This document contains last-minute information about Half-Life: Opposing Force and other information about the program not found in the Help Files. This README file includes information that pertains to general problems and questions you may have concerning the game or your computer. Should you experience any problems with Half-Life: Opposing Force, please refer to this file for addition help on answering questions about the game and solving technical difficulties.
This game has been fully tested with Intel and AMD based computers including the AMD Athlon microprocessor.
II. HALF-LIFE OPPOSING FORCE GAME INFORMATION
=======================
Addendum to Manual:
The medic class can heal other nearby friendly soldiers. If a friendly soldier is wounded and calls "Medic!" within earshot of the medic, he will move to their aid.
However, players often will wish to keep all of the medic's supplies for themselves or the player will simply not want the medic to interrupt his alert combat mode by healing a wounded soldier. Therefore, a medic that has been commanded to follow the player will never aid another wounded soldier. To coax your medic into healing other soldiers, lead him to the wounded characters and "use" him to tell him to stay put. When nearby soldiers call for him, he'll heal them with any remaining supplies he has. The medic will only heal other soldiers who call for him when he is not following the player.
Note: No aliens were harmed during the creation of this game.
Also Note: Sean Reardon still just thinks it's all about him.
[NOTE] CD audio playback was left enabled for this demo. If you have a CD with Redbook audio in your CD-ROM drive while playing the Half-Life: Opposing Force
demo then tracks from that CD will be played during some of the levels.
III. GENERAL TECHNICAL ISSUES
=======================
A. DRIVER ISSUES
The copy protection used on this disc is potentially incompatible with the following CD drives:
Sanyo CRD-256P
Sony CDU77E
Acer CD-624a
MATSHITA UJDB110
Various Pioneer DVD models
All Yamaha CD-R's
Pioneer DR-A01S
Pioneer DR-A24X
Samsung SCR-1231
When 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-Life's performance.
The Diamond Viper 550 drivers older than 4/2/99 cause the game menus to be drawn incorrectly. Use the drivers from the Nvidia home page (http://www.nvidia.com) dated 2/17/99 or later.
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.exe
Make sure you have installed the most recent drivers for all your hardware before playing Half-Life.
B. SOUND PROBLEMS
If you don't hear any sounds while playing Opposing Force or if you only hear music, another application you are running may have control of the sound hardware. Exit Opposing Force, close the other application, and restart the game.
A3D 1.0 versus 2.0
Half-Life: Opposing Force requires version 2.0 of A3D. You can upgrade your A3D from 1.0 to 2.0 by downloading the latest drivers from Aureal's website at www.a3d.com. If you try to enable A3D support in Opposing Force without upgrading to 2.0, you will get an error message when starting the game.
CAN'T HEAR CD MUSIC
If you don't hear any music while playing Opposing Force, the problem is likely to have one of three causes:
1) The Opposing Force CD needs to be in the first CD-ROM drive (only an issue if you have more than one CD-ROM drive).
2) Another application is actively using the CD Audio when Opposing Force starts up.
3) CD Audio isn't enabled for the CD-ROM drive.
To fix the first problem, make sure the Opposing Force CD is in your first CD-ROM drive. To fix the second, close other applications which may be accessing your CD-ROM drive, such as CD music players. If you still can't hear the Opposing Force music, run the application "CD Player" that comes standard with Windows located on your Start Menu Programs, Accessories, Multimedia. If the CD Player doesn't play the music tracks on the Opposing Force CD, then check Control Panel, Multimedia, CD Music, CD ROM Selection, and make sure it's set to your first CD-ROM drive. If you're under NT, you may also want to check Control Panel, Devices, Cdaudio, and make sure it's not disabled. Once the first two requirements are met, and the "CD Player" application works, then Half-Life should be able to play the CD music without any problems.
CD MUSIC VOLUME
You cannot control the CD music volume within Opposing Force. To adjust your CD music volume, go to the Windows Start Menu, Programs, Accessories, Multimedia, and select the Volume Control applet.
CD AUDIO SLOWDOWNS
Some 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.
