Steam updates

The strange thing is that Windows Firewall seems to activate itself automatically, even if you think you de-activated it. This was my problem. So Installing Zone-Alarm and checking its Program control settings possibly results in a different outcome than not running a Firewall at all.

That's what I was thinking of.

---

Why snark works.

So if I understand your point, Windows firewall could be turning itself back on after I shut it down?

How would I assure its off then?

---

The best things in life, aren't things.

Uninstall Windows XP

But honestly, I'm not an IT expert. This is very vague speculation based on random experiences. Probably I'm wrong. I just had a problem with Source that could be solved by doing what I described, so there's a 2% chance it could help with Steam, also.

No guarantees. Maybe your Windows Firewall is off and I'm talking nonsense. :biggrin:

---

Why snark works.

So if I understand your point, Windows firewall could be turning itself back on after I shut it down?
How would I assure its off then?

Control Panel>Windows Firewall
I've never seen it switch back and forth.

I finally got around to uninstalling my Steam. I cleared up 9.3gb on C. I'm going to reinstall it on the 250gb HDD whenever I get the patience to go through the install. Hopefully, everything will work out when I reinstall.

EDIT: I got everything back. Yay!!

UPDATE: I ran 4 spyware programs and trend housecall, Steam failed to load.
I ran AVG, steam loaded.

I dunno exactly what it found, but apparently it was some virus or AVG wouldn't have resolved it.

Sadly, I cannot find any of my disks to reinstall any of my games. At least I cannot find them before I leave for California.

The good news is, Steam is back up and running. Tis a real shame I didn't run AVG before I uninstalled everything.

Oh well. :sad:

[EDIT] I am wondering, Steam gives me the option of downloading the games. You think it would remember me and just add the product codes to each game?

It might take me forever to locate my product codes with all the boxes I have stacked around here. :sad:

---

The best things in life, aren't things.

Orpheus said:
[EDIT] I am wondering, Steam gives me the option of downloading the games. You think it would remember me and just add the product codes to each game?

It might take me forever to locate my product codes with all the boxes I have stacked around here. :sad:

i've never had to enter any product codes. any time that i've reinstalled steam, it knows what games i'm entitled to, as soon as i log in.

---

i eat paint

GREAT!!!

God Fishman, I hope you're right. I lost or misplaced so much after the fire.

Thanx, you made my day.

---

The best things in life, aren't things.

This has always been the case with steam. "Go to any computer and access your games through steam" ring a bell?

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Honestly? No. I don't doubt you but I never thought about it. Till this time, I have never had trouble with Steam. None at all.

Even now I am wondering. The file it said had a virus, had been on my machine for months. Still, I don't care as long as Steam is working again.

---

The best things in life, aren't things.

that last steam update fux0red my steam, cant even load steam now on this comp

---

f**k Fun maps!

Can't. run. hammer.
Andrei MAAAAAD!

I now have everything reinstalled in steam and it all looks AOK. I have noticed however that I cannot noclip in HL1 anymore, in spite of me having my loading properties with "-dev"

Anyone know how I clip again?

I also wanna know since I didn't previously have it installed, what exactly are the differences in HL1DM/S ?

Can we load our normal maps in it?

---

The best things in life, aren't things.

might need to put "developer 1" or "developer 2" (sans quotes) in the console, I think you need "sv_cheats 1" on as well.

---

SourDough2.0 - With Strawberry Jam

-dev in the command line is normally enough, afaik. that's all i've added to the target field in a desktop shortcut, and it's always worked fine.

i don't think sv_cheats prints console messages/warnings to the screen the same as -dev does, so -dev is probably better for maptesting.

---

i eat paint

I dunno if this is bragging rights or not, but I would be curious to know how our machines stand up to one another using the HL2 video stress tester.

