Putting Half-Life 2 on my PC

[ninnin]

Well I just got the game today and been trying to load it onto my computer. Now I'm going throught downloading the game (or prepareing to launch) through Steam. Now the problem is well, I have Dial-Up. I've been here for a while and it's still at 0 percent. How long do you think this will last? God help me. :(

[masteratt]

Holy shit dude, HL2 must have had at least 1GB worth of updates since it's release so you'll be there for a long ass time.

Maybe 5+ hours.

lol good luck :(

You have to wait for all these updates to download:
[-] April 19, 2006 - Current Release
Changes/Additions

* Fixed bug where NPCs would ignore hintbrushes that should block line of sight.

[-] May 23, 2005
Bug fixes

* Fixed an intermittent crash ("failed to open models\gman_high.vvd") in Half-Life 2

[-] May 12, 2005
Bug fixes

* Fixed some NPC actions not being properly randomized

[-] January 10, 2005
Changes/Additions

* Weapon script files are preloaded at startup, instead of when they are accessed. This will reduce some hitches while playing Half-Life 2.
* Improved the performance of writing out save games. This will reduce the pause when you pass over an autosave trigger in Half-Life 2, or when you press the quicksave button.
* Improved the performance of writing out the thumbnail image for save games. This will also reduce the pause when passing over an autosave trigger or pressing the quicksave button.
* Increased cache memory usage for machines that have greater than 512MB of physical memory. This will reduce hitching due to cache thrashing.
* Optimized the sound cache manager, which will reduce hitching as a result of sound cache thrashing.
* Minor optimization to the world renderer and world collision.
* Minor optimization to the way that asynchronous sound files are loaded.
* Optimization to the way that sounds were loaded that are trigged by acting sequences.
* Optimization to reduced the number of times model sequences are iterated on per frame.

[-] December 10, 2004
Changes/Additions

* Solved disc in drive incompatibility error

[-] December 14, 2004
Changes/Additions

* Optimization to the Steam filesystem to reduce game launch and level transition time

[-] December 22, 2004
Changes/Additions

* Fixed sound stuttering problems caused by thread contention in sound system

[-] November 30, 2004
Bug fixes

* fixed graphics card crash caused by incorrect buffer allocations

[curryking1]

Our prayers are with you...

Is it possible to just deny the internet connection by steam, and then just play the game from the not updated content? If you could do that, maybe go for it, if you don't mind it that way for whatever you want to play, like SP or something maybe.

[Viper]

5 hours.....lol, try 5 days.

[masteratt]

No, all games in Steam launch through the internet.

It says specifically on the manual that you must be connected to the internet to play.

Everyone got pissed off, Valve didn't care.
It's a good system but obviously not for 56K'ers.

5 hours.....lol, try 5 days.
haha, actually yeah.
Sorry man.
Valve's advice to you: Update your internet.

[curryking1]

Wow, that's pretty stupid. They should give you the option of whether to download the update or not at least, that's ridiculous. If you want to play online I guess many updates are required, but just to at least start playing like SP or something, that's a bit much.

[ninnin]

Well I can add a new goal for my summer. Get Half Life 2 loaded into my computer!!

Oh and it's 2.2 gigs according to the disk space. Fuck Me!!

[BugenhagenXIII]

No, all games in Steam launch through the internet.

It says specifically on the manual that you must be connected to the internet to play.

Then explain how I've played HL2 with no internet connected numerous times. Internet is required to install, not play.

[curryking1]

^I think that's what he meant.

I wish you could borrow my net connection from where I am right now. I get 1 MB/s d/l speeds hahahha.

[ninnin]

^I think that's what he meant.

I wish you could borrow my net connection from where I am right now. I get 1 MB/s d/l speeds hahahha.

That would be nice

[NoZ]

You can always go to properties of the icon and change the end of the target line to "-steam", that way it doesnt need steam to boot.

[BugenhagenXIII]

^I think that's what he meant.


He says that you need to be connected to the internet to play, which is incorrect as of about two months ago (the last time I played). It may have changed since then, but I doubt it.

[ninnin]

You need the internet connection to launch the game right? That's what I've understood.

[ninnin]

You can always go to properties of the icon and change the end of the target line to "-steam", that way it doesnt need steam to boot.

Can you expain in a little more detail please?

[masteratt]

What percent are you on now? :p

[curryking1]

Hmm.. I didn't know that.

What NoZ said though.

