Video Technical help for: Half Life / Blue ShiRt / Opposing Force

I got this game last night, and basically I can't get it to work in optimal video mode... it looks crap!

I have a Packard Bell computer with a 32 meg graphics card, yet the settings for the game says that I don't have OpenGL support?

Huh?

Can someone please help me?!

 

OpenGL is one of the two ways games can run their visual effects (I'm pretty sure). The other is DirectX, which is made by Microsoft. Games such as Quake III and Jedi Knight II utilise OpenGL. Try going to your video card makers webpage (e.g. www.nvidia.com,www.ati.com, etc) and download the latest drivers for your graphics card. Apart from that, there's really nothing you can do, except upgrade to a new graphics card. To do this, go to the official upgrade thread begun by jp_30, and ask for suggestions.

Hope that helps

Rogue Nine out

 

You have a Packard Bell? I thought they stopped making computers years ago? Anyway, having 32 MB of RAM does not necessarily a good video card make. Repost this in the hardware forum along with your full system specs and we'll see what we can do to help.

 

The funny this is, I have got Jedi Knight II: Outcast, and it runs perfectly!!!

 

"Video Technical help for: Half Life / Blue ShiRt / Opposing Force"


[face_shocked]

 

Jedi Knight II is based on the Quake III game engine - this is fairly old, and will work with most graphics card. Hell, my computers nearing it's 3rd birthday, has an 8MB graphics card, and handles it just fine

And I agree (again) with LordJedi: 32 megs of RAM doesn't neccessarily a good graphics card make. The latest cards today have 128MB of RAM. And OpenGL is not a RAM issue. It's more a software/hardware one.

Horn out

 

Oops.. was that a spelling mistake?

Then why, if my computer runs Outcast perfectly fine, then why doesn't it optimally run the Half Life franchise?

 

Nice thread title.

 

Because graphics technology changes practically every month. What brand of graphics card to you have, and what model? That may help.

Horn out

 

Haha!

SERIOUSLY, I NEED SOME HELP!

 

We're trying to give you help, Gath!

Horn out

 

Please Gath, try to follow those instructions above. Try downloading the latest drivers for the card. If that doesn't work, you need a new graphics card to work the game.

Horn out

 

Nice thread title, Gath.

 

i think its blue shift Gath

 

Nonsense. He just drank too much blue milk.

 

If you can post your system specs and current drives can probably help more


if you have aim/icq or whatever pm the details to me and i will help walk you through it...

 

I'm sorry The Gatherer that I cannot help you, but the title is so hilarious.

 

I just don't understand, as Jedi Knight II is a NEWER game than the three Half Life games, and it works fine!

I have a:

Pentium 4 1.7ghz
40 gig hard drive
256 meg of ram
32 meg graphics card

 

Great edit, Jaepee!

 

No, no, no Gath, I meant what brand of graphics card you have, i.e. nVidia, ATi, etc. Not how much RAM. That we already know. And Jedi Knight II is older than the three Half-Life titles, but it is based on the older Quake III engine, which most graphics cards handle just fine. It is probable that your graphics card has the OpenGL support for the Quake III graphics engine, but not for Half-Life. And I'll say this for about the fifth time: Go to your graphics card maker's website, and download the latest drivers for it. That may solve your problem. I think you are deliberately ignoring me and my advice. And not listening to whatever I post. That's not very nice, considering that I am trying to help you.

Horn out

 

Sorry, I wasn't ignoring you!

How do I find out the maker? I can't seem to find the details in Control Panel.

 

To find out what brand of graphics card do you have, you can find out by clicking Start Menu, Run, then type in dxdiag. Then use the tabs at the top to navigate to "Display". It should state your card's name, manufacturer, chip type, etc. Here's the two most common brands of video cards:

nVidia: www.nvidia.com
ATi: www.ati.com

They're the most common types of video cards. If it's not one of them, use Google to search for your video card's manufacturer. That should get you it's home website which hopefully will have some updated drivers for you. Good luck on your quest!

Horn out

 

Thanks for your help!

I ran dxdiag, and it says:

Name: RADEON 7000 / RADEON VE
Manufacturor: ATI Technologies

Should I do a websearch for RADEON, or go to the ATI site???

 

Go to www.ati.com. There's a link in the middle of the page, and it says "Find a driver" In the next page, choose your OS, and hit the English/French/German link to download the driver. Once downloaded, execute it, and it should install, and hopefully Half-Life will run. The Radeon cards are ATi's stock card brand, just like nVidia's GeForce line.

By the way, dxdiag is the DirectX diagnostic tool, and is very handy when you need to find out info on your PC. Anyone with a Microsoft OS can use it, as DirectX is Microsoft technology.

Horn out

 

Thanks for the tip, I will let you know how I go!