITSELF: Solution may be to remap
the keys from WASD to the arrow keys. One person reported the
problem stopped and they were able to change them back afterwards.
============== HALO KB ARTICLES ===============
Known Multiplayer Issues in Halo: Combat Evolved
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=829469
Known Game Controller Issues with Halo: Combat Evolved
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=829470
Known Sound Issues in Halo: Combat Evolved
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=829477
Known Video-Related Issues with Halo: Combat Evolved
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=829478
Minimum System Requirements for Halo: Combat Evolved
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=829479
Halo: Combat Evolved Is Slow or Performs Poorly
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=829471
=========== HOW TO UPDATE DRIVERS ============
Try updating your Video drivers using the instructions at:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/nibblesnbits/Video.html#drivers
How to update your Chipset Drivers:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/nibblesnbits/Video.html#v11
TROUBLESHOOTING:
In HALO lower the settings for both Video and Sound setup options
until the game is working, and then bring them up again one notch at a time.
Perhaps the old Nvidia drivers did not completely uninstall. If that's the
case, use this utility to completely uninstall the drivers and go to step 7:
http://content.guru3d.com/index.php?page=detonatorrip&menu=0
For Software and Hardware issues I've setup a troubleshooter at:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/nibblesnbits/Troubleshooting.html
======== HALO COMMAND LINE SWITCHES ===========
These shortcut / command line switches are great for troubleshooting.
Make a copy of your HALO shortcut and edit it's properties to play in
WINDOW mode, which may help improve your game performance.
To play in window mode, right click the Halo shortcut, and in the
"Target" Box add -window to the end of the shortcut so it looks like this:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Halo\halo.exe" -window
Other command line switches you can use to troubleshoot problems, or
workaround an issue until it can be properly resolved are as follows:
-nosound
Disables all sound.
-novideo
Disables video playback.
-nojoystick
Disables joystick/gamepads.
-nogamma
Disables adjustment of gamma.
-useff
Forces the game to run as a fixed function card.
-use11
Forces the game to run as a shader 1.1 card.
-use14
Forces the game to run as a shader 1.4 card.
-use20
Forces the game to run as a shader 2.0 card.
-safemode
Disables as much as possible from the game.
-window
Runs the game in a window.
-width640
Forces the game to run at 640x480.
-vidmode w,h,r
Forces the game to run at width, height, refresh rate.
-adapter x
Forces the game to run fullscreen on a multimon adaptor.
There you have it, if you have any questions feel free to post them!
--
Cheers, Windows XP MVP Shell / User
Jimmy S.
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
Game FAQs:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;[LN];gms
Visit my Zone.com / Gaming Helpsite:
http://nibblesnbits.tk or Call / Contact
MS Support at:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=sz;en-us;top
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
_________________________________________________________
| I am sorry to say this but Halo has far too many bugs. I
| am a staunch supporter of MS, but this game needed more
| time on the stove.
| In my home we have 5 machines, and it really only runs
| flawlessly on one, and then only with resolution set to
| the lowest.
| My machine, AMD 2100 w/ATI 128mb graphics and over a gig
| of Ram and it runs terribly, even with settings on low.
| CLipping, freezing, phantoms, and even system dump are
| regualr occurances.
| I have the patch, new drivers,etc, but yikes.
| I hope you develop some fixes. The game looks great, Sure
| wish I could play it.
