Half

Half-Life Essay Version 1.0Readme File10/30/98************************************************************************About This Document: This document contains last-minute information about Half-Life, including questions you may have concerning the game or your computer. If you have a question, check to see if it is addressed here first: you may save yourself a call to Technical Support. ************************************************************************I.MINIMUM REQUIREMENTSII.GENERAL TECHNICAL ISSUESIII.GENERAL GAME ISSUESIV.3D HARDWARE ISSUESV.CONTACTING SIERRAI. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTSWindows(r) 95, Windows 98 or Windows NT 4.0Pentium 133+, 24 MB RAMSVGA, high color (16-bit)2x CD-ROM driveWindows-compatible sound cardMouse, keyboardII. GENERAL TECHNICAL ISSUESDRIVER ISSUESWhen running Half-Life in OpenGL, you must select 3Dfx Mini Driver from the drivers list in the Video Options menu if you have a 3Dfx card (Voodoo, Voodoo2, Rush or Banshee). Choosing the Default driver may severely impact Half-Lifes performance. Make sure the most current version of DirectX is installed on your computer. DirectX 6 is the most current version (as of 10/31/98), and it is included on the Half-Life CD in the DirectX folder. If you are running a pre-OSR2 release of Windows95, get the OpenGL 1.1 fix in order to run Half-Life in OpenGL mode. The fix can be found at ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/softlib/mslfiles/opengl95.exeMake sure you have installed the most recent drivers for all your hardware before playing Half-Life. III. GENERAL GAME ISSUESSOUND PROBLEMSIf you dont hear any sounds while playing Half-Life or if you only hear music, another application you are running may have control of the sound hardware. Exit Half-Life, close the other application, and restart Half-Life. HOTKEY PROBLEMSHotkeys can be activated by using the ALT key in combination with the highlighted letter. For example, you can use ALT+R to perform a Refresh within the Multiplayer/Internet Games menu. CD MUSIC VOLUMEYou cannot control the CD music volume within Half-Life. To adjust your CD music volume, go to the Windows Start Menu, Programs, Accessories, Multimedia, and select the Volume Control applet. CD AUDIO SLOWDOWNSSome CD-ROM drives take a few seconds to spin up to their playing speed. You may notice some parts of the game that will momentarily slow down before the CD audio will play. VIEW OPENING AVI SEQUENCESHalf-Life begins with two short AVI sequences. If you are having trouble viewing the AVIs, check to see that you have video compression installed. Go to the Control Panel and select Add/Remove programs. From there, select Windows Setup and scroll down to Multimedia. Select Multimedia and make sure that Video Compression is checked. CUSTOM KEYBOARD CONFIGURATIONIf you plan to customize your keyboard configuration, note that the jump and crouch commands need to be controlled by different fingers. You will need to use both keys simultaneously when performing a longjump.DESKTOP RESOLUTION AND HALF-LIFEHalflife should be run in a resoulution that is lower than or equal to your destop resolution. Running Half-Life in a fullscreen or windowed mode that is greater than your desktop resoulution can cause problems. JOYSTICK AND GAMEPAD CONFIGURATIONEnable use of joysticks or gamepads by checking the joystick box in the Configuration/Controls/Advanced controls menu. Joystick and gamepad buttons can then be configured through the Configuration/Controls menu. Valve thanks James Barnes at First-Person Gaming, Inc. for permission to use his excellent documentation on joystick support. Information on their products are available on the Internet at http://www.fpgaming.com/. Half-Life supports standard joysticks, digital joysticks and advanced controllers like the FPgaming Assassin 3D, the Logitech WingMan Warrior and the SpaceTec IMC SpaceOrb. To enable Half-Life joystick support, verify that your joystick or game controller is selected in the Joystick control panel applet and has been calibrated and tested, then launch Half-Life. Check the joystick box in the Configuration/Controls/Advanced controls menu of Half-Life. For advanced controllers, you will also need to have a configuration file called joystick.cfg. Typically this configuration file should be obtained from your game controller company. However you can create your own and place this file in the Valve subdirectory of your Half-Life directory. Half-Life will automatically execute this configuration file each time you start the game. The configuration files for common game controllers are included below. Half-Life Joystick functionality1. Proportional movement (the farther you move the stick, the faster you move) 2. Support for up to 32 buttons (JOY1-JOY4 and AUX5-AUX32)3. Sensitivity setting for each control (allows tuning and inverting the control direction)4. Dead-zone setting for each control5. Support for all 6 axes (X, Y, Z, R, U, V)6. Mapping of any axis to any