SOUND QUALITY PROBLEMS
If your sound is skipping or cracking, you may need to adjust your direct sound configuration in Opposing Force. There are two common adjustments you can make:
1) Adjust _snd_mixahead. If you have access to the Opposing Force console, type "_snd_mixahead 0.2" at the console. If not, create a file with notepad that contains the line:
_snd_mixahead 0.2
And save it in your Half-Life\Valve\ directory. Name the file "autoexec.cfg".
2) Disable direct sound. Run Opposing Force with the command line argument "-wavonly". Edit the Opposing Force shortcut. The 'target' field should say: "HL.EXE -game gearbox -wavonly".
C. THE CONSOLE
For a complete listing of Half-Life's console commands, visit http://half-life.pcgame.com/console/index.html
D. 3D HARDWARE ISSUES
Half-Life has the ability to use both OpenGL and Direct3D. Many cards with support for 3D acceleration will provide both OpenGL and Direct3D drivers. Which one is better depends upon the quality and performance of the drivers themselves, and will vary from card to card.
The latest release of DirectX, version 6.0, is included on the Half-Life CD. It should be automatically installed as part of the Half-Life installation process. If you need to reinstall at a later time, open the DirectX folder on your Half-Life installation CD and run dxsetup.exe.
In general, make sure you have the latest versions of the device drivers for your display hardware. Most graphics card vendors make them freely available on the Internet, and a collection of links to sites of many popular cards is installed on your hard drive along with Half-Life. The default location for this file is:
C:\SIERRA\Half-Life\media\DrvPage\default.htm
Video configuration is set in the Configuration\Video\Video modes menu in Half-Life.
The following section explains the known driver and compatibility issues for specific chipsets at the time of Half-Life's shipping. If you have any questions about which chipset is incorporated in your graphics card, consult the documentation that accompanied your card, or contact the card manufacturer.
3DFX Banshee, Voodoo 1, Voodoo 2, Voodoo 2 SLI
Get the latest drivers from your card manufacturer or get the latest drivers directly from the 3DFX site. Half-Life ships with the current, tested GL mini-driver. Make sure that you have Glide version 2.54 or above. Half-Life does not support Direct3D on Voodoo cards.
The Voodoo 2 running in SLI mode on Windows/NT is prone to crashing. The solution to this instability is to either get an updated driver from 3DFX, disable SLI mode, or run under Windows 95/98.
3DFX Rush
With the current drivers, Half-Life supports the Voodoo rush in software mode only. Check with 3DFX for an updated driver that offers support for Half-Life
NVIDIA Riva 128
You must have Windows 95 OSR 2 or later, Windows 98 or Windows NT. As of shipping, Half-Life Riva 128 OpenGL support requires the latest reference driver from NVIDIA. Get this driver off of their site, www.nvidia.com. Direct3D support is currently unavailable. Contact NVIDIA for a Direct3D driver that supports Half-Life.
NVIDIA TNT
Half-Life supports the TNT in software, OpenGL and Direct3D modes. Get the latest driver off of NVIDIA's site.
If you run OpenGL on the nVidia Riva TNT and switch to Direct3D, decals may not appear. To fix this, type gl_polyoffset 4 at the console.
Matrox G200
Half-Life supports the G200 in software and Direct3D. Get the latest driver from Matrox's site, www.matrox.com. Matrox will also be providing a GL mini-driver that will support OpenGL in Half-Life. Check with Matrox for details.
S3 Virge
Half-Life supports the Virge in software mode only.
S3 Savage
Half-Life support the Savage in software and Direct3D. You can get the latest drivers from S3's site, www.s3.com. S3 will also be providing a GL driver that will support Half-Life. Check with S3 for details.
General Issues:
Missing Decals (i.e. Bullet holes)
Half-Life uses a feature of OpenGL and Direct3D that some video card drivers do not support correctly. To over ride the default settings for this feature, put this line in your opengl.cfg or d3d.cfg file:
gl_polyoffset 0.1
If this doesn't work, try -0.1, 1 or 20. This tells the driver how far to offset the decal from the surface of the polygon that the decal is being applied to.
Direct3D or OpenGL are running very slow
On some cards that don't fully support Direct3D or OpenGL, Half-Life will fall back to a software emulation mode. These modes are very slow. If your Direct3D support is slow, try selecting OpenGL, and vice versa. If neither work, change your settings to use Half-Life's software video modes instead and the speed will improve.
