Microsoft Halo for the PC Readme File - Halo Custom Edition

April 2004
© Microsoft Corporation, 2001–2004. All rights reserved.

For details specific to this Halo Custom Edition release, please see Section K below.

Welcome to Halo for the PC!

This file contains information to help you troubleshoot issues with Halo® for the PC. You can find
information on Microsoft® Product Support Services in the printed or online manual.

Note: If Halo came installed on your computer as an OEM version, contact the manufacturer of the
computer or other hardware it was bundled with for product support. Refer to the documentation that
came with your computer or hardware for the product support telephone number.

For the latest support and troubleshooting information, please visit

http://www.microsoft.com/games/halo/support.asp.

CONTENTS
A. System Requirements
B. Installation
Installing Halo
Installing DirectX 9.0b
SafeDisc Issues
C. Getting Help
Viewing the Online Print Pieces
D. Command Prompt
E. Configuration Issues
F. 3D Card Issues
G. 3D Card Drivers and Manufacturers
H. Audio Troubleshooting
I. Additional Multiplayer Information
Default Ports
Network Settings
Direct IP Connection
Checking for Updates
J. Multiplayer Troubleshooting
K. Post-Release Update History

A. System Requirements
Halo requires a personal computer with the following minimum requirements.

 Multimedia personal computer with a 733 MHz or higher processor.

 Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows Me, Windows 2000 Service Pack 1, or Windows XP.
 128 Megabytes (MB) of RAM.
 1.3 GB of available hard disk space.
 8× CD-ROM drive.
 32 MB 3D hardware-transform-and-lighting-capable video display.
 Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device.
 Sound card and speakers or headphones.
 DirectX 9.0b (included on CD; see below for installation instructions).
 56 Kbps modem or LAN for online network play. Broadband required to run a server.
B. Installation
If your computer does not automatically install Halo after the CD is inserted into the CD-ROM drive,
perform the following procedure.

To install Halo manually

1. On the Windows taskbar, click Start, and then click Run.

2. Type x:\setup, where x is the letter of your CD-ROM drive, and then click OK.

For example, if your CD-ROM drive letter is D, type d:\setup.

3. Click Install, and then follow the instructions that appear on the screen.

Installing DirectX 9.0b

If for some reason DirectX 9.0b was not installed with the game, use the following procedure to install it
manually.

To install DirectX 9.0b manually

1. Insert the Halo Disc in the CD-ROM drive.

2. In Windows Explorer, double-click the CD-ROM drive and then the DirectX folder.

3. Double-click Dxsetup.exe, and then follow the instructions that appear on the screen.

You must restart your computer when installation is complete.

If you experience video or sound problems using DirectX, always check with your video or sound card
manufacturer for the latest DirectX-compatible drivers, or go to
http://support.microsoft.com/support/directx/ for the latest troubleshooting information.

SafeDisc Issues
The Halo copy-protection software, SafeDisc, requires that the game be installed from the CD; you cannot
copy files from the CD to the computer and then install from the computer's hard drive.

SafeDisc with Software

SafeDisc is incompatible with some software, which includes the following.

McAfee (Network Associates) Nuts & Bolts: Nuts & Bolts causes the game to fail if the Bomb Shelter
utility is in a certain configuration. The following steps allow SafeDisc-protected products to be used:

1. Maximize Bomb Shelter.

2. In the Bomb Shelter dialog box, click Properties.

3. In the Error Protection group, click Advanced.

4. In the Advanced Properties tab, deselect the Write Protect VMM check box.

5. Click Apply or OK, and then click OK on all subsequent screens.

C. Getting Help
You can get help for Halo in the following ways:

 For an overview of the game as well as for information about getting started and playing the
game, see the Halo printed manual. The manual is also available in PDF format on the Halo CD.
 Visit the Support Center Games Web site (http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=gms) to view top
support issues, product-specific content, and other related resources for playing games.
Additionally, to help you troubleshoot issues associated with game setup, performance,
multiplayer networking, sound, video, or your game controller, visit one of the Troubleshooting
Resource Centers available on the site. Please note that Microsoft support is only provided
for issues with the retail game. For any questions specific to Halo Custom Edition, please
visit the forums at www.gearboxsoftware.com

Viewing the Online Print Pieces

Adobe® Reader® (http://www.adobe.com/) allows you to view and print the online versions of the Halo
manual, which are located in the Manuals folder as .pdf files.