control (Forward, Look, Side, Turn)7. Support for absolute controls (like joysticks) and relative controls (like trackballs and spinners)The default joystick setting is for joystick left/right movement to control turning and for joystick forward/backward movement to control moving forward/backward. To control strafing, assign the strafe modifier to one of your joystick buttons (via the Configuration/Controls menu). To control joystick looking, assign the mouse look modifier to one of your joystick buttons (also via the Configuration/Controls menu). Reverse mouse in the Configuration/Controls/Advanced controls menu also changes the direction the joystick has to move when looking up and down. The following variables can be set in your joystick.cfg. These variables control your sensitivity settings:Command NameCommand ActionDefaultNOTES:Variable: JoyforwardsensitivityFunction: Controls the ramp-up speed or how much joystick movement is required for moving full speed forward and backwardDefault: -1.0Comments: If your joystick is not as fast as you think it should be try a setting of -1.5, you will reach full speed with only half of the movement. Variable: JoysidesensitivityFunction: Controls the ramp-up speed or how much joystick movement is required for moving full speed side to sideDefault: 1.0Comments: If your joystick is not as fast as you think it should be try a setting of 1.5, you will reach full speed with only half of the movement. Variable: JoypitchsensitivityFunction: Controls the speed or ratio used when you look up and down using the Assassin 3DDefault: -0.25Comments: This setting will allow you to look Up and Down at a 45 degree angle without repositioning your hand. Variable: JoyyawsensitivityFunction: Controls the speed that or ratio used when you look left to right using the Assassin 3DDefault: -0.5Comments: This setting will allow you to look left and right at a 90 degree angle without repositioning your hand. You can set the sensitivity settings to negative numbers. This inverts the direction of movement for the control. The default sensitivity settings are 1 (or -1). These variables control your threshold settings:Command NameCommand ActionDefaultNOTES:Variable: JoyforwardthresholdFunction: Controls the dead-zone for moving forward and backwardDefault: 0.15Comments: If you have problems with your character moving forward or back when trying to stop or strafe, increase this number to .20Variable: JoysidethresholdFunction: Controls the dead-zone for moving side to sideDefault: 0.15Comments: If you have problems with your character moving left or right when trying to stop or walk a ledge, increase this number to .20Variable: JoypitchthresholdFunction: Controls the dead-zone for looking up and downDefault: 0.15Variable: JoyyawthresholdFunction: Controls the dead-zone for looking left and rightDefault: 0.15The threshold settings allow you to control your dead-zone (or no-movement zone). The d efault threshold settings are .15 (meaning 15% of the full-range). The range of the threshold settings is from 0 to 1. Troublesome analog joysticks may need a larger number (like .2). Premium joysticks can use a smaller number (like .1). If your joystick has a POV hat, the buttons are mapped to AUX29-AUX32. So, you get 8 buttons with the Logitech WingMan Extreme, 12 buttons with the Microsoft SideWinder 3D Pro, etc. These six variables control axis mapping:Command NameCommand ActionDefaultNOTES:Variable: JoyadvaxisxFunction: Controls mapping of DirectInput axis X (typically joystick left and right)Default: 3Comments: Allows the joystick to turn. Variable: JoyadvaxisyFunction: Controls mapping of DirectInput axis Y (typically joystick forward and backward)Default: 1Comments: Allows the joystick to move forward and backward. Variable: JoyadvaxiszFunction: Controls mapping of DirectInput axis Z (typically joystick throttle)Default: 0Comments: Not used. Variable: JoyadvaxisrFunction: Controls mapping of DirectInput axis R (typically joystick rudder)Default: 0Comments: Not used. Variable: JoyadvaxisuFunction: Controls mapping of DirectInput axis U (custom axis Assassin 3D trackball left and right, WingMan Warrior SpinControl and SpaceOrb roll)Default: 20Comments: Sets the Assassin 3D to relative turning left and right. (Not self centering)Variable: JoyadvaxisvFunction: Controls mapping of DirectInput axis V (custom axis Assassin 3D trackball forward and backward and SpaceOrb yaw)Default: 18Comments: Sets the Assassin 3D to relative free-look up and down. (Not self centering)Each joyadvaxis variable can be set to the following controls:0 = Axis not used1 = Axis is for forward and backward movement2 = Axis is for looking up and down (pitch)3 = Axis is for side to side movement4 = Axis is for turning left and right (yaw)Additionally, each axis can be designated as an absolute axis (like a joystick) or a relative axis (like the FPgaming trackball or the WingMan Warrior SpinControl). Absolute axes are defined as having a stopping position whereas relative axes d