-Right Click the shortcut to Half Life 2
-Click Properties
-Find where it says 'Target'
-In that line type this (put a space between the last quotation first)

-steam


There are various command lines that you can put in the targets of shortcuts that will define a bit of what the program does. Maybe this one will let you not launch steam and just play the game?

I'm sure there is a command that does this somehow, this may be it. You should really google this or another solution and try it out.

[OnBake Platinum]

5 hours.....lol, try 5 days.
I was going to say that!

[ninnin]

What percent are you on now? :p

3... but I haven't left it online all day. But still this is bullshit. My stupid grandad wouln't update our fucking connection because he's so god damn paranoid about viruses and changing our connection may let us expsoe before we get a new firewall or some stupid shit like that.

[Viper]

My mom was just as paranoid, though not about a new connection, until I kicked her out of the computer chair and took over.

Tell him to stop being a noob and get him set up with all he needs.

[ninnin]

Yeah, but it's not worth listening to his BS. I can get a new connection in my room without him knowing. It's all I can do really.

Oh I tried that whole -steam thing but nothing happened.

[BugenhagenXIII]

You need the internet connection to launch the game right? That's what I've understood.

No, you don't. There's a setting in steam to save your account name and password to your computer, letting you launch HL2, through steam, with no internet. I've done it many times. You only need internet to install/update/play online.

[ninnin]

No, you don't. There's a setting in steam to save your account name and password to your computer, letting you launch HL2, through steam, with no internet. I've done it many times. You only need internet to install/update/play online.

Oh okay so I guess I'm installing the game since I just bouth it.

[ninnin]

Does the Source SDK and Source SDK Base mean anything important?

[BugenhagenXIII]

Unless you plan on making mods or maps, don't worry aboud the SDK's.

[ninnin]

Will pauseing the SDK and SDK Base speed up the game itself being installed?

[Boggy700]

Short answer, yes.

Longer answer, yes because as with all internet activity, you only have a limited bandwidth.
Theoretically, you can download one thing at top speed.
You can download two things each at half the top speed.
Three things each at one third the top speed.
Etcetera.
And the faster you can download the main game updates, the sooner you can actually start playing.



I went though this same thing on 56k, but that was over a year ago, so I had less to install.
It's a painful process, but stick with it, and never uninstall the game.

Good luck!

[Vegtro]

If you have a friend who has HL2, you can tell them to burn the backup to a cd.

[ninnin]

Short answer, yes.

Longer answer, yes because as with all internet activity, you only have a limited bandwidth.
Theoretically, you can download one thing at top speed.
You can download two things each at half the top speed.
Three things each at one third the top speed.
Etcetera.
And the faster you can download the main game updates, the sooner you can actually start playing.



I went though this same thing on 56k, but that was over a year ago, so I had less to install.
It's a painful process, but stick with it, and never uninstall the game.

Good luck!

So basiclly due to all the updates, it will take me that much longer then you. Darn, maybe it's worth it. All I can do is hope.

Oh, how long did it take you to install the game?

[Vegtro]

I think it installs when you download. SO when the download is done, you're ready to play.

[Boggy700]

So basiclly due to all the updates, it will take me that much longer then you. Darn, maybe it's worth it. All I can do is hope.

Oh, how long did it take you to install the game?
From what I remember, it took about a week or two to finish.
That was maybe five to seven hours a day.
I'm not sure really.
I just left it going whenever the computer was on.
Luckily for me I had bought 'Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory' at the same time, so I wasn't bored.

[ninnin]

From what I remember, it took about a week or two to finish.
That was maybe five to seven hours a day.
I'm not sure really.
I just left it going whenever the computer was on.
Luckily for me I had bought 'Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory' at the same time, so I wasn't bored.

Oh okay that sounds right. I've had it for 3 or 4 days and is at 10 percent.

[ninnin]

I got up to 20 percent now if anyone was woundering. It's been going a lot faster now. I've had it for 6 days now.

[ninnin]

82 percent if anyone cares...

I lost count on days LOL

[NoZ]

Lmao, If you were in UK I woulda mailed you a copy.

[dork]

hahahahahahahahahahahaha

[ninnin]

Lmao, If you were in UK I woulda mailed you a copy.

That's nice of you LOL. It's okay, I should be playing it sometime tomorrow. 94% baby!!!

[ninnin]

Well it finished earlier then I thought. I've been playing it for a few hours and I have to say it's almost worth the long ass wait for installing. It's fun as hell. I LOVE IT!!

[masteratt]

Well honestly what did you expect?

It's Half-Life.

Enjoy your game, try same bits with different tactics etc to make sure you get the most out of your [god knows how many] days worth of waiting for it.