Copyright © 2003 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Adobe, the Adobe logo, and Reader are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United
States and/or other countries.

D. Command Prompt
You can run Halo from a Windows command prompt (e.g., C:\Program Files\Microsoft
Games\Halo\Halo.exe). The following is a list of arguments you may use running Halo from a command
prompt entering “halo.exe –argument.”

-?
Displays a list of all arguments.

-nosound
Disables all sound.

-novideo
Disables video playback.

-nojoystick
Disables joystick/gamepads.

-nogamma
Disables adjustment of gamma.

-useff
Forces the game to run as a fixed function card.

-use11
Forces the game to run as a shader 1.1 card.
-use20
Forces the game to run as a shader 2.0 card.

-safemode
Disables as much as possible from the game.

-window
Runs the game in a window.

-width640
Forces the game to run at 640x480.

-vidmode w,h,r
Forces the game to run at width, height, refresh rate.

-adapter x
Forces the game to run fullscreen on a multimon adaptor.

-port x
Server port address used when hosting games.

-cport x
Client port address used when joining games.

-ip x.x.x.x
Server IP address used when you have multiple IP addresses.

-screenshot
Enables the "Print Screen" key to generate screenshots

-timedemo
Runs four movies and writes out timedemo.txt.

-console
Enables the debugging console.

Notes:
 A number of these command prompt arguments are used by PSS to troubleshoot problems.
 Many of the command prompt arguments mirror functionality available from within the standard
Halo user interface.

E. Configuration Issues
Known hardware and operating system configuration issues are listed in this section. For issues with
specific 3D cards, see section F, "3D Card Issues."

For assistance with top performance issues, visit http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=gmsperf.

Performance may be poor after standby or suspend mode: If you manually or automatically put your
computer on standby or suspend mode while playing the game, performance may be poor when you
come out of standby or suspend mode and resume the game: music and sounds may not be heard,
transitions may be choppy, or the game may hang. To resolve, restart the game.

Enable direct memory access (DMA) in your IDE controller on Windows 98 Second Edition and
Windows Millennium Edition: When you enable DMA on your computer, you improve the game
performance and stability.

To enable DMA:
1. Close all programs that are running on your computer.
2. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
3. Double-click System.
4. Click the Device Manager tab.
5. Click the PLUS SIGN (+) next to Disk Drives.
6. Click IDE/Disk (hard drive), and then click Properties.
7. On the Settings tab, select DMA.
8. Click OK, and then click OK again.
9. Restart the computer.

NOTE: When you enable DMA, you increase the access speed to the CD-ROM drive and the hard disk.
Some drivers do not support DMA access. If the DMA check box remains selected after you restart your
computer, DMA access is supported.

Run in server mode, rather than workstation mode in Windows 98 Second Edition and Widows
Millennium Edition: When you enable server mode, you improve game performance.

To run in server mode:

1. Right-click on My Computer and select Properties.
2. Click the Performance tab.
3. Click File System.
4. Select Network Server as the typical role of the PC.

Make sure that your speaker mode is set to match the type of speaker output on your
computer: This situation might occur if you switch back and forth from listening to headphones and
listening to 4.1/5.1 speakers. Having the incorrect speaker mode set will cause 3D sounds to be
heard incorrectly or not at all.
To set your speaker mode:
1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click on Sounds and Multimedia (Windows 98/Me) or Sounds and Audio Devices (Windows
2000/XP).
3. Under Speaker settings, click on the Advanced.
4. Select the speaker setup that matches your current speaker setup.
5. Click OK, and then click OK again.
If your sound card also came with its own software for setting speaker settings, ensure that these
settings are also correct.
F. 3D Card Issues
Halo only supports DirectX 9.0b-compliant video cards. It is good practice to always install the latest
certified drivers for all of your hardware.

For assistance with top video issues, visit http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=gmsvideo.

