i think it's the driver that's causing that issue
i think in vogons drivers are some older versions that can be useful
from what i remember, later drivers are problematic in windows 9x, 45.23 is a very good one

Well, if you play CS 1.5 with certain custom mini-gl drivers for your Voodoo 3, you can see through walls at some points due to clipping errors, giving you a competitive edge with heavier weapons like the scout, g3 or AWP.
So I've heard.

Release note don't mention the FX5700 and it is a later chip (NV36) than the FX5800:
http://download.nvidia.com/Windows/45.23/NVID … otes_v45.23.pdf
So, maybe you really need a slightly later version or to threaten your Windows to put it on an induction cooking pad if it does not comply with installing them.

General note: I never had issues fragging people on a V3 in HL or CS and eventually upgraded to a GF4 Ti4200 without remembering much of a difference.

Half-Life is a Titan of a game, but it's from 1998 and based on the Quake Engine from 1996. So, by Geforce FX standards already, it's ancient.

Then, it got upgraded with all kinds of high res texture packs, etc, that won't be supported by the prehistoric engine and hence, not by any hardware 3d acceleration.
Leaving all the heavy lifting to software and the CPU. Which is why later HL with all the tweaks might run worse on a later CPU with later 3D GPU since all the patchwork upgrades overcompensate for the advance in the CPU and they tended to be overlooked in favor of the GPU budget.
It became a bloody CPU hog.

Meaning: Initial release of HL should work on a potato, HL with all the updates, not so much. Don't be surprised if a system past a 1.4 GHz Hoitytoity gives you some extra FPS, no matter the GPU. I played CS on a 1.4 Athlon TB, which seemed adequate.

Not an expert on all that stuff, but wasn't HL supposed to run on open GL anyway? Will the Dx version matter at all?

Don't worry, I've not upgraded to the high-res packs or anything. Looks like I've just upgraded to version 1.0.1.3.

But it runs buttery smooth in performance, it just has this weird texture issue. It has a few performance issues on my Voodoo 3/PIII 1GHz system without the issue, however.

And yeah, I saw on Philscomputerlab that the early FXes are supported by 45.23, but not the later ones. But still, I'd like to have that DX9 assurance anyway, such as it may be.

teh_Foxx0rz wrote on 2022-05-06, 01:02:

I wanted to try the earlier 45.23 drivers that I've seen recommended, but something about the download (from PhilsComputerLab's site) didn't let Windows 98SE see them as drivers at all.

That's because your FX5700 is too new for 45.23. Try using 56.64 instead.

And I've seen mentions that they're not necessarily the best for DX9 games anyway

Whoever told you that is incorrect. Driver version 45.23 was released in July of 2003. By that time, DirectX 9 was already out for over six months, and the driver is clearly optimized for it.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2022-05-06, 03:32:

That's because your FX5700 is too new for 45.23. Try using 56.64 instead. […]
Show full quote

teh_Foxx0rz wrote on 2022-05-06, 01:02:

I wanted to try the earlier 45.23 drivers that I've seen recommended, but something about the download (from PhilsComputerLab's site) didn't let Windows 98SE see them as drivers at all.

That's because your FX5700 is too new for 45.23. Try using 56.64 instead.

And I've seen mentions that they're not necessarily the best for DX9 games anyway

Whoever told you that is incorrect. Driver version 45.23 was released in July of 2003. By that time, DirectX 9 was already out for over six months, and the driver is clearly optimized for it.

Alright, thanks! Yeah, I'll try 56.64 and report back.

teh_Foxx0rz wrote on 2022-05-06, 03:25:

Don't worry, I've not upgraded to the high-res packs or anything. Looks like I've just upgraded to version 1.0.1.3.

Not sure any more to what extend half-life allowed one to install bug fix or patch updates without installing more demanding graphics at the same time - was a big topic with competitive gamers back then.