Direct3D 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 1
Parts of the screen are flashing (in Direct3D or OpenGL)
Some older, non-3DFX cards have a problem with clearing the z buffer and this can cause parts of the screen to flash. If you are seeing this, put this line in your opengl.cfg or d3d.cfg file:
gl_ztrick 0
Network instability
If 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 QUESTIONS
What 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 Configuration\Video\Video 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 doesn't 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 you'll 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 card's device driver 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 Configuration\Video\Video 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 doesn't 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" isn't 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 until 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 card's device driver supports this, you can find it by going to the Windows control panel, and selecting the Display applet.
IV. CREDITS
=======================
Gearbox Software:
Production/Direction:
Randy Pitchford
Art Direction:
Brian Martel
Lead Programming:
John Faulkenbury
Lead Level Design:
Rob Heironimus
3D Models and Animation:
Stephen Bahl
Brian Martel
Landon Montgomery
Textures, Skins and Art:
Stephen Bahl
Brian Martel
Landon Montgomery
Level Design:
Rob Heironimus
David Mertz
Randy Pitchford
Mike Wardwell
Programming:
Patrick Deupree
John Faulkenbury
Steve Jones
Sean Reardon
Sound Effects:
Rob Heironimus
Landon Montgomery
All Star Level Designers:
Richard "Zdim" Carlson
Marin "Kandyman" Gazzari
David "Kevlar" Kelvin
Tom "Paradox" Mustaine
Stephen "Reichert" Palmer
Eric Reuter
and The Levelord(TM)
Voice Talent:
Jon St. John
Harry S. Robins
Mike Shapiro
Network Administration:
John Faulkenbury
Stephen Palmer
Writing:
Stephen Bahl
Rob Heironimus
Kristy Junio
Randy Pitchford
Manual:
Kristy Junio
Randy Pitchford
Promotional Artwork and Media:
Stephen Bahl
Brian Martel
Landon Montgomery
Administration:
Stephen Bahl
Landon Montgomery
QA Testing:
Joe Kennebec
Frank Nuccio
Dustin Porter
John Shaffstall
Sierra Studios:
Senior VP. Core Games:
J. Mark Hood
Producer, External Development:
Jeff Pobst
Vice President - Marketing, Core Games:
Jim Veevaert
Marketing Project Manager:
Doug Lombardi
Marketing:
Marc Tardif
Public Relations Manager:
Genevieve Ostergard
Sound Designer, Voice Recording Specialist:
Ben Houge
WON.net Networking Engineers:
Stuart Seelye
Mike Nicolino
Lee Olds
Erik De Bonte
Brian Rothstein
Colen Garoute-Carson
Eric Harmon
Original Music:
Chris Jensen
Creative Services Sr. Account Manager:
Justin Kirby
Box & Promotional Artwork:
Bluespark Studios
Manual Layout:
Cheryl Sweeney
Quality Assurance Team:
Marc Nagel
James Evans
Niko Simonson
Byron Hummel
Darren Beil
Lester Stocker
Quang Pham
Erik Downing
Matt "Duke" Edington
Erinn Hamilton
Chris Mason
Phil Kuhlmey
Ken Eaton
Gary Stevens
Localization Team:
Flavie Gufflet-Dowling
Paul Cooke
Donncha Ryan
Kevin Boyle
David Hickey
Conor Harlow
Valve Software:
Ted Backman
T.K. Backman
Kelly Bailey
Yahn Bernier
Ken Birdwell
Steve Bond
Dario Casali
John Cook
Greg Coomer
Wes Cumberland
John Guthrie
Mona Lisa Guthrie
Mike Harrington
Monica Harrington
Brett Johnson
Chuck Jones
Marc Laidlaw
Karen Laur
Randy Lundeen
Yatzse Mark
Lisa Mennet
Gabe Newell
Dave Riller
Aaron Stackpole
Jay Stelly
Harry Teasley
Stephen Theodore
Bill Van Buren
Robin Walker
Douglas R. Wood
Special Thanks To:
Matt Armstrong
Eli Luna
Gabe Newell
Danny Richardson
V.CONTACTING SIERRA
=======================
A) Customer Service, Support, and Sales
B) Technical Support
C) Legal Information
A) Customer Service, Support, and Sales
----------------------------------
United States
U.S.A. Sales Phone: (800) 757-7707
Hours: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
International Sales: (425) 746-5771
Hours: Monday-Friday 8 AM to 4 PM PST
FAX: (916) 939-1010
Sierra Direct
P O Box 629001
El Dorado Hills, CA 95762-9972
Email: customer.support@sierra.com
http://www.sierra.com
United Kingdom
Havas Interactive
Main: (0118) 920-9111
Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Fax: (0118) 987-5603
Disk/CD replacements in the U.K. are ú6.00,
or ú7.00 outside the UK. Add "ATTN.: Returns."