ATI Radeon 9800 PRO 128: You may experience inconsistent graphic performance with textures if you
set the Mipmap Detail Level in the ATI Direct3D Control Panel to any setting except High Quality.

NVIDIA Video Cards and FSAA Modes: You may experience difficulties running Halo using NVIDIA
video cards in any of the FSAA modes. If you are having a problem, you should disable the FSAA mode
for the NVIDIA video card.

Via Motherboard Chipsets: If you have a Via brand motherboard, you may need to update to the latest
“4-in-1” motherboard chipset drivers to avoid crashes.

G. 3D Card Drivers and Manufacturers

Make sure that you have the latest drivers from the manufacturer of your video card. Many video issues
will be resolved if you install your video card's latest drivers. Halo may not properly detect some older
video cards because their video drivers are not DirectX 9.0b-compliant. Contact your video card
manufacturer for updated drivers, or install the latest reference drivers for your video board. Note that
many reference drivers are not supported by the chipset manufacturer. Listed below are some common
video card manufacturers' Web sites.

NOTE: Use Windows Update (http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/) to ensure that you are using the
latest drivers and have the latest updates to your operating system.

For specific video card drivers, visit the manufacturer’s web site.

H. Audio Troubleshooting
Check with your sound card manufacturer for the latest DirectX-compatible drivers.

Following are the known audio issues and workarounds:

Users running Windows 98Second Edition and Windows Me: You should run Windows Update to
ensure that you have downloaded all critical updates as well as all the recommended updates. Otherwise,
you may have sound problems such as the weapon volume shifting in and out.

Aureal Vortex: The audio may not function with Aureal sound cards. To resolve this issue, turn off the
hardware acceleration. From the Start menu, point to Settings, and then choose Control Panel. Double-
click Sounds and Audio Devices and select the Audio tab. Click the Advanced button in the Sound
Playback section and then click the Performance tab. Move the Hardware Acceleration slider to None
and click Apply.

Hercules Game Theater XP sound card in Windows 98Second Edition: Stuttering and sound
distortion may occur using the Hercules Game Theater XP sound card and Windows 98 Second Edition.
See “Enable direct memory access (DMA) in your IDE controller on Windows 98 Second Edition” in
section E, “Configuration Issues.”

Hercules Game Theater XP sound card in Windows XP Professional: The audio may not function
correctly at all times with the Hercules Game Theater XP sounds card. For example, grenade sound
effects may play too low. You should make sure you have installed the latest DirectX-compatible drivers
for your sound card.

Realtek ALC650 sound card in Windows XP Home: Halo may not function correctly using the Realtek
ALC650 sound card in Windows XP if you enable EAX sound in the game.

Montego II Quadzilla sound card in Windows 2000: The audio may not function correctly at all times
with the Montego II Quadzilla sound card. You should make sure you have installed the Montego II
Quadzilla Windows NT 4.0 drivers. Information on installing the drivers is available from
http://turtlebeach.com.

I. Additional Multiplayer Information

Network Settings
To insure the highest level of multiplayer game quality, you should specify your connection type in
Network Settings. Not only does this setting determine the maximum number of players you can host on a
game, but it also determines the amount of data that you will receive from other servers when you are
connecting to a multiplayer game as a player.

To specify your network settings:

1. On the Halo main screen, click Settings.
2. Click Network Setup.
3. Select the appropriate connection type.
4. Click OK.

Direct IP Connection

You can join an Internet multiplayer game using a specific IP address for the host server. The host
address can be a computer name or numerical IP address.

To join a game using Direct IP:

1. On the Halo main screen, click Multiplayer.
2. Click Direct IP under Join.
3. Enter the IP address for the host server.
4. Enter a password (if required).
5. Click Join to join the game.
Notes:
 Halo remembers the last host address you typed in.
 If there is no game at the specified IP address, then a “Connection Failed” dialog box is
displayed. When you click OK, you are returned to the Multiplayer screen. Try entering the IP
address again, using the steps above. If that doesn’t work, you should contact the person
hosting the game to verify the IP address for the host server.

Checking for Updates

Each time you join or create an Internet multiplayer game, Halo automatically checks for the latest update
on the Internet. A dialog box is displayed indicating that Halo is “checking for updates.” If there is an
update available, your current game is shut down, the update is downloaded and installed, and the game
is restarted.