My main point was - don't think any GPU performance will make much difference beyond the GF4 and the game itself is Dx6. So, if you could do without the FX, an earlier card should be fine, if it gives you less troube.
But, not my field of expertise - some here obviously have analyzed that to death and back.
Anyway, I'm rather sure you've figured out the problem and the FX will work now.

Hmm, unfortunately it seems 56.64 didn't fix the issue. Although, it wasn't on a clean install, instead "updating" from 81.98, if that would make any difference.

But well, maybe it's a settings issue? Half Life was 1998, before Hardware T&L was introduced with the original Geforce; maybe something like that could be causing some issues? I can't see any settings related to that in the Nvidia options, but perhaps someone might know something else to try.

The strange thing though is that I couldn't find any other instances of this issue in searches; hence me asking here. If it didn't also happen with my Geforce 4 card, I'd try my backup FX 5200 to see if it might be a problem with my particular card. And if it was a known compatibility issue with Geforce cards (like Incoming has), or something like that, then sure, I'd live with it since the FX cards are so broadly compatible otherwise. But I've not seen anything to suggest it's a widespread issue, so it's confusing.

teh_Foxx0rz wrote on 2022-05-07, 22:09:

Hmm, unfortunately it seems 56.64 didn't fix the issue. Although, it wasn't on a clean install, instead "updating" from 81.98, if that would make any difference.

When downgrading, you need to completely remove the current Nvidia drivers before installing any lower version.

To do that, go to Control Panel > Add Remove Programs and uninstall the Nvidia Display Driver. If you forced the lower driver version on top of a newer one, you may have broken the uninstall process as well as the driver itself.

i'm guessing this is the openGL renderer? try the "limit opengl extensions" option, which should be in those drivers, or switching to the D3D renderer ingame. HL is definitely one of those games that need tweaking to get everything to work on certain setups.

I don't think there is much difference between driver version 45.23 and 56.64. At least, I have never noticed a difference.

If you are on driver version 81 though that could be an issue. I would try completely removing the driver and installing 56.64.

Alright, it's been a while since I gave an update here, but I've tested, intentionally and incidentally, some things here.

Namely, I've built a new system, and for this one, I installed 45.23 straight from the get-go, so there should be no lingering driver shenanigans. This is a Pentium MMX system with an Intel chipset, which I've shoved a PCI Geforce FX 5200 into cus I had it spare and it gives me the optimal 1280x1024 desktop resolution.

However...I still had this same problem?

From this experience of three different Geforce cards on very different systems with different firmware but all having the same glitch, I would have come to the conclusion that Half Life just has an incompatibility with Geforce 4 and FX cards. However, I couldn't find any other mentions of this issue in searches, so surely most others have had no issue.

auron wrote on 2022-05-07, 22:23:

i'm guessing this is the openGL renderer? try the "limit opengl extensions" option, which should be in those drivers, or switching to the D3D renderer ingame. HL is definitely one of those games that need tweaking to get everything to work on certain setups.

Where can I find this "limit opengl extensions" option?
And mm, the D3D renderer looks visually consistent, but it also looks very different, and runs worse, so I'm not enthusiastic about playing it that way.

it might look different because of working overbright lighting, which is not the case for OGL with later patches and cards that support multitexturing. a pentium MMX is very slow for the game anyway, especially if not using the 3dfx miniGL driver, and higher driver overhead on the FX5200 probably makes things even worse for an old CPU.

No, my performance comment on the D3D renderer was from trying it on I think my Tualatin 1.4GHz system (or at least a 700MHz Celeron; I upgraded that system to the Tualatin around the same time) with my Geforce 4.

Where can I find these OpenGL options you mentioned?

it should be under the opengl tab in the driver, but it's possible it only got added in later drivers.

Had the same issue with a Geforce 2.

Patching HalfLife to 1.1.1.0 fixed the issue for me.

I have the same issue on GeForce 4 Ti 4200 although IIRC it only affects early HL1 versions and only OpenGL renderer, Direct3D appears to be fine.