Half Life 2 Is Giving Me Trouble! Help!

W

weeman1907

New Member
*Sigh* I buy yet another game and can't install it without getting a bunch of trouble in the process. Here's the lowdown:

Bought HL2 GOTY Edition today, went to install it. I keep seeing this:

Steam.exe(main exception): Unable to load library steam.dll

The PC I installed it on doesn't have the internet yet, as my network card's off at linksys for a new one cuz it died after i had it 2 months but that's another story.

So please help me out and get me outta this mess!

Thanks
 
In order to run HL2 you have to connect to an online server when logging onto the account you first have to setup with user name and password. The game maps are never actually installed onto your hard drive. You first connect to the Steam servers and run them there. This is due to the size of the maps themselves which are quite vast. Upon first setting or simply connecting you besides seeing the needed finish of the installation updates and other things like news on new games available are downloaded. Drivers for the game are also periodically updated. Once you get connected online the error message will disappear once the account becomes active.
 
okay so just sit tight till my new card comes back and i get my connection back?

Also what's a great video card to run the new Splinter Cell Double Agent, Doom 3, HL2, or BF2 on? It needs to be under 300 dollars. Just gimme the name and ill look for it on tigerdirect. thanks
 
weeman1907 said:
okay so just sit tight till my new card comes back and i get my connection back??
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Yes, thats correct, to put it simply, the file "Steam.dll" is NOT included in the installation package of steam (which you need to play HL2). The file is downloaded from steam on the first run of the program. Obviously, no internet = no steam.dll file

Also, your graphics card question should be put in the Graphics Card section, it will get more answers there.

dragon
 
Once you get connected online you will see the download process begin once you try starting the game with the desktop icon. You will prompted to first create a user account which is easy enough for logging onto their servers. You will only have to do this once unless you clean "cookies" off of your drive where you simply re-enter user name and password just like any other online account.

TigerDirect may have more cards available then newegg due to end of year clearance and low inventory at the moment. Plus holiday shopping drained the stock there somewhat. But newegg often sees a lower price and provides a little detailed info on various models. Are you looking at ATI or NVidia cards. I can take any of those and run them on a Radeon X1300 Pro with only 4 poxel pipelines at stock. And that's not a gaming card. Let's take a look at some other ATI under $300 at the first links and some NVidia on the others.

The top end ATI model X1950 Pro 256mb PCI-Express card is seen for $239.99 at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814195029 That's come down a bit in the last few weeks.

Don't bother looking for an ATI card at TigerDirect. Apparently they are stuck on XFX and EVGA models. Newegg is the one that offers a much wider selection and ATI as well as NVidia models. The next step is a look at the NVidia models seen at newegg. Two NVidia models stand out there with the eVGA 512mb 7950 GT PCI-E card running at $279,99 seen at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130066

Asus has their 7950 GT 512mb model seen for $264.99 at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814121025 The models seen at the links here are the newest and brighest for performance cards all seen under the $300 amount. Asus, MSI, ATI, NVidia, eVGA, and BFG are the top contenders while brands like PNY and Foxconn... you know the rest there.
 
I dont know, splinter Cell DA doesn't seem to be as compatible with ATI cards than GeForce. They still must work tons of bugs out if you ask me.
 
ADE said:
I dont know, splinter Cell DA doesn't seem to be as compatible with ATI cards than GeForce. They still must work tons of bugs out if you ask me.
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If someone has a bad install of a game they sometimes blame that on a card. With ATI model cards the one thing noted for creating any havoc is the Catalyst Control Center with some of the older games. Once that is removed or simply disabled/unloaded the problems disappeared. With HL2 and other games here with and without the Cat. has actually seemed to made no difference. Most likely the antivirus, antispyware, or something else running in the background was the culprit there. Antivirus utilities like Norton are "notorious" for causing havoc by grabbing system resources.
 
^^^^^^^^^^ Sorry but the bubble must be burst. I had it installed with my GeForce 6200 and then put in my X850 XT without changing anything and didnt work. Cuz of the card change it said it didn't meet the minimum system requirements.
 
ADE said:
^^^^^^^^^^ Sorry but the bubble must be burst. I had it installed with my GeForce 6200 and then put in my X850 XT without changing anything and didnt work. Cuz of the card change it said it didn't meet the minimum system requirements.
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I've seen that error message and simply reinstalled a game for the fresh detection of the current card in use. Take a look at the screens from HL2 in the screenshot contest. :D
 
hey thanks for the info on the video cards.... im just trying to get new ideas cuz a lot of good games now require you to have a graphics card, not just onboard.
 
Most every good game is more demanding on things like being graphics intense to have a more life like appearance to characters and special effects in the games themselves. That includes everything from gun fire and explosions to "beam me up! Scotty". Onboard these days is mainly by those on a tight budget to check their mail.

But some want high end latest models at the opposite extreme for either top oc performance or graphics work where details are more critical. For the average gamer and multimedia playback you can easily go with a less costly model. The latest cards are those with dual not single vpus with the high price tag to go with them.
 
Well not exactly, the 8800 GTS or GTX only use single core and they are one of the most advanced cards out for gaming.
 
ADE said:
Well not exactly, the 8800 GTS or GTX only use single core and they are one of the most advanced cards out for gaming.
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While not all are dual vpu models they exceed the $300 price range being looked at here. A price comparison on that model shows mwave.com having the lowest price in the comparison seen at http://www.nextag.com/EVGA-GEFORCE-8800GTS-PCIE-527958525/prices-html The dual vpu models easily run twice as much. The idea there is to have the video card do the work requiring less cpu time. The question asked is which card is best for under $300 not $400+.
 
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