If you choose to cancel out of your update, then you are returned to the Multiplayer screen. The next time
you attempt to join or create an Internet multiplayer game, the process starts all over again. If there is a
Halo update available, you must allow the update to download and install if you wish to continue. If you
wish to manually update your game, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/games/halo/default.asp.

J. Multiplayer Troubleshooting
This section describes the known multiplayer issues and workarounds.

Ports Used by the Game

Halo connects to the Internet on the following ports by default:
 2302 (UDP)—Game host listens on this port
 2303 (UDP)—Game client connects to host through this port
Halo will run from behind most routers and Network Address Translation (NAT) devices. If you have
difficulty connecting from behind a router, you should consult your router documentation to ensure that the
ports listed above are not blocked for your PC.

Halo checks for updates via HTTP in the same way a Web browser would. If you use Windows XP SP-1,
Halo can use an auto-detectable proxy server on your network, but does not currently support manually-
set proxies. If your network requires you to manually set your proxy server, please visit
www.microsoft.com/games/halo to check for updates, which you can download manually.

To check your proxy settings:

1. Launch Internet Explorer
2. From the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
3. Click Connections.
4. If you connect to the Internet manually, double-click on the appropriate connection in the list
at the top. If you connect via a Local Area Network (LAN), click LAN Settings.
5. Under Proxy server, verify that the settings are correct for proxy server that you or your
network administrator has set up.

If you are connected to the Internet and can reach http://www.microsoft.com, for example, your proxy
settings are correct.

In non-team games (such as Slayer), all vehicles are spawning in front of the Red Base: You must
select two of each type of vehicle to ensure that one vehicle gets placed in both the Red Base and Blue
Base. In non-team games, the default base is Red when vehicles are assigned. If there is only one type of
vehicle spawned, then only the Red Base will be populated with vehicles.

Damage-confirmation beep: You may want turn off the damage-confirmation beep in multiplayer games.
To do this, you must use the Debug Console. To activate the Debug Console, run Halo with the -console
command prompt (see the Command Prompts section above), press ~ in the game to enable the Debug
Console, and then type should_play_multiplayer_hit_sound 0.

Unable to join a Direct IP multiplayer game hosted behind a NAT device or router, or on an Internet
Connection Sharing (ICS) Server in Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows Me, and Windows 2000:
You need to join multiplayer games that are hosted behind a router or on an ICS server via the Gamespy
Lobby.

Unable to join a multiplayer game with an Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) Client on Windows
2000 or Windows XP: You may have difficulty joining a multiplayer game if a person using a Windows
2000 or Windows XP ICS client has joined and exited that game before you attempt to join it.

Unable to browse for games on a local area network (LAN) on a machine with two network
adaptors in Windows XP: You may not be able to browse for multiplayer games on a LAN if the two
network connections are not configured correctly. The Internet must be configured on the first network
connection, and the LAN needs to be configured on the second internet connection. For more information
on configuring a network connection, click Start, and then click Help and Support.

Microsoft Base Station MN500: Halo does not offer automatic NAT negotiation of UPnP devices such as
the MN500. If you have difficulties connecting to games or hosting a server behind this device, you should
manually set it to forward the required ports—2302 and 2303 (UDP) by default—to the IP address of the
game computer behind the router.

K. Post-Release Update History

Halo Custom Edition 1.0 (Halo CE)

Halo CE 1.0 contains all features and fixes through the 1.04 release of the retail version of Halo PC. In
addition to these, Gearbox has worked to add a collection of additional features which are offered in this
special, optional, and unsupported "Halo CE" release. Halo CE installs in parallel with the Retail edition of
Halo PC so that they can be updated independently of each other. You may have both versions installed
on your computer at one time. Per the license agreement, you may not have them installed on two
separate computers at the same time.

Differences between Halo PC (retail) and Halo PC CE Edition

The primary feature addition of Halo CE is the ability to play user-created multiplayer maps, which will be
created by the Halo Editing Kit, available for download separately. Due to the necessary changes in map-
file format to support this feature, this update is too large to be a "required" download for users of the
retail game, and so Halo CE is offered as a separate, optional edition. For the same reason, the single-
player content (and thus Campaign mode) is not available for download as part of Halo CE. Please
continue to play the retail version of the game for access to Campaign mode.

