cs only runs normal after running it the first time (not only source engine games are affected but all games on steam!) fix for me: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/halflife/issues/387#issuecomment-249436648

[schoof]

finally got it fixed: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/halflife/issues/387#issuecomment-249436648

UPDATE: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/halflife/issues/387#issuecomment-90850841

its going to be a long post so bear with me :o)

everytime i install cs it only runs normal like i it should when i start it the first time. after playing it for a while my cs starts to run "slower" and the game reacts strange. what i mean by that is that everything ingame doesnt run as fast/smooth as it should, everything feels choppy!

for example movement, when i try to bunnyhop or russianwalk it just doenst feel right and everything is so much harder to do. even when only strafing left and right i see and feel a noticeable delay from my input and when the game reacts to it! same for shooting, when i spray or even try to tap (single shoots) the shoots feel "heavy", i cant shoot as fast as i normally would and i have to take much bigger pauses between shooting! the consequence is that your weapon recoil is just not right and really hard to control! the screen shaking animation when shooting is also much bigger (especially spraying but you also see it when just shooting single shots). same for awp, when i quickscope its much harder to do because its slower and it just doesnt feel right, after every shot it feels like you are glued to the ground or get pulled to the ground. you can even see it on the animation of your weapons or the screen does when shooting (up and down shaking). for me it looks like the animation doesnt get played correctly from the beginning to the end, it feels choppy.

to sum it up: it feels like the game itself is initiliazed correctly only right after the first start and afterwards not anymore!

im having this problem for a while now, it started in 2009 when i started to play cs again after a long break (been playing cs since 1.0 so im no newbie in regard to cs and now how it should run). i tested different pcs, internetconnections, settings etc. nothing helped. i tested it on different pcs from friends who had the same problem and some of them didnt even know it because they only started to play cs recently and didnt have a comparison to how cs should run. after showing them the difference when starting it the first time again or the methods mentioned below they also could see the difference! i even started to test other cs versions (non steam and older version pre 1.6/steam) and guess what... the problem isnt there, the gameplay runs AND stays like it should! so i think the source of the problem is sth in regard to the steam client itself! so i decided to start my steam client in offline mode and suddenly my cs runs normal like it should!!!

if you arent an experienced cs player (or havent played the other cs versions that run normal) theres a possibility you are so used to this bad gameplay because you have no comparison and/or are have played so long with it! i have seen this phenomenon again and again with people!

how i run the test (create a new game so you have the same conditions every time and can test the gameplay): i would reinstall cs (very time consuming and annoying), or (much easier to do) just delete my cs folder so it gets created again after i start it (doenst work anymore because since cs got updated the gcf files are gone and the cs files are stored in the common folder!). or third method, i would try to crash the hl.exe by doing the following: create new game, open video options and change the gamma or brightness slider! now the game needs to restart and most of the time i would get a hl.exe crash window! when i now restart cs it runs normal like the first time right after installation! sadly this trick only worked for me one time since these updates (when trying to enable the low video mode ingame). i guess sometimes fixing bugs is not that good if they helped you to fight other bugs haha!

i would REALLY appreciate it if you would look into this matter seriously because there are a lot of people that are affected by this problem! if you have questions im willing to help in any form possible (i dont think my hardware specs matter because it happens on different pcs like i mentioned above), because i and many others have spent a lot of time trying to fix it!

p.s.: i think that not only is cs 1.6 affected by this problem but also other goldsrc and even source games (css, cspromod etc)!

tl;dr: not only source engine games have this problem, all games on steam suffer from micro-stutter, unsmooth and delayed inputs, the same games without steam run fine! --> culprit steam client!?!?

EDIT: see my latest post and edits in regard to this topic: its not connected to the source engine but to the steam client itself!

[Corre1ation]

You probably should post your PC specs and, if possible, specs your friends experiencing this problem. Perhaps, you're having something in common there. And, by the way, have you checked the CPU usage when this problem occurs?

[idderf]

YAY, the old "cs isn't smooth" thread... woopidu, @alfred-valve enjoy this :D

[MaximilianKohler]

This has got to have something to do with FPS... because everything you described sounds exactly like what you experience when you play above 100 fps. I know alfred recently improved the performance on >100fps but things like bunny hopping are still nerfed on >100fps.