ont have a stopping position and just go around and around. To designate an axis as a relative axis, add 16 to the above control number. For example, to set the Assassin 3Ds axis U to be looking left and right, type joyadvaxisu 20. As another example, to make your rudder pedals control turning left and right, type joyadvaxisr 4. Its a bit complicated, but only needs to be done once. The Role of Money and Economic EssayDirect3D Input seems lagged. If your input seems to lag behind the visual display on occasion, add this line to your d3d.cfg file:gl_d3dflip 1Network instabilityIf you have a connection to the Internet that is unstable, or prone to packet loss, try typing cl_nodelta 1 at the console (bring down the console with the ~ key). This will improve your overall network stability, but will sacrifice your overall latency. COMMON QUESTIONSWhat can I do if the game is too dark?. Some monitors are darker than others, but Half-Life provides controls to correct this problem. You will need to adjust the Gamma and Glare Reduction settings in the ConfigurationVideoVideo options menu in Half-Life. These are used to adjust for different kinds of monitors and room brightness. Adjust the two sliders so that the Soldiers camouflage pattern is dark but visible. If this still doesnt work, you then may need to adjust the actual brightness and contrast of your monitor. This is usually done by adjusting buttons or knobs on the front of your monitor, but all monitors are a bit different so you may want to look through your monitors documentation to be sure. Some places in the game are intentionally dark, and youll need to use your flashlight, but you should be able to see everything without difficulty in the opening train ride and throughout the first part of the game. Some graphics cards also have support for controlling how bright the display is. If your cards device drive r supports this, you can find it by going to the Windows control panel, and selecting the Display applet. What can I do if the game looks washed out?The most likely cause is that your monitor is slightly brighter than average and the default game settings are for a darker monitor. You will need to adjust the Gamma and Glare Reduction settings in the ConfigurationVideoVideo options menu in Half-Life. These are used to adjust for different kinds of monitors and room brightness. Adjust the two sliders so that the Soldiers camouflage pattern is dark but visible. If this still doesnt work, you then may need to adjust the actual brightness and contrast of your monitor. This is usually done by adjusting buttons or knobs on the front of your monitor, but all monitors are a bit different so you may want to look through your monitors documentation to be sure. The most common problem, especially on new computers, is that black isnt showing up as black, but more of a dark gray. Turn the Contrast down until the border around the edges of the picture are totally black, then slowly turn it back up unti l it just before it starts getting visibly lighter. You may need to adjust your monitors Brightness back up after you do this. . Some graphics cards also have support for controlling how bright the display is. If your cards device driver supports this, you can find it by going to the Windows control panel, and selecting the Display applet. V.CONTACTING SIERRAA) Customer Service, Support, and SalesB) Technical SupportC) Legal InformationA) Customer Service, Support, and SalesUnited StatesU.S.A. Sales Phone: (800) 757-7707International Sales: (425) 746-5771 Hours: Monday-Saturday 7AM to 11 PM CST,Sundays 8 AM to 9PM CST FAX: (402) 393-3224Sierra Direct7100 W. 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For Documentation, please include a $ 5.00 handling fee and a photocopy ONLY of disk #1. Payment should be made at the time of your request. Sorry, no credit cards. * Returns to this address valid in North America only. B) TECHNICAL SUPPORTNorth AmericaSierra On-Line offers a 24-hour automated technical support line with recorded answers to the most frequently asked technical questions. To access this service, call (425) 644-4343, and follow the recorded instructions to find your specific topic and resolve the issue. If this fails to solve your problem, you may still write, or fax us with your questions, or contact us via our Web site. Sierra On-LineTechnical SupportP.O. Box 85006Bellevue, WA 98015-8506Main: (425) 644-4343Monday-Friday, 10:00 a.m.- 6:45 p.m. PST Fax:(425) 644-7697http://www.sierra.comemailprotectedUnited KingdomCendant Software International Limited offers a 24-hour Automated Technical Support line with recorded answers to the most frequently asked technical questions. To access this service, call (0118) 920-9111, and follow the recorded instructions to find your specific topic and resolve the issue. If this fails to solve your problem, you may still write, or fax us with your questions, or contact us via our Internet or CompuServe sites. 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