Also due to these changes in map file formats, all players in a game must be using the same version
(retail or CE) - users in one version of the game will not be able to see or join games hosted by users of
the other.

Additional Features & Fixes in Halo CE 1.0

“Fast Shaders” – Bypasses the D3DXEffects portion of the DirectX api resulting in increased rendering
performance. The enhancement is native to Halo CE and does not require any settings adjustments. The
fixed function pipeline does not use the D3DXEffects system so it won’t receive a performance increase.

F2 Rules – A new in-game rules screen that displays all server-set rules for the current game. This
function is mapped to the “F2” screen by default, but can be changed in the controls settings.

“Show Player Names” – A switch that toggles the displaying of names over teammates heads. Toggling
this feature on will permanently display all friendly player’s names regardless of where they are in the
map. Toggling this feature off will restore back to normal Halo name displaying behavior. This key defaults
to “F3” but can be reassigned in the controls settings.
MP hit sound adjust – Added a console variable to adjust the volume of the multiplayer hit sound. You
must be running the game with the –console switch. Bring down the console and enter
Multiplayer_hit_sound_volume X where X is a number between 0 and 1.

User created content – Halo CE has the ability to play user created content. In order to get a map to
display in the game’s UI, simply drop the map in the “Maps” directory. If you try joining a game playing a
map you do not have, you will be prompted about the missing map and sent back to the menu. To create
custom Halo content, please download the Halo Editing Kit - which is separate from the Halo CE
download.

Devmode support – Using the -devmode switch on the command line in conjunction with -console will
give you access to many of the cheats\debug tools used in the creation of Halo. These commands are
largely untested a have the potential to cause an unstable game environment. This mode has been
enabled so that content creators can test their maps. This mode is not intended for use online and thus
the ability to join games has been removed.

Client networking fix – A fix in networking providing a slight reduction in player “warping” on client
machines.

MP exploit fix – The “print screen” MP exploit has been addressed.

Map cycle hang bug fixed – Fixed bug that would people to randomly hang during a map cycle.

Flag icon fix – flag icons now display properly when a person is carrying a flag in a vehicle.

Fixed Rocket Warthog bug – Rockets fired from the Rocket Warthog are now more accurate.

Removed “stickiness” from Ghost – The sticky effect caused by Ghost projectiles has been removed.

Dedicated Server Features (complete list can be found at the Dedicated Server Forum of
www.Gearboxsoftware.com)

Server Chatting – Servers can now chat to clients

Dedicated server logging

Dedicated server message of the day – they dedicated server can now display a message of the day in
the new F2 Rules screen.

Halo PC 1.03

Halo PC 1.03 is our first update to address some of the most important issues that have arisen since the
game was released. Our goal with this patch was to 1) improve the quality of the online experience for
gamers and 2) address the most frequent issues gamers run into. This update is also our first opportunity
to improve our networking architecture with some of our learnings from our hours of online play. Here is a
summary of what's new in Halo PC 1.03.

Note:All updates to the Halo Dedicated Server are documented in the Halo Dedicated Server Readme
file, which is available here:

Halo Dedicated Server 1.03 Readme

Improving the Quality of the Online Experience for Gamers

Addressing Team Killing

Servers now have a complete team killing / banning system that should significantly reduce team killing
online. The concept is simple: team-kill a number of time and you will automatically be banned from the
server for a period of time set by the server administrator. Because team kills can be accidental, the
concept of grief also exists: following a team-kill, if you don't team-kill again for a period of time, you are
forgiven for your team-kill. These settings are customizable by the server administrator(s) using server
console commands.

In addition to the system above, players are no longer penalized for being killed by someone on their
team and respawn time penalty for a team-killer is multiplied by the number of teammates he killed,
rapidly leading to very long respawn times for team killers.

Improving the Quality of the Online Experience

We've made a number of updates and bug fixes to our networking architecture, the most important one
being specifically in how we transfer / predict player's movement / position as well as the action of
reloading your weapon. While going into the details of these changes is beyond the scope of this
document, the result should be a smoother online game experience across the variety of connections to
the Internet.

