Target line parameters and troubleshooting shortcuts for Halo: Combat Evolved and for Halo 2 for Windows Vista

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SUMMARY

You can use command line parameters to customize the startup process for Microsoft Halo: Combat Evolved and for Halo 2 For Windows Vista and to resolve or to diagnose certain problems that may occur when you try to start or to play the game. This article lists the command line parameters and explains how they work.

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MORE INFORMATION

Parameters for Halo 2 for Windows Vista

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Parameter	Description
-windowed	Switch to run the game in windowed mode.
-novsync	Improve the game performance.
-monitor	Switch to allow users to move the game between monitors when running in full screen.
-nosound	Switch to run the game without audio.

To add these troubleshooting parameters, follow these steps:

Click Start, click All Programs, click Games, click Games Explorer.
Right-click Halo 2 for Vista, and then click Customize.
Click Halo 2 for Windows Vista, and then click Edit.
In the Target line, press END, and then type one of the parameters after the quotation marks as in the following example:
“C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Halo 2\startup.exe” –windowed

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Parameters for Halo: Combat Evolved

The following table lists the command line parameters that you can use to start Halo: Combat Evolved and the reason why you may want to use them. Microsoft Product Support will not troubleshoot issues that only occur when you use command line parameters. To manually add parameters to the command line in the Halo shortcut, follow these steps:

Right-click Start, and then click Open or click Open All Users.
Double-click the Programs folder.
Double-click the Microsoft Games folder.
Double-click the Halo folder.
Right-click the Halo shortcut icon, and then click Properties.
Click the Shortcut tab.
In the Target box, press END, press the SPACEBAR, and then type the parameter that you want to use. If you want to use an additional parameter, press the SPACEBAR, and then type the next parameter. As an example, the following sample command line includes several parameters:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Halo\halo.exe" -novideo –vidmode 800,600,85
Note Parameters are not case-sensitive.
Click Apply or click OK.

