Video glitch makes ALL Steam games unplayable!

Technology and Gaming Help and Support
#1

i’m having a strange problem with Steam games. i didn’t have any of these problems until i installed Ep1 and 2 last night. i don’t get any errors and i don’t get any prompts but at least 10 minutes into playing any Steam game (HL2,Ep1,Ep2 or any mod) my screen just goes nuts with solid colors, random gradients and i can’t make out heads or tails what’s going on screen. Even if i press esc and try to pull up the menu, the screen stays the same. The game itself keeps on playing with sounds and keyboard input but i can’t see anything on screen…aside from trippy colors.

Ever used “noclip” cheats in Duke Nukem 3D?

My videocard drivers are up-to-date and this glitch only effects Steam games. As soon as i pull up the task manager to kill the game, Windows looks happy and healthy as can be.

-Kawai Tei-

EDiT : After restarting the game, everything goes back to normal. The last time it happened, i quick-saved AFTER the screen went crazy. interestingly enough, the screenshot for my quicksave SHOWS the messed up glitchy colors! At least this means my video card isn’t at fault! :smiley:

#2

Odd. Well, I have a similar problem, but only on Ep1. Doesn’t affect Ep2 or any mod, including Ep1 ones.

#3

Is it this sort of thing?

Post a screenshot of what it looks like. I have a feeling it could be your graphics card.

#4

i’ve had that problem before with Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl. in the end it was just a compatibility issue that was fixed with a patch for the game.

…but no, that’s not my problem.

Tell you what. Taking a screenshot would be pointless in this case. Draw a bunch of straight lines in MSPaint and fill in the gaps with different shades of blue. That’s pretty much it. What i WiLL share a screenshot of is my save file’s thumbnail :

800×600 87.7 KB

(currently playing Research and Development, the funnest mod i’ve ever played)

i figured out how to fix the problem temporarily. if i alt+tab out of the game and jump back in, the problem goes away for another few minutes. 'cept i dread being in the middle of a fire fight when my vision goes completely blue.

-Kawai Tei-

#5

I’m almost sure that the problem comes from the graphics card. Try to remove your graphics card from your pc and put another in.

#6

it’s got to be software related. if it were related directly to hardware (a dying GPU), the problem wouldn’t show in a screenshot. i’ve seen similar issues with other games but it always had something to do with game/GPU compatibility.

…'cept i’ve played HL2, Ep1 and Ep2 with this card before with no problems.

-Kawai Tei-

#7

I had exactly the same problem as you 3 years ago and it was due to the graphics card.

#8

You might want to check that the fan of your graphics card is plugged in properly, I nearly cooked my graphics card once because I hadnt realised that the fan was unplugged. If its just the game thats wrong, then who knows.

#9

i keep an open-air case with 4 fans constantly aimed at toasty spots, including my video card which has its own working fan. Plus, the weather is cold here and i’m too poor to by oil for the furnace. i wear a sweater all the time because it’s so cold in here.

…a doubt a hot GPU is at fault.

NEXT! (LOL) You see? it is a mystery!

-Kawai Tei-

#10

… You are too poor to warm your house but you are not too poor to buy a computer? Yeah… riiiight.

#11

I had the same problem with crysis when I played it on a shitty PC with these specs:

AMD Athlon +3500 @ 2.3 ghz
1.18GB RAM
ONBOARD Radeon xpress 200
Win XP sp3 (MCE edition)

and surprisingly I got abot 9 fps :retard:

But yea, it is DEFANITLY the video card. The problem with me was that the drivers were out dated. Just find a new update for the drivers and all should be fine.

#12

If you’re so sure it’s software related, have you tried rolling back to previous driver versions?

#13

i’ve tried 3 sets of drivers and i get the same results. i don’t understand what specifically is causing the issue. if the problem was with my video drivers rendering a particular lighting effect or texture map, then the problem would pop up when i entered a particular room or looked toward a specific texture. My problem seems to happen about 10 minutes (give or take) into playing a game, even if i were playing in the same exact space with the same effects. Plus, the problem should be there once i restarted the game but it’s not. Once i alt+tab out of the game and return, the problem is gone. if my drivers were struggling to render…i don’t know…volumetric lighting, then the problem would STAY there ALL THE TiME, not just appear after a few minutes and disappear after alt+tabbing away for a second.

if GPU temp were an issue, then minimizing the game for 2 seconds shouldn’t fix the issue. Plus, the entire screen would go funky, not just the game screen. i forgot to mention that my 2nd monitor looks just fine when all these colors show up.

-Kawai Tei-

#14

Alright, I’m just trying to eliminate some possibilities. Since updated driver bugs are a common source of odd problems and you haven’t mentioned trying older ones, I thought I’d ask.

And now that you mentioned the second monitor… Have you tried playing the game(s) after disabling the second monitor?

#15

what is your videocard?

#16

sigh …it’s an Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS…

NOW i KNOW WHAT YOU’RE THiNKiNG! But no, my card was not a dud. i’ve had it since release day and it still kicks ass. i can play Crysis with almost everything maxed with DX10 on and it runs like a dream. The only games that have any problems with are Steam games. i’ll try playing later with my secondary display disabled and let you know what -if anything- happens.

-Kawai Tei-

#17

I had a similar problem with garrysmod BEFORE I reformatted my hard-drive. I went into a body of water and all of a sudden all the walls were fucked-up colors, the ground looked fucked-up too.

#18

Maybe you’re running out of memory. Make sure your pagefile is big enough.

#19

install another OS on a temporary partition and install steam there.

#20

This is hilarious, please post screenshots so I can enjoy your eccentric computer troubles!
Kids on this forum have the greatest computer problems ever. Better get it sorted before December!

-Hottomanmasekkususekkusu Matt-

Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.