Some of the issues you mentioned are also experienced when the game is run at a high/native resolution(1680x1050 for me). The game seems choppier, the guns seem to shoot slower. It feels like there's a drop in FPS or refresh rate even though both are steady(100fps, 120hz) and consistent on all resolutions. On low resolutions like 640x480 the game seems much more crisp and responsive; which is why ~90%+ pro players use 640.

p.s.: i think that not only is cs 1.6 affected by this problem but also other goldsrc and even source games (css, cspromod etc)!

Hmm... that's interesting. I've only experienced these kinds of issues in 1.6. The source engine games seem to be very consistent and absent of any of these kinds of issues.

[schoof]

if you would have followed my postings in the steam forum (not that i demand you to to do because this thread is by now really hard to read with all the different stuff being posted there) you would know that i and others tested a lot of stuff and some stuff really helped (see powersaving features on newer hardware for example) others just worked for a short time (the mysterious phenomenon that cs runs better when changing sth) but the main problem is what i posted in the first posting of this thread! ive found sth out just yesterday by accident when using linux, but i would have to test more or the best would be someone like @alfred-valve or someone else who works on these cs updates who could look into it and verify it that it indeed does change sth because he has access to the code!

[dasmeTaknight]

I just wanna join schoofs explantions confirming issues with unsmooth gameplay and recoil control!

I started playing counterstrike 1.6 in 2006 and up to a semi-professional level. Soon after, the incidents occured for the first time and i wasn't able to play anymore on a competitive niveau. In this state i'm unable to control same single shots and spray as well (what was formerly one of my specialities). It's literally impossible or pure random to hit enemies after the first one or two shots, even if they are standing still. The whole gameplay isn't reacteable and feels delayed. So the problem appears also statistically in my game: i nearly never kill an enemy anymore with more than 3 hits, since i either have to headhot him before or he kills me cause of the uncontrolleable recoil or i die to him.

I tried nearly everything to fix the problem: Different systems (win xp up to win 8), routers, servers, every possible net- and gamesettings, and different hardware components. Also tools to optimize my hardware and internet connection. The only case the game works better is after the very first installation and (at least a bit) if steam is switched to "off".

I can totally foreclose the issues from being generated by my components. As desribed above i tried to change everything. Now i'm using a very modern gaming laptop, a 25k dsl internet connection and can play without any loss, choke, constant 100 fps and with an average ping from about 10ms. Still the problems appear as described above. I don't have a clue why the problems doesn't seem to affect every player, but ithey clearly do myself.

I would apreciate you to be aware of this since lots of players complain about it. Like schoof i think it's rather steam releated than a problem with cs1.6 itself. If there's any possibiity to fix it and bring us back the joy of playing this game...please do it! :)

[idderf]

can you guys post gameplay videos (not just spraying on a wall) so that everyone can see the difference between a fresh install and a bugged one?

[schoof]

ive mentioned before that a clip doesnt show how delayed the gameplay is in regard to your inputs! you can see the consequences of the delayed gameplay (bad recoil etc...) but not the unsmooth gameplay itself with clips! in regard ro bad recoil, other have posted several clips.

[idderf]

(the mysterious phenomenon that cs runs better when changing sth) = you think it's going to run better when you change something = placebo effect

Ever thought about that cs pro's have never complained about this? I mean they travelled around the world playing on different setups on every lan they attented, and not one single complain about cs not running smooth?

Please realize that when cs runs smoothly you have experience a thing called "flow" in your mind. When it doesn't run smoothly, you don't experience the flow, and you start blaming the setup.