2 Beacontree Plaza,
Gillette Way,
Reading, Berkshire
RG2 0BS United Kingdom
France
Havas Interactive
TΘlΘphone: 01-46-01-46-50
Lundi au Jeudi de 10h α 19h
Vendredi de 10h α 18h
Fax: 01-46-30-00-65
Parc Tertiaire de Meudon
Immeuble "Le Newton"
25 rue Jeanne Braconnier
92366 Meudon La ForΩt Cedex
France
Germany
Havas Interactive
Tel: (0) 6103-99-40-40
Montag bis Freitag von 9h - 19Uhr
Fax: (0) 6103-99-40-35
Robert-Bosh-Str. 32
D-63303 Dreieich
Germany
On-Line Sales
CompuServe United Kingdom:GO UKSIERRA
CompuServe France: GO FRSIERRA
CompuServe Germany: GO DESIERRA
Internet USA: http://www.sierra.com
Internet United Kingdom: http://www.sierra-online.co.uk
Internet France: http://www.sierra.fr
Internet Germany: http://www.sierra.de
Disk and or Manual Replacement:
Product Returns*:
Havas Interactive
Sierra On-Line Returns
4100 West 190th Street
Torrance, CA 90504
Havas Interactive
Sierra On-Line CD/Doco Replacement
4100 West 190th Street
Torrance, CA 90504
NOTE: To replace your cd(s) please send only the damaged cd and copy of your dated Receipt, if less then 90 days. After 90 days please include a $10.00 handling fee along with the cd(s). For Documentation replacement, please include a $5.00 handling fee and a photocopy ONLY of either your disk or cd. 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 SUPPORT
-------------------------
North America
Sierra 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-Line
Technical Support
P.O. Box 85006
Bellevue, WA 98015-8506
Main: (425) 644-4343
Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.- 4:45 p.m. PST
Fax: (425) 644-7697
http://www.sierra.com
support@sierra.com
United Kingdom
Havas Interactive 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.
Havas Interactive
2 Beacontree Plaza,
Gillette Way,
Reading, Berkshire
RG2 0BS United Kingdom
Main: (0118) 920-9111
Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Fax: (0118) 987-5603
http://www.sierra-online.co.uk
France
Havas Interactive
Parc Tertiaire de Meudon
Immeuble "Le Newton"
25 rue Jeanne Braconnier
92366 Meudon La ForΩt Cedex
France
TΘlΘphone: 01-46-01-46-50
Lundi au Jeudi de 10h α 19h
Vendredi de 10h α 18h
Fax: 01-46-30-00-65
http://www.sierra.fr
Germany
Havas Interactive
Robert-Bosh-Str. 32
D-63303 Dreieich
Deutschland
Tel: (0) 6103-99-40-40
Montag bis Freitag von 9 - 19Uhr
Fax: (0) 6103-99-40-35
Mailbox: (0) 6103-99-40-35
http://www.sierra.de
Spain
Havas Interactive
Avenida de Burgos 9
1║-OF2
28036 Madrid
Spain
TelΘfono: (01) 383-2623
Lunes a Viernes de 9h30 a 14h y de 15h a 18h30
Fax: (01) 381-2437
Italy
Contattare il vostro distribotore.
C) Sierra Warranty & Legal Information
-----------------------------------
Sierra's end user license agreement, limited warranty and return policy is set forth in the EULA.txt, found on the CD, and is also available during the install of the product.