If you're wondering where its at, its under "Tools" then "Source SDK Base"

Anywho, here are my results, as paltry as they are:

---

The best things in life, aren't things.

if i remember correctly i think i had about 30 fps average

---

These words are my diaries screaming out loud

I was wondering about mine, it seems awfully low. shrugs

I wonder if it pre-sets everyone to the exact same settings?

I gots a really big card, 15fps seems a tad off. :sad:

---

The best things in life, aren't things.

Hmm... I had something around 40. That was with a Radeon 9800 pro (128MB), 1200x960, HDR enabled and texture settings to high. And it felt much slower than the number.

What are your settings, Orpheus? This doesn't seem right indeed.

---

Why snark works.

If you're asking about settings, then one assumes its not a one size fits all test?

That would seem to undermine the testing. Someone could set their machine at a very low threshold and get really high scores.

I dunno my settings. I just took the test without setting anything up in advance. :/

[EDIT] Perhaps you guys should retake the test. Perhaps it was advanced in a patch recently and is now harder. REmember, I just reinstalled everything. Mine is totally new.

---

The best things in life, aren't things.

No matter how many times I try the video stress test never activates HDR ... it works in all the other games, just not in the stress test.

All the settings were maxed out (My card doesn't support above 4x MSAA), I turned off vsync (I like it on, so that I don't get taring), my average, thought a little misleading, was 54.18 fps.

I'm going to try the CS one, I know HDR works there.

Yeah, okay, no HDR. The settings were the same and the result was 90.81 FPS.
I don't know why HDR isn't working in the stress tests ... especially because it works in all the games.

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Here is my settings:

So why is my frames so low?

---

The best things in life, aren't things.

And your video card's specs are ... ?

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

7800gs 256 and the newset drivers.

---

The best things in life, aren't things.

Alright, got it. Take a look at this list of chipsets.

You have a 7800 GS, I have a 7900GT. Two major differences: 1) My GPU clock is almost 2 times as fast and 2) I have almost 10 more pipelines for pixel shaders.

HL2 is a very post process heavy game. Things like HDR, AA, and AF all use shaders (as well as shader effects in the game, like water, heat, some other crap too).

Try turning HDR off, since HDR is pretty calculation intensive and see how your FPS fares. Having HDR and AA on at the same time bogs down most all computers because they're both per-pixel effects and they're not terribly efficient.

Just to note, however, I never experience bad drops or sluggish game play when playing with these things on in HL2, so I'm not sure why they'd be that low ... do you notice it when you're playing? If you don't, there's no reason to worry.

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

So far I have not come across any map that bogs down. However, the test map in this case is the lost coast and it has an immense area to render.

I will retest with alternate settings as you suggested.

How does one alter the test to use another game besides lost coast?

So, given the higher settings I used, 15 fps might be just right for my card?

---

The best things in life, aren't things.

You can't it's lost coast or the original one with CS:S

One thing I forgot to mention, if you want those things on, try lowering your resolution. Jagged edges shouldn't be too bad, since you have AA on and that will make your video card do much less work on pixel to pixel effects.

For instance, I'm running at 1680 x 1050, so that means that to do a 8 instruction effect ... where you only access each pixel once, is 14,112,000 instruction executions, where as, if you were running at something like 1024 x 768 (to note, I have a 16:10 monitor, so there's no other resolution I can use) then the instruction count is far lower, something like 6,291,456, it's half as much work.

So just keep in mind that a lot of these effects are per-pixel, the higher the resolution the more the work (it actually grows quite large very quickly). If you can lower your resolution, try lowering it and see what you get then too.

I still can't get HDR to work in the tests ... that is so lame.

---

Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

I can't install LC because I have to save hard-disk space. Does that sound pathetic? I think any hardware upgrade to this PC is a waste of money. At least that says a thing or two about my comp. :smile:

---

Why snark works.

My HDR is most definitely working. I can see a distinct difference when I hit apply, while turning it off and on.

also, here are my new stats, but just turning off HDR.

---

The best things in life, aren't things.