[schoof]

i dont care if you believe me or not, i just try to explain what i and others are experiencing in regard to this problem! in regard to pro players: there was more then one instance were pro players experienced similar things on tournaments (i remember just one example with n0thing who said the following in a demo i watched: "why is my crosshair jumping so much after every shot i do, its nearly impossible to control my recoil or hit anything, sth is fucked up with my cs"; im paraphrasing) and i also remember reading how another said that cs runs best for him after first start for him! how is it placebo when trying to tap shot with ak for example and i can shoot flawlessly and accurately without delay or stuttering when cs runs normal and why do i have to wait after every shot (like a strange cooldown phase or sth) when cs doesnt run normal because my screen shakes heavily after every shot i do and the whole game stutters and feels delayed like there is a buffer between everything i do ingame?!?! the same for playing kreedz maps, when cs runs normal the jumps are much more easy to do and i can gain much more easily speed in the air, the timing is much easier etc... placebo of course.. so do me a favour and comment in threads where you are able to add sth useful to the conversation and spare me and others with your psycho gibberish nonsense! thx

[MaximilianKohler]

jesus... do you guys really have to abbreviate the word "something" to "sth"... the more you do this kind of thing the harder you make it for other people to understand what you're saying.

Regarding this problem, it's not placebo. I've experienced it myself and there is a massive thread on the steam forums about it. Many of my friends have experienced it as well and tried for years to fiddle with various hardware and software settings and changes yet no one's been able to figure out the cause. So many things seem to effect it. There is no other game where people complain about this same problem, if there was then maybe you could blame it on placebo.

One thing I heard of years ago was to delete the custom.hpk file then go in cs and start a listen server, exit the game and set custom.hpk to read only.

[dasmeTaknight]

No big surprise someone gonna call it placebo soon... Sure your daily condition or psychological elements can affect your playing...but you dont turn from a 2,5 kpd to a 1,2 kpd player on the same server/day every time the problem seems to appear...

I would post a demo too but as shooof told us, they are useless for both describing the problem and looking for mistakes during the game. This cause the whole ingame feeling is totally biased by the unsmooth and delayed process -.-

[schoof]

ask the devs, but they dont care! The "support" is non existent and the higher-ups of valve say so themselves: http://www.pcgames.de/Valve-Software-Firma-15833/News/Wir-wissen-dass-der-Steam-Support-schlecht-ist-1153530/ (use google translate, but the tl;dr basically is: "our support sucks and we know it")!
im not sure what the source of this problem is exactly, but i know thats its not only affecting cs! all steam games i have show the self behaviour: game runs good after first time starting it and strangely also good after the steam client gets an update or when running steam offline and then it degrades and the game begins to show the usual signs like stutter, delayed inputs or a buffer between every action you do in the game and basically feels like the game is streamed to your pc and not played on your pc! i suspect sth in the client is the culprit, but i dont know why only some users are affected by it!? i tested games like bad company 2 on steam and on origin, the steam version runs with the above mentioned problems and the origin version runs normal! same with other games were i tested steam version and non-steam version! maybe there is sth in the client that doesnt get loaded correctly (or only when running it the first time)? only the devs could tell you really whats happening with the client and all its processes etc., but like i said nobody cares!

after dealing with this problem for years i abandoned steam (or all games that are only available through steam)!

[imYEA]

@schoof Nice to see u again after 2 years from the last time at "CS ISN'T SMOOTH" so your conclusion is that steam causing all these kind of bad gameplay ? i didn't tried cs non steam On line

[schoof]

@imYea yes! after doing all kind of tests for months or even years its the conclusion i came to a while ago! back in the past i was only playing "source games" (CS 1.6 & CSS) thats why i assumed its related to the engine, but when i started to play other games like BC2 and could compare it with the nonsteam version it suddenly became clear its the the steam client itself thats responsible for our problem! i still dont get it why only some of us are having this problem, or maybe some have it and dont know about it: for example i was playing bc2 on steam for nearly a year without thinking that sth was wrong with my game until i played the origin version of it and suddenly the game run much better! i still dont know why sometimes the games runs better on steam and then after a couple of mins/hours/days its back to garbage, this strange behaviour made it so hard to find a solution and why i and many others thought they found the culprit only to find out it wasnt the case! i really would like to get in touch with a dev and talk about this problem and do some tests run some debug tools etc, they are the only people who can fix this problem and find out whats happening, but i guess this ship is sailed else they would have responded here already!