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Parameter	Description
-?	Display a list of all parameters.
-nosound	Turn off all sound. This can be used to diagnose an error or an issue if an error or an issue is related to the generation of sound. If you use this parameter and it resolves your issue, it is best to update your sound drivers or your hardware.
-novideo	Disables video playback. This can be used to diagnose an error or an issue if an error or an issue is related to the playback of movies. If you use this parameter and it resolves your issue, it is best to update your video and sound drivers to make sure that you can play back the opening content.
-nojoystick	Disables joysticks, gamepads and other gaming input devices. This may be used to slightly increase performance because Halo will not be polling or actively looking for game controller input. This can also be used to diagnose an error or an issue if an error or an issue is related to the connection of gaming devices. If you use this parameter and it resolves your issue, it is best to update your gaming device drivers.
-nogamma	Disables adjustment of gamma. Gamma can be adjusted in game to make the display either darker or lighter. If you cannot correctly see the screen after you make an adjustment, you can use this parameter to start the game in a state that you can return gamma to a usable level.
-noSSE	Disables SSE and 3DNow! Optimizations. Note This will severely decrease performance for some computers. This can be used to diagnose an error or an issue if an error or an issue is related to the advanced instruction set of your CPU. If you use this parameter and it resolves your issue, you may want to consider having your PC serviced by your manufacturer.
-useff	Forces the game to run as if the computer’s video solution is a “fixed function” card. A fixed function card does not support Pixel Shaders and graphics typically will be simpler and blockier. Examples of fixed function chipset include but are not limited to the following: GeForce (256) SDR GeForce (256) DDR GeForce (256) Ultra GeForce (256) Quadro GeForce2 MX GeForce2 MX 200 GeForce2 MX 400 GeForce2 Go 100 GeForce2 Go 200 GeForce2 Go Quadro2 MXR / EX / Go GeForce2 GTS GeForce2 Pro GeForce2 Ti GeForce2 Ultra GeForce2 GL Quadro2 Pro GeForce4 MX 420 GeForce4 MX 420 -8x GeForce4 MX 440 GeForce4 MX 440 SE GeForce4 MX 440 -8x GeForce4 MX 440SE -8x GeForce4 MX 460 GeForce4 410 Go GeForce4 420 Go GeForce4 420 Go 32M GeForce4 440 Go 64M GeForce4 Quadro 200/400 GeForce4 Quadro 500XGL GeForce4 Quadro 550XGL nForce 220 nForce 420 nForce2 Radeon 7500 All in Wonder Radeon 7500 Mobility Radeon 7500 Mobility Radeon 7500 GL Radeon 7200 Radeon 64 DDR Radeon 32 DDR Radeon LE Radeon 7200 All in Wonder Radeon Note Because of the limitations, fixed function cards typically have lower performance in Halo: Combat Evolved than cards that support pixel shaders. Note Forcing the game to run at an earlier shader version that your display adapter can support may increase performance while reducing visual quality. Trying to force the game to run at a later shader version than your display adapter can support causes the game to default to the highest shader level that your hardware supports.
-use11	Forces the game to run as if the computer’s video solution is a Shader 1.1 card. Vertex and pixel shaders are used to create the complex objects and characters that can be displayed in Halo: Combat Evolved. If a card supports shaders it will generally be faster to use them instead of using fixed functions. Halo: Combat Evolved will automatically select the best shader level for your system depending on your hardware and drivers. Examples of Shader 1.1 capable chipsets include but are not limited to the following: GeForce3 GeForce3 Ti 200 GeForce3 Ti 500 GeForce3 Quadro GeForce4 Ti 4600 GeForce4 Ti 4400 GeForce4 Ti 4200 GeForce4 Quadro 900XGL GeForce4 Quadro 750XGL GeForce4 Quadro 700XGL GeForce4 Ti 4800 GeForce4 Ti 4200 -8x GeForce4 Ti 4800SE GeForce4 Quadro 980XGL GeForce4 Quadro 780XGL GeForce4 4200 Go Note Forcing the game to run at an earlier shader version that your display adapter can support may increase performance while reducing visual quality. Trying to force the game to run at a later shader version than your display adapter can support will cause the game to default to the latest shader level that your hardware supports.
-use14	Forces the game to run as if the computers video solution is a Shader 1.4 card. Examples of Shader 1.4 capable chipsets include but are not limited to the following: Radeon 9200 PRO -8x Radeon 9200 -8x Radeon 9100 IGP Radeon 9000 PRO Radeon 9000 Mobility Radeon 9000 Mobility Radeon 9000 GL Radeon 8500 Radeon 8500 LE Radeon 8500 DV Note Forcing the game to run at an earliest shader version that your display adapter can support may increase performance while reducing visual quality. Trying to force the game to run at a later shader version than your display adapter can support will cause the game to default to the latest shader version that your hardware supports.
-use20	Forces the game to run as a Shader 2.0 card. Examples of Shader 2.0 capable chipsets include but are not limited to the following: GeForce FX 5800 Ultra GeForce FX 5800 Quadro FX 3000 Quadro FX 2000 Quadro FX 1000 GeForce FX 5600 Ultra GeForce FX 5600 GeForce FX 5900 Ultra GeForce FX 5900 GeForce FX 5200 Ultra GeForce FX 5200 Radeon 9800 PRO Radeon 9800 Radeon 9700 PRO Radeon 9700 Radeon 9600 PRO Radeon 9600 Radeon 9500 PRO Radeon 9500 Note Forcing the game to run at an earlier shader version that your display adapter can support may increase performance while reducing visual quality. Trying to force the game to run at a later shader version than your display adapter can support will cause the game to default to the latest shader level that your hardware supports.
-safemode	Disables as many advanced graphics and sound features as possible. This can be used to diagnose an issue that is hardware related. You may also enter Safe Mode by starting the game by pressing the CTRL key, and then clicking the Continue in 'Safe Mode' button when you are prompted to. The -safemode parameter is a combination of the following individual parameters: -nosound -novideo -nojoystick -nogamma -useff -width640
-window	Runs the game in a window.
-width640	Forces the game to run at 640x480. This command may improve performance at the cost of visuals.
-vidmode w,h,r	Forces the game to run at width, height, update. This command can be used to reset the game to a width, height, and update rate that your computer and monitor can work with if you set them incorrectly in the game. The following are two example uses of this parameter: –vidmode 800,600,60 –vidmode 800,600,85
-adapter x	Forces the game to run full-screen on a particular display adaptor in a multiple monitor setup. This can be used to send the game to a particular card and monitor combination if you have a multi-monitor setup.
-port x	Server port address used when hosting games. This can be used to create a custom shortcut for a particular server.
-cport x	Client port address used when joining games. This can be used to create a custom shortcut for a particular server.
-ip x.x.x.x	Server IP address used when you have multiple IP addresses. This can be used to create a custom shortcut for a particular server.
-timedemo	Runs four movies and writes out timedemo.txt in the folder where Halo is installed. Note This command will overwrite your current Campaign save. While the Timedemo.txt file may be used to measure performance it is not a true representation of the frame rates that you will see in the game. The –timedemo command was designed as a development tool and not as a benchmark for Retail Product Performance.