Game pauses when firing

[Borfors40mm]

I'm having problems with firing any kind of weapon in AH2. Everything works fine until I pull the trigger on my joystick, then there is a 2 or 3 second pause, then it catches back up and runs fine again.

I'm running a 2.0ghz P4, 768mb RAM, 32mb ATI video card (128 Rage Ultra I believe). I'm running the game at 1024x768 (problem happens at any setting), textures at the minimum of 128. Like I mentioned, everything runs smoothly until I try and fire any type of weapon, I'm officially out of ideas. I have no clue how to fix this little hiccup, and would appreciate any help. Thanks in advance.

[Borfors40mm]

Forgot to mention this happens while offline, no chance to try it online yet.

[NHawk]

Right off the top of my head, your video card doesn't meet the absolute minimum requirements...

http://www.hitechcreations.com/ahgs/minimums.html

[Max]

You may want to check your sound acceleration setting via DirectX.  Hit RUN on the START menu and enter DXDIAG. Hit the sound tab and set acceration at the 3/4 mark

[Borfors40mm]

Looks like I'm due for a new video card.

Max, I tried what you suggested with dxdiag, it helped a little but not enough to completely erase the problem.

Thanks for the help! Guess I need to get with the times.

[Getback]

Looks like I'm due for a new video card.

Max, I tried what you suggested with dxdiag, it helped a little but not enough to completely erase the problem.

Thanks for the help! Guess I need to get with the times.

Oh boy, I haven't used any video card that small for 10 years.

Now that I am looking at it I think you should build a new computer altogether. For one I will bet that it is AGP and P4 is not that good a chip.

Just my humble .03. ( I just feel my advice is solid so I added a penny)

[Max]

Borf ~

As Getback has mentioned, you can build a decent computer in the $500 - $600 range and a really good gaming rig for under $1,000.

If funds are tight, at the very least you should increase RAM memory to at least 1 gig. 2 gigs would be better and you can get a 2 x 1 gig stick set at Newegg for less than $50. Just be sure to check compatibility with your  P4 chipset.  While checking out memory at Newegg, check pricing on a Nvidia Geforce 7600GT 256 mg vid card. You should be able to get it for less than $60 after rebate. I used that card in building a rig earlier this year and I'm happy with it. Just check to see if it's compatible with your power supply.

[Borfors40mm]

Well, I finally got a better video card, hoping it would help my situation. Picked up a GeForce FX 5200, 8x AGP, 128mb. Looks like I'll be stuck with this setup for a while. I can now run 60fps more often than not, but I'm still having the same skipping or pausing problem as before, when firing. I'm running the game a 1024x768, textures at 256, and sound accel at 3/4.

Any more ideas would be immensly appreciated, but I'm guessing it's still video related. Here's my dxdiag, if I need to post more of it, let me know:


System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 9/11/2008, 22:31:19
       Machine name: A
   Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 1 (2600.xpsp1.020828-1920)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
       System Model: Dimension 4550               
               BIOS: Default System BIOS
          Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.00GHz, ~2.0GHz
             Memory: 768MB RAM
          Page File: 293MB used, 1582MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
    DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: /PackageInstall
     DxDiag Version: 5.03.0001.0904 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
  DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
      Display Tab 1: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 2: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 3: No problems found.
          Music Tab: No problems found.
          Input Tab: No problems found.
       

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D:    0/4 (n/a)
DirectDraw:  0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectPlay:  0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow:  0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
        Card name: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
     Manufacturer: NVIDIA
        Chip type: GeForce FX 5200
         DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
       Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0322&SUBSYS_80CF1043&REV_A1
   Display Memory: 128.0 MB
     Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
          Monitor: Dell 1700FP
  Monitor Max Res: 1280,1024
      Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
   Driver Version: 6.14.0010.4403 (English)
      DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
 Driver Date/Size: 5/2/2003 01:19:00, 3180171 bytes
      WHQL Logo'd: n/a
  WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
              VDD: n/a
         Mini VDD: nv4_mini.sys
    Mini VDD Date: 5/2/2003 01:19:00, 1312555 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-4062-11CF-C062-C5A000C2CB35}
        Vendor ID: 0x10DE
        Device ID: 0x0322
        SubSys ID: 0x80CF1043
      Revision ID: 0x00A1
      Revision ID: 0x00A1
      Video Accel:
 Deinterlace Caps: n/a
         Registry: OK
     DDraw Status: Enabled
       D3D Status: Enabled
       AGP Status: Not Available
DDraw Test Result: Not run
 D3D7 Test Result: Not run
 D3D8 Test Result: Not run
 D3D9 Test Result: Not run

-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
            Description: SoundMAX Digital Audio
 Default Sound Playback: Yes
 Default Voice Playback: Yes
            Hardware ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_24C5&SUBSYS_01421028&REV_01
        Manufacturer ID: 1
             Product ID: 100
                   Type: WDM
            Driver Name: smwdm.sys
         Driver Version: 5.12.0001.3515 (English)
      Driver Attributes: Final Retail
            WHQL Logo'd: n/a
          Date and Size: 8/5/2002 10:23:58, 545208 bytes
            Other Files:
        Driver Provider: Analog Devices
         HW Accel Level: Standard
              Cap Flags: 0x0
    Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 0, 0
 Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
              HW Memory: 0
       Voice Management: No
 EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
   I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
               Registry: OK
      Sound Test Result: Not run

[gpwurzel]

Could also be onboard sound issues - especially if you are running custom soundpacks - takes resource away from game running to load the sounds then play them.

Wurzel

[Skuzzy]

I was surprised to see the ATI Rage video card work at all.

What is happening when you pull the trigger is the sounds are being loaded which, for some reason, are taking a long time on your computer.  This usually means resource issues such as too many background processes running, or other programs interfering with disk access or memory access.

[The Fugitive]

I was surprised to see the ATI Rage video card work at all.

What is happening when you pull the trigger is the sounds are being loaded which, for some reason, are taking a long time on your computer.  This usually means resource issues such as too many background processes running, or other programs interfering with disk access or memory access.

What memory? Your system is showing 768 meg of ram. Thats way low. check out the system requirements. Your inbetween the min. and recomended. Cleaning your system to the bare bones might make it work, but dude, its time for an upgrade 

[Skuzzy]

If his system is clean, 768MB should be plenty for the game, but the system will need to be a pretty clean one.

[Denholm]

I agree with Skuzzy. I once ran AH on 500 MB of SDRAM. No, I didn't have bad frame rates.

[Borfors40mm]

What memory? Your system is showing 768 meg of ram. Thats way low. check out the system requirements. Your inbetween the min. and recomended. Cleaning your system to the bare bones might make it work, but dude, its time for an upgrade 

Well, dude, whether it's low or not, it's what I'm stuck with for the foreseeable future. When finances allow, I'll go with a 256 or bigger card and more RAM. Every other game I run works fine with the graphics maxed out with no sound problems(IL2 for instance), and AH runs great otherwise, 50fps or better, which is fine by me, it runs smooth.

I've got EndItAll running with everything but the minimum required for Windows to work shut off as far as I can tell, maybe a total of 10 processes running. Usually, for this computer, Windows runs 35+ processes after startup. I've checked everything sound related I know of, but come up empty handed.

Skuzzy, I'll check for any other interfering programs and post anything I find. Thanks for the help so far, all.

[Skuzzy]

Might try a defrag of the hard drive as well.