[imYEA]

@schoof you're totally right about this .. it's the same feeling .. it works fine for 1 hour / day / week .. and back like it was (Shitty and unplayable ) unfortunately there is no CS 1.6 purchasable in origin or ...
i work and i love this game (CS 1.6 ), when i back to home, time to time i can play with friends, but sadly i can't enjoy it anymore .. and it seems that i'm the only guy who's experiencing this when i play with them

[schoof]

@imYEA you can test older cs versions (pre 1.6) that didnt use steam or download a nonsteam version of 1.6 to test yourself! have you been on your friends pc's and see for yourself how cs plays at their pc's ?

[imYEA]

yes i've been on 2 of my friends PC's, but honestly the last time i did it, it was 2 years ago from now ,tested it before and after the last update of 1.6 .. good CS nothing else ! stopped playing for a long time .. and back 2 or 3 months from now .. as you said , it runs perfectly for the 1st time and becomes shitty after that i'll test a non-steam version, the problem is there no good servers i guess

[schoof]

@imYEA you dont need to play online, i can tell the difference on lan game if my cs runs normal! for example when you try simple stuff like strafe jumping, nuke red rock jump or even just shoot with a weapon... its that obvious when your game doesnt run like it should!

[imYEA]

Hmm i see , i had this but what i have now is that , sometimes the firerate is just too Slow like running cs at 80 FPS or less however i have an FPS capped at 100 ( or 100.5 when i use fps_max 99.5 ) the second thing is that i shoot right to the enemy model but only some bullets are registred ( 1/5 for example ) the 3rd is when i spray i can't move the crosshair to the left/right , it's like it's fixed when spraying these are the most issues that i have now

[schoof]

@imYea the problems you are describing like slow firerate or bad hitreg should be connection/server related! if you are only suffering from this problems then we have different problems! im talking about this: micro-stutter, unsmooth and delayed inputs when playing steam games which makes it really hard in cs 1.6 to do a strafe jump, nuke red rock jump or even simple actions like controlling your recoil or single-tapping your weapon really hard, because it feels like the game runs with 30 frames and everything feel totally unsmooth!

[imYEA]

@schoof i had some of these problems, the only thing that i'm able to do now is jumping or shooting when im walking "ALONE" , and when an enemy appears or start shooting .. i have EXACTLY what you have described above ( Slow and hard movements, unsmooth mouse movements etc .. ) another thing is that i'm feeling like people has priority more than me , i mean when i start shooting in the same time as my enemy (even if my shots are accurate)... i can't hit his model or register some bullets ( no it's not just a feeling because when it's normal i lose HP but still i can shot back and do damage) something that i noticed is : when i show net_graph 1 and see the green line ... i have a straight line all the time, until (sometimes ) it jumps and back like it was (when i die ): it's like packets are buffered or something like that.... anyway; it's random random and random , there's a multiple issues = 1 shitty / laggy gamplay

you have any advice for me about the peaks in net_graph 1 ?

[schoof]

@imYEA take a look at this article for netgraph question: http://members.westnet.com.au/wlloyd/netcode_explained_again.htm

i had similar problems in the past: my game "slowing down" when encountering an enemy. for me it was related to power saving features on my cpu/mainboard and gfx card!

[imYEA]

@schoof thank you i'll test this night i have changed my PSU and graphic card ( PSU : 400 watt, graphic card : nvidia 9800 GT 1go ) it can be this ?

[schoof]

@imYEA does your gfx card or cpu have power saving features? if so are they enabled? i already did a long guide about all this stuff in the steam forum thread (go to my profile and check my postings)!

[imYEA]

@schoof Honestely i'm not sure about that in my nvidia 3D advenced setting , i have no settings talking about power-saving as a feature (like the "power management setting" in 3D settings of some cards ) , the same thing about my CPU ( AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 3.0 Ghz : i dont know if there's a way to check if my CPU has any power supply features( maybe a tool called : "Cool'n'Quiet" is enabled ) i'll check your profile .. btw you talk about Steam profile or this profile (github) ? if you talk about the famous "CS ISN'T SMOOTH" , it will take a long time to find it haha

[schoof]

@imYEA check you bios for cpu/mainboard power saving features and use the tool gpu-z for checking your gfx card when playing cs! yes im talking about steam profile!