We made the following changes to our user interface:

· Servers name now supports 65 characters for dedicated servers and 32 characters for client-
hosted servers and now accepts an extended character set.

· Chat text length has been extended to 64 characters

· In-game scoreboard now displays every client's ping

· In-game scoreboard now displays your # of assists

· Server port numbers are displayed accurately throughout their range

Additional Online Multiplayer New Features:

· Teams are now persisted for the next game when map cycling occurs

· Map Reset: It's now possible to restart the current game without requiring the server to map
cycle.

· Assault: We now have a timer to keep track of how much time is left to your offense / defense
round

· Assault: Alongside this timer, we also have an "Offense" and "Deffense" indicator to quickly inform
you of your role

Addressing the Most Frequent Issues Experienced by Gamers

Many users have reported problems with Halo PC when using 3rd party software to force the refresh rate
of their monitor. We have changed how we handle this situation in our code to seamlessly fall back to the
forced refresh rate.

A significant number of reported game crashes are related to an external library called keystone.dll. We
have updated this library to address the most common failures. These crashes would usually occur when
changing screen resolution, when starting or quitting Halo PC, when chatting in a multiplayer game or
when using ALT-TAB to minimize Halo PC and return to Windows.
Additional Bug Fixes

· Halo can now be bound to a specific IP address using the -ip command line agrument. (facilitating
multiple NIC support for Halo Dedicated Servers)

· Halo can now read/write data files to a user specified folder using the -path command line
argument. This is particularly useful for Halo Dedicated Servers but also be be used for users
whose "My Documents" folder is remapped to a UNC path. It is an advanced option and using it
will force you to manually move saved games and multiplayer gametypes.

· Online Multiplayer: Telefrag message is now appropriately replicated.

· Online Multiplayer: Minor fixes to switching teams in kill-in-order games (scorew will now remain
accurate)

· Online Multiplayer: Minor fixes to the end of the game state (new players now have to wait for the
game to be restarted before being admitted to the server)

· Online Multiplayer: Fix for clients flashlight states when joining games

· Online Multiplayer: Vechicles won't respawn if they have a projectile (such as a plasma grenade)
attached to them. They will wait for the projectile to be removed.

· Online Multiplayer: Minor fixes to using teleports for high-latency connections

· Sound: Fix for cinematic dialog being cut out on certain cards when enabling Audio Hardware
Acceleration in the Audio Settings.

Halo PC 1.02

With Halo PC 1.02, we are adding support for multiple instances to our dedicated server, enabling us and
the community to roll out many more servers for gamers. We are also introducing client support for RCon
(Remote Console), allowing dedicated server operators to have control over their servers running in data
centers. For more information on the Halo PC Dedicated Server and the Remote Console, please consult
the Halo PC Dedicated Server Readme file located here:

Halo PC Dedciated Server Readme

We have also released the Halo PC Technical and Performance FAQ, which answers most frequenty
asked technical questions about Halo PC. This FAQ is located here:

Halo PC Technical & Performance FAQ

Here is a summary of the changes with Halo PC 1.02:

· Halo PC Dedicated Server Support for multiple instances

· Halo PC client support for RCon (remote console) to dedicated servers

Bug Fixes:

· Timedemo doesn't check memory usage consumption with every frame rendered (see Halo PC
Techincal and Performance FAQ for more info)
 · After running timedemo, the last saved checkpoint is not altered anymore

· Multiple minor bugs fixed in the Halo Auto-Updater application

· Fixed an issue in keystone.dll that was causing certain configurations to potentially crash when
chatting in multiplayer games

· Fixed minor card specific rendering glitches

Halo PC 1.01

After Halo was released to manufacturing but before it arrived on store shelves, the Halo team discovered
a potential crashing issue when playing Halo multiplayer online. In order to guarantee the best possible
experience for our customers we have issued an update that addresses this issue. Before you can play
Halo multiplayer online you will need to allow this update to install through the auto-install feature of Halo
or by running haloupdate.exe from your Halo installation folder.

This is the only issue that was addressed with Halo PC 1.01

Halo PC 1.00