[imYEA]

@schoof Hmm OK thank you for all these informations .. i'll back to post if i'll get any improvement :]

[imYEA]

@schoof Yo ! unfortunately , i have a good net_graph 1 without red / yellow dots but it's the same "Sh%t" disabled all power saving settings (except the graphic card one .. because i don't know how to do it ) and i'm having always these kind of "Peaks" of the green line .. and it's exactly when there's one or many enemies shooting .. so i lose easily any duel without any damage

[imYEA]

Mr @alfred-valve please take a look and try to help us :) i'm sure many people still want to enjoy playing CS 1.6 but these problems are just frustrating

[skyscr3am]

i tested everything in the known universe.. and the behavior is always the same: After i change something (config HARDWARE or SOFTWARE) immediately CS runs perfectly, this happens for a short period of time, often just a few minutes to bring the game to the slowness and lag of various types. Many tests I did exclude the online game, I tried a lot in LAN.

I used Process Lasso for various testing processes and ONLY ONCE for 1 whole week I had a really PERFECT gameplay. Unfortunately then I moved smothing and I ruined gameplay. I do not remember exactly the changes, but I had set all processes on idle and only HL.exe on real-time priority, also setting it on only core0.

I tried to change services, disabling everything, change various drivers to reduce the DPC latency .. changed vga AMD and NVIDIA, changed Monitor, disabled all powersaving features in BIOS and Windows ..

I noticed one thing though. first the problem does not occur in SOFTWARE mode, the recoil and movements are perfect. There is something wrong with the FPS, often when i have shot animation skip .. with low power and vga fps Incostant not hitting the cap limit of 100 the gameplay are much better !! Very strange thing. For me, all the problems are the animation skip, probably something wrong with opengl. I've also tested NON-STEAM version of CS and the problem remains.

[imYEA]

i see what mean by saying that our machines now are too powerful i can add something , open the console and set sv_cheats 1 ( just to let CS accept the "timerefresh" command) and try lowering the priority of the HL until you get 100 fps by typing timerefresh in the console ( this command let you see the real fps produced by your machine , even if the game shows you 100 stable FPS

but, i don't think it will be the reason for that, for example, many players have I7 CPU or i5 ( i have an old dual core AMD athelon x2 6000+ 3.0 ghz ), and they can play without any issues ( in this case , their timerefresh help them to hit better and fastre than me ;) )

well, i'll try your suggestion this night

[andrelip]

Please let me know. It's a well know fact that the game runs WAY BETTER on its first run. If somebody have time and an empty disk it would be nice to make a fresh install of windows and run steam and/or half life under SandBoxie to see all the changes the game produces on his first initialization and then try to isolate the cause. It could be cache files, long logs, anything. It also could be due the game setting some configs on that first run that needs reinitialization to be applied. If that's the case, those settings are not placed on the game folder cause deleting it would not make the game to run smooth again (registry or steam maybe). Also in the legendary thread 'Cs isn't smooth' many people reports temporary solutions... maybe the game rerun some settings triggered by external events (initialization args changes, resolution changes, etc).

[imYEA]

@andrelip let me tell you that this does not help ! one of my friends who has these issues like us, has tried (2 years ago ) a similar solution like this that you described tried to format his SSD , installed Steam and CS , and after that , installed a tool called "Deepfreeze" , which allows system administrators to protect the core operating system and configuration files on a workstation or server by restoring a computer back to its original configuration each time the computer restarts (including CS files ) , and that means you can , after your first install and first smooth and good gameplay, save this smoothness like if you're doing a fresh install after every restart of your system ( that was our idea ) .... but hey .... it doesn't helped ,which it means for us that this problem has nothing to do with the OS and you have to re-install physically the game, and not just his configuration and files, if you want to enjoy playing 1 hour like it should run every time !

[skyscr3am]

I think I found a solution to all our ills.. is to try but i'm having significant improvements

I tried to reason about the origin of the problem appears to be due to audio and playback of sound in general. In common PC today usually uses the integrated sound card, that in 90% of cases are a chip REALTEK. This chip with its driver does not allow you to set the playback rate to 22,050Khz which is that they use the sounds of Half-Life. This brings the engine HL to resample all the sound causing several delays and lag in general. What I did then, the premise that I have the audio output set to 44,100Khz I had converted all the sounds at that frequency. The result is a GOOD improved gameplay with less recoil weapons.

I already have several matches and my scores speak very clear. Summarizing the problem should be the audio buffer that is saturated and cause a slowdown in the gameplay. who has an old sound card could then install it and see if the driver can set the frequency of 22,050Khz. It should be noted immediately an improvement.

[imYEA]

@skyscr3am OK , so just play for 1 or 2 weeks and tell us back if it's working fine like the first time, a second thing , can you please show us how to change these settings ?, because it's not anybody who can understand / do this :) .. if you have some tutorials, it would be great :)

[skyscr3am]

@imYEA u set your frequency in this tab: http://www.usbdacs.com/Windows/files/Cosecant24.jpg

in default format if u can set 22,050Khz u are at good point. unfortunately, however, this change will worsen all the other sounds of windows and other games.

[imYEA]

@skyscr3am hmm OK i see, the worst quality in my windows 7 is 44,100Khz. i will see this night in my second computer with windows XP if i have 22,050Khz .... hopefully

[skyscr3am]

anyone can handle the aforementioned value would be kind enough to tell us that the sound card has? I believe that the ability to set the 22,050Khz not possible with all sound cards on the market, even with recent sound cards probably think it is no longer possible.

[andrelip]

@skyscr3am It's a damn good theory but since it does 0 influence on the cs perfect first run, then I don't believe it would work.

[skyscr3am]

@andrelip it is clear that it must be tested as it should. not necessarily be the one and only explanation to the problems, but it is a good point on which to dwell. Who can do the test do not forget to turn off all other sound cards in the PC, ie the output hdmi graphics cards nVidia and AMD (HD audio). At home I have an old SB Extigy USB, tonight I try to install it and see if it makes me set 22,050khz.

My solution to convert all * .wav files to 44,100Khz is not ideal because it still involves extra work for the CPU, plus the * .wav files have increased in size. The solution would be to work the audio engine as natively designed to its natural frequency 22,050Khz.

[andrelip]

The default one is 11khz.

command: hisound - Enable high-quality sound (1=22kHz, 0=11kHz). Default: 0

I don't have windows nowadays to test. Please try those values and report back.

[imYEA]

@skyscr3am how to disable nvidia Audio o_O ??? @andrelip have you tried hisound 0 ? if i'm not mistaking, even if u'll use hisound 0, the system will try to convert it , for example , in my windows 7 i have 44,100Khz as the worst quality sound , so even if i set hisound to 0 , it will not be worse than 44,100Khz quality , and because of that skyscr3am said that we have to use an old sound card ... that's what i have understood

[schoof]

dont waste your time trying this sound stuff! already tried this years ago! and like i said before: the problem isnt related to hl engine, because other steam games suffer from the same problem, but i guess i can write it 1000 times more and people still wanna think its cs related...

[JoelTroch]

@schoof Then report that issue on the Steam repository, not here.

dont waste your time trying this sound stuff! already tried this years ago! and like i said before; the problem isnt related to hl engine, because other steam games suffer from the same problem, but i guess i can write it 1000 times more and people still wanna think its cs related...

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/ValveSoftware/halflife/issues/387#issuecomment-93762719 .

[schoof]

@JoelTroch url? i only found steam repositories for linux ,vr and os...

is this the right one : https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamOS ? because i think os is linux version ?!!? give me plz a link to the windows steam client repository and i will post there, maybe i am blind but i couldnt find it!

[JoelTroch]

@schoof My bad, I replied without checking because of tireness (?), it seems that the only place to report bugs for Steam is there : http://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/0/

SteamOS a Valve made fork of Debian, a distribution of Linux, so don't report there.

[schoof]

i know this link, but i dont think the valve guys check this forums at all, here on github they are at least somehow active... i will post there, but i dont think they will respond!

[imYEA]

@schoof it seems that they're not active here either ! the last time i've seen "alfred " was back in 2014

[JoelTroch]

I don't know if a ticket to Steam's support is allowed for bug reporting, worth a check though

[schoof]

@JoelTroch you mean the normal tickets you can open with steam support? you dont wanna know how many tickets i or other people opened because of this problem... the support is useless, you only get computer generated answers!